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Murphy

Leylin rang the doorbell that hung on the door. A crisp ring of a bell could be heard, followed by the noise of scurrying footsteps.

"Hello! May I ask who you are? Do you have an appointment?" A meticulous looking butler appeared in front of Leylin.

"Leylin Farlier, I am here to visit the owner of this villa!" Leylin smiled.

The butler obviously looked distressed as he said, "Sir, as you know, my master, Murphy, is a renowned scholar. His schedule every day is extremely packed, perhaps..."

At this moment, a girl, who seemed like the maid, hurriedly ran over and whispered into the butler's ears.

The butler's complexion immediately changed as he bowed deeply, "Master invites you into the living room!"

Leylin smiled as he retrieved the energy waves he radiated.

Upon entering inside the villa, there was a corridor littered with various art pieces like paintings and exhibited on the faint yellow colored walls were all kinds of oil paintings, and other specimens of art, which were rather pleasing to the eyes.

As the living room came into view, it became quite obvious that it was a spacious house.

The decor in the room was extremely aesthetic. Although there were no dazzling golden or silver items or gems, these pieces had an aura of history and gave off a feeling of understated elegance.

Beside the fireplace in the living room, an old scholar with white brows and beard lounged on a dark red recliner.

The old man's eyes seemed muddy with only occasional traces of intelligence within.

The old man's originally squinted eyes opened upon seeing Leylin. He stood up and spread his arms in an embracing gesture, "Welcome, my young friend!"

Leylin went forward to hug the old man, "It is an honour to be able to meet you! I hope you like this present I brought for you!"

Anna stepped forward and handed over to the butler an extremely exquisite cap.

"I like the tail feathers of the night hawk. They represent peace!" The old man waved his hands, "Lille, you may take your leave, I want to have a good chat with this friend of mine!"

"Take your leave too!" Leylin told Anna who was beside him.

After extending their salutations, the few maids, and the butler left, closing the door behind them. Very soon, there was only Leylin and the old man left in the living room.

"Alright, let's reintroduce ourselves! Murphy, level 3 acolyte! I have been a resident of Extreme Night City for 3 years now..." The old man's eyes showed signs of his reminiscing past events.

"So then, guest from afar, how about you?"

"Leylin Farlier, level 2 acolyte and wandering Magus. I have recently come to Extreme Night City and wish to reside here for several years." Leylin smiled and executed the bow between Magi.

"I detect signs of youth in your body. Being able to advance into level 2 acolyte at this age, you have a rather great aptitude!" Murphy sighed in admiration.

"I was just lucky..." Leylin demurred. Although the old man's body had degenerated, the energy waves of a level 3 acolyte told anyone that it was not good to provoke him.

"A.I. Chip, initiate scan!"

[Murphy. Strength: 1.5, Agility: 1.4, Vitality: 2.9, Spiritual force: 2.9, Magical Power: 8. Status: Healthy. Evaluation: level 3 acolyte, relatively dangerous!]

The A.I. Chip faithfully relayed the figures onto Leylin's field of vision.

Being a wandering level 3 acolyte, Murphy's array of magic spells definitely surpassed Leylin's. Moreover, he would have some extremely-difficult-to-deal-with trump cards hidden to protect his life.

However, Leylin came with good intentions. From the A.I. Chip's area scan, the number of acolytes residing in Extreme Night City was not high. As for this Murphy, he radiated one of the strongest energy waves.

After exchanging several polite greetings, Leylin delved immediately into the main purpose of his visit.

"So it's like this! I wish to reside permanently in Extreme Night City, and even open an ingredients shop. You know, the procedures are extremely tedious, and I also need a resident to act as my guarantor..."

"So you came here to look for me?" Murphy smiled and drank the cup of red tea that was on the table.

"To be honest, as an ambitious and truth seeking Magus, gold coins and the like should no longer sway us. Although I don't know why you arrived at this conclusion, on a whim perhaps? Or for some other reason? To me, this indeed is a small matter!"

"Coincidentally, I have some friendly relations with the Lord of Extreme Night City. One of his sons is also under my tutelage. Moreover, any city lord will not refuse the request of a Mysterious Entity... The residential procedures here in Extreme Night City, as well as the shop permit, can all be settled very easily." Murphy guaranteed.

"Then I must really thank you!" Leylin nodded his head, "If there are any areas I could help you with, do not hesitate to ask!"

Although this was said to satisfy the requirements of etiquette, both Leylin and the old man knew that it was mentioned as a mere courtesy.

The handling of residential procedures may be difficult to regular humans. However, for a famous scholar like Murphy, it was only a matter of a few words. Even if Leylin wanted to handle these procedures by himself, he would have to spend more time than the old man.

For both Murphy and Leylin, this matter was simply a means to establish a basic friendship of convenience between them.

"Extreme Night City is a peaceful and quiet place. If you wish to have peaceful days then this place will definitely meet your needs. Later on, I will also introduce you to a few friends of mine. However, there are some set conventional customs that have to be complied with...Don't worry, they are all customary practices, for example, one should not massacre the residents or something like that!"

"I definitely agree!" Leylin's coming to Extreme Night City was to avoid the chaos of war and intrigue. Naturally he would not do anything that would draw attention to himself.

Leylin and Murphy then talked about many Magi related questions, from how to stabilise a spell model for advanced levels to some of Murphy's personal adventures.

Although Murphy was only a level 3 acolyte, his experience was abundant due to having remained at this level for a long time already. This made Leylin feel that the trip was not in vain.

On the other hand, Leylin's vast knowledge and eidetic memory shocked Murphy.

Both of them regretted not having met earlier. They even had their lunch together all the way until dusk before Murphy let Leylin leave. When they bade farewell, they even arranged for their next meeting.

"According to what Murphy said, the magicians in Extreme Night City are all of the acolyte level. As for the few nearby cities, official Magi were also extremely rare making this place very suitable for an acolyte to live in!"

The inquiries he made today caused Leylin to feel at ease, letting him walk at a slower and a more relaxed pace.

"Only regarding this case where plants and wood withered is Murphy completely ignorant. After all, he is already quite old and does not wish to take risks..."

The two street lamps were lit with a dim yellow flame, allowing Leylin to see the road ahead.

Anna followed quietly behind Leylin. Being an outstanding maid, she obviously knew what she had to do, which was not to interrupt Leylin while he was deep in thought.

After Leylin ran through a simulation of his plans one more time, they had both arrived at the inn.

"Young Master!" "Sir!"

Old Welker, Greem, and Fraser came forward to receive them.

Leylin nodded his head, "After dinner all of you come to my room. There are many things I want to inform all of you regarding my future plans!"

Dinner was vegetable salad and mutton soup, followed by huge pieces of dried cookies. After Leylin finished and allowed Anna to clean up, the core people among his subordinates went to Leylin's room.

Leylin sat on a chair wrapped in beast hide and quietly listened to their reports.

"Welker, how was the search for a residence?"

"Young Master, Old Welker has already contacted a Knight who is preparing to move to Sage Province. He is willing to sell a small manor in Extreme Night City to you." Old Welker reported. Despite being an old man, he was brimming with energy after finding them a new home.

"Very good, what is the area like? Is the place enough to house all of us? How much is it?" Leylin asked.

"Please be at ease Young Master. Old Welker, I have gone to the manor and taken a look today. The area was very big and has no problem accommodating a hundred people. Moreover, there is even an oil palm forest, a fish pond, and a mill. Knight Victor originally built it according to a baron's standards. He never thought that it would change ownership this quickly. As for the price, Knight Victor has set it at 5000 gold coins!"

"It's not that expensive, gold coins aren't an issue!" Leylin twined his fingers. To a Magus, such earthly items as gold coins are insignificant. What they were concerned with were only magic crystals, high-grade ingredients, and the acquisition of remnant ancient knowledge.

Leylin had high-grade magic crystals of his own. Any one piece would be able to fetch a price far surpassing this amount of gold coins. However, Leylin was not prepared to do that. After all, magic crystals were rarer. If he really could not get the gold coins, then he would go borrow some from Murphy in exchange for a few potions–which was not a bad idea at all.

"Very well!" Let's take a look tomorrow. If the price and the area are both suitable, we can sign the contract immediately." Leylin nodded his head, saying, "Also, go walk the streets and scout something for me. Recently, the herbs available in Extreme Night City have decreased. There will definitely be many small-sized shops that can no longer manage and are about to close down. Go and look into them first!"

"Forgive me for asking, but Young Master, are you thinking of opening a herb shop? The permit for doing such business has rather strict requirements..." Fayern said.

"Regarding that, none of you have to worry. I have already made arrangements. The permit will be here in a few days."

Hearing this, Fayern and Old Welker were dazed. To be able to guarantee such a thing quite easily, Leylin's identity as a noble had already been confirmed.

"In Poolfield Kingdom, the nobility represents progress and hope!"

With this in mind, their gazes towards Leylin became more fervent.

Fayern silently clenched his fists. Being one of the few who could look ahead, he naturally knew that he could not work as a mercenary for much longer. Most of the mercenaries carried a lot of injuries and scars with to their graves knowing little enjoyment in their typically short lives. However, getting hired by this Sir Leylin as his private army could be the fastest way out of the trade.

A Banquet

The brilliant rays of the sun lit up the path with a golden light. Walking on it was like walking on a golden, paved road.

Today Leylin had especially changed into formal ceremonial attire. He had Greem personally drive the horse carriage to Murphy's villa.

Similarly, Murphy also wore formal attire and carried a black cane as he waited. After seeing Leylin, his wrinkled face revealed a joyous expression, "Welcome, my friend!"

"My apologies for being a little late!" Leylin opened the window and said.

"The agreed time isn't up yet, I just deliberately got out earlier!" Murphy got into the horse carriage with the help of his servant. With the crack of the whip, Greem drove the horse carriage towards the centre of the city.

"City lord's banquet is to be held today. He invited you too. After all, as the owner, he has developed a curiosity for any guest with strength…" Murphy left his sentence hanging.

"That's understandable!" Leylin answered. As someone who has control over a city, seeking Leylin out only after so many days since he had entered the city was somewhat surprising.

"Are you somewhat bored?" Murphy noticed Leylin's indifference.

"To be honest, I am not adept at these kinds of social interaction. Given a choice, I'd rather stay inside my experiment lab…" Leylin smiled wryly.

"Haha…"Murphy let off a benign laugh, "I felt exactly the same way when I was younger! However, you must learn to enjoy life, young man! Compared to tasteless experiments, delicacies and fervent, unrestrained women can sometimes lead you towards excitement!"

Leylin nodded his head. This was actually the difference between retired magicians and newly advanced ones.

Murphy has no way of advancing in the path of a Magus anymore, so he could only divert his enthusiasm towards other areas. As for Leylin, he still had a lot of options, so he naturally would make use of the time to cultivate–not waste it on such mundane matters.

"Brighten up kid!" There are several comrades I will introduce you to…." Murphy smiled lightly.

"Could they be…?" Leylin's eyes flashed.

"Indeed! They are acolytes like us, and they are all younger than me. You would have some common interests to talk about."

"I'm starting to look forward to this banquet now!" Leylin's lips curled up and smiled.

The city lord's castle was in the heart of Extreme Night City. Standing guard around it were two rows of fully equipped black-armoured arms men.

"Those are the Black Iron Guards of Extreme Night City's Lord, Viscount Jackson. They once defeated a 500-man army troop with roughly hundred men.

After alighting the horse carriage, Murphy introduced Leylin.

Leylin looked around. There were several other horse carriages in the vicinity. From time to time, gentlemen in lavish attire and ladies in low-cut ball gowns got down.

Murphy appeared to have quite a reputation amongst this circle of nobles based on the exuberant greetings Murphy happily responded to. They even chatted for a while before moving on.

Upon seeing Murphy, the guard at the door ran in immediately. Not long after, an extremely loud voice boomed from within.

"Murphy, my friend! You have finally arrived!" Accompanying the voice, a burly middle-aged man walked out of the castle. The nobles and troops around respectfully greeted him. This apparently was Viscount Jackson of Extreme Night City.

Leylin's height in the South Coast area was considered average, but this Viscount Jackson was actually taller than him by two heads. He had the classic western features and an extremely wide forehead. He even had extremely long sideburns.

Jackson gave Murphy a firm hug, "Little Jackson has always been asking about you!"

"I too miss that cute fellow. He is one of the smartest amongst all my students!" Murphy said.

"This is a good friend of mine from far away, Sire Leylin Farlier!" Murphy introduced Leylin to Viscount Jackson.

"Extreme Night City welcomes you!" Jackson sized up Leylin, and opened his broad shoulders, giving Leylin a hug.

Leylin's smile was somewhat stiff, which he quickly concealed.

Right at that moment, he was completely distracted by the stats shown by the A.I. Chip.

[Jackson. Strength: 7.9, Agility: 4.5, Vitality: 6.3, Spiritual force: 3.5. State: Healthy. This human is deemed as dangerous, it is strongly suggested that the Host maintain a distance of 50 metres from this person.]

"These stats can only belong to a Grand Knight!" Leylin's pupils shrank.

"The vitality of Grand Knights is extremely high. And, after constant activation and stimulation of their internal life energy, they have surpassed the bottleneck that held back most humans. Moreover, they have also developed a slight resistance to rank 0 spells." Leylin recalled a description he had read before.

"Very well! You should be a Knight too, right?" Lord Jackson was slightly astonished by Leylin's strength, and he looked upon Leylin now in a friendlier light.

"I only recently advanced, and am nowhere close to you!"

Leylin said humbly and ordered the A.I. Chip, "A.I. Chip! Show me a simulation if I were to fight against this city lord Jackson."

[Beep! Establishing parameters, inputting data, simulating battle scenario, predicting outcome….]

A large light screen flashed continuously, and the results: [Battle simulation complete. 50 metres and beyond, Host win rate is 89.8%. Between 20 to 50 metres, Host win rate is 58.7%. Below 20 metres, Host win rate is 33.9%!]

"As expected, the physical power of Grand Knights is extremely astounding. They are capable of closing the distance before a magician can cast a spell. If magicians do not try to stay out of range, they would be on the short end of the stick!"

Leylin's expression did not change as he walked together with Murphy into the castle's hall.

It was obvious that the large hall had been decorated for the occasion. The marbled floor was so smooth that it reflected the figures of people walking around on it.

A huge golden chandelier hung from the centre of the large hall. It was densely packed with lighted candles that shone through the surrounding coloured crystals letting out a colourful light.

At the side of this huge hall, was an orchestra of musicians wearing swallowtail coats and performing a slow enjoyable tune.

The area filled with long tables covered in white cloth. On these tables were gold and silver platters with various fruits and barbecued meat. On the side, there were even flasks and silver flagons, which emitted the strong aroma of wine.

Right in the centre was a huge open space where many of the nobility were waltzing to the music.

"It seems like a ball with a buffet on the side!" Leylin nodded his head.

"Go enjoy yourself! I'll have to say hello to a few old friends!" Murphy said to Leylin.

"Please do!" Leylin gestured with his head in assent. He then picked up a cup of grape wine and sat on a nearby sofa.

Not long after, he spotted Murphy together with a number of coquettish women in revealing outfits. They even entered a small side room, which made him rather speechless.

"He's so old and he still wants to pretend to be rather strong, can he even make it?"

"Do you mind if I sit beside you?" Just as Leylin was thinking such indecent thoughts, an elegant voice sounded beside him.

Leylin raised his head and saw a young lady wearing a purple gown. She a head of golden hair that fell to her shoulders like a waterfall; even her skin was a milky white.

Looking around, Leylin discovered that there was no one else near him. Leylin was quite good looking and kept himself well groomed, which naturally attracted a few young ladies.

"Of course, I don't mind!" Leylin smiled lightly and chatted happily with the young lady.

To him, the combination of his memories from a previous life and the memories of this body's previous owner made making a little girl happy an easy task.

Not long after, the young lady was completely enraptured by Leylin's made-up stories.

"Haha…Haha, running naked on the street? He actually did that?" The young lady completely lost her earlier elegance; she laughed almost uproariously without much of her former delicate demeanor. This drew a lot of curious stares from the people close by.

"Sorry to interrupt you Leylin! However, our friends are here!"

Murphy followed closely by several noble women with whom he had just tangled violently, walked over. Surprisingly, his attire was still extremely neat and tidy, which left Leylin rather shocked.

"Alright, I have to go!" Leylin made a helpless gesture and rose from the sofa.

"This…Sir! After talking for so long, I haven't asked for your name yet?" The young lady slapped her forehead.

"Leylin Farlier, just call me Leylin!"

"I…I'm Alicia, my house is located at Cecelia Main Street, 34. You're welcomed to come over to play anytime!"

"Haha, I never thought that you might be so sought after by ladies huh!" After the both of them left, Murphy made fun of Leylin.

"It's only a young lady who likes to listen to stories. Have they arrived?" Leylin asked.

"They're all here, followed me!"

Murphy said, and brought Leylin to a small room beside the dance hall.

There were several acolytes already waiting in the room. Leylin could sense that their energy waves made them either level 1 or level 2 acolytes.

Murphy obviously had the highest standing in this circle. When he entered, the acolytes all stood up to receive him.

"Alright!" Murphy swept his gaze around, "Let me introduce all of you to a new comrade! Leylin, he came from the west…."

After Leylin's self-introduction was over, he could not help but ask Murphy, "Would a gathering like this cause an issue?"

"No worries, Jackson has reared some Beastmen and their noses are more sensitive than a dog's. He already knew of our identities long ago. It's just that all of us do not mention it explicitly!"

An acolyte with acne spoke, picking up a silver flagon and drinking from it from time to time.

"Oh! Mayflower, my Mayflower!" At this moment, a guy's heavy panting sounded.

"Oh! Baby! So hot, so good!" A woman's murmuring groans followed soon after.

It seems like there was a couple in ardent passion in the room next door.

Black lines formed on Murphy's face. He promptly swung his hand and a faint energy membrane enveloped the room isolating the noise of the outside world. "This is an accident, an accident!" His old face actually reflected his embarrassment.

Leylin wanted to faint, and there was a voice that repeatedly echoed in his mind. "Alright! I really shouldn't harbour any hope toward this group of acolytes. They are all just a bunch of trash that has completely lost their motivation and prudence!"

Recording

Of course, on the surface, Leylin continued to pretend that he was naive as he began to converse in a friendly and amicable manner with this group of acolytes.

After the ball ended, the various horse carriages from different families set off. In a secret chamber within the city lord's castle, the Viscount Jackson that Leylin saw today was talking to his subordinate.

"Is it confirmed?"

"I have detected the smell of a Mysterious Entity on his body. It has also been confirmed that he is extremely young!" The person who replied was draped in black robes; tufts of yellow fur could be glimpsed growing on his face.

"He is different from those befuddled acolytes. I do not think he will be retiring at such a young age. No matter if he is hiding from enemies or is concealing some other motive, his appearance is not good news for us!" A worried expression flickered through Jackson's steely face.

"Please pardon my forthrightness! Although we are able to deal with a Mysterious Entity right now, if we draw the ire of the rest of them, then whatever gains we achieve would not make up for the losses we may incur!"

The Half-Beast Man said slowly.

"Indeed!" Jackson became quiet for some time before giving out an order, "Do not incur the wrath of the other party, but never let him out of your sight!"

"I understand!" The Half-Beast Man disappeared into the darkness….

Ever since the ball, Leylin's agenda progressed extremely quickly. First, he borrowed 4500 gold coins from Murphy to buy the villa.

Afterward, through the search done by Old Welker, Leylin chose a medicine shop that was about to close down but had a good geographic position. He took over it and obtained the shop permit.

With the unexpected enthusiastic help from the city lord's castle, many procedures were actually settled in a matter of days.

Of course, Leylin discovered a few spies loitering around the medicine shop and the villa. However, these secretive parties exercised restraint against Leylin, and only made basic surveillance measures, not insinuating their influence onto Leylin's people. So, Leylin was not too bothered by their presence either.

Through Murphy, he hired a few pharmacists. Once the minimum standards for managing the medicine shop were met, he then completely handed over the reins to his core personnel and buried himself in his magic experiments.

After some renovation, the Knight's villa looked even newer than when it was brand new.

Previously, the Knight stayed in a three storey high, white-brick loft. Now, Leylin chose the few really big rooms for his private use.

The largest of these was used as his bedroom while the rooms on both sides served as a study room and an experiment lab. After putting in place a few detection spells he had learned at Abyssal Bone Forest Academy as an early warning grid, he passed down strict orders to his subordinates that without his order, no one was access to these rooms.

As for Greem and Fraser, they were posted near the master bedroom, as guards.

Fayern and other mercenaries were all given guard duty that rotated between the villa and the medicine shop. Leylin also gave out notices that serious and hardworking people may purchase small tracts of land on his property in 3 years later, permanent residence being a possibility for qualified persons or families. This was a very strong motivation for normal mercenaries and farmers.

Occasionally, Leylin looked through the windows and saw the serious hardworking serious mercenaries and farmers at work.

Because he always stayed at the villa, apart from the occasional visit to Murphy's place, he rarely even went to the medicine shop. The rumors that were slowly spreading outside gained Leylin the reputation of a benevolent yet lazy villa owner.

"Young Master! The people from the medicine shop are here!" Anna's voice travelled through the door.

"Let them drop off the items in the living room and get Greem to move them to the experiment lab!" Leylin used his fingers to tap on the window pane, letting off a dull thudding noise.

"Your wish is my command!" The voice very soon was replaced with noises of things being moved about.

A dozen minutes later, Leylin came to the experiment lab.

Right now, the originally spacious experiment was littered with crates and a few wooden long tables. There were no windows in the room, and only a chandelier hung from the ceiling emitting a dim glow.

"Young Master! According to your orders, the medicine shop has acquired for you every type of herb that can be found in the market."

Anna lifted her dress and curtseyed. She turned around and opened a red wooden crate revealing stacks of tied roots and stems, as well as many other herbs of indeterminate quantity and type. On the side of each stack or bundle was stuck a yellow paper note indicating the names of these herbs.

"Also, these are all the formulas that normal pharmacists own. They are only to normal humans.

Anna handed over yet another stack of dark yellow parchment notes.

Leylin's eyes skimmed over these and placed the list on one of the long tables.

"All of you may leave! Anna, stay behind!" Leylin waved towards Greem and his assistants.

Greem bowed and strode through the large heavy door, closing it behind him.

With a huge clang, the experiment lab's lighting turned even dimmer.

Leylin's brows furrowed. He took out a white coloured rock from his sack.

He then pressed his fingers lightly on the rock and a layer of bright white light radiated from it.

This was a Sunlight Rock. It is an item that magicians normally use during their travels. Slight radiation energy is contained in it that can let out a bright light for a prolonged period of time.

However, this radiation was extremely small and could only be used for illumination.

"This is much brighter than before!" Leylin was very satisfied as he looked at his well-lit surroundings. He then said to Anna, "Store the herbs well, and arrange them in an orderly fashion on the experiment table!"

"Yes." Anna hurried with her task.

Leylin casually picked up a purple coloured fruit. This fruit was the size of a thumb It had lost all the water contained on its surface, thus its wrinkly exterior. Its weight was extremely light too.

"According to the medicine books delivered yesterday, this is the Warter Fruit, a type of fruit that grows in swamps."

Leylin placed a finger on the surface of the fruit, "A.I. Chip! Extract data and save it in your databanks!"

Right now he no longer had to ingest the herbs. He could determine their medicinal properties with a mere touch.

[Beep! Data extraction in progress!]

In Leylin's field of vision, the A.I. Chip overlaid a light blue screen, with many numbers and figures that changed constantly.

[Name: Warter Fruit. The area produced: Swamps. Uses: Mild poisonous properties with a numbing effect. Data stored!]

The A.I. Chip's voice intoned before a second had gone by.

"Very good. Again!" Leylin picked up another dried stem.

This was one of the reasons why Leylin had opened a medicine shop. Through his years of being an apprentice under Kroft, he recorded almost all the herbs used by Potioneering Masters, storing it into the A.I. Chip's data banks.

However, those were special ingredients used by the Magi. As for herbs used by normal people, the A.I. Chip had no record of them. He now had to fill these missing bits of information.

Moreover, Leylin obtained two ancient potion formulas from his mentor and wanted to find substitutes for them. This could only be accomplished through innumerable experimentation and the consumption of huge amounts of precious and rare herbs. Even if Leylin had the A.I. Chip, he could not get around this step in the process.

With such a vast undertaking, Leylin could see no end to the task at hand even if he expended all his magic crystals.

However, if some ingredients could be substituted with herbs used by normal humans, he could economise by a huge margin.

"Although this might just be a daydream, the advantage was the potential savings a successful substitution promised. No matter how many experiments, it would still be considered a favorable exchange. Thus, by utilising the terrifying processing capabilities of the A.I. Chip, there is a glimmer of hope.

Leylin's gaze was resolute, "Anyway, no matter how many ingredients I consume, they are just ingredients used by normal humans. I only need to spend some gold coins to be able to buy them again. This is much better than spending magic crystals!"

As for the investigation he commissioned, it had long since been tossed to the back of Leylin's mind.

After all, there were still two odd years of time and as long as he fully carried it out within these two years his mission would be counted as accomplished.

Even if the mission were to fail, because Kroft was his teacher, the worst punishment would be a fine a few magic crystals. Hence, Leylin was not the least bit worried.

Time slowly passed, and the experiment lab became quiet. There were only the occasional scraping noises Anna made when placing herbs on the table.

Two days later, only Leylin remained in the lab. His face had a happy glow to it.

[3217 types of herbs successfully stored in the databank. Would you like to create a separate folder?]

The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

"No! Combine them with the earlier record we made of some normal ingredients, establish a folder using the name "Compendium of ordinary ingredients"! Leylin ordered.

[Folder created…transferring relevant simulation models into the databank]

"Alright, next will be an analysis of the various combinations of medicinal properties. This is a huge project, even with the simulation I must still carry out experiments to verify the actual data and increase the probability of getting the results I desire."

Leylin thought.

"Young Master, it's time for dinner." Anna's muted voice sounded through the door.

"Okay, I'm coming out." When it was time to work, he worked; and when it was time to rest, he rested. This was his principle for living. He would seldom do things like neglect food and rest to conduct more experiments, unlike other magicians.

To him, along the path of pursuing truth, appropriate rest was allowed.

Leylin smiled and tidied up the experiment table before leaving the lab.

"When I am conducting important experiments, I will hang a sign on the door. At that time, do not interrupt me no matter how many days I stay inside. Do you understand?" Leylin told Anna who was serving him.

"I'll do as you bid, Young Master."

"And what's for dinner?" Leylin walked towards one side of the room. Although many masters practiced eating some meals together with their subordinates, this did not fit the customs of the Magi. So Leylin ate alone most of the time.

Several plates of food covered with hemispherical cloche tableware were arranged on a serving platter and placed on a small, round and white-colored table.

"It's veal with purple vegetable soup and apple strawberry pie!" Anna said lightly, lifted the cover. A strong appetising aroma permeated the air.

"Not bad!" Leylin nodded his head as he let Anna place a napkin around his neck. He picked up the knife and dinner fork and began to eat.

"Also, remember to remind me tomorrow to set aside an hour of my time every day for Knight training!"

Leylin said to Anna, having suddenly recalled something. He had already ignited his internal life energy. As a Knight, he only needed to train some more to get his various stats above 3. Although Leylin planned to walk the path of a Magus, he had nothing to lose by increasing his stats.

Hove Violet Leaves

The cold winter breeze was blowing and a bone-piercing chill permeated the air.

On a small field, Leylin was practising his cross-blade techniques while half-naked.

The muscles on his chest had become more defined. Although not very prominent, they were very robust, exuding a sense of vitality.

Forward! Uppercut! Pierce! Every move was a flawless, textbook-perfect execution.

After Leylin finished his training, Anna– who was observing from the side– hurriedly ran forward and handed him a white towel.

Leylin dried his sweat and called his stats onto his visual field.

[Leylin Farlier, level 2 acolyte, Knight. Strength: 3.1, Agility: 3.3, Vitality:: 3.2, Spiritual force: 4.7, Magical Power: 4.0. Status: Healthy]

"A.I. Chip, what is the progress from today's training?"

[Assessment in progress! Host's internal life energy has been raised to the maximum, further increase is not possible at the moment!] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

"This day has finally arrived!" Leylin exclaimed, "Being able to maximize these stats was already good enough. Even if I were to spend more time, I will not necessarily gain anything more. From now on his Knight training could be put on hold. After all, I just need to practice my blade skills in the future, so they don't get rusty. With the A.I. Chip, this is no challenge at all."

After the early morning Knight training ended, Leylin took a brief respite and waited until he was fully recovered before burying his head in more experiments.

Within the lab, Leylin placed a violet leaf into a beaker and added to it one spatula of a green-black, ink-like solution. He then lit a flame underneath the beaker.

The bright yellow fire continuously licked the bottom of the beaker, and purple bubbles began to froth.

"A.I. Chip! Record this down. Test 145, items of substitution: Hove Violet Leaves, Ninuo Root."

[Record complete.] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned as it recorded in detail the various medicinal properties and reactions obtained through the experiment.

In this span of time, Leylin had already conducted more than a hundred experiments and made use of the A.I. Chip's simulation feature over tens of thousands of times.

"This is the moment! I have a very strong premonition that it'll be successful this time."

As he murmured to himself, Leylin glanced at the volatile, green- and purple-coloured mixture.

Using normal human herbs as ingredients to synthesize the medicinal properties of magic herbs just seemed to be a fantasy, besides there were countless hurdles to overcome.

Although these experiments required ingredients that could be bought with gold coins, some magic ingredients were still needed to catalyse certain aspects of the experiment.

These were all magic ingredients that Leylin had acquired from the Magus Market. He had now almost used up all of them all.

Without the A.I. Chip simulating a large proportion of his experiments, Leylin's rate of consumption would far outstrip his current rate.

Synthesizing a few important ingredients could already dry up Leylin's resources.

* Crash! *

The violet leaf in the beaker completely dissolved and the green coloured liquid became more translucent.

"This is it!" Leylin eyes widened. He picked up a glass rod and stirred in a counterclockwise direction at the same time extending a thread of spiritual force carefully into the contents of the beaker through the glass rod.

As the seconds became minutes, Leylin's face grew more and more solemn. A few beads of sweat even began to form on his forehead.

* Ding Ling Ling! * A crisp ringing sounded from the beaker. At the heart of the faint green liquid, many black wormlike dots appeared and began continuously extending themselves in all directions.

Leylin's expression did not change and his hands were as quick as a phantom, as he took a red-coloured pearl– lying on a petri dish nearby– and added it to the ongoing reaction.

* Pi Pa! * As the pearl was tossed inside, the black dots in the beaker quickly retreated and the faint green liquid became fainter and fainter, completely turning transparent.

[Beep! Azure Potion main ingredient substitution succeeded! Assessed as capable of standing in for 45.8% of the main ingredient's medicinal properties.]

This prompt was extremely pleasing to Leylin's ears.

"After combining several conjectures into tens of thousands of the A.I. Chip's simulations, I have finally succeeded!" A corner of Leylin's lips quirked up into a smile and he clenched his fist tightly.

At the same time, Leylin deeply lamented about the fact even though he was a Potioneering Master, it was difficult to modify formulas.

He had the original formula, and the A.I. Chip to run simulations for him. This saved a lot of time and ingredients. Even so, he took this long to successfully modify the formula. Instead, if it was his Senior Merlin, he might not even be able to afford the cost of the ingredients, and that also true for the powerful family that supported him behind the scenes.

Squandering precious ingredients for a gamble with a chance of less than one in ten thousand was simply illogical to the typical Magus.

Moreover, during the process of experimentation, each failure would be an agonizing psychological burn that would singe the psyche of a Potioneering Master, day and night. If one could actually change the formula, then that would be out of pure luck, even for Potioneering Grandmasters who had abundant experiences and skill.

However, once the formula was changed, it would lead to huge profits, especially for a potion that could raise spiritual force.

"A.I. Chip! If I were to substitute the original ingredients, how much will the retained effect be?"

[Comparison in progress. Databank information is insufficient. Establishing conjecture. Simulating…Beep! The new formula will retain roughly 35.4% of the original's effectiveness.]

"This is on the low side, but I have no choice. The substituted ingredients are mainly normal ones even commoners can obtain. Quantity can compensate whatever is lacking in quality."

Leylin analysed the pros and cons of the new Azure Potion, "Based on this, the price could be in excess of 100,000 magic crystals. A pity, this formula was achieved with my current stats. For other people, the effect would be extremely hard to predict. Moreover, the procedures are extremely complicated and some steps are impossible to do without the A.I. Chip. Other Potioneering Masters, will definitely fail many times when brewing this potion."

In fact, it was clear to Leylin that even if he became an official Magus, once others became aware of this formula, he would not be able to hold onto it. After all, the ingredients for this new spiritual force formula could be bought in mass amounts. It would be game-changing for the lower levels of the various academies and factions. None of them would willingly let go of such an opportunity.

After making up his mind, he burned the formula completely into his memory. The potions he would brew would only be for personal consumption. Leylin then tidied up all traces of his experiments, before stepping through the door of the experiment lab.

"Young Master." Anna, who was dozing on a chair nearby, got up in a hurry.

"Housekeeper Welker has been looking for you for two hours. There appears to be some crisis at the medicine shop!"

"Oh? Let him come to my study after dinner!" Leylin took off the soiled, sterile robe designed especially for his experiments and changed into more casual soft clothing.

"Apart from Welker, are there any other recent incidents?"

Leylin lounged on a nearby sofa. On the table beside it were purple grape-like fruits and some red berries, which Leylin usually liked to eat.

"Knight Fraser came over earlier and said that the reward mission you commissioned has some developments!"

Although Leylin did not give a high priority to the academy's mission, some superficial work still had to be done. He, thus, issued a mission notice to the mercenaries and adventurers of Extreme Night City to scout the situation within the depths of the Dark Night Woods, the reward being 1000 gold pieces. It seems that the mission notice was beginning to bear fruit.

After dinner, Leylin received Old Welker and Fraser in his study.

Fraser wore leather armour and was as robust as ever. As for Old Welker, he looked careworn and his body had hunched over.

Old Welker bowed towards Leylin, "Respected Young Master, our earnings from the medicine shop this month is…."

"No need for that!" Leylin leaned against the study table behind him and waved his hands interrupting Old Welker's speech, "Pass down instructions to buy all Hove Violet Leaves, Ninuo Roots, and Three Flowered Snake Fruits…."

"Then Young Master, how many of them are we buying?"

"All!"

"All?" Old Welker raised his head and looked at Leylin in astonishment.

"That's right. The three ingredients that I've stated, you must buy all of them in the market, and store them at the villa." Leylin remained indifferent as he said this.

"But…may I remind the Young Master, the medicine shop business is not doing well, together with the herbs that Young Master purchased from time to time, our balance books right now are already in a precarious state…." If not for the villa forking out gold coins all the time, the shop would have been bankrupt by now– this was something, though, that Old Welker did not dare to voice out so he kept it to himself.

"I know that, but you must remember this. If the gold coins are not sufficient, you may take more from Anna. These purchases must not be discontinued. These are my standing orders." Leylin steepled his fingers. Although he was approximately 15 years old, he could apparently impose his will.

"Al….Alright! I got it." A layer of cold sweat beaded Old Welker's forehead. He immediately bowed then left.

He was not the same as Anna and the three men who were aware of Leylin's identity. It was only natural that he was a little apprehensive about the way Leylin handled financial matters.

However, for Leylin, the only reason he set up a household was to serve his own purposes and to help him with miscellaneous tasks such as the collection of ingredients. So the loss of some gold coins was no big deal.

Anything and everything was to pave the way for his progress to become a Magus. Everything else was a nuisance.

"Although I have walked the path of a Magus, it is just to obtain freedom and a worry-free life. It is a pity, though, that my current strength is far from enough."

Leylin sighed deeply. He appeared to have become a person of consequence within Extreme Night City, largely owing to his having a villa and servants. However, for Magi, such things were illusory soap bubbles that could completely vanish with a gentle tap.

The collateral damage of a battle between any two official Magi would definitely be a deadly situation for the current Leylin.

What was the point of fleeting comfort when life or death was not entirely guaranteed?

"More importantly, if the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was totally defeated, then Sage Gotham's Hut would perhaps classify all of the faculty and students of the academy as fugitives. I would have to abandon everything and flee."

"In this chaotic era, only one's own strength can ensure freedom."

Brey Canyon

After Old Welker left, only Leylin and Fraser remained in the room.

The Knight knew of Leylin's status as a magician, so Leylin's attitude was a little more lax too.

Half lying on the recliner, Leylin's eyes squinted, "What is the update on the withering woods?"

Fraser lowered his head to signify his respect, as he said, "Respected Young Master, according to your orders, I sent many scouts out to reconnoiter the withering woods. At the price of 1 dead and 2 seriously injured, I finally uncovered some clues."

Recent events at the withering woods had led to a direct decrease in herb harvesting. As of this moment, several huge factions had also sent scouts with the same intent. But even after having sent many scouts, they were all ambushed.

According to a few eyewitnesses, they had suffered from some ridiculous attacks from a black entity within the woods. So far, it was only known that that entity was an extremely swift monster. Apart from that description, nothing else was known.

"Go on." Leylin's voice was extremely calm.

"One bandit was finally able to see clearly what that monster looked like, during one of its ambushes. This is the sketch he drew."

The Knight handed over a sketch to Leylin.

Leylin took a look. On the sketch paper was a kind of four-legged, snake-like creature. Its body was littered with scales, it had a forked tongue, and on its crown was a small horn.

"What else did the bandit say?" Leylin asked.

"He said that this creature was about two metres in length. Its whole body was a yellowish-brown and it was extremely fast." Fraser added.

"It had such an appearance?" Leylin said as hurriedly recalled an illustrated handbook of unusual creatures he had seen back at the academy, "It's rather similar to the Blue Lizard, but the colour is not right. It also appears to be similar to a snake-type!"

"However, the fact that a few scouts were able to escape shows that this creature is not very dangerous. A level 2 acolyte should be able to deal with it." Leylin calmed down.

At the moment, though, he still did not have any intention of settling this personally. Apart from the potion experiments entering a crucial stage, the withering woods event had not been investigated fully. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Leylin would not risk his life for unknown dangers.

"Pass these orders down. No matter who, as long as they can capture or slay this creature, I will reward them with 2000 gold pieces! Also, any materials from the creature, be it scales, blood, skin or horn, I will give an additional 200 gold pieces for them."

Leylin said blandly.

"Yes, Milord, allow me to issue these mission orders." Fraser bowed.

"Go." Leylin waved his hands. Fraser bowed again before striding off.

...

Three days later, east of Extreme Night City, in a small canyon.

Leylin wore black robes and walked on the mountainous path along the canyon. Against a person like him with all of the stats above 3, these obstructions were not an issue at all. He trotted on as if taking a leisurely walk in his backyard.

Behind him followed an armoured Greem, who also wore a mask with his helmet to conceal his appearance.

"We're here! Brey Canyon Market!" Leylin said softly as he felt the energy waves fluctuating in the vicinity.

This market was on the map that Bicky had given to Leylin. It was situated close to Extreme Night City and served as a resource exchange point. Previously when Leylin chose the mission, part of his intent was to visit this market.

"Halt!" A girl's voice rang. Leylin turned towards the direction of the voice. He discovered a little girl, riding a mountain goat, moving towards them.

The mountain goat's four hooves skipped and hopped along the cliff. It actually moved very quickly, reaching Leylin's side in a few moments.

"You are a magician?" The little girl sized up Leylin and asked indifferently.

"Yes, I am a wandering magician. I wish to enter the market. This is my servant!" Leylin pointed to Greem behind him.

"This servant's strength has already reached that of a Knight's? You're strong!" The little girl gave a thumbs up, "The fee is 1 magic crystal each for you and your servant. If you think that's expensive then he can wait outside."

"No need for that!" Leylin took out 2 magic crystals and handed it over to the girl.

"I wish to know where in this canyon I can obtain the latest information!" Leylin asked casually.

"You're new here, aren't you? In here, I have the most updated news!" The little girl smugly tilted her head up and her face had an expression that said, "You may beg me for it."

Leylin was rather speechless. From the A.I. Chip's scan, this little girl was a level 3 acolyte. Her strength was actually higher than Murphy's. She was definitely no longer a youth, appearances aside. It was hard to figure out why she maintained the countenance of a child.

"Could this respected guardian tell me what the price would be in order to obtain some news?" Leylin bowed slightly.

"You are rather pleasing to my eyes, so 1 news item in return for 1 magic crystal!" The little girl put on an expression that looked as if she thought highly of Leylin.

"Alright then!" Leylin smiled wryly and handed over a magic crystal.

"What is the progress of the war at Abyssal Bone Forest Academy?"

"Recently, magicians who bought news from me have also enquired about this." The little girl scratched her head, "According to the latest updates from yesterday, Abyssal Bone Forest Academy still persists due to their reliance on their magic spell formation. acolyte fatalities have not been low, however.

Upon saying this, the little girl murmured, "Calm down! Calm down! The war's conflagration will not extend to here. There aren't even that many reliable resource points in this place, so how can it attract the attention of the academies. Only acolytes might come here occasionally."

"I know that. Then do you know the reason for this war?" Leylin handed yet another magic crystal.

The little girl hurriedly took it, "Who knows? It seemed to be for a sceptre or some jewel…."

"So it's like this!" Leylin nodded his head, indicating he had nothing more to ask.

"Young man, I hope you find what you need in this canyon, without any problems!" The little girl waved her hands and patted the goat she rode. It resumed its hopping, and very soon they disappeared from his sight and into the canyon.

"Let us also go in!" Leylin said to Greem behind him.

Coming to the canyon this time, Leylin was on an extremely tight schedule. A number of his experiments have reached a crucial stage. The modified Azure Potion formula was also nearing completion.

It was a pity that some of the magic ingredients he stockpiled before had been depleted. He, thus, had no choice but to venture from his home.

"Soon! I only need to complete the supplementary ingredients, and then begin to try brewing the Azure Potion. By then my spiritual force, which has been slowly increasing, will receive a huge boost!" Leylin eyes seemed to glow with fire.

Following the narrow route along the precipice, Leylin carefully entered the depths of the ravine. In this resource exchange point, the stores were all set up within the holes that dotted the cliff, a little like the caves of primitive men.

Leylin walked into a potions shop called "Langford's Potions". The cave was extremely dark, only a few rocks radiating green light illuminated it.

These rocks seemingly made every item inside the cave emanate a green glow making the scene look extremely gloomy.

"Hehehe! What do you want?" A dark and sorrowful laughter could be heard.

From behind the counter, an old dwarf walked out. His face was full of wrinkles, was bald and most of his teeth had fallen off too.

"I require 20 standard servings each of Tendril Leaves, Water Crystal Fruits and Dragon-Eyed Grapeseed!"

Leylin enunciated slowly.

"Oh!" The old dwarf stood rooted to the floor not moving, "These are all potion ingredients and their prices will not be ordinary! Are you a Potioneering Master?"

"That does not seem to concern you in any way." Leylin's brows furrowed, this old geezer's attitude made him rather displeased.

"Young man! Could it be that no one taught you to respect the elderly?" The dwarf geezer smiled and the pupils of his eyes seemed to swirl continuously.

[Warning! Warning! The target's body is radiating magical energy waves!] The A.I. Chip's alert sounded.

Greem who was behind Leylin fell without making a sound.

"Damn it!" Leylin cursed. A few acolytes and even official Magi, because of getting injured while advancing or due to being contaminated by radiation from experimenting, caused them to become mentally unstable. They often exhibited craziness. Obviously, Leylin met one such today.

According to the A.I. Chip's scan, the dwarf opposite him was a level 2 acolyte, but his spiritual force was much higher than Leylin's.

The magical power in Leylin's body circulated, allowing him to escape from the old geezer's spell, "An Illusionary spell? Doesn't seem like it! It should be some passive spell if it's like this!"

Leylin's robes shook, and a fire red potion was now in his hands. His whole body let off a very dangerous feeling.

"Hahaha…Just like this! Just like this! Death is beautiful, and is descending upon us soon!" The dwarf geezer laughed manically and danced in joy.

"This person has gone completely crazy!" Leylin got ready to throw the explosive potion in his hands, and to find an escape route.

He did not want to engage in a broil with a madman without cause nor reason. Besides, winning will not net him any gains.

"That's enough, Langford!" Just when the dwarf geezer was preparing another spell, a voice travelled over. It was the guardian, the voice of the little girl who rode the mountain goat.

"Marissa! I've had enough of you!" The dwarf geezer howled loudly, and he made an incantation. Black coloured smoke congealed in his hands forming a massive black ball.

The surrounding shelves that held various ingredients were on the verge of collapse under the energy waves emitted by the black ball.

"Damn it! Langford's time is here again. Which one of you can help me?" The little girl's voice travelled over again, this time sounding rather exasperated.

"Foos!" "Ocker!"

Two extremely short incantations travelled over and gave Leylin a shock, "They're all level 3 acolytes! I heard that not only can the spiritual force of level 3 acolytes support a few rank 0 spells, they have also grasped the technique of phrase casting, which shortens incantations to a few syllables achieving near instantaneous casting."

After the few syllables were cast, many green vines appeared within the cave. Some of the huge vines held Langford's hands and feet together.

Langford roared continuously. He prepared to toss the black-coloured smoke ball out.

At that moment, a red coloured arrow ripped through the air and flew directly at the heart of the ball.

* Poof! * The surroundings let off a light ring as the black smoke and the red arrow continued to counteract each other before finally disappearing into nothingness.

"A positive energy arrow." Leylin's pupils contracted, "The level 3 acolyte who struck from the outside, no matter their battle ability or spell comprehension, they have far surpassed me!"

Modified Potion

"What are you guys doing? Put me down quickly!"

At this moment, Langford, who was trapped, transformed rapidly.

The maniacal look on his face vanished, and his eyes showed sanity. The originally bald head had grown a large amount of green hair that quickly extended to his ankles.

"Look his hair is already growing, it seems like he has regained his sanity!" The little girl's voice rang out and the green vines were retracted.

"Langford! You actually did not master anticipating when your episodes of insanity would trigger. You even broke the rules of the canyon by startling our customer! You better obtain our guest's forgiveness. Otherwise, you will be chased out of this place!"

Two voices gradually left, and Leylin did not see the other two level 3 acolytes, even after the battle had ended. Moreover, even the interior of the cave remained unharmed.

Upon noticing that something was amiss, the dwarf hurriedly bowed before Leylin, "My apologies, Sir! Due to some mental strain, there are times when I'm unable to control myself. I hope you will allow me to make amends for the inconvenience I caused."

Langford was a little dispirited, "Earlier I really thought I had the timing down. Alas, I never anticipated that it would flare up more often than before, who knows if I really have to move out…."

Leylin too did not know how to react in this situation. He could only say, "Then please wake my servant up. Also, hurry and bring the ingredients I requested!"

"Of course!" The dwarf geezer dragged his long shaggy hair and stood in front of Greem. He lifted Greem's eyelid to have a look, "Your servant has only fainted temporarily. He will recover after a short rest!"

He then took some brown coloured powder from his robes and made Greem swallow them. Not long after, the burly fellow woke up.

Langford then brought out a small box and handed it to Leylin, "To compensate for your trouble. Furthermore, I can give you a 50% discount!"

"…" Leylin was a little speechless, but he still handed the magic crystals to the geezer and gave the box to Greem for him to carry before he bade farewell.

As they said their goodbyes, Langford bowed deeply again, "If you still wish to trade with me, please remember, only when my hair has grown past my ankle, will I be in a period of sanity. The rest of the time, avoid me for the time being.

Leylin nodded his head and left the canyon with Greem.

Originally, he was in a mood to browse around. However, after this incident, he had completely lost interest. Who knew if there were other crazy people in this canyon.

The path of a Magus is treacherous, each failure in advancement–be it through an experiment or as a side effect of spell radiation–can cause irreversible damage to those involved, even costing them their lives sometimes.

Adding prolonged longevity and immense power, over time a Magus' character would undergo some kind of change; some may even develop mental problems.

Leylin thought of Langford and the two level 3 acolytes who had rendered their assistance. The feeling they gave Leylin was completely different from that of the acolytes of Extreme Night City.

To put things in perspective, it was like a pack of wolves against lambs.

"It seems like real magicians very seldom prefer to stay around humans, and they predominantly stay in rural areas.

Seeing the might of those two level 3 acolytes today made Leylin somewhat more zealous, "Once I have successfully brewed the Azure Potion, I too can quickly advance to that level!"

...

In the lab, under the brilliant light, Leylin took and stared at a test tube from the table. It continuously bubbled with blue froth.

With extremely firm hands, he shook it according to a mysterious rhythm.

The blue bubbles in the test tube continued to froth upwards then vanish as it reached the brim.

[The reaction in the potion has become extremely stable, and is estimated to exceed the threshold in 3 Minutes 24 Seconds!] The A.I. Chip's observation alerted.

After reporting this condition, a timer at a bottom corner of Leylin's visual field started the countdown.

When the countdown reached 0, Leylin immediately used the ancient Byron language and muttered an incantation, "This is the azure blue ocean, come! My little babies!"

His other hand immediately dropped some of the blue crystals he was holding, into the test tube.

* Weng Weng! * The test tube started to tremble.

A few streaks of a brilliant blue light flew out of its mouth and rotated around it turning into little blue coloured mermaids.

These little mermaids had a girl's torso and were only the size of Leylin's thumb. On their chests hung two shell pieces while the bottom half of their body was that of a fish's tail. At this moment, they were holding hands together, circling the test tube, singing, and dancing.

Their sweet distinct elegant voices sang and it reverberated within the room strumming on Leylin's heartstrings.

"The final step! Resist the alluring voices of the mermaids!" Leylin's expression tightened.

Rumours had it that the singing voices of mermaids not only have terrifying bewitching energy, but these voices were also used to prey on sailors in the deep seas. Many suspected these mermaids as main culprits behind the creation of ghost ships!

Right now, Leylin felt a strong impulse to throw everything he owned to the side, and dive straight into the ocean.

"This is only an illusion. It only has the 10% of an actual mermaid's might. If these were real or were cast by mermaid Magi, what would the effects be?" Leylin clenched his teeth and gave off a layer of grey-black light from his body deflecting these voices.

"Manse!" After waiting for roughly 30 seconds, Leylin suddenly blurted out a word.

* Chi Chi! * Black coloured needles appeared piercing through the chests of those little mermaids.

Agonised expressions could be seen on the pretty faces of the mermaids. Suddenly, they dissolved and turned into a few drops of blue liquid that returned into the test tube.

Huge amounts of bubbles, crystals and the drops of liquid rapidly merged and at that instant turned into a test tube half filled with a dark blue potion.

* Crash! Leylin shook the test tube lightly. From within the test tube came the crashing sound like that of great surging waves in an ocean.

[The modified Azure Potion has been brewed successfully.] The A.I. Chip indicated.

"A.I. Chip, how potent is this potion compared to the original formulation?" Leylin asked.

[Beep! Collecting the vapours. Analysing and comparing data… Estimated to have 33% of the original potion's effect.]

Although the previous estimate was 35.4%, there would be some minute differences during the actual brewing. Furthermore, it was the first time he did this experiment, so achieving this effect made Leylin very content.

"A pity that the consumptions of Hove Violet Leaves for this process is too high!" Leylin looked at the remnants of the Hove Violet Leaves lying on the side.

Only the essence from the middle of a whole piece of Hove Violet Leaf could be used for the potion. Apart from that, many complicated steps also had to be accomplished resulting in the high consumption rate.

He estimated that even after Welker bought all of the ingredients available, it would only allow Leylin to brew the potion another 30 to 40 times.

"Now, I wonder what the effects of this ancient potion are?"

Leylin's eyes flashed in anticipation. He directly walked to an empty space and sat cross-legged on the floor. He then poured the Azure Potion into his mouth.

"It's a little bitter, and has a rather fish-like odour." The muscles on Leylin's face twitched, "The palate of these ancient Magi was just so-so…."

"According to the A.I. Chip's calculations, the best complement to potions that increase spiritual force is meditation!"

Leylin thought of this before completely entering into a meditative mode.

This time, the meditations effect was very obviously different from before. With a vague concept of time, Leylin felt like he was in the middle of an azure blue ocean and boundless blue sea water squeezed his middle almost suffocating him.

When seen from the outside, the muscles on Leylin's handsome face twitched, and drops of sweat continuously dripped out.

Almost two hours later, Leylin abruptly opened both of his eyes.

"Phew! The feeling from meditating like this is several times more uncomfortable than before!" Leylin shook his head.

The meditation of an acolyte, more often than not, led to exhaustion afterwards. However, right now Leylin felt his whole body aching, especially his brain, which felt like someone took a large metal hammer and kept smashing it. Even now he was somewhat dizzy.

"A.I. Chip. Display my stats." Leylin ordered.

Immediately, a blue screen appeared before Leylin and showed a stream of numbers.

[The Host's spiritual force has been detected as undergoing a rapid rise!] [Host is under the influence of an unknown, spiritual force increasing by 0.01] [spiritual force increasing by 0.01] [The meditative state is deepening. Effect optimised. spiritual force increasing by 0.03] [spiritual force has reached the threshold, increasing by 0.05]

...

[Meditative state ended, Host's stats undergoing change. Strength: 3.1, Agility: 3.3, Vitality: 3.2, Spiritual force: 4.9, Magic Power: 4.0. Status: Healthy]

Rows of data were displayed, and Leylin discovered at the end that his spiritual force had increased by 0.2.

"This figure!" Leylin's eyes widened, "If the original ingredients were used, doesn't that mean that I can increase the spiritual force by about 0.7 at a time! It is indeed worthy to be called an ancient potion. Even for official Magi, this is a pretty good outcome!"

"A.I. Chip, assuming there are enough potions on hand, how much time will I need to reach 7 spiritual force points?" Leylin asked.

[Inputting effect of Azure Potion, establishing simulation, factoring tolerance principle, calculation in progress….]

The A.I. Chip began calculating, dozens of seconds later, the A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

[According to the Host's resistance to medicinal properties, it is estimated that the Host will achieve 7 spiritual force points after two months!]

The necessary conditions to advance to level 3 acolyte was to have mastery over at least 2 spell models, a spiritual force of 7 and to use a reactive elixir.

Leylin had gotten the spell models and reactive elixirs long ago. What kept him back was this spiritual force bottleneck.

"A pity, though! The success rate for brewing the Azure Potion is extremely horrifying. Even if it's me, I will at most succeed one out of ten times!"

"Hove Violet Leaves. I need huge amounts of Hove Violet Leaves. If it cannot be done, I must organise a trading party to acquire them from other cities."

Leylin clenched his teeth. His eyes revealed obvious desire.

"Young Master!" As he walked out from the lab, Anna, who was waiting outside, greeted him immediately.

"Pass these orders down. From now on, our establishment will cease all operations and devote all resources towards purchasing Hove Violet Leaves. Moreover, Fraser is to make a trip to nearby cities to acquire them!" Leylin's expression was extremely grim.

"Yes!" This was the first time Anna had seen this side of Leylin, so she hurriedly retreated.

Mutated Organism

The bitter cold of winter passed, and the weather began to get warmer.

Standing on the villa, Leylin could already see the minuscule green dots from afar. On nearby fields, there were even farmers laboriously working.

"A year has passed unknowingly; I am already 15 years old now!" Leylin's hands pressed on the windowsill, and his eyes seemed to be disconcerted.

All of the Hove Violet Leaves available in Extreme Night City had been bought by him. With continuous brewing, he managed to get 5 Azure Potions, bringing his spiritual force to 5.8.

Unfortunately, any potion, when used excessively, would produce a resistance towards it, and the effects would be reduced over time. Originally, he had estimated that his spiritual force would reach a value of 5.9 with the resources available. However, in reality, it fell short by 0.1 without any apparent cause.

"Right now, I can only place my hopes on Fraser and the rest who have gone to neighbouring cities to purchase the ingredient."

Leylin rested by the windowsill. He stretched his hands and plucked a bunch of red berries from the table munching on them as snacks.

"Compared to other acolytes, however, my progress is akin to flying. After all, even the heir of a large family cannot use potions endlessly. What's more, these are precious potions that could increase spiritual force."

Within a month, Leylin already chased up to the fifth-grade acolytes who had pulled away from him over a year ago.

"It's fortunate that I'm outside the academy. Only then am I able to pursue my experiments without fearing of the consequences, and use potions such as these!" Leylin was suddenly rejoicing over the benefits that the war brought him.

"However, even if the war ends now, I wouldn't dare go back. I must, at least, wait until the 3 years mission duration is up. Only then will my excuse be plausible.

At that moment, Leylin estimated that he would already be a level 3 acolyte. Apart from the professors, he would be considered to have power, and would be regarded as a more important member. Moreover, with these years as cover, he would have enough time to think up a few explanations to cover his tracks.

"Master! An emissary from the city lord has arrived with an invitation." Anna knocked on the door, entering only after getting Leylin's permission.

Because of some Magus' doings, her face looked as youthful as ever, never changing.

"An invitation?" Leylin was a little skeptical. He did not have many relations with Viscount Jackson all this while.

After looking the missive over, "A gathering? On the invitation, it was specifically stated that Murphy and his circle of people were invited, which are all acolytes!"

Leylin surmised, "Could it be? Some mysterious thing has happened that requires the help of magicians?"

"Anna, prepare a horse carriage and a set of formal clothes for me. I have to leave for a while."

Leylin said this without giving it another thought. Towards the Grand Knight, Viscount Jackson, who was also the Lord of Extreme Night City, it was difficult for an acolyte to interfere with his might. Therefore, Leylin did not want to be on bad terms with him.

Moreover, due to the decreased supply of Hove Violet Leaves recently, Leylin did not have any other important things to do, so he could make time for this gathering.

"I'll have a look, and I haven't seen Murphy for some time now!"

In the heart of Extreme Night City, the castle-like building which was built using grey rocks was extremely magnificent. There were many soldiers patrolling the area, revealing its prestige.

* Ta-Ta! * A black horse carriage suddenly halted in front of the city lord's castle. The carriage door opened, and a brown-haired noble youth stepped down from it. He looked rather thin, but his bright eyes were filled with vigour.

At that same instant, another horse carriage, made of reddish brown wood, halted alongside it too. From it stepped out a white bearded geezer who was carrying a book. He radiated a scholarly aura.

After seeing Leylin, every wrinkle on the old geezer's face loosened as he smiled. He took the initiative and spread his arms out, "It's been a long time, my friend!"

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Scholar Murphy!" Leylin smiled as he gently hugged the old man.

His relationship with Murphy was pretty good. Although this old geezer had a few demerits, but it was undeniable that some of his experiences were a source of great enlightenment for Leylin. When Leylin had first arrived in Extreme Night City, Murphy had also given much help to Leylin.

Both of them conversed casually. They flashed their invitation cards at the same time as they went past the guarded entrance.

A person, rather like a butler, led Leylin and Murphy through the garden and brought them to a small-sized living room.

Several acolyte residents were already there and Leylin went forward to greet them.

There was a circular sofa in the middle of the living room, with a mahogany table at its centre. It seemed to suggest equality between status and levels.

"Welcome, my friends!"

The tough looking Viscount Jackson entered. He looked the same, to Leylin, as he looked a year ago. Time did not seem to have caused any changes in him, apart from a few more strands of hair white behind his ears that is.

"City lord!" The acolytes all nodded their heads.

"Come, no need for formalities! Sit!" Viscount Jackson casually sat on the sofa and serving maids that wore low cut blouses served some red tea as refreshments, with matching flavoured cake and biscuit snacks.

"Why does the atmosphere seem to be like a conference and afternoon tea?" Although he had his doubts, Leylin never revealed anything.

Viscount Jackson and the acolytes sat in a circle, and, from time to time, they discussed the latest news. On the whole, the atmosphere felt extremely amiable.

"A pity, Viscount Jackson is known to be a cold-blooded person. I heard that to suppress a riot, he immediately ordered the execution of a whole village, even hanging all its resident's heads on wooden stakes…."

Leylin still put on a friendly mannerism, but deep down he exclaimed, "As expected, to interact harmoniously, one must first have the prerequisite of equal power!"

"Yes, speaking of Baron Fey, he has recently been distressed about the issues of the medicine shop!" Viscount Jackson inadvertently spoke of this while chatting idly.

"We have also heard of the withering woods of Dark Night Woods for some time now. Only that we have not arrived at any solution yet!" An acolyte sitting at the side spoke, playing at being a character interested in delving deeper into this topic.

Murphy's brows furrowed, "I believe that my lord Viscount will definitely have a solution, right?"

However, Viscount Jackson smiled wryly, "My friends! I have already used ravens to inform the royal family, but up to now I have not received any reply….I am completely at a loss about what to do in this situation!"

"Royal family?" Leylin's heart thumped, the royal family behind the Poolfield Kingdom was supported by Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. The relationship between the two parties was extremely intricate. This mission appearing in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was finally no longer strange anymore.

Speaking of which, he was even the representative sent by Abyssal Bone Forest Academy to remedy this problem, but he had been lackadaisical about it. He had finally forced Viscount Jackson to have no solution but to request help from this group of acolytes.

Although deep within he smiled cynically, on the surface Leylin still put on the same front. He picked up the cup of hot tea and sipped, without any intention of owning up.

"Is it only a high levelled creature that had mutated? Could it be that Sire cannot even resolve this?" A red-haired, middle-aged man asked.

Leylin recognised this person; he had opened an apparel store in Extreme Night City and many clothes in his villa had been purchased from there.

The city's residents knew that the owner of this clothing store was a friendly, middle-aged man, who even has a beautiful daughter. But they never knew that he was a magician.

"Truth be told, I have already struck against it once before! I have even killed a lizard type creature, but it was of no help towards this withering woods case!"

Viscount Jackson flicked his hand.

"Right now, the withering woods area has expanded to a span of about two villages. If not resolved, sooner or later, it will encompass the whole of Dark Night Woods. When that happens, obtaining another herb from it would be only a dream!"

Viscount Jackson clenched his fists.

The herb industry was the pillar of Extreme Night City's economy. Every year the city lord's castle gained a lot from the high taxes it imposed on these trades. Right now its tax income had been drastically reduced. It was no wonder that Viscount Jackson was unable to sit still.

"Could you let us have a look at the composition of some of that lizard's body parts?" Murphy asked.

"Yes!" Viscount Jackson clapped his hands, and a golden yellow-haired maid brought forward a silver tray. Displayed on it were some brown-yellow scales.

The surrounding acolytes all picked up a piece; Leylin too placed one in his hands.

"A.I. Chip! Scan!" The brown yellow scales were the size of a thumb, cold to the touch.

[Suspected to be the scale of a mutated creature, estimated to be a mutation of a lizard type in the Poolfield Kingdom! The surface emits mild radiation, the quality is a mess, extractable materials have been destroyed, useless as component material!]

The A.I. Chip relayed the information after the scanning.

"No wonder the magicians in the canyon did not react! There was simply no use of this creature's body parts to magicians. It's the whole body is not even worth a magic crystal. Who would do such a strenuous yet unrewarding task!"

Leylin was somewhat enlightened. To Magi, benefits were paramount. They will not do anything that reaped no benefits.

The withering woods case happened on the boundaries of Extreme Night City. If there were any benefits or some magician who liked the creatures material, it would have long been resolved by the acolytes at the resource point in the ravine.

Their letting this current state of affairs continues only meant one thing: there were no benefits at all from solving the withering woods debacle, only trouble. If there were any benefits, they were too small to cover the potential losses a venture would incur. This was why it had not been resolved after all this while.

"What a pity! It is not a high-level creature that magicians need, just a mutated organism, which has no use to them!" Murphy said after picking up a magnifying glass like object and scrutinising the scale for some time. He reached the same conclusion as Leylin.

"How is that? Any solutions?" Viscount Jackson put on a hopeful expression and looked at his guests.

"Most mutated organisms were caused by long-term exposure from its surroundings. Without further detail and research, I cannot make arrive at any conclusion from just this! Moreover, I don't think that this creature is the main culprit for the withering woods."

Murphy shook his head.

"I am willing to give 30 magic crystals to every person, in addition to 5000 gold coins to ask you guys to scout the area. How about that? This is my request, on account of us being old friends!'

Viscount Jackson looked the people in the circle and saw that the other acolytes too lacked interest. He could not help but clench his teeth as he stated this.

"Since it is troublesome for my lord Viscount, I definitely will not refuse!"

Murphy said somewhat grudgingly.