Chapter 35 Magic Potion (Please Follow)

After leaving the test zone, Richard and Ali drew the attention of many apprentices.

Unlike Ali, who was somewhat famous, Richard, a genius who became an official apprentice in less than half a year, was not well known to many.

Among the reasons, besides Richard not being sociable, was his deliberate concealment.

Pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger and keeping quiet while making a fortune was Richard's way, but sometimes, being too reserved could also cause trouble.

"Ali, long time no see. Are you testing spells again today?" A handsome man in a black robe suddenly emerged from the apprentices and approached Ali with a radiant smile.

Ali's smile slightly restrained, and her tone became somewhat cold.

"Um, we've already finished experimenting."

Seeing Ali's mood was off, Richard whispered in her ear,

"Who is this?"

"He is that Joseph," Ali said with some disgust.

Richard sized up the Wizard Apprentice before him. Joseph was well-built and handsome, with thick blonde hair. Judging by the Magic Fluctuations emanating from him, he was quite powerful. Moreover, he was a Wizard Descendant, an official apprentice of a wizard.

Frankly, if this person pursued someone else, he probably would have succeeded long ago.

"Ali, won't you introduce me to this friend?" Joseph, seemingly oblivious to Ali's demeanor, still wore a smile on his face.

"Richard, from the Alchemy School."

Richard didn't wait for Ali to speak and introduced himself first.

"So, you are Richard. Truly, appearances can be deceiving. Myself, I'm Joseph, a formal apprentice of Master Urich. May I know under which master do you apprentice?"

Joseph seemed a little surprised, then extended his right hand, apparently wanting a handshake.

"Master Jolod," Richard's expression unchanged, shook his hand.

"So you are a high apprentice of Master Jolod." A sneer crossed Joseph's face, and he thought coldly, "Just one of Jolod's bunch of nobodies."

It was not a secret among Alchemy Wizards that Jolod took many apprentices, but everyone knew that an apprentice is just an apprentice, and an official apprentice is a true teacher of knowledge.

Although he had heard rumors recently that Jolod took a low-level apprentice as an official apprentice, Joseph knew that it must be a Wizard Descendant.

Only Wizard Descendants, who had contact with wizard knowledge from a young age, could become Wizard Apprentices right after the school started. It was the same for him, and he imagined it was the same for others.

As they shook hands, a psychic message ran through to Richard's mind.

"Five hundred Magic Stones to leave Ali."

Richard was momentarily stunned, then felt like laughing.

Was this a domineering CEO encounter? But five hundred Magic Stones seemed a bit undervaluing for such a CEO.

At least five thousand would be considered generous.

"Friend, five hundred Magic Stones are not enough."

Joseph's confident smile froze on his face.

Richard let go of his hand and laughingly pulled Ali into his arms.

"For such a rare treasure, I will need at least fifty thousand Magic Stones to let her go."

Ali didn't know what Richard was talking about, but this sudden embrace made her heart race.

"What's going on, Richard?" Ali asked.

"Nothing, a friend here wanted to offer five hundred Magic Stones for me to leave you," Richard said animatedly, "I think his price is too low; you should be worth fifty thousand Magic Stones at least."

Ali turned to look at Joseph, her voice disdainful,

"Joseph, are these your methods?"

Joseph shook his head, sighed, and said,

"You wild apprentices are really troublesome, it would be better if you were more sensible."

He looked at Ali, his tone deep, "Empty flattery doesn't bring real benefits. In the world of wizards, Magic Stones and knowledge are the foundation of progress. You follow the path of Plastic Energy, a school that particularly needs Magic Stones, and you are under Mistress Susanna, whose heritage needs even more Magic Stones. In this Academy, only I and the formal apprentices of Master Jolod can afford you."

Having said that, Joseph once again glanced deeply at Richard, his face mixing pity with mockery.

"Friend, there's a world of difference between a formal apprentice and your kind of apprentice. My offer stands still, I hope you recognize reality soon, lest you end up not being able to mix even with Magic Stones."

After finishing his words, Joseph strode away. Richard, watching his retreating figure, suddenly looked down, somewhat puzzledly at Ali.

"You didn't tell him that I'm Master Jolod's formal apprentice?"

"No, didn't you tell me not to reveal your information to outsiders?" Ali shook her head, sweetly saying.

The two looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter.

After laughing, Richard let go of Ali: "Let's go, we'll have dinner now. Tonight, I will study Magic Potions, otherwise, I can't afford to support you, Master Susanna's high apprentice."

"What do you mean 'support'?" Ali grimaced, waving her fists, "I can support myself!"

Evening, dormitory building.

An Academy Inspector clutched a box the size of a person and flapped its wings, hovering in front of Richard's balcony.

"Apprentice Richard, Apprentice Richard, your goods have arrived!"

"Apprentice Richard, Apprentice Richard, your goods have arrived!"

"Ga!"

The Death Crow on the balcony let out a shrill cry, and although the Academy Inspector was far stronger than it, it still issued a warning cry.

"Coming, coming."

Richard ran to the balcony, opened the window, and took the wooden box. The Wizard Commerce, which could open a store within the Academy, almost always employed Academy Inspectors as couriers. This was not only because there were many Academy Inspectors who patrolled the Academy all day and the Academy had not prohibited it, but also because these owls had very low wages.

Employing these owls didn't require Magic Stones, only a lot of nuts and some pretty but useless gemstones were enough.

"Please sign here."

The owl held out a piece of parchment, handed it to Richard, and after Richard signed, the parchment instantly caught fire.

Transaction complete, contract fulfilled.

Carrying the box back to his room, Richard laid out the materials one by one at one end of the table.

Also on the table were various oddly shaped glass vessels, all of which were equipment Richard needed to use.

Taking out the Crystal Ball that recorded Magic Potion recipes, Richard reviewed the content again. After confirming that the information matched his memory, Richard went outside the door and hung a 'Do Not Disturb' sign.

He didn't have many friends; the sign was mainly for Ali to see.

Returning to his room, Richard put most of the materials back in the box, leaving only enough on the table to make one bottle of Magic Potion.

Concentration Potion, its effect was to physiologically help Wizards calm down and prevent casting errors caused by severe pain and emotional agitation.

Following the recipe, Richard took out a black fruit that looked like a plum.

"Gastrodia Fruit, has an anesthetic effect after consumption, the juice needs to be extracted and heated for about ten minutes."

Richard placed the fruit in a ceramic mortar and mashed it with a Crystal Pestle, then filtered it using a fine sieve and filter paper before putting it into a beaker to start heating.

"Next is the White Rhinoceros Horn, to be ground into powder."

As he spoke, Richard took out a cracked horn from the materials. It wasn't easy to handle, and he had to use a Magic Dagger to chop it up, then slowly grind it into powder.

After handling the White Rhinoceros Horn, Richard sequentially processed High Sunlime, Concentration Grass, and other materials as recorded in the recipe.

"Materials prepared, now it's time to synthesize."

Richard looked at the array of bottles and jars in front of him. In making Magic Potions, one thing must absolutely not go wrong—the order in which ingredients were added.

The order of some ingredients affected the final product; the wrong sequence could turn a life-saving elixir into a deadly poison.

Making Magic Potion required stability in three areas: steady hands, steady heart, steady Magic Power.

When making Magic Potion, Magic Power often needed to be steadily outputted, never fluctuating too much.

Richard fetched a small pot, made entirely of ceramic, with a few Runes etched on its surface.

This was an Alchemy Pot, an essential tool in Alchemy.

Following the recipe, Richard began adding the ingredients one by one, using Magic Power as a catalyst to facilitate their fusion.

He was very careful during this process, because unlike Magic Equipment, if even one step in making a Magic Potion failed, the entire effort was ruined.

"Lastly, add Black Bone Stone powder, and if the material turns into a deep blue transparent liquid, the Magic Potion is complete."

Richard cautiously added the White Rhinoceros Horn powder to the pitch-black solution in front of him, and the liquid gradually changed color as the powder entered.

"Good, this is promising!" Richard's expression brightened, and he continued adding the powder.

But before long, the liquid suddenly "bloop bloop" produced a string of bubbles, then abruptly turned pitch black.

With a "bang," the liquid in the Alchemy Pot turned into a cloud of black smoke that filled the room.

Richard's face darkened as he silently wiped the black ash from his face.

It was clearly a failure.

After cleaning the Alchemy Pot, Richard returned to his desk to reflect on his process.

Experiments were like this, fail after fail, reflection after reflection, and then after tremendous effort, finding an answer—and sometimes the answer wasn't even what you wanted.

"My steps were correct, Magic Power input was stable; eliminating those two factors, that only leaves material handling and the amount of Magic Power input."

The recipe provided by Jolod used many vague words regarding material handling and Magic Power input amount, not because he wasn't researching Magic Potion or couldn't be bothered to exert effort, but because precise handling of materials was extremely challenging.

The origin of materials, their growing environments, and handling techniques all affected the materials. Conversely, differences in material quality also impacted the amount of Magic Power input required during their fusion.

The Wizard's solution to this problem was simple—practice makes perfect. As long as there was sufficient quantity, experience would guide the Wizards to make the right choices.

An Alchemy Wizard necessarily grows from thousands upon thousands of failures.

But now, Richard thought of another solution.

"This Potion... it can refine skills too, right?"