Scavenging

Good news, bad news.

Good news: The skill can be unlocked.

Bad news: No money!!!

Ailin almost couldn't keep his expression in check.

He counted several times to confirm it was indeed four zeros.

10,000 Lesser Experience Orbs!

Based on the rewards from the main quest, he'd need to kill at least 1,000 Drowners.

"System, you might as well just tell me I can't learn it and let me die of despair!" Ailin cursed in his heart.

"What's wrong? Is something unclear?"

A gentle voice came from his side.

Vesemir seemed to have noticed Ailin's unusual state.

"It's nothing."

Ailin quickly cleared his mind, refocusing his attention on the text.

"Then let's continue. Rare magical materials, complex alchemy rituals, superb mana control techniques..."

"...Chaos Magic permeates the entire alchemy process..."

Due to limitations in papermaking technology and the monopoly of knowledge across various social strata.

The information that books in this world could carry was very limited.

Although the textbook "Drowners and Swamp Witches" that Vesemir lectured on that morning looked thick, it actually only covered two monsters per book.

The same was true for "Alchemy and Potions" that Vesemir was teaching now.

The black leather cover and back cover took up half the thickness of the book, with the pages containing precious knowledge only occupying the other half.

Among the already few pages, each had a lot of gilded borders that took up considerable space.

It was the type of book with little content, but you knew at a glance that it must be very expensive.

This made Ailin hesitant to even touch it.

The book's content was sparse.

Vesemir finished the entire book in less than two hours, and that was with her expanding on a lot of additional knowledge and experience.

Snap

With a snap of her fingers, the black leather book closed and slowly floated back to its original shelf.

Vesemir looked into Ailin's eyes and said:

"Alchemy is a discipline that requires a lifetime of study. Even the potion-making aspect alone requires at least half a year to get started."

Ailin was taken aback.

He certainly knew the value of alchemy.

The cost of just acquiring the skill, 1,000 Drowners, was a very profound understanding.

Not knowing what the Sorceress intended to convey, Ailin could only nod.

Vesemir paused for a few seconds, seemingly organizing her thoughts.

"What I mean is... if you want to brew potions for the Trial of the Mountains, starting to learn now is already too late."

"If you don't mind, you can give me the recipe, and I can brew a few bottles for you."

"If it's a recipe I haven't seen before, not only will I waive your brewing fees, but I can even compensate you with Oren or magical items based on its value."

Ailin fell silent.

The cost to unlock the skill had been decreasing throughout Vesemir's lecture.

This decrease only stopped when the class ended.

Ailin glanced at the corner of his vision.

[Do you want to spend 9950 Lesser Experience Orbs to unlock the skill?]

However, as the Sorceress said, even if he could use Lesser Experience Orbs, he didn't have enough time.

A two-hour class reduced the cost by 50 Lesser Experience Orbs, meaning Ailin would need to listen for nearly 400 hours.

If every subsequent class was like this, it would be almost impossible for him to learn it before the Trial of the Mountains.

But the solution Vesemir proposed was also not feasible.

It wasn't that Ailin was unwilling to give her the recipe, but rather that he couldn't.

Although the Killer Whale Potion Recipe blueprint was quietly lying in his inventory, without Alchemy LV2, Ailin couldn't view the detailed brewing process at all.

The Sorceress was still waiting for a reply.

After carefully considering his words, Ailin realized he couldn't think of any polite way to phrase it in such a short time.

So, he could only apologize and say, "Sorry, I think I'll refine it myself."

"Alright, then you can go."

Ailin silently got up, paused for a moment, then sincerely said "Thank you" to the sorceress before walking towards the door.

Vesemir's proposed exchange was very fair.

Therefore, it was only right that she wouldn't teach him lessons just because he refused.

Ailin himself felt a bit offended.

"It seems I need to find other ways to unlock skills."

At this moment, a woman's clear and sweet voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Tomorrow afternoon, same time."

Ailin turned his head sharply.

He saw Mary glaring at him with a puffed-out expression.

The sorceress sat calmly in her seat, watching him as if waiting for his reply.

After a moment of silence, Ailin said earnestly:

"Thank you, I'll be there on time tomorrow."

Seeing the sorceress nod, Ailin left the alchemy room and walked towards the apprentice dormitory.

"Chieftain."

At the corner of the floor where the alchemy room was located, Ailin encountered the School of the Wolf Chieftain.

The Chieftain seemed surprised to see him, but didn't say anything. He nodded in greeting and then left.

His direction was the alchemy room Ailin had just left.

Alchemy room.

"Mentor, why are you still helping that ungrateful apprentice?"

As soon as Ailin left, Mary began to speak up for the sorceress.

"It's none of your business. Grind diligently and don't get distracted."

The sorceress didn't look at Mary, her gaze still fixed on the wooden door of the alchemy room.

Mary felt a little wronged and opened her mouth as if to say something, but she dared not even complain in her mind due to her mentor's authority. She lowered her head and ground the medicinal charcoal in the mortar.

In front of that Witcher apprentice, the mentor was inexplicably very kind, but Mary dared not act presumptuously because of it.

Vesemir of Toussaint's resounding fame across the continent wasn't solely due to her profound knowledge of alchemy.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The alchemy room door was knocked on.

Mary was about to open the door when she heard a snap of fingers, and the door opened.

Outside the door was the School of the Wolf Chieftain.

The Chieftain walked in and was about to speak.

"Snap."

Another snap of fingers.

This was followed by the sound of a forehead hitting a table.

There were two "thuds" because the head had excellent elasticity.

After the first impact, it bounced back.

"What's wrong, Ves?"

The Chieftain was surprised to see Mary knocked out by the sorceress's snap, and then Vesemir walked over with her head lowered.

Her slender, smooth arms wrapped around the waist of the man wearing the padded armor.

The sorceress buried her face deeply in the Chieftain's broad chest.

The Witcher froze for a moment, awkwardly hugging the sorceress, remaining silent.

The Witcher's keen senses detected the smell of tears.

They held each other like that for an unknown amount of time.

"You met him."

This was a statement, not a question.

After a moment of silence, the man said:

"Yes, I did."

"It's just around the corner, by the door."

"He... he's grown so much. I almost didn't recognize him the first time I saw him." The woman's voice trembled, piercing the man's heart through his padded armor and tunic.

It made the Witcher's hardened heart skip a beat for reasons unknown.

After a moment of silence, the man offered comfort:

"It's been almost ten years, after all. It's normal."

"I'm also surprised you'd come at a time like this."

Upon hearing the word "ten years," the Witcher felt the soft body in his arms tremble.

Then, another long silence followed.

It stretched on until the sunlight streaming through the window turned from red to dim, only to be replaced by a long sigh.

"Of course I had to come..."

"After all."

"I want to see him free with my own eyes."

"Or perhaps..."

"I want to bury him myself."

New author, new book, please follow, comment, and collect!