Alchemy Apprentice

When Landen was appointed lord of this region, he brought two subordinates with him. Aside from the Minotaur Butler, there was only one Dark Elf.

There were only two kinds of people who would follow someone like Landen, a man with an almost illegitimate status, to such a barren place in what was essentially exile.

The first kind were people like the Minotaur Butler, who had been personally ordered to come by Landen's mother, Matriarch Isis, and had no choice but to obey.

The other kind were like that Dark Elf. They were essentially at the bottom of their respective guards in terms of strength, with no hope of ever distinguishing themselves. Every day, they had to worry about becoming stepping stones for others to climb higher. When they could no longer endure it, they simply decided to follow Landen and make a desperate gamble. They still had no hope of getting ahead, but at least they could keep their lives.

Other than these two kinds of people, no one would be willing to follow Landen to such a desolate place.

Of course, this wasn't absolute. There were always all kinds of accidents in this world, and the third person here—the third subordinate of Landen's shown in the system—had appeared because of an accident.

And he was precisely the person Landen was going to find.

The entire bunker was divided into four levels. The top level was semi-open-air and was mainly used for observation and long-range suppression from high ground during battles. The second and third levels were mixed areas for accommodations, offices, and the like. The bottom level of the bunker was used as storage, and Landen had now arrived at the lowest, fourth level.

Naturally, anyone assigned to this level didn't receive very good treatment. Well, "assigned" might not be the right word. "Imprisoned" would probably be more accurate.

Landen walked into the room, then waved his hand to stop the Minotaur Butler from following him in. "Old Niu, I'll handle the questioning myself this time. It'll be more effective that way."

"But, my lord..." The Minotaur Butler wanted to say something, but Landen cut him off.

"There's no 'but,' Old Niu." Landen waved his hand again. "He's only an Alchemy Apprentice, and at most, a Mage Apprentice. You've already searched him clean of every material he had, and even his hands are shackled. What harm could he possibly do to me? Don't forget, I may be weak, but I'm still at the Low-tier Black Iron level. Dealing with him won't be a problem. All right, go outside."

"Yes, my lord." The Minotaur Butler ultimately chose to compromise. He withdrew, closed the door, and stood guard beside it.

Landen casually reached out and tugged at the already closed stone door. Then he turned and walked toward one corner of the empty room.

There was only one small oil lamp in the room, and it was in the opposite corner. Its dim light covered only half the room, while the other half was completely swallowed by darkness. However, that darkness was no problem for Landen, who possessed the Dark Elf's unique infrared vision. He could clearly see the only thing in that corner besides himself and the oil lamp. Well... the only person.

That person wore a hooded robe that concealed his entire body, leaving only his hands and feet exposed. It wasn't that he wanted to expose them. Rather, extremely thick iron chains were locked around his hands and feet, binding them tightly and almost completely restricting his ability to move.

"Looks like you're doing pretty well here. You haven't ended up unable to live after a single day without conducting an experiment, like you said you would back then." Landen lightly kicked the person twice and spoke in a teasing tone.

The man's body gave an obvious shudder. Then he slowly raised his head. His eyes glittered in the darkness, and he let out a startled cry. "Lo... Lord Lord, you're still ali—no, you... you're awake?"

Clearly, he had either been asleep or unconscious just now, and only then had he realized what was happening.

"Yeah, I'm still alive. Are you a little disappointed?" Landen asked with a chuckle.

When discussing the cause of the former owner of this body's death, one had to mention the man standing before Landen.

As Landen had said before, this man was a Mage Apprentice as well as an Alchemy Apprentice. He had appeared more than half a month after Landen brought his troops here. The Lari Brothers had found him unconscious beside a pool while out fetching water, then brought him before Landen.

According to the account of this Half-elf named Ella, the whole matter had happened like this: he came from the Surface World. While searching for materials for alchemy experiments one day, he had accidentally fallen into a passage connected to the underground world, and through that twist of fate, arrived in the subterranean realm.

Relying on the various Alchemy Tools he carried with him, as well as his passable magical abilities, he had managed to survive in the underground world. However, the passage he had originally come through only allowed passage downward, not upward. He had no choice but to wander through the underground world in search of another passage that could take him back.

Danger lurked everywhere in the underground world. Although he had escaped danger time and again by relying on his Alchemy Tools, his stockpile dwindled more and more. Finally, his Alchemy Tools were completely exhausted, and he collapsed from serious injuries. That was when he was brought before Landen.

It could be said that without Landen, he would have long since been reduced to a pile of bones.

To repay his debt, and to gather enough supplies to return to the Surface World, he chose to remain at Landen's side and become his subordinate, helping Landen create various Alchemy Tools. He himself could also keep one-quarter of each batch he produced as supplies.

It was absolutely a win-win proposal. Although the Youweimas Area was barren, that mainly applied to food crops. The region produced almost no grain, but it did have plenty of other resources. Moreover, when Landen became lord of the area, Matriarch Isis had generously given him a large quantity of supplies. Unfortunately, Landen had no one under him who could make use of those materials. Ella's arrival was nothing short of timely help.

Thus, Landen's subordinates increased from two to three.

The products of alchemy were always determined by the materials invested. Therefore, on the third day after Landen ordered several Dark Elves to help Ella build his Alchemy Workshop, Ella appeared before Landen with a cup in his hands.

According to Ella's explanation, this beverage, which he had named "Corona Ginger Juice," had the effects of refreshing the mind and increasing the body's resistance. If consumed over a long period, it could even permanently improve one's physical constitution.

It sounded wonderful, but would Landen drink it so readily? Of course not. Leaving aside the liquid's strange dark-red color, which resembled blood, this was the underground world, a place where trust was in extremely short supply. How could Landen possibly trust Ella just like that?

Of course he wouldn't drink it!