Witch

The sky was not yet bright, and Evan, who hadn't slept much last night, got up early, casually wiped his face, greeted Gary, who didn't know when he had returned last night, and rushed out.

He couldn't care less about the book now, it was probably already registered as stolen goods by the supply ship.

Ding-a-ling...

"Good morning, Mr. Christopher!"

Walking into one of Gabreid's top three private apothecary shops, he greeted the shopkeeper, who was already busy behind the counter.

"Good morning, Mr. Evan! Ah, you're a Captain now, it's truly an honor for our little shop. To start a beautiful day with such good news, it's just wonderful!"

The shopkeeper, with an elegant appearance and curly hair, noticed the change in Evan's epaulettes at first glance, and immediately congratulated him with a smile, even with a slightly operatic exaggeration.

The rise in his customer's status meant that his purchasing power would inevitably increase, and Christopher's congratulations were very sincere.

"Mr. Evan, your timing is perfect. The last herb you asked me to help acquire has arrived, please wait a moment while I get it for you."

He suddenly seemed to remember something.

Christopher searched for a while, took out a box from behind the counter, handed it to Evan, and introduced it:

"Please take a look, Iron Reef Moss that has grown for at least thirty years and has a purplish-black root! This stuff is really hard to find, if my supply channels weren't quite extensive, no one would know about this kind of niche medicinal material."

Opening the wooden box and seeing the contents, a look of surprise flashed in Evan's eyes. He originally just wanted to collect the raw materials for the Developing Potion, but he didn't expect to even get the last auxiliary medicine prepared for the Black Sea Magic Potion.

Moreover, the Iron Reef Moss in the wooden box was of excellent quality, far exceeding the most basic requirements of the Black Sea Magic Potion, and Evan was very satisfied.

"Not bad, just what I wanted, Shopkeeper Christopher is indeed reliable."

After putting away the wooden box, Evan handed him a list of raw materials: "I'll have to trouble you with these as well, shopkeeper."

"These are all common medicines, we have them in the shop now." Christopher smiled and took the list, glanced at it, and quickly prepared all of Evan's needs and handed them to him.

A moment later, Evan settled the final payment with the shopkeeper and walked out of the apothecary shop with a cloth bag.

"As expected, a poor scholar cultivates the mind, a rich one cultivates the body, the ancients did not deceive me!"

Evan shook the bag in his hand, the raw materials for the not-so-valuable Developing Potion plus all the auxiliary medicines for the Black Sea Magic Potion actually cost Evan a full one hundred Gold Lions, almost equivalent to ten years' income for an ordinary sailor!

Although Evan had saved up quite a few gold coins now, he still felt a pang of heartache.

Because this was only for ordinary materials that did not involve the extraordinary, thinking about the value of the extraordinary main materials, Evan couldn't help but pity his money bag, which was destined to shrink greatly in the future.

He planned to ask Gell about the source channels for the main materials of the Black Sea Magic Potion as soon as he returned, and then start purchasing them.

No matter how much wealth he had, it was all for the service of his extraordinary path, he had not forgotten his main purpose in joining the navy, and he would not be stingy at all when it was time to spend money.

Back in his small courtyard, Gary was still training by the sea, Evan did not join in, he had more important work to do now.

After putting away the Iron Reef Moss, he couldn't wait to come to the independent small attic on the top floor, find the complete set of medicine preparation tools he had prepared long ago, and start preparing the Developing Potion.

Thanks to the fact that it did not involve extraordinary materials and Evan's solid foundation in pharmaceutics, the preparation process went very smoothly.

Half an hour later.

Staring intently at the notebook that was rapidly changing after being immersed in the basin filled with Developing Potion, Evan nervously held his breath.

In the rustling sound like small insects, the change began.

First, the colorful dyes that had contaminated it peeled off and dissolved into the water. Then, the original writing on the pages gradually disappeared, and new illustrations and text slowly emerged.

As expected, the newly appeared text was all in "Catha Language," containing extraordinary power!

After the final transformation was completed in two minutes, all the writing in the entire book had been replaced by "Catha Language" written in dark green ink. Moreover, the handwriting was now compact, and the content was at least twice as much as before.

He took it out to dry. The special paper was not damaged at all by the soaking. Instead, it seemed to have been renovated by skilled craftsmen, turning it into a brand new book.

"Hoo—"

He took a deep breath.

Subconsciously not wanting others to discover his secret, and estimating that Gary would not be back for a while, Evan closed the door before gently opening the book.

The brand new text instantly immersed Evan in it, and he couldn't care about anything else.

Sha—

Sha—

This reading lasted for most of the day. Even when Gary came to knock on the door several times in the middle, he brushed him off. It wasn't until the setting sun slanted westward that Evan breathed a sigh of relief and slowly closed the book.

He propped his chin with his hands, gazing at the setting sun outside the window and the sparkling waves on the distant sea. Evan stared blankly for a long time.

"It really hides a big secret, but I don't know if it's good or bad for me."

This was the diary of a pharmacist named Leon about a hundred years ago. It contained both his daily life and his research results, but what made Evan most lost in thought was Leon's identity... a true wizard!

Not like Gagon on the "One-Eyed Beck" ship, an indigenous witch doctor who was evil and grotesque beyond recognition. But a rational, no, a wise medical scientist, a pharmacist, a tireless seeker of truth.

To be honest, thanks to his memories from his previous life, Evan had no prejudice against wizards themselves.

But this was the first time he had come into such close contact with a orthodox wizard, or rather, traces of his existence.

After all, the mainstream extraordinary path in the civilized countries on the continent now is the Knight path. Whether it was his father, Forman, Grandpa Leo, whom he had been with day and night since childhood, or later Viscount Andrea, Major Eugene, his instructor after joining the army, and Uncle Gell, they were all extraordinary knights who had reached the formal rank in the Knight path.

Even Evan himself had been practicing since childhood and was now standing at the threshold of a Formal Knight.

But for the mysterious wizards, Evan could only learn bits and pieces from legends and stories, combined with the settings in various fantasy works from his previous life, to form a very vague image in his mind.

Unfortunately, this image was not so beautiful.

The horror stories that made children stop crying when they were young, the Church's "Witch Hunt Order", the risk of losing control outside the Knight path in Grandpa Leo and Uncle Gell's mouths, and the indigenous witch doctors he had seen with his own eyes.

All of this had put a negative label on the image of wizards in Evan's mind.

Therefore, before today, even though he was very curious about the magical profession of wizard because of his previous life, Evan never dared to explore it excessively.

Excessive curiosity in the extraordinary world is not a good thing, especially when he doesn't have a leader. Rashly exploring profound and hidden things carries risks that Evan cannot afford!

But now, the pharmacist Leon's diary has unveiled a corner of the mysterious world of wizards for Evan. Although it is difficult to see the whole picture, it also allows Evan to understand what a orthodox wizard should be like.

"Explore the secrets of the human body like a surgeon, study the uses of every herb like a botanist, summarize and generalize with the thinking of a statistician, and see the essence through the phenomena!"

Evan gently clenched his fist, as if he had grasped the whole world.

Isn't this a scientist from another world?

It's just that the research tools have been changed from various modern instruments to convenient and magical witchcraft. Perhaps some of their ideas conflict with this still backward era, but Evan, who has experience from his previous life, has a strong sense of identity.

The reason humans are different from animals is because they possess intelligence, allowing them to constantly learn from the natural world, inherit, and apply knowledge, using knowledge to leverage power, rather than waving their hands and claws to fight beasts.

And it is this path that emphasizes both power and wisdom that deeply fascinates Evan!