Messer's Surprise

The next morning, Donald and Clinton boarded a carriage, departing from the estate for Giant Stone City with fifty bottles of two types of wine—a miraculous product the likes of which the continent had never seen.

These restorative products were highly popular among professionals; in particular, alchemical potions capable of instantly restoring mental energy were considered a second life for mages, always worth their weight in gold yet rarely available on the market.

Furthermore, the exquisite taste and flavor of the blended fine wines were a fatal temptation to those nobles who pursued luxury!

Donald could imagine that if he sold these premium wines, which could slightly restore vitality and mental energy, they would certainly trigger enthusiastic purchases from mages and nobles alike.

Three hours later, the carriage arrived in front of the Mage Association in Giant Stone City. This was the first target Donald had set.

To facilitate the journey, Donald had temporarily stored all the fragile crystal wine bottles in his storage space, only taking them out once he arrived.

After alighting, Donald ordered the coachman and attendant to guard the carriage, then entered the association gates himself, carrying two crystal bottle samples filled with red and white liquid.

Walking into the front hall, Donald felt a sense of confusion upon seeing an unfamiliar face. The reception work in the front hall had always been handled by the association attendant William, but now it had been replaced by a middle-aged man with a sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked, and wretched appearance.

"Master Mage, welcome!"

Faced with the middle-aged attendant's fawning greeting, Donald asked with some displeasure, "Are you new here? Where has William gone?"

The middle-aged attendant's smiling face froze for a moment, then he replied with a sycophantic laugh, "Ah, you must be asking about the previous front-hall attendant! I heard he was fired by the association; I don't know the specific circumstances!"

Donald frowned upon hearing this. Attendant William was humble and polite, yet possessed a pride befitting a mage, even rivaling the stewards of minor noble houses. In Donald's view, William had performed his job excellently, so how could he have been dismissed for no reason? If the matter wasn't serious, he should help out; after all, that attendant had been very helpful to him, and he felt obligated to return the favor.

Looking at the new attendant's demeanor, which he found rather repulsive, Donald waved his hand to dismiss the man who wanted to lead him inside, and walked into the association's interior on his own.

He was now a formal mage, and the association provided him with a lounge just like the other mages, so he no longer needed to be led by an attendant as he had when he was an apprentice.

Donald did not go to his own room, but instead came to the door of his teacher, Messer, and knocked gently. Hearing permission from within, he pushed the door open and entered.

The room was not just a lounge, but also Master Messer's private laboratory. At this moment, the old mage was focused on crafting a small alchemical item at an experimental bench on the other side of the room.

Seeing this, Donald dared not disturb him, standing quietly to the side to wait patiently while carefully observing the application of alchemical knowledge, which would be very helpful for his future involvement in related fields.

Spell items and alchemical tools were essentially the same thing—both belonged to the category of magical items. They were only classified into two types because their crafting methods differed, though their actual functions were quite similar.

Spell items were generally created through enchanting, using materials with elemental and mental affinity to imbue them with a spell structure and attach a suitable spell, thereby creating a tool that could release spell effects without the mage needing to cast them personally.

Alchemical tools served the same purpose as the former, but when alchemists crafted such items, they usually employed miraculous formulas and materials, then drove the spells by carving alchemical arrays and embedding energy cores to achieve the same spell effects.

However, alchemical tools had the advantage of not requiring the caster's own mana to function, needing only sufficient materials to be crafted. Thus, mages generally preferred alchemical products and would often learn a few simple alchemical techniques to replace the consumption of crafting spell items themselves.

More brilliant master-level casters could combine the two, complementing their strengths and weaknesses to create powerful magical equipment. Master Messer was one of the few alchemy masters in Celt.

In Donald's view, alchemy was more like a combination of the chemistry and physics disciplines from his previous life, especially the production of alchemical potions, which was almost identical to chemical experiments. The carving of arrays was like the physics knowledge of circuits, and the processing methods for those alchemical materials and formulas were the perfect combination of industrial chemistry and physics.

Although Messer was not a professional alchemist, he was very fond of studying alchemy. Through analogy and his extraordinary talent, combined with his strength as a mage who had one foot in the ranks of Silver Mages, his achievements in alchemical tool manufacturing and the enchanting school had reached the level of an ordinary orthodox Silver Alchemist. It was precisely because of his immersion in alchemy and the frequency of his enchanting work that his promotion in mage rank had been dragged down, leaving him slow to master 7th-level spells and become a true Silver Elemental Mage.

Watching this master craft an alchemical item gave Donald, who had only touched the surface of alchemy, quite a few insights.

After waiting for a full half-hour, Messer's item was finally successfully crafted.

It was a small, simple headpiece, set with no precious jewels, because the light emitted by the ornament itself was enough to surpass any gemstone that did not glow on its own. This was the magical aura produced by the attached Cleansing Spell; although it was only a faint layer, it was enough to make the wearer stand out.

Undoubtedly, this feminine ornament was naturally not prepared by the old mage for himself; it was likely a gift for some noble lady or mistress.

Donald's mind turned a few corners before he stopped his gossiping speculations about Master Messer and bowed respectfully to him.

"So, little Donald has arrived! Apologies for keeping you waiting!"

The old mage's tone revealed his affection for his junior, and Donald quickly said with a smile:

"Being able to watch a teacher's process of crafting an alchemical work is something many mages would beg for; I wouldn't miss such a good opportunity!"

"Your love of learning is gratifying! Many apprentices lose their original persistence and perseverance after becoming formal mages, and in the end, they never break through the threshold of 3rd-level spells in their entire lives, remaining Bronze Mages!"

Seeing Messer sigh with deep feeling, Donald smiled and changed the subject:

"Teacher will certainly be able to enter the Gold realm. Donald hopes to follow in your footsteps and become a Gold powerhouse!"

Messer shook his head and laughed upon hearing this:

"I am truly old! I have received your encouragement; let us work hard and progress together!"

After a tacit exchange between the two, Donald brought up the real business of his visit.

Seeing Donald take out two crystal bottles clearly filled with wine, the old mage asked with some confusion:

"Is there something that needs celebrating? It isn't dinner time yet, so why have you brought out wine?"