Angel's Medicine (Happy New Year!!)

"Processing a staff? Sure. Basic processing fee is two gold coins. Come pick it up in three days."

Less than a hundred meters from the magic item shop they had just visited, inside a cluttered store packed with magic materials and strange machines, a gnome with grayish skin, the texture of stone, and grizzled hair said this.

Lynn briefly explained what he needed. The gnome artisan's face remained expressionless, and there was no telling whether he had heard any of it.

Elaine added at just the right moment, "Mr. Artisan, we need you to help match it with a suitable staff shaft. As for payment, could we offset it with the offcuts from processing the gemstone?"

When using a natural gemstone to process a staff, complex cutting techniques were required to carve it into a suitable shape, so that it could form smooth magic patterns with the staff and achieve an effect where one plus one was greater than two.

That meant there would inevitably be some loss. For precious magic gemstones, even a bit of debris had many uses.

The Stone-Skin Gnome nodded silently, agreeing to Elaine's proposal.

That works too? Lynn was a little pleasantly surprised. This saved him quite a bit of money all at once.

"Oh, right, sir, I also have a few Demonic Beast materials here. How much do you think they could sell for?"

As he spoke, he took out the things he had gotten from Gray yesterday: three pieces of Crystal Hard-Armor and one Mana Tentacle from a Mana-Sucking Monster.

The Stone-Skin Gnome swept his gaze over them and said in a mechanical voice, "Crystal Hard-Armor, twenty silver coins. Mana Tentacle, fifty silver coins."

A total of one hundred and ten silver coins? This price was somewhat beyond Lynn's expectations, even a little higher than the market rate.

"Good. Deal." He took out another ninety silver coins. "In that case, the processing fee is covered."

The Stone-Skin Gnome nodded, silently put away the silver coins and Demonic Beast materials, and repeated with unchanged eyes:

"Come pick it up in three days."

The two thanked him, then left the shop.

"That artisan seemed to be a 'Clockwork Puppet,'" Elaine whispered, leaning closer to Lynn.

"What's that?" It was the first time he had heard of such a thing.

Elaine shook her head. "I don't really understand either. It seems to be the White Tower Society's latest research result, still in the experimental stage."

The two chatted on and off like this, and soon arrived at the Magic Association.

By now, the Magic Association had finally opened. After Lynn explained his purpose to the staff on the first floor, the man pointed to the staircase in the middle.

"Mr. Barton gave instructions. However, he is resting today. You two may go to Room 203 to find him on your own."

The second floor of the Magic Association had specially set aside part of the area as dormitories for employees. Barton's room was not small, and its decorations were relatively plain, but it was warm and comfortable.

After they knocked, the plump old man, still dressed in a simple white robe, welcomed the two into his study with a face full of smiles.

So this is a senior mage's study? Lynn looked at the room full of magic tomes, along with parchment scrolls and magic diagrams piled everywhere, and had the distinct feeling he had accidentally wandered into some research institute.

Barton pointed to the seats and tea, indicating that the two of them should help themselves, while he carefully stepped over the piles of old papers on the floor and sat back behind his desk.

He smiled at Lynn and said, "It seems you did not sleep very well last night?"

Lynn rubbed his face. Because of the Sobering Spell, the fatigue on the surface had already disappeared, but the weariness deeper inside still could not escape the old man's eyes.

Following Barton's words, he nodded and said, "I'm a little concerned about Gray's situation. How is he now?"

"Not very good." Barton shook his head and sighed. "The effects of the corruption are more serious than I imagined. Though it has not endangered his life, the damage to his mind is irreversible. I'm afraid we will still have to spend quite a bit of effort before we can dig anything useful out of his head."

Lynn was not surprised. Gray had only been captured last night; if they had already gotten something out of him now, that would have been less believable.

At this moment, Barton turned to Elaine again, stroking the short beard on his chin with his fingers, his eyes revealing a trace of gratification. "Elaine, you look to be in very good condition today. Have you made some breakthrough?"

It was visible to the naked eye. Elaine's whole spirit had clearly lifted by a level, making her seem very motivated.

She immediately answered, "Yes, Teacher. This is all thanks to Lynn!"

Hearing this, Lynn was startled, almost thinking she was going to let the matter of the Magic Web slip out in passing.

This man was a senior member of the Magic Association. If he found out, Lynn might be seized as a lab rat for research, right?

Yet Elaine only suddenly lowered her green eyes, dipped her head, and even lowered her voice as she continued:

"It's thanks to having him as my example and... companion. I now have a little motivation too..."

Hearing her say this, Old Barton looked deeply at Lynn, then nodded with a softened expression.

"Very good. Since you two can help each other, I can relax a little. Lynn, although Elaine has some talent, she is not good at fighting. Help me watch over her more."

Lynn's heart stirred. So Elaine said that on purpose? She wanted to mention the cooperative relationship we've reached in front of her teacher, Barton, to improve his impression of me?

Thinking of this, he nodded seriously. "Mr. Barton, please rest assured. I will do everything I can to protect Elaine."

These words immediately made the wrinkles on the old man's face smooth out, and he said "good" several times in succession.

Looks like he really does value Elaine as his student. After all, she can be considered a good seedling he brought up with his own hands... Lynn thought.

"Child, if you have any difficulties in the future, come to the Magic Association to find me."

Hearing Barton say this, Lynn instantly felt much more at ease.

After pausing for a moment, he considered his words before saying, "Mr. Barton, there actually is something I would like to ask your help with."

As he spoke, he carefully took the bottle of Fate Potion from the pouch at his waist. It was a small bottle only as long as a finger, yet it seemed to contain countless colors and myriad phenomena.

"This is a potion a friend of mine gave me. It is said to be extremely precious, but even he is not too clear on its exact effects."

Lynn carefully placed the potion on the desk. "Could I ask you to appraise it for me?"

As far as he knew, although the Appraisal Spell was a first-circle spell, it could only identify simple information about an item. For a complex magical object like the Fate Potion, he was afraid it would take an upgraded Appraisal Spell to analyze any useful information.

Sure enough, after a round of inspection, old Barton gave his conclusion.

"The production process of this potion is quite complex, and it contains an extremely hidden power. I'm afraid even I can't identify all of its information."

As he spoke, he pulled open a drawer, took out a monocle-like crystal lens, and fitted it over his right eye socket.

"I'll try using a third-circle Appraisal Spell. This is the limit of what I can manage."

According to Lynn's understanding, upgrading a spell's circle was a great test of the caster's depth of understanding of that spell. In other words, old Barton's current understanding of the Appraisal Spell could only reach the third-circle level.

"Thank you," Lynn answered at once. Having the other man use a third-circle Appraisal Spell to help was already beyond his expectations. "Is there anything you need us to do?"

"Stay quiet, and don't release your spirituality at random." After giving that instruction, the old man fixed his gaze on the potion bottle and said no more.

About five minutes later, he let out a long breath and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

"Truly astonishing. To be honest, I'm very curious where you got this potion. The pharmacist who made it is very, very special. I can't say how brilliant he is, but he's innovative enough that I'm tempted to drag him straight into the White Tower Society."

He pinched the potion bottle between two fingers, gently shook it, and handed it to Lynn.

"The information I identified is very limited, but I can be certain that, for you right now, it is absolutely beneficial and harmless."