Accepting a Commission

Li Ang squeezed his way to the task board and carefully tore down the commission sheet for copying the Level-1 Spell Compendium.

He took the commission sheet and walked over to the desk of a wizard attendant beside the task board, whose expression was numb.

Without even raising his head, the attendant took the sheet and glanced at it. He then handed over a booklet with Level-1 Spell Compendium written on its cover, a gray feather quill that looked as though it had been used for a long time, its feathers already rather sparse, a bottle of ink, and a stack of parchment.

The attendant spoke listlessly. "Parchment: one copper coin for fifty sheets. Minimum purchase is fifty sheets. Ink and quill together cost one copper coin. You can pay after completing the commission."

Li Ang accepted the items, unable to resist grumbling inwardly about the Wizard Tower's penny-pinching calculations. A spell compendium was only around ten pages long, yet with the ink and quill wear and tear included, the copying costs alone were no small sum.

By that calculation, an ordinary apprentice could not earn more than a few copper coins even after copying all day.

This was nothing like the magic academy he had imagined when he had first crossed over. It was more like a black-hearted workshop squeezing cheap labor out of its apprentices.

Carrying the book, parchment, and writing supplies back to his dormitory, Li Ang glanced at the clock on the table. Although there was still a little while before the usual lunchtime, the hunger rising in his stomach after missing breakfast urged him to eat at once.

"Forget it, I'll go eat early." He set down his things and headed for the cafeteria.

Perhaps because he had arrived early, there were not many people in the cafeteria yet. Li Ang stood before the price board, his gaze repeatedly bouncing between [Simple Meal] and [Selected Meal].

Two thoughts fought fiercely in his mind. One cried, Li Ang, Li Ang, didn't you say you would only splurge once?

The other madly preached that life was short and pleasure should be seized in time; no difficulty could not be solved by a good meal, and if one could, then two meals would do.

In the end, his appetite once again gained the upper hand.

"One selected set meal," he told the cook behind the serving window, almost with a touch of self-abandonment.

This time, the wooden tray brought to him held a steaming pizza covered thickly in cheese and ham slices. Beside it was a small serving of fresh vegetable salad, while the drink remained that glass of chilled emerald-green fruit wine giving off an enticing fruity fragrance.

As he carried his tray in search of a seat, his gaze swept around and caught sight of a familiar figure in a corner of the cafeteria—Lottie.

She had her head lowered, nibbling bit by bit at the cheapest black bread. Before her was still nothing but a cup of water.

She seemed to have wanted to avoid the crowd, never expecting to run into Li Ang, who had come to eat early.

Li Ang walked straight over and sat down across from her.

Sensing someone nearby, Lottie lifted her head in confusion. When she saw that it was Li Ang, as well as the still outrageously lavish lunch on his tray, her eyes instantly widened. Her face was full of embarrassment. She had not expected that even after deliberately arriving early, she would still run into him—and that he would once again be eating so well.

"Li... Li Ang, sir," she greeted softly, instinctively drawing her black bread closer to her chest.

Looking at her like that, Li Ang sighed inwardly. This scene was damnably familiar. Without saying much, he divided two of the six pizza slices and placed them on Lottie's empty tray.

"That's too much... Just one slice for me..." Lottie's face flushed at once. What was she even saying?

"Eat. I ordered such a large portion that I can't finish it alone," Li Ang interrupted her with a smile, trying to sound casual. "Don't waste it."

Lottie looked at the fragrant pizza on her tray, cheese stretching from it in long threads, then at Li Ang's expression that allowed no refusal. In the end, she thanked him with a red face, carefully picked up a slice, and began eating with a face full of happiness.

Li Ang also began enjoying his lunch. The delicious food diluted the guilt he felt over spending money so recklessly.

After lunch, Li Ang did not immediately begin the book-copying commission.

The afternoon was free time. He planned to visit Mentor Eve's workshop first; the copying could wait until the evening.

Using his badge, he once again opened the wooden door at the end of the corridor, carved with vine patterns. He stepped onto the strange floating platform and returned to Mentor Eve's Potion Workshop.

The workshop was silent. It seemed Mentor Eve was not there.

Li Ang first walked to the commission board on the wall. Quite a few commissions were pinned there, all various potion demands issued within the tower.

His gaze quickly locked onto a familiar task: Calming Potion. Required quantity: 20 bottles. Reward per bottle: 1 silver coin.

A line of smaller text beneath it stated: If materials from the workshop are used, a material cost of 80 copper coins will be deducted for each bottle brewed.

Li Ang calculated quickly. Even after deducting the material costs, he could still net 20 copper coins for every successfully brewed bottle.

Compared to the book-copying and warehouse-organizing tasks in the hall, the reward was twenty times higher. This was the enormous advantage of becoming a direct disciple.

After confirming the potion he wanted to brew, he walked to the row of medicine cabinets and used his badge to unlock the compartment storing the Calming Potion ingredients.

The ingredients here were not preprocessed like those in herb packets. Instead, they retained their original forms, waiting for Li Ang to handle them himself.

He first took out three portions of ingredients, then turned his gaze toward a tool in the workshop specifically meant for grinding. It looked like a stone mortar, but simple energy-conducting runes were carved across its surface.

[Blackstone Grinding Mortar: Lv0]

[Status: Can be bound]

[Binding cost: 1 point of mental power]

Li Ang pondered for a moment, then looked around at the other tools and facilities.

After some comparison, he found that this was currently the most suitable facility to bind. The others either could not be bound at all or were not particularly useful for this brewing session.

"Bind."

[Binding successful]

[Blackstone Grinding Mortar: Current level Lv0]

[Current effect: Increases grinding efficiency]

[Lv1 effect: Grinding efficiency +10%, medicinal powder quality +10%]

[Upgrade requirement: Magic Starlets in the Mental World reach 1; consume 5 points of mental power]

"Upgrade." Without hesitation, Li Ang directly raised it to Lv1. A faint thread of mental power was drawn away, and the runes on the grinding tool's surface seemed to flow more smoothly.

Next, he began processing the ingredients.

With the aid of the [Blackstone Grinding Mortar Lv1], the roots and stems of Stone Root Grass were easily ground into fine, even grayish-white powder, while the white crystal chunks were ground into clear, sparkling fine sand.

With the ingredients prepared, it was time for the actual brewing. Once he became proficient with Mentor Eve's huge cauldron, he could prepare several batches of the same potion at once.

However, the mental power and control required would increase severalfold as well. Li Ang did not dare try it casually yet.

Otherwise, ending up with a cauldron full of worthless sludge would be the least of his worries. If something went wrong and he blew Mentor Eve's workshop sky-high, he would be finished.

Of course, this cauldron was not merely large; its performance was also exceptionally good. If binding it had not required a full 10 points of mental power, Li Ang would have wanted to bind it immediately.