Alchemy Apprentice

Once he had planned everything out, he did not wait until the third day. He took his instruments and materials to the association. The receptionist there already knew him well. Seeing Allen carrying so many things, he asked, "What are you bringing all that for? Those are alchemical instruments. Are you planning to take the test? Good heavens, you only started trying to brew potions a little over a month ago, and now you're already planning to take the test. You must have made a finished potion, right?"

He smiled and nodded. "It was all luck. Could you arrange it for me now?" "Of course. I'm afraid I'll have to address you as Master Alchemist from now on. You really are something. Here's the form. Fill it out, then pay five gold coins." Allen immediately filled in his information and handed it back when he was done. "All right, good luck. One last piece of advice: you have three chances, but those mages aren't very patient. They might hurry you along, but don't get nervous. They won't do anything to you." The attendant patted his shoulder and motioned for him to follow.

The attendant led Allen to a room that was empty except for a large Alchemy Table. "You've brought everything yourself, so I won't take out any instruments. A mage will be here in five minutes to oversee the test. Once again, good luck." With that, he left.

Five minutes later, he had placed everything on the Alchemy Table, and the mage arrived. Seeing Allen, he said in some surprise, "You're actually this young. I hope you're not a fraud. If you cheat during the test, I shouldn't need to tell you what will happen." The mage's tone was unpleasant, but Allen did not mind. He had been through university in his previous life, after all, and it was not as though he had never cheated there. His nerves were not that weak.

Allen ignored the mage and immediately began brewing a Healing Potion. He had brought a lot of things, some of which were measuring tools rather than alchemical instruments. Watching from the side, the mage saw how smoothly Allen worked and could tell that he was not merely putting on a show. His expression grew serious.

He had always been extremely precise when brewing potions, never adding too much or too little of any ingredient. That was precisely why he never strayed too far when searching for the balance point each time, and it was one reason his success rate had improved so quickly.

Seeing how carefully Allen brewed the potion, always striving for perfection in his measurements, the mage beside him could not help praising him. "Good, very good. A true alchemist should have the spirit of pursuing perfection."

Allen did not respond, because he had reached the most critical stage: infusing mana. This attempt went more smoothly than he could have imagined, and he soon found the balance point. When he finally infused mana into it, he still erred on the side of caution and did not add too much, stopping as soon as the potion was complete. Then he carefully poured the finished potion from the instrument's flask into another bottle. He poured very slowly to keep the mage from noticing the Water Elemental Heart inside.

Once he had finally finished all this, he handed the finished potion to the mage. The mage smiled at Allen. "Good, very good. Every step was perfect. Apart from your control during the mana infusion stage, which wasn't very good, everything else was excellent. Congratulations on passing the test."

In fact, his control could be considered very good. It was only because the mage did not know that he was controlling the Water Elemental Heart's mana that he thought Allen's control was lacking.

Still, everything had gone smoothly. He bowed to the mage. "Thank you for your guidance." Everyone liked a polite person, and this mage was no exception. Smiling, he patted Allen's shoulder. "I hope that the next time I see you, you'll already be a true alchemist. I'll go tell the people out front to give you your badge." With that, he left the room directly. Once he was gone, Allen hurriedly packed his things, putting even the unwashed instruments into the case, then left the room as well.

As soon as Allen stepped outside, he saw the receptionist approaching him. "I knew you could do it! I never expected you to earn Lord Arthur's praise as well. You're simply a genius." He had heard himself called a genius more than once, but only he knew the hardships behind that genius.

Still, all that effort had been worthwhile. The attendant had brought a badge over. "This is your badge. It's the best proof of your status. If you lose it, I still have your records here, so you can apply for a replacement. But it'll be a lot of trouble, so you'd best not lose it."

Allen took the badge. It was small and round, engraved with words including "Dalaran" and "Alchemy Apprentice." Judging by the material, an ordinary person probably could not counterfeit it.

Badge in hand, he was about to leave when the attendant stopped him. "Oh, right, Allen. I almost forgot to ask: would you like to join Dalaran? Your status as an Alchemy Apprentice already qualifies you to join..." Then the attendant listed a whole host of benefits, as though afraid he would refuse.

But he had already planned to join Dalaran, so he did not interrupt the attendant, wanting to learn about the benefits and obligations that came with that status. The attendant said a great deal, but the most important point to Allen was that he would qualify to enter the Library's second floor.

In the end, Allen interrupted him anyway. "You've said so much, but you haven't mentioned the most important part-the obligations. I don't believe in free lunches." The attendant rubbed his nose somewhat awkwardly. "Actually, the obligations are quite simple. You just need to do some tasks for Dalaran from time to time."

He followed up, "Are there any mandatory requirements?"

"For full-fledged mages, Dalaran generally issues some tasks, and they only need to complete a certain number each year. If they don't want to do tasks, they can also take a position in the association. That counts as fulfilling tasks too. As for mage apprentices..." The attendant began to falter.

Allen knew from his expression that this was not good. "What about mage apprentices?" The attendant answered awkwardly, "If a mage apprentice has a mentor, their mentor assigns their tasks. If not, Dalaran assigns them centrally." At first, Allen did not think anything was wrong with that, but he soon realized one important condition. "We can't refuse, can we?"

The attendant nodded helplessly. This really was awful. "What if Dalaran sends us to our deaths?" Allen asked next. The attendant nodded helplessly again. Sure enough, they still could not refuse. This was truly cruel.

Silence fell between them. A few seconds later, the attendant seemed to think of something and said to Allen, "Allen, you're different from those mage apprentices. You're also an Alchemy Apprentice. Doesn't Lord Arthur think highly of you? Perhaps you'll become his apprentice when the time comes. Then you won't have anything to worry about."

Allen did not believe for a moment that Arthur would take him as an apprentice. They had only met by chance, and Arthur had merely offered a few words of praise. Why would he take Allen as an apprentice for no reason? Besides, who knew what sort of person Arthur was? What if he was someone who exploited his apprentices?

Seeing Allen remain silent, the attendant assumed he would not join Dalaran. It made sense; these conditions were far too harsh. He sighed and was about to leave when Allen spoke. "I'll join Dalaran." The attendant almost thought he had misheard. After thinking it over, Allen felt that this was his only chance. There was no such thing as a free lunch, and taking a little risk to gain power was no great matter.

The attendant froze for quite a while before reacting. "Then, then, then... fill out a form first." Allen picked up the form, filled it out in no time, and handed it back. The attendant registered his status and handed Allen his identification document. "Dalaran's mage apprentices can buy things in Dalaran that aren't available outside. Believe me, all of this is worth it."

Of course it was all worth it if he could enter the Library. Dalaran's tasks were generally issued at the start of the month. It was now the middle of the month, leaving him more than ten days, so he planned to visit the Library immediately. After leaving the association, Allen went straight there. Once he presented his Dalaran identification, an attendant led him upstairs. "This is the second floor. It's divided into the East District and the West District. As you are an Alchemy Apprentice, you may enter both."

As it turned out, the second floor had two districts. The West District was for ordinary mage apprentices who had passed the entrance test, while the East District was open only to outstanding apprentices, including many who already had mentors and Alchemy Apprentices like Allen.

As Allen entered, the attendant kindly reminded him that the second floor's prices were completely different from those on the first. The West District cost 200 silver coins an hour, and the East District cost 250 an hour. It really was outrageously expensive. If Allen had not sold Healing Potions a while ago, he probably could not have stayed here for long.

Allen spent five or six hours in the Library. He had originally intended to keep looking for clues about other classes, but he discovered many books on the fundamentals of magical theory. The sheer variety of theories about magic dazzled him. He was desperate to learn everything about magic and even forgot his original purpose.

The difference between the second and first floors truly was enormous. The first floor contained useless books that generally did not touch on supernatural powers such as magic. The second floor was different: here, the books began to cover magical theory. Although they only covered the most basic parts, they were the best introductory books for someone like him, who had never encountered the theory before.

Allen read for more than five hours and only came out when he grew hungry. He was no longer in a hurry to look for clues. He decided to finish these books first.

Over the next half month, apart from brewing Healing Potions, he stayed in the Library and hardly went anywhere else. That day, he delivered potions to the merchant as usual. He now brewed one or two bottles almost every day, and his success rate had improved considerably. He had even produced several of medium quality. However, he did not plan to sell the best ones. Naturally, he would keep the good stuff for himself.