Chapter 8 - End of the Magic Era

The peaceful alchemy laboratory was so quiet that time seemed to had been frozen, and only the sound of the bubbles in the test tube could be heard.

Raymond cringed back and waited for a long time, waiting for his last moments to arrive. But after waiting for a long time, he suddenly heard a voice.

“What are you doing?”

“Eh?” When Raymond, who had been waiting for his death with his eyes closed, heard this voice, he initially thought it was just his imagination. But then he thought about it. ‘Would there be such an annoying voice right after I entered the afterlife?’

Thus, Raymond opened his eyes and looked over. That scoundrel, who should have been buried in a magic explosion already, was standing there as if nothing had happened. He was still holding that frightening test tube in his hand. But at that time, Raymond didn’t focus on the test tube at all. Instead, he was wondering why there hadn’t been an explosion, or even anything out of place at all. ‘Why? The red coral solution should have already gone out of control due to the high temperature, so how could it remain completely unagitated within the test tube?’

Raymond’s mind was in a total mess, as if it was melting. No problems had arisen when the red coral solution was heated to a high temperature, which was something that Raymond couldn’t accept. This was simply like shaming Raymond’s knowledge of alchemy. And Okland’s alchemy professors had emphasized many times that red coral shouldn’t be dissolved into a solution no matter what, let alone having it come into contact with high temperatures.

If he had to choose between this being his own misunderstanding or his professors making such a huge mistake, he would rather believe that everything he had just seen was only a figment of his imagination.

Indeed…

As if to prove that everything wasn’t just an illusion, that really annoying voice echoed once again, and moreover, it seemed quite impatient this time. “How long could it possibly take to enchant a few glass bottles?”

As he said that, Lin Yun came over, still holding his test tube that was filled with the red coral solution.

“You… Don’t come!” Raymond jumped back in fear. He subconsciously wanted to stop him, but he soon recovered and immediately changed his tone, “I’ll bring them to you…”

Raymond felt a bit regretful after saying that…

Doing someone’s dirty work without profiting from it and still having to bring it to them afterwards… This was losing one’s pride!

But he had already spoken these words and couldn’t take them back. Thus, Raymond could only suffer in silence and finish the last enchantment before enduring the shame and bringing those few glass bottles to that scoundrel.

In order to retain a bit of pride, Raymond put the bottles down on the alchemy table one after the other and was going to snort coldly to show his displeasure, but as he caught sight of that deep red test tube again, he didn’t keep up the act in the slightest due to his worry. He looked at Lin Yun, feeling rather angry but not daring to speak.

Lin Yun didn’t bother about him at all as he took the enchanted bottles and arranged them on the table before pouring the red coral solution into the glass bottles, giving each a precisely even portion. During the entire process, Raymond’s eyelids couldn’t help twitching.

After he was done with all this, Lin Yun finally put the dangerous test tube down and began to sift through the pile of low-cost magic materials, organizing them. He then ground some dried thousand knot flowers, used a filtering cup to extract the juice of seven leaves grass, and spread a bit of moonlight sand on a white sheet of paper. After a few simple incantations, the scattered sand began shining gently.

The radiance gradually became increasingly more dazzling, and Lin Yun started working faster. The juice of the seven leaves grass was poured into the glass bottles and the diluted red coral solution’s red radiance dimmed. When the powdered thousand knot flower was added in, the irritating smell slowly disappeared.

When the glow of the moonlight sand disappeared, the three bottles of light red liquid revealed their true appearance through a faint mist.

“My god…”

After Raymond saw all of this, although he had still been regretting his loss of pride before, he slowly opened his mouth wide, a sluggish expression appearing on his face. He was completely stunned as he looked at Lin Yun with fear, as if this person before him was actually a monster!

‘H-h-how could this be a Colorful potion!’

Raymond clearly remembered that a few months ago, when he had just broken through and become a mage, the magic school allowed him to enter Okland’s laboratory to study for a week as a reward. There, he learnt about a whole new world. That place could be considered the learning center of the kingdom. There were two Archmages as well as seven Great Alchemists. It was even said that the one who was truly in charge of Okland’s laboratory was a Master Alchemist… Their existences made Okland’s laboratory a holy land in the hearts of countless alchemists.

When Raymond visited, he had really felt like he was making a pilgrimage.

That week was like a dream for Raymond. Being in the central hub of learning and having the chance to see those legendary existences, while even getting to hear them discuss their work if he was lucky. Furthermore, he occasionally was able to watch their research… To Raymond, this experience was worth all the wealth he could ever earn in his lifetime.

There weren’t many people that could get an opportunity like Raymond’s. Whether it was an Archmage or a Great Alchemist, they were all people standing at the peak of their domains. They were somewhat already separated from the commonfolk, and they could unconsciously say something that might very well enlighten mages like Raymond and save them years of fumbling their way forward.

Raymond still remembered the afternoon of the 3rd day that he was there. He had been fortunate enough to have the chance to spectate Great Alchemist Gustave’s potion-making. He was creating a bottle of Colorful potion, specialized in cleansing away a mana whirlpool’s impurities. For a mage that was already standing at the peak of the standard mage level and urgently wanted to shatter their mana whirlpool to step into the Great Mage stage, the value of that Colorful potion simply couldn’t be calculated.

This was a miracle of alchemy. After witnessing the miracle personally, Raymond felt that every detail was worth cherishing. The young mage felt that even if ten years passed, he would still remember everything that had happened there.

And nowhere near ten years had passed, so Raymond’s current understanding was even clearer.

Perhaps it was because of this vivid memory, but Raymond seemed to lose control…

Regarding the three bottles on the alchemy table, whether it was the smell emanating from them or their magic fluctuations, it was all exactly the same as that Colorful potion!

What did that mean? It meant that this person who had been stuck as a mere apprentice for a few years wasn’t just a mage who had mastered two kinds of spellcasting abilities, but he was also a very gifted alchemist!

‘I must be dreaming, right…?’

As a mage, Raymond naturally knew that regardless of whether it was magic or alchemy, they all required a great amount of time and experience. Being gifted in these two domains wouldn’t decisively change that fact. No matter how outstanding and gifted someone was, they would need time to gather knowledge and temper their skills. No one could skip this process.

Among the numerous branches of alchemy, potioneering was the one that consumed the most time. With the large numbers of formulas and neverending testing, all the potion alchemists had grown through countless failures, so up to now in the Andlusa Kingdom, the youngest potion alchemist was at least 30 years old.

This was already the limit. Without at least that much time to gather knowledge and experience, it was simply impossible to become an alchemist.

But that young master Merlin was only 20 this year, he was shockingly young if his accomplishments here were real. If he truly was a potion alchemist at this age, then he was bound to become a Great Alchemist!

‘I just attacked a future Great Alchemist…’

As this thought came to mind, cold sweat dripped down Raymond’s forehead.

This wasn’t a joke.

‘How about I take the initiative and apologize first, before asking for forgiveness in a sincere tone?’

Although this sounded like throwing away his pride, after offending someone that would gain such incredible status, there was no other choice. He had already lowered himself anyway, so there wouldn’t be much of a loss if he lowered himself more.

‘Right, let’s do this.’

Thus, Raymond began racking his mind to decide the best way to proceed. Since it was necessary to throw aside his pride, it would be better to think about how to do it…