Chapter 7 Poisoner

The continuous blows dealt to him left Count Raymond deeply disappointed in his son. However, in the face of disappointment, he only redoubled his efforts.

Make no mistake, he no longer had the patience to invest in such a talentless fool of a son. Count Raymond redirected his "efforts" towards his beautiful countess instead.

Since this son had become nothing more than a waste, destined to be incapable of inheriting his family legacy and unable to bring glory to the lineage, then... he would have to work hard to produce another son!

Count Raymond's continuous efforts with his wife finally bore fruit after a month of sowing and cultivation. Soon enough, the countess was pregnant again, and in the winter of the following year, Count Raymond welcomed his second son as he had wished.

While the entire Count's estate celebrated this joyous occasion, Duwei remained secluded in his room, diligently studying the rare books he had painstakingly collected on "Alchemy."

Thankfully, the final words of that magician, Clarke, had some effect after all. Count Raymond, under the thought of "what worse could happen," decided to have his foolish son learn Alchemy.

For almost a whole month, Count Raymond had no interest in even looking at his thoroughly disappointing son. Even the Countess, who had once been affectionate towards Duwei, had to reduce her visits to her son due to her pregnancy and impending childbirth.

On the second day after giving birth to a brother, Duwei was escorted by a servant to the Count's room, where he visited his mother, weakened from childbirth, and his baby brother.

It was evident that Count Raymond was pleased. Because this newborn son, like the tradition of the Rolin family, cried loudly and strongly, and although just born, he seemed destined to be very robust.

Count Raymond had no interest in sparing another glance at his useless son. After a formal greeting, he waved his hand, dismissing him. Although Countess, lying in bed, felt a bit sorry, the newborn's crying drew her attention away.

Duwei quietly retreated, leaving behind the Count's satisfied laughter and the baby's cries. Despite feeling numb inside, Duwei couldn't help but feel a twinge of loss.

He reminded himself inwardly: Stop fantasizing. He is not your father in this world... and she... she's not either...

Thinking back to that stormy night when the beautiful woman had knelt before the statue of the goddess for him all night, Duwei felt a pang of bitterness and shook his head vigorously.

Struggling to dispel his inner turmoil, Duwei could only focus all his attention on studying.

Undeniably, Duwei still had great interest in the magic of this world. Despite Clarke the magician declaring his lack of talent, Duwei, with lingering reluctance, held onto a glimmer of hope. And within the grand Count's estate lay a considerable number of books, many of which were about magic.

After reading numerous books, Duwei had to admit that what Clarke had said was true; he indeed lacked the talent to become a magician. Even after sitting for a day and a night, he couldn't sense any fluctuations of magical elements. Once, he even dozed off unknowingly.

Subsequently, Duwei, undeterred, shifted his focus to what Clarke had called "Alchemy."

Because, seemingly, Alchemy was also a form of magic. And Alchemists, barely counted as magicians. Although Duwei had to inquire with the servants of the mansion to understand the position of these so-called "magicians" in the minds of the people of this world!

In this world, although people verbally acknowledged that Alchemists were a type of magician, even the Magic Guild officially acknowledged this fact in writing, in reality, people's thoughts were more like, "This also counts as magic?"

Alchemy, as the name suggests, is the study of various magical potion formulations.

After hearing more about it, Duwei made a very apt analogy in his mind: If he were to compare it to the medical industry of his previous world. Then, true magicians would be equivalent to various specialized doctors in hospitals! And Alchemists... at most, they could be considered as junior nurses assisting doctors. Although they all worked in hospitals, the status and income of nurses were far from those of real doctors.

However, after studying it carefully, Duwei became greatly interested in this field of Alchemy!

In his view, it was a very fresh field.

For example... how to use the eyeballs of jumping frogs, combined with purple wormwood, to create a potion that could temporarily render someone mute. Or how to use the saliva of a Stadaphen Sword Scaled Dragon, along with clover and the liver of a Kekke Triangle Scaled Fish, to grind out a powder that could petrify a person!

Furthermore, using a substance derived from a fire scale grass, dried and crushed into powder, could instantly ignite anything it was sprinkled on!

However, the names of these animals and plants mentioned above, such as "jumping frog," "Stadaphen Sword Scaled Dragon," "Kekke Triangle Scaled Fish," "fire scale grass," and so on, nine out of ten of them were things Duwei had never heard of.

Like what?

This was exactly like the chemical system of another world!

Duwei had never imagined that magic could be explained in such a way!

Potions that could make someone mute, potions that could petrify people, potions that could ignite... how intriguing, isn't it?

In Duwei's mind, the profession of an Alchemist was actually more like that of a physician. It's just that physicians save people, while Alchemists are more adept at creating harmful poisons.

What Duwei didn't know was that his thoughts coincided with the opinions of the people of this world regarding Alchemists: poisoners.

Days passed one by one. Duwei remained immersed in the study of Alchemy. However, his knowledge remained only at the theoretical level of reading on paper. After all, many of the strange and exotic raw materials mentioned in Alchemy were not available even in the noble Rolin family's mansion.

Only the research laboratories of real magicians would have these materials. And in the field of magic, Alchemists usually served as assistants and subordinates to those real magicians.

Moreover, even though he was the son of a Count, no one dared to provide him with those dangerous magical ingredients!

Unbeknownst to him, six years had passed. During these six years, Duwei's younger brother grew up strong. This child, named "Gabriel," was more like a typical heir of the Rolin family compared to the foolish Duwei, resembling a true scion of the lineage.

From a young age, Duwei's younger brother had been healthy and lively. At the age of six, he had already begun training under the Master of Guards, Knight Alpha. It was said that the Master of Guards had a high opinion of the Count's second son. Almost everyone in the mansion regarded him as the hope of the Rolin family's future! And Count Raymond apparently poured all his care into his second son. He had even decided to wait another two years until Gabriel was eight years old before formally imparting the family's martial arts to him!

The affection of the servants, the praise of the Master of Guards, the attention of his father, and even the hiring of a tutor—all agreed that the