Chapter 22: High Purity

Having tidied up his clothes, Richard carefully retrieved the red mercury he had extracted months earlier, placing it in a box padded with crumpled paper and straw.

If this thing exploded, he'd lose half his life.

Carrying the box, he headed to the Central Black Tower. On the way, he stopped by the apprentice self-test room to check his physical condition.

[Mental Power: ?, Constitution: 22, Magic Power: 176, Rating: Novice Apprentice.]

"Hmm? Why is the mental power a question mark? Is the crystal ball broken?" Richard tapped the crystal ball. Aside from the mental power, his magic power seemed odd, but considering that the bloodline from Bloodline Alchemy was from a magical beast, an increase in magic power wasn't surprising.

Arriving at the fifty-sixth floor, Richard was sweating.

Carrying a bomb-like object, claiming not to be nervous would be a lie.

Knock, knock, knock!

Richard knocked on a nearby door.

Click.

"What do you want?"

A middle-aged apprentice opened the door. He was stout, with a hooked nose, squinty eyes, and a shiny bald head glistening in the magical light.

"Senior, I'm here to submit a task."

Richard carefully handed the box to the middle-aged apprentice.

"Submitting a task? Which one?"

The apprentice reached out to take it, but seeing Richard's sweaty and cautious demeanor, a thought crossed his mind.

Could it be red mercury?

Someone actually managed to extract it?

"Come in, come in. Hold that box steady; red mercury is no joke."

The apprentice stepped back, opening the door wide, not daring to touch the box.

Once Richard placed the red mercury securely, the apprentice sighed in relief.

"Junior, you're bold, bringing red mercury here yourself."

The apprentice wiped his brow, sitting down.

"What's your name, senior?"

"Chaxes. And you?"

"Richard."

After exchanging pleasantries, Chaxes moved to the window, calling out. Moments later, a regular-sized owl flew into the room.

"Sister, someone's brought the red mercury you wanted," Chaxes said to the owl.

Richard watched curiously. "Senior, what are you doing?"

Chaxes waved a hand dismissively. "Just a little trick, using animals to send messages."

He released the owl and returned to his seat.

"Senior Chaxes, you mentioned a sister. Isn't the red mercury for Master Jolord?" Richard recalled Chaxes' earlier words, suggesting the task wasn't directly from Jolord.

"Oh, the teacher researches synthetic beasts and doesn't need this stuff," Chaxes wiped his forehead again. "The red mercury task was issued by Sister Anna in his name."

"Does that mean..."

"If you want to join the teacher's tutelage, this task counts."

Seeing Richard's confusion, Chaxes had a wild thought.

Could it be he extracted red mercury without failing?

How could anyone extract red mercury without failing?

"Um... Richard, how long did it take you to extract this?" Chaxes probed.

"Uh, three months. Red mercury is dangerous, and I had a few failures, so I took my time," Richard lied without flinching.

"That's good, that's good. I thought you might be some alchemy prodigy," Chaxes chuckled, relieved. "Even the teacher sometimes fails with red mercury; it's notoriously difficult."

Hearing this, Richard felt his decision to delay task submission by three months was spot on.

If wizards struggled with red mercury, how could an apprentice fare better?

They chatted briefly. Despite Chaxes' greasy appearance, he was close to becoming a senior apprentice, a formal student of Jolord.

Once familiar, Richard inquired about Jolord's apprentice recruitment.

"Senior, I've heard that most of Master Jolord's apprentices end up working in the alchemy workshop?" Richard asked cautiously.

Chaxes waved dismissively. "Don't believe the rumors about apprentices just working in the workshop and learning nothing real."

"I'll tell you, the teacher treats apprentices better than anyone in the academy. Once you're under his wing, you get at least five magic stones monthly, not counting workshop wages."

"Work in the workshop, and after a while, earning ten to twenty magic stones monthly is normal. For freshmen like you, isn't that better than doing academy tasks?"

Chaxes took a swig from a metal flask.

"Plus, look how other masters treat apprentices. Testing potions and spells on them—I've seen it myself."

"Our mentor won't experiment on you; he even gives magic stones. Where else would you find that?"

Richard grew increasingly skeptical, feeling like Chaxes was delivering a sales pitch.

If Jolord were so great, apprentices would be fighting to join him.

Before Richard could respond, the door burst open.

"Chaxes, where's the delivery?"

Richard recognized Anna, the lecturer from before.

Chaxes quickly hid his flask and sprang to his feet, rushing to Anna's side with a flattering smile.

"Sister, sister, the red mercury's over there. Take it easy, red mercury can't handle rough treatment."

Anna gave Chaxes a sidelong glance, then looked towards Richard.

"Did you extract this?"

"I did."

Confirming the source, Anna strode to the box, gently opening it.

"Hmm?"

Inside was a brown glass bottle.

Though many apprentices knew red mercury needed darkness, using a brown glass bottle was a trick Anna herself learned from her mentor.

She hadn't seen anyone else use it before.

"Nice attention to detail with the brown bottle," Anna praised.

Chaxes' eyes widened at Anna's compliment.

Anna was Jolord's prized disciple, and seeing her praise someone was rare.

"Needed to avoid light, so I found a brown bottle," Richard mumbled.

Opening the bottle, a unique fragrance from the evaporating red mercury filled the room.

Richard instinctively covered his mouth and nose, watching Anna casually flick her hand to waft the scent out the window.

"Chaxes, as a mentor's student, even a layman knows to cover up, yet you're standing there dumbfounded," Anna chided, making Chaxes flinch.

With that, Anna's fingertip glowed blue, a thread of magic probing into the bottle. In moments, a drop of red mercury, shimmering with an unusual hue, emerged.

"This color..."

Anna scrutinized the red mercury, her eyes flickering with intrigue.

This color... this brilliance... it was indeed red mercury, and of exceptionally high purity.

Unable to resist, Anna triggered it. With a bang, the red mercury exploded under magical stimulation, shaking the room with a blast wave.

"Did you extract this?" Anna turned to Richard.

"I did," Richard replied.

"What's your name, and do you have a mentor?"

"My name is Richard, and I currently don't have a mentor."

"Good."

Anna closed the bottle and approached Richard.

Richard felt uneasy, fearing the Miracle Furnace might have produced something other than red mercury, and Anna suspected him of fraud. Her question about a mentor could mean she was checking if he had backing.

Richard suddenly recalled that beyond the fiftieth floor of the Central Black Tower was wizard territory, with no academy overseers.

Meaning Anna could kill him here without anyone knowing.

Richard's mind raced, body retreating.

"Uh, Sister Anna," cornered, Richard decided to stand firm, "just say what you want to do."

At nearly six feet tall, Anna towered over Richard, placing firm hands on his shoulders.

"If you don't have a mentor, join our Alchemy School."