The dim, cluttered room of a mage.
Master Belorei sat alone on a dusty yet exquisite and soft sofa, his hands clasped on his knees, leaning back with his eyes closed.
The room was quiet; Nolan had already left.
Dong! Dong!
A knock on the door came through the wooden door.
Master Belorei made no move, and after waiting for a moment, the figure outside pushed the door open and entered.
Such an action was enough to indicate that the identity of this figure was not simple.
"Master, where is your newly recruited disciple?"
"I heard you personally brought someone over. What kind of genius could make an old man like you so proactive? Our guild here hasn't had a magic caster join in a long time."
A half-joking, hearty laugh poured in as the wooden door opened.
This was a mage dressed in a long robe, holding an ebony staff, with a hint of nervousness in his brows. He looked about 40, but in reality, he was only 30 years old.
The person was Tikshir, the Guild Master of the "Yen Lantir" Mages' Guild.
"Your standards are just too high."
Master Belorei said faintly, without even lifting his head, his eyes still closed.
Guild Master Tikshir at this point also noticed that Master Belorei was clearly not in high spirits, and the atmosphere was slightly off.
"What happened?"
Guild Master Tikshir's smile faded as he stepped forward and sat on the sofa on the other side.
This time, Master Belorei didn't speak but raised his hand, pointing to a blue solution in a common clear glass bottle on the table.
Guild Master Tikshir was a little surprised, picking up the unfamiliar potion: "Is this a new potion you developed?"
While puzzled,
Guild Master Tikshir activated his magic and quietly said, "Item Appraisal!"
The entire potion bottle emitted a faint glow.
"An alchemical potion with a paralyzing effect?" Guild Master Tikshir was naturally not a fool and quickly realized something. "Is this the reason he refused you?"
To refuse a Scroll Crafting Master, if there wasn't a good enough reason, he wouldn't believe that the rigid Master Belorei would be so calm.
The clear, translucent blue liquid in the potion bottle.
Rather than an artificial creation, it looked more like a natural solution.
Dong, dong!
Suddenly, another knock on the door sounded.
"Come in." Master Belorei straightened up from the sofa.
Click!
The door opened.
Grandma Lilith, wrapped in a light green headscarf, hands behind her back, and a poker face, walked in.
She glanced at the two people in the room.
"Guild Master Tikshir."
Grandma Lilith first nodded to the Guild Master, then looked at Master Belorei, speaking with an impatient, even slightly sarcastic tone,
"Why did you ask someone to find me? A potion master like me has nothing in common with a high and mighty Scroll Crafting Master like you."
"Lady Balarea."
Guild Master Tikshir was a little surprised, his peripheral vision glancing at Master Belorei.
These two had always been at odds.
"Give her the alchemical potion."
Master Belorei's cheek twitched slightly as he spoke expressionlessly.
A gossipy look flashed in Guild Master Tikshir's eyes, but his expression remained unchanged as he handed over the alchemical potion.
First, she looked at the clear, translucent potion.
Grandma Lilith's eyes lit up, then she also cast an "Item Appraisal."
Soon,
Her face showed a mixture of surprise, doubt, and other emotions.
"How is it?" Master Belorei asked.
Grandma Lilith ignored him, opened the bottle, took out a few drops of the potion and dripped it onto her hand, licked it a few times with her tongue, then closed her eyes in thought.
Guild Master Tikshir was a little puzzled, seeing how concerned the two of them were.
He had just examined this alchemical potion, and its effect could only be considered average.
In his understanding, alchemy was generally used for support. The fact that the young man could independently create potions with alchemy indicated that he had quite good talent in alchemy.
In this situation, refusing scroll technology was indeed not a problem, after all, a person's energy is limited.
However!
Seeing the attitudes of Master Belorei and Grandma Lilith, Guild Master Tikshir also realized the problem.
"Where did you get this alchemical potion?"
"The effect of the potion is only average, but the crafting method is problematic!"
Grandma Lilith looked up at Master Belorei, speaking with surprise, "What I mean is, I've never seen such a technique."
"Using materials from monsters to create items with special effects or potions is nothing, but items created this way will inevitably contain characteristics of those monsters."
"In a potion master's words, they are 'impurities,' the kind that cannot be removed."
Grandma Lilith said this, holding up the clear, transparent alchemical potion in her hand, and addressed everyone:
"But compared to that!"
"What's more interesting is that this is not an enchanting technique."
"Indeed." Master Belorei nodded slightly, a hint of understanding flashing in his eyes.
He had noticed this problem before, but he just wanted Grandma Lilith, who was more skilled in potions and alchemy, to confirm it.
"What do you mean?" Guild Master Tikshir, on the side, was a little bewildered.
The two in front of him, one a Scroll Crafting Master and the other an expert in pharmacology and alchemy, were having a conversation he couldn't quite follow.
Grandma Lilith glanced at Guild Master Tikshir, seemingly unwilling to explain.
"Starting from the era of the Thirteen Heroes over two hundred years ago,"
"With the gradual loss of Rune technology from the Dwarf Kingdom, the enchanting techniques mastered by humans began to dominate."
"Simply put, whether it's weapon enchanting, scroll crafting, or various potions, all of these are achieved through enchanting techniques."
Master Belorei spoke softly, a complex emotion on his face.
"Where is the person who made this alchemical potion?"
Grandma Lilith was completely engrossed.
"He left, his name is..." Master Belorei's voice trailed off.
He suddenly realized that he hadn't asked Nolan's name, or perhaps from the beginning, he hadn't believed anyone could refuse a Scroll Master.
"He's a black-haired young man. He possesses such techniques, so he might have some dealings with you. Keep an eye out for him."
Master Belorei looked at Grandma Lilith and spoke again.
A black-haired young man?
Grandma Lilith froze, and Nolan's figure appeared in her mind.
"I'm taking this alchemical potion." Grandma Lilith didn't give Master Belorei a chance to speak and turned to leave.
Seeing this scene,
Master Belorei's face showed a helpless expression.
"To be able to independently create alchemical solutions and develop such a technique, no wonder he looks down on this old man's scroll crafting methods."
Master Belorei sighed.
The use of alchemy has very high requirements for mana control, which should also be the reason he was able to create "papermaking" at the same level as him.
"Master."
Guild Master Tikshir was now a little worried.
"At least one thing is certain: he is indeed not from the Slane Theocracy." Master Belorei leaned back on the sofa.
"Are you sure?" A look of gravity appeared in Guild Master Tikshir's eyes.
"He took a second-tier 'Summon Angel' scroll from me." Master Belorei waved his hand,
"If he were from the Slane Theocracy, it would be too much of a bother."
...On the other side.
Nolan was already heading back to the small inn. He needed to experiment with scroll crafting techniques as soon as possible, as this might relate to whether he should do something next.
"Scroll Crafting Master?"
"Such a title feels very dangerous, right, Little Black?"
Nolan looked at the active little devil dog by his side, "What do you think of the title 'Genius Alchemist'?"
"Combined with the identity of a faith-based magic caster, which also doesn't pose much of a threat, it seems pretty good."
"Woof."
The little devil dog barked softly. It naturally didn't understand Nolan's words, but that didn't stop it from responding.