Big G, Coffee Machine and Goblin

Chapter 19 The Alchemist and His Apprentice
When Mali left the wonderful experience, he had twelve bottles of animal communication potions and sixty golden eagles. This temporarily resolved his language and financial crises.

He drank a bottle of magic potion as soon as he stepped out of the shop.

It tasted better than I expected, somewhat like pomegranate juice mixed with a touch of red wine.

But then a wave of dizziness washed over me, like an earthquake, and the streets in front of me began to shake.

But this feeling goes away just as quickly as it comes.

In the blink of an eye, the world returned to normal. The sounds from all around Ma Li flooded his ears again, but this time they were no longer meaningless noise; Ma Li could finally understand their meaning.

For example, a noble lady who just passed by him was discussing with her companion whose ball tea was the best.

The jewelry store apprentices were complaining about their boss withholding wages, and passersby were talking about the farce that had taken place at Dwarf Hammer yesterday afternoon.

It is said that those who bought weapons and equipment there are now searching for the missing dwarf blacksmith, but the guy got away quickly when he saw things were not going well, and is probably already out of town.

"How are you?" Charles asked from the side. "Is there anything wrong with you?"

“No, I’m fine.” Ma Li paused and then said, “Why do I hardly feel any backlash from the magic?”

The half-elf girl wasn't surprised at all. She nodded and said, "Of course. You're an alchemist, so you naturally possess magic power. When you drink a potion, your body won't have such a strong reaction."

"Actually, even ordinary people would gradually get used to potions if they drank them a lot. I only reacted so strongly because it was my first time."

"Magic?"

This was a word that was both familiar and unfamiliar to Ma Li. He had certainly seen wizards use magic in novels and movies, but this was the first time he had ever associated it with the word himself.

“It’s getting late, I need to go to the city hall to see Lord Jorawin,” Charles said. “What are your plans for the future?”

“I need to go to the Alchemists’ Association,” Ma Li said.

He came to Eaglebeak City for two purposes. One was to deal with the language crisis. Although he was unable to buy the kind of potion that could make someone instantly master a foreign language, he had acquired twelve bottles of animal communication potion, which temporarily solved the problem.

The next step is to see if I can obtain the status of an alchemist.

Ma Li still needs this. He just made a fortune selling industrialized small commodities such as lighters and thermos cups, but it will inevitably attract the covetous eyes of some people.

In fact, as he walked down the street, he vaguely sensed that someone was watching him from behind, and he didn't know if it was a spy sent by Balta.

Although the shop owner, who was enjoying a wonderful experience, concealed it well and showed almost no change in expression during the transaction, the greed in his eyes betrayed his true thoughts.

The four little gadgets that Ma Li took out could make him a lot of money, which made him even more eager to get the other things in the backpack.

Human greed is insatiable.

Fortunately, this is the old town, where the security is relatively good. As soon as Ma Li crossed an intersection, he saw no less than two patrol teams of guards.

He and Charles agreed to meet at the Golden Carp, and then they went their separate ways.

The Alchemist's Guild that Ma Li wanted to go to was easy to find; he just needed to look for the tallest white tower in the city, and it wasn't far from the wonderful experience. He adjusted the shoulder straps of his backpack and headed towards his destination.

…………

Renee tried to stop her teacher, who had already caused a scene at the school council meeting, which was quite embarrassing. Although Principal Giles withstood the pressure from the council and did not expel him, he gave him an indefinite leave, which was tantamount to expelling him.

Whenever she thought of this, Renee couldn't help but sigh deeply. She had originally thought that by joining the Staff of Light and becoming an alchemist, she could escape poverty and improve her family's situation.

But unexpectedly, all of this was ruined by an unreliable mentor. As Levi's only student, she had no choice but to leave the academy with her teacher.

Alchemists place great importance on lineage, and disciples can hardly disobey their teachers' orders. But that's not the worst part; the academy also canceled her chosen lead course (similar to a research direction) – exploring the mysteries of ancient alchemy.

This is also why Levi caused such a ruckus at the council meeting, because fewer and fewer students were taking his courses each year, until finally only Renee remained.

To be honest, Renee no longer expected to learn anything from Levi's classes. She had been secretly studying potions and alchemy on her own, her only wish being to graduate safely, become an alchemist, and then find a potions shop to make potions and earn money.

But now she feels she's getting further and further away from that dream, and her teacher has fallen ill again today. Ever since he went for a walk on the second floor, he's been bewitched by something.

He then strode towards the front desk. It was hard to imagine that a man in his nineties could still walk with such agility. The white beard on his chin was blown about by the gust of wind he created. Levi's eyes were wide open, like an old lion.

"Quick, tell me! Where did this come from?!" The old alchemist practically pressed the small iron box in his hand against the receptionist's face.

The latter was startled. "Where did you find it?"

“A collection of cursed items,” Renee quickly added, panting as she followed from behind.

“What cursed item? This is a genuine ancient alchemical artifact!” Levi said, dissatisfied.

"Uh... no matter how you look at it, this thing has nothing to do with ancient times," Renee said, taking a closer look.

"To be precise, it's a replica. That's even more incredible, meaning someone has already successfully replicated an ancient alchemical artifact before me." The old alchemist looked at his disciple. "What's with that expression?"

"Hmm, I was just wondering if there are really people other than us who are researching ancient alchemical creations?"

"How could there not be? Ancient times were the pinnacle of alchemy! Haven't you heard the story of the floating city of Dorfama? They even built a city that could fly across the land and never land. Those ancestors, their achievements in alchemy are simply unimaginable to us, their descendants."

"I had heard of it, but I thought it was just a legend."

“Oh, Renee, my dear disciple, caution is one of the fine qualities of an alchemist. But never let it become an obstacle on your path to knowledge, and especially remember not to become like those complacent, self-satisfied bastards on the school council.”

"But the bastard you're talking about drove us out of the Radiant Staff."

"So what? Fools may have the upper hand for a while, but the wise will always have the last laugh. I will prove the value of my research to those fools, and then they will be begging me to come back to the academy to teach."

"Or you could choose to apologize to those council members, and we can go back now."

“No way! I will never yield to anything other than the truth!” Levi said proudly, standing tall.

(End of this chapter)