I'm a proper student; I only take nine kinds of potions every day.

"Give it to Otto Forem, head of the Clinical Physiology and Chemistry Laboratory at the Sage Medical School."

Ivan took the envelope with both hands. The envelope felt heavy in his palms, and the hard edges of the wax seal pressed against his fingertips.

Armitage leaned back in his chair: "His main research areas are: chemical composition analysis of blood and drugs, toxin screening, and drug toxicity testing."

A meaningful smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "This direction suits you quite well."

"When he was young, he studied alchemy at the University of Michigan."

The old gentleman added at the end, "He is an expert-level philanthropist."

Ivan's mind raced through the legacy information belonging to the Witcher.

The Tree of Life path includes one of the three professions: the virtuous person.

Their core strength lies in integration.

Carefully putting away the letter of recommendation, Evan took the opportunity to reveal his own little thoughts.

"Doctor, I've run out of my previous batch of potions. Where can I restock them on a regular basis?"

Armitage put down the pen, the nib tapping very softly against the mouth of the ink bottle.

"There are many places that produce potions. Besides our University of Michigan, the Healing Church, the Red King's Laboratory, and the Byron Group all have potion sales businesses."

The old man leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of him.

"Potions aren't just used by witchers. Other professions use them too. It's just that most don't make potions the core of their development like witchers do."

He paused, a hint of warning in his voice.

"Those companies have been secretly using ordinary people for drug experiments. You need to be careful."

"Their R&D departments are all driven by performance targets. They don't conduct experiments as cautiously as we do."

"Every year, the living people who disappear from sweatshops, workhouses, and immigrant detention centers, whether they are alive or dead, or even whether they are human or not, only they know."

Evan was overjoyed inside, but he kept a proper composure on his face, placing his right hand on the back of his left, and adopting the posture of a student listening attentively.

"Doctor, could you give me an address, or a qualification to purchase?"

Armitage pulled a notepad from the corner of the table, dipped his pen in ink, and wrote down the addresses and codes of several departments.

The pen nib scratched across the paper as the old man wrote, whispering instructions as he did so.

"The investigators at the University of Michigan have always had a good reputation. As long as you don't provoke them, they generally won't cause you any trouble."

After he finished writing, he folded the note into a square and handed it to Ivan.

"Read it once, write it down, and burn it later."

Ivan took the note with both hands, glanced at the few lines of text twice, then folded it back up and put it in his suit pocket.

After noting down the address, he immediately raised his next question due to time constraints.

"Doctor, what are magical artifacts? How do you get them? Are they expensive?"

Armitage picked up the blue-and-white porcelain teacup and moistened his throat with the warm black tea.

"There are both expensive and cheap ones. They are generally rated according to five dimensions: effectiveness, cost, portability, number of effective times, and range of action, and divided into five levels."

He held up five fingers and started counting down from his little finger.

"Level five items are small trinkets. Lucky pendants and love charms belong to this category. The snakeskin amulet you have in your arms is one of them."

He paused for a moment.

"Level four is more powerful. At this level, it can already create obstacles and barriers on the material level. For example, invisibility, bulletproofing, short-term levitation, and spatial isolation, and so on."

"The higher-level (Level 3), Level 2, and Level 1 are rarely available on the market. I'll tell you about them later."

Ivan's eyes lit up, and he leaned forward.

"Doctor, if I manage to obtain a magical artifact myself, how do I test its side effects?"

Armitage smiled; he could tell that Ivan should have gained something extra from Alcott, but he didn't point it out.

"That's simple. I'll teach you a ritual; you'll need this."

After the old gentleman finished speaking, he stood up, put his teacup on the corner of the table, and reached out to lead Ivan to the inner side of the study.

It was a small, dark room.

The moment I stepped through the door, the air temperature seemed to drop a few degrees.

On the ground, one can see numerous traces left by magic arrays, with white chalk lines and some kind of blackened burn marks overlapping each other, like an old map that has been repeatedly erased and rewritten.

Several yellowed star charts and cross-sectional diagrams of the zodiac were pasted on the wall, the edges of the paper curled and brittle, and the nails were marked with brown stains like sweat.

On the square table directly in front, dozens of unburnt candles of different colors stood in copper candlesticks, their wax layers cascading down to the edge of the table.

Scattered on the corner of the table were various ornaments, including small stone shards engraved with symbols, half a piece of amber, and a cracked brass incense burner.

A faint scent of sulfur and sandalwood lingered in the air.

Fortunately, the taste wasn't strange or strong, and Evan's enhanced nose could still handle it.

"This is my magic workshop."

Armitage explained, “I have been performing rituals here for many years. My spirituality has accumulated in this room day after day, leaving behind a large amount of spiritual residue.”

He raised his hand and pointed around: "The walls, the floor, the table, every inch of them has been repeatedly soaked in incantations."

"These residues can increase the success rate and reduce the risk."

Ivan looked around and sighed, "I understand, there's a familiar feeling that the whole room has been polished by a soul."

Armitage smiled and nodded in agreement, picked up a piece of chalk that had been worn down to half its original length from the edge of the table, and bent down.

Draw a square on the ground, inside which is an equilateral triangle. The lines are quick and steady, requiring almost no measurement.

Finally, he drew a question mark in the very center.

The old man took a pocket watch out of his vest pocket and placed it directly above the symbol.

Then, he dripped a drop of mercury from a small glass tube with a cork plug on the table toward the apex of the triangle.

A small handful of white sea salt was sprinkled on the left side of the triangle, and a few pieces of moonstone were stacked on the right side. The surface of the pieces of moonstone shone with a soft milky white light, like milk soaked in moonlight.

Armitage explained as he demonstrated.

"Today is Monday, which corresponds to the moon. It's more suitable for magic related to dreams, health, and recovery."

"For a higher success rate, you'd better choose Wednesday. That day corresponds to Mercury, which is suitable for communication, divination, and enhancement magic."

He glanced up at Ivan, who was engrossed in his work.

"However, I have this magic workshop that I've built up over many years, which can provide an additional bonus."

"I'm about to cast a spell, watch carefully."

Ivan nodded seriously, his eyes wide and his breath held.

As the old man spoke, he knelt on the ground, his knees pressing against the outside of the chalk lines.

He lowered his head, his voice extremely soft, as if afraid of disturbing something sleeping in the room.

"Mercurius, speak the truth."

"Unveil the hidden state."

The moment the incantation was uttered, the three objects suddenly burst into flames.

The sea salt burst into a few tiny sparks, white mist rose from the edge of the moonstone, and the mercury turned into a wisp of silver smoke.

A glint of dark blue flashed across the middle question mark.

The flames of the old candles in the room all dipped an inch in the same direction, then all stood upright again.

Then Ivan saw a soul appear out of thin air.

A hazy blue light appeared out of nowhere above the pocket watch, its outline resembling both a child's and an old man's face.

It spoke, its voice neither male nor female, sounding as if it were coming from a great distance through the water.

"It's called a precision pocket watch. It's always on time and always running."

"In return, users need to pay it two dollars every Monday."

"Otherwise, it will explode immediately."

As soon as he finished speaking, the blue light vanished.

Ivan stood still, blinked twice, and slowly a smile spread across his face.

"It seems like it'll be fun."

He crouched down and looked closely at the lingering smoke on the ground, almost sticking his nose inside.

Then, suddenly realizing how sensitive his nose was today, he stopped in time and straightened up sullenly.

Armitage laughed as he propped himself up on his knees and patted the chalk dust off his trousers.

"This is the basic appraisal technique. It's considered one of the essential auxiliary spells for all extraordinary individuals."

"Materials, incantations, patterns. With your memory, you should have memorized them all."

"You can try it yourself on Wednesday."

Ivan closed his eyes and mentally reviewed the entire ritual.

He checked each item against the direction of the chalk lines, the position of the mercury drop, and the stress of each syllable of the incantation, making sure nothing was missed, and then his expression became serious.

"Thank you, Doctor."

Armitage reached out and patted him firmly on the shoulder twice. The warmth of his palm through the fabric of the suit was slightly higher than in the dark room.

"You're a promising talent. I can't bear to see anything happen to you."

"Send me a telegram if there's any movement."

Ivan nodded, taking that sentence to heart as well.

After saying goodbye to Armitage, he jogged back to the hotel.

The cobblestone pavement was glaringly bright in the sunlight, and a newsboy on the street corner was shouting last night's headline: "Terrifying serial killer on the run! Sheriff offers a $500 reward!"

When they arrived at the hotel entrance, the group from Sage University had already split into several groups and headed to the station.