Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 195 Unexpected Twists and Turns

Early the next morning, Richard sent Fingart to gather information and find out about the wizarding organization in Tug City.

Since this kind of news was known to every wizarding apprentice on the street, there was naturally not much secrecy involved. Before long, Fingart returned to report to Richard, just before Dessol woke up.

This was almost entirely consistent with what Dessol's concubines had said, which greatly reassured Richard. It seemed that joining the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood was indeed the best option.

After all, with a senior first-level wizard like Desor as his guide, he would definitely thrive in the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood and more easily obtain the resources and permissions he needed.

If you choose other large wizarding organizations, the first step of qualification review will be very troublesome without an introduction. Since you are not a human from the Underdark but come from the surface, you will inevitably be exposed if they investigate further.

Secondly, without an introduction or guarantee, one can only climb the ladder step by step, and the speed of acquiring resources will certainly not be as fast and convenient as in the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood.

Having made up his mind, Richard stopped thinking about the problem and didn't rush Dessall. Instead, he took a blank parchment and slowly began to write something.

Stephanie glanced at it with great curiosity and found that her master was drawing some vessels and had made notes on the side such as "barley", "fermentation", "hops or substitutes" and so on.

It appears to be a design drawing for the production of some kind of alcohol?

It was almost noon when Dessol finally woke up.

However, once he regained consciousness, he quickly became fully sober. You could say that he was two different people, one before drinking and one after drinking.

The former is the drunkard Desol, and the latter is the veteran wizard Desol.

Upon waking up, Desor immediately took Richard to the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood's headquarters in Tug City.

Along the way, Richard wanted to ask Dessol about his question from the previous night, which was why there were so many wizarding organizations in Tug City, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was not appropriate to bring up this topic now.

If all goes well, it will be more legitimate for me to raise this question after I officially become a member of the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood this afternoon.

Before long, the two arrived in front of a tall building that occupied a vast area. It was a three-story square building, and although it was only three stories high, it looked particularly tall and sturdy.

Indeed, it was tall. Richard looked at the nearly ten-meter-high gate and the almost fifteen-meter-high ceiling on each floor and was speechless. Why did this gray dwarf, who was less than 1.4 meters tall, like tall things so much? It was a really strange hobby.

At the main gate, there were many wizards and wizard apprentices coming and going.

Seeing so many people coming and going, Richard couldn't help but show a surprised expression. He had just roughly estimated that he had encountered more than ten members at the formal wizard level coming and going, and there were even more wizard apprentices.

If so many wizards are joining every day, the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood's power is truly terrifying.

Clearly, Dessall noticed Richard's expression and introduced him with a smile:

"Haha, Lord Li Wei, are you surprised?"

"Because today is the last day of the month, it is the monthly assessment day. All members who have made sufficient contributions or whose skills have been greatly improved and who want to improve their treatment within the organization will come here today for verification or assessment, so as to re-determine their treatment level."

"Also, wizards or wizard apprentices who have applied to join the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood within the past month are taking their exams today, which is why there are so many people here."

Richard understood immediately after listening for a short while.

It turns out that not all the wizards coming in and out were there to apply to join the Brotherhood; many were existing members who came today to upgrade their status and benefits.

As they walked, Desor continued his enthusiastic introduction:

"Newly joined official wizards, if they are strong enough and pass the assessment, may skip the Gray Iron level and directly enjoy the treatment of the Bronze level."

Upon hearing this, Richard frowned, clearly unaware of what this treatment of gray iron and bronze meant.

"Lord Li Wei, are you curious about the details of this Gray Iron and Bronze level treatment?"

Dessall smiled mysteriously, "You'll find out soon enough, Mr. Richard."

"Furthermore, Your Excellency Richard, you do not need to know about these low-level treatments."

After the two entered the hall, a beautiful gray dwarf maidservant came to greet them. Richard glanced at her and immediately sensed that she was a third-level wizard apprentice.

"Lord Disol, you have finally returned to Tug City. The mission you took last time..."

Disol waved his hand and said, "Let's talk about this later. Let me think. The one in charge of the alchemist assessment right now should be... Allehan! That's right! By the way, little Celia, is Allehan at the camp?"

"Yes, Lord Dissol. Lord Alhan is in charge of arranging the assessments today. A group of alchemists who applied to join the organization will be assessed today."

"In addition, several members in this batch who wish to upgrade their treatment level also need to undergo assessment. Lord Alehan is currently in the assessment hall. Would you like me to take you there?"

Dissol waved his hand and said, "No need, little Celia, you're getting more and more beautiful. Please give my regards to your mother."

The maid blushed slightly, seemingly aware that her mother and Lord Dissol from the organization had some scandalous affairs.

Richard thought they were going up to the second floor, but to his surprise, Dessall led him down the spiral staircase.

The assessment hall was actually underground—a truly unexpected design.

After walking down two floors and passing through a corridor, the space suddenly opened up.

In the spacious hall, dozens of wizards and wizard apprentices of various races were gathered in twos and threes, chatting idly, seemingly waiting for something.

One side of the venue is a spacious hall, while the other side consists of various rooms, in which one can vaguely see various utensils, which seem to be alchemy rooms.

Richard observed for a while and found that among the group of people participating in the alchemy assessment, about seven or eight had reached the level of a formal wizard, while most of the rest were at the level of a third-level wizard apprentice, and they were generally older.

The oldest among them was an elder from a certain murloc tribe, with white whiskers around his mouth, holding a huge fishbone staff, and walking with a shaky gait, supported by a strong young murloc beside him.

That's way too old!

The old fishman was probably well over a hundred years old, but his strength seemed to be only at the limit of a third-level wizard apprentice, not even as good as Richard's own.

"Every month or every few months, the Brotherhood organizes a unified assessment for applicants. There are different categories such as combat, alchemy, inscription, and magic array. These are all alchemists who intend to join the Brotherhood through the alchemy assessment." Seemingly noticing the curiosity in Richard's eyes, Dessol continued to explain.

"Basically, applicants need to have at least an intermediate professional title as a prerequisite, such as an intermediate alchemist, intermediate inscriptionist, or intermediate rune blacksmith, to meet the application requirements. Otherwise, they will not pass the qualification review after applying."

Richard nodded, indicating that he understood.

This was no low requirement. He remembered that in the large blacksmith shop in Grey Fern Town, the best craftsman only had the title of junior rune blacksmith.

With an intermediate professional title, one can basically support opening a weapons or equipment shop in a city, with an income far exceeding that of an ordinary blacksmith shop.

"However, Lord Li Wei, you don't need to worry about these cumbersome regulations at all. Your master-level alchemy skills are beyond doubt, and Allah is an old friend of mine. Rest assured, we will complete the necessary procedures soon."

"Then, we can go have another drink!" Dessall's face lit up as soon as he mentioned drinking.

Although the plaza on the first basement level was empty, some of the wizards and wizard apprentices who came for the assessment seemed to have heard what Dissol said. They couldn't help but turn their heads to look at Richard and Dissol, and frowned with disgust.

Richard immediately realized what was happening, touched his nose, and realized he hadn't expected to be mistaken for someone who got in through connections.

However, Desol is really a terrible teammate, or maybe he's just too carefree, because he didn't even put up any soundproofing when talking to the two of them like this!

Continuing onward, they heard Disol shout, "Allahan, I've come to see you!"

"Desor! It's rare for you to come see me." A dwarf elder with a long goatee stood up from a large chair and said with a smile when he saw Desor.

Judging from their aura, it seems that the opponent's strength is even greater than that of Desol.

The two gave each other a big hug, showing that they really had a good relationship!

Human wizards on the surface are completely unaccustomed to this way of greeting with physical contact, but gray dwarf wizards still can't resist the habit of hugging.

This time, Dissol seemed to realize that there were many people waiting for the test around him, so he immediately cast a soundproofing spell to cover himself, Alhan, and Richard.

"Alehan, I've come to you this time to recommend a talented person."

This caused a glint of light to flash in the eyes of the goatee-bearded old man.

"Oh, is this gentleman?" The goatee-bearded old man looked Richard up and down and nodded.

"To become a formal wizard at such a young age is truly outstanding! If I join the organization, I can start with bronze-level treatment."

"However, I'm not in charge of the combat assessment, Dissol. You'll have to go to Graeme for that. He's upstairs."

An old man with a goatee named Allehan stroked his beard.

Although the three of them were already protected by soundproofing, the crowd of people waiting for the assessment all focused their attention on Richard, their eyes filled with different emotions, some envious, some jealous.

Wizards are all shrewd; Desol's loud voice just now revealed his true intentions.

"No, no! Allehan, you've misjudged him this time. Lord Levi at least deserves Mithril-level treatment," Dissol said smugly.

At this moment, Richard touched his nose and couldn't help but smile wryly. He finally understood why Dessall had come to see this wizard, Allehan. Besides asking for better treatment for him, it seemed that he wanted to show off more.

He boasted that he had a keen eye for talent and had found such a master alchemist as himself.

Allehan frowned and said, "Why? Dessol, although there are very few geniuses under the age of thirty who can be promoted to formal wizards, there are still some. If their combat awareness is also outstanding, the organization will give them bronze-level treatment."

"No, no, not only a combat genius, Lord Li Wei is also an alchemy master."

"An alchemy master?" The goatee-bearded old man looked Richard up and down again with suspicion, his face showing displeasure. "Dissol, don't joke around. Lord Levi seems to be under thirty years old. How could he possibly be an alchemy master?"

"To correct you, Lord Li Wei is twenty years old this year," Dissol said smugly.

This instantly displeased Allan! He said in a low voice:

"So you think a twenty-year-old human wizard is rare enough, but he's also an alchemy master? Dissol, how much turkey did you drink this morning to get this drunk!"

"you"

At this moment, Dessall also realized that the Lord Levi he was about to introduce seemed to be too much of a genius, even his good friend Allehan did not believe it.

Dessall glanced at Richard, afraid of displeasing him, and immediately went to Allehan's side, whispering:

"Lord Levi is a traveling wizard, a genuine alchemy master, specializing in explosives. He gave me a recipe for an alchemical combination bomb he developed, the power of which reaches the level of a first-level fire spell!"

"What?" Allahan looked surprised, his face filled with disbelief.

Dessol's account was detailed and detailed, and he didn't seem to be drunk.

Could it be that this young Lord Li Wei is truly an alchemy master?

But in over a hundred years, he had never seen such a young alchemy master in the organization.

It's important to understand that even improving an alchemy recipe is not something that an ordinary alchemy master can do. After all, it involves hundreds or even thousands of adjustments to the proportions to find a near-perfect combination, thereby improving an existing alchemy recipe.

It's that difficult to improve an alchemy recipe!

It is conceivable that developing a brand-new alchemy formula would require even more complex work.

Generally speaking, it takes a large team, namely several alchemy masters leading dozens of intermediate and senior alchemists, spending a lot of time and energy trying various raw materials before success is possible!

The key word is "possibly," not "certainly." In other words, after spending a lot of time and effort, the return might be zero.

Therefore, many alchemy masters only achieve their breakthroughs by chance, through wildly imaginative inspiration, and manage to develop a completely new alchemy formula.

It might only happen once in a lifetime, but it's enough to make an alchemy master proud for a lifetime!

The man before him, Lord Li Wei, did not look like someone who had studied alchemy for hundreds of years, or even decades.

Therefore, it is most likely that the other party obtained this recipe from some unknown secret place.

Having thought he had figured things out, Allehan couldn't help but try to persuade his old friend, Dissol:

"Dissol, you can't judge whether someone is a master alchemist just by looking at a new alchemy recipe. Do you know anything about the origin of this recipe? For example, is it possible that it came from a secret realm, or something else?"

Seeing that his friend was getting more and more outrageous, if he continued, he might say that Lord Li Wei's alchemy formula was stolen!

Desol interrupted, somewhat exasperated.

"Allahan, you fool, of course I know that. That's why I personally watched Lord Levi display his superb alchemical skills and create ten combination bombs in a very short time!"

"What!" Allahan exclaimed in surprise.

This made Allehan reconsider his opinion. After all, if what Dissol said was true, even if Levi's alchemy skills were not those of a master, his proficiency in making this alchemical bomb was very close to that of a master.

"If what you say is true, then Lord Levi certainly deserves the treatment commensurate with Mithril!" Allehan decided to believe his old friend Dissol's words.

Moreover, this kind of thing cannot be faked.

Even though Lord Levi is slightly less than a true alchemy master, the fact that he can skillfully create alchemical combination bombs comparable to first-level fire magic is still of great significance to the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood.

If you offer them Mithril-level treatment, the organization's higher-ups will definitely agree!

As soon as Desol's sound-blocking spell ended, Allah immediately sat back in his chair and quickly wrote the following on a parchment scroll: "Livi, Alchemy Department Special Recruitment, Alchemy Master, Mithril-level treatment."

Soon, Alehan handed the parchment to Dissol and said, "Dissol, that's fine. You can take Lord Levi downstairs to complete the procedures."

Although Alhan and Dissol's conversation was conducted entirely under a sound-blocking spell and no specific words were mentioned, this scene was clearly witnessed by all the alchemists present.

Al-Ahram had barely finished speaking.

Beside the frail old merman, a strong merman wizard apprentice stepped forward and said in a booming voice, "Lord Allehan, as far as I know, the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood has always adhered to the principles of fairness and impartiality in all its assessments. But this time, to openly use back channels, isn't that going too far?"

"Our prophet of the Lake Tokar murloc tribe is already 110 years old and is an expert in murloc alchemy. Everyone applying to join the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood must pass the required examinations. Why are some people allowed to get in through connections?"

"My lord, do you dare to read aloud the contents of the parchment in your hand for everyone to hear?" The merman wizard apprentice spoke the last sentence especially loudly, so that almost everyone in the alchemy examination hall could hear it clearly!

Now, both applicants planning to join the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood and members hoping for better treatment all wore expressions of schadenfreude.

I let you get in through the back door, and now you've run into a troublemaker!

This immediately turned Dessol's face ashen; how dare a wizard apprentice jump out and question him!

Clearly, this murloc apprentice must have received the support of the murloc prophet behind him.

"I can make the contents public! But offending a wizard comes at a price!" Dessol's face was so dark it could drip water.

The contents of the parchment scrolls are not classified; any member of the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood can access this basic information.

"Lord Levi, I am very sorry to have exposed you to the Flame Stone." Dissol bowed slightly and solemnly apologized to Richard.

He never expected that something that seemed so simple to him would encounter such unexpected twists and turns.

Richard, on the other hand, nodded and said, "Lord Dissol, please do as you see fit. We cannot allow the reputation of the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood to be damaged because of me alone."

Upon hearing this, Dessol's expression improved considerably; Lord Levi was indeed very understanding of him.

Even Alehan's expression softened, and he nodded, surprised that Li Wei, despite his young age, had such a broad perspective and could consider issues from the organization's point of view.

Although this time it was just a weak murloc tribe wizard apprentice who jumped out, if not handled properly, it would have a very bad impact on himself, the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood Alchemy Department, and the reputation of the entire Grey Dwarf Brotherhood.

If things escalate, I'll inevitably be punished by the higher-ups!

"Levi Knight, the Alchemist," Dessall read aloud the contents of the parchment scroll, word by word.

The surrounding crowd erupted in uproar!

"How is that possible? How could someone so young be an alchemy master!" a lizardman wizard with a forked tongue said in disbelief.

"This is a bit of an exaggeration, Lord Dissol is being too reckless!" A grey dwarf apprentice who seemed to know Dissol shook his head as he watched the scene unfold.

"Haha, did I hear that right? Did everyone hear that? This young human boy is actually an alchemy master?" The merman wizard apprentice seemed to have finally heard what he wanted to hear, and said excitedly.

Meanwhile, the elderly murloc prophet beside him seemed to have a smug smile on his face.

"However, I'm not questioning the two wizards' assessment, but I hope this young alchemist master can have a match with our Lake Tokar murloc prophet. If our prophet wins, wouldn't that mean our prophet is also an alchemist master, enjoying the same mithril-level treatment from the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood!"

Unexpectedly, the merman apprentice suddenly changed his tone, revealing his true intentions.

The other party wasn't stupid; they didn't accuse Dessol and Allehan, two powerful senior first-level wizards, of faking their abilities.

However, the focus of their criticism was directed at the young Richard.

Dissol and Allehan were also taken aback. They exchanged glances and then realized the purpose of the fish-man prophet of Lake Tokar sending his men out. He was very confident in his strength and wanted to step on Li Wei to rise to power.

Richard was clearly taken aback by what the other person said.

But Richard did not immediately agree.

It wasn't that he was afraid to accept the challenge, but mainly because he didn't know the specifics of the challenge, and the energy points on his inspiration panel had been completely depleted since the last time he upgraded the Bloodline Absorption Witch Array, and he hadn't had time to accumulate any more.

He wasn't confident he could win if his opponent challenged him to create or even improve an unfamiliar alchemy formula.

If it were a familiar formula for simply making a potion, Richard would obviously have no problem.

Because as long as Richard possessed an alchemy formula, even if it was extremely obscure, such as some fishman-exclusive potion formulas from the blind fishman tribe of Fingart, Richard had elevated them to their maximum level.

Needless to say, even a master alchemist, let alone a grandmaster alchemist, might not be a match for Richard.

However, in the eyes of those around him, the alchemy master "Li Wei," who was obviously too young, was hesitant to agree because he was insecure due to a lack of strength.

Now, the merman apprentice was even more smug. "It seems this alchemy master doesn't have much confidence in a fair contest with our Lake Tokar merman prophet. Therefore, we urge Lord Alehan to be impartial."

This immediately made Dessol frown again. What is this, Lord Levi?

(End of this chapter)