Wizard Earl

Chapter 406 I'm really not showing off

The reason you're being asked to refine Dominican gold is because it shares some structural similarities with this metal brick. Your next task is to refine this metal brick, which is a rare alchemical material made from a fusion of various materials. It's not naturally occurring, making the refining process quite difficult, and due to unknown reasons, the energy consumption during the process will be extremely high!

After listening to Connor's words, Martina hesitated for a moment, then gestured for him to hand over the metal brick. Connor, without hesitation, readily handed the metal brick and jade box to Martina. Taking the jade box from Connor, Martina carefully examined the metal brick. After a while, having gained some understanding of it, a hint of worry appeared in Martina's eyes. She asked Connor with some trepidation, "May I?"

Hearing the hint of self-doubt in Martina's words, Connor inwardly smiled wryly, but outwardly, to achieve his goal, he could only encourage Martina, saying, "I believe you can do it! If I thought you couldn't, believe me! I wouldn't have wasted my breath talking to you like that!"

"Connor Ferguson, you really are honest..." Hearing Connor's final, blunt truth, Martina gave him a deep look and spoke, her tone carrying a hint of sarcasm, though it was unclear whether she was truly mocking Connor's "snobbishness" or being self-deprecating.

"If you choose to stay, I can guarantee that in addition to the rewards promised by the secret society, I can also personally teach you some alchemy techniques and experience. I think you should be very interested in these, right? Your alchemy foundation is good; as long as you learn some techniques, it won't be a problem for your alchemy level to improve significantly!" Seeing that Martina was somewhat inclined to stay, Connor added fuel to the fire, offering Martina even more enticing terms:

"Alchemy techniques? Metal refining techniques?" Martina wasn't stupid; she immediately guessed Connor's ulterior motive and asked him with a half-smile:

"Of course! Metal tempering is a very important part of alchemy!" Although Martina had seen through his thoughts immediately, Connor, with his thick skin, showed no embarrassment at all.

"Alright, since Connor is so sincere, I'll reluctantly agree!" Martina nodded, acknowledging Connor's request.

Seeing that his plan to trick Martina into assisting him had finally succeeded, Connor smiled. He nodded and pointed to a small room in the corner of the alchemy lab, saying, "Time is tight and the task is heavy, so let's get started now. This room is for you. I'll go to that small room to do the second step. Remember the techniques I just taught you, plus your alchemy furnace. Although it might consume a lot of energy, as long as you're patient enough, there shouldn't be any problems. However, if you encounter any problems while quenching the metal bricks, you can come to me there!"

After Martina nodded to indicate that she was alright, Connor did not hesitate any longer and went into the small house in the corner.

As soon as he entered the small house, Connor took out three bronze triangles from his spatial ring and placed them on the wall behind the door. After doing this, Connor nodded in satisfaction. He then took out the metal brick that he had tempered himself from his spatial ring and began to inscribe the siphon runes using mental manipulation.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would be spending the next twenty-odd days in this small room. Mental micromanagement, an alchemical technique originally intended for formal wizards, was something he, as an advanced wizard apprentice, could barely perform by concentrating all his mental energy. However, this undoubtedly increased the risk factor considerably. Therefore, just to be on the safe side, Connor set up these three gadgets as precautions.

This isn't to say that Connor is wary of Martina suddenly attacking him. He seems to still be somewhat useful to the Secret Society, so they probably won't make a move against him at this juncture. However, Connor can see that Martina is genuinely interested in alchemy. While the technique of mental manipulation is very difficult to learn and has a high barrier to entry, making it hard for those who don't meet the requirements to master, it is still a high-level alchemy technique capable of creating third-tier enchanted items. Therefore, necessary caution and care are still essential!

After Connor entered the small house, Martina in the alchemy lab had a glint in her beautiful eyes, as if she was making some kind of decision. After a while, Martina sighed silently, turned around and walked to the other side of the alchemy lab to start the task that Connor had given her.

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Twenty days later, in the alchemy laboratory.

Looking at the five jade boxes on the table, each containing a faintly glowing metal brick, old Victor examined each one carefully. Confirming that the runes on each brick were intact, the expression on his aged, wrinkled face finally relaxed somewhat.

Looking again at Connor, whose cheeks were sunken, whose beard was unkempt, and whose face was full of exhaustion, and Martina, who was standing next to Connor in no better condition, old Victor didn't waste any words. He simply took out a very exquisite little leather bag from his spatial ring and threw it to Martina.

Martina caught the leather bag and glanced inside. Her mental state, which had been quite low due to the continuous metal refining, suddenly perked up, and a smile appeared in her eyes. This made Connor curious about what was inside the leather bag.

Having obtained what she wanted, and seemingly eager to try it out as soon as possible, Martina nodded to old Victor in high spirits and headed towards the door of the alchemy laboratory. However, she stopped as soon as she reached the door, turned around, and, to Connor's astonished gaze, said very solemnly, "Connor, although I know you taught me those techniques for your own sake, thank you anyway!"

After saying that, Martina didn't give Connor any chance to reply, turned around and walked straight out of the alchemy lab without looking back.

(End of this chapter)