Wizards begin with Occlumency.

Chapter 110 First Refining

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

During the day, Link works at the pharmacy, learning how to dispense and package medicines from Tina.

Back at the college in the evening, I practiced what I had learned during the day in the laboratory on the third basement floor using intelligent simulation equipment.

Thus, he reached a level where he could barely get the hang of it and could try to repackage some relatively common medicines.

Well……

The relatively ordinary potions produced by the wizard Celine are equivalent to the six potions launched at the press conference for first- and second-level wizards, and are of a high standard that many apothecaries cannot achieve in their entire lives.

When Link tried it out, he always felt like he was holding a magic stone, not a potion.

It's burning hot!

Fortunately, Link is a bold and meticulous person, and with the help of "brain shut-in technique", even though there were some stumbles, he still managed to complete the packaging smoothly without any waste.

This amazed Tina, who was watching from the side.

Back when Tina first tried it out, she ruined several bottles of precious potion concentrate.

She was lucky; Tina met a good boss who didn't make her compensate for the losses.

Otherwise, it really will prove Link right—he couldn't afford to pay for her even if he sold her!

"I really admire your talent, Link."

Suddenly, Tina let out a heartfelt sigh.

Having talent means being willful and able to do whatever you want.

Tina believed that it wouldn't be long before Link would be able to become a qualified full-fledged pharmacist once he filled in the gaps in his knowledge of pharmacology and alchemy.

Unlike her, who had to climb the ranks step by step, starting as a plant and herb pretreatment worker, refining worker, medicine dispensing assistant, medicine refining assistant, trainee pharmacist, and finally a licensed pharmacist.

It took her more than two years to become a potion dispensing assistant, taking advantage of the rare opportunity when the wizard Celine returned from the front lines, and she is now expected to become a full-fledged apothecary.

Otherwise, it will probably take even longer!

"what?"

Link carefully placed the potion into the refrigerator, not feigning ignorance or trying to brush it off, but saying seriously, "Tina, what's there to envy? I envy you graduating from a high school at such a young age. I just happen to have a little talent in botany and potion-making, but whether I can live to become a full-fledged wizard is still uncertain; the road ahead is fraught with difficulties!"

These words did offer some comfort, but not much.

More than anything, it diverted Tina's attention, reminding her of things from the past, both beautiful and regrettable.

A smile involuntarily appeared on her face, and a hint of reminiscence and remembrance flashed in her eyes.

In any case, those were the carefree days of my youth.

Coming to her senses, Tina chuckled and said, "Little Link, you might not know this, but the academy has arranged an excellent opportunity each in the spring semester of the third year and the spring semester of the fourth year. As long as you seize these two opportunities, or even just one of them, it won't be difficult to become a full-fledged wizard."

Link immediately became interested and pressed for details, "Could you elaborate, Tina?"

"I can't go into details."

Tina shook her head and said, "The academy has rules against revealing too much about this. Just remember to perform well in the inter-district competition, and then continue on your current path: do more research, publish more 'papers,' and produce more results—the more the better."

After hesitating for a moment, Tina emphasized again: "For the academy, strong combat power and outstanding research are always scarce and can never be too much."

"Understood."

Link nodded and said solemnly, "Thank you for your guidance, Tina. I will remember it well."

"Okay. Let's get to work."

Tina figured that the wizard Celine would be back soon, so she decided to stop slacking off.

Link naturally wouldn't refuse, so he walked to the control panel and started working.

Even with complex and difficult tasks, Link still assists Tina.

Link figured that if he could learn to use something relatively simple and not too difficult, he would definitely be able to.

Not to be missed.

After leaving Celine Wizard's Apothecary, it will be extremely difficult to have another opportunity to learn the entire potion-making process.

We must cherish this.

It was another busy afternoon.

Midway through, the wizard Celine and the giant Locken returned to the apothecary.

As he passed the stairwell, the giant Locken glanced casually at the entrance to the second-floor staircase.

To be honest, he really wanted to go up there.

Unfortunately, he was too clumsy, lacked talent in potion-making, and was too big, so he was greatly disliked by the witch Celine.

Therefore, he was quite envious and jealous of those guys with extremely high talent in pharmacology.

Unfortunately, this kind of talent is an invisible talent, unlike those obvious physical talents, which can be transplanted into oneself.

What a pity!

The evening glow appeared on the horizon; it was time to leave work.

After leaving the pharmacy, I took the subway train to my stop and started walking back to the college.

Jasmine couldn't help but ask, "Link, did the new wizard who came today give you a hard time?"

She was getting to know Link better and better, and she could tell that Link's reaction when Tina asked him questions at noon today was a little unnatural.

"There's no trouble at all."

Link thought for a moment and said, "It was just a little accident, a slight unpleasantness, but it's not that serious."

"Oh, it's good that you're alright."

Jasmine comforted her, "Even if something happens, you have to be patient. We only have one more day left."

Tomorrow is Sunday of the sixth week of the holiday.

The last day of my part-time job.

Then came a three-day break, in preparation for the start of the spring semester.

Jasmine was somewhat worried that Link's past strong desire for revenge might lead him to do something foolish and reckless.

Although she knew that her worry was somewhat unnecessary.

Yes, but I'm still worried.

Link laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'm not that reckless."

"Um."

Jasmine nodded and then fell silent.

As a sales associate, you have to talk a lot about introducing one medicine after another to a constant stream of customers.

Now Jasmine doesn't want to speak unless absolutely necessary, and she's not very willing to chat.

As usual, the evening consisted of eating, experimenting, meditating, and sleeping.

The next day.

Still waking up early, still arriving early.

"Your salaries."

Celine the Wizard was still the first to arrive at the shop. She sipped her hot drink in her right hand and pointed at two boxes on the counter with her straight, fair index finger in her left hand.

The boxes were of different sizes, so naturally, one contained more magic stones than the other.

The big box belongs to Link.

Firstly, he works longer hours, and secondly, the wages for pre-processing, refining, and packaging of plants and herbs are higher.

The little box belonged to Jasmine, and she was content with it, not upset at all because she had less than Link.

How many freshmen in the Storm Sea can't even find a holiday part-time job and can only stay in the academy and bury themselves in books to study?

Lanny Taylor, right?

"Thank you, Wizard Celine."

Link and Jasmine thanked him together and then took their respective boxes.

locker room.

Before changing into his uniform, Link opened the box and glanced inside. There were 54 standard level 1 magic stones.

After some mental calculation, the daily wage for pre-processing plants and herbs is 1 standard level 1 magic stone, while the daily wage for refining and dispensing potions is 2 standard level 1 magic stones.

This is far higher than the average salary disclosed on the "forum" for first-year students taking part-time jobs during the holidays.

Jasmine should have received around 30 magic stones.

It's great. I've learned a lot of new things, put a lot of theoretical knowledge into practice, and also gained tangible benefits.

After putting away the box, Link walked out of the locker room with high spirits and went up to the second floor.

One should finish what one starts.

On the last day of part-time work, you should be even more responsible and do your job well.

Tina arrived at work not long after and saw Link busy in the potion dispensing room, preparing in advance. She couldn't help but sigh, "Little Link, you've only been here for three days and you've already spoiled me."

"How so, Tina?"

Link placed a batch of matte potion bottles that needed preheating into the temperature-controlled chamber, closed the door, and turned around to ask.

"Because you're so capable."

Tina laughed, "I've had such a carefree time these past few days. Whatever I want, I get it right away, delivered to my doorstep without any prior preparation."

Link smiled but didn't reply.

A good assistant can indeed significantly improve work efficiency.

Based on his expectations of Jasmine, Link spent the past few days assisting Tina, demanding of himself to meet those expectations.

Do your best to achieve perfection.

After a brief chat, the two got back to their own tasks.

The better the pharmacy's business, the heavier the workload!

In the evening, we saw off the last guest.

Close most of the shop door and flip the sign hanging on the doorknob from "Open" to "Closed".

The wizard Celine summoned everyone to the room that combined the restaurant and bar area.

With a wave of her hand, the bar immediately began to operate.

A moment later, a tray with seven glasses of clear, golden sparkling wine was moved onto the table.

The witch Celine was the first to pick up a glass of sparkling wine.

The remaining six people followed one after another.

The giant Loken was first, followed by Salia, Tina, Ella, and Link and Molly.

This is how status is demonstrated.

Having been there for less than two days, the giant Loken demonstrated his presence and established his position through a few small incidents.

Celine the Wizard raised her glass in a toast: "Link Grand and Molly Kidman, congratulations on successfully completing your part-time jobs. I am very satisfied with your work, so I'm throwing you a short farewell party."

After saying that, the witch Celine tilted her fair and delicate neck back and took a sip of the wine in her glass.

"Thank you, Wizard Celine, and thank you to my three sisters for taking care of me these past few days."

Link also raised his glass, thanking everyone before drinking.

"Thank you, Wizard Celine, for giving me this precious opportunity. Thank you to my three sisters for your careful guidance and protection."

Jasmine's eyes were slightly red, and she was quite reluctant to leave like this, so she spoke her heart.

As for sales assistants, just as Celine the Wizard said at the beginning, they will inevitably encounter some difficult customers and face some challenges.

Salia is a gentle older sister who always notices Jasmine and comforts and consoles her.

Even Ella, who disliked Link, didn't make things difficult for Molly. Instead, she often patiently taught Molly some sales techniques and sales skills.

Congratulations!

Salia, Tina, and Ella raised their glasses to toast Link and Jasmine, offering their congratulations.

It's certainly something to celebrate that the first-year students in Stormy Seas successfully completed their holiday part-time jobs.

There are no explicit requirements from the college, but these behaviors will be recorded in your file.

The two opportunities that Yu Tina let slip were beneficial.

The giant, Loken, didn't speak, but simply took a sip of his drink.

We're not familiar with each other, we have no connection.

"Besides, Link might know more, and Jasmine isn't completely clueless either."

Wizard Celine then spoke again, saying, "The primary academy, the advanced academy, and this city are only superficially peaceful and safe; in reality, dangers lurk everywhere. I hope that while you strive for excellence, you will also be wary of the hidden threats around you."

This was because she genuinely admired Link Grand's talent in potion-making, truly felt that Link Grand was worth cultivating, and genuinely believed that Molly Kidman had very good qualities, which is why the wizard Celine spoke up to offer her advice.

For most people, there would be no advice, let alone a brief farewell party.

Without further ado, I wish you all a bright future!

The witch Celine drank her wine, ending the brief but heartfelt farewell party.

Everyone followed suit and drank their cups dry.

Then, everyone left the room and the pharmacy.

Whether heading north or east, whether driving themselves or taking public transportation, everyone went their own way.

That's life; we often gather and part ways, but we gather less and part more often.

"Is it over already?"

Back at the academy in silence, Jasmine finally sighed, "It feels like my first day at work happened just yesterday."

"Okay, that's it."

Link said calmly, "You've been working hard lately. Take a few days to rest and relax. You can't keep yourself under too much pressure."

"Um."

Jasmine nodded, let out a long sigh, and felt a sense of loss.

She didn't know where this emotion came from or why she felt it.

I feel that this past month has been much more complicated than the previous four months, but I have also gained a lot.

There's a faint sense of reluctance, and a faint sense of bewilderment.

But Jasmine quickly banished these feelings from her mind.

I promised myself I'd be brave, so how can I be so sentimental?

She strode upstairs to go back to her dormitory.

I definitely need to rest.

As for Link, who cares what he does?

Anyway, I can't figure that guy out, so I'm too lazy to bother with him.

Let's talk about it after we've rested.

After leaving Jasmine's dormitory building, Link headed towards the laboratory on the third basement floor of the experimental building.

In the laboratory, Link took out the raw materials he had prepared in advance: daylily leaf extract, sleeping flower pollen, pure water, bitter root incense, and several other plant fragrances.

In Link's plan, both drug research and drug refining are equally important.

Through the Lixuancao series, including aromatherapy essential oils, fragrances, and perfumes, Link has already gained some experience in pharmaceutical research and development.

However, Link is still a complete novice when it comes to potion making.

The Li Xuancao series received positive reviews and sparked a buying frenzy. Besides the hype and the influence of the witch rights movement, it was also because it was elevated in every aspect after being handled by the witch Celine.

Link has never actually crafted even a single bottle of finished product.

After working part-time for a month and a half, from the pre-processing of plants and herbs to the fine processing and potion packaging, and having observed the wizard Celine making potions several times in his spare time, Link felt that he could now try to make potions independently.

It's better to do what you know well than what you don't.

As a practice set, the Li Xuan Cao series is the most suitable.

After adjusting the parameters of several key pieces of equipment, Link poured the extract of daylily leaves into a crucible and heated it to a boil.

Meanwhile, the pollen of the Sleeping Flower was placed into a reactor engraved with an alchemical rune array, and Link, as required, steadily input a certain frequency and amount of mental and magical energy.

This step is an extension and enhancement of Link's ideas by the wizard Celine.

Sleeping Flower is a common plant. If treated with conventional methods and techniques of pharmacology, it might have some effect on wizard apprentices, but not much.

Not to mention targeting formal wizards.

After being refined through the alchemical rune array, the efficacy of the Sleeping Flower pollen was enhanced, making it perfectly suitable as an auxiliary ingredient in the potion.

The pollen of the sleeping flower needs to undergo a relatively long alchemical reaction.

Link turned back to processing the boiled daylily leaf extract.

Impurities are filtered out, the mixture is allowed to stand and cool, and then further processed to crystallize.

The leaf extract crystals were ground into powder and added to the main reactor, which was engraved with a set of alchemical runes. A certain frequency and amount of mental and magical energy were input, and the reactor was preheated for fifteen minutes.

This step was also added by the wizard Celine.

It can maximize the efficacy of daylily leaf extract.

The positive effects on meditation are a level above those of conventional pharmacological treatments.

Once preheating is complete, the pollen from the sleeping flower is processed and transferred to the main reactor.

Add five times the amount of pure water and simmer patiently for two hours to obtain a high-concentration concentrate of Li Xuan Cao aromatherapy essential oil.

After finishing these tasks, Link took a short rest and continued the refining of daylily fragrance and perfume.

Late at night, early morning.

Link finally finished his first formal potion-making session.

The essence of Li Xuancao aromatherapy oil, fragrance essence, and perfume essence were placed in three large glass jars in front of Link.

One drop of the stock solution was taken from each of the three glass jars and sent into the instrument for testing.

A moment later, the test results came out.

Link carefully reviewed all the data, feeling both satisfied and somewhat regretful.

The satisfaction lies in the fact that the three samples of stock solution have met the qualified standards and can be diluted, repackaged, and launched to the market.

Unfortunately, several data points were lower than expected, and this was due to Link's refining method.

"We still need to keep working hard."

With a mutter to himself, Link continued working.

The stock solution was diluted, dispensed, and stored in refrigeration equipment.

Then clean up all the equipment and instruments that had been used in the laboratory, and mobilize the intelligent puppets to clean up.

Link only changed his clothes and returned to his dormitory after cleaning the laboratory and sorting out the items.

Wash up, meditate deeply, and sleep soundly.

I slept soundly until dawn.

After cleaning himself up, Link went to the study.

Lin Ke spread out paper and pen, recalled the process of his first potion-making attempt last night, including mistakes, errors, and insights, and then began to write.

From raw material preparation to parameter adjustment of refining equipment, to the processing of ingredients and main ingredients, the pharmaceutical methods and alchemical techniques required, to various precautions and my own refining experience, everything is written down.

To outline the main points and analyze them in detail.

Jasmine can learn quickly by following the example; as long as she is willing to spend time and energy and think critically.

When one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven; this is roughly the case.

(End of this chapter)