Locke placed his standard First Class Wizard Apprentice three-piece set near Sophia's wooden cabin, adjacent to his plantation.
This arrangement felt much safer.
After the previous attack by a group of wizard apprentices from the Blood Curse Court, Locke no longer considered Inverted Alley secure—too many people, too many eyes, and too many wizard apprentices.
It was better to live near Sophia the Witch.
Though the area was sparsely populated—just the two of them—residing near a Formal Wizard made it far safer.
Inside the small laboratory of the standard three-piece set, there was a workbench equipped with distillation apparatuses, dissection and extraction tools, and a complete set of basic potion-making and Magic Plant seed extraction instruments—likely tailored to his identity.
Or perhaps this was simply the standard setup for a First Class Wizard Apprentice at Lilith's Cottage.
The laboratory also had plenty of blank space, minimally decorated, presumably for him to furnish with additional equipment as needed.
Carefully, Locke placed a cluster of Shadow Leech Worms into a glass tube, then used a dropper to add an anesthetic extract from the Ledum plant.
The worms, still struggling and attempting to crawl out of the tube, began convulsing uncontrollably before finally going still.
Shadow Leech Worms were extremely dangerous magical creatures.
A warning flashed through Locke's mind—their eggs could penetrate the skin upon contact, burrowing into the body to reproduce. Once mature, they would emerge through the skin and inhabit the host's shadow, parasitizing within its range.
Because of this, their Bloodline essence was often used to counter curses related to shadows.
Once all the worms in the tube had stopped moving, Locke pierced their bodies with steel needles, then inserted capillary tubes into each wound to drain their blood into a glass bottle.
This was the extraction process for Shadow Leech Worm blood.
Next, Locke injected the pre-designed Bloodline Separation Potion into the mixture and began isolating the specific Bloodline essence using the Mana Centrifugal Extraction Method.
Ten minutes later, Locke exhaled softly as he examined the purified Shadow Leech Worm Bloodline essence in the bottle.
"Success."
"The Bloodline Separation Potion I designed has met my intended goal. The creation and formulation of such potions is a major component of the Potionology Assistant Certificate examination. If I can accomplish this, it means I'm already close to the level of a Potion Master Assistant."
After a night's work, Locke had successfully separated ten vials of Shadow Leech Worm Bloodline essence and headed next door to Sophia's office.
Shadow Leech Worms were considered relatively high-tier Magical Materials. Being able to process them meant his skills had advanced significantly.
Unlike the cheap, simple Magic Potion materials he had handled before, these Shadow Leech Worm Bloodline essences held substantial value—enough to be sold as First Class Wizard Apprentice-level potions.
After all, they were one of the primary materials used in potion-making.
In Sophia's office, the witch Sophia took the Shadow Leech Worm bloodline essence handed over by Locke and examined it briefly before nodding in approval. "The Bloodline Separation Potion you made is very successful, with minimal impurities. This is likely due to your relatively small Mana fluctuations."
"This is excellent. You'll be able to help me save a lot of work in the future."
Being able to handle intermediate-to-high difficulty Magic Potion materials like the Shadow Leech Worm meant Locke could now independently process most Magic Potion materials.
Sophia looked up at Locke and said, "You've already mastered the techniques of magical flame control and Bloodline Separation Potion design. As long as you can brew one more standard assistant-level potion, you'll be eligible to take the Potionology Assistant Certificate exam."
"I recommend you learn—Contemplation Balm."
Sophia said frankly, "You can purchase the Contemplation Balm recipe from me for a thousand Magic Stones, then go back and study how to brew it yourself."
"At your current level, knowing the recipe alone should be enough for you to spend time learning it on your own."
"Otherwise, according to regulations, I'd have to charge you for both the recipe and teaching fees. I feel that teaching... would be somewhat redundant. A Potion Master Assistant should at least have sufficient self-study ability."
Locke bowed to Sophia. "Understood, Teacher."
Over the past two years, Sophia had meticulously taught him the fundamentals of Potionology.
These were the foundations imparted by a First Circle Potion Master, making them exceptionally solid.
Sophia's lips curved slightly as she crossed her hands and leaned back in her chair, looking at Locke. "Locke, these past few days must have made you realize how difficult it is to progress beyond the First Class Wizard Apprentice level, haven't they?"
Locke nodded. "Yes, Teacher. Both potions and Meditation Methods have become less effective now."
"However, the academy will start distributing Tears of Stars Potion and Weeping Blood Nightshade Potion to me next month. Perhaps they'll have different effects."
Sophia shook her head. "Those are like drinking poison to quench thirst—they'll only make you spend more Magic Stones."
"The path to exploring truth comes with a price, and Magic Stones are merely the most common form of payment."
"The Weeping Blood Nightshade Potion can purify your Bloodline and slightly enhance a wizard apprentice's physical aptitude. Below level 4, it can raise you by one grade; above level 4, by half a grade. But this enhancement requires lifelong consumption—otherwise, the improved aptitude will gradually revert to its original state."
"And you'd need to take ten vials every month." Sophia's lips curled. "Yet the academy only gives you one vial of Weeping Blood Nightshade per month."
"The Weeping Blood Nightshade both enhances a wizard apprentice's aptitude, making them addicted to it, and torments every apprentice who's experienced it, making them reluctant to give it up. That's why it's called Weeping Blood Nightshade."
"The potion itself is extremely expensive, costing at least a hundred Magic Stones per vial." Sophia shook her head. "To fully benefit from Weeping Blood Nightshade, you'd need to spend 900 Magic Stones every month purchasing additional vials from the academy's higher-ups."
"As for the Tears of Stars Potion, it's mainly used to improve meditation efficiency. When used with a Meditation Method, it can slightly increase the speed of your spiritual growth." Sophia's lips twisted slightly. "But that's about it."
"The Tears of Stars Potion only takes effect when used in conjunction with a Meditation Method, with the key factor being the level of your Meditation Method."
"Moreover, two bottles per month are clearly insufficient. This potion can be used up to twelve times a month, with an optimal average of eight bottles to achieve a balance between efficacy and toxicity. However, the academy only distributes two bottles of Tears of Stars Potion per month to First-Class Wizard Apprentices. Each bottle is worth approximately one hundred and fifty Magic Stones."
"Calculating this, your monthly expenditure on Magic Stones would reach 2,100!"
Sophia the Witch said, "Therefore, for wandering wizards and wild witches outside the academies, becoming a First-Class Wizard Apprentice is practically the limit."
"Their chances of becoming a Formal Wizard are almost zero."
Sophia the Witch said coldly, "The standard for a Formal Wizard's mental power is 1,000."
Locke's eyebrows twitched.
The gap between a First-Class Wizard Apprentice and a Formal Wizard was a staggering 800 points of mental power, and each point in this range was far more valuable than any during the apprentice stages.
Given his current snail-paced progress, even if he meditated for two hundred years, he would never become a Formal Wizard!
And considering his future expenses—purchasing the Weeping Blood Dragonflower and the Tears of Stars Potion—he would need to spend over two thousand Magic Stones every month. Clearly, this was not an expenditure every First-Class Wizard Apprentice could sustain, especially since it might only be a fraction of the total costs.
Though First-Class Wizard Apprentices held high status, their path was even more arduous.
Locke asked in confusion, "Then, teacher, how do wizards in the southeastern corner become Formal Wizards?"
Sophia the Witch smiled. "You've hit the nail on the head."
"Some people don't find the right path, so they resort to consuming massive amounts of magical resources to forcibly raise their mental power to 1,000. But doing so would require an unimaginable quantity of resources."
"It's far too difficult, far too difficult."
Sophia the Witch continued, "That's why special Advanced Magic Potions and Advanced Meditation Techniques are necessary here."
"Let's not mention the special Advanced Magic Potions for now. When you reach the appropriate stage, the academy will inform you. I've signed a confidentiality agreement and can't disclose it to you now."
"As for the Advanced Meditation Techniques, in the southeastern corner, they are the foundation of a school and absolutely cannot be leaked. Since you're a student of Lilith's Cottage, you have the right to purchase the learning rights for an Advanced Meditation Technique for fifty thousand Magic Stones."
Locke's eyebrows twitched again.
Just when he thought he had become well-off as a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice, he now realized that upon entering the First-Class Wizard Apprentice tier, he was practically destitute.
Sophia the Witch said, "Of course, if you don't have fifty thousand Magic Stones at the moment, you can first sign a Meditation Technique Loan Contract."
Sophia the Witch sighed helplessly. "Locke."
"I'd love to teach you directly, but I'm also bound by the Southeastern Corner's Advanced Meditation Technique Non-Proliferation Agreement of the White Wizard Society."
"If I privately taught you at a low price, I would face strict investigation by the association's Ethical Review Mechanism."
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