Next page password is bold portion: hAvanop!3V+
Translator: SumTLMan
Three days later.
Hemi sat with one leg crossed over the other, leaning back on a leather stool, deep in thought with one hand supporting his chin and the other playing with a magic bouncy ball. From time to time, he would throw the ball out, and the colorless ball would change its color each time it hit the ground or the wall. After bouncing a few times, the now brightly colored magic ball would return to Hemi’s hand.
The feature of the magic bouncy ball was that no matter how it was thrown, it would always bounce back to its owner’s hand.
This was an alchemist’s trinket, typically crafted by beginners.
“Instead of playing with the magic bouncy ball, why not help me check these supply request logs?” A chubby apprentice sitting at the front desk was busy counting the missing supplies with his fingers and recording them to be sent back to headquarters.
“That’s a task Old Man Boro gave you, not me,” Hemi replied impatiently.
“It’s your fault anyway. What kind of weird things did you request last time? A… music box? It got Old Man Boro scolded for days, and now I have to check the application reports,” the chubby apprentice retorted.
Hemi hummed, “You bunch of philistines don’t understand. That’s the trend, a must-have for artistic wizards. Listening to music, feeling the illusions, sipping wine, and enjoying the breeze… How cozy.”
“Weren’t you supposed to be a battle type? Why are you acting like an academic?”
“I can’t fight all the time, can I? I need to enjoy myself during battles and live a refined life when I rest,” Hemi said proudly, describing the lifestyle a sophisticated young man should have.
“Enough, I don’t want to hear your nonsense. It’s distracting me… Huh, why did Old Man Boro request a copy of —Mirror—? Isn’t that for official wizards? Will they approve it?” The chubby apprentice scratched his head, puzzled.
“You just haven’t checked enough reports. —Mirror— has a combined issue every year, aimed at a wide audience of apprentices. It mainly introduces newly promoted official wizards and announces some general spells, as well as policy changes,” Hemi sneered. “It’s coming out quite early this year, and I wonder what big news it has. Oh, by the way, can you help me apply for a Blood Shark Suit in secret?”
“No,” the voice came not from the chubby apprentice but from Old Man Boro, who had just entered the room leaning on his cane.
“Why not? I’m itching to go down to the sea and kill some magical beasts. The materials I collect will be handed over to the headquarters anyway,” Hemi complained.
“There’s no quota left,” Old Man Boro said as he lifted his white beard with one hand to avoid sweeping it on the ground while stepping over the threshold.
“Then just cancel —Mirror—. The changes are almost the same every year.”
Old Man Boro shook his head, “This year is different. We have a new official wizard in our Savage Grottoes, who is said to be from the wiped-out Silian family. Her name is ‘Violent Thorn’ Madeline. You should familiarize yourselves with her so you won’t be strangers when you return to the Savage Grottoes… Moreover, the headquarters have produced a genius alchemist, who has made it to the —Mirror— as an apprentice. You should remember that too; you might need their help someday.”
“Anyway, I won’t encounter them, so it’s useless to write them down. I’d rather have a Blood Shark Suit,” Hemi protested discontentedly.
“Alright, if you think these aren’t important, how about something that concerns our very lives as apprentices?” Boro slammed his cane on the floor several times, drawing the attention of all the apprentices in the hall: “I just heard some news. You should know about the fall of Sleepless City, right? Now, there has been a great change in the Eternal Night Kingdom, with parasites even reaching the Paramjit Plateau. It’s very likely that our Savage Grottoes will be affected as well, so you must read this issue of —Mirror— to see what it says.”
Hearing this, everyone’s faces became serious. They could ignore other trivial matters, but they had to pay attention to matters concerning their own future.
After Boro finished speaking, he walked over to the chubby apprentice and carefully checked the application list.
“Materials, tools, books, and other supplies are all there. It seems almost ready. You can go and send the application message,” Boro gestured for the chubby apprentice to go to the rooftop to send the message, while he sat at the table and began to write a sailing schedule with a fountain pen.
He wrote for half an hour before the chubby apprentice returned, but he hadn’t finished yet.
Hemi curiously leaned in and took a look: “Old Boro, what are you writing? Why are all the sailing schedules for the Whale Whisker Sea?”
While Boro’s pen was refilling with ink, he replied: “The gentleman who took the Guide Mission, Sir Pat, is going to cross the Devil’s Sea this year, so he’ll definitely come back next year or the year after. I just went to the White Shell Shipping Company to inquire about this timetable. After all, he needs to know the sailing schedules when he returns to the continent, otherwise, without guidance, he will get lost in the Devil’s Sea.”
“Why not just tell him the addresses of the White Shell Shipping Company branches on each continent and let him find them himself?” Hemi didn’t think much of it, still holding a grudge against the person who deceived his feelings.
“Of course, we’ll write down the addresses, but we can help as much as we can. I think that Sir Pat is no ordinary person,” Boro said while writing.
“Of course he’s not ordinary. Isn’t he a wizard apprentice?”
“Don’t be sarcastic. What I mean is that there are too many oddities about him. He looks like a middle-aged man, but sometimes he seems a bit uncomfortable. Moreover, when he showed you the Guide Mission on the bone card last time, he deliberately concealed his personal information, which is also a bit strange,” Boro pondered for a moment: “But I can’t pinpoint exactly what’s strange about him. In any case, it’s always good to help a little more. Even if he’s just an ordinary apprentice, it’s like opening up a new connection.”
“With that defeated, useless appearance of his, what’s worth paying attention to?” Hemi sneered coldly: “Typical academy style. Others may not even appreciate your kindness, and you’re just wasting your effort.”
After Hemi finished speaking, he ran off to the side to continue daydreaming and playing with his magic bouncy ball.
Boro shook his head and continued to copy the Sailing Timetable, recording clearly all the possible departure locations and times for the White Shell Shipping Company next year.
As the news was too fragmented and disordered, by the time Boro finished writing, the sky had turned pitch black.
The hissing sound of the oil lamp illuminated the hall in a clear yellow hue, giving the somewhat old wooden building an even greater sense of the passage of time.
The night breeze from the sea blew in through the window, lifting the gray-black tattered curtains, bringing with it the distinctive fishy smell of the ocean.
In the tranquil caress of the sea breeze, Boro finally put down his pen.
Boro glanced at the night outside, thinking it might be inappropriate to take this information to Pat at such a late hour. Even though extraordinary people rarely sleep at night, if they happen to be asleep tonight, disturbing them might only cause friction.
Boro decided to go the next day since Sir Pat would still be around for another two days.
But…
“There are only two days left before the Cloud Conch sets sail, and Sir Pat has been staying in his room for three days without coming out. What on earth is he doing?” Boro wondered.
Boro looked at Hemi, who was dozing off with boredom by his side, and asked, “Hemi, when you delivered food to Sir Pat, did you notice what he was doing?”
Hemi stretched lazily, “Don’t even mention it, that guy was tailoring clothes. When I went in, I saw a large pile of silk threads on the floor, which he must have gotten from somewhere, and some clothing designs were thrown on the table. Just like a woman.”
“Don’t talk nonsense, tailoring isn’t exclusive to women. Many skilled tailors are men,” Boro casually retorted.
“Was he studying fashion?” Boro pondered inwardly, suddenly thinking of something, “Did you see clearly the fabrics and silk threads he was tailoring? Were they magical materials?”
“Of course, I saw them clearly, they were all mundane things. The silk threads were of high quality, just one step away from being magical materials. But with that one step, he was destined to be ordinary,” Hemi laughed, “You must think he’s an alchemist? There aren’t that many alchemists around. You’re overthinking it.”
Boro nodded, “You’re right, compared to Mechanical City, we indeed have too few alchemists here in the Savage Grottoes.”
Overnight, Boro took the Sailing Timetable to the guest rooms on the third floor.
When he came downstairs, he stroked his beard and frowned: Hemi was right, Sir Pat was indeed tailoring clothes using ordinary materials… but it felt a little strange. The tools on the workbench seemed familiar somehow?
Boro shook his head, casting away irrelevant thoughts.
Anyway, he had already done his good deed, and Sir Pat had shown sincere gratitude just now. It seemed likely that he would be able to establish a connection, so the rest didn’t matter.
After Boro left, Angel, who was in the room, carefully put away the Sailing Timetable.
He had planned to ask Boro about the extraordinary strongholds on various continents to avoid getting lost on his way back. Unexpectedly, Boro had gathered information on the sailing routes for the next two years.
Judging from the thickness of the records, it was evident that Boro had put in quite some effort.
Angel could also understand the general sentiment of Boro, an old apprentice whose life was nearing its end, hoping to seize every opportunity to find a chance for advancement.
Although Angel knew Boro had an ulterior motive, he didn’t dislike this kind of utilitarian contact. On the contrary, he would have doubts and concerns about unprovoked kindness.
Angel didn’t continue to think about Boro’s affairs but focused on the task at hand.
These days, since he was on someone else’s territory, he couldn’t continue experimenting with illusion spells. Not wanting to waste time, he decided to prioritize learning tailoring and clothing-making from his plans.
Initially, Angel planned to learn clothing-making during his time in the Savage Grottoes, but various delays had postponed it until now.
However, speaking of this craft, it is considered one of the simpler aspects of alchemy, at least for Angel, since his primary focus is on enchantment. A finished garment, even when directly enchanted, could create some basic designs.
Nevertheless, to make the resulting product more advanced, there are many factors to consider. For example, some rune concepts in the magical formation need to use specific corresponding materials during enchantment, and their properties must be compatible. The texture and lines of the fabric must also be connected, which restricts some material choices for enchanting alchemy in clothing-making.
Mixing alchemy doesn’t have this difficulty, allowing for more imaginative designs. Of course, mixing alchemy is much more challenging than enchanting alchemy.
Due to the constraints of enchanting alchemy, it is quite difficult for Angel to perfectly recreate the robes he has designed.
For instance, he wanted to create a robe with a constant temperature. He initially designed it with silk as the base for carrying the magical runes. However, many meanings of the runes in the constant temperature magic were related to the sun, light, and heat…
Silk could not carry the constant temperature magic runes, as they would ignite upon contact.
Therefore, designing a garment with an appealing appearance, appropriate materials, and the desired functions with enchanting alchemy is no easy task.
While it’s simple to begin using enchantment for making clothes, mastering it is quite challenging.