Chapter 14 Mission
Everyone's attention was drawn to the spot where an apprentice had collapsed to the ground, his workbench a mess, and metal fragments flying everywhere.
What he was trying to shape seemed not to be gold, but some kind of hard and unstable metal. Under the guidance of his uncontrolled mental power, it underwent horrible deformation and even exploded.
What was even more terrifying was that some of the flying metal fragments actually embedded themselves directly into the apprentice's arms and face!
Those fragments did not remain on the surface, but like living things, they "grew" and "fused" into his body little by little amid his painful screams.
Apparently, this reckless apprentice had unconsciously endowed it with some flesh-eroding properties during the alchemical process.
Instructor Clark's face instantly darkened. He walked over quickly but did not provide immediate assistance.
He glanced coldly at the apprentice who was rolling on the ground and wailing in pain, and at the metal fragments that were corroding his flesh and blood, and a mocking smile appeared on his face.
"Oh, stupid." Instructor Clark's voice was as cold as ice. "How many times have I emphasized this? Strictly adhere to safety procedures! Do not use unknown or unstable materials in basic exercises! And do not attempt dangerous alchemical processes without authorization!"
He glanced at the apprentices around him who were pale with fear:
"Every year, there are fools like this, relying on a little cleverness and courage, thinking they can rise to the top overnight. This is the result of failing to control the form! Poor mental control, misdirecting energy, will only create monsters that hurt others and themselves!"
"As for you..." Clark turned to look at the apprentice still wailing on the ground, "You caused serious damage to the laboratory, plus the medical expenses. A total of 15 points will be deducted. Pay it back within the next month, otherwise there will be many wizards who want another experimental subject!"
After saying that, without any movement from Instructor Clark, two bumps immediately appeared on the silver-white metal wall next to him.
Two balls of silver-white metal fell to the ground like liquid, and quickly turned into two human-shaped puppets with twisting changes.
"Take this idiot to treatment!"
Upon hearing Clark's order, the two puppets' eyes lit up red. They grabbed the apprentice's hands and feet on the ground, completely ignoring his twisting, and forcibly carried him out of the laboratory.
During the struggle, the metal on the apprentice's body would occasionally come into contact with the puppet's body and break, and bright red blood would flow from the surface of the broken metal.
Obviously, the degree of fusion between the metal and the apprentice's flesh and blood is far beyond imagination.
This scene, like a wake-up call, completely shattered all the apprentices' romantic fantasies about alchemy.
Alchemy is also a kind of witchcraft. It is not only mysterious and knowledge-based, but also a rigorous and dangerous discipline.
"Before the next class, I want to see you master shaping gold!"
The first alchemy class ended in shock and with the homework assigned by the instructor.
After the class, the apprentices left the laboratory with their transformed gold blocks and heavy hearts.
Benjamin seemed to have suddenly had an idea while holding his ugly golden cube, and he stood in front of the experimental table and fell into deep thought.
"I heard that the unlucky guy's father is also an alchemist wizard. He has always shown that he knows a lot about alchemy. So even though he chose Potions, he still plans to make a weapon to impress people." Amy appeared from the side at some point.
“…I didn’t expect the consequences to be so terrifying.”
Jie Ming came back to his senses and glanced at Amy: "What are you going to do next?"
"Nothing special, I'll definitely go back and continue practicing alchemy... What about you?"
"That's about right. Do you know of any good ways to earn points?"
"For those old apprentices, there are quite a few ways. Whether it's selling potions, trafficking weapons, completing commissions, or submitting academic achievements, you can earn points as rewards."
Amy spread her hands. "But now... we can only do hard labor for the alchemy workshop to earn points. What? Do you want to buy something?"
"I have an idea. Maybe we should rent a laboratory." Benjamin did not hide his purpose.
He has a lot of secrets, so to be on the safe side, he must rent a laboratory to ensure his privacy.
And the matter of renting a laboratory certainly cannot be hidden from others.
"Although I don't think you're the kind of person who can't tell the difference between the important and the unimportant, I still want to remind you that if you're just practicing alchemy with gold, then the dormitory is enough." Amy reminded.
Jieming shook his head: "No, I just have an idea that needs to be confirmed."
"Wow, you are worthy of being the genius of our alchemy class. I am very optimistic about you!" Amy smiled and patted his shoulder.
She had no intention of delving into it further. After all, in the wizarding world, "knowledge" and "inspiration" were both very valuable things.
After frowning and thinking for a while, Amy finally offered her idea: "If it's a regular laboratory, forget it. The price is absolutely exorbitant. However... if it's just a short-term temporary rental, there are quite a few low-end laboratories that can be rented out."
"From a cost-effective point of view, this low-level laboratory is not suitable, but if it is only used for a short period of time, it is quite suitable for apprentices like us."
"Oh? Where can I find this thing?" Benjamin became interested.
"There's a mission area in the lobby on the first floor of each school. You can go there and take a look. Those are all laboratories certified by the academy and are relatively safe."
"Thank you."
After saying goodbye to Amy, Benjamin went straight to the lobby on the first floor of the alchemy workshop.
He had noticed before that there were many machines that looked like ATMs on the walls of the hall. He came a little early so there were not many people there. Now, looking again, there were already queues in front of those machines.
Benjamin saw a huge bulletin board on the wall, which was densely packed with various tasks and points.
This is the daily operating mode of the workshop. Apprentices need to complete designated simple tasks in exchange for workshop points.
There are many different types of tasks, but most of them require a certain amount of knowledge.
For example, Benjamin has several tasks in front of him. One of them is to prepare the cleaning solution for the laboratory, which requires some basic knowledge of potions.
Creating a standard-sized quartz vessel requires delicate alchemical skills.
To charge certain magical devices, one needs to master the basics of energy conduction...
Other than that, there are almost no tasks that require no knowledge at all, and even for these tasks, the rewards are quite meager.
Benjamin frowned as he looked at the tasks that only earned him a dozen points a month:
"It seems that simply completing these ordinary tasks isn't enough to earn points... I should first check out how much it costs to rent a lab short-term."
(End of this chapter)
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