The Magus Academy didn't require apprentices to have a mentor, largely because most Mages didn't want one.
For the majority of Mages, apprentices were distractions and burdens.
Edwyn searched through the mentor registry in the Central Black Tower, filtering for those renowned for alchemy. After eliminating those who hadn't taken apprentices in decades or had ridiculously strict requirements, one name stood out:
Joron, a Mage of the Alchemy School.
"Rank 2 Mage. Main field: Alchemy. Has accepted 1,300 apprentices over the past century."
The name felt oddly familiar.
"Wait a minute… Isn't he the one who made my apprentice robe? And Agnes' mentor?"
Edwyn recalled Agnes' commanding presence on the podium, and the technique he extracted from the robe. That confirmed it, Joron was a genuine master.
"Let's see the apprentice requirements… Must be at least a Elementary Apprentice and complete at least one of his tasks."
"Easy enough. No wonder he accepts so many apprentices each year."
But "easy" or not, Edwyn hadn't met either of the two requirements.
"It'll take me at least a year to become a Elementary Apprentice. I'll start by checking out the task list."
He made his way to the Task Hall on the 25th floor of the Central Tower, a place where apprentices could freely take on tasks issued by the academy.
The massive hall was divided into three sections:
On the far left were routine tasks issued by the academy: maintaining equipment, patrolling academy grounds, or monitoring towns and mountains within its territory. These were low-risk, low-reward jobs.
On the far right were trial missions, dangerous, high-stakes assignments like hunting arcane beasts or investigating ominous events. These had excellent rewards but were extremely risky.
In the center, the busiest area, were tasks issued by individual Mages. These ranged from gathering herbs to brewing potions, moderate difficulty, moderate danger, and good rewards.
Edwyn walked to the center section, where his crystal orb suddenly lit up. Using Spiritforce to probe it, he discovered he could browse all Mage-issued tasks through the orb.
"Nice."
He began scrolling, searching for anything from Mage Joron.
Soon, a task caught his eye:
"Extract 50 grams of Red Quicksilver."
"A volatile liquid metal. Apprentices must carefully assess their skills before accepting. Upon completion, submit to the 56th floor of the Central Black Tower. Reward: 100 Mana Stones."
Edwyn read the description and immediately equated it to nitroglycerin in his mind.
"No time limit… Might as well accept it. And this will be a good chance to test if the Infinite Forge can extract substances too."
He walked to the counter, where a snake-haired Medusa-like witch in a robe with a silver pentagram, the apprentice symbol of Black Tower Academy, greeted him.
"Miss, I'd like to take Task #1205."
The snake-haired witch glanced at him.
"New student, huh? Joron's tasks aren't as easy as they look."
"Oh? What do you mean? His assignments are supposed to be simple, right?" Edwyn said, smiling and trying to put his looks to use.
The witch smirked, clearly amused.
"Flattery won't get you far."
But despite her tone, she still gave him useful info.
"Joron's tasks are infamous for being thankless. Sure, he takes on over a hundred students each cycle, but only a handful actually receive his personal instruction."
"Seriously?" Edwyn was surprised. "Then why does he accept so many apprentices?"
"What else? He uses them as free labor." She twirled her fingers. "He owns an Alchemy Workshop. Most of the students he takes in just end up working there."
"Unless you've got real talent for alchemy, I'd suggest steering clear of Joron."
Edwyn fell into thought. The academy didn't have many Mages who specialized in alchemy, and most of those had incredibly harsh requirements for apprentices. If he passed on Joron, he might not have another shot at becoming an alchemy-focused Mage.
Plus, the task had no time limit, and the reward was generous. Even if he didn't choose Joron as a mentor, this was still a good way to earn Mana Stones.
"Thanks for the advice, but I think I've got some talent for alchemy. I'll take the job."
The witch didn't look surprised. She'd seen plenty of overconfident young apprentices like him before.
"Another one who won't listen. Shame about that pretty face. Give me your orb, I'll log your info."
Task accepted, Edwyn headed straight to the Commercial District.
To extract Red Quicksilver, he needed a material called sunstone, a rare and obscure resource. It took him a while to track it down.
Eventually, he found a lead: an alchemy store called Agnes Cottage.
"Agnes Cottage… don't tell me it's run by that Agnes?"
Edwyn's eyebrow twitched.
The mentor's task required materials sold by his apprentice's store. Joron was a business genius.
Apparently, this store often served apprentices who took on Joron's tasks. When Edwyn explained his request, the staff handed him a pouch without hesitation.
"2,000 grams of sunstone. Enough to extract 50 grams of Red Quicksilver. Price: 500 academy coins."
Five Mana Stones. Edwyn's heart skipped a beat.
The low price made him uneasy. Either this was a scam, or more likely, extracting Red Quicksilver was extremely prone to failure, forcing repeated purchases.
"Alright. Here's the payment."
He handed over the stones with a heavy heart. His balance now stood at five Mana Stones.
Back in his dorm, he reviewed the extraction notes for Red Quicksilver stored in his crystal orb.
After confirming that no additional ingredients were needed, Edwyn took a deep breath and picked up a chunk of sunstone.
[Material: Sunstone (1000g)]
[Extractable Substance: Red Quicksilver]
[Extraction Cost: 100 Mana]
[Begin Extraction?]