"Haha, just as I thought, since this doesn't involve synthesis and only requires impurity removal, the Infinite Forge can definitely handle it!"
For the longest time, Edwyn had only used the Infinite Forge to refine information. He'd never tapped into its ability to refine physical substances. Now that he'd accepted this task to extract Red Quicksilver, it was the perfect chance to test the Furnace's material refinement capabilities.
"Wait. Hold up."
But Edwyn didn't rush into it, he remembered all too well how volatile Red Quicksilver was.
"Red Quicksilver is explosive in nature. Once refined, it must be kept away from light, impact, and shaking. I'll need to buy a colored glass bottle."
No sooner said than done, Edwyn headed straight to the market and bought a brown glass bottle.
Back in his room, he held a fist-sized sunstone in his hand and selected the option to refine it.
The next moment, he sensed his magical energy flowing into a place he couldn't perceive.
The refining process consumed two-thirds of Edwyn's magic. Doing the math, it seemed that one point of Spiritforce equalled ten units of Mana.
As his magic drained away, the sunstone in his hand suddenly appeared in the Infinite Forge. It visibly shrank, and in a matter of seconds, it transformed into a glowing red liquid with a molten metallic sheen, floating in front of him, wrapped in a magical field.
Edwyn opened the brown bottle he had just bought and carefully guided the Red Quicksilver into it with his magic.
Once all the Red Quicksilver had entered the bottle, Edwyn pulled out a large balance scale.
From one kilogram of sunstone, he had extracted fifty grams of Red Quicksilver.
"Was I scammed?" Edwyn frowned. But then he thought it through, thanks to the Infinite Forge, his process had virtually no waste. Normal apprentices would never achieve the same yield.
So, extracting fifty grams from a kilogram of sunstone actually made sense.
"Either way, this task is complete. Even if I don't become a disciple of Joron, a hundred Mana Stones is still a huge reward."
With the Red Quicksilver refined, Edwyn's life settled into a calm routine.
The Central Black Tower, the library, the dorms, a triangle of routine. Occasionally he'd have a meal or go shopping with Elia. That was his entire life.
As for the task, Edwyn hadn't turned it in.
According to his own experiments with the leftover sunstone, it would take an average apprentice at least a month to extract Red Quicksilver, and that's assuming everything went smoothly. If they failed, the time could easily double, or worse.
"A tall tree catches the wind."
Especially since Edwyn's edge wasn't skill, it was an external cheat.
Given that, he had no choice but to hide his strength. He decided to wait three months after accepting the task before turning it in.
Aside from the task, Edwyn had been searching for materials for Bloodline Alchemy instead of exchanging points for spell models to inscribe spell runes.
A Mage apprentice has three key components: connecting to the Soul Sea, establishing magical circulation, and inscribing spell runes. Spell runes allow quick spellcasting, but as an Elementary Apprentice, Edwyn had very few spells available to him.
Bloodline alchemy, on the other hand, was different.
From the notebook he analyzed, he'd extracted a formula called "Black Knight." The first three stages could all be completed at the apprentice level, and the required bloodlines weren't rare. The first stage only needed a low-level magical beast called a Black Iron Beast.
His fight with Saban taught him just how strong a knight could be with magical aid. Bloodline alchemy would boost his physical attributes, and that was exactly what Edwyn needed.
He knew their current peaceful life was only due to being newcomers unfamiliar with the academy.
Given time, the group of apprentices, already blood-stained, was bound to clash.
Three months later, Apprentice Self-Test Chamber
[Spiritforce: 16.2 | Physique: 10 | Mana: 162 | Rank: Initiate]
Looking at the numbers floating in the crystal ball, Edwyn nodded with satisfaction.
After three months of intense meditation, he had finally broken through to over sixteen points of Spiritforce.
"One point every three months. At this pace, I'll hit the threshold for an Elementary Apprentice in a year. And that's assuming I don't upgrade my meditation method. If I switch to an intermediate method, I could improve even faster!"
He also noticed his physique. According to academy records, a knight's squire had a physique between ten and fifteen. Reaching fifteen meant becoming a full knight. Over twenty, that's a high-ranking knight.
Yet Edwyn had reached squire-level physique without any physical training.
It was almost unbelievable.
If Elia hadn't shown the same results, he would've suspected he had some kind of legendary bloodline.
Leaving the testing room, Edwyn headed to the street market in the commerce district.
This area was packed with apprentice-run stalls, mostly those who couldn't afford real shopfronts.
He wasn't here for any specific reason, he just liked the cheap prices and the chance of stumbling onto a hidden gem.
He looked left, then right, and sure enough, he found what he needed.
"Hey, friend, how much for this claw?" Edwyn squatted in front of a stall, pointing at a claw covered in a few black scales.
After days of searching, he'd finally found someone selling Black Iron Beast parts.
The stall owner glanced at Edwyn, new Mage robe, youthful face. Clearly a fresh student. Time to make a killing.
"Five hundred academy coins."
"Huh? This thing's in terrible shape, and you want five Mana Stones for it?" Edwyn pointed at the claw in surprise and raised his voice.
"This thing's worth two hundred academy coins, max."
"Two hundred?" The stall owner nearly jumped up. He was looking to scam a newbie, not get scammed himself. "Do you know how hard it is to kill a Black Iron Beast? This is worth at least four Mana Stones!"
"Four? Why not rob a bank while you're at it?" Edwyn shot back. "This claw is completely broken, half the metallic scales are missing. I'll give you two hundred and fifty, take it or leave it."
"Three-fifty! That's my final offer!"
"Three hundred! Any higher and I'll check other stalls!"
Edwyn stood up and made to leave. The vendor gritted his teeth and agreed.
He'd been trying to sell that claw for three days. Any longer, and it'd start rotting, completely worthless.
Seeing the vendor's pained expression, Edwyn grinned, dropped three Mana Stones, picked up the item, and walked off with flair.
The claw might be in poor condition, but it didn't matter, it was for alchemy, not crafting.
"With this Black Iron Beast claw, I can finally complete the first stage of the Bloodline Alchemy from that notebook."