Edwyn took the crystal orb and probed it with his Spiritforce, discovering a blueprint stored inside.
It was a blueprint for a piece of Arcane Artifact called the Pale Mask.
Joron glanced at his notebook and said in a flat tone, "Make this item and deliver it to me."
"I'm giving you three months."
"If you can't produce it by then, it just means you're not as talented as you seem."
He cast a sidelong glance at Edwyn.
"Do you understand?"
Edwyn nodded. "Yes, Master Joron."
"Then go. I have experiments to run."
With a wave of his hand, Edwyn and Agnes quietly exited the room.
Outside, Edwyn exhaled deeply.
"So this is what a Mage feels like? When he looked at me just now, it felt like I was completely transparent."
Agnes rolled her eyes.
"He wasn't that scary. He saw you're just an Initiate and restrained his life radiation. Go focus on making the item. The mask isn't difficult. I'll expect to hear from you in three months."
With that, she gracefully vaulted over the stair railing and dropped downward like a freefalling leaf.
"Whew, levitation magic is cool. But… feels like something's missing…"
Edwyn scratched his chin, then ran to the railing and shouted down:
"Miss Agnes, you forgot to pay me!!"
...
After tracking down Agnes to settle payment, Edwyn ended up with more than expected. Due to the extremely high purity of his Red Quicksilver and their potential future as fellow students, Agnes gave him an extra ten Mana Stones, and even asked him to refine more Red Quicksilver for her in the future.
Edwyn could only agree for now.
Staring at the pouch in his hand, a total of 110 Mana Stones, Edwyn sighed in awe. Agnes really was loaded.
She handed over a hundred-plus Mana Stones without blinking.
"I'm rich! First things first, pay back Elia."
Edwyn grinned as he counted the stones. He'd burned through all his Mana Stones during his recent obsession with the library, even borrowing money from Elia to buy Bloodline Alchemy materials.
"After that, I'll hit the market and gather the materials to make the Arcane Artifact. No time to waste!"
Back at the dorms, Edwyn knocked on the door next to his own.
Knock knock knock.
"Who is it?"
"It's me."
Click.
Elia opened the door, wearing a thin nightgown, her hair tousled with sleep.
"Edwyn, what's up?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. Her movements caused her robe to reveal large swathes of skin.
"Nothing, just returning the Mana Stones."
Edwyn kept his gaze straight ahead and handed her a small pouch.
"Five stones. Double-check it."
Elia casually tossed the pouch behind her without even looking.
"What's there to check? You trying to scam me or something? Come in and sit. I bought a tin of Green's Red Tea from the commercial zone."
"No thanks. I just found a mentor and he gave me a task."
Edwyn muttered vaguely, turning to leave.
"You met that woman, Agnes?"
"Huh?" Edwyn turned back. "How'd you know?"
"The scent. She had it during the lecture that day."
Elia spoke offhandedly.
Edwyn sniffed himself and noticed the faint fragrance, similar to Red Quicksilver, lingering on him.
"Wow, impressive."
He gave her a thumbs-up, waved goodbye, and left quickly.
Behind the closed door, Elia blushed, face red and slightly irritated.
"He didn't even come in! Is his heart made of stone?!"
Fuming, she stomped hard, then flopped onto her bed and picked up her borrowed copy of Geography of the Magus World.
"Sigh… Knowledge, oh knowledge… you are the true temptress. So many fall under your spell, chasing you all their lives just to glimpse your icy veil."
"How could I possibly win against someone like that?"
Back at the commercial zone, Edwyn began hunting down the materials listed on the blueprint.
"Low-grade Wind-Patterned Stone, Sticky Mushrooms, Black Mercury, Poisonbark Ink, Ten-Year-Aged Enchanted Wood…"
After half a day combing through the shops, he managed to gather most of the components needed to craft the Pale Mask. The cost? 3,500 academy coins, or 35 Mana Stones.
"All that's left… is the skull of a Black-Striped Water Python."
He stared at the final item on the list. He had checked a dozen shops and hadn't found a single one.
"Black-Striped Water Python's skull? We don't have that in stock," the shop clerk said, shaking his head.
Edwyn sighed. This was the last alchemy shop in the zone.
"Any idea where I could find one?" he asked, slipping ten academy coins into the clerk's hand.
Once the clerk confirmed no one was watching, his smile turned much more genuine.
"The Black-Striped Water Python lives in the Blackstone Mountains. If you're in a rush, you could go hunt one yourself. It's not too tough for an Elementary Apprentice. Also, check the academy mission board, if there's a patrol mission for the Blackstone Mountains, you can hitch a ride on the academy airship for free and save a ticket."
"Blackstone Mountains, huh? Thanks for the tip."
Edwyn nodded thoughtfully. Sounded like a solid plan, check the mission board first.
At the mission hall, students bustled back and forth. Edwyn scrolled through the list and eventually found one mission under Academy Tasks: Surveying the habitat of the White Crystal Deer in the Blackstone Mountains.
He headed for the counter to accept the task.
"I'm sorry," said the Mage apprentice behind the counter, glancing at a crystal orb. "Due to its danger level, this mission requires a minimum of two participants for Initiates or Elementary Apprentices."
"Team required? That's… inconvenient." Edwyn frowned.
Since arriving at the academy, he had kept mostly to himself. It was fair to call him reclusive. Aside from the library and his room, he had almost no social interaction, Elia being the sole exception.
He massaged his temples in frustration.
"Should I ask Elia to team up?"
Just then, a voice called out behind him.
"Hey, friend. Looking for a teammate?"
Edwyn turned to see a chubby apprentice in Mage's robes, his face round and earnest.
"Need a partner? Name's Loken. I'm trying to find someone to go to the Blackstone Mountains."
Edwyn glanced at the clerk. He had just asked about the mission, and someone showed up immediately.
A little too convenient.
The clerk rolled his eyes. "Temporary team-ups for Initiates are completely normal here. Don't be so paranoid."
"Sorry, I already have a partner," Edwyn replied politely to Loken, then turned and left.
Going into the wild with a stranger? Far too risky for his tastes.
Back at the dorm, he knocked on Elia's door once again.
"Edwyn… What is it this time?" Elia opened the door with a subtle expression.
Has this blockhead finally figured it out?
"Uh…" Edwyn hesitated. "I saw a mission at the hall that requires a team. You free lately?"
YESYESYESYESYES!
Elia screamed internally but kept her face calm.
"I'm free. What's the pay?"
"Three hundred academy coins. We split it fifty-fifty."
For Edwyn, the mission reward wasn't important. His real goal was hunting the Black-Striped Water Python.
"Alright, I'm in. Give me a minute to change."