When Sain returned to the laboratory of his mentor, Mosido, Mosido's yellow eyes looked him up and down with interest.
"Hee Hee Hee, you little troublemaker. You really know how to stir things up," Mosido said.
"Even a simple task from the academy forced you to return with injuries," Mosido commented, shaking his head in disbelief.
Faced with the ridicule and sarcasm of his mentor, Sain lowered his head in embarrassment.
Before coming to see his mentor, he had already been reprimanded by Lena.
Luckily, this time there were no serious consequences after a thorough examination, but it would take some time for his external wounds to heal, including the scar on his neck, which only looked scary but was not a serious injury except for the troublesome Paralyzing Toxin caused by Blue Moss.
Seeing Sain's silence, Mosido did not say anything further.
But before entering the laboratory, he added, "Hmph, this time I won't use the 'Muscle Regeneration' spell on you. Take some time to feel the pain and see if you will be so reckless in the future."
Mosido entered the laboratory directly without paying attention to Sain, but Sain's two Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters approached him to ask about his condition.
Sain took the opportunity to express his wish to learn Faye's Nutrient Potion-making technique and asked Zoro if he could spare some time to teach him Alchemy.
Naturally, if he asked for help from his Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, Sain would have to pay a certain price.
As a Magician, Sain always follows the principle of equivalent exchange.
As long as Bosch can successfully deliver the goods, Sain will have enough financial resources to pay the two Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters.
At worst, Sain himself has some good things on hand.
Whether it's the Crystal Core of a Saltwater Crocodile or the low-level Crystal Core of an Azure Beak Feather King, he can use them as rewards for the two Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters.
Sain has long understood that money is just a worldly possession, and true power belongs only to oneself.
For Magicians, knowledge is power.
Facing Sain's request, Senior Sister Faye readily agreed.
The process of making Nutrient Potion is not complicated.
In fact, Sain's request to learn how to make it with her gave Faye, who is not good at cooking, a special sense of excitement and satisfaction.
On the other hand, Senior Brother Zoro's response was not as straightforward.
After some hesitation, he replied, "I am currently collaborating with our mentor to complete a certain alchemical experiment. I won't have much time during the day, so I can only teach you at night."
There is no such thing as day and night in the underground world, but basic time concepts still revolve around the Surface.
Dark Magic Academy has a corresponding bell signal for each time period, including the apprentices' break and class times, all of which follow this time principle.
Both Senior Brother and Senior Sister agreed to Sain's request without discussing any specific rewards, which touched Sain's heart.
In fact, their mentor Mosido had previously instructed them to guide Sain more often.
When their mentor is too busy to teach Sain, these two disciples, who are more advanced, must share the workload with him.
Excited, Sain, who has not fully recovered from his injury, returned to his own room.
He mainly focused on meditation and mental power during his visit to his mentor today.
Until he is fully healed, he won't be able to assist his mentor with any experiments.
Senior Sister Faye also quickly left, and only Senior Brother Zoro watched Sain enter his room before pondering his departure.
"As I suspected, the reason why our mentor took in Sain was that he saw a shadow of our second junior brother in him?"
"Besides his golden hair, he has a similar temperament and style of doing things..."
Thinking of his junior brother who unfortunately passed away thirty years ago, Zoro sighed softly.
Among the disciples under Mosido's guidance, the one with the most potential should be the second junior brother, just like Zoro.
He, too, came all the way from Western Islands to Shadowy Territory with Mosido.
As for Faye, the third junior sister, the fourth junior brother, and Sain, the fifth junior brother, they were all newly accepted disciples after coming to the Shadowy Territory.
In terms of investment of energy and emotion, the late second junior brother, who has already fallen, was the true chosen successor designated by Master Mosido.
With a sigh, Zoro turned and entered the laboratory.
Recently, he and his mentor had heavier alchemy tasks to complete because the two deputy deans from Shadow Valley had already started to urge them.
...
In front of the smaller experimental station, Sain's eyes were fixed on the Azure Beak Feather claw that had already been fixed in place.
Holding a triangular magic cone, a gift from Senior Brother Zoro a few days ago, Sain carefully traced the intricate and complex patterns on the surface of the Azure Beak Feather claw with the cone.
As these fine patterns gradually covered two-thirds of the Azure Beak Feather claw, an elemental disorder suddenly appeared as Sain relaxed his mind.
The originally ordinary Azure Beak Feather claw suddenly emitted a high temperature, melting not only part of the steel support on the experimental table but also destroying the intricate patterns Sain had painstakingly carved for hours.
Feeling the slight elemental power within the Azure Beak Feather claw being consumed, a somewhat dejected Sain slapped the bird claw on the table and said somewhat disheartenedly, "I failed again!"
This was the third scrapped Azure Beak Feather claw that Sain had on hand.
Considering the quality of an Azure Beak Feather claw, it was enough for him to attempt three or four magic formations.
In other words, Sain had failed more than ten times before this!
Indeed, there were no natural-born geniuses in this world.
Even though Sain was praised by his mentor and senior brothers for having some talent in Alchemy.
But he still couldn't immediately create any magical props, even just attaching a simple sharp spell to the Azure Beak Feather claw.
This is because Azure Beak Feather, as a magical material from a monster, already has certain elemental properties.
If it were any other magical steel or ordinary metal, Alchemists would still need to personally infuse elemental power into it without abundant innate elemental power.
This involves higher risks, energy instability, and even greater failure rates.
It's really hard to imagine how many failures those legitimate Alchemists have gone through before becoming a true Alchemy master.
It's no wonder Senior Sister Faye, who has a capricious personality, is not interested in Alchemy.
Continuous setbacks can easily make people lose confidence.
The frustration in his heart did not always affect Sain.
He shook his head and waved away the negative emotions, reflecting on his mistakes and areas for improvement in his previous operations.
It's not just Sain's own problem, but also includes the experimental table in front of him and the Azure Beak Feather claw that has failed twice before, all within Sain's consideration.
After a long time, Sain, who picked up an Azure Beak Feather claw again, did not immediately act.
Instead, he said to Lena, who was quietly flipping through the magic book beside him, "This experimental table is indeed a bit small. We should also reconsider our moving plan."