After almost finalizing the new treatment, the old mage continued with his work, while Jess had already begun to envision his future.
Logically speaking, Marlin knew that he was an ordinary person who couldn't cast spells and didn't have particularly outstanding combat abilities. He should not ask him to do some extremely dangerous things.
For example, absurd tasks like infiltrating orc camps and capturing black dragon cubs should still be given to other mages, apprentice mages, or mercenaries.
As for him, at most he would just deliver letters or carry something. Otherwise, Marlin wouldn't only give him ten silver coins per month.
At noon, Jess should have immediately started making potions, but his curiosity led him out to see the stables.
Outside the west gate, the stables of the Wizard's Sanctum are next to the city wall. Looking north from here and beyond the horse field, one can see the sea outside the cliff.
At this time, some young people who looked like mages were gathering at the bottom of the wizard tower on the cliff. The sounds of their chatting and laughing could be faintly heard from a long distance.
The horses in the stables looked quite healthy and beautiful. Most of them were chestnut or black, and there were also a few piebald horses. Each one was well-fed with shiny coats, broad chests, and bulging muscles on their legs.
How should I put it? The mage area is rich. Even the horses they keep have an air of affluence.
Jess remembered that when he went to Eastvale, he specifically went to the horse field there. Although the horse field there was much larger than here, the horses there always seemed a bit more listless than those here.
The Eastvale Lumber Mill is a place that provides warhorses for the knights of Stormwind. Logically speaking, the horses there should be stronger and more disciplined than those on the side of the Wizard's Sanctum.
Jess guessed that because the war had just ended, many strong warhorses had died on the battlefield or were injured and couldn't stay here anymore. So many of the remaining ones were inferior packhorses.
When he approached, several horses that were not familiar with his smell snorted restlessly, showing quite a bit of vitality.
I wonder when I can own a horse of my own. To keep a horse, not only do I need money to buy a horse, but I also need a stable income to support a series of subsequent expenses such as maintenance and food. The house I buy also needs to have a stable. The more he thought about it, the more headache he got.
In short, with a job that pays ten silver coins a month, it's out of the question.
But when he thought of Gerred who had ridden a gryphon before, this horse wasn't so appealing anymore.
And then when he thought of those top-level characters in the game who had ridden kodos, dinosaurs, the heads of guardians, baby dragons, and phoenixes, what was this horse compared to those?
Jess returned to the alchemy room dejectedly. He opened the package he had brought and looked at the few things he had desperately retrieved. Suddenly, he felt a great sense of disappointment.
He sat on a chair and stared blankly for a while. He felt that recently he had been unhappy too frequently because he didn't have a golden finger.
Probably because he had suffered a lot recently and had seen too many people stronger than himself, so his psychology was a bit unbalanced.
But after all, he still had a different advantage. His foresight of the future... This unique advantage must be utilized well.
Thinking this way, he was full of energy again.
He prepared the crucible, poured in clear spring water, and sprinkled the grave moss little by little into the water. That disgusting smell made him think of the tragic experience in the tomb again.
He took out the small bag containing the ground fragments of evil claws and poured them into his boss's mortar. While boiling the water, he started pounding.
After all, the production steps of the recipe said that the fragments of evil claws should be as fine as possible. So he planned to pound this throughout the entire process of boiling the medicine. Anyway, evil claws were added in the last step.
Before long, he glanced at the water surface and saw that it had started to roll. The color of the water had turned light purple. Although he didn't know why the green grave moss turned purple after boiling for a while, anyway, what the recipe said was right.
A strange fishy smell emerged, which was very different from the smell in the tomb. This smell... He seemed to have smelled it somewhere before.
By the way, it was in the basement of the Slaughtered Lamb. This was the smell of shadow energy. Was this purple also the purple of shadow energy?
He picked up the stirring spoon and started stirring gently. While looking at his pocket watch to calculate the time. After 20 minutes, when the water became darker, he poured in the powdered kingsblood.
Grinding kingsblood into powder was much easier than grinding evil claws. This grass dried by itself and crumbled into powder with just a little grinding.
After turning off the fire, he saw that the hot liquid in the crucible already had a tendency to become translucent.
It seemed to be going more smoothly than expected. Jess even found a feeling similar to cooking according to the food guides in short videos. When he saw that every step of what he made was in line, there was a strange sense of satisfaction.
While the liquid medicine was gradually stabilizing, he went outside the alchemy room to get some fresh air.
At this time, he was already covered in sweat stains. His shirt was also soaked. The whole person seemed to have just jumped out of the water. People passing by secretly glanced sideways.
At this time, he didn't care at all about his clothing or anything else. These so-called mage apprentices would all be minor characters in the future. When I make the shadow protection potion, when I learn warlock magic...
Had it been too long?... He turned around and went back to the alchemy room. Now the liquid medicine was already translucent. He quickly turned on the fire and boiled it again.
The last step, add the powder of evil claws.
The slightly nauseating smell before had almost disappeared. The liquid medicine gave off a not so disgusting fishy smell. After turning off the fire, although the liquid medicine was still emitting heat, it was almost the same as described in the recipe.
He took a little with the stirring spoon. It was a bit sour. It should be done.
Jess filled seven lead bottles at once with what he had made. Only after pouring out the last drop did he seal them one by one and put them in a bag.
He couldn't wait until the next day. In the evening, he brought a bottle to the entrance of the Slaughtered Lamb.
The barbarian-like bartender, Zare Mor, was still standing there. The tavern was still lifeless.
Jess drank the bottle he brought in one gulp. Probably because he drank too fast, the sour and spicy liquid that suddenly rushed into his neck all the way down to his stomach. He leaned against the wall for a while before the intense dizziness brought by the potion subsided.
At least it was in line with what the recipe said. He guessed that since this was his first time making medicine, what he made should be okay. Fortunately, it was a simplified recipe suitable for alchemy beginners.
To prevent the people inside from finding out that he had brought medicine, he hid the medicine bottle in the flower bed under the tavern steps and then entered and came to the bartender.
"I'm here again, Mr. Mor."
Zare glanced sideways and asked while wiping the table, "What would you like to drink? Mead, malt, dwarf beer, black wine."
"Don't you remember me?"
"Ah... you are that one." Zare couldn't help but laugh and said, "The kid who fainted at my bar. Jess, right? I remember you now. I even gave you an extra silver coin."
"I fainted here?" Jess recalled that day. It seemed that he really couldn't remember the process from the basement to the garden outside.
Zare said, "I found two people to throw you out. Don't blame me. After all, if you lie here, it will affect my business."
Is this considered business? Jess muttered in his heart.
"However, you came at a bad time today." Zare Mor said, "They have already left."
Jess couldn't believe his ears. "What? Your people aren't in the basement?"
Zare frowned and said, "Keep your voice down."
"Sorry." Jess approached the bar and said, "I really need two silver coins urgently."
"Then there's nothing I can do." Zare said, "They don't live in my basement. Of course, they will go home at night."
Jess whispered, "Tell me their addresses. Mr. Erlan or Ms. Surenna. Anyone's address will do. The one who is willing to test spells on me. If not, I can ask for less money."
Zare shook his head helplessly and said, "Erlan lives on a farm outside Goldshire. Surenna... is in the old city district. Are you sure you want to go?"
Jess felt that there might be a chance. He immediately said, "Tell me Ms. Surenna's address. I can't go to Goldshire tonight."
"Maybe I'm being nosy, but I warn you." Zare took out a note and said while writing, "Surenna is not a woman that someone like you can approach. If she is willing to give you money to test spells, take the money and leave. Don't meddle."
Jess snatched the note and rushed out of the main entrance of the tavern and headed straight outside the mage area. At this time, how could he have the mood to think about such things?