"Well, that mission was a close call." Back in his lab, Lucian exhaled deeply, finally letting himself relax. With Norian dead, he could now head out on assignments without feeling the constant threat of a knife poised at his back.
However, he felt a twinge of frustration. His gains from this venture had fallen far short of his expectations—far, far short.
"Norian sure was thorough," Lucian muttered, shaking his head. All he'd managed to scrounge up from Norian's three students barely added up to 100 magic stones. It was possible they hadn't carried everything with them, but from the look of it, they'd hardly had much to begin with. Clearly, Norian had bled his students dry over time, taking the lion's share of their hard-earned resources.
"Now I can't even get Norian's stash!" Lucian took a steadying breath, his irritation flaring up. He cursed Norian under his breath for leaving him empty-handed even in death he had let out his frustration, Lucian retrieved the silver alchemical pendant, now deformed from the explosion. With a thought, he activated the system's appraisal function. Soon, a report appeared on the screen.
[Item]: Damaged Storage Pendant
[Type]: Magical Storage Tool
[Materials]: Mithril-Iron, Spatial Crystal, Gudong Bird's Eye
[Description]: A storage pendant heavily damaged in an explosion. Due to extensive rune damage, it's beyond repair, and its storage space is in partial collapse… With alchemical expertise, some items within might be retrievable.
[Details]: …
"Seems I'll need to study alchemy if I want to salvage anything useful from it," Lucian sighed, rubbing his temples. The alternative was to find an alchemist and somehow convince them to dismantle it step-by-step following the exact process listed in his report. But that option was a non-starter—there'd be no way to explain how he knew so much about the intricate steps of dismantling.
"Looks like I'll have to add alchemy to my to-do list," he mused, planning his next steps. Just then, his lab door creaked open, and inched into the room came a nervous-looking Carrie, her back pressed against the wall as if she hoped to blend into the paintwork.
Lucian raised an eyebrow, watching her "sneak" in. Retrieving a crumpled-up draft paper from his wastebasket, he tossed it right at her forehead.
"Ow..." Carrie rubbed her head and looked at Lucian with a pitiful expression, as though he'd hit her with a rock instead of a balled-up piece of paper.
"Quit fooling around." Lucian huffed at her, unimpressed. "Now, tell me—do you know what you did wrong this time?"
"I… I shouldn't have followed you without permission," Carrie mumbled, looking down. She may have been scolded, but deep down she felt a bit smug about having helped him out. If there were a next time, she thought, she'd probably do it again.
Lucian took a deep breath, his hand pressing on his temple as her half-hearted response grated on his nerves.
"Do you realise that with your current strength, running into another sorcerer out there would basically be handing over magic stones on a silver platter?" he said, raising his voice a notch.
Carrie bit her lip, staying silent. After a moment, she slowly held out her left hand, offering her palm, and then shut her eyes tight like a convict awaiting punishment.
Lucian let out a long breath, letting the anger drain away.
After a pause, Carrie cracked open one eye, peeking at him in surprise.
With an uncharacteristically kind smile, Lucian said, "Don't worry, I don't think this mistake deserves a smack on the hand."
Carrie blinked, unsure.
"I'm just going to reward you with a copy of 'Lucian's 3000 Practice Problems,'" Lucian said, pulling out a thick workbook.
"Please, Master I'd rather take the smack!" Carrie gasped, her face showing pure dread as she watched him hand her the massive book. She even stretched out her hand, hoping he'd change his mind.
"But," Lucian continued, "you did help me out in the end, risky as it was."
Carrie flushed, her cheeks turning rosy. "It… It was nothing, really..." She shifted her weight shyly, clearly flustered by his praise.
[Your student Carrie admires you: +5 Reverence Points]
Lucian saw right through her act and smirked, pulling out a small pouch.
"In the spirit of fair trade, here's your reward for helping out this time. It's not much—twenty magic stones." He tossed the pouch to her.
Carrie caught it but dropped the book in the process, and the hefty thing landed right on her foot. She winced, her eyes tearing up.
"Master Lucian, could I maybe… just get neither of these instead?" she asked, looking up at him with big, pleading eyes.
"You're doing great!" Lucian patted her on the shoulder with a grin, feeling he'd finally cracked the code for keeping his mischievous student in line.
Watching Carrie as she huddled over her desk, poring over the workbook like a sponge soaking up water, Lucian couldn't help but chuckle.
"Good students aren't made by scolding—they're made with rewards," he muttered with a wry smile.
Just as he was setting up to brew another batch of potions, he heard a polite knock at the lab door.
"Master Lucian," a deferential voice called from outside.