"Lord City Lord, before drawing the magic scroll, one must fully understand the scroll. It is crucial to remember every texture and pattern on the blank scroll. This not only increases the success rate of crafting the scroll, but also enhances its power by thirty percent," Ryan said. He just couldn't stand the city lord's talk. In fact, Ryan knew that his advantage lay in his mastery of all elements. He had to come up with an excuse, or he wouldn't have a chance later.
Ryan slowly, one by one, carefully stroked the blank scrolls. These scrolls were of high quality. Ryan could sense that the beast hide used to make the blank scrolls was from at least a level 4 magical beast. It seemed a bit wasteful to use such fine materials for a first-level fire magic scroll. The hide used for scrolls was always from the softest part of the beast's abdomen. To make ten high-quality blank scrolls, several magical beasts were required. This puzzled everyone—how could a magical beast's abdomen skin not be enough for just one scroll? The reason was that the weakest part of the beast was its soft abdomen, so if the hide was of good quality, it could be preserved. However, if the beast was difficult to deal with, there might not be enough hide for even one scroll. Most people prioritized the magic core, not the hide.
Ryan picked up a nearby crystal vial containing the solution used to engrave magic arrays. Though the vial shielded the contents from his senses, the color and elemental glow clearly indicated it was a high-quality solution. Ryan opened his alchemist pouch, a basic form of space magic, and took out his alchemy pen and filter. These were well-developed, standardized products. Ryan hadn't spent any money on them. He had three alchemy pens, and only one filter, which could be disassembled and cleaned.
When the city lord saw Ryan take out his alchemist pouch, his body stiffened, as if he wanted to stand up. Space magic had long been lost underground, let alone such a mature use of space alchemy. But he quickly suppressed his reaction. Seeing Ryan holding some strange items, it was obvious this wasn't the usual method for engraving magic arrays. Dark elves were known to be excellent alchemists, yet only a handful succeeded, and their success rate was abysmal. This was because many dark elves loved art, while the tedious, rigid nature of alchemy was like a nightmare to them. After all, the position of mages had drastically declined in recent years, and few dark elves practiced magic, even fewer practiced alchemy. The younger generation was obsessed with swordsmanship, art, and archery, while very few pursued magical studies. When the city lord heard of a human mage, an alchemist no less, who had come from the surface world, he couldn't help but become intrigued and pay more attention.
Ryan filled the alchemy pen with the solution, took a deep breath, and smoothed the blank scroll with his hands. He then gently touched the soft surface of the scroll with the pen's tip, immersing his mind into the magic array. Images of his repeated practice filled his mind, and the magic array seemed engraved in his brain. The pen glided elegantly across the scroll, with a drop of solution falling from the pen tip onto the scroll. Ryan's mental energy and magical power flowed through the alchemy pen and into the tip.
"Ha!" Ryan let out a long breath. Just as he finished drawing, a strong fire magic fluctuation erupted from the scroll. The lines he had drawn shimmered with red light, and faint traces of fire magic emanated from the surface. Ryan didn't even look at it, continuing to work on the next scroll. Such a rare opportunity, he wasn't going to waste it.
The city lord and the old dwarf were increasingly shocked. Initially, it took Ryan half an hour to draw one scroll, but now it was getting faster. Now, he could make a Fireball magic scroll in just twenty minutes. But that was secondary. The most important thing was that Ryan's success rate was now 100%. This was unheard of. Even advanced alchemists couldn't boast a 100% success rate. Though Ryan had only made four scrolls so far, the success rate wasn't about how many scrolls you made or at what level. Typically, the success rate for low-level magic scrolls was about 50%. But Ryan was only a level 2 mage. Normally, a level 4 mage could barely craft a first-level magic scroll, and an apprentice would be lucky to have a 10% success rate—if they had good talent. So, the city lord's astonishment far outweighed the old dwarf's. This was because the city lord understood much more than the dwarf.
Ryan crafted five magic scrolls in one breath, feeling his mental energy deplete. He realized this was the city lord's mansion, so he said nothing and began packing up his alchemy tools. Looking at the five scrolls in front of him, Ryan felt pleased. Both the time and quality were excellent. He had a feeling that the magic array could be simplified, taking up less space, but he wasn't sure how exactly. He only had a vague sense of the direction for now.
"Not bad, young man, not bad. Your name is Ryan, right? I wonder what your plans are for the future?" The city lord examined each scroll Ryan had made, even using his mental power to inspect them. A huge thought emerged in the city lord's mind. Since Ryan's talent was so impressive, perhaps he could learn dark elf alchemy. The city lord hadn't thought of repairing magic teleportation arrays, since only space mages could do that. What was surprising was that, for some reason, the city lord felt a strange sense of closeness to Ryan. This was quite remarkable, as both dark elves and elves were extremely xenophobic. The city lord's words were filled with an intent to recruit Ryan, which Ryan could clearly perceive.
"Sorry, my lord, I promised my friends to make fire-based leather armor for them, and I've already caught the fire lizards," Ryan said with little regard for the overly handsome male Dark Elf before him. Truth be told, Ryan felt a bit of jealousy stir within him. After all, why would a man look that beautiful?
"Old fool, Ryan is our best friend among the dwarves, so don't try to get any ideas about him! Otherwise, I, Light, will make sure you regret it!" As soon as Ryan finished speaking, the old dwarf jumped up and shouted at the lord.
"Old Light, can you even beat me?" The lord, hearing Light's words, chuckled. Upon seeing that smile, Ryan quickly turned his head. Even men couldn't help but feel something in their hearts at the sight of it. From the way Light and the lord spoke to each other so familiarly, it was clear that both were level-nine powerhouses. Ryan thought to himself and understood. After all, there weren't many cities underground, and with the passage of thousands of years, it was inevitable that level-nine powerhouses would emerge. These powerhouses would certainly be sent to various cities, given the constant dangers beneath the ground. No one knew what kind of monsters might appear from the countless caves. Even though the first layer didn't have high-level monsters, monsters were still evolving, weren't they?
While the two argued, Ryan carefully examined the decor of the hall. The entire space was filled with an artistic atmosphere, with hand-woven decorations everywhere, along with wooden and stone carvings with strange patterns. Even the chairs were covered in intricate carvings. The lord's clothes, much like Chinese embroidery, were filled with artistic floral patterns. The hall was lit by magic crystal lamps, and the transparent crystal lampshades looked quite expensive. Although the hall looked noble and elegant, there was not a trace of gold or silver decoration.
"Ryan, you should go back with Light," the lord's words broke Ryan's reverie. He quickly followed Old Light out of the lord's residence, avoiding eye contact with the lord, as Ryan didn't care for his appearance. To be honest, it would take great mental fortitude to deal with such a beautiful man on a daily basis.
As Ryan hurried out, the lord looked at his retreating figure with a wry smile. He then gave an order to those around him. "Go to all the cities and check if there are any books on alchemy. Buy them all and bring them back. I want to learn alchemy."
Ryan followed Old Light to a stone house. As they got closer, Ryan carefully inspected the surroundings and realized that not far ahead was Uncle Dex's house, and the War Ancient Tree, Grandpa Keta, wasn't too far either. They were in the center of the city, and the house in front of them was clearly uninhabited. From a distance, Ryan also saw Hack and his brothers waving at him, along with Deff. In the Dark Elf lands, martial skills were often passed down within families, while the Dark Elves were more likely to awaken their powers themselves, given their long lifespan. Even the slowest ones could achieve great results if they tried hard enough.
"Ryan, this place has been vacant for centuries. It used to belong to a mid-level alchemist, but he disappeared during a trial. Let's take a look inside," Light said as he opened the door. Ryan stepped inside and looked around. The environment wasn't bad. There was a small dried-up fountain in the yard, along with some withered vines. There were stone tables and chairs, and inside the house, there was a living room and four empty rooms, along with a kitchen, all built with giant stones. Beside the living room, there was a staircase leading down.
They slowly made their way down the stairs, and Ryan lit up a magic crystal lamp. He was surprised to find a huge hall with a large alchemical experimentation table made of obsidian. Not only was it incredibly sturdy, but it also had high magical resistance. Around it was a massive obsidian cabinet to isolate magical fluctuations between materials, as well as a row of large iron cages and even a forge furnace. Ryan carefully examined everything and soon located the magical control center for the entire laboratory. After inserting several magic crystals, the dusty hall slowly started to clean up.
Ryan looked at the various crystal containers on the experimentation table and the many magical materials around him. He was ecstatic. The magical runes flashing across the stone walls made him exclaim, "This is a master-level alchemy lab! If it were outside, it would be priceless! Just look at these crystal containers, and this enormous magic furnace!" Ryan lovingly touched everything. His own magic furnace was only 30 cm in size, while the one in front of him stood an entire meter tall.
"Well? What do you think, Ryan?" Light asked, noticing Ryan's joyful expression. Although this place was a bit of a waste to clear out, Light figured it would be perfect for Ryan.
"Grandpa Light, we can kill the fire lizards now. Soak their skins in the pools, and pour their blood into the magic furnace. I need their tendons, bile, magic cores, teeth, claws, and eyeballs. I'll process them," Ryan suddenly remembered the fire lizards outside and quickly gave instructions.
Sure enough, with enough people, work went quickly. In less than an hour, 36 fire lizards were reduced to piles of materials. The fire lizard skins were soaked in a large pool, and the magic furnace, which now had two magic cores embedded in it, began automatically refining the blood. The tendons were coated with blood and bile and left to dry, while the bone marrow was collected in a crystal vial. The claws and teeth were set aside to be used for arrowheads once dried. After everything was done, Ryan felt completely exhausted, while the dwarves worked as if nothing had happened. Truly, these were warriors.
"Ryan, do you need anyone else here?" Light asked, seeing Ryan busy with the alchemical equipment. All doubts had long left his mind, replaced by a wide smile.
"Grandpa Light, I need someone who can work with leather armor, and I need two assistants who are strong. That should be all for now," Ryan replied. He couldn't make the armor himself, and there were other tasks that required strong hands.
"But Ryan, you need to hurry. In a month, the Great Trial will begin. All adventurers below level five must participate, and the trial area will be an entirely unfamiliar place. Every year, some people die during the trial," Light said, his face filled with concern.
Ryan was taken aback and quickly asked, "Grandpa Light, what exactly is this Great Trial?"