This wizard only wants to take students

Chapter 34: Potions! The Power of the Appraisal Module
2024-08-20

In the memories of this body’s original owner, Noriaan was a seasoned Tier-3 wizard apprentice. Although his talent was only at the third level, after years of diligent cultivation, his spiritual strength was already very close to solidifying the required 108 spiritual runes.

As for Lucien, after switching to the Graybone Meditation Method: Revised II, although his meditation efficiency and the purity of his spiritual power had improved dramatically, the number of runes he needed to solidify also increased to 360. This caused him to fall significantly behind in terms of progress.

At this rate, Norian would solidify all 108 runes and reach the peak of Tier-3 wizard apprentice much faster than Lucien. If everything went smoothly, Norian would become a full-fledged wizard before him.

And when that happened, if Lucien was still stuck at Tier-3, his situation would become extremely dangerous.

This wasn’t about power alone. Even if he could, with the help of his upgraded system knowledge, defeat a full-fledged wizard while still being a Tier-3 apprentice—if he revealed a level of strength that far surpassed normal understanding, it could spark curiosity or even greed from other full wizards.

If other wizards were to discover the Graybone Meditation Method: Revised II, or worse, dig out the truth that Lucien was actually from another world… then he would be in serious trouble.

At that point, he wouldn’t just be dealing with Norian anymore—but a group of full wizards. There might even be hidden “monsters” within the Graybone Academy, or worse, nearby wizard organizations that were on par with the academy might join forces to “develop” him together.

“Surpass someone by a little, and you get admiration. Surpass them by too much, and all you get is destruction.”

Lucien’s eyes narrowed slightly. Without absolute confidence that he could flip the table and survive, he could only follow the rules—and use them.

“I need to increase my power—fast. Best case, I find a chance to eliminate Norian before he becomes a full wizard.”

A cold glint flickered in Lucien’s eyes.

“One Tier-3 apprentice killing another isn’t rare. The full wizards wouldn’t care much.”

“Of course… the cleanest solution is to beat Norian to it—become a full wizard before him.”

Lucien took a deep breath.

“These two approaches don’t contradict each other. I can pursue both. For now, I need to find a way to use Reverence Points to speed up my strength development.”

There were many ways to accelerate the growth of spiritual power. After ruling out the more dangerous or side-effect-heavy methods, Lucien concluded the most cost-effective approach for him was—through potions.

Lucien’s fingers tapped rhythmically on the experiment table.

“Potions like the Calm Mind Elixir or Violet Essence can significantly increase meditation efficiency—by three to five times. But they’re incredibly expensive. Using potions is basically burning magic stones!”

“And there’s another problem. I’ll need a large quantity of potions. If I rely solely on buying them, it’ll be difficult and might attract unwanted attention.”

The best solution? Use the system’s teaching and appraisal functions to make himself a potioneer!

Lucien glanced at the recently repaired wizard robe nearby.

“The system’s appraisal module is extremely powerful. When identifying alchemy items, it provides loads of information—even detailed repair guides.”

“So what happens if I appraise a potion?”

Curious, Lucien picked up a vial of healing potion from his lab bench.

[Appraisal requires 1 Reverence Point.]

“Appraise,” he said without hesitation.

[Item]: Healing Potion
Classification: Tier-0 Magic Potion · Healing Type
Ingredients: Coldwater Herb, Blue-ring Mushroom, Healing Grass
Description: A standard healing potion made by a potioneer apprentice. Accelerates physical recovery upon consumption.

Line after line of data quickly appeared from the system’s scan, and Lucien soon found the section he was most interested in:

[Details]:
The cork’s seal is insufficient, leading to slight degradation.

The pre-processing of Healing Grass was too rough; mixing force was excessive.

After crushing Coldwater Herb, letting it rest for 30 minutes yields better results.
…

Lucien’s eyes sparkled as he stared at the appraisal results listing over a dozen details.

“This isn’t just a potion evaluation—this is like an AI grading a test!”

Lucien was certain: if the apprentice who had originally made this potion had access to these appraisal results and kept refining their technique, their potion-making skills would definitely improve significantly—and their overall capabilities as a potioneer would rise too.

If Lucien used the appraisal feature to evaluate his own potion-making work, it would be like having a master-level expert giving him one-on-one coaching, pointing out every single flaw clearly and directly!

“If other apprentices or potioneers found out I had this kind of advantage… they’d cry with envy,” Lucien muttered with a mischievous grin.

“Only issue is—I need a lot of Reverence Points to freely use appraisal like this for ‘self-study.’”

Quickly sobering up, Lucien began analyzing the limits of using the appraisal function as a shortcut on the path to becoming a potioneer.

Just as he frowned slightly, troubled by his limited Reverence Point reserves, he heard a familiar, rhythmic knock on his laboratory door.

“Come in!” Lucien raised his brow. But the moment he saw Carly quietly enter the room, a glint of light flashed deep in his eyes.

In that instant, Carly seemed to transform into a walking Reverence Point generator.

Yep—high-output type.

“Professor Lucien?” Carly noticed Lucien’s oddly focused gaze and instinctively touched her cheek, wondering if something was on her face to warrant such a stare.

“It’s nothing,” Lucien quickly looked away. But the thought of Reverence Points made his eyes drift back toward Carly on their own.

Carly noticed it. Her breathing grew slightly uneven, and her fingers nervously tugged at her new blood-grey robe.

[Your student Carly feels a deep reverence for you. Reverence Points +2]

At that moment, Lucien swore he could hear the sweet sound of a cash-counting machine in his ears.

Music to his ears.

(End of Chapter)