This wizard only wants to take students

Chapter 36: First Attempt, a Potion?

“Deal!” Lucien looked at Carly, thought for a moment, then nodded seriously.

Carly secretly let out a breath of relief.

“Then it’s settled. One magic stone per week as a base. If your work is diligent and error-free, we’ll add more. That should fully encourage your enthusiasm!” Lucien nodded, feeling that Carly’s suggestion was quite appropriate.

Carly: Σ()
That wasn’t what she meant at all…

“Alright then, no more wasting time. Let’s get started with today’s assistant work.” Lucien gently patted the still slightly dazed Carly, feeling quite pleased.

After all, he had just gained 50 Respect Points. At this stage, that was far more valuable to Lucien than a magic stone!

Then Lucien pointed to the wizard robe. “That counts as 80 magic stones. Before you finish paying it off, I won’t be giving you any salary… uh, I mean, rewards.”

Carly stood frozen for a moment before slowly lowering her head. After hesitating a bit, she quietly took out her notebook and flipped to the last page to begin recording a special “ledger.”

“Owe Mentor Lucien one magic stone…” Carly quickly wrote it down. As she looked at the many entries on the ledger that hadn’t yet been crossed out, she felt a bit heavy-hearted.

She used to have a “buy now, pay later” mindset, but now Carly began to doubt whether she could actually pay it all back.

“Don’t just stand there like a fool. As always, if you drag this out past three hours, I’m going to extend your time accordingly,” Lucien reminded her with a smile as he looked at Carly still dumbly standing at the door.

Only then did Carly snap out of it and jog in like she had just woken from a dream.

“I’ll start by teaching you the most basic potion-making procedures. Later, when I’m concocting potions, you’ll help me with some of the mechanical tasks involved,” Lucien explained after pausing for a moment.

“Once you’re familiar with the process and your mental strength reaches the required level, I’ll gradually teach you how to assist with more advanced potion techniques that require mental energy. By then, you’ll also take over some of the ingredient preparation work.”

Carly nodded slightly. After the mental struggle she just went through, she now had a clear goal.

If possible, she wanted to become an outstanding potion master—one who could truly assist Mentor Lucien, instead of always hiding behind him.

Thinking of that, a fire called determination began to burn in Carly’s eyes.

“Not having to do everything myself… doesn’t seem too bad.” Lucien sat in his chair, watching Carly meticulously wash the tools needed for potion-making, while planning out his next steps in potionology.

“At this stage, the best potions to enhance my mental strength are the Calmness Elixir and the Moon’s Blessing,” Lucien tapped his finger lightly on the table. “But both of these are very difficult to concoct, and the ingredients are expensive. If I fail a few times in a row, I won’t have enough magic stones left. To continue experimenting, I’d have to sell off materials.”

“So it’s best to start with something relatively simple to build experience and hopefully earn a few stones in the process…” Lucien pondered as he sorted through his current ingredients.

“Let’s go with a Healing Potion. The original body practiced this one before, so there are some references I can use. And conveniently, I already have just enough ingredients—no need to buy more from the market.”

Lucien quickly made up his mind. With a wave of his hand, three ingredients needed for the Healing Potion appeared from his spatial ring.

Blue-ring Mushroom, Healing Herb, and Coldwater Grass.

“If it weren’t clearly written in the recipe, who would’ve thought that the highly toxic Blue-ring Mushroom would be the core ingredient of a Healing Potion?” Lucien, now wearing gloves, picked up a Blue-ring Mushroom about the size of an adult thumb.

The mushroom had beautiful blue ring-like patterns on its surface. When he gently pinched the stalk, a semi-transparent mucus oozed out.

Lucien took out a blunt scraping knife and carefully scraped off the mucus from the surface, being extra cautious not to damage the mushroom.

The mucus was highly toxic. If it contaminated the usable part of the mushroom, it would render the whole ingredient useless. Worse, the neurotoxin could even affect a wizard’s mental energy. That’s why this detoxification step couldn’t be assisted with mental power—it required full concentration to avoid mistakes.

After carefully removing the poisonous mucus from the Blue-ring Mushroom, Lucien quickly grabbed a silver dagger and finely chopped it.

At first, the inside of the mushroom was pure white. But as it was exposed to the air, it began to oxidize and gradually turned light blue—deepening in color over time.

Lucien didn’t hesitate. He quickly poured the pre-treated mushroom into a cauldron, then grabbed the Coldwater Grass and squeezed out its pale blue juice, pouring that in as well.

Glug glug glug… As the juice entered the cauldron, it began bubbling fiercely. A violent reaction broke out between the two ingredients.

Lucien picked up a glass stirrer and began mixing. At the same time, his mental energy channeled through the stirrer into the boiling potion, acting as a buffer to convert the initial destructive reaction into a slow, continuous fusion.

This process looked simple but placed immense pressure on his mind. It required long periods of precise control and had almost no margin for error. A single misstep could lead to total failure.

The fusion continued slowly and steadily. The semi-finished potion in the cauldron bubbled as its color gradually changed.

Beads of sweat began forming on Lucien’s forehead.

Suddenly, a small twitch pulsed through Lucien’s temple.

Hiss—

With that tiny lapse in focus, the entire potion instantly boiled over. The liquid turned bright blue and emitted a puff of black smoke—along with a stench similar to rotting garbage.

“Failed,” Lucien said with a sigh, putting down the glass stirrer. However, instead of cleaning up right away, he spent 1 Respect Point to appraise the failed concoction.

[Item]: Unnamed Poison
[Category]: Potion · Poison
[Ingredients]: Coldwater Grass, Blue-ring Mushroom
[Description]: A failed Healing Potion made by a potion apprentice. It has a strong rotten odor. Due to the apprentice’s clumsy handling, the toxic properties of the Blue-ring Mushroom were fully activated, resulting in a micro-poison that causes mild diarrhea.
[Details]: …

Lucien looked at the extremely detailed appraisal report, and the corner of his mouth twitched. He felt that the level of mockery in the description was a little excessive.

(End of Chapter)