A Wizard’s Secret

“Creak…”

Merlin opened the door and entered. Wizard Vladi had already stood up and said with a smile, “Wizard Merlin, you’ve come at last. Come in, come in, let’s share our potion-making experiences.”

Wizard Vladi was obsessed with potions, just like Wizard Howl whom Merlin had met in the Dark Magic Region. These two wizards were so passionate about potions that they were almost crazy about it.

Wizard Vladi insisted that Merlin delved into his experiences, but Merlin shook his head reluctantly. He was not very educated in potions and only knew the common basics. His high success rate in preparing potions was mainly due to the precise control of the Matrix.

“Wizard Vladi, we’ll discuss potions some other day. I’ve come today because I’ve something to ask you!”

“Oh? Whatever the matter is, Wizard Merlin, speak your mind!”

Wizard Vladi saw that Merlin was unwilling to share his potion-making experiences and did not press on any further. Instead, he squinted slightly and fixed his gaze on Merlin.

Merlin nodded, and briefly explained his plan to sell potions. Wizard Vladi caught on quickly and gave a slight nod. “So, Wizard Merlin is planning to prepare potions for sale. It’s actually very simple. The best-selling potion now is Alkaline Earth Potion, which was prepared previously under your guidance. In Floating City, there are many roaming Wizards, and most of these Wizards have become alchemists. Thus, the supply of Alkaline Earth Potion is unable to keep up with demand. If you could make that potion, it would surely sell out quickly.”

“Alkaline Earth Potion?”

Merlin mumbled irresolutely to himself. Even though he did not consider himself a saint and had never spared anyone bold enough to threaten him, certain ideals of his past life still influenced him. Alchemists went all out to transfigure human beings into Alchemy Creatures through ruthless methods, which made Merlin uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong? Do you have any reservations?”

Wizard Vladi was a keen observer, and his bright eyes fixed on Merlin.

After a long moment, Merlin took a deep breath and shoved these tumultuous thoughts to the back of his mind. He was no longer Lin Fei of his previous life, but the Spell Caster, Wilson Merlin!

“Right, I’ll prepare Alkaline Earth Potion. I’ll have to trouble Wizard Vladi to help me sell the potion. Thirty percent of the profits shall belong to you!”

Merlin spoke in a low voice. He knew that the Alkaline Earth Potion he prepared would surely be in a large amount. If he wished for Wizard Vladi to help him sell the potion wholeheartedly without stirring up trouble, the best plan, naturally, was to rope Wizard Vladi in as well so that the both of them were running the business together. Only the sharing of a common interest would bind them together.

A smile appeared on Wizard Vladi’s face. Although he was fanatical about potion research, he was not ignorant about the ways of the world. Conversely, as a roaming Wizard, which ploy had he not witness himself? Merlin’s intentions could not be clearer – he wanted to bind them together. However, this was a hugely profitable matter, so of course, Wizard Vladi would not object.

“Okay, this is what we’ll do! I presume that currently, Wizard Merlin doesn’t have the materials for Alkaline Earth Potion? I have some materials here, which I’ll gift to you with no exchange for a single elemental crystal stone. However, you’ll have to purchase the potion materials with elemental crystal stones in the future.”

With that, Wizard Vladi immediately took out more than ten batches of potion materials of Alkaline Earth Potion from his ring and handed them to Merlin. It was a show of good faith.

Merlin did not decline the offer and accepted the materials. After that, he said to Wizard Vladi, “In a few days, I’ll deliver a few batches of Alkaline Earth Potion.”

“Very well. As long as Alkaline Earth Potion is successfully made, I’ll certainly sell them in the shortest time possible.”

Merlin nodded and was about to turn and leave when he seemed to have thought of something. He said to Wizard Vladi, “Oh, right, Wizard Vladi, please don’t mention to anyone else that this Alkaline Earth Potion was prepared by me.”

Merlin did not want to attract attention due to potion-making. He only wanted to earn a few elemental crystal stones so that he could purchase materials for Phantasmal Magic Potion and Blueberry Potion. He would not like to stir up any trouble if he could help it.

Wizard Vladi gave a nod of affirmation with a smile at the corner of his mouth. “This is a simple request. For the sake of appearances, I shall say that this Alkaline Earth Potion was prepared by me. I believe that, with my reputation, no one would doubt that.”

“That’s good!”

Merlin nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave.

…

Upon returning to Wizard Burton’s residence, Merlin did not see Wizard Burton. Perhaps he had gone off to conduct an experiment or transfigure his Alchemy Creature. The door of the black-robed old man’s room was still shut tight; it seemed like he would not be coming out for a while.

Merlin returned to his room and set out the materials for Alkaline Earth Potion that Wizard Vladi had given to him on the table. Then, he retrieved a complete set of glassware for potion preparation from his ring.

Merlin had exchanged his contribution points for the glassware in the Resource Tower. He did not need to worry about their precision – they were more superior than the glassware which Wizard Vladi used.

With this precise equipment, Merlin would prevent unnecessary mistakes while preparing Alkaline Earth Potion, thus effectively increasing his success rate. Wizard Vladi had previously prepared Alkaline Earth Potion for quite some time – controlling the process well, whether it was in terms of fire handling or the measurement of potion materials. Even so, he was unsuccessful in making the potion, simply because the glassware that he had used for potion preparation was not precise.

Therefore, the glassware was a crucial factor in ensuring the success of the potion.

“The Matrix, begin Alkaline Earth Potion preparation!”

Merlin started up the Matrix right away. The last time he was in Wizard Vladi’s room, he had commanded the Matrix to record the steps and measurements of materials for preparing Alkaline Earth Potion. Thus, he just had to follow the Matrix’s steps accurately and control the fire well, and he would surely be able to prepare Alkaline Earth Potion successfully.

As it was his first time preparing Alkaline Earth Potion on his own, it was unavoidable that he failed. It was probably due to Merlin’s failure in fire handling as he already had the Matrix’s help in giving accurate steps and measurements.

Nevertheless, Merlin was already used to situations like this, so he did not dawdle but proceeded with his second attempt. This time he was fortunate – in a spurt of energy, Merlin succeeded in preparing the first batch of Alkaline Earth Potion.

Following that, he continued preparing the potion without rest. It was only a full day later that Merlin had used up all the potion materials given by Wizard Vladi and had made six batches of potions. His success rate could not be considered very high but it was still satisfactory. Out of eighteen sets of materials for Alkaline Earth Potion, he had made six batches in total.

This was equivalent to a thirty percent success rate, which was considered rather high. Even Wizard Vladi, who had mastered fire handling to the point of perfection, could not boast of achieving a similar success rate.

Merlin rested for a while before heading toward Wizard Vladi’s residence with the six batches of Alkaline Earth Potion which he had prepared.

…

“Wizard Vladi!”

Merlin walked into Wizard Vladi’s room and saw that he was resting with his eyes closed.

Hearing Merlin’s voice, Wizard Vladi instantly opened both eyes. He rocked his head slightly with a tired face. “I was studying potions the whole of last night, so I was resting for a moment. Oh right, Wizard Merlin, are you here for something? Was there a problem in preparing Alkaline Earth Potion?”

Merlin shook his head and took out six batches of Alkaline Earth Potion that he had prepared from his ring. He said to Wizard Vladi, “Wizard Vladi, these are the six batches of Alkaline Earth Potion I had just prepared. I’ve brought them for you to verify them.”

“Alkaline Earth Potion? You’ve managed to prepare six batches of the potion so soon?”

Wizard Vladi’s expressed his disbelief, and hastily accepted the potions from Merlin’s hand. He placed them gently on the table and sniffed it lightly before putting it into a transparent glassware for closer observation.

After several observations, Wizard Vladi could not help but exclaimed in admiration, “It’s Alkaline Earth Potion indeed, alright, it really is Alkaline Earth Potion! I think that Wizard Merlin’s accomplishments in potion-making are more impressive than I had initially thought. You’ve successfully prepared six batches of potion in just a day’s time!”

The most time-consuming part of preparing potions was the complicated steps that must be carried out flawlessly. An average Spell Caster would have to perform each procedure carefully with vigor and vitality, even if they were full of energy.

However, Merlin did not have to concern about these matters. With the assistance of the Matrix, he was able to maintain rigorous control over the potion-making steps and only needed to worry about handling the fire.

The mastery of fire handling could be obtained over a long period of preparing potions. Once he practiced well, he would naturally be able to control the fire well and subsequently increased the success rate of his potion preparation.

“Good, very good, I shall deal with these six batches of Alkaline Earth Potion as soon as I can. I’ll let Wizard Merlin know the exact price when the time comes. Oh right, do you still have any potion materials for Alkaline Earth Potion?”

Wizard Vladi suddenly posed this question.

Merlin shook his head and answered, “The eighteen batches of materials have all been used up.”

Wizard Vladi mumbled to himself for a moment, then took out a large heap of potion materials from his ring. He said with a smile, “From the start, Wizard Merlin was able to achieve a thirty percent success rate in preparing Alkaline Earth Potion. It’s too amazing! There are enough materials for thirty batches of Alkaline Earth Potion here. I’ll charge each batch of potion materials for fifty elemental crystal stones, so thirty batches would cost a thousand and five hundred stones. When the Alkaline Earth Potion has been sold, I’ll deduct what you owe me bit by bit from the elemental crystal stones we earned. What do you think?”

Of course, Merlin nodded assent. This was an obvious gesture of goodwill on Wizard Vladi’s part. Merlin’s thirty percent success rate during his first time preparing Alkaline Earth Potion had astounded Wizard Vladi.

Even Wizard Vladi was secretly guessing if Merlin was some Potion Master who had come to Floating City for some special reason.

Nonetheless, no matter what Merlin’s identity was, such a high success rate in preparing Alkaline Earth Potion had already deserved Wizard Vladi’s complete goodwill and interest.

Merlin and Wizard Vladi exchanged a few simple words, after which Merlin left Wizard Vladi’s residence and returned to Wizard Burton’s residence. Once more, he began focusing all his energy into preparing Alkaline Earth Potion.