Free Web NovelChapter 17: Chapter 17: First Magic Potion Experience
Mo Ning had just stepped into apartment 804, his left foot still in the air.
The Guiding Ring once again sent a familiar chill, and a stream of information flowed into his mind like a brook.
[Permission Notice: Serial Number 7-118-256, Mo Ning.]
[As you have obtained "Dawa’s Grocery List," your identity permissions have been automatically upgraded by one level. You may pay 10 Black Tower Points to activate an exclusive secure locker. The "Calming Ointment" will be delivered directly to the locker.]
Mo Ning was slightly taken aback, then focused his mind to read on.
[The secure locker is under the strict protection of the academy’s Witch Spirit. Without your authorization, no one can open your locker or view any of the items stored within.]
[There are multiple storage rooms within the academy. You can open your secure locker in any of these storage rooms to deposit or withdraw items.]
Mo Ning quickly understood the system.
The so-called "secure locker" was, in essence, an independent storage space. It allowed for remote storage, could be accessed at any time, was protected by permissions, and was monitored by a Witch Spirit.
This was a very practical function.
In the future, he would definitely acquire some dangerous Witchcraft Items—perhaps corrosive potions, materials that spontaneously radiated energy, or unstable items that could be triggered by accident.
If he kept them in his apartment and an accident happened, like an explosion, what would he do?
But by putting them in the secure locker, he wouldn’t have that worry.
What’s more, the locker also served as a "delivery locker."
A mere 10 Black Tower Points in exchange for a secure, private space.
It was a fantastic deal.
He barely hesitated before issuing the mental command, ’Confirm activation.’
The Guiding Ring responded swiftly:
[10 Black Tower Points have been deducted. Current balance: 395 points.]
[Secure locker activated. "Calming Ointment" has been delivered. Please check for it!]
The next instant, a faint "CLICK—" sounded from the left side of his desk.
Mo Ning looked toward the sound.
A very thin crack had appeared on the wall to the left of the desk, and next to it was a strange shadow.
He walked over quickly and tentatively reached out to touch the shadow.
The moment his fingertips made contact, a series of changes occurred.
The shadow instantly dissipated, like morning mist scattered by the sun.
A wooden handle emerged from the shadowed area. It was curved and polished to a smooth, rounded finish.
Following that, a large section of the wall, about one meter wide and two meters high, quietly transformed from gray-white stone to wood.
Its grain was fine and its color was warm, creating a stark contrast with the surrounding stone walls.
It was a wooden door.
Mo Ning stared in astonishment.
He subconsciously touched the wooden door.
It had the texture of wood, cool to the touch, with a grain so clear he could count the individual lines.
No matter how he looked at it, this was a real wooden door, not some kind of Illusion Technique or visual trick.
He secretly guessed, ’Is this some kind of material transformation Witchcraft? Turning a wall into a wooden door... interesting.’
Mo Ning gripped the warm, smooth handle and pulled gently.
The wooden door slid open silently.
The space behind the door, the so-called "secure locker," was much larger than he had expected.
It was two meters wide and two meters high, but its depth reached four meters.
That added up to a volume of sixteen cubic meters.
Mo Ning stood at the entrance, his gaze sweeping over the empty space, and another guess formed in his mind. ’This must be a First Level spatial-connection type of Witchcraft. The academy placed the entrance right inside my apartment.’
A mere 10 Black Tower Points had gotten him two instances of Witchcraft, one of which was even a rare form of Space Magic.
"A good deal" was no longer enough to describe it.
This had to be a perk from the academy.
On the left side of the locker, a shelf was placed against the wall.
The shelf had three layers, made of the same warm, light-colored wood as the door.
On the first shelf, a small, dark jar lay quietly.
A flash of excitement appeared in Mo Ning’s eyes.
Calming Ointment!
He stood on his toes slightly and reached out to take the small jar.
The jar was ice-cold to the touch, like holding a block of ice, and it felt heavy in his hand, much heavier than it looked.
As if some kind of retrieval mechanism had been triggered, a wealth of information immediately flashed through Mo Ning’s mind.
’Container material, most likely "Ice Demon Stone."’
’It is made by firing granules of "Profound Black Stone" with a few "Extreme Cold Ice Crystals" and a small amount of Magic Stone powder in a Magic Melting Furnace.’
’After a Magic Potion is created, its Spirituality will slowly dissipate.’
’An ordinary Magic Potion left in a natural environment for about a year will lose all its Spirituality and become completely useless.’
’Ice Demon Stone can effectively prevent the loss of Spirituality. In five years, the loss will be no more than 2%; it can preserve 90% of its Spirituality even after ten years.’
’The firing cost of Ice Demon Stone is not high, so it has become a widely used material for Magic Potion containers.’
These sentences flowed through his mind, as clear as if he had just read them.
The power of the [Eye of Truth] gave him a super-powerful memory; he recalled the text above word for word, identical to the original down to the last punctuation mark.
Of course, in the Wizard World, this was not a shocking ability.
Almost every Wizard possessed a photographic memory.
As long as one’s Spiritual Strength reached 100 points, the threshold for a First Level Wizard, one would naturally gain this ability.
But Apprentices could not.
If an Apprentice wanted a photographic memory, they had to rely on Witchcraft Items like [Recording Glasses] or an [Engraved Spirit Eye].
In [Dawa’s Grocery List], the starting price for such items was 200 Black Tower Points.
And he had it without spending a single cent.
Mo Ning gently twisted open the lid of the small black jar. A scent that was not quite a fragrance silently escaped from the fine seam.
This scent was difficult to describe.
Just smelling it was enough to feel his spirits lift.
His mind was slightly drained from using the High Mountain Breathing Technique during the earlier assessment.
This exhaustion had been lingering at the edge of his consciousness like a persistent, thin fog.
Now, that "fog" instantly dissipated.
Mo Ning’s pupils contracted slightly.
This feeling... his thoughts had never been so clear.
Ideas that usually required effort to grasp now surfaced on their own like fish in a stream, each one distinct and visible.
Mo Ning could even feel his thinking speed had quickened slightly.
It wasn’t an illusion; it was a real, tangible acceleration.
He couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, "Magic Potions are truly something else!"
Just one whiff of the ointment’s scent had such a remarkable effect.
How much stronger would the effect be if he applied it?
He suddenly understood why nearly every Apprentice had a jar of [Calming Ointment] to practice their Meditation Technique.
A decision immediately formed in his mind—he would have to take Magic Potion Study seriously from now on.
Because the cost of buying them was too high. If he could perform alchemy himself, how much could he save?
He was completely confident that with the [Eye of Truth], becoming a Magic Potion Master was not an unattainable goal.
Mo Ning thought for a moment and whispered, "I might as well test the Magic Potion’s effect now."
From what he understood, when Apprentices practiced their Meditation Technique, they only needed to scoop out a small spoonful of [Calming Ointment] and apply it evenly to their forehead and temples. The effect would usually last for three hours.
A single jar of [Calming Ointment] could be used about 100 times, which would last for about three and a half months.
Wasting a little didn’t matter.
It was a reward item, after all.
No regrets!
Mo Ning picked up the small metal spoon that came with it, skimmed the edge of the spoon lightly across the ointment’s surface, and scooped out about a third of a spoonful.
The ointment was a translucent, pale cyan color, like dewdrops condensed on a blade of grass at dawn.
He extended a finger and gently dabbed the ball of his finger into the ointment.
As it touched his skin, a refreshing coolness spread out.
Mo Ning divided the ointment into three parts, dabbing them on the spot between his eyebrows and on each of his temples, then carefully spread it evenly.
To observe more easily, he deliberately walked over to the full-length mirror.
Two seconds later, he saw with perfect clarity that the ointment was beginning to change.
First, it was a pale cyan, then it turned an extremely light cyan, and finally, it became colorless and transparent.
The whole process took only a few breaths.
Mo Ning clicked his tongue in amazement.
A few more seconds passed, and in the mirror, there was no longer any trace of the ointment on his brow or temples, as if it had never been there at all.
But he could clearly feel a gentle coolness seeping in from those three spots, spreading toward his brain along invisible pathways.
’This must be the "Elf Reaction" I read about in the books, right?’
He muttered to himself as the content he had read in a certain classic text from the Royal Library six months ago surfaced in his mind.
