Chapter 20
Spending Money Like Water
Lucy did not hide the applicable range of the potion, as deceiving a sixth-level apprentice was a risk she could not afford to take.
The Devouring Contamination Potion was only effective for apprentices with Mental Strength below 40. Sixth-level wizard apprentices generally had Mental Strength exceeding 60, which was well beyond the efficacy range of the apprentice-level resistance potion, the "Devouring Contamination Potion".
She had expected the black-robed apprentice to leave in disappointment, but instead, after hearing the potion's effectiveness range, he still asked:
"Do you intend to exchange this Devouring Contamination Potion for magic stones, knowledge, or other resources?"
Lucy was momentarily stunned, but then stated the price she had carefully considered:
"Magic stones. Twenty magic stones. When taken for the first time with Mental Strength below 10, this potion can effectively dissolve more than 20% of Contamination Value."
Lucy had already inquired with Hain about pricing. The most common apprentice-level resistance potion at the Tower of the Four Sages was a potion called "Clean Blood Antidote", which generally cost between 8 and 12 magic stones and could offset about 15% of Contamination Value.
And since potions had tolerance effects, the more common the potion, the lower its price.
The "Devouring Contamination Potion" she had concocted surpassed the "Clean Blood Antidote" in rarity, potency, and anti-contamination value, making it well worth a premium. Twenty magic stones was a very decent price for wizard apprentices.
Sure enough, the wizard apprentice hesitated only briefly after hearing the price before reaching into his pouch and handing over the magic stones.
With a wave of his hand, the dark brown potion placed on the ground automatically flew into his hand.
Having counted the magic stones, Lucy was naturally delighted. This was the first time she had received so many magic stones.
With this income, she could fully kickstart her potion production and secure a steady stream of magic stone revenue.
Just as Lucy was planning how to spend so much money, the sixth-level wizard apprentice in front of her stall suddenly spoke:
"I’m Blaji Hall from the Elemental Laboratory. Was this potion crafted by you? Do you have any other resistance potions?"
Lucy calmly took a half-step back and gave a slight bow to show respect, but made no move to introduce herself:
"This potion was indeed crafted by me. In order to successfully produce this single potion, I used up all of my savings."
"Besides, I’ve only just begun studying potionology. My success rate is less than ten percent, so I likely won’t have a second bottle any time soon."
Lucy's words were a mix of truth and falsehood.
A 30% success rate was astonishingly high and would inevitably attract the covetous attention of others if revealed.
Moreover, resistance potions never lacked sales channels there was no need to risk repeated transactions with the same person.
Upon hearing Lucy’s response, the fleeting look of disappointment on Blaji’s face quickly vanished:
"Alright then. But if you manage to brew another resistance potion, you can come find me at the Elemental Laboratory. I’ll pay twenty percent above market price to purchase it."
"I will remember that, senior."
Blaji nodded, tucked the "Devouring Contamination Potion" into his sleeve, and quickly left the square.
Now that she had some magic stones, Lucy considered picking up a few useful items in the square, but after circling several times, she came up empty-handed.
Sure enough, stories about protagonists casually wandering the market and stumbling upon treasures were pure fiction.
Ten minutes later.
Third floor of the tower, Exchange Office.
The layout was nearly identical to that of the tenth-floor library, with the only difference being that behind the counter sat a delicate-looking young woman.
Judging by her attire, she wasn’t a wizard apprentice but a servant affiliated with the tower.
Seeing a cloaked wizard apprentice push open the door and enter, she promptly stood up from afar with a sweet smile on her face.
"May I ask what you’d like to exchange, sir?"
This was Lucy’s first time at the Exchange Office. She looked around the room once before speaking:
"I’ll take a new set of anatomical tools, one set of anti-contamination protective gear, a basic potionology tool kit... oh, and help me pick out two sets of pajamas and undergarments..."
Due to financial constraints, Lucy had worn the same clothes for several years.
On top of that, her rapid growth over the past two years meant that her clothes had long become uncomfortably tight so she decided to replace them all at once.
The maid flashed an exceedingly sweet smile and raised her hand, saying:
"All the experimental tools you've purchased will be delivered to your room within one hourglass cycle. As for the clothing, please follow me, sir."
Under the maid's guidance, Lucy entered a private fitting room.
When Lucy returned to her room on the fifth floor carrying large bundles of clothing, several servants were already waiting at her door. At their feet were neatly arranged the brand-new experimental supplies Lucy had purchased, totaling eight magic stones in value.
Of course, these supplies were the "low-end" kind used only by apprentices.
Those premium tools produced by the alchemical laboratory, engraved with special effect runes, were far beyond Lucy’s current reach.
After putting everything in place, Lucy went to Talia’s room and spent eight magic stones, asking her to purchase as many raw materials for the "Devouring Contamination Potion" as possible.
Once everything was taken care of, the twenty magic stones she had just acquired instantly dwindled to four. And that was only because she had deliberately set some aside in case of emergencies otherwise, every last one would have been spent.
"Money really flows like water..."
"I must increase potion production as soon as I get the ingredients tomorrow."
Having set her work schedule for the coming days, Lucy immediately began constructing the magical vein of the "Cradle of Enchanted Human Offspring" while seated in her chair.
This root-like magical vein was nearly complete. Barring any accidents, she should be able to finish constructing the witchcraft model by tonight, thereby completing the first spell since her transmigration.
Several hourglass cycles later.
As the faint light of dawn appeared on the horizon and smoke began rising from the apprentice cafeteria next to the tower, Lucy, who sat with her eyes closed, slowly opened them. The drain on her Mental Strength left her slightly fatigued.
She was slightly taken aback when she glanced out the window.
She had actually pulled an all-nighter last night and even missed her routine meditation.
Meditation, dissection, experiments... and now potion-making had been added to the list twenty-four hourglass cycles in a day were becoming more and more insufficient.
But heaven rewards the diligent. Lucy had successfully replicated the magical vein of the "Cradle of Enchanted Human Offspring" into a complete witchcraft model.
She named the model "Magical Energy Storage", a support-type Tier-0 model.
Its main function was to form a container capable of storing magical energy up to a degree of 3, which could serve as backup energy for offensive or defensive witchcraft, or be directly detonated in urgent situations.
Although a model storing 3° magical energy didn’t seem very useful on its own, Lucy had constructed an "interface" for it that could rapidly connect with any existing witchcraft model.
To give a simple example:
The Tier-0 arcane-type witchcraft "Basic Ring of Resistance" could generate a defense shield equal to Mental Strength × 1. However, if the "Basic Ring of Resistance" was connected to "Magical Energy Storage", the defensive power would become:
Mental Strength × 1 + 3.
With Lucy’s current Mental Strength at 7.2, combining it with "Magical Energy Storage" meant that the Basic Ring of Resistance, a Tier-0 witchcraft, could just barely reach the magical energy strength of an ordinary Tier-1 witchcraft.