Warlock Apprentice

The auction came to an end in a way that no one was expecting.

The auction house paid Dave about 190,000 crystals without giving him any trouble, but this was not all Dave had to worry about. He had yet to go for the exit of the building when he already sensed the meaningful gazes around him. He currently had more money than many wizards could find in their careers. And as a frail apprentice, he was basically telling people to come and mug him just by showing up.

Even other apprentices who weren’t so good at fighting were itchy to join the fun. To them, picking up some leftovers meant earning more money they could get in several years.

Dave did the only thing he could think of right now, which was to keep his Tang Dao enchanted with freezing power in his hand, in hope that it might scare off some people.

But this wasn’t going to work too well.

Theron was currently standing on a higher floor gazing at Dave.

“Mister Theron, should we, you know?” An assistant in a red robe beside him made a neck-slitting gesture.

Theron shook his head. “No. From what he said, he’s in a good relationship with the rumored alchemist. Besides, wizards from Brute Cavern have surely noticed the situation. Did you not see Leona still in the building?”

“Cleaning Bubble huh? That’s a convenient name.” Leona raised an eyebrow. “Cleanse is a conventional cantrip used by people for many centuries. You did a good job making something new out of it. It means you thoroughly understood the fundamentals of the cantrip.”

Dave was surprised again since he expected sarcasm rather than praise when using such a “useless” cantrip.

He wished to explain something but hesitated.

“We don’t have many apprentices who know how to alter cantrips these days,” said Leona. “Impressive. Once you become a wizard, you’ll know how important it is to get to the bottom of spells and cantrips, even if you only work on elementary ones.”

“Miss Leona, there’s something you misunderstood. I wasn’t the one who came up with the idea. Angor told me about this cantrip.”

“Huh? Angor? I see… Yeah, of course Mister Phantom would tell his student about such skills. But alchemy skills AND cantrip analysis? Oh my. This little monster would soon make a second Phantom Master in a few years.”

Meanwhile, Leona appreciated the fact that Dave told her the truth instead of using the chance to earn a good impression from a wizard.

She took a moment to inspect Dave more carefully and suddenly noticed the alchemy weapon Dave was holding.

“That’s an interesting design. You made it?”

Dave shook his head with a bitter smile. “I did forge the weapon, but the design came from Angor.”

“Angor studied enchantment, right? But this weapon is the work of synthesis. You did all the follow-up designs by yourself, right?” As a professional alchemist, Leona quickly saw how the weapon came into being.

“Yes. I spent half a year making improvements.”

“Can you tell the details?”

Dave was glad to comply since he just earned a chance to receive advice provided by a true alchemist. For as much as he could, he explained his ideas and process as well as how he overcame the obstacles while Leona listened quietly.

Dave stopped talking when they arrived at the teleportation array. He told everything he could, and any longer, and he’d start making up stories.

“I can see you’re quite creative.” Leona was quite surprised to see the assistant of Prome’s shop being so inventive.

And Dave was overjoyed to hear Leona’s comment.

“You keep it up. Your ambition isn’t completely out of reach now,” said Leona. “Say… if you have alchemy-related questions, feel free to find me at Rosebed.”