Wizard Lord:I can Extract Anything

Chapter 19: Mentor Quest

The Wizard Academy had no strict requirements for apprentices to choose mentors, and in fact, many wizards were not eager to take on apprentices. For most wizards, apprentices were simply distractions.

Richard spent a considerable amount of time at the mentor board in the Central Black Tower, filtering out all mentors renowned for their expertise in alchemy.

After excluding wizards who hadn't taken apprentices in years and those who set extremely strict conditions, a wizard named Jolord caught his attention.

"Jolord of the Alchemy School, Level 2 Wizard, primarily focused on alchemy, has taken in 1,300 apprentices over the last century."

Looking over Jolord's information, Richard realized he had heard this name before.

"Isn't this Anna's mentor, the one who crafted my wizard robe?"

Recalling Anna's imposing presence on the podium and the skills he extracted from the robe, Richard deduced that this Jolord was indeed a master in his field.

"Let's see what the requirements for apprentices are: reach the level of a low-level apprentice and complete at least one of his tasks." Richard stroked his chin, "These conditions are quite lenient, no wonder he takes in over a hundred apprentices each term."

Despite the seemingly easy conditions, Richard hadn't met either yet.

"Becoming a low-level apprentice might take a year; I should first check out the tasks he's issued."

Heading to the twenty-fifth floor of the Central Black Tower, Richard entered the academy's task hall, where apprentices could freely take on tasks issued by the academy.

The hall was divided into three sections: the left side hosted daily academy tasks, mostly involving maintenance and patrols within the academy's territory, cities, and mountains—low difficulty and low rewards.

The right side contained trial tasks, focusing on hunting magical beasts and investigating dangerous incidents in the academy's domain—high risk, high reward.

The middle section, the most crowded, featured tasks issued by academy wizards, ranging from gathering herbs to crafting potions—moderate difficulty with decent rewards.

In this middle section, Richard's crystal ball unexpectedly lit up. Probing it with his mental power, he found he could see all tasks issued by the wizards.

"That's impressive," Richard mused, beginning his search for Jolord's tasks.

After some searching, a task to extract fifty grams of red mercury appeared before him.

"Red mercury, an explosive liquid metal. Apprentices should carefully assess their capabilities before taking this task. Once extracted, submit it on the fifty-sixth floor of the Central Black Tower. Reward: 100 magic stones."

Richard equated the task with handling nitroglycerin.

"But there's no time limit on this task. I'll take it first. Besides, the Miracle Furnace might extract substances, so this is a good chance to test it."

Approaching the counter, Richard was greeted by a snake-haired witch resembling Medusa. He noted the silver pentagram on her wizard robe, a symbol of apprentices at the Black Tower Wizard Academy.

"Sister, I want to take task 1205."

The witch eyed him, "Newcomer, huh? Jolord's tasks aren't easy."

"Hmm? What do you mean by that? Are Jolord's tasks notoriously difficult?" Richard smiled, leveraging his appearance.

The snake-haired witch smirked, "Don't try to butter me up."

Despite her words, she shared some insights about Jolord.

"Jolord's tasks are known for being thankless. He recruits over a hundred apprentices each term, but few receive personal guidance."

"Is that so?" Richard was surprised, "Then why take so many apprentices?"

"What else? To work for him," the witch fiddled with her fingers. "He has an alchemy workshop, and most apprentices end up working there. Unless you're exceptionally talented in alchemy, I'd advise against apprenticing under Jolord."

After some thought, Richard realized that few wizards specialized in alchemy, and those who did had stringent requirements. If he gave up on Jolord, he might never walk the path of an alchemy wizard.

Moreover, the task had no time limit and offered generous rewards. Even if he didn't choose Jolord as a mentor, earning some magic stones wouldn't hurt.

"Thank you for the advice, but I believe I have some talent in alchemy. I'll take the task."

The snake-haired witch wasn't surprised by Richard's decision. She had seen many like him, each believing they were special, only for few to succeed.

"Another one who won't listen. Such a waste of a pretty face. Give me your crystal ball; I'll register your information."

...

Leaving the task hall, Richard headed straight for the commercial district.

Extracting red mercury required a material called sunstone. Due to its rarity, Richard spent considerable time searching the district's shops before finding it at a place called Anna's Cottage.

"Anna's Cottage... could it be Anna's shop?" Richard's eye twitched at the name.

A mentor's task requiring materials purchased from his apprentice's store—Jolord truly was a business genius.

Anna's Cottage seemed accustomed to serving apprentices taking Jolord's tasks. Upon learning Richard's intent, the shopkeeper promptly handed him a bag.

"Two kilograms of sunstone, enough to extract fifty grams of red mercury. Price: 500 academy coins."

Five magic stones—Richard winced at the price.

Compared to the reward, the material cost seemed suspiciously low. Aside from scams, Richard surmised that extracting red mercury was prone to failure, necessitating repeated purchases.

"Here, magic stones."

Richard's mood was heavy as he accepted the bag.

With five stones spent, he had only five left.

Back in his room, Richard reviewed the information on extracting red mercury from his crystal ball.

After confirming no additional materials were needed, Richard took a deep breath and retrieved a sunstone.

[Material: Sunstone (1 kg)]

[Extractable Substance: Red Mercury]

[Extraction Cost: 100 Magic Power]

[Proceed with Extraction?]