Meeting

Receiving the message that Rice was approaching, Lizer immediately tensed up, pacing the office while rubbing his freezing hands—the witchcraft crystal on the desk flickered with an uneasy blue light.

Whether Sven and the others could succeed or not, he had to save his own little life first. After all, if he died, everything would be gone.

His thought process was very simple—stack armor!

Pile on all the defenses he could add, prioritizing safety above all else.

In addition, using a revolver was a completely new field for him. He had to first find a relevant book from the library and return to his dormitory.

He took out the Basic Shooting Training Guide with a knight holding a gun printed on its cover from his backpack, his fingertips lightly tracing the dark patterns on the pages—

This was a book printed with witchcraft, and every page contained faint fluctuations of magical energy.

Taking a deep breath, he concentrated to activate his Krypton Gold ability, and a virtual panel instantly popped up in his mind:

[Consume 5 energy points to analyze the shooting skill?]

Without hesitation, he confirmed it in his mind.

The next second, 5 energy points were extracted from his body. A slight numbness came from his fingertips, and the runes on the book suddenly lit up with a pale golden light, drilling into his mind as if coming alive.

Soon, the panel updated:

[Unlock successful! Shooting Skill (Novice 10/100)]:

Immediately after, countless details of holding a gun flooded into his mind—

The two-handed grip must be steady, the purlicue aligned with the centerline of the gun body, and the arms naturally hanging to avoid stiffness; breathing must be slow and deep, holding the breath when aiming at the target.

The force of pulling the trigger must be even, without sudden jerks.

At the same time, the prompt of the Krypton Gold ability clearly surfaced in his consciousness:

[Shooting Accuracy: 70%].

He tried to simulate the gun-holding action in his mind, and his arm muscles actually had a subtle sense of memory, as if he had practiced it dozens of times.

His hands would never shake like before, let alone worry about accidentally injuring his own people.

But when facing a high-level wizard apprentice, the most important thing was still saving his life...

Following Felina's advice, he asked Felina for help to obtain two sets of materials for the Inferior Defense Preparation.

The Inferior Defense Preparation required ten raw materials:

Rock Lizard Scale Powder: Ground from the scales of the Gray Mist Mountain Rock Lizard, it enhanced the hardness of the grease layer.

Wind Silkworm Slime: The transparent slime secreted by the Wind Silkworm, increasing the toughness of the grease layer.

Light Moss Extract: The juice of light-attribute moss, resisting a small amount of necromancy witchcraft.

Iron Thorn Sap: The green sap of the Iron Thorn, improving the adhesion of the grease layer.

Algae Gel: A gelatinous substance boiled from deep-water algae, allowing the grease layer to evenly cover the skin.

Fire Ant Wax: The waxy substance from fire ant nests, increasing the heat resistance of the grease layer.

Smilax Glabra Block: An earth-attribute herb, enhancing defense against physical attacks.

Thunder Crest Grass Powder: A faint lightning-attribute herb powder, slightly paralyzing those who come into contact with it.

Ice Silkworm Thread: The silk spun by the Ice Silkworm, making the grease layer smooth and less prone to cracking.

Witchcraft Salt: Specially made by the academy to balance the magical energy reactions of the materials.

Felina used her mentor privileges to help Lizer gather the materials: the Rock Lizard Scale Powder was collected during her internship, the Wind Silkworm Slime was borrowed from the herbalism instructor, and the Light Moss Extract was taken from the academy's petri dish.

Late at night, accompanied by Felina, Lizer activated the Krypton Gold ability in the laboratory, and the virtual panel popped up in his mind:

[Consume 1 energy point to activate the analysis function]

He lit the witchcraft lamp to heat the crucible to 150 degrees, sequentially adding the Rock Lizard Scale Powder and Iron Thorn Sap. The panel prompted Stir for 30 seconds.

Adding the Wind Silkworm Slime and Algae Gel, the crucible runes flashed with a faint green light.

Adjusting the temperature to 200 degrees, he added the Light Moss Extract and Fire Ant Wax, maintaining it for 5 minutes.

Then he added the Smilax Glabra Block and Thunder Crest Grass Powder, while the panel warned Avoid magical energy overflow.

Finally, he added the Ice Silkworm Thread and Witchcraft Salt, activating the defense runes at the bottom for 10 seconds.

Under the guidance of Krypton Gold, Lizer successfully refined it. The liquid turned into a milky white paste, and two portions of the preparation were completed!

The efficacy description said minor, but after taking the potion, the resulting grease layer was thick and rock-hard. Lizer's fist left no mark when he smashed it, and it couldn't be chopped open without using full strength.

The effect was only 20 to 30 percent lower than Goliath's Resistance Enhancement witchcraft.

Lizer also asked Felina to use her privileges to borrow a set of knight chainmail from within the academy—

The chainmail was engraved with anti-piercing runes. It was heavy when worn, weighing down his shoulders and making them slightly sore, but it provided a full sense of security.

However, he was about to face a high-level wizard apprentice. God knows what bizarre methods Rice might have.

Perhaps it was the necromancy school—wizard books recorded that the necromancy school was best at hiding in the shadows to launch sneak attacks. Weren't eight out of ten villains from the necromancy school?

If it's a necromancer, the academy has finished products of Purification Liquid. The bottles are engraved with light-attribute runes, which can directly purify the magical energy of the necromancy school.

Arrange it!

Purification Water was both a semi-finished witchcraft item and a raw material for refining higher-level witchcraft items. It had a wide range of uses and was simple to make.

1 liter of pure water continuously soaked with 3 units of light-attribute magic stones for 90 witchcraft days (the magic stones would not be consumed). The light-attribute magic stones would emit a soft white light, slowly infusing energy into the water.

It was just that these magic stones were hard to get. Magic stones were the hard currency among high-level wizards.

One unit of a standard magic stone contained 100 magical energy, and the official exchange rate was 1 magic stone for 100 gold coins.

This was for ordinary magic stones with mixed attributes. Single-attribute magic stones with pure energy were more valuable, with an actual value 30 to 50 percent higher than ordinary magic stones. Light-attribute magic stones belonged to the rare category.

The Purification Liquid reminded Lizer of his first night crossing over to this world, the pale yellow liquid in the hands of Perisman and the other patrolmen.

It turned out it wasn't some holy water; there was no church in this world.

The Wizard Council forbade any religious beliefs, and gods were the lifelong enemies of wizards. The council badge hanging on the office wall flickered with a faint light, serving as a reminder of this point.

The mysterious and powerful Wizard Council was an organization that enveloped the world. It had driven the power of gods out of the wizarding world and remained the cornerstone of its stability to this day.

Additionally, Lizer used Felina's privileges to look through all the potion formulas that ordinary people could refine, similar to the Inferior Healing Powder, and saw quite a few formulas:

Inferior Vitality Potion:

The Inferior Vitality Potion required 12 raw materials, and the core raw materials included:

Crimson Flame Grass (provides a warm current in the body, promoting blood circulation)

Rock Lizard Blood Powder (enhances basic constitution value, improving stamina)

Warm Sun Pollen (rapidly replenishes energy, relieving fatigue)

Smilax Glabra Block (balances medicinal properties, reducing the intensity of side effects)

......

Drinking it would make one feel a warm current in the body, slightly increasing the user's constitution by 0.3 to 0.5 for 30 minutes.

The side effect was being lethargic for 2 hours afterward (Constitution -1), and the potion resistance time was 24 hours (could not be reused within 24 hours).

Inferior Agility Potion:

The Inferior Agility Potion required 11 raw materials, and the core raw materials included:

Wind Spirit Grass (improves neural reaction speed, making footsteps lighter)

Ice Silkworm Thread (increases the flexibility of body joints)

Swift Bird Feather Powder (strengthens the agility attribute, increasing movement speed)

Thunder Crest Grass Powder (slightly stimulates nerves, improving reflex arcs)

......

Drinking it makes one's footsteps feel lighter, slightly increasing the user's agility by 0.3-0.5 for 30 minutes.

The side effect is joint stiffness for 2 hours afterward (agility -1), with a potion resistance duration of 24 hours (cannot be reused within 24 hours).

Inferior Strength Potion:

The Inferior Strength Potion requires 13 raw materials, with core ingredients including:

Iron Thorn Sap (enhances muscle contraction)

Giant Bear Bone Powder (boosts instantaneous explosive power)

Fire Ant Wax (strengthens muscle toughness, reducing strains)

Earth-attribute Magic Stone Fragments (replenishes the magical energy required for strength)

...

Drinking it makes one's muscles feel swollen, slightly increasing the user's strength by 0.3-0.5 for 30 minutes.

The side effect is muscle soreness for 2 hours afterward (strength -1), with a potion resistance duration of 24 hours (cannot be reused within 24 hours).

Inferior Mind Clarity:

Inferior Mind Clarity requires 10 raw materials, with core ingredients including:

Light Moss Extract (enhances mental clarity, making the mind sharp)

Wisdom Grass Sap (improves short-term memory)

Brain-clearing Flower Powder (relieves mental fatigue)

Sorcery Crystal Dust (stabilizes mental power fluctuations)

...

Drinking it makes one's mind feel clear, slightly increasing the user's mental power by 0.3-0.5 for 30 minutes.

The side effect is a dulled mind for 2 hours afterward (mental power -1), with a potion resistance duration of 24 hours (cannot be reused within 24 hours).

Analyzing the concoction skills for these potions required 50 energy points, quite a bit more than the Inferior Defense Preparation—

After all, they were attribute-boosting potions. Even if they were temporary and came with side effects, they could save a life at a critical moment.

Lizer gritted his teeth and converted another 5 gold coins to scrape together 250 energy points.

He unlocked everything except for the Inferior Mind Clarity—

Mental power wasn't needed for the time being. Constitution could increase defense, and agility could improve reaction speed, making it easier to dodge sudden attacks.

Watching Lizer's skillful potion-making, Felina's eyes lit up, and she slammed the table:

"If it's possible, I will definitely help you push for the rank of Sorcerer Apprentice. With your potion-making talent, you are absolutely going to be a Potion Master in the future!"

On this day, the radiance of the sun grew increasingly faint, and light dark clouds appeared in the sky. It looked as if night was about to fall...

Someone had the gatekeeper deliver a note to Felina, which was covered in a bunch of garbled code.

Felina took out the General History Research of the Crimson Soul Principality and turned to specific pages to decode it:

"8:00 PM, 20 Feimang Street Apartment."

Felina frowned and looked at Lizer:

"Do you know this place?"

Feimang Street was on the east side of town. George's house was at number 50, but he didn't know anything further down.

Lizer shook his head, pulled out his pocket watch, and took a look:

7:10.

"They didn't even leave us time to eat."

Lizer rubbed his belly and complained—though in reality, he was worried that Goliath wouldn't have enough time to prepare.

Felina had been tense ever since she saw the note, but Lizer's words made her relax a bit. She advised:

"What time is it to still be thinking about eating!

Don't blow your cover later. You have to call me Master. Don't act on your own; I will communicate with Rice."

"Yes, Master! What do we do now?"

Lizer bowed deeply, quickly getting into character—over the past few days, the two had occasionally role-played master and servant interactions, with Felina as the master.

Felina thought about it and planned to ride a bicycle there, but as the master, it would be inappropriate for her to share a ride with Lizer, so she borrowed one from a colleague.

Lizer curled his lips and patted the bicycle seat:

"Teacher, my cycling skills are very good. I can give you a ride."

Riding the bicycles rapidly through the streets and alleys, the oncoming cold wind made their faces sting. Lizer shrank his neck and gripped the handlebars tightly.

The sorcery streetlamps by the roadside emitted a faint yellow light, and the wind carried the cold aura of runes.

The structure of this bicycle was similar to the ones he rode in junior high in his previous life, relying on a chain to drive the tires, and it felt the same to ride.

However, Lizer hadn't ridden a bicycle since he started working. With his first month's salary at the research institute, he had bought a small electric scooter called Tailg—

Brother Chao's advertisement was too brainwashing: "Choose an electric scooter, choose Tailg."

The civilization and technology of this world were developed based on sorcery theories, so there was a gap in transportation vehicles after the bicycle.

Above the bicycle was the Sorcery Box, a land transportation vehicle that required a Sorcerer Apprentice to continuously input magical energy to drive.

The outer shell of the Sorcery Box was engraved with wind-element runes, allowing it to run extremely fast.

In the town of Gray Mist Mountain, the middle class who couldn't afford Sorcery Boxes, such as academy mentors and police patrolmen, all had bicycles.

Lizer's old man also had one—with old cloth strips wrapped around the handlebars and repair marks on the frame.

However, bicycles had no advantage at all in short-to-medium distance transportation and freight of 5 to 20 kilometers, and they were tiring to ride for a long time.

This gave Lizer an inspiration, and he slapped his thigh:

His advantage should be standing on the differences between two civilizations, which was even greater than his Pay-to-Win ability.

If he could develop the sorcerer world's version of small electric scooters and tricycles within a cost acceptable to the middle class, he wouldn't have to worry about gold coins before becoming a Sorcerer Apprentice.

Lizer rubbed his hands together, his eyes shining.

The structures of small electric scooters and tricycles were actually very simple. It was just that the sorcerers of this world dominated research and development, directly creating the Sorcery Box, and never thought about this detailed branch.

However, he had to pay attention to intellectual property protection, so he wouldn't end up with a bunch of knockoffs right after creating it—Lizer stroked his chin, frowning in thought.

The two rode very fast. Felina gripped her handlebars tightly, her face tense, and they arrived at the 20 Feimang Street Apartment by 7:45.

Looking at the old detached apartment building in front of them, with vines crawling up the walls and a rust-mottled iron gate, Lizer and Felina exchanged a glance: "This house is not for ordinary people."

Lizer suddenly slapped his forehead as an old newspaper flashed through his memory: "I know, this is..."