Chapter Eighty-Three: Rupert

If not for the fact that Qixiao’s temperament seemed sufficiently reliable to Midiel, and that his main focus was alchemy, he might have already been sent off to some secret realm or another continent for training. Even so, Qixiao could feel that if he didn’t leave the house in the next few months, his teacher would certainly throw him out. Just recently, Senior Brother Raymond had been sent off to the Black Goat Forest by their teacher; hence, there was not a trace of him to be seen.

He felt a pang of sympathy for Raymond, but Qixiao had no intention of accompanying him. Once he had restored his spirit to its usual state, he concluded his meditation and, unable to resist, began reading the “Guide to Intermediate Magic Inscription Applications” once more.

Qixiao had always been curious about the mysterious aura residing in his mind, and he’d been inspired while crafting the Void Sight Helm. After seeing the “Dreamweaver of Time” crafted by Master Cleveland at the platinum-level auction, his ideas became more refined. Many of the magic inscriptions he found in the book might prove useful in the future.

The door was knocked upon, and after he responded, Blood Lotus hurriedly floated in, exclaiming, “Young master! Lord Rupert has returned!”

“Rupert… Senior Brother?” Thoughts flashed through Qixiao’s mind, and he smiled, “Isn’t it a good thing that Senior Brother’s back? Why are you so flustered?”

Blood Lotus replied quickly, “But he—” She had barely spoken when a melodious, magnetic voice interrupted from outside the door:

“Qixiao, junior brother? May I come in?”

At those words, Blood Lotus bowed her head and said nothing.

Qixiao rose, surprise evident in his voice, “Please come in, Senior Brother. I should be the one visiting you—what brings you here first?”

His surprise was genuine. Rupert was now recognized as a full-fledged wizard, essentially graduated, and had never met Qixiao before. Why would he suddenly visit his room?

A tall figure stepped inside, making the room feel somewhat cramped.

Qixiao looked up, and Rupert’s features were not as rugged as he had imagined; instead, Rupert looked particularly young, with gentle facial lines and well-proportioned features, as if a statue had been sculpted to golden ratio perfection. His eyes shone like morning dew—clear and sparkling. His lips were vivid and full, their crimson hue radiant in the sunlight, inspiring a natural sense of affection.

Rupert’s physique was imposing, yet he did not exude any sense of oppression; rather, he radiated a profound sense of security.

Qixiao sincerely praised, “Senior Brother, you’re truly handsome—even more so than our teacher.”

Rupert seemed amused by this, his smile hard to restrain. “Thank you for the compliment, junior brother.”

To avoid stooping, Rupert sat at the edge of the bed, his voice gentle. “I mainly came to meet our new junior; nothing more, so don’t feel pressured. I hear you’re an alchemist? If you need any materials, you can come to me—I have plenty of connections.”

Rupert’s eyes curved warmly, appearing very dependable. Qixiao thanked him, “Thank you, Senior Brother! May I ask which branch of magic you practice?”

Midiel had four disciples in total, but except for Qixiao, none practiced spatial magic. Senior Brother Raymond was of the bloodline branch, Senior Sister Eve was of the elemental branch, and Rupert—though Qixiao wasn’t sure—was certainly not of the spatial branch.

Even for himself, spatial magic was really more of a secondary discipline; his main study remained alchemy.

“I’m a wizard of the mystery branch—dream magic. If you ever have trouble sleeping, you can come find me.”

Wizards rarely sleep, so Rupert was clearly making a lighthearted joke, but Qixiao still replied earnestly.

Rupert waved his hand in farewell, “I’ll head back now and let you get on with your studies. I’ll be around the organization for the next two months, so if you need anything, just come to me. By the way, your flying device is quite impressive—if you have time, could you make one for me? The price is negotiable.”

Qixiao readily agreed and bade Rupert goodbye.

He calculated in his mind—he had met almost as many full-fledged wizards as a movie protagonist. His teacher truly had an extensive network.

Despite their apparent amiability, that was only because there was no hostility between them; naturally, there was no sense of threat.

In truth, full-fledged wizards and apprentices weren’t merely separated by skill—they were almost different species. An apprentice might, with effort, break a mountain, but a full wizard could easily destroy a small plane with a whisper. Wizards were infamous across countless worlds; though not universally shunned, their reputation was enough to frighten children into silence.

As soon as Rupert left, Blood Lotus returned holding two letters. Qixiao opened them and found, as expected, two replies for custom alchemy commissions.

Clearing away the papers and pens on his desk, Qixiao made his way to the alchemy laboratory. Both requests were fairly simple, so he intended to finish them swiftly.

One was from Little White—a request for a potion to suppress burn injuries, which Qixiao guessed was related to her scars. The other was from Senior Rocco—a custom staff, preferably related to nature.

Little White’s commission was straightforward; Qixiao had several relevant formulas, though all had been sold previously. Since this was a custom request, he decided to develop an improved version.

First, Qixiao scraped powder from a Heart-of-Ice stone and soaked it in Spring of Life water, chilling the liquid. Next, he used alchemical extraction techniques to draw the essence from Frost Resin—a deep blue, viscous liquid that glowed faintly.

He then placed the liquid and silver lotus together in a pure tin alchemy cauldron, simmering until fully blended, and quickly added the chilled Spring of Life water.

Once harmonized, the potion began to crystallize in the cauldron, forming a transparent liquid threaded with silver and blue glimmers.

Finally, Qixiao poured the finished potion into a specially crafted jade vial, producing three bottles in total. He left them unsealed, simply capping them with jade lids.

Upon drinking, the potion would imbue the body with a cooling sensation lasting about three days and stimulate the body's regenerative abilities. Though he knew Little White’s scars were unlikely to heal easily, it was worth the attempt.

He asked Blood Lotus to deliver the potion and once again considered creating an alchemical magical pet, but quickly dismissed the idea.

His energies were already stretched thin; biological alchemy was as vast a field as pharmacology and metallurgy and could not be mastered quickly. Perhaps in the future. For now, fragrance studies could be prioritized—it was a branch of potion-making, and he was quite interested.

He recorded his alchemical process into a formula and preserved the finished product, then turned his attention to Rocco’s custom alchemy request.