As soon as Gaode stepped out the door, an unconcealable hostility rose in his eyes. "In the face of absolute strength, petty tricks are useless. Even trying to stall for time is a struggle," he thought.
Recalling his recent interaction with Mage Seda, he felt a lingering sense of narrowly escaping death, alongside an unspeakable humiliation. "Even though I bluffed my way through this time, it was purely out of luck," he mused.
Gaode didn't know the exact effect of the Magic that made it seem like spikes were growing out of Mage Seda's palm, but he could guess that if he had lied just now, the mage would have definitely sensed it. Fortunately, Mage Seda's question had been, "Did you really feel no changes in your body?"
In truth, after waking up, he hadn't noticed any abnormalities in his body at all.
"The previous owner of this body most likely bore all the Potion's effects. It seems the Potion brewed by this old man targets the Spirit..." Gaode deduced. Otherwise, having inherited this body, he shouldn't have felt completely free of physical discomfort.
Despite his short stature, Mage Seda brought Gaode an immense pressure unlike anything he had ever experienced in his past or present life. With lingering fear, he touched the back of his neck, right where Mage Seda had just gripped him. There was no wound there. Yet, just moments ago, the unbearable, agonizing pain had been entirely real. This was the wonder of Magic, even if it was merely a Trick.
The feeling of having his life and death controlled by someone else's mere whim was deeply unpleasant. Although Mage Seda was nothing more than a stranger Gaode had met only once, Gaode's hatred for him had already reached its absolute peak. Gaode was also keenly aware that he was far too weak right now; it was utterly impossible for him to be a match for Mage Seda. With the other party possessing such formidable strength, he had to bide his time and secretly look for an opportunity.
The problem was, how much time did he have left? Gaode didn't know that, in reality, he only had one month left. However, he knew that Mage Seda placed extreme importance on that unknown Potion. The fact that the mage continued to try brewing it time and time again, despite never succeeding after so many years, was proof of his obsession.
Now that Mage Seda saw he was still alive after testing the Potion, the mage would undoubtedly believe that the Potion's concoction was nearing success. Therefore, Mage Seda would definitely attempt to brew the Potion again in the near future. When that time came, nine times out of ten, he would be the one chosen as the test subject again. After all, he was the only person so far who hadn't died after testing the Potion.
"Gaode, you're finally back!" When Gaode returned to his room, Amy immediately rushed over and asked, "What did Mage Seda want with you?"
Gaode told the truth. "Mage Seda asked me how I felt after taking the Potion."
"I knew it! Mage Seda's Potion has finally been brewed successfully! Our good days are coming!" Amy said, extremely excited.
"Perhaps," Gaode said, not shattering Amy's illusion. "Right, I ran into Elan earlier," he added after a moment of thought, speaking seemingly casually.
"What? Did he come looking for trouble again?" Amy's expression changed, and he asked nervously.
"More or less, but it's no big deal. At most, he just gives me a hard time with his words. He can't actually do anything to me," Gaode said dismissively.
"That's not how it works!" Amy was much more concerned than Gaode. "Elan has been with Mage Seda the longest, so he has at least some sway with him. I heard that he's the reason you were the one sent to test the Potion this time."
"Really? I don't have any feud with him. Why would he go to such lengths?" Gaode asked, feigning disbelief.
"He's petty by nature and jealous of anyone more capable. He was already annoyed seeing your outstanding talents, and since you never bother to humor him, how could he not hold a grudge against you? Besides, you picked up brewing Magic Potions so quickly. Elan is definitely afraid that if this continues, Mage Seda will value you more and more, until you eventually replace his position with Mage Seda. You can't afford to offend him right now. It's better to just pretend to play nice with him on the surface for now," Amy advised tactfully.
Gaode's gaze narrowed slightly. He thought for a moment and said, "I understand."
Assuming Gaode had listened to his advice, Amy instantly breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."
"Elan's job is making deliveries for Mage Seda?" Gaode asked, seemingly inadvertently.
"Yeah, his job is the easiest. He usually only needs to make a delivery once every four or five days, and he can even use the opportunity to wander around the city. It's nothing like us, slaving away in the Medicinal Garden all day," Amy said, feeling somewhat resentful.
"I see..." Gaode's eyes drifted as he sank into thought. Afterward, whether intentionally or not, he used various topics to extract a lot of information about the Medicinal Garden from Amy, gaining a basic understanding of his current environment.
"Ah!" Amy slapped his forehead, seemingly remembering something, and said hurriedly, "We need to go eat right now! If we're any later, there probably won't be anything left." He pulled Gaode along, rushing toward the dining hall, not forgetting to claim credit for it. "I missed the mealtime just to wait for you to come back, you know."
It was now dinnertime. In Mage Seda's Medicinal Garden, meals were served three times a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If one ignored the matter of testing Potions, this place was actually a paradise for most of the apprentices, who were born as nothing more than beggars. This was because the majority of commoners actually only ate two meals a day—morning and evening.
Under Amy's lead, Gaode arrived at the dining hall where the apprentices ate. It was called a dining hall, but the space was only slightly larger than their bedrooms. It contained three square wooden tables, each adorned with a three-pronged candelabra, and alongside a fireplace, that was all it took to be called a dining hall.
Since Gaode and Amy arrived quite late, there were only two or three apprentices left. Amy looked nervously at a large platter by the fireplace. Seeing that there were still two long, black loaves of bread left, he breathed a sigh of relief. Next to the large platter was an earthen stew pot.
Having eaten nothing and only drank a sip of water since waking up, Gaode was also feeling a bit hungry by now, so he followed Amy over. There was a stack of tableware next to the platter. Gaode picked up a small plate, placed a long loaf of bread onto it, then grabbed a small bowl and looked toward the stew pot. The pot was filled with pea soup, brewed from a type of pea native to the local area. After using a ladle to fill his bowl with pea soup, Gaode chose an empty table and sat down with Amy.
Rye bread and pea soup. This was the daily food for apprentices like them. As for meat, they could forget about it. Moreover, although it was called bread, it was worlds apart from the bread Gaode was familiar with. This rye bread had no added yeast, making it exceptionally hard after baking. The taste was undoubtedly terrible, and chewing it was incredibly strenuous.
Of course, it wasn't without its merits. It was cheap. A four-pound loaf of rye bread cost only six Round Copper Coins. Gaode did some mental math: it was equivalent to 3.5 Round Copper Coins per kilogram of rye bread. Meanwhile, the absolute cheapest meat cost seven Round Copper Coins per pound. The cost-effectiveness of the rye bread was self-evident.
Holding a table knife, Amy sliced the long rye bread into pieces, arranged them on his plate, and spooned the pea soup over the bread slices one by one before stuffing them into his mouth. This was the correct way to eat rye bread. Drinking the soup while simultaneously letting it soften the bread slightly was necessary; otherwise, eating it dry would cause one to choke! Naturally, dipping the bread slices directly into the soup was also a very common way to eat it.
Imitating Amy, Gaode picked up his knife, cut the rye bread into several slices, softened them with the pea soup, and then put them into his mouth. The very next moment, he couldn't help but frown. Even though he was mentally prepared, the unpalatability of the food still exceeded his expectations. The pea soup had absolutely no seasoning in it. The bread slices soaked in the soup were only marginally softer. If he had to describe the taste, it was merely slightly better than sawdust.
For Gaode, such food was undoubtedly horrific. But for the other apprentices, having this bread to eat was already considered quite good. However, Gaode couldn't afford to be picky right now. The hunger in his stomach left him with no choice but to frown and force the rye bread down his throat.
Thus, he found yet another reason why he had to resist Mage Seda. "If I can only eat this kind of food every day, then what's the difference between this and being dead?" he thought.
After dinner, it was the apprentices' cultivation time. The apprentices in the Medicinal Garden had a very regular daily schedule. During the day, they were busy with their respective jobs, and at night, they had a fixed three to four hours for cultivation.
After returning to their room, Amy made the most of his time and quickly entered a state of cultivation. Gaode, on the other hand, first mentally reviewed the mages' Cultivation Technique.
For a Mage, the two most important fundamental metrics were Mana and Spiritual Power. Mana was the Energy consumed when Casting Magic—also known as the "Mana Bar"—and it was the cornerstone of all a Mage's power. Spiritual Power pertained to Control Magic and learning Magic. It determined a person's Casting Technique, the stability of Continuous Spellcasting, the variations of Magic, and even the speed at which one learned Magic. The growth of Mana and Spiritual Power relied on dull, repetitive daily cultivation. There was absolutely no room for laziness, nor were there any shortcuts to speak of.
"Begin Guiding. First, I must enter the Meditation State..." he thought.
The Cultivation Technique for Mana was the Guiding Technique, while the Cultivation Technique for Spiritual Power was called the Meditation Technique. The two were separate and could not be cultivated simultaneously. Generally, the order was to cultivate the Guiding Technique first, followed by the Meditation Technique. This was because the process of cultivating the Guiding Skill also consumed Spiritual Power. And once the consumption of Spiritual Power exceeded forty percent, continuing to cultivate the Guiding Technique would yield diminishing returns, requiring twice the effort for half the result.
For Gaode, this wasn't difficult to understand. It was just like studying—the effectiveness of studying in the first few hours was definitely the highest, but as the Spirit grew fatigued later on, the learning efficiency would drop by its very Nature. Moreover, cultivating the Meditation Technique after cultivating the Guiding Skill would not only allow for the Rapid Recovery of consumed Spiritual Power but also provide a boost to the growth of Spiritual Power.
According to Gaode's own understanding, this was much like physical exercise: constantly repeating the cycle of "consuming Physical Strength—recovering Physical Strength" was the best way to stimulate the growth of Physical Strength.