"No way… th-this… how is this even possible?"
Mr. White said with a baffled look on his face, "I've never heard of a merchant also working part-time as an alchemist. You, how did you do this?"
"What, so a person can't have two professions at the same time?"
Ethan took the chance to probe.
But Mr. White shook his head and said, "It's not that. There's no rule saying how many professions a person can have."
"As long as you've got the ability, you can learn a hundred professions if you want."
"But every profession consumes a certain amount of energy and experience points. After all, time is limited, while professions are unlimited. If a person tries to do everything, they're more likely to end up achieving nothing."
"After all…"
"Look at me. I wouldn't say I'm some kind of business genius, but at least I come from a merchant family."
"I started out as a street peddler, all the way up to earning the title of Profiteer, and then the title of Freeloader. That alone took me around seventy or eighty years. And to upgrade from the Freeloader title to the Capitalist title, it'll take at least another fifty years at the very minimum."
"So I simply don't have the energy to go learn any other profession."
"Let alone a profession like alchemist, which is extremely hard to level up."
"..."
Hearing this, Ethan was completely stunned.
'What the hell?'
'Could it be that I am some kind of freak talent?'
He clearly remembered that from the time he started selling goods to the time he upgraded to Freeloader, it had only been a few days at most.
'Could it be that everyone's game difficulty is different?'
'That I am on cheat mode?'
'And normal mode was like Mr. White's, where it takes thirty or fifty years just to level up once?'
'And also…'
'Is being an alchemist really that hard to level up?'
"Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!"
While thinking about this, Ethan drained the Vitality Tea in his hand in one go.
[System Prompt: Mental energy overflowing. Please make frequent use of alchemy skills. Otherwise, excessive mental energy may cause high blood pressure and lead to headaches.]
"Holy crap!"
'I can feel my head starting to ache!'
Ethan could already sense a surge of prehistoric power rushing toward his brain.
'Could this be…'
'The legendary mental energy?'
"Lord, what's wrong with you?"
Seeing that Ethan didn't look right, Mr. White hurriedly asked.
Ethan took a deep breath and said, "Mr. White, this tea of yours is way too strong. My head's about to explode. Lend me the black dragonhide gloves again. I'll remove the curse on these two witch tail rings first."
"Lord, witch curses are extremely powerful!"
Afraid that Ethan would act recklessly, Mr. White quickly explained, "At the very least, you need to reach Alchemy Level 3. Only after formally advancing from an alchemy apprentice to an alchemist can you easily convert something like this. You really must not force it!"
"Otherwise, if your ability isn't enough for the exchange, there will be backlash!"
"When that happens, the consequences will be unimaginable!"
"Our merchant association has dealings with quite a few alchemists. I've personally seen many alchemy apprentices who forced an exchange and ended up losing parts of their bodies, or even directly losing their lives."
"Lord, if your level isn't high enough, you absolutely must not try this!"
"Ahhh!"
Ethan's head was about to split open, and he still had to listen to Mr. White ramble on.
He just clutched his head and asked, "Level three, right? Level three is enough, right?"
"At least level three!"
Mr. White nodded repeatedly, "As for how many levels exactly are needed, I'm not an alchemist myself, so I'm not very clear."
"I've only heard it mentioned by alchemists I've worked with."
"Lord, you're not officially advanced yet, are you?"
"No!", Ethan quickly drew an air bread array on the ground, "But that's not important. I'm just one level short. That's only a few dozen air breads!"
"Lord, you really like joking!"
Mr. White waved his hand, finally letting out a huge sigh of relief, "Alchemy is a profession that's rumored to take the most time. From level one to level two, even the most talented individuals supposedly need three years to achieve it. And from level two to level three, it takes at least around ten years!"
"Lord, don't force yourself. Just let me take the tail rings back. After I remove the curse, I'll naturally bring them back to you!"
"My character and reputation, you still don't trust them?"
Whoosh!
However, right at this moment.
Before Mr. White even finished speaking, his face was suddenly lit up by a burst of blue light.
"Air bread!"
When an air bread appeared inside the array, even Mr. White was startled.
'Is the lord's talent really this good?'
When he was at the Alchemist Alliance, it wasn't like he'd never seen alchemy apprentices drawing arrays. Sometimes they needed over an hour, even two hours, just to draw a single array.
And there was even a chance of failure. At the same time, because drawing arrays consumed too much mental energy, the exchange might not even succeed.
But Ethan drawing an array didn't even take a few minutes?
'Is this the strength of a genius?'
'But even if he's a genius…'
'So what?'
'Going from level one to level two, and from level two to level three, is measured in years.'
'Heh!'
Mr. White let out a sly laugh.
Anyway, it wouldn't be good to openly contradict the lord right now. He'd just wait for the lord to exchange a few air breads, run out of energy, and then persuade him to give up.
For a moment there, he really thought the two witch tail rings were about to be handed over just like that.
Who would have thought…
"Hahaha!"
Whoosh!
However, before Mr. White could even finish savoring his smugness.
Ethan had already produced a second sweet-flower air bread. The interval between the two air breads was less than a minute.
"Th-this…"
"How is this possible!"
Mr. White stared wide-eyed, looking at Ethan in disbelief as he placed the second air bread on the table.
The two air breads placed side by side gave off a sweet fragrance that drifted through the air, extremely pleasant to smell. Even a well-traveled merchant like Mr. White… Couldn't help wanting to take a bite.
Actually… there are differences even between air breads.
Although they're all exchanged from air and pollen through equivalent exchange, air bread made by high-level alchemists and air bread made by alchemy apprentices are completely different things.
It's like a small back-alley workshop versus a big-name chain bakery. Even if it's the same bread, the gap is still huge.
Although Mr. White didn't know the exact reason.
It was obvious. The air bread Ethan made was absolutely a rare top-grade product.
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