Pushing the door open and stepping inside, Lynn found the room decorated exactly as it had been last time. He was certain he hadn't walked into the wrong room.
However, Mentor Gray did not seem to be there...
A mature, intellectual, and full-figured woman sat in Mentor Gray's seat, with a book titled 《Alchemy and Synthesis》 open in front of her.
This woman, who appeared to be a Mage, looked a few years older than the female warrior Hilda whom he had met before, appearing to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight.
However, time had yet to leave any marks on her. Instead, certain parts of her figure had developed to a degree that Sarah and Lupa could not compare to, adding a touch of charm to her.
Seeing the newcomer, the woman smiled faintly. “You're here for Gray, right? Have a seat. He'll be back shortly.”
Having said that, she paid Lynn no further attention. Tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear, she went back to browsing her book.
Lynn did not stand on ceremony either. He sat down on a nearby sofa and waited for Gray's return.
Fortunately, the woman had not lied to him.
He did not have to wait long before Gray pushed the door open and walked in.
Seeing the woman sitting in his chair, Gray frowned slightly. “What are you doing here, Minari? Don't tell me you're here to borrow money again?”
Hearing this, Minari instantly looked displeased and began winking frantically in Lynn's direction.
Gray followed her gaze and realized there was a newcomer present.
Thus, he refrained from saying more, saving Minari some face.
Minari?
Lynn, sitting nearby, pricked up his ears.
He felt like he had heard this name somewhere before...
It seemed the Life Potion Betty had gifted him was brewed by Minari, an alchemy master of the School of Transmutation.
That bottle of Life Potion cost a whopping four gold coins.
Even after Lynn had just come into a windfall, his entire net worth combined would only be enough to buy one and a half bottles.
To say the price was exorbitant was an understatement.
The ingredients for basic potions like the Life Potion were essentially common knowledge among adventurers, though the exact proportions of each material remained a secret.
Because of this, Lynn had kept an eye out for the ingredients required to brew a Life Potion.
Aside from the main ingredient, which was harvested from a ranked monster, the other materials were very ordinary herbs.
The brewing cost shouldn't exceed fifteen silver coins.
In other words, Minari could earn two to three gold coins just by brewing a single bottle of Life Potion.
Would an alchemy master like her actually be short on money?
...
Toward Lynn, Gray showed a completely different attitude.
He smiled and said, “Come with me. The staff focus materials are ready. Let's see if any of them suit you.”
Having said that, Gray turned and left the room, with Lynn quickly following behind.
Strangely, Minari also tagged along behind them.
Gray walked up to a laboratory. Once Lynn entered, Gray showed absolutely no consideration for Minari's feelings and shut the door right in her face.
Minari gnashed her teeth in frustration, but since she still needed to borrow money from Gray, she could only bear with it for now.
Minari, endure!
Inside the room.
“Um... is this really okay?” Lynn glanced toward the closed door.
“Don't worry about her.”
At some point, a staff had appeared in Gray's hand. It was very short, only about thirty centimeters long, and seemed to be made from the branch of some kind of tree.
Just by being near this staff, Lynn felt a dense aura of vitality radiating toward him, instantly filling his body with energy.
The effects of this staff... Lynn was secretly amazed.
With a gentle tap from Gray, blue mana materialized into a large hand, dragging a chest out from beneath the alchemy table and placing it in front of Lynn.
Lynn opened the chest, and instantly, a brilliant light burst forth.
Inside the chest lay dozens of staff focus materials arranged in neat rows. They ranged from the feathers of some avian magical beast to glowing ancient wood, and even polished magic stones...
Lynn looked at Gray in surprise.
Gray smiled and pointed at the chest. “Take them out and try them. See which one suits you.”
These were all prepared for me?
Lynn was somewhat caught off guard.
He had originally thought Gray would just casually prepare a usable focus material for him.
He never expected Gray to have gathered so many, intending to let him choose the most suitable one.
Gray was looking out for him far too much.
Feeling grateful, Lynn looked at the focus materials in the chest. He first picked out a wooden wand that looked the most ordinary.
The wooden wand was about half a meter long. It felt heavy and cold, giving him a constant sense of discomfort as he held it.
Gray explained from the side, “This is the heartwood of a Tier 4 monster, the Weeping Ancient Tree. It is fourteen cun long, making it highly suitable for Mages who specialize in illusions or curses. If you only know Magic Missile, it probably won't suit you.”
Lynn tried to channel his mana into it, only to find that the wood seemed to come alive, trembling faintly in his hand as if trying to break free from his grasp.
If this happened in battle, it would undoubtedly interfere with his spellcasting.
Lynn shook his head, put the wooden wand back, and picked another one that caught his eye.
It was a fiery-red avian feather, with flame-like patterns running across its surface. It felt scalding hot to the touch.
The feather was a whopping thirty centimeters long. The beast it belonged to must have been a colossal creature.
Gray said, “A few days ago, I killed an Ash-Patterned Rock Eagle near the volcano. If you use this focus material to cast evocation spells, it will add a portion of fire-element damage to your spells.”
It was clear that Gray had put a lot of effort into gathering these staff focus materials.
Lynn tried to channel his mana into the feather, and a wisp of flame immediately shot out, nearly singeing his hair.
This surprised Lynn slightly. After all, he didn't know any fire-element evocation spells.
Staff focus materials were truly marvelous.
However, he wasn't particularly satisfied with this feather either.
Although it could add fire damage, once he channeled his mana into it, there was no amplification. Instead, it actually increased his mana consumption.
This was not a good thing for Lynn.
Even if it could enhance the power of his spells, it failed to achieve his goal in choosing a staff focus material—to reduce spell consumption so he could cast Magic Missile twice with his current mana pool.
After putting the feather back as well, Lynn repeatedly tried many other focus materials—bones, magic stones, metals...
Yet, he couldn't find one that truly satisfied him.
They were either incompatible with him and interfered with his spellcasting, or they had decent effects but weren't the type he needed.
“What type of focus material do you need?”
A mature, gentle voice suddenly echoed in the room.
Lynn looked over and saw that Minari had somehow slipped into the room without making a sound.
Even with Lynn's high Perception attribute of nine points, he hadn't detected Minari's movements at all.
Lynn glanced at Gray.
Gray felt somewhat helpless, but he tacitly accepted Minari's presence and nodded, signaling Lynn to answer her question.
Lynn replied, “I want something that can reduce spellcasting consumption.”
Gray was somewhat surprised.
Although he knew Lynn only knew one First-Circle spell and might struggle with mana consumption, as a Mage, he felt this problem was very easy to solve.
If his mana was insufficient, shouldn't he just stay in the academy and practice meditation to improve it?
As a Mage from a wealthy background, Gray's way of thinking was vastly different from Lynn's, who was an adventurer.
On the other hand, Minari's eyes lit up upon hearing this request.
Rate on N.U.
