Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Lucien’s Magic Lab

Translator: Kris Liu Editor:

When Lucien had found most of the materials that he needed, it was time for him to call it a day . “I gotta go now,” said Lucien in his pretended harsh voice, “We can continue over the next meeting . ” He also had to go back and review his physics and chemistry knowledge in order to explain more questions in better ways for the group members .

To show their thankfulness, all of the apprentices stood up, laying their right hands on their foreheads, and bowed low to Lucien .

“Mr . Professor, can we have the honor to keep you staying a bit longer? Each of us is going to share our recent thoughts by presenting them to the others later . It would be our great pleasure to have you here . ” Philosopher hopefully asked .

The discussion part was open to anyone . All of the apprentices present were hoping Lucien would possible make comments on their ideas . Even some random words from such a knowledgeable sorcerer could benefit them a great deal .

For Lucien, the invitation was an extra surprise tonight . Although Lucien could understand many advanced formula based on his previous knowledge, he, on the contrary, was having a hard time analyzing some of the apprentice spells . Concealing his excitement, Lucien was trying to make himself sound as calm as possible, “All right . ”

“Thank you, Professor . ” White Honey first showed her appreciation .

It was a productive discussion, from which Lucien also gained a lot from the other group members . Many of his questions related to apprentice magics were solved and his knowledge gap was filled . At the same time, the other apprentices were also every encouraged to see that Mr . Professor was actually paying attention to their discussion .

In the early morning, after exchanging some more information, the meeting was drawing to a close . Lucien was stopped by Philosopher when he was about to leave .

“Mr . Professor,” asked Philosopher hopefully, “do you mind leaving your contact information to me? So if we can find any Revenant Dust, we can contact you immediately . ”

However, Lucien shook his head, “Sorry, I’d rather not . Owl knows how to contact me . ” Cautious as Lucien was, he would never trust anyone easily .

“Well…” Philosopher nodded disappointingly, “Will you attend our next meeting two weeks from now?” The other apprentices present were also waiting for Lucien’s answer eagerly .

“I don’t know yet,” Lucien’s attitude was ambiguous, since he did not want his attendance to be regular, “I might be in Melzer Black Forest at that time, preparing some experiments . Anyway, I’ll let Owl know in advance . ” But Lucien’s vague answer was good enough for the members . At least this great sorcerer didn’t refuse them directly .

After Smile made sure that it was safe outside, Lucien and other apprentices left the basement in succession . Having the suitcase in his hand, and some new magic materials in his pockets, Lucien walked home with no companion . On his way home, Lucien spread his spiritual power which covered a certain range to detect if there was anyone following him . And all he found was a raven .

He didn’t feel even slightly relieved until he was finally back in his shack .

…………

One week later, using the magic which could turn stone into soil and mud, Lucien successfully dug a pit very close to his place . The three meters long, two-and-a-half meters wide pit connected to his shack with a small stone stairway was Lucien’s new and also his first magic lab . Standing on a small stool, Lucien was carving lines on the wall with a silver dagger which came from the labware set . He was creating a magic circle in order to block energy waves caused by spell casting or magic experiments .

In addition to that, Lucien cast some more magic circles to protect the lab . Using “Echo Elimination”, no one would notice that there was a basement under there by simply stamping on the floor . Other magic circles were used for placing magic traps which could be triggered when necessary .

After the carving work was done, Lucien pulled out a small bag of black powder . The powder was made from Black Curving Vine and it could quickly stick to almost everything . Carefully picking it out with the dagger, Lucien colored these lines with the black powder, and then he poured mercury on them little by little . Amazingly, the mercury did not drip at all, instead, it was instantly absorbed by the power . Now the outline of the magic circle was very distinct .

Pressing his palm in the centre of the pattern, Lucien spread out his spiritual power and activated the magic circle . The silver lines were lit bit by bit . After a burst of silver light, the magic circle completely disappeared in the wall as if nothing ever existed there at all .

Lucien stepped down from the stool, feeling exhausted . Building a magic circle could be very tiring . The more troublesome part was that, ten days later, it had to be replaced with a new one when the power of the circle was gone . For real sorcerers or sorceresses, they could maintain their magic circle using their own spiritual power, or building much more complicated ones which could recover the power automatically by themselves . Some parts of magic creatures, like their fur, horn or blood, could also do the job .

Then it was the last step . Casting the spell in an opposite way, Lucien built a long stone table from the soil . Placing all the glasswares and small stoves on the table, Lucien was more than happy and satisfied .

The lab was ready . From now on, Lucien finally had his own place to practice spells and conduct experiments . Obviously, this basement, although not very spacious, was much better than the cold, stinky sewers .

Standing on the stairs, Lucien nodded with great satisfaction . Then Lucien went back to his place upstairs and locked the entrance with magic after making sure the magic trap circle was also in position .

It was already in the early morning . As soon as Lucien’s head hit the pillow, he fell asleep . He had to go to work in the library a few hours later .

…………

“Like I said…” Pierre stared at Lucien with concern, “You gotta control yourself a bit . ”

“I just didn’t sleep well last night . ” Lucien shook his head slowly .

“By the way, what musical instrument are you learning, Lucien?” Pierre suddenly switched the topic .