My Magic Age

As soon as I walked into Scholar Francis' magic laboratory, I smelled a strange smell, like the sour saliva of giant rock worms. It made my throat and eyes feel burning, and made me cough repeatedly.

Several exhaust fans in the laboratory made a subtle buzzing sound at the same time, and a thin layer of smoke floated overhead, making the entire laboratory appear smoky.

Scholar Francis' assistant was sitting at the desk at the entrance of the laboratory. When he saw me pushing the door open and walking in, he quickly stood up and said hello to me, and said to me: "Jijia, Scholar Francis is waiting for you inside."

Following the magic assistant into the laboratory room, I saw Scholar Francis standing in front of a huge crucible, holding a dark stick in both hands, and he was inserting it into the crucible and stirring it back and forth.

Scholar Francis looked very tired. There were several bottles of spiritual potions scattered on the workbench next to him. His dirty magic robe was stained with corrosive acid. Many holes of different sizes were corroded by the acid, and his nose was choked. The person was a little red from the smoke, and there were some red spots on his skin, but his spirit was extremely high.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, he suddenly turned around nervously. Seeing that the person coming was me, he said very irritably: "Jijia, where did you get the formula for the metal softener? It is simply creating poisonous gas. You and Qijia originally Isn’t the exhaust fan co-designed by Ge Ge just for refining metal softener? Ahem..."

I took out a silk handkerchief to cover my mouth and nose, and approached Scholar Francis. Looking at the green viscous liquid bubbling in the crucible, I asked Scholar Francis: "Are these the metal softeners described in the formula?"

"These are metal curing agents, and the softeners are over there." Francis pointed to the wall on the left, where there was a row of wooden shelves filled with round glass containers filled with light yellow translucent liquid. , although the cork is plugged in, the liquid is still bubbling upwards in the glass bottle.

Scholar Francis looked at me in surprise, his eyes bloodshot. He scratched his messy hair vigorously and asked with a strange expression: "Don't you know what's recorded on that parchment?" Are they two alchemy potions?"

"Two potions? How is that possible?" I said loudly: "I only know that it is a recipe for metal softener!"

Seeing my gaffe, Scholar Francis laughed loudly with a proud look on his face. He took out the metal softener formula I copied for him from his arms, pointed to the words on it, and said to me with a proud look on his face. : "Haha, actually you were deceived by its writing format. You are really a genius in writing this alchemy formula. Try it. If you read this formula backwards, will the properties of the medicine described above have completely opposite properties? properties?”

In fact, if you read it backwards, many words will not read so smoothly. I looked at Scholar Francis with confusion.

Scholar Francis reached out and turned over the alchemical formula and said to me: "If you read this alchemical formula upside down, you can find that there is actually another alchemical potion recorded on it."

I followed Scholar Francis's fingers and turned over the formula to read it. Many parts were not readable at all.

Scholar Francis probably knew about my troubles, so he told me directly: "Even if some sentences do not read smoothly, it is a problem with the translation of the alchemical formula. However, even if the translation is a little bad, the alchemical formula on the formula does not need to be translated. , In fact, this alchemy recipe not only records a metal softener, but also records a..."

"Metal hardener?" I said first.

Scholar Francis thought about it seriously, and then said to me: "You called it a metal hardener, which is not very appropriate. According to my understanding of the characteristics of this alchemical potion, the alchemical potion formula recorded in reverse In fact, it exists along with the alchemical potion in the forward record, which means that the two potions complement each other. If we call the former a metal softener, then the alchemical potion in this reverse record should be called a metal solidifier."

He picked up a green glass bottle from next to the crucible, gently shook the translucent green liquid inside, and said to me: "Actually, if you refine it alone, this metal curing agent itself has no function, because It is used in conjunction with metal softeners.”

As he spoke, he handed the bottle of translucent green liquid to the magic assistant beside him, took me to the shelf on the wall, picked up a bottle of metal softener from the shelf, came to the experimental table, and put a mithril ingot Carefully place in glassware.

While pouring the bottle of metal softener on it, he said to me: "In other words, only after you use metal softener to completely soften certain metals, can you have a chance to use those metal curing agents."

The choking smell evaporated again in the laboratory. Scholar Francis stood under the lingering smoke. After a violent cough, he straightened up again, put on a pair of snakeskin gloves on his hands, and said: "When you are softened, The metal is reshaped, like this..."

He took out the piece of mithril from the glass vessel, put it in his hands and kneaded it gently. The piece of mithril was like a piece of soft dough, rolled into a small ball by Scholar Francis.

Scholar Francis continued: "After shaping, you will find that these metals have completely lost their original properties. So how can we restore the original properties?"

He threw the mithril ball into the glass vessel casually, and the mithril ball stuck to the bottom of the glass vessel like a piece of mud.

I suddenly understood and said to Scholar Francis: "Are you saying that I still need to use a curing agent to solidify the shaped metal?"

"That's right, some metal solidifiers can offset the magical effect of metal softeners. Just like this, you see...all the original properties of the metal have been restored." Scholar Francis took the translucent green potion handed over by his assistant and pulled it out. Take out the cork and pour the potion inside on top of the mithril in the glass vessel.

Although it was impossible to tell what had happened to the mithril on the surface, when Scholar Francis took the mithril out of the glass vessel, I found that the mithril had become hard again and looked like a silver coin. .

It turns out that this is how these metal softeners are used. I took the remaining half bottle of metal softeners from Scholar Francis.

His magic assistant handed me a bottle of metal softener on the wooden shelf, and I carefully put it into my magic waist bag.

"Hello, Jijia." Scholar Francis suddenly called my name.

"Scholar Francis, what can I do for you?" I stopped and turned to look at the haggard scholar Francis, whose entire life seemed to be in this magic laboratory.

"If there is such a magical and interesting alchemical formula in the future, don't forget to bring it to me." Scholar Francis said to me.

I know that he is the kind of magic scholar who is destined to devote his whole life to alchemy and is destined to die in the laboratory. Alchemy seems to be the only thing in his life.

"Okay, I'll go back and look for it in the warehouse." I replied cheerfully.

Scholar Francis was very happy to see my answer so readily. He pulled up a stool and sat down next to me and said, "If my guess is correct, this alchemical recipe should come from a very ancient inheritance. Jijia, Did you find this alchemy formula in the ancient ruins or buy it in the auction house?"

I thought for a moment and said to Scholar Francis: "I guess I found it from ancient ruins. In fact, it was placed at the bottom of a treasure chest filled with magic gems."

"So that's it!" Scholar Francis said: "I only had time to refine half of the metal curing agent. It will take another day to completely refine the rest. Now these are only semi-finished products. Remember to come over after tomorrow afternoon. Take them away."

"Got it, Scholar Francis," I said.

During the conversation, the magic assistant had already handed me all the twenty-odd bottles of metal softeners on the wooden shelf, and then ran to the test bench and brought over a dozen bottles of metal curing agents and asked me to put them into the magic pocket.

When I packed up all the alchemical potions, Scholar Francis waved his hand impatiently to the magic assistant, motioning for him to go out and stay for a while.

There were only two people left in the laboratory, Scholar Francis and me. Perhaps after staying in the laboratory for a long time, the choking feeling was no longer so strong.

I asked Scholar Francis: "Anything else? Scholar Francis."

He hesitated for a moment and said to me: "Jijia, if you don't want to cause trouble, then you must not show this alchemy formula to outsiders. This kind of alchemy potion should be something that cannot be seen in the light."

I asked, "Shadowy things?"

Scholar Francis said solemnly: "Yes, the alchemical formula of the metal solidifier should be regarded as an alchemical potion abandoned by the gods."

His eyes fell on the bubbling crucible not far away, and he said to me: "In terms of certain magical attributes, it itself has violated the laws of this world. It is roughly the use of magical power to reorganize the arrangement of magical metals. Structure is an incredible design concept that cleverly circumvents those rules.”

"If my guess is correct, the people who designed this alchemical formula should not be humans, nor the elves who are born with magical power, nor the dwarves who were born in the mines with hammers in their hands. This kind of alchemical potion It should have been created by the great goblin inventors of the Hex technology era," Scholar Francis said in an extremely positive tone.

"Alchemy potion in the age of Hex?" I found that I had become a language repeater at this time. Apart from repeating the words of Scholar Francis, I didn't know how to explain these to him.

Scholar Francis gave me a meaningful look and said to me: "I think you should be able to think of something. I undoubtedly peep into your secrets, but I just hope you can hide them deeper."

Seeing my hesitation, he patted my shoulder and said to me: "You may not realize the fun of this kind of alchemy yet. Are you interested in coming to my place to learn some alchemy?"

Being spotted by a magic scholar from the Imperial Magic Academy is definitely something worth celebrating for young magicians.

At this time, you should not think about anything and agree decisively first.

But this is not that much of a surprise to me.

"Um...Scholar Francis, although I am very interested in alchemy, I am a junior inscriptionist." Although I felt a little surprised, I still said this to Scholar Francis.

Scholar Francis seemed to have remembered my identity all of a sudden, so he sighed softly and said, "Okay, remember to show me the alchemy formula left by this lost civilization next time."

"Got it, Scholar Francis..." I promised Scholar Francis.

...

I left Scholar Francis's magic laboratory.

At this time, Ying Li, Helena and Becky were still waiting for me in the inner garden of the Magic Institute.

Turning around an inner corridor, I happened to see Helena sitting on a swing and being chatted up by two young magic assistants. She had a helpless smile on her face, just quietly listening to the two magic assistants standing in front of the swing and talking.

If a young magician who can stay in the Magic Institute as a magic assistant does not have an outstanding magic talent, then he must have some extraordinary background.

Ying Li and Becky sat back to back on the bench next to them, resting their heads on each other's shoulders, looking up at the magic gems inlaid on the dome of the institute, and seemed to be talking in a low voice.

Seeing me walk in from outside the archway, Helena finally smiled sweetly, jumped off the swing, ran towards me briskly, and said to me affectionately: "Why did you take so long..."

I couldn't call out the names of the two magic assistants, but they knew me. When they saw Helena walk to me and hold my arm affectionately, they said to me: "Hey, Jijia, so you know this girl!"

I nodded to them and was trying to think of their names. They didn't give me a chance to speak and hurriedly left the courtyard.

"Do you know them?" Ying Li stood up from the bench and asked me.

I shook my head.

Ying Li smiled slightly and asked me again: "Have you finished the things here?"

I nodded and said: "Well, let's go!"

On the way out of the Magic Research Institute, I met some magic assistants who took the initiative to greet me. I actually knew some of them, some I had seen but didn't know their names, and some I simply didn't have any impression of. I could only give a vague answer to these people.

It has been a year since I came to the Imperial Capital Magic Academy. Before I knew it, I had gone from being a newbie who greeted other magic assistants to being a ‘senior’ magic assistant who was greeted by others.

Ying Li and I rushed to the twelve marble pillars of the Pride Tower Square. I didn’t expect that we were the first to arrive here.

After waiting for a while, I saw Noah and Shirley Newman walking out of the magic market with a lot of things in their hands and looking unsatisfied.