16: Chapter 16 Gift

The first-floor hall of Isolde's Experimental Spire.

In the center of the hall, Isolde, with her silver-gray hair, was reclining in a dark purple sofa.

Her slender nails lightly swirled the transparent goblet in her hand; under the cold light, the pale red liquid inside emitted an eerie luster.

This scene formed a stark contrast with the cold and aloof Isolde.

Seeing Byron walk in, her expression didn't change in the slightest; she merely raised her hand to signal for Byron to sit.

After Byron bowed respectfully, he sat tentatively on the soft sofa.

"I don't need such tedious etiquette here." Isolde set down her goblet, her gray-blue eyes looking at Byron like a pool of stagnant water.

"You just need to complete the tasks I assign you."

"Understood, Mentor." Byron nodded in agreement.

Isolde: "From now on, you will follow Colin, come on time every day to clean the Laboratory, and complete the preparatory work before my experiments. As for the Magic Stones you need to hand in monthly, give them to him as well."

"As my Disciple, I will follow academy tradition and give you an entrance gift. You may choose one from three categories: finished potions, formulas, or books."

She snapped her fingers lightly.

On the black stone low table where the goblet was placed, the space twisted for a moment.

Three items appeared out of thin air: a vial of potion emitting a faint glimmer, a piece of parchment that seemed impossible to discern, and a thick book with a brass cover.

Looking at the things appearing before him, there was not a hint of joy in Byron's eyes; instead, a trace of worry emerged.

Do not forget, this is the Wizard World; there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Isolde seemed to notice Byron's concern, and after a moment of thought, her red lips moved.

"You don't need to worry. I am giving these in accordance with the principle of equivalent exchange."

"You signed a fourth-class agreement. As your mentor, I receive a generous subsidy from the academy every month."

She pointed to the items on the table: "These things are already included in that subsidy."

Hearing this, Byron immediately breathed a sigh of relief and began to examine the items on the table.

Isolde did not urge Byron, just watched him quietly.

After a while, Byron looked at Isolde: "Mentor, may I know the information about these three items so I can make a judgment?"

Isolde nodded slightly: "A reasonable request, no problem."

Upon hearing this, a smile appeared on Byron's face.

But he remembered what Isolde had just said, so he simply thanked her without bowing.

"That bottle of potion can help you with Meditation, increase your Mental Energy activity, and accelerate the improvement of your Mental Energy and the engraving of runes."

Isolde's voice had no inflection, as if none of this had anything to do with her.

Byron's heart, however, skipped a beat.

He hadn't expected the first item to be so precious. He had truly chosen the right mentor; she was simply too wealthy!

"This potion formula records an ancient potion called 'Blood Boiling.' Consuming this potion can increase physical strength."

"However, because this is an ancient potion formula, some of the ingredients have gone extinct, requiring you to find substitutes."

"And this 'Fundamentals of Potionology' is a book I wrote, which discusses the essence, definition, classification, logic of action, and how to concoct potions."

Byron's gaze swept back and forth between the three items, then he looked up at Isolde with a serious tone.

"Mentor, I choose 'Fundamentals of Potionology'."

Byron knew clearly why he had chosen Isolde as his mentor.

Wasn't it to learn Potionology?

Although the other two items were equally precious, to him, they were dispensable.

Isolde did not ask why, and after nodding, she put away the other two items.

"Since you have chosen 'Fundamentals of Potionology' and have made up your mind to study Potionology, you can sign up for the basic Potionology course I offer later."

"Understanding the basics will help you comprehend the content of this book, and I will also explain the content of this book in class."

Hearing this, Byron's expression visibly froze.

Isolde ignored Byron's reaction and stood up, walking toward the upper floor.

"You continue to wait here for Colin; he will give you more detailed instructions."

The door closed, and Isolde's voice completely disappeared to the second floor, leaving only the echo resonating in the first floor.

Byron came back to his senses and picked up the book lying quietly on the table.

Looking at the book in his hand, a bitter smile appeared at the corner of Byron's mouth.

He hoped Isolde wouldn't explain the entire content of this book in class; otherwise, his choice would be a huge loss.

While waiting for Colin, Byron also began to read 'Fundamentals of Potionology' to pass the time.

Of course, he did not let the Eye of Omniscience start recording, keeping it in a silent state.

After all, this was the Laboratory of an Official Wizard; who knew if it would be detected.

It was better to be cautious.

Not long after, Colin pushed the door open and entered the Laboratory.

When he saw Byron greeting him, he was stunned for a moment, then reacted, responded, and signaled for Byron to wait a little longer.

After that, Colin walked straight to the second floor.

Seeing Colin do this, Byron also sat back on the sofa, closed the book, and waited quietly.

"Byron, have you waited long? We can set off now."

Colin smiled, waved the list in his hand, and called for Byron to follow.

Seeing this, Byron followed closely, and they left the Laboratory together.

Walking on the main road of the experimental area, Byron walked beside Colin and said with a smile.

"Colin, I'll be following your lead from now on, so you'll have to take good care of your junior."

Colin chuckled: "Byron, don't worry. Although the Mentor looks quite cold, she is actually considered one of the better ones among the more than one hundred mentors in the academy."

Seeing Byron's inquiring look, Colin explained.

"This book was given to you by the Mentor, right? Did she also say it was obtained through an equivalent exchange of academy subsidies?"

Byron nodded.

He wasn't confused as to why Colin knew this; after all, he must have received such a gift when he first joined the Mentor's tutelage.

"Do you know? Actually, the Mentor doesn't have to give these things, because all other mentors do exactly that."

"Because even if they don't do it, the academy won't say anything."

Hearing this, the corner of Byron's mouth twitched.

This aligned with his stereotype of wizards; it turned out Mentor Isolde was the outlier.

"So you see, our Mentor is good, right?"

Byron nodded in agreement.

Indeed, if a mentor like this wasn't considered good, then what would be?

"But having said that, you actually resisted the temptation of that potion and chose this book."

Colin looked at the book held in Byron's hands and sighed.

"Back then, when I had to choose between the potion and the book, I chose the potion without hesitation, thinking I had made a huge profit, but I didn't expect that I had made the wrong choice."

Byron did not respond to Colin's words, nor did he tell him that he actually had a choice of three.

After all, Colin was currently his best path to understanding the Wizard academy.

He didn't want any accidents to happen because of this small matter.