22: Chapter 22 Gray's Dilemma

Byron did not hesitate; he walked straight to the Laboratory and began to purify the potion, following the steps Isolde had shown earlier.

Of course, he did not use the help of the Eye of Omniscience at this moment, relying solely on his own understanding and memory to operate.

After all, showing off requires the right occasion and timing.

If he succeeded in Potion Making on his first try, he feared that what awaited him would not be Isolde's praise and high regard, but a permanent fixture at the Laboratory bench.

After weighing the twilight herb powder, Byron carefully added it to the pure water solvent and stirred at a constant speed using a glass rod.

At this moment, Isolde stood to the side, watching Byron's operation without speaking.

Once the twilight herb powder was fully dissolved, Byron added the green glowing crystal sand bit by bit, while simultaneously injecting Mental Energy to participate in the reaction.

As time passed, the liquid in the beaker began to separate slowly, and the essence of the twilight herb began to precipitate bit by bit.

Seeing this, Byron felt no joy; instead, he became even more cautious.

But what must happen could not be avoided, no matter how careful one was.

Just as the essence was about to be completely extracted, an error occurred somewhere.

The solution in the beaker suddenly boiled, the previously separating layers remixed, turned a crimson color, and a foul odor wafted out.

Seeing this, Byron stopped his movements and frowned slightly at the solution in the beaker.

'Where exactly did I go wrong just now?'

"Alright, stop. It has completely failed."

Just then, Isolde's cold voice rang out, interrupting Byron's train of thought.

Upon hearing this, Byron looked up at Isolde and apologized, "I'm sorry, Mentor, I..."

Isolde: "It's fine. You've only just come into contact with this, and being able to get this far is already quite good. It seems you truly have the Aptitude for Potionology."

A flash of surprise appeared in Byron's eyes; he hadn't expected Isolde to be so calm. He had expected a reprimand.

"The reason you failed this time is that there was some fluctuation in your Mental Energy at the very last moment."

After pointing out Byron's mistake, Isolde changed the subject.

"In the future, when I am not using the Laboratory, you may come here to practice, but you must clean the Laboratory and pay a usage fee of one magic stone."

She paused and continued, "However, I still suggest you assemble your own set of experimental equipment and practice more to accumulate experience. Only then can you make progress."

After saying this, Isolde waved her hand at Byron, signaling that he could leave.

Seeing this, Byron respectfully said goodbye and turned to leave.

...

Walking out of the Laboratory, Colin was nowhere to be seen. Byron didn't pay it any mind and walked straight out.

On the way, Byron kept pondering what the Mentor meant by that.

Was she valuing his Aptitude for Potionology and wanting to invest in him early, or was it just a whim, a casual remark?

Regardless, he had taken Isolde's suggestion to heart and planned to buy his own set of experimental equipment to try in his dormitory.

As for borrowing the Mentor's Laboratory, he wouldn't go too frequently. After all, he had so many secrets that hanging around in front of Isolde every day would be insane.

He would only go to the Laboratory occasionally to keep up appearances; his real practice would have to be done in his own dormitory.

Byron did not return to his dormitory but went to the Market again, bought some basic experimental equipment, and then returned.

For some time after that, Byron's life was no different from usual.

He continued to shuttle back and forth between those few fixed locations.

During this period, he also met with Eliza and Gray. When they learned that Byron had also become a First-Rank Wizard Apprentice, they praised and envied him.

Time flew by, and more than a month passed in the blink of an eye.

The moment the bell for the end of class rang, the instructor almost walked out of the classroom door right on time.

Looking at that, it seemed as if they didn't want to stay for even a second longer.

Sitting in his seat, even after attending classes for so long, Byron couldn't help but complain to himself when he saw this scene.

This was really too different from what he had expected.

He had originally planned to use the Eye of Omniscience to demonstrate super learning ability, gain the instructor's favor, and see if he could get some knowledge for free.

But alas, they wouldn't give him a single chance.

No matter how well you studied, if you didn't pay magic stones, you couldn't even get a word in with those instructors.

So, Byron had completely given up on this path.

Seeing the instructor leave, Byron packed his things, ready to leave; he had more important things to do today.

Through the relentless efforts of this period, he had frantically 'freeloaded' free knowledge and basic courses from the Library.

He had not only digitized his Mental Energy and magic power but even finished analyzing that potion formula.

Thinking of this, Byron couldn't wait to go back and try to refine the 'deep meditation potion'.

He had endured for over a month, and now it was finally time to harvest.

"Byron, you just finished class too?"

Byron had just walked out of the classroom when a familiar voice sounded from behind him.

Byron turned his head to look; standing behind him were Gray and Eliza.

Seeing Gray's current appearance, a sense of melancholy arose in Byron's heart.

Gray's figure hadn't changed much; he was still as robust, but the fatigue and haggardness on his face were almost overflowing.

Just looking at his two dark, bruised eye sockets, it was hard not to suspect that this guy might die of sudden death at any moment.

Byron: "Gray, you look just like a Calancia fox-tailed monkey right now; you really need to get some good rest."

The fox-tailed monkey is a type of animal in the Kingdom of Calancia, looking like a monkey with white fur, except for the fur around its eye sockets, which is black, as if it were wearing a pair of sunglasses.

Gray shook his head with a bitter smile: "I would love to get a good rest, but there's just not enough time."

"All day long, almost all my free time is spent working in the Laboratory. Let alone resting, I barely have time for Meditation. It's really..."

Eliza frowned and interrupted Gray: "Gray, Byron is right. If you go on like this, let alone becoming a Wizard Apprentice, it's questionable whether you'll even survive."

Hearing this, Gray sighed and shook his head: "Sigh, what can I do? It will be fine once I get through this and become a Wizard Apprentice."

Speaking of this, Gray forced himself to cheer up: "Alright, Byron, I see you have things to do, so don't let me delay you. I have to go to the Mentor's Laboratory too."

"And Eliza, didn't you say you were going to the Mentor's too? Go ahead."

Eliza wanted to say something more, but seeing the look in Byron's eyes, she seemed to realize something and didn't speak again.

Byron smiled and said: "Alright, take care then, Gray. Let's meet again in a few days."

Gray waved his hand with a smile and said nothing.

Watching Byron and Eliza leave, Gray sighed softly, hunched his back, and turned away.

At this moment, Gray looked as if he had aged more than a decade, not at all like a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy.

...

On the other side, Byron returned to his dormitory, put down his things, and walked straight into the basement.

There were no windows in the basement, but it didn't seem dim; with the help of the shadowless lamp, it was even brighter than outside.

Byron walked to the wooden experimental bench, looked at the various Materials and experimental equipment placed on it, and did not rush to start refining.

Instead, he closed his eyes and began to recall the contents transmitted by the Eye of Omniscience in class.