Chapter 5: Level-1 Mage
After passing through a small path, Eli tightened his clothes and kept the silver tarls he had brought with him.
He was heading to the market that sold herbs.
The market was located in the eastern part of the Imperial City, Junlin city. Eli had to pass through the slums and the city to reach it, and he chose to take the main road.
After all, although this was the capital, one should understand that there were shadowy places. In the dark paths, there were gangs, thugs, and dangerous people.
Soon, he arrived at the market.
After a simple inquiry, Eli walked into a pharmacy.
"Do you have any White-curled flowers?" In front of the oak counter, Eli knocked on the table and asked the person inside.
The counter staff was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties or fifties. He had a pair of brown eyes that looked very weak, but when he heard Eli's voice, his eyes gradually began to light up, and he replied with a smile, "yes, yes. A white flower is twenty copper tars."
It was so expensive!
"Why is it so expensive? " Eli asked. After the White-curled flower was activated, the aura it emitted could only last for an hour. One was definitely not enough. It would need at least a week's portion, which was seven.
Seven of them would be one silver Tarl and forty copper tarls.
"Sir, the White-curled flower grows in the dark swamps and is often surrounded by venomous snakes and scorpions. It's very difficult to collect it!
"Every single one of these White-curled flowers is hard to come by!" The shop assistant shouted.
"Make it cheaper. I'll buy more." Eli ignored him and said directly.
"Are you an apothecary?" The shop assistant asked curiously. One had to know that ordinary people would not need large amounts of herbs at all. Only an apothecary would.
"No."
"Oh, never mind then." Since he wasn't an apothecary, the shop assistant wasn't as excited. He then looked at Eli's outfit and said, " how about this? If you buy more than ten flowers at once, I can give you a discount of five coppers. That's already a big discount. If you buy more than five flowers, it's two coppers cheaper."
"Then give me ten flowers," Eli said after thinking for a moment.
Seven flowers might not be enough, but ten should be enough.
Furthermore, it was not a big deal to have some flowers left. White-curled flowers were one of the ingredients for many basic potions.
"Alright," he said. The shopkeeper smiled and walked into the small house at the back. When he came out again, he had ten packed white flowers in his hand.
The goods exchanged.
After paying, he left.
...
Back home, Eli took out the White-curled flower.
White-curled flower was a kind of rice-white flower with meaty petals. Its roots drooped down like tentacles. It was hard to imagine that this ordinary-looking plant could help to sense the elemental world.
He crushed a White-curled flower and placed it into a container he had prepared in advance. A faint floral fragrance immediately spread out.
When he smelled it, Eli felt his entire body shiver.
Knowing that time was precious, Eli immediately sat on the bed and began his first meditation of the day.
A refreshing smell filled the room. Eli closed his eyes and began to sense the elemental world.
In his haziness, spots of elemental light began to appear in his consciousness. Those were the elements, but it was as if there was a layer of membrane between him and the elements. He could see them, but he could not touch them.
The smell of the White-curled flower kept stimulating Eli's spirit, and the distance between them was shortened bit by bit.
An hour later, Eli opened his eyes, revealing an excited expression.
Although he still couldn't sense the elements realm this time, he could feel that with the help of the White-curled flower, he would definitely be able to sense the elements realm in half a month or even shorter.
"We're almost there,"
The White-curled flower was indeed effective, but it was a little expensive.
If Eli had enough money, he could buy a large number of white-curled flowers directly. He believed that he would be able to sense the elemental world in less than three days, but his life was helpless and poor!
However, it didn't matter. As long as he advanced to an apprentice, everything would be fine.
...
Ten days later.
"It's today." Eli looked at the last white flower in front of him calmly.
With the help of the White-curled flower, Eli had finally touched the boundary of the elemental realm, and he was only one step away. Today was the day he would break through to become a Level 1 Mage.
Crushing the White-curled flower, as usual, Eli entered a state of meditation.
In his empty consciousness, Eli was like a ghost, and all around him were elemental particles that were almost clear, floating freely in the air.
Finally, all of a sudden, it was as if an invisible barrier had disappeared.
There were no more obstacles between Eli and the elemental world. A large number of elemental particles instantly drowned Eli, transforming this weak body that was in contact with elements for the first time.
At first, he wanted to observe this state in detail, but as he came into contact with the elements, he only felt that his head was getting heavier and heavier. Finally, after more than ten minutes, he fell into a deep sleep.
It was already late at night by the time he woke up.
"So, am I an apprentice mage now?"
Eli sat up. Even with his eyes open, he could still feel the faint elements around him.
His mental strength seemed to have achieved a breakthrough as well. This made Eli feel that he could sense his surroundings more clearly. In fact, as long as he thought about it carefully, he could even recall everything that had happened a few days ago.
Of course, this was not the most exciting thing. The most exciting thing was that he could finally learn Quick Memory.
"There's still time. There's still time for everything." Eli finally heaved a sigh of relief.
If he failed to break through to Level 1 after three months, he would be in deep trouble. Fortunately, it only took him two months and ten days to break through.
To be honest, it had taken too long, but Eli felt fine. After all, there wasn't anyone else around him to compare to. Speaking of this, Eli noticed something strange.
He had been in the library for two months, but he had not heard anything about Mages. It seemed like this was really a Kingdom for Knights.
"It seems that the owner of that book is not simple!" Eli thought of the author of the notebook, Saleen Metatrin, but he did not know who he was.
"Forget it. Let's not think about that. I should focus on the spell model of Quick Memory." There was no answer after thinking for a long time, so Eli simply gave up. After all, none of this had anything to do with him at the moment.
His main goal now was to learn Quick Memory.
According to the notes on the things to take note of when casting witchcraft, Eli focused his mental strength and then used his mental strength to draw a model of Quick Memory in his consciousness.
Because it was his first time, every step of his was taken with great care. However, because he was still not very familiar with it, he failed when he was constructing the entire rune.
As this didn't consume too much of his spiritual power, he began to draw the model again after 10 minutes of reflection and rest. After three failures, he finally completed the rune,
Quick Memory, learned!