Chapter Seventy-Three: Gathering

Looking at the senior Amy before him, who was so different from her usual self, Hughes found himself at a loss for words. He sensed, for the first time, a faint unfamiliarity between them.

"Where are you planning to go?" Amy fixed her gaze on the suitcase in Hughes' hand.

"Oh, this? These are the potions I've managed to brew over the past month. I wanted to find a shop and exchange them for some magic stones," Hughes replied, feigning a hint of embarrassment.

"Is that so! You seemed so anxious, I thought someone might be after you," Amy commented lazily.

"You're joking, senior. Who in the Shadow Ring would bother chasing me?" Hughes thought Amy was simply teasing him.

"You're quite the celebrity among the third-level apprentices now. You reached the third level in such a short time after joining the Shadow Ring, and on top of that, you’re an outstanding potion maker. Even though I’ve studied under our teacher for so many years, I doubt my skills in potion-making could match yours now," Amy said, still watching Hughes intently.

"You must be joking, senior. How could my skills possibly compare to yours? You've been here much longer than I have—there’s no comparing! They’re just exaggerating," Hughes responded while inwardly wondering if he had drawn too much attention to himself during the expedition, raising suspicions.

"Perhaps," Amy chuckled, not pressing the matter further.

"I won’t keep you from selling your potions, but if you run into trouble you can’t handle, come find me. I’ll be in the teacher’s laboratory for a while these days—if you need anything, you know where to find me." Without waiting for Hughes' reply, she turned and walked away, leaving him with only her departing figure.

"How peculiar," Hughes muttered, puzzled by Amy’s words.

"Is someone really looking to cause me trouble?" The first person Hughes thought of was Anke, whom he had badly wronged.

"And she said she's staying in the teacher’s laboratory?" Hughes knew that only Master Matt ever used that laboratory. He wondered what Amy intended to do in there.

Turning over Amy’s words in his mind, Hughes soon arrived at Lindsay’s shop.

He pushed the door open and entered. As expected, Billy was already there waiting for him.

Seeing Lindsay and Billy together, Hughes felt a familiar scene unfolding once more.

"Here," Hughes said, passing the suitcase over.

Lindsay took it, already guessing what was inside. Yet, sensing the difference in weight, he couldn’t help but open it.

The sight of rows of potions made Lindsay beam with joy. After counting, he realized there were nearly a third more than usual, and this made him nearly ecstatic. With so many potions, he was in for another windfall.

"All these potions are for me?" Lindsay could hardly believe it.

"Who else would they be for?" Hughes replied, finding a seat for himself.

"Ahem! Hughes, don’t overwork yourself brewing potions all the time. Take care of your health," Lindsay said, trying to sound earnest and concerned.

Hughes didn’t respond. He could see through Lindsay’s act; the man was clearly hoping for even more potions and couldn’t even pretend to hide it.

"Hughes, is there something you wanted to discuss with me today?" Billy, unable to stand Lindsay’s shamelessness any longer, quickly turned to Hughes, getting straight to the point.

"There is something, in fact." Hughes pulled out two sheets of paper and began jotting down the materials needed for the Guidance Ward.

Billy and Lindsay waited quietly as Hughes wrote.

"All done," Hughes said, handing the sheets to both men.

They both looked over the lists.

"These items…" Lindsay frowned, wanting to ask for clarification.

"I need all of these. Please help me find them if you can," Hughes said, determined to reveal nothing about the enchanted items—not to anyone.

"I’ll do my best to help you collect them, but I can’t promise anything. Many of these things I’ve never even heard of. And with the Shadow Ring sealed off, gathering them all will be even harder. In the past, I could have asked my family for help," Billy said, fretting over the list, at a loss for how to assist Hughes.

"That’s right! Some of these are quite a hassle to find," Lindsay agreed. Only now did he understand why Hughes had delivered so many potions this time—it was to make up for these requests.

"I’ll do what I can to ask around, but don’t get your hopes up. The academy is in a special situation right now, and materials are hard to come by." Lindsay felt obliged to help Hughes, especially after all the business between them.

"I understand. Just do what you can. If it’s really not possible, I’ll think of something else," Hughes replied. He knew the items he listed were rare, and with the Shadow Ring’s current lockdown, it would be even harder to gather them.

"I’ll let you know if I hear anything," Lindsay and Billy both agreed to help.

With their promise, Hughes felt this matter was settled for now. Once Milan arrived in a few days, he could enlist his help as well. Perhaps, with some luck, everything could be gathered.

Wandering through the trading district, Hughes soon found himself at the academy’s shop.

"Chip, will zero-level defensive spell templates of other affinities help with the analysis?" Hughes asked. The issue of the first-level defensive spell template was weighing heavily on his mind. He had confidence in the chip’s abilities, but whether the final template produced would be comparable to a true first-level spell remained uncertain.

The assimilation of the mental rune and the vitality potion were already settled. Only the first-level defensive spell template was still in question.

"Beep. Analysis speed can be increased," the chip promptly replied.

"Good!" With that, Hughes strode into the shop. With his current stock of magic stones, purchasing spell templates was no issue at all.

Before entering, he covered half his face, not wanting to attract unnecessary attention.

Once inside, he went straight to the counter, only to find that the man with serpent eyes from last time had been replaced by someone his own age.

A quick scan from the chip confirmed: the youth was also a third-level apprentice, probably newly promoted.

"Hello! What can I help you with?" the young man asked politely, his voice rich and magnetic.

"Three each of wind, water, and plant affinity defensive spells," Hughes said, careful not to buy too many at once as he had last time.

"Are you sure?" The attendant clearly doubted that someone would buy so many spell templates, and all defensive at that.

"Yes. Scrolls, please," Hughes replied in a deepened voice.

The attendant, seeing Hughes’ insistence, said no more. It was not his money, after all; he was just there to process payments.

Soon, he handed over nine scrolls.

"That’ll be ninety-three magic stones," he said.

Hughes said nothing, counted out the stones, and handed them over.

With the scrolls in his arms, Hughes left the shop. He had originally planned to search for materials for the Guidance Ward, but with so many scrolls, he decided to return another day.

"What a strange fellow," the attendant muttered as Hughes left. He had worked there for some time but had never encountered anyone quite like this.

Hughes cared little for what others thought. He hurried back to his dormitory, scrolls in hand.

Once inside, he locked the door and, with practiced ease, unrolled the scrolls.

"Chip, start recording," Hughes commanded, opening each scroll in turn.

"Beep. Recording," the chip replied.

The chip processed the nine spell templates quickly, and in a short time, the task was complete.

"Beep. Recording complete. Nine zero-level defensive spell templates recorded."

"Beep. Data sorted. First-level defensive spell template simulation and analysis progress increased by six percent."

"Only that much?" Hughes was surprised. He hadn’t expected that adding nine defensive spell templates would only accelerate the process by six percent.