Dylas was unimpressed by Mosiduo's sigh.
As a spellcaster, Dylas maintained the pride of a mage and his disdain for knights. Knights were nothing but brutish fighters who could never understand the profundity of magic or the grandeur of elemental powers.
Though the Underdark lacked knights, Dylas knew that on the surface, or in the entire wizarding world, the number of knights had always far exceeded that of mages of equal rank. This was partly because the threshold for becoming a knight was indeed lower than that of a mage, and partly because, as Mosiduo had mentioned, the recruitment range for knight squires was broader.
In this world, after all, nobles were few, while commoners made up the majority of the population. While knights who mastered powerful martial arts and physical strength would eventually walk the path of nobility, at least they provided a path to nobility for the billions of commoners in the wizarding world, rather than keeping them commoners for generations.
Of course, the large number and low threshold of knights also led to another fact: among knights and mages of equal rank, mages often held a higher status than knights. And with sufficient magical shields to provide defense, mages performed much better than knights. The power of magic elements, whether in terms of striking range or area, was stronger than the martial arts power mastered by knights.
Moreover, knights who did not engage in production and relied solely on brute force needed to rely heavily on mages in both alchemy equipment and magical potions. Even a simple energy-gathering magic array that could accelerate cultivation would be incomprehensible to burly knights, who could only seek help from mages who possessed extensive knowledge and elemental power.
For these various reasons, despite the fact that on the surface, major spires and knight halls repeatedly declared that knights and mages were of equal status, in practice, mages were still more favored and were objects that knights of equal rank needed to please.
The hostility of the surface spires and knight halls, as well as the complaints of black mages about their general environment, made Mosiduo and Dylas, these two official black mages, talk more today.
In the laboratory, Sain was unaware of these circumstances. With the help of his senior brother Zorro, he once again began his attempt to enchant the blue jaw feather claws.
…
Half a month later, three blue jaw feather claws enchanted with "Sharpness" were Sain's greatest harvest during this period. Of course, in addition to that, Sain also learned from his senior sister Phyl how to make the "dark cooking" nutritional potion. Calling it "dark cooking" was because Sain finally knew what specific ingredients his senior sister Phyl had added during the learning process.
It was fine that there were some black bugs that Sain couldn't name for the time being, but he even saw his senior sister Phyl take out a sticky yellow liquid. When Sain asked what it was, his senior sister Phyl calmly replied: "The saliva of the underground centipede horse."
Sain's ugly expression at that time marked his rich inner feelings. His senior sister Phyl naturally guessed what Sain was thinking. The usually cheerful and outgoing senior sister was the first time to scold Sain with a serious face.
"You don't understand. The inner shell of the black scab bug is rich in energy and is one of the main ingredients of my nutritional potion."
"The saliva of the underground centipede horse has good solubility. Its addition can accelerate the fusion of various ingredients in the potion and extend its shelf life." Senior sister Phyl instructed.
Senior sister Phyl's instructions immediately made Sain straighten up. Indeed, whether it was the dark and eerie little bugs or the disgusting horse saliva, they were just appearances. As a mage, Sain should not be deceived by appearances. He should see through the appearance and point directly to the essence of things.
Just like when dealing with specimens, what appeared before Sain was no longer a corpse, but a treasure trove of knowledge related to life and bloodline. Only with such an attitude could Sain truly be called a truth seeker and go further in the future.
Senior sister Phyl's instructions influenced Sain for a long time thereafter. Even many years later, when Sain recalled these words, he still felt that they were indeed the golden words of the spellcaster group in the wizarding world.
…
"I think the shell of the black scab bug can be replaced with the roots of the sugar thorn grass. Their properties are similar and both have high energy."
"As for the saliva of the underground centipede horse, I think the juice of green plum or the Elan water I mix can replace it."
"Of course, this is just my initial idea. Whether it can work or not still needs to be tested in practice."
"The mentor said that even a small change in the formula ingredients, or changes in dosage and temperature, may cause significant deviations in the final reagent." In the fat Bos's shop, Melly timidly said to Sain.
At this time, the deadline for Sain's next college mandatory task was getting closer and closer. Sain came to fat Bos's place today to purchase some low-level materials and happened to meet Melly who also came here.
After chatting with Melly about her recent situation, Sain casually mentioned the nutritional potion. After all, Melly was a legitimate potion apprentice, while his senior sister Phyl was just a latecomer. In terms of professionalism, she might not even be as good as Melly, who was only a low-level apprentice.
Sure enough, after a few words of conversation, Sain got this surprising answer. Sain's slightly surprised straight gaze made Melly's face blush.
Before Sain could say anything, Melly took the initiative to say: "After I assist the mentor with these few potion experiments, I'll help you look at how to improve the formula."
Melly's response finally made Sain snap back to his senses. Sain waved his hand and said, "No need, no need. This nutritional potion can be used as long as it works. Its taste and specific formula are secondary."
"Rather, Melly, you should spend some time and energy on cultivation. I remember your mental power value is only 17 points now, right?" Sain asked.
Melly had helped Sain a lot, and those two potions last time had almost saved his life. Therefore, Sain had also given her a lot of feedback during this period. In addition to tutoring Melly on fire element-related knowledge during his spare time from experiments and studies, Sain had also lent her his crystal ball several times.
Melly's initial mental power was as high as 13 points, but after several years, it had only increased by four points. This cultivation speed was relatively slow in the Black Magic Academy. Fortunately, Melly's foundation was extremely high. Some apprentices were already in their twenties, and their mental power points were still in the teens, with almost no chance of advancing to intermediate apprentice.
But at Melly's age of fifteen, 17 mental power points were enough to give her a 70% chance of advancing to intermediate apprentice. On the contrary, fat Bos, who lacked talent and wasn't particularly diligent, was a problem as to whether he could advance to intermediate apprentice before the age of 30.