Everyone's attention was drawn over. An apprentice lay on the ground amidst a chaotic workbench, with various metal fragments scattered all around.
It seemed he was attempting to shape not gold, but some hard and unstable metal. Under the uncontrolled guidance of his Spiritual Power, it underwent a terrible deformation and even exploded.
Even more terrifying, some of the metal fragments directly embedded themselves into the apprentice's arm and face!
The fragments didn't just stay on the surface, but like living creatures, they "grew" and "fused" into his flesh little by little amidst his painful screams.
Apparently, this reckless apprentice unknowingly bestowed it with some attribute that corrodes flesh during the alchemy process.
Professor Clark's face instantly darkened. He strode over quickly but didn't immediately render aid.
Looking coldly at the apprentice writhing in pain on the floor and the metal fragments eroding his flesh, he showed a mocking smile.
"Hah, foolishness," Professor Clark's voice was cold as ice, "How many times have I stressed the strict adherence to safety procedures! Never use unknown or unstable materials in basic practice! And absolutely no unauthorized attempts at dangerous alchemy processes!"
He glanced around at the pale-faced apprentices:
"Every year, there are fools like this who, relying on a bit of cleverness and courage, think they can climb to the top in one step. This is what happens when form control fails! Inadequate Spiritual Power control and erroneous Energy guidance will only create monsters that harm oneself and others!"
"As for you..." Clark turned to look at the still-crying apprentice on the ground, "For the serious damage caused to the laboratory and the medical fees, 15 Points will be deducted, to be repaid by the end of next month. Otherwise, there are plenty of wizards who'd love an extra test subject!"
With that, without any apparent action from Professor Clark, two protrusions immediately emerged from the nearby silvery-white metal wall.
Two lumps of silvery-white metal fell to the ground like liquid and quickly twisted into two humanoid Demonic Puppets.
"Take this idiot for treatment!"
Upon Clark's command, the eyes of the two Demonic Puppets lit up with red light and they grabbed the apprentice's hands and feet, completely ignoring his struggles, forcibly carrying him out of the laboratory.
During the struggle, the metal on the apprentice occasionally made contact with the Demonic Puppets' bodies and broke off, and from the fractured metal surface, fresh red blood flowed.
Clearly, the fusion degree of this metal with the apprentice's flesh far exceeded imagination.
And this scene shattered any romantic fantasies the apprentices might have had about alchemy with a harsh reality check.
Alchemy is a form of Witchcraft, not only mysterious and knowledgeable but also a rigorous and dangerous discipline.
"Before the next class, I want to see you proficiently shape gold!"
The first alchemy class ended abruptly amid the fright and the assignments given by the mentor.
After class, the apprentices left the laboratory with their distorted gold pieces and heavy hearts.
Jeming held his ugly Golden Cube, seemingly struck by an idea, and stood by the experiment table, lost in thought.
"I heard that unfortunate one's father is also a wizard of Alchemy, and he always acted knowledgeable about alchemy. So even though he chose Magic Potion, he still intended to craft a weapon that would draw attention." Amy appeared from the side at some point.
"...I didn't expect the consequences to be so frightening."
Jeming snapped back to reality and glanced at Amy, "What are you planning to do next?"
"There's nothing special, surely I'll just continue practicing alchemy back home...how about you?"
"About the same. Can you think of any good way to earn Points?"
"For those senior apprentices, there are many ways; whether it's selling Magic Potions, trading weapons, fulfilling commissions, or submitting academic achievements, all can earn Points rewards."
Amy shrugged, "But for us now...we can only work for the Alchemy Workshop to earn Points. Why? Are you planning to buy something?"
"I have an idea, maybe I need to rent a laboratory." Jeming did not hide his aim.
He had many secrets, and for safety, he surely needed to rent a laboratory to ensure privacy.
And the matter of renting a lab surely couldn't be hidden from others.
"Though I feel you're not one to misjudge priorities, I still have to remind you; if it's purely practicing alchemy with gold, doing it in the dorm is sufficient." Amy gave a reminder.
Jeming shook his head, "No, there's a thought I need to confirm."
"Wow, worthy of being our cohort's alchemy genius, I have high hopes for you!" Amy smiled, patting his shoulder.
She didn't press further, knowing that in the Wizard World, "knowledge" and "inspiration" were immensely valuable things.
After frowning and contemplating for a moment, Amy proposed her idea, "If it's formal laboratories, forget it, the prices are sky-high, but... if it's only temporary rentals for a short period, there are plenty of low-level labs available."
"Cost-effectively speaking, these low-level labs aren't suitable, but for just a short stint, they're perfect for us apprentices."
"Oh? Where can I find these?" Jeming's interest was piqued.
"Each faction's first-floor hall has a task area; you can check there. Those are faculty-approved laboratories, with relatively high safety."
"Thanks."
After bidding Amy farewell, Jeming went straight to the first-floor hall of the Alchemy Workshop.
Previously, he'd noticed many machines resembling ATM machines along the hall walls. When he came early, there weren't many people, but on a second look, lines had already formed in front of those machines.
Jeming saw a huge notice board hung on the wall, detailing all sorts of tasks and Points densely listed on it.
This was the daily operational mode of the workshop, where apprentices needed to complete designated simple tasks to exchange for workshop Points.
The tasks were diverse, but most required a certain level of knowledge.
For instance, several tasks in front of Jeming included preparing cleaning solutions for laboratories, requiring basic magic potion knowledge.
Crafting standard-sized quartz containers needed precise alchemy techniques.
Recharging certain magic devices required understanding basic Energy conduction knowledge...
Besides, there were almost no tasks without knowledge requirements, and even those had very meager rewards.
Looking at tasks that only earned a dozen or so Points a month, Jeming frowned:
"It seems relying on these regular tasks alone won't suffice for earning Points...Better to first check the costs of short-term lab rentals."