บท 51: CH51
Helag held the wooden plate, feeling the coldness in his body dissipate, and his magic flow became smooth again.
Ribbit! Ribbit!
The toad crawled closer, and as it approached, Shivara's face showed fear.
The toad reached Helag's feet, looking up and croaking at him.
Helag didn't understand what it wanted but sensed it meant no harm.
The toad sniffed the air human-like, then turned its gaze to Shivara.
Shivara's black hair stood on end, as if electrified.
Ribbit!
The toad croaked again and started crawling towards Shivara, who began retreating in terror.
Shivara crawled away quickly, losing its earlier slow pace.
The toad, however, moved forward steadily, eyes locked on Shivara.
Suddenly, Helag's surroundings turned black and white, with all plants and trees losing their color.
In a blink, the toad had swallowed Shivara whole, with only a strand of black hair desperately trying to escape its mouth.
Cracks appeared in the space around Helag, like shattered glass.
The toad looked back at Helag and croaked.
A gentle breeze blew, bringing the scent of forest flora and the sound of insects chirping nearby.
Helag looked around and saw that the plants had regained their color, no longer a black-and-white world.
"This place…" Helag realized he was standing where he had first noticed the anomaly.
He ran to where Luen and his men had been devoured but found no trace of them, not even the three human skins.
"Pity, Luen probably had some good stuff on him," Helag thought, initially planning to search their bodies.
But he reconsidered, feeling lucky just to have escaped.
The strange toad, the mysterious Shivara, and the bizarre space left Helag puzzled and full of questions.
He looked at the wooden plate in his hand, now back to its normal state, no longer glowing yellow.
"The hexagonal tower depicted here… what exactly is it?"
Helag had searched the first floor of the Moonlight Woodland library for related information but found nothing about the Six-Ring Tower.
He wasn't sure if Moonlight Woodland had no records or if the information was on higher library floors he couldn't access.
Putting aside his questions, Helag quickly left Moonlight Forest.
He decided not to return for a while, unsure why Shivara had appeared. Being a creature from the Abyssal Plane, it was strange for it to chase three Green Cottage wizards.
Moreover, Luen and his men had died on Moonlight Woodland's territory.
Wizards had many ways to find out where they disappeared, and Moonlight Woodland would have a hard time explaining their deaths, likely leading to more conflict with Green Cottage.
Moonlight Forest, being the border area, would become chaotic, and as a first-class apprentice, Helag didn't want to get involved.
Returning to Moonlight Woodland, Helag first went to the administration hall to exchange his 170 Sleeping Mushrooms for magic stones.
Andrew, still at the counter, was surprised to see Helag with so many mushrooms.
He gave Helag a strange look, seeming to want to say something but didn't.
It wasn't until Helag left with seventeen magic stones that Andrew muttered, "Could he have killed them…"
***
Helag wandered around town and found an herb shop.
The shopkeeper, a middle-aged man with a turban, was placing a basket of herbs outside to dry in the good weather.
"Do you have Dittany leaves, beetroot, and golden bellflower?" Helag asked.
The shopkeeper smiled, "You can just ask for the Dittany Healing Potion ingredients. Two magic stones per set."
After chatting, Helag learned that common potion ingredients were often sold in sets, not individually.
The ingredients for Dittany Healing Potion cost two magic stones, while the finished product sold for five.
If he succeeded in making each potion, he'd earn three magic stones per set.
Dittany Healing Potion was in high demand and easy to sell.
Five magic stones were expensive for most apprentices, but the potion was essential.
It could heal most common injuries, a must-have for wizards frequently on missions.
With Moonlight Forest off-limits, Helag needed a new source of magic stones.
Many tasks were too dangerous for him, so he considered other ways to earn magic stones.
He decided that potion-making could be a profitable alternative.
For others, potion-making had a low success rate unless they specialized in it.
They wouldn't consider it a reliable income source, often ending up with losses.
But with Deep Blue's assistance, Helag could significantly increase his success rate.
"Ten sets of Dittany Healing Potion ingredients, please," Helag said, spending all twenty-two of his magic stones on the materials.
The shopkeeper was surprised, "Ten sets? Sure."
He guessed Helag intended to make money from potions, a common attempt among apprentices, though most failed.
But he didn't mention this, happy to make a sale.
After buying the ingredients, Helag went to the flea market for second-hand cauldrons, test tubes, beakers, scales, and other potion-making tools.
These were cheap, and Helag bought two sets for a gold coin.
Back home, he cleaned a room to use as his potion lab.
From his space ring, he took out a yellow ear and chanted a few syllables.
The ear floated up, moving around the room.
Its ear canal had strong suction, cleaning the room of dust and debris.
This tool, called a Cleansing Ear, was commonly used by wizards for cleaning.
No one knew where the absorbed items went; once sucked in, they were gone forever. So, valuable items had to be put away first.
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