6 Fros (1/2)

While Raymond's mind was in a mess, Lin Yun had found a few cat's eye gems hidden behind the box, so he looked around some more. After making sure that he hadn't missed anything, he called out to Raymond, ”Come help me.”

He didn't wait for Raymond's answer and just took a few gems that were relatively pure before walking out.

As he was left behind, Raymond felt stunned. 'You think I'll help just because you asked me for it? Am I your friend?'

'Besides, you dare to ask a great mage like me to help you work with such cheap magic materials? Are you joking? Do you think a mage is someone you can hire in the streets for a few coppers?'

Raymond entered the Gilded Rose while full of complaints.

”Let's agree on something! Don't look for me for troublesome things, I can't waste mana like this, don't think that a mage can spend mana so casually. The mana that we mages use isn't something that an apprentice like you can imagine… Hey! Are you listening to me?”

After Raymond complained for a while, he realized that he hadn't gotten an answer yet so he looked over to see what was going on.

He was instantly startled.

”Fuck! What are you doing? Stop! Quick!”

When Raymond glanced over, he noticed Lin Yun shaking a test tube that contained a thick, red liquid inside. It was definitely red coral solution. When Raymond saw this, he immediately paled in fright. Red coral solution was known to be very unstable. High temperature or agitation could make it emit fierce magic fluctuations, and those were very frightening. The effect was completely disproportionate to the cheap price of the red coral. If such a thing happened, then let alone this laboratory, even all of Gilded Rose might be leveled.

That was a destructive power that eluded the control of the mages. It was dangerous, powerful, and unpredictable.

Over thousands of years, who knew how many people had tried to take advantage of that power... Countless sages fell one after the other, hoping to grasp that explosive power within their hands. But regretfully, the red coral was a problem that nobody had managed to solve, despite countless efforts in the past millennia. Those fallen sages either died or became disabled after their accidents.

In the last hundred years, the red coral solution had even become a taboo of alchemy. Any alchemy apprentice would be repeatedly warned by their teacher that there were many ways to handle red coral, but that they absolutely couldn't dissolve it into a solution.

Red coral in its solid state could only be considered a mediocre magic material. Compared to typical magic conductors, it could only release weak mana for two to three days. These two properties made it so that red coral could only be considered a low-tier magic conductor.

Moreover, the production of red coral had always been high, and supply often exceeded demand. Thus, the price had always been very low, making it one of the cheapest magic materials in Noscent.

But once it was dissolved into a solution...

Knowing all this, the blood drained out of Raymond's voice. He was afraid to physically stop the maniac in case it caused him to drop the test tube, which would be disastrous. His voice even shook as he repeated, ”Didn't you hear? I told you to stop… Fuck, what are you doing!?”

Raymond's words were cut short because after that scoundrel was done shaking the test tube, he went even further to court death by igniting a small lamp and holding the test tube above the flame.

'If I don't stop him, it'll definitely cause a disaster!'

Thinking of the frightening explosion that could erupt from the red coral solution, sweat dripped down from Raymond's forehead. Raymond instantly cast a Frost spell, putting great effort into shortening the incantation and the somatic component, which sharply increased the consumption of mana. In a flash, a third of the mana within Raymond's body was used up. To a mage, this was like losing half his life.

But that would be better than losing his whole life. After consuming so much mana, the speed and power of the Frost spell were far greater than usual. Almost at the same time that the spell was cast, the empty laboratory was filled with a bone-piercing chill. It was immediately followed by a spiralling blue light, and the lamp was extinguished.

And that wasn't all. After the lamp stopped burning, that blue light seemed to spread crazily like grasping vines. It reached out to the test tube of red coral solution and Lin Yun's right hand, freezing it all in place.

”Fortunately, nothing happened…” Raymond was still shaking as he wiped his cold sweat. That scene had been far too frightening, if he had been a few seconds too late, the entire alchemy laboratory might have already exploded. 'That scoundrel is too reckless, it doesn't matter if you want to play with red coral, but don't involve me…'