Volume One: A Novice Steps Out

Chapter 001: The Rich Really Know How to Enjoy Life

The azure sky, an endless plain, warm and dry air.

Sarah Miller... no, it should be Logan Bennett, stood barefoot and alone on the soft earth.

"Wind, stop."

The gentle breeze immediately ceased, and the world fell silent, as if time itself had stopped.

"Let there be a lab table."

A huge marble table burst from the ground, rising to Logan Bennett's waist—neither too high nor too low, just right.

Logan Bennett was already used to this. He tapped the marble tabletop four times with his finger.

"Produce alchemy materials: fresh blood lily bulb, highly refined salmon oil, finely ground malachite powder, and black chicken fungus juice distilled at a low temperature of 70°C."

Light and shadow flickered continuously on the marble table, and the four materials appeared from the void, each placed neatly on the tabletop.

"Thoroughly squeeze the blood lily bulb. Once the crimson juice appears, mix in the salmon oil, stir for five minutes, filter out the residue to obtain blood-colored salmon oil... Add malachite powder to the blood-colored salmon oil, shake quickly... Oh no!"

Before he finished speaking, the crimson solution began to boil violently, spewing thick red smoke, with faint flashes of dark green fire flickering within.

Logan Bennett failed to dodge in time and was choked by the smoke. His head spun, and he fell backward, his face turning black at a visible speed.

He quickly said, "Remove all materials! Restore physical damage!"

In an instant, the fire, smoke, and all the materials on the table vanished, and Logan Bennett's complexion returned to normal.

The plain was silent again, the sky high, clouds light, and the wind clear.

Logan Bennett plopped down on the soft earth, lowered his head, and pondered, "These are the steps for preparing intermediate enchantment powder. Fiona Carter personally demonstrated it. He succeeded in one try. I copied his process exactly, but I fail every time. What crucial detail am I missing?"

He couldn't figure it out, no matter how hard he tried.

"Review."

Logan Bennett prepared to go through the process step by step to find the reason.

Suddenly, a delicate voice scolded from the sky, "Logan Bennett, you're daydreaming again!"

The tender voice instantly pulled Logan Bennett's wandering mind back to reality.

Logan Bennett slapped his forehead hard. "Crap, I lost track of time again."

He snapped his fingers.

"End simulation, exit the Mind Lab!"

The light and shadows around him shifted rapidly.

The blue sky and white clouds above quickly faded, turning into a low ceiling. The bright sun became a burning whale oil lamp. The vast plain became walls covered in mold. The fresh air was gone, replaced by a pungent smell of smoke.

This was the enchantment room of Boulder Fort.

Calling it an enchantment room was generous—it was really just a small room of less than 20 square meters.

On the east side of the room was a furnace burning with purple flames, called an elemental furnace. Its fire was extremely hot, easily melting steel, and was essential for high-temperature enchantments. On the west side was a long stone table, with a large hollow iron sphere in the center—this was a vacuum enchantment sphere, necessary for vacuum enchantments. Next to the iron sphere were all sorts of odd-looking items: a stone mortar, a hand-cranked solid-liquid separator, a foot-operated shaking platform, and so on—all tools for preparing enchantment materials.

On the south side of the room, near the door, was a multi-layered wooden shelf. On it were at least a hundred kinds of raw materials: bright purple mushrooms, irregular milky-white stones, sparkling blue crystals, colorful animal feathers, and even dried wild boar dung balls.

Standing next to the shelf was a thin, frail girl.

Her face was very pale, her hair dry, and she was less than 1.5 meters tall. She looked so light that a gust of wind could blow her away.

Her name was Vera Smith, considered Logan Bennett's senior apprentice from the same master. She possessed an exceptional talent for enchantment. Not yet sixteen this year, only a year older than Logan Bennett, but her enchantment skills far surpassed his. According to the owner of White Stone Fort, Fiona Carter, Vera Smith already had the level of an intermediate enchanter.

The girl's cheeks puffed up in anger, and her bright black eyes glared 'fiercely' at Logan Bennett: "Logan Bennett, how can you space out during enchantment! Don't you know it's easy to make mistakes like that?"

Logan Bennett rubbed his nose, glanced at the clay ring beside him, and explained, "Actually, I already..."

The girl didn't let him explain at all and shouted, "Don't you know that if you don't finish the enchantment on time, at worst I'll just go hungry for a few meals, but you'll definitely get whipped again! Doesn't it hurt when the whip hits you? If the master happens to be in a bad mood, he could beat you to death! Just like last time, you almost died! If you die... I'll be alone... I'll..."

What started as a stern scolding, as she spoke, the girl's eyes reddened and her voice choked, until she couldn't continue.

Logan Bennett was left speechless.