Above the mage

Chapter 172 Regret

Green Bud Month, 6th.

After leaving the first-level training room, Gao De paid another 20 gold coins at the counter to extend his training room usage time by forty hours.

The price to pay is that savings that had just broken into triple digits three months ago have now fallen to the warning line of 41 gold and 18 silver.

Even when he was in dire financial straits, Gao De never considered cutting back on the fixed daily expenditure of 10 silver coins for the training room.

The good news is that there will be an extra income coming in today.

After leaving the cultivation building, Gao De headed straight for the committee's small building.

After swiping my ID badge, I entered the building, went up to the second floor, and arrived at Master Ral's office.

He gently knocked on the carved wooden door, and the door opened in response.

As soon as Gao De stepped through the door, the monk La'er, who was sitting behind a long table in the office, stood up warmly and led Gao De to the reception area on the side.

As if welcoming a distinguished guest, he personally picked up the kettle and brewed a cup of fragrant black tea for Gao Dechong.

Gao De took the exquisite porcelain cup with intricate patterns, symbolically took a small sip, and noticed the aroma of tea bursting in his mouth. The taste was mellow yet delicate, with a hint of sweetness.

The taste was even better than the tea he had at Gerica's house.

"Good tea." Gao De's mind raced, but he politely praised it aloud.

"Queen's Tea, a top-quality tea that costs 3 gold per pound," Master Lal introduced.

Such high-level treatment made Gaode frown inwardly.

He didn't think that as a member of the academy committee, Master Lal needed to be so polite and enthusiastic towards him.

They certainly wouldn't believe that it was their achievements that impressed Master Lal.

As the saying goes, "Those who offer unsolicited favors are either treacherous or thieves."

Gao De had a vague sense of unease, but he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he pretended to be flattered.

Master Lal glanced at God, hesitated for a moment, then took out a money pouch from his robes and handed it to God.

Gao De took the money bag, and immediately sensed something was wrong when he weighed it.

He untied the drawstring and looked inside again, his eyes filled with golden light.

The purse was full of gold coins. Although the amount could not be seen at a glance, it was obviously more than 20 gold coins, probably around 100 gold coins.

"Committee Member Lar, this?" Gao De asked hesitantly.

According to the original transaction details, before returning the "Water of Ascension", the mage Ral only needed to pay 20 gold coins per year.

The mage, Lal, said somewhat awkwardly:

"There was a slight problem with our last deal."

"Triff failed to advance to the first-ring mage level after consuming the Ascension Water, but he has accumulated some foundation and experience. He will definitely succeed if he tries again. Therefore, he needs another dose of Ascension Water."

"Look, could you transfer the portion of the Spirit-Ascending Water that I promised to return to you to me directly?"

"But don't worry, when you reach the third-level mage apprentice level and are preparing to advance to the first-level mage, I will definitely do my best to help you apply for the Spirit Ascension Water from the academy."

"I've heard that you, Yulan, and Gerika were named the three geniuses of this year's new students."

"With this foundation, and with my help, applying for the Ascension Water will definitely not be a problem."

Master Lal rubbed his hands awkwardly, seemingly still a little embarrassed about the matter.

Upon hearing this, Gao De showed no change in expression.

Seeing Gao De's attitude, Master La'er quickly added:

"Here's 100 gold. The [Acquire a Familiar] spell recipe and potion I gave you last time are also worth about 100 gold on the market."

"I'm offering you 200 gold for a bottle of Ascension Water. I'm being very generous; I'm not trying to rip you off."

Gao De suddenly laughed and replied, "Committee Member Lall, what are you saying? As a member of the academy, how could you possibly betray a student?"

"Since you need this Spirit-Ascending Water, I can transfer it to you. I don't need it right now and I'm not in a hurry. As for this, I don't need it."

With a broad smile, Gao De handed the money bag back to Master Lal, saying, "Consider it a token of my respect from your student."

"That won't do!" Committee member Lal wasn't pleased with Gao De's "helpful" approach; instead, his expression hardened, adopting a righteous demeanor. "As a member of the academy committee, how could I possibly take advantage of a student like this?"

As he spoke, he "slightly angrily" pushed away the hand that Gao De was offering him with the money bag.

Gao De's smile faltered slightly, then he "sincerely" explained, "Committee Member Lars misunderstood me."

"What I meant to say is that, as a student, my most important task is to learn and practice magic. If possible, Master, you could just give me one or two rare magic recipes."

Upon hearing Gao De's words, the mage Ral's slightly angry expression softened. After thinking for a moment, he nodded slightly and said, "I do indeed possess some rare magic tricks, but as you know, most spell recipes are not allowed to be passed on to outsiders."

These are the rules; you can ignore them privately, but you must abide by them publicly.

"However, there is indeed a rare spell recipe that belongs to me, which I can pass on to you."

As he spoke, Master Lal stood up, opened a small cabinet in the room that was locked with a secret lock, took out a booklet with a brand-new cover, and handed it to God.

"You can only learn this yourself; you are not allowed to share it with anyone else." He then gave the instructions as usual.

"As for the 100 gold coins, you should keep them. There are many places in the academy where you will need money."

"I understand, thank you very much, Commissioner Lal." Gao De took the copy of the spell formula, which was clearly an excerpt from the original, and said "thank you".

"This is nothing, let's settle it like this." With the matter that had been bothering him resolved, Master Ral was in a good mood.

Gao De immediately took his leave, knowing the situation was right.

After Gao De left, the smile on the mage's face vanished instantly, replaced by a gloomy expression. He remained silent for a long time before muttering:

"Since they're already actively asking me for more benefits, they probably won't do one thing to my face and another to report me."

He sighed again: "Triff, I've gone to such lengths for you, even sacrificing my dignity, to deal with a new recruit like this. Don't disappoint me again."

Thinking about it, Master Lal pursed his lips again, slightly annoyed. "This kid is quite capable, he's made a name for himself in the academy, so I can't just dismiss him too easily."

Even if he has no talent whatsoever, his mentor is still that guy He west, so I can't go too far."

"Fortunately, he's someone who knows when to advance and retreat, not stubborn."

Gao De was quite calm after leaving the committee.

Firstly, he was mentally prepared for the other party to "renege" when he first made the deal with the mage.

Later, after learning from Sadie that Master Ral's apprenticeship had failed, she had long anticipated this day would come.

Secondly, he understood that even if he threw a tantrum and argued with Mage Ral, the most likely outcome would be that he still wouldn't get what he deserved, and he would be resented by Committee Member Ral in the future.

While Committee Member Lal may suffer a loss of reputation, he will ultimately not suffer any loss.

Therefore, when Master Lal went back on his word, his first reaction was not anger, but rather thinking about how to maximize his benefits.

The retreat I just made was for this purpose.

Sure enough, in addition to the 100 gold coins, I also obtained a rare magic recipe.

In the blink of an eye, Gao De had already opened the spell recipe given to him by Committee Member Lal.

(End of this chapter)