From Alchemy Apprentice to All-Powerful God King

Early the next morning.

Matthew had planned to rest for a day to alleviate the aftereffects of overusing his abilities, but he was told to go to the Alchemy Workshop immediately.

Not only him, but also the other alchemists in Val.

Outside the Hunter's Guild's Alchemy Workshop, dozens of alchemists had gathered, all of whom had been summoned by their mentors.

I vaguely heard some kind of summons, or something about a knight squad.

Before Matthew even got close to the crowd, Flynn, who had been waiting for a long time, called him into the Alchemy Workshop.

"Professor Flynn, what happened?"

In his memory, there had never been such a situation before. He could only see alchemists in the guild on a rare occasion, since they had all gotten rid of their apprentice status and could earn more money outside.

Flynn did not answer him directly, but instead asked about the progress of the formula.

"Matthew, I heard the explosion outside town yesterday was you testing your new formula? How's it going? Any progress? Do you need my help?"

Hearing what the other person said, Matthew was taken aback at first. Yesterday, only the goddess and the other two knights should have known. But then he thought that there was no point in hiding this kind of thing. Their help in spreading the word only confirmed that the disappearance of the others last night had nothing to do with him.

But seeing Flynn's hypocritical expression, Matthew scoffed inwardly. He was only pretending to care; he was just trying to get information out of her.

"It's not quite right. The new formula is still not very stable and we need to change the materials. But don't worry, mentor, I've already found replacement materials."

"I see. It's alright, take your time. We can wait on the recipe. You know that the knight squad is going to start hunting down the alien beasts on the border these next few days, right?"

As Flynn spoke, Matthew immediately thought of the rumors he had overheard last week when he sneaked into the jade market.

But what does this have to do with him?

Seeing Matthew nod, Flynn continued, though his expression was somewhat helpless.

"This matter originally had nothing to do with you, after all, you are a newly promoted alchemist, but the knight squad specifically requested that you go over and help."

"help?"

For a moment, they both thought of the same person.

Leon.

"It must be that young Knight Leon. You took first place in the assessment last time, so he deliberately called you over this time."

With a pained expression, Flynn pulled out a demonic insect. If he could, he really didn't want Matthew to go over there, but since the knights had specifically requested it, they couldn't refuse.

"These are fire bees, and their power is no less than that of ordinary first-tier magical insects. The young knight is reckless. If you encounter danger, just use them. The Alchemist will always be behind you."

He didn't say whether the danger was to humans or to the strange beasts, but both of them knew the answer.

Matthew took the bee-like, fiery red, one-time-use magical insect, raising an eyebrow. He hadn't expected to get something so good from Flynn; it seemed Flynn was genuinely afraid of losing the formula if he died.

Flynn then subtly mentioned that demonic insects often infest the bodies of strange beasts, and if there was no danger, one could try to collect the corpses; with luck, one might encounter weakened demonic insects.

Even if there are no living ones, their alchemy workshop will still accept the dead ones.

......

"One gold coin at a time, compared to the jade gambling market, you're really ripping people off."

Matthew walked out of the alchemy workshop, feeling disdainful. At least one stone in a gambling quarry was worth five gold coins, while Flynn made four coins in a single transaction.

It's true that the more unscrupulous a person is, the more money they make. No wonder my label as an unscrupulous businessman doesn't have any levels; I'm just too kind.

Matthew sighed as he walked out of the guild.

However, the next moment, he stopped and turned to look at a familiar face in the alchemist crowd. His expression became playful, and then he walked into the crowd.

Luca, who had been chatting away in the crowd, looked somewhat embarrassed when he caught sight of Matthew walking towards him out of the corner of his eye, and immediately tried to turn around and leave.

But before he could leave, a large hand landed on his shoulder.

"What a coincidence, Luca, you're here too."

"Ha...haha, Matthew, I heard you were also selected to go to the border. That kid Leon must be holding a grudge. You'd better watch out."

Luca tried to change the subject, but Matthew interrupted him.

"What did you call me?"

Immediately, all the alchemists around turned to look at them.

Luca is the alchemist bishop's nephew, and almost everyone in the guild knows him. Yet Matthew, a newly promoted alchemist from apprentice, dares to speak to him like that.

This immediately attracted everyone's attention and curiosity. Most importantly, Luca was not angry at all; instead, he became coy.

After waiting a moment, Luca, having mentally prepared himself, went all out and shouted.

"Big brother."

When Luca spoke, all the alchemists nearby were dumbfounded.

"What did he just call Matthew?"

"Did I hear that right? Why is Luca calling Matthew 'big brother'?"

However, Luca quickly reverted to his usual self, saying nonchalantly, "I, Luca, am a man of my word. From now on, I'll call you 'Big Brother,' and you'll teach me how to gamble on stones, how about that?"

Matthew looked at him with some surprise. He had originally come to join in the fun, find out some information, and also to tease him.

Unexpectedly, Luca openly admitted it and even shouted it out.

"Let's talk about it later."

"No way, I'm going to the border anyway, let's discuss our experiences."

"I was just lucky, a blind cat stumbled upon a dead mouse."

"You're kidding me! After you left yesterday, I opened the magic stone you picked out, and there was a dead magic worm inside! You must have a secret!"

Hearing Luca's words, Matthew finally realized why the stone servant had found him yesterday.

The two chatted as they left the guild and headed towards the border, leaving a group of alchemists bewildered in the plaza.

On the road to the border outside the town, Luca pestered Matthew, asking him about the secrets of gambling on stones.

"Do you have some kind of ability, like being able to see if there are any demonic insects inside a magic stone?"

"No, I already said it was luck."

Matthew paused for a moment, then resumed walking normally.

Along the way, Luca asked him no less than a dozen questions. Although they were all wildly imaginative, it must be said that some of them actually made sense.

Seeing that he was about to speak, Matthew cut him off first.

"I'd better avoid places like jade gambling markets in the future; there aren't many good people there..."

As for the second half of the sentence, he didn't say it. If it weren't for his status as an alchemist bishop, he would have been buried in some unknown corner long ago.

Luca, however, disagreed, believing that Matthew was afraid of losing to him next time and dared not go.

"After this campaign is over, let's go on another gamble! If you're scared, you can call me 'Big Brother'."

Matthew ignored him, and before they knew it, they had reached the border, the knight squad's encampment.

There are already quite a few alchemists here, but only four or five knights are visible to the naked eye; the rest are mostly ability users from the Hunter's Guild.

As soon as the two entered the camp, the middle-aged knight spotted them and walked over, looking puzzled.

Logically speaking, one was the alchemist bishop's nephew, and the other was Matthew, who was preparing the formula. It shouldn't be their turn at all, so he asked.

"Who sent you two?"

Seeing this, Matthew and Luca both looked at Leon, who was sitting not far away, resting against a tree trunk.