From Alchemy Apprentice to All-Powerful God King

[Refactoring Master: Optimize existing refactoring recipes and elevate them to a higher level.]

[Activation Requirements: Complete the requirements of Alchemist Bishop Lumir and gain his trust.]

"Alright, the rest of you can go out first. Matthew and I will talk alone for a while."

As Lumière asked him to leave, Matthew realized that the conditions for this new label were about to be introduced.

After the mages left the meeting room, Lumir sat down opposite Matthew, staring intently at him with deep eyes.

After a few minutes of silence, Lumir finally spoke calmly.

"You were the last person to rush in that day, weren't you?"

Upon hearing this, Matthew's heart skipped a beat, and he then pretended not to understand.

"Bishop, what did you say? Charge into where?"

In situations like this, it's best to play dumb and admit nothing.

In any case, Elena would never reveal what happened that day.

Just as Matthew thought, Lumir was indeed guessing, and it must be said that he was quite accurate.

He then shook his head and changed the subject.

Some things are best left unsaid; there's no need to get to the bottom of them.

"It's not important, Matthew. There's something I'd like to ask you to do."

"You said, Bishop."

Here it comes! Matthew felt a little uneasy, wondering what the demands would be.

After all, the label of restructuring was very attractive to him.

"I plan to send Luca to the Empire in a while, and I hope you can go with him."

That's it?

Matthew didn't agree immediately, but hesitated for a moment before asking.

"Bishop, why didn't you go with him yourself?"

Lumir shook his head.

"I can't leave. This place is close to the border, and I'm the only one who can stand up to the Beast King. This border is far more dangerous than you can imagine."

Originally, he didn't want Luca to return to the Empire, since it was too complicated and chaotic there.

But the arrival of Elena and Lucia made him waver.

Luca is his nephew and also one of the future heirs of the Alchemy Guild. It would be a lie to say he has no ulterior motives.

In this poor and remote town of Val, Luca had no chance of outcompeting the other heirs.

Now that he's about the right age, it's time to send him back.

"Since you just wanted to get out and about, why don't you come with Luca and see the world?"

Lumir continued speaking.

Luca is too naive, and he doesn't trust him to be alone. But having Matthew, a shrewd, capable, and well-known individual, with him is the best option.

Finally, Matthew agreed, and the departure date was set for a week later.

......

Matthew left the guild and, seeing that it was still early, went to the Alchemy Workshop to find Luca, and together they headed to the jade gambling grounds.

"You mean, my uncle wants the two of us to walk all the way to the Empire ourselves?" Luca spat out the water he'd just taken a sip of on the way. "Do you know how far we are from the Imperial city? I think that old man's gone mad!"

How far is it?

Matthew had no idea how big the Möbius Empire he was in was.

Luca explained to him, while gesturing famously in the air with his hands.

"The nearest town to us is Moor City, a ten-day journey away, while the Empire is at least a hundred times that distance away!"

"So far?" Matthew was surprised. He thought it would take at most ten days or so to get there, but it turned out they couldn't even reach a town.

Of course, he was referring to walking speed; those with superpowers would definitely be much faster.

If you use special magical insects to make travel tools, such as vehicles or boats, it will be even faster.

Looking at it this way, it seems that getting your hands on this new label won't be so easy.

Soon, the two arrived outside the jade gambling site.

Before we even got close, we could hear a cacophony of shouts and the sounds of haggling.

Outside the jade gambling market, dozens of carriages were parked neatly, with various goods displayed in front of them, including magic stones, disposable magic insects, and even several first-tier magic insects in front of the carriage at the very front.

"Oh, by the way, you haven't been out these past few days, so you wouldn't know, but this is a caravan that came to our town to do business."

Luca led Matthew to a carriage where jade was being gambled on.

"Hey, you two, want to try your luck? We're partnered with a jade gambling market, so we're honest and fair!"

Hearing the stall owner's words, Matthew, who had originally wanted to give it a try, immediately lost interest.

But he pretended not to know and casually picked up a piece to weigh it in his hand.

[Gravel: None...]

[An ordinary stone that has been soaked in a magic potion.]

Price: 1

Sure enough... just like the ones in the jade gambling market, they're all fake.

"Boss, don't you have any good stuff? These are too cheap."

Matthew tossed the gray whetstone in his hand, squatted down to the side, and whispered to the boss, his face saying, "You know what I'm talking about."

Seeing this, the boss also tilted his head to look at him, and a smile gradually appeared on his face.

"Brother, you know your stuff."

Matthew didn't say it explicitly, but the boss understood immediately. Only Luca, standing to the side, looked completely bewildered, not knowing what they were talking about.

Soon, the boss took a basket of star stones from the carriage and placed it heavily on the ground.

"Why didn't you bring out the good stuff earlier? Making us pick through these worthless stones makes people think we can't afford it." Luca got excited when he saw this.

He doesn't have many hobbies, except for gambling on stones.

"Not at all, good things should be given to those who know their value. Please, you two." The shopkeeper pushed the star-shaped stone basket in front of the two men, his smile growing even wider.

However, the smile gradually froze and turned into a bitter smile.

Matthew touched every single starstone in the basket, then quickly put it down. In the end, he picked out two of the least noticeable ones from among dozens.

In Luca's eyes, this behavior was simply reckless; he didn't take any of the other good ones, but instead chose the two worst ones.

But in the boss's eyes, this was undoubtedly an expert, who picked out all the magic stones that he had faked and stuffed into the magic insects beforehand.

I had no choice but to bite the bullet and speak.

"Young man, is this your first time picking? You look like a novice. You don't know how to pick as well as the young man next to you. Let me help you choose two."

Having said that, he reached out to snatch back the two he had picked out.

Before he could even touch it, Matthew took two steps back.

"No need, I like to be different, just these two." He then took out the gold coins and placed them on the table.

Seeing this, the shop owner immediately became unhappy: "I'm not selling it anymore, give it back to me!"

The guy across from me is obviously here to cause trouble, specifically targeting his fakes. He's either a competitor trying to sabotage me, or he knows some inside information and wants to take advantage of me.

"Aren't you supposed to be honest and fair to everyone? How can you do business like this!" Matthew retorted, raising his voice.

"You! This is my stuff. I can sell it if I want, or I can not sell it if I don't!" The shop owner was also an impatient person. He stepped out of the stall, and magic was brewing around him.

"I think you're just here to cause trouble!" he said, and tried to forcibly take it back.

The sounds of arguing immediately attracted the attention of those around them.

Just as the conflict was about to erupt, a sharp female voice came from the carriage at the front of the caravan.

"Miles, that's enough. Stop being unreasonable!"

Then, a woman wearing a jacket got out of the car and walked towards them with a serious expression.