Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

Seeing the intense interest that Shamman showed in the materials Has had brought, Shar pursed his lips. The next moment, his eyes shifted, and he reminded Shamman in a timely manner, "Lord Shamman, it's getting late. You should leave now, Miss Caroline is waiting for you. Maybe... you should put the materials away for now and study them when you get back?"

Shamman blinked at Shar's words, and it dawned on him that he had "serious business" to attend to. He turned his head to look at Shar and then at the materials in the box, hesitating.

After hesitating for a moment, he made a decision.

He was a person who very much enjoyed his pleasures, so he understood a principle well: Blindly pursuing enjoyment without any reason is not sustainable. To enjoy pleasures on a long-term basis, one must understand how to restrain one's heart and give up short-term gratification at times.

The current materials seemed very abnormal, and he should stay to study them rather than go out to enjoy himself.

"Sigh—"

Taking a deep breath, Shamman turned to Shar and instructed, "Shar, go out for a moment and tell Caroline that I can't make it tonight. Tell her not to wait for me. Tomorrow, I will visit her."

"Are you sure you want to do this, my lord?" Shar asked in surprise.

Shamman glared slightly and said, "I've decided, now go!"

"Yes." Shar shrank his neck and dared not say more, quickly leaving the room.

Has watched Shar leave, his lips curling up almost imperceptibly, a hint of smugness on his face.

At that moment, Shamman picked up the wooden box on the table and strode towards a secret chamber on the side of the room, saying to Has, "Has, come with me and help me identify this thing."

"Yes, my lord!" Has replied promptly, a burst of unexpected joy in his voice. He followed Shamman, pushed open a heavy iron door, and entered the secret chamber.

Upon entering the secret chamber, one could see it was filled with numerous wooden racks and tables topped with a large array of tools such as scales, long-handled medicine spoons, brushes, magnifying glasses, carving knives, and more.

In addition, there were many potions of red, orange, yellow, green, and other colors, for purposes unknown.

This was Wizard Shamman's private research lab, as well as the assurance of his livelihood.

As a First Rank Low Order wizard without much talent, under normal circumstances, it would be very difficult for him to earn enough Gold Coins to enjoy a lifestyle that could be deemed luxurious.

However, Shamman's age had given him exceptional insights, and he had learned quite a lot about antiques, plants, biology, and art from some old teachers in his youth, which made him quite authoritative in the field of identification.

Therefore, he was able to open a shop selling various rare items and had managed to join a secret yet powerful organization, securing protection in terms of safety.

This was an aspect of himself that he took pride in.

...

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Footsteps sounded as Shamman walked into the secret chamber he hadn't frequented in a long time. Looking at the many tools, he suddenly felt sentimental. He turned to Has and said, "Has, do you remember last year when you were here learning identification knowledge with me?"

"Yes." Has bowed his head in response.

"What a pity," Shamman sighed. "Your talent isn't good enough. After learning with me for so long, you still can't work independently. I could only send you to help out in the shop."

"I'm sorry, my lord, for letting you down," Has said guiltily.

"Never mind," Shamman waved his hand dismissively. "You've tried your best, but there's no forcing talent. By the way, do you remember the assistance you provided me in identification? The tasks I assigned to you?"

"I remember."

"Good, this time help me with the preparation for identification."

"Yes." Has responded and walked to a table in the secret chamber, beginning to arrange a series of tools. His movements were somewhat rusty, but he made no mistakes with his careful approach.

Shamman, seeing that Has had finished the preparations, made no comment and started the identification process following specific procedures.

He took a little of the black powder from the box with a long-handled medicine spoon, placed it into a transparent glass bottle, added clear water to dissolve it, divided it into more than ten parts, and processed each differently.

The first portion was boiled over a fire, cooled, and then mixed with a purple powdered substance to observe the reaction.

The second portion was diluted with more clear water and mixed with a yellow liquid for observation.

The third was chilled with magic until it solidified and then was poured into a red liquid. Then he sequentially added green, blue, and black liquids to observe the reaction...

The fourth portion, the fifth, the sixth...

With each step, Shamman recorded the corresponding reactions, his brows knitting tightly and his gaze growing increasingly somber.

For the last portion, Shamman took it to a corner separately. Opening an iron box, he took out a small bottle of golden liquid and carefully added a drop to the solution of the casting materials.

As soon as the drop fell in, a mass of bubbles appeared in the solution, churning up and down, nearly boiling, and only calmed down after a long while. The color had turned deep red.

"Deep red? This phenomenon seems like..."

Shamman stared at the liquid for a while before turning to take his notes from the shelf. After flipping through them, he found a record from many years ago.

"Reacting with Mankela Flower Liquid can result in various reactions. If the final color is deep red, it indicates that the material contains a rich death aura, specifically used for Undead Magic casting materials..."

Shamman murmured the content to himself, his eyes narrowed sharply. Suddenly turning to Has, he asked pensively, "Did the client who consigned this item mention where they came from?"

"They didn't specify, just mentioned that they came from a small city to the south," Has replied. "So they won't stay in Delan for long and hope that I can sell their consigned goods quickly.

"The south, could it be Jialan City? Then, Death Magic, casting materials, wouldn't it be..." Shamman's eyes whirled, thinking of the rumors he'd heard within the organization. His lips puckered slightly as his brain rapidly connected the dots.

After long contemplation, he had several guesses about the truth. Excluding the most dangerous one as being too unlikely, the others could all be true.

Which one it was would require further investigation.

If he were lucky, he might gain enough benefit from this to enjoy the rest of his days without worry.

Then...

"I need to meet them in person," Shamman murmured.

Looking at Has again, he asked, "Has, can you contact them?"

"They did leave a contact method, saying that if there's a buyer for their consigned goods, to contact them immediately."

"Good, contact them right away. I want to meet with them, and they can set the time."

"Uh, yes, my lord."