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Chapter 57: Three Stages, Madness
Chapter 57: Three Stages, Madness
He carefully tucked the pocket watch into his robes before placing it within arm's reach on his nightstand.
Lying in bed, Luo En recalled the day's achievements, his lips unconsciously curling into a faint smile.
Instinct told him this "Timekeeper's Pocket Watch" was far more complex than its unassuming appearance suggested.
"Timekeeper", he murmured inwardly, slowly closing his eyes and drifting into sleep.
The first wisp of dawn sunlight pierced through the Black Mist Jungle's fog, slanting across the wooden sign of the Herbal Medicine Shop.
Luo En rose early, carefully packing the hard-earned rare ingredients into specially designed containers. The pocket watch's effects left him feeling refreshed and energized despite the previous night's intense training.
Choosing a less crowded path to the shop, he remained vigilant, scanning his surroundings for potential threats. After the recent clash with the Half-Beast mercenaries in Lizard Alley, caution had become second nature.
The bell above the shop door chimed as he entered. Dim lighting bathed the interior, the air thick with the mingled aromas of countless herbs.
To his surprise, Madame Ellen already stood behind the counter, hunched over a wooden cabinet organizing its contents, her long silver hair swaying gently with her movements.
"Come in. I've been waiting for you", she said without looking up, her voice carrying its usual gravelly tone.
"Apologies, madam. I didn't mean to be late", Luo En instinctively apologized, though certain he'd arrived earlier than their scheduled time.
"Late?" Madame Ellen finally lifted her head, emerald-green eyes flickering with rare surprise before returning to their piercing sharpness. "You arrived earlier than usual. I simply arrived even earlier. Isn't it natural for old people to rise early? Stop rushing to apologize, boy. It makes you look weak."
She straightened, her spine making a few soft cracking sounds as she leaned on her cane, studying Luo En with sudden interest. "So? What did you bring me?"
From his robes, Luo En retrieved the carefully wrapped containers, placing each on the counter. Every vessel had been specially treated to prevent contamination or damage during transport.
"The Heart Ash of the Moon Shadow Bat, Crystalline Moss, and the Tongue Moss of the Thirsty Dead", he reported plainly, his voice steady and confident without a hint of self-congratulation.
Madame Ellen's eyebrows lifted slightly, her eyes betraying genuine surprise. Her claw-like fingers selected the crystal vial containing the Heart Ash, holding it to the light like a seasoned jeweler inspecting a suspicious gemstone.
"Excellent quality. Exceptional, even", she rasped approvingly, a rare tone from someone notorious for stingy praise.
She sniffed the contents before demanding, "Where did you get these? And at what cost?"
Luo En briefly recounted his time at Sunset Tavern and Lizard Alley, carefully omitting the final confrontation with the Half-Beast mercenaries.
"Five fragments for Heart Ash of this quality?" Madame Ellen's aged face contorted in disbelief, her wrinkled fingers drumming the counter. "Gray dwarf Ao Tuo agreeing to such a price? He's known to calculate profits down to fractions, even from his own mother's corpse."
"I helped him identify some herbs in exchange", Luo En explained modestly, though his eyes betrayed quiet pride.
"Oh?" Her gaze sharpened like a scalpel dissecting a vital organ. "Your herb identification skills have reached a level Ao Tuo would recognize? That old fox doesn't grant approval lightly."
Her emerald eyes bore into him like an alchemist studying an unpredictable reaction. "From candidate apprentice to this level of herb identification in just months? Your progress is astonishing... even unnatural."
She methodically rechecked all three ingredients with professional precision before storing them safely in a drawer.
"Truthfully, I didn't expect you to gather these so quickly", she said, meeting his gaze with uncharacteristic sincerity. "When I gave you this list, I assumed you'd need at least three months to locate a single component. My plan was to teach you the meditation technique in stages—first the High Apprentice level, then advancing as your strength grew."
Her eyes darkened, as if peering through temporal veils. "But since you've surpassed expectations, I won't hold back. I'll teach you the first two stages of The Murmuring of the Star Devourer—the Initial Stage to High Apprentice section and the High Apprentice breakthrough to Full Mage."
Luo En's heart skipped a beat, his blood surging with exhilaration.
This generosity far exceeded his expectations. He'd anticipated the usual guardedness, yet Madame Ellen offered knowledge typically restricted to lifelong School contract holders.
"Thank you for your generosity, madam", he said sincerely, fully aware her investment in his potential mirrored her earlier mentoring of Holt—calculating, strategic. Beneath their transactional relationship lay mutual understanding: her investments would yield returns, but such clarity created greater trust than hollow kindness.
"Don't thank me yet", she interrupted his thoughts, her expression unusually grave. "The Murmuring of the Star Devourer isn't ordinary meditation. As I mentioned before, it originated from a traveling mage's mad inspiration, containing knowledge that shouldn't exist—truths capable of driving one mad."
Her eyes darkened with an unfamiliar shadow of concern. "The meditation technique has three stages. The first will bring you to High Apprentice proficiency. The second will break through to Full Mage. As for the third stage..."
(End of Chapter)
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