**Chapter 14: Tasks**

All eyes turned to the source. An apprentice lay on the floor, his worktable a mess of scattered metal fragments.

He hadn’t used gold but some hard, unstable metal. Under erratic mental guidance, it had violently warped and exploded.

Worse, some fragments had embedded into his arm and face!

These shards didn’t stay on the surface but, like living things, “grew” and “fused” into his flesh amid his agonized screams.

Clearly, the reckless apprentice had unintentionally imbued the metal with flesh-corroding properties during Alchemy.

Clark’s face darkened. He strode over but didn’t immediately help.

He coldly eyed the writhing, wailing apprentice and the metal burrowing into his flesh, a mocking smile on his face.

“Hmph, foolish.” His voice was icy. “How many times did I stress strict safety protocols? No using unknown or unstable materials in basic practice! No attempting dangerous alchemical processes!”

He glanced at the pale, frightened apprentices. “Every year, some fool thinks their smarts and guts will let them soar. This is what happens with subpar mental control! Misguided energy creates monsters that harm others and yourself!”

To the writhing apprentice, he added, “You’ve caused major lab damage and need treatment. That’s 15 credits deducted, to be paid within a month, or plenty of wizards will want an extra test subject!”

Without a gesture, two protrusions appeared on the silver-white metal wall.

Two blobs of liquid-like silver metal hit the floor, twisting into humanoid golems.

“Take this fool to treatment!”

At Clark’s command, the golems’ eyes glowed red. They grabbed the apprentice’s limbs, ignoring his struggles, and hauled him out.

As he thrashed, the metal in his body occasionally broke against the golems, revealing red blood at the fractured surfaces.

The metal’s fusion with his flesh was far deeper than imagined.

This scene shattered any romantic notions the apprentices held about Alchemy.

As a form of wizardry, Alchemy wasn’t just mystery and knowledge—it was a rigorous, dangerous discipline.

“By next class, I expect you to proficiently shape gold!”

The first Alchemy class ended in shock and with assigned homework.

Afterward, the apprentices left the lab with their deformed gold lumps and heavy hearts.

Jie Ming, holding his ugly golden cube, paused at his worktable, struck by an idea.

“I heard that poor guy’s father is an Alchemy wizard. He always acted like he knew Alchemy inside out, so though he chose Potioncraft, he wanted to craft a weapon to impress everyone,” Amy said, appearing beside him.

“Didn’t expect the consequences to be so terrifying.”

Jie Ming snapped back, glancing at her. “What’s your next move?”

“Nothing special. Back to practicing Alchemy. You?”

“Same. Know any good ways to earn credits?”

“For senior apprentices, there are plenty—selling potions, weapons, completing commissions, or submitting research results all earn credits.”

Amy shrugged. “But for us… it’s just grunt work at the workshop for credits. Why, looking to buy something?”

“I’m thinking of renting a lab,” Jie Ming said, not hiding his intent.

He had many secrets, and a private lab was essential for privacy.

Lab rentals weren’t something he could hide from others.

“Though I don’t think you’re reckless, I’ll remind you: for gold practice, your dorm’s enough,” Amy cautioned.

Jie Ming shook his head. “No, I need to test some ideas.”

“Wow, not bad for our batch’s genius! I’m rooting for you!” Amy grinned, patting his shoulder.

She didn’t pry further. In the wizard world, “knowledge” and “inspiration” were precious.

Frowning in thought, Amy offered, “Regular labs are out—way too expensive. But short-term low-tier lab rentals are affordable for apprentices like us.”

“From a cost-benefit angle, low-tier labs aren’t great, but for short-term use, they’re perfect.”

“Where can I find them?” Jie Ming’s interest piqued.

“Every discipline’s first-floor hall has a task area. Check there. Those are academy-certified labs, safer.”

“Thanks.”

After parting with Amy, Jie Ming headed to the Alchemy Workshop’s first-floor hall.

He’d noticed ATM-like machines along the walls earlier, but it was too early then for crowds. Now, they were lined with queues.

A massive bulletin board on the wall listed tasks and credits.

This was the workshop’s daily operation: apprentices earned credits by completing simple tasks.

Tasks varied, but most required some knowledge.

For instance, Jie Ming saw tasks like preparing lab cleaning solutions (requiring basic potion knowledge), crafting standard quartz containers (needing precise Alchemy skills), or charging magical devices (demanding energy conduction basics).

Almost no tasks required zero knowledge, and even these paid meagerly.

Jie Ming frowned at tasks offering just a dozen credits a month. “Looks like these basic tasks won’t cut it for credits… First, I’ll check the cost of a short-term lab rental.”