Chapter 48: Purchasing Poison

The subsequent transactions went much more smoothly. Xia Duo could see that most of those purchasing scrolls here for self-preservation were Ordinary Apprentices; there were not many Official Apprentices, and the vast majority of what they bought were merely 1st Circle 【Summon Mount】 scrolls.

A small number also purchased scrolls such as 【Summon Monster】 and 【Mage Armor】.

Looking at it this way, the Army likely did not provide mounts. Of course, Xia Duo preferred to believe these people were preparing to flee, and he could only watch others shop with envy.

He himself had no budget for purchasing spell scrolls; in a word, he was poor!

After some queuing, it was finally Xia Duo's turn.

"I would like to exchange for a learning scroll of 【Arcane Mark】."

The sales Apprentice was once again at a loss and looked toward the grim-faced Mage, but this time the Mage did not scold him; instead, he quickly confirmed Xia Duo's Permission Level with the Tower Spirit and personally retrieved a learning scroll from the sealed shelf behind him to hand to Xia Duo.

He even said, for the first time ever, "Use it well."

Xia Duo hurriedly responded in the affirmative and took the scroll. At the same time, the familiar ethereal, mechanical voice of the Tower Spirit sounded in Xia Duo's ear: "Apprentice Xia Duo, exchanged for one 【Arcane Mark】 learning scroll, exchange Permission Level -1."

Putting the scroll away, Xia Duo quickly left Material Requisition Office No. 6.

The attention from the Official Mage made him somewhat uneasy; he had originally intended to buy some poison to coat his hand crossbow bolts, but now he was no longer prepared to buy it here.

He even left directly without asking a single question.

……

Library Layer, inside the Aideliqi Transcription Room.

Xia Duo stated directly that he needed a potent poison capable of countering Orcs, and Aideliqi seemed to have anticipated this, beginning his introduction unhurriedly:

"I only have two types of poison here. One is the product of a failed experiment by an Official Mage within the Mage Tower, and the other was obtained from a Merchant outside. Which one do you want?"

"What are the prices for these two? And what about the quantity and toxicity of the poison?"

"One standard bottle; the first is 50 Gold Coins, the second is 20 Gold Coins. As for toxicity, both can have an effect on Orcs."

"An effect? Not kill them?" Xia Duo hesitated.

Aideliqi shook his head. "The physique of an Orc far exceeds that of an ordinary human. Ordinary poison is hard to cause fatal damage to them; being able to produce some effect is already quite good."

Xia Duo sighed inwardly at the pity; if only there were a poison that could kill an Orc instantly upon drawing blood. But after hearing the prices of these so-called ordinary poisons, Xia Duo understood that if such a lethal poison really existed, it was not something he could afford.

Even so, he still had to buy these poisons; having poison was much better than having none, so he asked again:

"Then what specific effects do these two poisons have on Orcs?"

"The one for 50 Gold Coins is a type of Paralysis Poison. It was tested on actual Orcs; an Orc would be instantly paralyzed after drinking a bottle. Even if it only grazes them when applied to a weapon, it can still make the Orc mentally dazed."

Aideliqi was quite confident in this paralysis poison accidentally created by a Mage, and even mentioned it had been tested on Orcs. Xia Duo did not doubt this, and immediately asked about the second type of poison.

"The one for 20 Gold Coins is just a common poison. For a human, one bottle is enough to be fatal, but for an Orc, even drinking a bottle won't cause immediate death; they will only become weak. However, if applied to a weapon and it wounds an Orc, the Orc will also become weak, but that degree of weakness—"

Aideliqi did not finish the rest of his sentence. Xia Duo understood; if drinking a whole bottle only resulted in weakness, how much effect could the poison on a weapon have?

Xia Duo made a decision immediately. "I'll take a bottle of the paralysis poison."

Counting out 50 Gold Coins and handing them to Aideliqi, Xia Duo obtained a bottle of paralysis poison. It was indeed a standard bottle, less than 50 milliliters in volume.

Calculating it out, 1 Gold Coin couldn't even buy 1 milliliter; it was more expensive than gold.

After putting away the poison bottle, Xia Duo was about to leave, but Aideliqi stopped him. "Let me reveal a piece of news to you: a big shot has arrived at the Territory. He is the main force for dealing with the Orcs this time. The apprentices only need to be responsible for clearing out the scattered Orcs in the forest. Remember to find more people to team up with, eh."

When he first heard this news, Xia Duo just took it as a rumor. Hearing it again, although Dien told him he had also heard it from Aideliqi, Xia Duo still kept it in mind.

"Is the news accurate? Why hasn't anyone come to help in the past? I heard—"

Aideliqi suddenly put on an inscrutable expression, looked toward the door of the Transcription Room, and said, "Guest, take care!"

"……"

Xia Duo's temple throbbed. He didn't say anything else and left directly.

He already almost believed the news. It looked like Aideliqi would tell every guest, so what was he aiming for?

A big question mark flashed through Xia Duo's mind. However, now was not the time to consider this issue. Xia Duo quickly returned to the dormitory layer and began to organize his personal combat items.

The hand crossbow and bolts definitely had to be brought; he couldn't forget his self-defense weapon. As for that one-handed sword, although it was a light weapon suitable for Mages, that was only relative.

Xia Duo estimated that this one-handed sword weighed at least four or five pounds. It was tiring just to carry it, let alone use it in combat. Besides, if it really came to a point where he needed to fight with a sword, it didn't seem to make much difference whether he had one or not.

In front of an Orc, how much difference could a one-handed sword make compared to the iron Dagger Xia Duo always carried with him?

With almost no hesitation, Xia Duo chose to abandon the one-handed sword. Considering that the duration of the Orc Tide was unpredictable, study supplies were a must.

The text-based 【Biography of Archmage Dasiruier】 had to be brought, but the dictionary was unnecessary. Magic-related lecture notes, Spell Notes, and learning scrolls all had to be brought.

In addition, there were 3 copies of the 【Light】 scroll that Xia Duo hadn't sold; he would bring those too. Who knew if they would be needed later? They weren't heavy anyway.

Afterward, there were candles, a change of clothes, an ink bottle, a quill, and some scattered Gold Coins and Silver Coins.

After packing everything, Xia Duo locked the door with a simple lock he had bought earlier, and only then did he leave.

On the way to the hall, Xia Duo saw Ordinary Apprentices and also Official Apprentices. Some carried swords, but more were like Xia Duo, having abandoned that four-to-five-pound burden.

When he arrived at the hall, nearly a hundred people had already gathered. An Official Mage stood at the outermost edge of the crowd, waiting near the entrance of the Mage Tower.

Xia Duo hurriedly looked for Sami and Dewan in the crowd. If he were to team up, they might make good allies. Of course, the reality might be that other Official Apprentices wouldn't look at Xia Duo at all.

It wasn't difficult to find two people he was somewhat familiar with among nearly a hundred. Xia Duo looked at them one by one, but then his expression darkened—that guy Dien, with his fiery red hair, already had four or five Ordinary Apprentices gathered around him.

He really was someone who didn't turn anyone away. Seeing that he seemed to want to continue pulling people in, Xia Duo couldn't worry about finding Sami anymore; he hurriedly pushed through the crowd and squeezed toward Dien.