After stopping his hiccups and regaining his casting ability, Archmage Carlisle immediately returned to the Tower of Heaven. Soon, he received new orders from the legendary mage:
Pause the adventure tasks for now, let the lad focus on meditating first to stabilize his realm. Then, memorize all the spells available to a level five mage! Get those spells and their models memorized thoroughly!
"You’re done for." Hearing the message from the Archmage, Aurora gleefully congratulated Garrett:
"A level five mage can learn third-tier magic, universal spells—I mean, those available for exchange in the White Tower’s grand library—combining all eight schools, there are a total of 42. Including the secret spells from each school that they’re willing to share with you because of good relations... Let me think...how many in total..."
"211." Lynn added calmly. "Before I set out on my travels, my mentor showed me a list of spells we could get access to, and there were 211."
"..."
Garrett was silent.
To memorize 42 spell models, even if he could memorize one a day and never forget them, would take 42 days; 211 would take almost half a year. And based on his experience memorizing level six vocabulary, if he only forgot fifty or sixty by the time he reached the 211th, he would consider himself diligent and possessing an excellent memory.
And more importantly...
"Why do I have to buy these spell models myself?!"He had never bought them before!
The last time he leveled up, all the second-tier spell books were directly brought over by Master Carlisle, thrown in front of him, not allowing him to leave until he memorized them all!
This...
Aurora sweat. "I don’t know why you didn’t buy them last time, but usually, exchanging spell books costs money. If not paid by the mage himself, then by the mage’s mentor..."
"Third-tier universal spells cost 200 contribution points per spell model, and exchanging within the school can even get a discount, quite cheap." He consoled Garrett gently:
"You can afford it, can’t you? I remember your paper on electricity got awarded 1000 contribution points, right?" Garrett generously shared three hundred points with him, and stored two hundred points in the mage tower’s public account, leaving himself with five hundred!
"So it still costs over two thousand! If I have to buy all 211, I’ll go bankrupt!"
"Those you don’t need to buy, you just need to memorize the introductions, knowing there’s such a spell is enough..."
Garrett, while crying out "I’m going to go bankrupt," "I’m doomed," "I’m going to memorize to death," still obediently paid up, purchasing all 42 spell models. —No matter what, this requirement was for his own good.
According to Lynn, this is a demand only made of elite mages from each school, ordinary low-level mages are not even considered. If one ventures out, explores, fights, and lacks experience or vigilance, and gets into trouble, dying is on them.
However, after purchasing, seeing his account balance halved in an instant, Garrett began to panic:
"Aurora, do we have any ways to save money? I’m going to go bankrupt at this rate..."
Aurora rolled his eyes. He, a level five mage, accumulated 1500 contribution points after years of study in Nevis;
Garrett, just advanced to level four today, spent several thousand in less than two years in Nevis, and still has 2000 contribution points in hand...
How does Garrett feel like he’s on the brink of bankruptcy every minute?
"Your Dragon’s Breath, the monthly income is between 100 and 200 contribution points. The income from the microscope has dropped recently, staying around 50 contribution points for three consecutive months. Plus other miscellaneous items, you have an income of 200 to 300 contribution points per month without lifting a finger."
This figure is already more than 5 times that of an ordinary level four mage!
Not to mention, Garrett doesn’t have to spend money on many things, like renting a meditation chamber...
"But you’re about to advance to level six, right? After level six comes level seven, and you’ll need to prepare for purchasing fourth-tier magic," Garrett argued rightfully:
"And Lynn, you’re almost level six too, right? Fourth-tier magic is much more expensive than third-tier, shouldn’t we start preparing now?"
"Can’t I go to my mentor?"
"Don’t I have my own savings?"
Aurora and Lynn retorted simultaneously. Garrett smiled at them:
"You are my followers, I should take care of you! And Mr. Norwood, he works for me, I should also pay him a salary, right?"
The two level five mages exchanged glances, both annoyed and amused, yet feeling a warmth
in their hearts. Finally, Lynn sighed:
"Alright, alright. You don’t have to worry about not having enough money—you haven’t forgotten about penicillin, have you? The Temple of War has asked me twice already, if it weren’t for you being busy advancing, we would have negotiated already!"
"Right! I’ll organize the papers..."
The production and clinical application of penicillin, along with the relevant principles, could easily be split into three to five major papers. Research credits, contribution points, here I come!
Garrett was ready to roll up his sleeves.
The data from previous animal experiments and clinical trials were quite rich; just organizing them would take him ten days to half a month. However, as soon as he started, an uninvited guest knocked on the door:
The Grand Priest of the Temple of War had made an appointment with Elder Wood, the Grand Mage of the Abjuration Council, and Tolga, the Grand Mage who helped with the epidemic treatment, and directly stormed the Mage Tower.
"Now you want to buy?" Garrett looked troubled:
"But I don’t have time to do it..."
He glanced at Elder Wood instinctively.
Developing penicillin was of great interest to Garrett; but after its development, he had no interest in mass production.
If Elder Wood could oversee the production... But binding a high-level caster in the Mage Tower to cultivate penicillin day in and day out, Garrett felt he couldn’t even bring himself to ask.
"It’s simple, you don’t have to do it." Elder Wood smiled and raised his hand. Behind him, a tall girl stepped forward and bowed slightly to Garrett:
"Reverend Nordmark, may I have the honor of joining the Mage Tower to continue learning from you?"
The wild boar girl! Garrett realized. Of the four priests of the God of Nature who came to learn at the Mage Tower, if he could choose one to stay, this girl would be his first choice. But now that the real person stood before him, Garrett hesitated:
"Miss Annie Vieira, I would be very happy for you to join the Mage Tower. However, I’m just a level four priest and haven’t received a complete education myself. I’m afraid I might not be able to guide you forward in your priesthood..."
"Reverend Nordmark, the path you’ve pioneered has given me great inspiration." Annie Vieira’s expression was serene as she bowed again:
"I hope to join your project and continue to develop it. My intuition tells me that by following this path, my future will be bright."
Such impressive intuition!
Garrett marveled. Indeed, just mastering penicillin could elevate one to a high-level druid. Not to mention what comes after penicillin—streptomycin, erythromycin, all the way to vancomycin...
And various bacterial cultures, medical treatments, a plethora of vaccines... A long list of projects in queue. As long as this girl follows him in these projects, just with the feedback from the world, reaching level 15 wouldn’t be a problem!
"Little Garrett, don’t worry about the guidance." Elder Wood chuckled:
"This girl’s parents are both servants of the God of Nature, guiding her will definitely not be an issue. If you find her diligent and insightful, just let her participate in your projects. Besides, I won’t just stand by and do nothing."
Garrett breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up, smiling and extended his hand formally:
"Miss Annie Vieira, welcome to my Mage Tower. We’ll discuss our future projects and your role in the team later."
Their handshake was brief but meaningful. Annie Vieira’s hand was warm and firm, with harder calluses than Garrett’s own. He reminded himself to get her a bottle of glycerin for her hands later, then turned to the other guests:
"Let’s talk about the sale of penicillin then. —My idea is, given that penicillin can become dangerously allergenic with too many impurities, this special medicine will for now only be produced in the Mage Tower and sold as a finished product to ensure purity."
"And the price?"
Tolga, the Grand Mage, asked eagerly, also providing a reference price:
"Little Garrett, a potion for minor healing sells for five gold coins at the temple, you can’t price it too high!"
"...Penicillin doesn’t immediately heal wounds." Garrett maintained his smile:
"But it can suppress certain types of infections, preventing the condition from worsening and allowing the patient’s self-healing to work—essentially, it’s akin to a slowly acting Remove Disease potion. And the price of a Remove Disease potion, if I recall correctly, is..."
The 3rd-tier spell, Remove Disease, accessible to priests, druids, rangers, and medical mages. A potion sells for a standard price of 750 gold coins at all major temples.
The high-level healers exchanged glances, then quickly entered the bargaining phase. Garrett
sat beside them, smiling and humble, listening attentively, occasionally commenting on technical issues:
"Dosage? For adults, intramuscular injection, 800,000 units per day, divided into 3-4 doses."
"How long to use? About a week, up to two weeks. Generally, if there’s no effect after three days, it’s time to switch medications... Oh, I forgot, there’s nothing to switch to."
"How is 800,000 units calculated? Don’t delve into it, you’ll know once my paper is out. Anyway, when selling, we’ll make it 200,000 units per dose..."
"Selling directly to the temple? Or through the council? Well, that’s up to you..."
After much negotiation, the decision was to sell all penicillin exclusively at the council’s trade hall, giving a fixed quota to the Temple of War. Of course, the Temple of War could also use other goods to offset contribution points.
Each penicillin dose, that is, 200,000 units of powder, would sell for 1 contribution point. Considering the exchange rate between contribution points and gold coins, a week’s supply of penicillin is about one-fifth of a Remove Disease potion, which seems to be a fair price.
Garrett calculated the weight of the gold coins, concluding that a day’s supply of penicillin for an adult costs about the same as a small yellow croaker, and using it for a week burns through a big yellow croaker...
Indeed, the first pricey medicine in spy dramas, penicillin!
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