My inventory is full of monster materials.

The meeting room was quiet.

The silhouette in the dark robe rustled against the wall.

Clyde was incredibly focused as he scribbled on the wall, various complex symbols and formulas gradually spreading from top to bottom and then from bottom to top, covering the entire sheet of scrap paper.

Madeline, seated at the head of the table, rested her hand on her forehead, listlessly toying with an exquisite gold pocket watch.

Henry, clad in armor, braced his hands on the table, his head bowed as if deep in thought, but the faint snoring that emanated from him said it all.

Brady was even more miserable, lying face down on the table with his eyes closed and head tilted to the side, a small puddle of saliva accumulating on the table.

As for Emily, she customarily clasped her hands together and muttered the gospel in a low voice.

Only Mark stood beside Clyde, following the pharmacist's quill pen as they plunged into the digital jungle.

As the last bit of space on the paper was filled, Clyde turned around triumphantly and announced to everyone.

"My testing standard is that the 'control effectiveness' of 'cryotherapy' must at least reach—"

"22ω!"

After saying that, Clyde circled the number "22" heavily in the lower right corner of the paper several times.

“!!!!!!”

The crowd was suddenly awakened, revealing their utterly shameful behavior.

In her haste, Madeline pressed the pocket watch into the crevice of her chest, while Henry looked up sharply with a straight face as if nothing had happened. Brady and Emily were startled and looked around in confusion.

Mark, however, remained oblivious, intently studying the contents of the wall.

It must be said that this apothecary not only knows how to concoct potions, but also has a good understanding of the basic theories of magic.

But coincidentally, Mark had been studying this subject all along and had already figured out the key to it, and had a general solution in mind.

When Clyde turned around and saw that everyone was out of sorts, he was not annoyed but rather felt a sense of superiority. He looked at Mark, who was "pretending" to be serious, with a forced smile.

"I've already outlined my criteria. Now, may we begin the testing, Mr. Mark?"

Henry and his companions were completely lost, and could only look longingly at Mark.

Mark, however, responded casually and confidently.

"Of course. So what should I do?"

"..."

Clyde felt a mix of displeasure and complicated emotions.

On the one hand, the matter was of great importance, and he hoped that Mark would meet the requirements; on the other hand, he was dissatisfied with Mark's frivolous attitude.

"Sigh~"

Clyde shook his head slightly, dismissing any unfounded thoughts, and simply uttered a sound.

"Hold on."

Then, he took out a pure white, glossy felt from his robe sleeve, spread it out completely on the dark red oval table, and took a transparent medicine from his waist, pouring it evenly onto the felt.

Clyde extended his hand to Mark.

"You can cast a spell on it now."

The critical moment has arrived; success or failure hinges on this.

Everyone, including Madeleine in the main seat, got up and gathered around the table.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Mark focused his energy and gathered his magical power.

In just a second or two, a faint, icy blue light emanated from his right palm, wisps of cold air emanating from it. Then, he pressed his hand heavily onto the damp felt—

Biu~

A beam of white light, about the thickness of two fingers, shot out, and in an instant, large patches of crystal-clear, thin ice condensed on the surface of the felt.

After ejaculating, Mark shivered, shook his fingers, and felt a strange sense of comfort and pleasure wash over him.

Henry, Emily, and Brady, on the other hand, stared nervously at the frozen felt blanket—they didn't understand it, but they just had to see it.

Only Madeline and Clyde both frowned slightly.

Both of them were experienced and had a general idea of ​​the power of magic.

This "freezing ray"... seems a bit lacking.

Of course, testing cannot be based solely on intuition.

Clyde stepped forward, carefully rolled up the entire felt sheet, and poured all the crushed ice inside into a wide-mouthed beaker that had been prepared beforehand.

Next, a series of complicated "adding fuel to the fire" operations are carried out, and a glass of completely clear, colorless and transparent liquid is obtained.

Finally, Clyde used a thin glass pipette to draw some liquid from the cup and gently dripped it onto a white test strip. The test strip quickly absorbed the liquid and revealed a pale blue color.

Clyde picked up the test strips and compared them one by one with the color chart, his finger finally stopping between two numbers.

"16...17".

"Sigh... just as I expected."

Clyde shook his head without uttering a word and silently packed up his tools.

Henry's face turned ashen, but he still pressed on, unwilling to give up.

"It has to be 22, ω? Can't it be less?"

"It's written up there, but never mind, I'll explain it anyway."

Clyde stopped what he was doing and spoke frankly to the "White Hawk" captain.

"My core objective is to extract the complete core from a Slime King. If the spell's 'control effectiveness' is insufficient, it won't be able to freeze that big guy at all."

"Aren't you an apothecary? Do you have any magic-boosting potions that can increase stats? I'll pay for the potions."

Brady stared at Captain Xiang with disbelief—doing a mission requires you to pay out of your own pocket? What's the point of doing missions then!

But Clyde only thought about it for a moment before shaking his head.

"That's too far off. If it were 20ω, I might give it a try."

"And what about adding magical equipment?"

At this moment, Madeline, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly spoke up, a blatantly sly smile on her face.

"The guild has some magical equipment, but what's the price?"

At the same time, Clyde looked at Henry, waiting for his decision.

The burly man shook his head repeatedly—Felix had entrusted the team to him not for his own selfish gain.

Having nothing more to say, Henry gestured for his team members to leave.

"let's go."

"..."

Brady and Emily followed silently upon hearing this.

Madeline shrugged at Clyde, and the two prepared to begin a new round of talks to find a suitable team of adventurers.

Just then, a sudden sound rang out in the room.

"Leaving so soon? I have more than one ice spell."

"?"

Henry, who had just stepped out the door, stopped and looked back, and Brady and Emily realized that they had left the key member behind.

Madeline frowned, staring at Mark, whose face remained expressionless, seemingly lost in thought.

It was Clyde who took the initiative to ask.

"Mr. Mark, what do you mean by that?"

"Change venue."

Mark didn't answer directly, but instead calmly gave Madeline instructions.

"Give me a bigger venue, and make sure there's water."

"..."

……

……

The second floor of the guild building is a high-class bathhouse.

A nearly 200-square-meter clear and warm bathtub was opened up inside the misty interior.

Various graceful nude sculptures of people are placed around the pool, and in the center of the opposite bank is a gilded bronze lion head, continuously spewing warm water from its mouth, with steam rising from it.

"Deacon Gwennaville, Bath No. 3 has been cleared and closed as you requested."

"Very well, you can go and do your thing."

"Yes."

Madeline dismissed the guild staff, leaving only the four members of "White Eagle," Clyde, and his silent guard.

Madeline crossed her arms and teased Mark with a relaxed air.

"The venue has been arranged, and the water temperature is just right. After your performance, we can take a relaxing bath."

"Thank you."

Mark seemed not to understand the sarcasm, returned a polite smile, and then walked past everyone to the poolside.

Henry and the others had no idea what Mark was up to.

But the phrase "more than one ice spell" kept swirling in my mind.

It turns out Mark has other spells too!

On the contrary, Clyde's expression showed some anticipation; he had a feeling that this young man would bring him a great surprise.

Then, under the tense and complicated gazes of the crowd, Mark relaxed, focused his energy, and held something up in front of his chest with both hands.

As time passed, the object in his hands gradually became clearer—a rapidly spinning and converging mass of azure magical elements.

"drink!"

With a low growl, Mark forcefully pushed the elemental mass in his arms forward!

hum-

The elemental mass flew out of his hand, silently skimming across the warm water, spreading ice wherever it passed, and in the blink of an eye, it extended into an icy path.

Finally, the elemental mass collided with the gilded lion head on the opposite bank and vanished with a loud "bang".

The golden lion's head was instantly covered with a thick layer of frost, and the water jet spewing from its mouth solidified into a suspended icicle.

When everyone came to their senses, what they saw was—

一条宽3-4米深1米的冰路贯穿浴池，房间的温度骤然下降了3-4度，空气的温热中夹杂着一丝丝凉意。

Deathly silence. Only deathly silence remained at the scene.

Henry and the others were all numb.

Madeline's pretty face flushed red, and she awkwardly twisted her thighs together, feeling a surge of humiliation and... the mockery from before rebounding on her.

But Clyde was the first to recover from the shock, his expression instantly filled with uncontrollable ecstasy as he roared.

"This is the first-level spell 'Path of Ice'!"