"So what am I supposed to do?" Shiller turned to look at the screenwriter and the props team. Since it’s not the official shoot yet, just the scene setup, the screenwriter and props team call the shots.
"First, co over here." One of the props team mbers gestured to him from the forest and said, "You need to leave so footprints around here, and then pick those mushrooms..."
Shiller walked over as instructed, first taking a look at that cluster of mushrooms. The mushrooms were blue with white patterns and emitted a faint glow. Judging by the "the brighter, the more toxic" rule, they might be able to poison a dinosaur.
"These mushrooms are Slow Mushrooms, which can be used to brew Slow Potion." The screenwriter rolled up the script, pointed at the mushrooms, and said, "In the setting, Saphire needs this potion to sneak out of school quietly and attack the New York Temple. So he has to co to pick these mushrooms."
Shiller rubbed his hands together and said, "How should I pick them? Just yank them off?"
"Whatever you like," the screenwriter said, "Pick them however you think is best."
Shiller looked at the props team and said, "Give a pair of gloves, preferably ones that look like magical items, and then a small knife..."
Soon, the props team handed him a pair of black leather gloves with barely noticeable silver patterns. Shiller put on the gloves, grabbed the top of a mushroom with one hand, and used the knife with the other to pry the mushroom from the decaying wood. After picking it, he patted the mushroom top, letting the spores scatter.
"Not bad," Chris comnted, "How about the footprints around?"
"They’re okay," said the props team, "There are two quite clear ones on the small path over there, but the nearby footprints are set to be concealed with magic."
Shiller took another stroll around while the props team selected so footprints to keep. Then they moved to the lakeside. The props team said, "Now you need to get a magic fish."
"Magic Fish?" Shiller asked curiously.
"Yes. One of the protagonists has a cat. Earlier, when they went to the school hospital, that cat wasn’t very friendly to you. Worried it might track you down, you want to use this fish to brew a Concealing Potion."
"Concealing Potion?"
"It’s a potion to completely hide oneself," the screenwriter explained, "In our setup, the sli on this fish can be used to make a Concealing Potion, which makes you completely invisible when consud."
Shiller thought for a mont and asked, "Do you have any bait?"
The props team handed him so things. Shiller stuffed these into phisto’s hand and said, "Use magic to propel the bait into the center of the lake, then use magic to catch the fish."
"I’m always doing the dirty work," phisto complained.
But he followed through and managed to catch a magic fish. The props team specially instructed him to leave ashy marks on the boardwalk’s side and have the magic fish flop a couple of tis, leaving so sli on the handrail.
The last stop was a large rock deep in the Magic Forest. The rock was carved with dense runes, forming a Dark Magic Circle. Beneath the circle, a beast was sealed, intended as a weapon by Saphire to attack the New York Temple.
Of course, considering student safety, Strange and others wouldn’t really bring in a beast here. Since it’s not yet the official shoot, there’s no need to place the beast in advance. However, the circle above isn’t just doodles; it’s indeed a type of array used to seal sothing with Magic Energy.
Shiller also left so footprints around and at the stone’s edge, leaving a glowing handprint. The glow ca from the magic fish’s sli. With that, the action traces were pretty much set up.
When it ended, Strange threw the caught magic fish to him and said, "We need to adjust the Magic Forest setup soon, so I’ll leave the Concealing Potion brewing to you. Here’s the recipe."
Shiller took the recipe from Strange’s hand, glanced at it but didn’t refuse. Since making magic potions doesn’t actually require magic, just materials with Magic Attributes, brewing them is quite similar to cooking, which is entirely within Shiller’s abilities.
The mage and props team hastily went off to set things up, and phisto was called to help create dark magical items. Shiller, carrying the fish alone, returned to the school hospital and began preparing the tools for potion brewing.
The steps included killing the fish first, draining its blood, mashing the fish at. However, the school hospital didn’t have such equipnt, so he had to borrow from the kitchen. But it was lunchti, not quite appropriate to carry a raw fish to the kitchen, so he planned to leave the fish in the school hospital for a while.
Without a fish tank at the school hospital, Shiller found a vase for dried flowers, filled it with water, and intended to put the fish in. But whether there was a problem with the vase or the water, the fish flipped out imdiately, splattering onto Shiller.
Shiller grabbed the fish tail in a few smacks, finally stunning the overly energetic magic fish, tossing it into a fish tank, and then went to borrow kitchen tools.
By the ti he’d gathered the tools and herbs, the first class in the afternoon was halfway through. As Shiller passed the classroom door, he faintly heard the Grand Mage’s voice:
"To freely use energy, we must first accurately perceive it. In your ditation class, you’ve learned to construct a magic network in your mind. Now, I need you to channel energy from your magic wand into your body, connect it to the magic network, and extend it to your eyes; this way, you can activate your Magic Vision..."
Shiller didn’t particularly listen, quickly leaving the classroom doorway, heading back to the school hospital to brew the Concealing Potion. He first drained the fish blood, separated the fish at from the bones, mashed the fish at, barbecued the fish bones, and then chopped the herbs...
He was busy when he suddenly heard a commotion at the entrance of the school hospital. He quickly went out to check and found a student lying on a stretcher, screaming in pain, surrounded by several Batmans who looked a bit worried.
As Shiller approached, he realized the student on the stretcher was an unfamiliar face, seemingly a student from Neptune Academy, but not a noticeable one, and Shiller had no impression of him.
Everyone carried the student into another ward. Shiller asked, "What happened?"
"During the Magic Plant Cultivation Class, he accidentally splashed the brewed potion into his eyes," the Hippo Goddess sighed, "His eyeball might be slightly burned, better apply so dicine quickly."
Shiller stepped forward to examine his condition and found the eyeball indeed had so damage. Fortunately, this wasn’t considered a big issue in the Magic realm. Shiller walked over, grabbed a bottle of cleansing potion and a healing potion, washed the student’s eyes first, and then applied healing eye drops.
While Shiller was busy treating the student’s wound, he didn’t notice that the Primary Universe Batman, who had co with the student, sniffed the air, then turned to examine the ward, walking to the door and glancing into Shiller’s office.
Seeing nothing, he returned to where Shiller was, and took a magic wand out of the student’s uniform pocket. Magic energy slowly flowed into his body, and a glint flashed in Batman’s eyes.
He noticed so fluorescent traces on Shiller’s robe.
Arkham Batman noticed his action. Taking advantage of the crowded room, both of them stepped back and then left the ward.
"What were you looking at just now?"
"Shiller’s body has so magic traces on him, could be so kind of potion. Rember I told you he went to the Forest this morning?"
"What do you think he was doing in the Forest?"
"We need to figure out what those fluorescent traces are first." Primary Universe Batman glanced at the clock and said, "Let’s go to the library."
They went to the library; it was their first ti visiting during the day. The registration desk was manned, but after registering their identity, they could enter without much hassle.
The library was almost empty. As soon as they entered, they saw a person dressed rather strangely lingering by the bookshelves.
He was dressed strangely because he was dressed too normally. He wore a red checkered shirt, jeans, and sneakers, with a baseball cap on his head. He was holding a book, seemingly about to place it on the shelf.
Under normal circumstances, such attire was quite ordinary. But here, at the Magic Academy, students wore uniform robes, and professors wore even more elaborate robes. Batman had never seen anyone in regular clothes.
Batman walked over. The person turned to look at him when he realized he was coming, nodded at him, and then continued with his task, determined to find a spot on the shelf to place the book.
"Are you a student?" Batman asked.
"Oh, I’m not. I’m a staff mber," the person answered straightforwardly, "Do you need the bookshelf? I’ll leave imdiately."
Batman gestured for the person to proceed, pretending to have left. The person finally found a gap on the second row of the shelf, inserted the book, and hurriedly left.
Batman walked over, took out the book that had just been inserted. It was a thick book, thus sowhat difficult to slot in, but very ornate. The book cover and back had tal corners, and the cover was inscribed in Latin with "Magic Plants and Animals Identification Manual."
Batman opened the book and discovered that the author was a forr Supre Magician. The book’s content comprised magic plants and animals he had seen and used. It detailed their locations, material uses, and properties, with very detailed illustrations.
The Primary Universe Batman carried the book over to a table and began thoroughly examining it. It wasn’t long before he found a suspicious entry in the aquatic creatures section:
"Invisibility Magic Fish, living year-round in cold ponds. Secretes a mucus that can be used to brew Concealing Potions. Fresh, high-purity mucus exhibits a green fluorescent state under magic vision..."
The Primary Universe Batman and Arkham Batman exchanged glances.
"He couldn’t have gone fishing in the Forest, could he?"
"The key is why he would fish. The only use for these fish is brewing Concealing Potions. What would he need a Concealing Potion for?"
"Or maybe it’s not for him but for soone else. After all, he’s a dic, anyone might ask him to brew a potion."
"I think we need to keep an eye on him, see who takes the potion from him and what they plan to do with the Concealing Potion."
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