Dudian looked at the powders in the bottles and jars on the table beside her. These bottles and jars were labeled, but instead of words, there were various strange symbols drawn on the labels. Some were suns, some were suns overlapping with pentagrams, and some were hooks, and so on.
"What is this?"
When Nightingale saw the bottle and jar he was pointing at, she said in surprise, "Don't you recognize this symbol?"
Dudian considered his words and shook his head, saying, "No, I don't."
"Could it be that you haven't memorized the Complete Book of Basic Alchemist Symbols yet?" Nightingale asked in surprise.
This was the first time Dudian had heard the words "alchemist symbols". He was slightly taken aback. Fortunately, the mask covered his face, so the other party didn't notice his expression. He thought to himself, "Alchemist symbols? Symbols are usually used to mark something... Could it be that this is something similar to chemical symbols?"
There was no record of this in Rossyard's alchemist notes. Dudian guessed that it was probably too basic, so there was no point in recording it. He immediately said, "Yes, I haven't memorized it well yet. All my things were left with my teacher. My teacher is dead, and the things were seized by the damned Holy Church of Light. Do you have a copy of the Complete Book of Alchemist Symbols? Can I borrow it to take a look?"
Nightingale looked at him suspiciously. But after hearing Dudian call the "Holy Church of Light" "damned", she dispelled the doubts in her heart. She casually pointed to a shelf beside them, where there was a thick book with a black cover. "It's over there. Go and get it yourself. But remember not to damage it. This is the only copy I have."
Dudian quickly nodded and said, "Thank you so much."
Picking up the Complete Book of Alchemist Symbols, Dudian was just about to open it when he heard Nightingale say, "Go and read it somewhere else, like in the small warehouse. I'm going to do an experiment now."
Dudian understood and went to the small warehouse she pointed to. It was a bit messy inside, with tools for cleaning the alchemist chamber and some damaged filter screens and other things.
Dudian didn't care. He casually sat down and began to flip through the Complete Book of Alchemist Symbols.
There were rows of dazzling alchemist symbols displayed, with text explanations below the symbols. Dudian quickly saw the sun symbol he had seen before. Among alchemists, this symbol represented gold!
"No wonder there's golden powder in the bottle, and the quantity is very small." Dudian murmured and continued to flip through the book.
Time passed unconsciously.
Dudian was completely immersed in it and memorized these symbols with great concentration. Through the explanation at the beginning of the book, Dudian learned that these alchemist symbols originated from the astrological symbols of diviners. With the decline of diviners, the astrological symbols were gradually transformed into alchemist symbols by the rising alchemists, forming an independent system of alchemist symbols.
And after alchemists complete an experiment, the content they record is usually a large pile of alchemist symbols put together. If one is not an alchemist, they simply can't understand it. So memorizing this Complete Book of Alchemist Symbols is one of the basic requirements for becoming an apprentice alchemist!
When Dudian had memorized one-third of it, he heard Nightingale's voice outside the warehouse door, "Is Hound there? It's getting late. It's almost dark. We're going home. Are you going to stay here all night?"
Dudian was taken aback. He didn't expect time to pass so quickly. He immediately closed the book, opened the door, and seeing Nightingale and Viper standing at the door, he said, "I'm going back too. Let's go together."
"Okay then." Nightingale nodded.
Viper glanced at the book in Dudian's hand and laughed, "When Nightingale told me, I didn't believe it. I didn't expect you really haven't memorized this yet. Tsk, tsk. You're really an apprentice among apprentices. Hmm, I should call you an apprentice trainee, haha..."
Hearing his joke, Dudian smiled slightly and said, "I have a bad memory, so I memorize things slowly."
"I think you're just lazy." Viper said with deep feeling, "I had a terrible headache memorizing this at the beginning. I came up with all kinds of excuses to run away. In the end, it was my teacher who forced me to memorize it personally. But Nightingale is really smart. I heard she only spent about a week memorizing this, which made me feel so embarrassed since I spent half a year memorizing it!"
Nightingale smiled sweetly and said, "It's not as exaggerated as you said. I wasn't very familiar with it after a week. It took me half a month to remember it thoroughly."
"That's still very impressive." Viper said sadly.
Dudian put the book back in place and said, "Will you come here again tomorrow?"
"Of course." Viper said without thinking.
Nightingale shook her head and said, "I'll see. If I have something to do, I won't come. If there's nothing to do, I'll come."
Dudian nodded and said, "I'll come tomorrow too."
"Okay. It's getting late. Let's go back." Nightingale looked at Dudian and Viper and said, "Which one of you will go first?"
"I'll go first." Viper wasn't polite. He waved to Dudian, went to the corridor outside the hidden wall, and climbed out.
"We'll go out in a few minutes." Nightingale said.
Dudian nodded. He knew that she was worried that if too many people went out at once, it would easily attract attention. And leaving one after another would also give each person time to adjust their mask.
After a while, Dudian left second. He climbed into the alley. Seeing that no one on the street at the entrance of the alley was paying attention, he put away his mask, but he still wore a mask on his face, covering most of his face. Wearing a mask on the street wasn't considered strange, and most people would think he had a disease, so no one would want to get too close to him.
Dudian was just about to take a shortcut home when he suddenly smelled a familiar smell. He was stunned for a moment, and a hint of sharpness flashed in his eyes. He turned and walked towards the other side of the street, keeping his head down all the way.
Not long after Dudian left, the figure of a little boy appeared at the entrance of the alley. Frowning, he looked in the direction Dudian had left and muttered angrily to himself, "He's still wearing a mask. He's really cautious!" As he spoke, he took a deep look in that direction and turned to leave in another direction.
Not long after he left, Dudian emerged sideways from the corner of the street. Frowning slightly, he looked at the figure walking away. He didn't expect that after Viper came out early, he didn't leave but hid nearby, trying to peek at his true face. He didn't know if it was because Viper was overly cautious and still doubted his identity, or if he had some ill intentions.
"It seems that I can't let my guard down in the future." Dudian thought secretly. At the same time, he firmly remembered the other person's face. This was indeed a deadly handle he had on the other person!
Dudian turned his head to look at the entrance of the alley. He guessed that Nightingale would come out soon. After thinking about it, he gave up the opportunity to peek at her true face. After all, she hadn't done that to him. Don't attack others unless they attack you first.
Turning around and leaving, Dudian walked around several streets. After confirming that there were no familiar smells around, he came to the corner of a street. When there were few people around, he quickly took off and rolled up his black robe, then left there quickly and took a detour home.