Kaixia held up the hefty bottle of Silver Bell Marrow Elixir, her eyes brimming with tears.
“My luck is finally good for once!!”
The crowd held their breath for half a second, and then the place exploded with excitement.
“They’re actually giving it away! And it’s not even leftover scraps!”
“I saw it! Look at that clarity—this might be the best quality on the market!”
“Chief Squad… I’m going to cry to death!”
Just don’t die over here, please!
A smile played at the corner of Ibuki Rei’s lips, but in her heart, she was already thinking of drawing her sword and cutting someone down.
These people—couldn’t they have wiped the mud off their shoes before coming in?!
Where’s the etiquette, where’s the noble bearing?!
“Everyone, please keep order and come one at a time.”
Holding back her annoyance, Ibuki Rei began maintaining order, following Lomu’s script.
“Spots are limited, but our sincerity is limitless.”
Sincerity is limitless…
Zero times anything is still zero.
Next, Ibuki Rei took out the “urgent list” personally drafted by Lomu and began checking off names.
Every person on the list had shown promise in the last assessment—not from the absolute top families, but with strong backgrounds, fierce pride, and a desperate need for resources.
Of course, there were some unusual individuals here too… like lone wolves with overwhelming combat power. Such worthy partners were included as well.
Ibuki Rei had no intention of questioning the purpose of Lomu’s plan; after all, asking would only make her seem “immature.”
At the same time, she noticed that the members of the two Queen Squads hadn’t appeared, perhaps because they had enough credits.
And those who weren’t selected had no complaints, either.
Each received a beautifully packaged “Gratitude Blind Box.” No matter what was inside, in these times of material scarcity, it was enough to bring some comfort.
After all, in an academy where everyone felt threatened, having someone step up to shoulder responsibility was in itself more precious than any material.
“Thank you, Ibuki Rei!”
“And thank Lord Lomu and classmate Kafnir for us too!”
Listening to the wave of thanks, the smile on Ibuki Rei’s face became ever more fitting, but in her heart, she made a mental note against Lomu.
Doing charity in someone else’s name, using someone else’s dorm as the venue, and then making someone else clean up afterward.
What kind of partner pulls a stunt like this?!
Yet, Ibuki Rei couldn’t think of any way to make him pay her back!
Order at the scene finally settled, and everyone began to immerse themselves in admiration for the Chief Squad and hopes for the future.
Without attracting any attention, Lomu slipped quietly through the noisy crowd and headed straight for the other end of the academy.
Ankat’s Alchemy Workshop.
*****
“Click.”
Lomu swiped open the metal door etched with intricate runes.
Unlike last time’s reek of alcohol, a thick blend of herbs, ore, and magical reagents rushed out to greet him.
Instructor Ankat was standing before a huge glass container, brow tightly furrowed, seemingly watching the color of some viscous liquid inside.
“…?”
Lomu looked at the 1.5-meter-tall instructor before him, his gaze cautious:
“Instructor Ankat, you seem a bit different from usual today.”
No bottle in hand, and her true body not here?
Suspicious!
“What do you mean?!”
Ankat jumped up from her spot at once:
“Don’t tell me you’re about to call your teacher a drunkard?!”
“…How could that be? I just meant your hairstyle suits you today.”
Lomu put away his suspicions and changed his tone to one of respect:
“If you hadn’t been willing to provide the materials, I might never have improved my alchemy in this lifetime.”
“Then why are you here again?” Ankat’s tone was full of wariness. “Weren’t the materials I gave you last time enough to practice with?”
She’d seen Lomu’s skills for herself.
But what kind of “model student” drains eight-tenths of their instructor’s alchemy stock in one go?!
What a pest!
Ankat had also been to the market a lot these days, and the price hikes were simply outrageous!
One supply caravan delayed, and the students end up with this kind of inflation—it was a disaster waiting to happen!
“No need to worry. I have enough materials, Instructor.”
Lomu entered the workshop and closed the door behind him.
“I just wanted to show you my practice results—please, don’t be nervous.”
Those dozens of bottles of Silver Bell Marrow Elixir weren’t for nothing.
He’d rushed over today specifically to reassure Ankat!
“Practice results?”
Ankat froze for a moment and put down her stirring rod.
He already had results this quickly?
It’s only been a few days!
He’d better not have ruined the materials and be trying to ask for new ones with a different excuse.
Lomu didn’t say much more. He walked straight to an unused alchemy station, took out a few materials from his storage brooch, and arranged them neatly.
From Ankat’s blind spot, a semi-transparent screen appeared before Lomu’s eyes, visible only to himself.
[Alchemy Talent Tree – Tier Two]
Without hesitation, Lomu focused his mind and selected a gently glowing branch.
A green shoot sprouted, revealing the talent it contained.
[Tier Two: Advanced Healing Card]
[Score loading… Alchemy, begin.]
The score unfolded.
In Lomu’s eyes, the complex alchemical process transformed once again into a rhythm game—challenging yet intriguing.
As the first key pressed in his mind, Lomu’s body moved on its own the next moment.
He picked up a faintly glowing herb—not using a mortar and pestle, but simply crushing it with his fingers and sprinkling it evenly into a flask.
Ankat’s eyelid twitched.
Handling “Moonlight Grass” barehanded? Wasn’t he worried about the magic inside burning his skin?
And that amount… Did he measure it at all?
Before she could figure it out, Lomu had already grabbed a bottle of Silver Bell Marrow Elixir and poured it straight into the flask.
No dropper, no measuring—just as casually as pouring a drink.
“Hey?!”
Ankat was about to speak out to stop him, but forced the words back down.
Because she saw, at the very instant the elixir was about to overflow, Lomu’s wrist flicked, and the bottle pulled back with absolute precision—not a drop more, not a drop less.
“This is an alchemy workshop, not a circus!”
Ankat really wanted to shout that out!
Even her hangover seemed to fade!
Alchemy was a science, an art, but above all else—a discipline of utmost precision!
Every ratio of every material, every degree of heat at every stage, had to be exact to the millimeter.
To just “go with your gut” like Lomu did…
Sure, there had been people like that before, but their graves were covered in tall grass now!!
But instead, the liquid in the flask didn’t show any dangerous rejection reactions at all. Rather, it fused stably and turned a beautiful pale gold.
“Ah?!”
Ankat didn’t dare blink, feeling as if she’d been slapped across the face.
“What does this mean?!”
Skip the stabilization step and go straight to heating?
Two mutually opposed catalysts poured in together and mixed at once?
And even at the most critical magical solidification stage, he didn’t activate a protection array!?
This wasn’t just ordinary rule-breaking—this was practically doing squats and mocking the safety regulations of alchemy right on their heads!
The pinnacle of technology—how could it be circus tricks?!
“A disciple of the Lumin Sage… Are all of the Sage’s alchemy methods this reckless…?”
Ankat didn’t dare move or even speak, afraid of distracting him.
If Lomu exploded, his brooch protection would trigger and he’d get teleported out at worst.
But underneath the floor was her beloved wine cellar, wasn’t it?!
If that blew up, who’d pay for it?!
Quietly, she took a step back and quickly gestured behind her with her fingers.
In the corner of the workshop, the red lights flashed in the eyes of a few standby automata, which silently slid over to surround the alchemy station.
Thick metal arms extended, forming a tight protective wall, sealing Lomu and his flask—which might turn into a bomb at any moment—safely inside.
“Protect the apprentice, protect the alcohol.”
Only after doing all this did Ankat feel she could breathe again.
She stared intently through the gap in the protective wall, watching the boy tempt fate at the very edge of explosion, sweat running down her face and along her cheeks.
“If you get expelled, don’t you dare blame me…”
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