A black-haired youth lowered his head as he walked on the white tiled pavement as if he was in deep thought. His face was unusually pale if it had not seen the sun for a long time.
This youth was naturally Max. At this moment, his right hand that was hidden in the robes, holding a small black box.
"It has already been a week since the first time I start brewing potion and I managed to get some result"
With the success rate of over 85%, Max managed to brew 35 vials of Low Healing Potions. He decided to hide most of it and exposed only a few to others. If anyone found out his success rate even for beginner recipes, chaos will occur.
Max has produced so many potions but he didn't get to try it yet. Max currently walked to the lecture hall where many apprentices hanged out. He saw Bucca and Dorothy just finished their specialized lecture.
It, not a coincidence. Max already figured out their schedules and SECOND analyze their behavior patterns to simulate their location. Max deliberately looks for them to be his guinea pig. Good stuff should be shared among friends.
"Bucca! Dorothy!" Max called them. Both of them noticed Max and walked toward him.
"Max! What are you doing here? Did you just finished your lesson too?" Dorothy asked.
"No. I need Bucca for something. That why I'm here."
"Me?" Bucca surprised. "Well, I owe Max a lot of favor. So no problem."
"I just brewed a healing potion and I need someone to test it," Max said honestly.
"That it? I get a potion for free?" Bucca ecstatic.
"Right" Max ensured.
"Great! I'm always got injured when practicing with my instructor. I heard about healing potion before but it too expensive!" Bucca complained.
"Wait! What do you mean you got injured when practicing with your instructor?" Max confused.
"Of course! You know I got randomly chosen to Elder Dalkon. He a professor from Department of Magic Combat. He from the same department as your instructor right? I chose to learn body strengthening from him and the practice is hard. I always injured every lesson."
'Wait! What? Why I didn't know about that? Uriel from Department of Magic Combat? You can receive a lesson from the instructor? That bitch Uriel didn't tell about that! Damn it!' Max was shocked.
"More importantly! Max! Since when you learned to make potion too?" Dorothy interrupted. She is also a rare grade A talent from the same batch as Max and there was an old lady from Department of Herbalism took Dorothy under her wing. Dorothy always said she learned herbalism but the end goal is to make a potion from it.
"Ah! Right. I am always wondered how to earn more magic crystals and when I went strolling at Trading Post, I noticed a lot of potions in demand. So I decided to learn to make potion too and sell it. That it" Max explained but in reality it can consider half-truth. He learned Alchemy to make a bomb and in the process, he needs a lot of magic crystals that can be earned from Alchemy too.
After obtaining Bucca as his guinea pig, Max left him with five vials of potions and directly went to the 250th floor where Uriel's office or garden is located. He still shocked from the news that Mage Apprentice can choose any lesson from free from any of the instructor specializations.
"I remembered when I first met her, she did say she specialized in conversion of energy and sword combat. Does ice element meditation technique fall under conversion of energy? Even so, I haven't chosen any yet."
Max swiftly arrived at Uriel's office and slowly knocked on the door. This time Max didn't need to wait for a while because the door automatically opened at the third knock.
He entered inside and the same view that he always saw in front of his eyes. In the middle of a beautiful garden of flowers, there an elegant beauty sat on the chair while drinking tea. She ignoring Max's entrance again.
'Does she got no other things to do? This is my third time here and she always does the same thing!'
"How are you today Master?" Max smiled while approaching her unhurriedly.
Uriel turned around and her cold blue eyes glared at Max. Max felt his heart shivering but somewhere on his lower body getting hot.
'SECOND! Start Plan Uriel's Countermeasure!' Max already created a plan to block Uriel's succubus like pheromone from affecting Max's judgment. A smart man won't repeat his mistake more than twice.
"You still not promoted to rank 3. Why are you wasting time here?" Uriel asked but her charmingly cold voice made the atmosphere in the surrounding froze.
"I just remembered that I haven't received a lesson from Master yet so I.," Max answered calmly but in his mind, he is extremely nervous.
"I understand, you wish to choose the subject for the knowledge I am providing!" Uriel interrupted Max's speech.
"I heard that you were going around learning alchemy these days. It seems you got too many free times rather than meditating. Now you want to learn other things too."
Max cannot refute Uriel's claim so he just nodded.
Max already had some understanding toward the paid lectures in the academy. Although lecturers have information on a higher level, it was only their own researches.
As for the other high-level research, including the results of various personal experiments, that kind of information only traded at Mage's level. Max cannot access that level of information easily.
Paid lectures required the fee of a lot of magic crystals. Max cannot afford to use most of his magic crystals as he still needs it for various alchemy experiments which are known for burning magic crystals.
That why Max needs to claim the one free subject that was promised to every apprentice which Uriel didn't tell Max about that information. If Bucca and Dorothy didn't tell him about it earlier, he would forever in oblivion.
"I already informed you that I am specialized in Conversion of Energy and Sword Combat. You already learn about ice element so it a waste to teach you about the conversion of energy."
Uriel stood from her seat and waved her slender hand. Ice dazzlingly gathered at her fingertips and forming a sword. It a sword purely made of ice mana. She murmured some words at the sword and threw it to Max. The whole process happened too fast and Max didn't have time to react when the ice sword stabbed into his forehead. Surprisingly the sword didn't go through Max's head but disappeared in it.
A cold energy passed through Max's head and a beam of information swiftly flashed in his mind.
[Warning! Unknown information is assimilating into the host mind! The process cannot be interrupted!]
"Argh! My head!" Max pressed his head in the effort of relieving the ache came from it but no changes happen. The pain came from inside his mind.
"You already passed the proper age to learn swordsmanship but you can still use the method to improve your physique. Now leave! Don't come until you reach rank 3!" Uriel directly chased Max out while he still in confusion.
On the 5000th level of Ivory Tower, a beautiful woman walking into a small room alone. Inside the room, there is an old man sat cross-legged on the pedestal with many small tubes attached to his body. There seems blue liquid flowing inside the tubes to his body.
His body is so skinny that his gray skin is attached on his bone and long white hair flowing until the ground.
"How is he?"
"He should be qualified. He managed to become rank 1 apprentice in a day and rank 2 in six months He should be able to promote to rank 3 in a year or two and then become Mage in a decade."
"Not enough time!"
"But.." The woman tries to explain.
"Not enough time! Make sure he becomes Mage as soon as possible!"
"I understand father"