When the dean looked at the ingredients, he was shocked. He was utterly surprised that he dropped the paper.
"Teacher?" Alex looked at him confusedly.
"Ah", the dean snapped and picked the paper, "Are you sure these are rank 3 pill ingredients?"
"Yes, I'm sure," he looked at his teacher, confused.
"Hah..." the dean sighed.
"Why, Teacher? Is there something wrong?" Alex asked.
"Well... how do I put this... the ingredients that you write just now, they are classified as high-rank materials. What I mean is the ingredients only for rank 7 or above. Look at this ingredient, this 'Mecalia Herb' is the lowest rank material on this list and it is still classified as a rank 6 material."
"Eh? How can that be?"
"Now, it seems like my hypothesis is correct. Each rank of your pill is way different from one and another. All of your rank 1 pills are made of ingredients of rank 3 or below. As for your rank 2 pills, most of their ingredients rank are between rank 4 and rank 6. And now you give me this rank 3 pill recipe, and all of the ingredients are rank 7 or above, except this Mecalia herb. But even this herb is also close to rank 7."
Alex was shocked by the dean's revelation. He never thought that his pills' ingredients were that rare. He never knew about this since all the ingredients were purchased or provided by his teacher.
"I... I... never know about this," Alex said and felt a bit down.
"Let me check the ingredients list first, maybe I can get it from my friend," the dean then left, leaving Alex stunned.
"System, what can you tell me about the pills from that manual? Why does it have such a high rank?" he asked the system in his mind.
[Host, do you find it strange? Each rank of your pill are the same as your cultivation stage]
"My cultivation stage?"
Now that the system mentioned it, he realized something. It seemed that his stage, like the body tempering stage, was equal to rank 1 to rank 3 (Low, Middle, Peak Phase). Qi gathering stage was equal to rank 4 to rank 6. If he put it according to the trend, that meant Qi Manipulation stage was equal to rank 7 and above. It seemed that his cultivation held some secret behind it. There might be a stage above Qi Manipulation, which meant rank 10 or above.
"System, what is the truth behind this cultivation?"
[Host needs to find the answer yourself]
"Oi... can't you give me the answer, already? Don't keep me hanging like this!"
[Host need to find the answer yourself]
"..." He was speechless, "System, who are you exactly? The way you talk isn't like an A.I. at all. Like those back on Earth."
[Host will know everything when the time has come]
"..."
"Then, do you know the answer to my cultivation?"
[Yes]
"..." The system knew the answer. Alex pondered for a moment before he asked, "A little clue, please?"
[Host, you have an experience of making a rank 3 pill back in the dungeon. If it was not because of the host's pure fire element, the host would 100% fail when making that pill. Because of the host's pure fire element, the heat that came from it was greater than those of a normal one. Doesn't the host notice that the higher the pill rank, the higher the temperature needed to make them?]
Alex now remembered that. When he made rank 1 pill, the temperature of the flame he used wasn't that high and when he made rank 2 pill, the temperature was indeed higher.
"..." Alex pondered for a while. It seemed that his system held a lot of secrets behind his back.
[Yes Host. But Host need to slowly unravel them]
"..." He also forgot that the system can read his mind. "System, a little privacy, please?"
[Impossible, Host]
He sighed, "You are acting so mysteriously, System. If you have a body I might want to cut you open."
[Host, according to your memory, there is a phrase you kept saying that a man is more charming when he is mysterious]
"No no no, there is nothing like that at all. It is just a proverb. It is not real. The more mysterious he is, the more people around him think that he might be a terrorist. And also, are you a man? You don't seem to have any gender, right?"
[I'm a woman, Host]
"..." Alex was speechless. The system identified itself as a woman when it doesn't even have a tangible body?
[I have a body, Host]
"Then, show yourself to me,"
[When the time is right, Host]
"Liar. You don't have any proof for that. So, it isn't real."
[...]
"Now you are ignoring me."
Alex sighed, "I will surely unravel all your secrets."
[I am looking forward to it, Host]
'Sighed'
His teacher came back as he finished complaining to his system.
"Why are you sighing? What's wrong?" The teacher then asked him after seeing the troubling looks on Alex's face.
"No... it's nothing, Teacher. I'm just thinking, it is so hard to make rank 3 pill. It's even harder to get the ingredients, I might not succeed in making them."
"Have you tried making a rank 3 pill?"
"Yes, one time. It was pure luck that I managed to succeed. However, I got some internal injuries and my Mana reserves were empty because of that."
"..." The dean pondered for a little while, "Well, let's wait for you to rank up first, then."
"Alright."
"Then, what do you want to do next?"
Alex thought for a while, but he could not come up with anything. But seconds later, something came to his mind.
"Teacher, tomorrow, he..." he hesitated.
"He...?" Seeing Alex hesitated, he tried to guess who Alex was referring to. Suddenly his eyes brightened. He smiled at Alex gently and said, "Don't worry Alex, whatever you do I will always support you."
Alex was surprised, "Thank you, Teacher!"
"Go back first."
"Alright," Alex then left.
The dean frowned, he also knew the concerning matter between Alex and the hero. His heart was pained when he heard about this from the king. Alex was a quiet person, but behind his silence, there was an inferiority complex. He didn't know what happened in Alex's past, but he was sure it was connected with the hero. He wanted to make Alex more confident, but Alex could only do this by himself, or he would become too dependent on others. So, the only thing he could do was to silently support him.
***
When Alex came back to his room, he saw Firia chatting with Alicia in the room. Her relationship with Alicia seemed to get better.
"Firia?" Alex was surprised to see her in his room.
"Alex," she stood up and greeted him.
Alex smiled at her, "You have worked hard in the dungeon."
"Hehe..." Firia was happy and embarrassed at the same time. Alicia could only pout.
"I came by to greet you. Now, I've met you, I will go back. See you soon, Alex!" Firia said.
"I will see you off," Alex said.
"It's alright," but Firia shrugged. She looked at Alicia.
"I will see you off then," Alicia smiled, then she went out with Firia.
Firia seemed to be worried about Alex because of the hero. But after hearing the story from Alicia, she decided to keep it to herself.
Alex could only stand silently, then he shook his head and sat on his beloved sofa and cultivated again.
***
In the morning, Alex, as usual, woke Alicia up and met up with Firia. The three of them went to class together. But that day, Alex felt something was wrong, so he brought his sword and Alicia brought her staff. Somehow, the class was empty. The three of them were surprised. Suddenly, Viola came in approaching them from outside the class.
"Ah."
The three of them turned to the voice. They saw Viola.
"Miss Viola, why is the class empty?"
"Just now, the hero and his companion were placed in our class. But he provoked everyone in the class from the beginning. Joshua couldn't stand it and challenged him. Then everyone here went to the arena. And, The Dean also wanted you to meet him now," Viola said to Alex.
Alex pondered a bit, and then he nodded. "I will meet him now."
"Alex."
Alex looked at Alicia who called him.
"We will go to the arena. We can't let them do things like this,"
Alex was surprised, and then he sighed, "Alright."
After that, Alicia, Firia, and Viola went to the arena, while Alex went to see his teacher.
"Teacher."
"Haiz, Alex. What are those people from Zircodina doing? It is only the first day and still in the morning as well, but they already pick on people from our academy," the dean was so angry. They didn't consider that troublesome hero and his companion as a human.
"Teacher," Alex was surprised by his reaction, "Are there no teachers who can stop them?"
"Even if the teacher comes, they will be stopped by the hero's guardian," he sighed, "To think that they even send a rank 8 fighter as a guardian."
"Are you going to stop them, Teacher?"
"No, I will not."
Alex was shocked by his answer. Because of his earlier reaction, Alex thought that his teacher would stop them. But he knew very soon what he meant as the dean spoke his next words.
"I won't be the one who stops them. I will only stop their guardian. You are the one who will stop them. Of course, you are free to humiliate them. Well, it will be a bit bad if you kill them here, though. They will join up forces with the Holy Kingdom and attack us. Even though we can win over them, we will not be able to escape unscathed.
If the demon launches an attack on us, then, we humans will be wiped out. Well, if you want to kill them, that is also fine with me. Whatever your choice, your teacher here will support your decision."
"Don't worry, Teacher, I won't be that impatient. If killing them means bringing danger to the human race, then I won't do it. We also don't have any hatred that runs through generations between us. So, waiting a bit is fine for me."
The dean nodded, "But make sure you beat them this time. If they are humiliated, they will go back to their home sooner, and it will be better since I don't need to deal with those scumbags anymore here."
Alex nodded, "Teacher, is there any other rank 8 beside you in our academy?"
"Yes, there is. He is our principal. But he went to demi-human territory and this is his second year. He said he will come back after he finishes his third year there."
"Actually, where are all of our rank 8 fighters, Teacher?" Alex was curious about this.
"Rank 8? There are only me and the principal here in the academy. Your soon-to-be grandfather-in-law is a rank 8 too, but he lives in seclusion and only goes out if there is a danger to the kingdom or if there is an urgent situation going on. We also have four dukes which are The West, East, North, and South Dukes. They are also rank 8 fighters. Other rank 8 fighters are our Marshall and his Vice General. And the last one is the captain of the royal guard."
Alex nodded, "Then..."
But before he finished his sentence, the door was opened.
'Bam!'
"It's terrible, Alicia is fighting the archmage, the sage, and Zircodina Princess on the arena!"