A chubby short elf walked over to the royal alchemy association branch, after finishing his pre-victory scrumptious lunch.
"Greetings young master Marvin!"
"Greetings Sir Marvin!"
"Greetings Master Marvin!!!"
Several salutations rang through the air as the elf haughtily strutted over.
Of course, this was to be expected!
After all, he was the royal alchemy grand master's only son!
His talent and capabilities passed down in the excellent bloodline were naturally bound to be earth-shattering and heaven breaking.
His affinity to the fire elemental was the only thing that was holding him back, but now that that problem was solved as well, he was bound to be unstoppable!
Being the peerless genius and strategist that he was, he had found an ingenious method to overcome that weakness.
Who else other than him could have come up with the solution of binge eating a mere low-grade beast to boost affinity?
He had eaten hundreds, no thousands of birds, and finally leaped through the obstacle that was holding him back.
And now he was ready to shock the world with his alchemy prowess.
Marvin confidently swaggered over to participate and ace the alchemy disciple exam.
More importantly, he was looking forward to announcing in front of the huge crowd how he had painstakingly worked hard and found a spectacular and unheard-of new method to acquire an elemental affinity!
He hadn't even stepped into the alchemy field and he was already making groundbreaking contributions to society.
"Ha Ha Ha. Aren't I awesome, Tinsdale?" Marvin chuckled and patted his aide standing near him.
After putting up with years and years of public shaming and being ridiculed, Marvin was more than ready to show off his proud metamorphosis.
"Yes, Master Marvin. Nobody can match your prowess."
Tinsdale excitedly sang to the tune of his young master. This habit was already ingrained in his very bones after doing it continuously for so many years.
Marvin chuckled and swaggered on inside stepping into the alchemy association gates.
He looked around to his left and right and gave off polite nods, before taking a seat at one of the open spots in the courtyard.
Every lunar cycle, the alchemy disciple and trainee exams were routinely conducted in the enormous royal alchemy association branch courtyard.
And this time as well, things were no different.
Among the disciples seated on the courtyard, anxiously waiting for the examination to start, Marvin also comfortably settled down and mingled with the group.
However, the chubby short elf definitely stood out with his grand golden robe, amidst the various disciple elves who had merely donned on their simple green disciple robes.
Marvin picked a spot in the front row and carefully arranged his jade brush and amethyst ink well.
The first exam was purely theoretical, testing the knowledge of the disciples on various herbs and their benefits, properties, and drawbacks.
So Marvin was pretty confident in his ability to ace this exam.
Being the grandmaster alchemist's son, he had plenty of resources and opportunities to thoroughly study and memorize every single herb known in this world.
As Marvin was smugly chatting with a fellow disciple elf seated on his right, a familiar face greeted him.
"Aha! There you are! Good afternoon, young master Marvin."
Dranuk twirled his long beard and walked over to Marvin with a big smile on his wrinkled face.
He, as well, was wearing a golden robe quite similar to Marvin's attire.
In fact, all the Masters who had assembled today to oversee the disciple and trainee examinations had donned on this attire.
"Greetings, Master Dranuk."
Since they were in public, Marvin humbly stood up and slightly bowed with his hands cupped to greet the master.
Dranuk chuckled, obviously pleased with the elf's mannerisms.
"So I assume everything went well? Are your preparations complete?" The old elf asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
Though he looked like an innocent concerned party simply enquiring about the preparations for the exam, in reality, his words held several meanings.
"Of course. Of course. Master Dranuk. Everything is in order." Marvin gave a thumbs up.
And then acting as if he just suddenly thought of this, Marvin removed the smug expression from his face and nervously asked.
"Master, would you be kind enough to join this humble disciple for dinner tonight and provide some pointers?"
"Aha Ha Ha. Of course, young master Marvin. I would be delighted to join you for dinner." Dranuk promptly replied and chuckled.
The shady pair looked at each other and grinned secretively.