"You, what are you?"
Adelia looked at Frey with a tired expression on her face. And yet, her hands were still moving busily.
Frey didn't answer her and continued mixing an elixir.
"Where did you learn alchemy? It's kind of old fashioned but definitely on the level of a Professor."
"It's all from books."
"Right. It's all in the books. Do you think I don't know? But it's completely different to do it in practice."
Adelia paused for a moment before continuing.
"You know what. You, would you like to be my assistant?"
If any of her acquaintances had been around, they would have wondered if something was wrong with their ears.
Adelia.
What kind of woman was she?
Regarding alchemy, she had boasted that she would neither request someone's assistance nor advice and when asked for collaboration, she would usually frown openly, causing that person to feel embarrassed.
Was she really making an offer first when she was the one that usually said that assistants were hindrances?
"Sorry."
"…"
Of course, Frey, who did not know the conflict that was happening inside her simply shook his head.
But even if he did know, he would still have refused.
Adelia froze for a moment.
This might have been the first time that she had willingly lowered her head to someone else.
Since she was always the one who was being asked, she didn't know how to coax the other party or what words to say to leave a good impression.
"Wh-, Why don't you think about it a little more? As my assistant um…you can make a lot of money too! And, and…uh. I'll teach the formulas that only I know. Those old guys in the magic tower couldn't even get me to teach them if they begged. So what do you think?"
"Professor, the one on the left is not Mandrake extract, it's Troll Blossom."
"O-, oops."
Adelia hurriedly changed the glass bottle that she was holding.
But not before she glowered at Frey for a moment.
'It would be really comfortable if I had him.'
Adelia usually felt that assistants were cumbersome and would get in the way, but Frey was the exception.
He noticed things quickly.
If there was a material that she needed, he would bring it to her before she had even opened her mouth.
This was proof that he did not stop paying attention to Adelia's actions even while completing his own tasks.
This was an impossible task unless someone was able to have multiple thoughts at the same time while also having a large field of view.
She didn't intend to get an assistant primarily because they did not have a high enough understanding of alchemy.
However, Frey knew very well the moments to help, the moments that he should stand back, and the moments he should give advice.
It was as if he had done similar things hundreds or thousands of times.
Thanks to this, Adelia was able to work at a rate of at least three times her usual efficiency.
Moreover, Frey didn't lack the necessary knowledge of alchemy. In fact, there were even some areas where he was better than her.
'How am I supposed to entice this guy?'
Adelia glanced at Frey, revealing her greed for talent for the first time in her life.
"Professor Adelia."
"Huh? No. Wait a minute. Why are you calling me professor?"
"Because I went to Westroad Academy."
"Huh? Really? Then why don't I remember seeing you before?"
"I didn't take a professor's class."
"Let me get this straight. Are you saying that there was nothing for you to learn in my class? If I wanted to…"
"That's not important, I have something to ask."
"What is it?"
He had had to open his mouth so many times to finally get to the point.
Frey felt like Adelia was not a suitable conversational partner.
"Are you skilled in creating Golems?"
"To what extent? I should be better than those guys who call themselves puppeteers. It's one of my areas of expertise."
Adelia shook a bottle in her hand as she answered.
"…for example."
Frey carefully told her the story of Anastasia.
"If I gave you a core with 1 million ME, could you make it into a Golem?"
"That's crazy."
"…"
Adelia spoke coolly.
This time her expression was much more determined than when she had talked about Torkunta's heart.
Then she shook the bottle some more and raised it to the light to inspect it, before speaking.
"First of all. You said it was a core with 1 million ME right? How would you make that? No, well. In theory, it's possible, but it would probably require an Archmage who is crazy about golems to spend decades working on it."
"…"
He couldn't refute that.
When he had first measured the ME in Anastasia's core he himself had doubted what he was seeing.
His doubt had then turned into astonishment.
Frey had realised then that it was something that was beyond a Golem core.
"And even if you could somehow make it, there were still problems. In order to contain that much ME the entire body would need to be made from Orichalcum and the nervous system would need to be Mithril. And what about the plating? Right.
Then let's say you collected all of the materials somehow. To create the Golem you'd still need dozens of experts in the field to design and form the body, inject the commands into it as well as input the ego."
The wrapping paper of Schweiser's last gift to him was much more difficult than Frey had anticipated.
Adelia's ability was obvious.
Frey had certainly realized that fact while helping her manufacture the elixirs.
When it came to alchemy, it certainly wasn't an empty boast to say that she was better than the Tower Master.
That was why the situation was even more helpless.
"But why do you ask? You don't have a 1 million ME Golem core do you?"
It would be too much of a shock if he was to take out the Golem core after already showing her Torkunta's heart.
Frey shook his head.
"…that's ridiculous."
* * *
Time passed.
Nothing really changed.
Instead of meditation in the mornings, physical training in the afternoons and reading in the evening, Frey spent his time with Adelia, making elixirs.
Adelia had a strange personality, but her skills and knowledge were top notch.
In particular, it was safe to say that there was little that she did not know when it came to alchemy.
'If Schweiser was alive, he would've made her his disciple no matter the cost.'
Perhaps the two of them could have had a really good master-student relationship.
As he thought this, Frey paused for a moment and smiled bitterly.
The frequency of which he projected the past onto the present was increasing.
Did that mean he was old now?
'…It's been 4,000 years.'
Had he really been stuck in the abyss for 4,000 years?
Frey had found himself questioning this fact a lot lately.
He knew that a long time had passed.
But he didn't truly know how long it was because he hadn't been counting.
It was a space where only his consciousness had floated without really affecting anything.
It was not unreasonable for him to mistake 400 years as 4,000 years.
'But the reason I think 4,000 years have passed is that that's how much time passed in the outside world.'
However, it couldn't be confirmed whether the time in the abyss and the outside world were the same or not.
Frey clicked his tongue.
'This is a difficult problem.'
It was also not the kind that could easily get an answer.
Frey decided to reconsider this matter at a later date.
Smack.
Thump.
"…Kuh. I lost."
Liamson lowered his head for a moment with a sombre expression on his face.
Frey smiled and reached out a hand to him.
"I'm now completely used to your movements."
"Ha. You just caught me off guard."
He spoke roughly but still reached up and accepted Frey's hand.
Their win-loss ratio was 50:50
If it had been a real fight then it might not have even, but this result was possible because it was a simple competition.
Frey glanced at him.
The Blacktooth Tribe.
It was one of the circles among the elves.
Frey was pleased with the fact that different races had knowledge of the Demigod and they all had the will to rebel together.
This was completely different 4,000 years ago.
At that time only the humans and the Dragons dared to bare their fangs at the Demigods.
"…"
Dragon.
Associated with this word was the face of his teacher.
'On the off chance that teacher is still alive…'
He would be a great help.
In that case, he wouldn't even need any more reinforcement.
But he soon shook his head. The probability of that was too low.
Even in the past, lives were at stake. Moreover, Dragons wouldn't easily cooperate with humans.
This was because they insisted on being mediators.
In a way…
They were quite similar to the Demigods who had many restrictions on their use of their transcendental powers.
"Frey, I have a question today."
"You can ask me anything."
As Frey nodded, the other Dark Elves also gathered around.
He no longer needed to melt the power of Frozen River so he had a lot more spare time.
During that time, Frey helped the Dark Elves learn magic.
Of course, it wasn't just a one-sided relationship.
"How was yesterday?" Camille asked, to which Frey responded.
"There was still no response."
"Don't be impatient. It usually takes at least three years to sense the spirits. If you continue to practice after we leave then you might be able to sign a contract someday."
Frey learned Spirit Magic from Camille.
It was also the Darkness Spirit Magic that only Dark Elves should be able to handle.
This couldn't exactly be considered as a deviation from standard magic.
Once one reached the 7-star level, ordinary training would have little effect on them.
Therefore it made more sense to learn something else in that time.
'I'll use whatever I can.'
But there was one problem.
As Camille had said, he'd tried to call the spirits, but there had been no response.
"Isn't it something only you guys can use?"
"I don't think so. I've taught a few open-minded friends of mine before. Although they were only low-level spirits, they were still able to successfully sign a contract."
"…"
"Well it won't work if you hurry, so just take it slow."
Frey could only nod at Camille's words.
After parting from the Dark Elves, Frey headed to his room to wait for Adelia.
Today was an important day.
This was because it was the day that the elixir would finally be completed.
Adelia said that she wanted to do the finishing touches alone. And she had emphasized that he shouldn't come till sunset.
Frey listened to her words.
He didn't even think about the possibility of her running away.
Even if she did run, he had the confidence to catch her.
Of course, Adelia had no reason to take it in the first place.
If she drank if at her current level, then instead of digesting it, her entire body would melt into a pool of blood.
Most importantly, Frey had gained some degree of understanding of this strange human called Adelia.
She was rational and had little interest in anything other than satisfying her own knowledge and desire to learn more.
The sunset.
Frey was about to get up but he soon felt someone outside his door.
Knowing who it was, he simply walked to the door and opened it.
As he stepped out of the room, he saw Adelia standing there, however, there was a rarely seen serious expression on her face. "Are you done?"
"…I want to ask. You're going to take this, aren't you?"
Frey nodded.
Adelia hesitated for a moment before she spoke again.
"I don't think you should."
"Did you fail?"
He assumed the worst but Adelia shook her head.
"It's the opposite. It is very well made."
Then she took out a small bottle from her pocket.
"The ME increased to double the previous amount. It would be difficult for even one of the Floor Masters to consume this. I know that you are very powerful compared to your peers but you should take care of yourself first."
"It's fine."
"Huh?"
Frey collected the elixir from Adelia and gave her a rarely seen, genuine smile.
"I was lucky to have met the professor. No one else could have made this elixir so perfectly."
"Of course. I am a genius…no, that's not the point. Didn't you hear me? It's dangerous."
"It's fine. I have the confidence to handle it."
Adelia seemed like she wanted to say more but in the end, she sighed and gave up.
Just had Frey had gained an understanding of her, she had also done the same for him.
He was not someone who told lies.
"Take care of yourself. I'm going now. If you need anything else, come and see me. I'll help you if I'm not busy."
"Thank you very much. I will make sure to repay this favour.
And…"
Frey took out an item from his bag and gave it to her.
"I hope that the professor will accept this."
"Huh?"
Eiz's Necklace.
It was an item that could increase its user's concentration as well as allow them to precisely measure the ME of a material.
Not only that but it was incredibly helpful to an alchemist like her because it allowed her to manage her mana more efficiently.
Above all, it was made with the finest rubies by a First-rate craftsman so it was beautiful enough to captivate whoever was looking at it.
But Adelia was thinking something else which caused her face to turn red.
"You, what are you thinking…No-, not a chance. You are a student and I am a professor."
"Yes?"
"No-, not a chance! No means no!"
Adelia blushed and ran back into her room, but she still made sure to take the necklace with her.
"…"
Frey shrugged then looked down at the elixir in his hand.
It was finally time for him to completely reach 7 stars.