The following day, at the break of dawn.
Gurney arrived at Sugar Supernatural Academy.
Today's classes were all by Teacher Ourock, so Gurney did not dare to be late. After all, he was not an ordinary teacher; he was a Transcendent teacher. These people had the authority to expel students who were not hardworking.
By the time Gurney arrived on the sixth floor of Ourock Tower, several people were already seated; even the person that Gurney wanted to meet had already arrived.
"Good morning, Yulair!" Gurney casually said his greeting.
"Good morning!" Yulair replied subconsciously, but soon, she turned her head around in shock. In her memory, they had already been classmates for four years, but this was the first time he took the initiative to greet her in the morning.
Seeing his clean, short hair and thin but firm face, Yulair felt slightly nervous as her heart palpitated.
"I have something to ask you, may I?" Gurney lowered his voice.
"What is it?"
"I remember that you mentioned your sister is in the Darkness Department, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Then, does the Darkness Department have a habit of raising plants to nurture one's observation skills and patience, or rather, a method that practices this?"
"Oh! You mean that! From what I remember, my sister said that supernatural plants will move mildly on their own, so one has to be attentive to notice such small changes through this dull process of observation. It can indeed raise one's patience and endurance. This is very important for a Shadower.
"My sister also grew some 'mosquito-repelling grass'. You know that during summer, those bugs are very annoying, but once you have mosquito-repelling grass growing, the entire room will be devoid of such bugs."
"So that's it. I understand now." Gurney nodded slightly.
"Why are you asking this?"
"Because a Knight who does not want to be a Shadower is not a good Mage," Gurney replied as such.
Yulair froze for a moment before laughing to herself uncontrollably.
Taking a glance at Gurney, Yulair's ears turned red. This guy is always able to think of some nonsensical sentences in his head.
As he arranged his textbooks at his seat, Gurney thought to himself, This Mersha… it seems I was overthinking it. My victim paranoia is getting more severe. Gurney rubbed his temples lightly.
As someone who was born with an alert and wary nature, Gurney often looked at everything around him with the preset notion that they wanted to harm him even if the other party was truly harmless.
"But I still have a bad feeling. Maybe it is this upcoming expedition… or the cult members of that Giant Deity Cult from some time ago…? Those cult members who believe in the Giant Deity had gone completely silent after that incident. Are they storing up energy now to make a big move later?
"Sigh… my strength is still too weak. For now, I need to become a true Spellcaster first. Only then can I survive against the upcoming tides of the mysterious supernatural world and not become a sacrificial pawn who dies silently."
...
At night, in Old Rock Street, No. 155, within the underground Potion-Alchemy Secret Room.
"Huff…"
Looking at the three blue bottles containing "Blue Ice Princess", Gurney let out a soft sigh.
The precious low-tier ice potion, Blue Ice Princess.
One bottle would make one feel like they were submerged in the icy river.
Two bottles would make one feel like they were frozen in ice.
Three bottles would make one's soul go directly to heaven.
Of course, that was the case for normal people.
For an Ice Elementalist, this potion would be able to replenish their elemental force to a great extent when it started to run out. It was akin to an Ice Elementalist's "mana potion".
"This is… Blue Ice Princess?" Mersha who was at the side stared with wide eyes as she looked at this blue potion that was being poured into the test tube.
"You recognize it?"
"They said that this Blue Ice Princess was one of the best potions to use for cultivating human-faced flowers. I've seen its picture before," Mersha replied softly.
"What you made is much better than the one in the picture." Mersha pointed at the empty space above the potion bottle as she said, "So many small snowflakes flying around, it's so cute."
Placing the three Blue Ice Princess potions into the bag, Gurney handed it to Mersha and said, "Be careful. Don't touch this Blue Ice Princess directly. It is very cold."
"I got it. Thank you!" Mersha expressed her gratitude to Gurney. She also performed an inexpert curtsy.
After Mersha left, from the dark corner of the stairway, Old Cohen walked out.
Gurney had sensed Old Cohen's arrival long ago. Even though Mersha possessed an outstanding "supernatural sense", she had not received sufficient training yet, so she did not discover him.
"Is anything the matter?"
"Mm." Gurney nodded as he packed up the equipment on the desk and said, "Next week, the school will be having an outdoor practical lesson lasting a week. Since I will not be around for a week, regarding the potion concoction…"
"Recently, the sale of potions has been rather low, and you have made many potions these past few days, so there is no need to worry," Old Cohen said in his hoarse voice. "Instead, I obtained news that the members of Giant Deity Cult have been moving around Sugar Ruins City recently. There seem to be other forces at work too.
"So be careful when you go out. I know that you have some strength, but you need to know that against those truly powerful Transcendents, your methods will not have much effort. After all, you are still not a true Transcendent yet.
"Fortunately, within Sugar Ruins City, there are powerful Transcendent teachers. You won't need to worry about attacks by cult members there. However, once you enter the supernatural wilderness, those supernatural plants and lifeforms will be the true threats that you need to guard against."
"I will be careful," Gurney replied.
Regarding the exploration of the supernatural wilderness, Gurney had some experience, and with his personality, if he really met a supernatural plant or lifeform, it was uncertain which side would suffer a loss.
...
Late at night, inside the secret room below Gurney's room.
After ensuring that lock, door, and secret tunnel were safely secured, Gurney lay down on his wooden bed at the corner, relaxing while holding the
As a proper Pharmacist, Gurney needed to have a deep knowledge of all natural plants, supernatural plants, their many subspecies, and all their medicinal effects.
Otherwise, when exploring mysterious and supernatural areas, if he did not recognize those valuable plants and missed them, it would be a severe loss.
...
Late at night, moonlight pierced through the thick clouds, scattering and landing on Mersha's thin window.
Before the window, Mersha carefully placed the finger-sized yellowish human-faced-flower seed into the bottle of Blue Ice Princess potion.
Staring at the human-faced-flower seed that was submerged in the Blue Ice Princess liquid, Mersha opened her mouth and muttered, "Little flower, little flower, quickly grow up!"