Chapter 44
After Xavier went to sleep, he didn't remember what happened after that. He slept well after that exhausting battle. He woke up when the sun had just risen and saw that Sheila was sleeping on the couch.
He got up and went to the bath and ghor into his new clothes. He saw his omniband and saw that the Dean had summoned him.
He got ready and went to the academy. He went near the Dean building. He saw a deacon standing in front of the stairs. Usually, the Dean started alone and nobody would visit her, so a man standing in front of the building was conspicuous and Xavier knew that the deacon was waiting for him.
The Deacon saw that Xavier was approving him and came forward. He asked," Mister Xavier Argent?"
Xavier nodded indicating that he was the one the deacon was waiting for. The deacon immediately put on a flattering smile and said,"It's as the Dean said, young master Xavier is a talented person indeed. Come on in young master, the Dean is waiting for you inside."
Xavier didn't mind much of this flattery. The deacons were the the lowest in the level of authority in the academy and they naturally had to look for backers. This deacon wanted to flatter and praise Xavier because he wanted to get on his his side and then maybe leech of some benefits from Xavier when he got famous.
The deacon thought in his head and noddef,' After all, there were not many students who were worthy enough to catch the attention of the Dean, much less a freshman. If this young man is so good that he could catch the attention of that elusive Dean of the academy, he will be a bigshot one day. If I can get some things from him, even if they are scraps, they will be previous enough to be our family heirloom.' If one could see into the deacon's mind, they would see that he was rubbing his palms, planning for something big.
Xavier followed the deacon and went through the familiar hallway and reached the Dean chamber.
In the chamber, the Dean, Emilia was sitting on the chair behind the desk and was looking through the documents. She didn't even look at Xavier as she was wholly concentrated into looking through the documents.
Emilia looked at Xavier and said," Sit down. I have a request for you." She turned to the deacon and said," You can go now."
The deacon bowed and went away while Xavier say down and waited for Emilia to finish her work. After half an hour, Emilia said up and said, "Follow me."
Xavier also stood up and followed her. Emilia went to one if the book shelves and pushed a button. Xavier was also very intrigued by the books kept in the room.
'It seems that Emilia also like ancient stuff. These books are well preserved and maybe I'll take some time to borrow them for sometime.'
A door opened up and Xavier followed her through the passage and finally saw a room. He was surprised by this room. He had a vague idea about this room but still he had doubts.
He asked,"Is this?"
"Yes, this is an Alchemist room."
"Why did you prepare an Alchemist room here?"
Xavier asked this because he had never heard of the Alchemist in this city and also in the county. Even in his last life, he had heard rumours that the county only had 3 true alchemists and they were treated with the utmost respect.
So he was surprised when he found it that Emilia had made an alchemy room intake the Dean chambers.
"Don't think too much. This chamber was built along with the others for the concoction department. It was only a slight effort for me to make this alchemy room."
Xavier was surprised again. He knew that it was way too expensive to build an alchemical room and from seeing Emilia's nonchalant attitude, it seemed that it was nothing to get. This made Xavier rethink about how deep her background truly was. It was no wonder she was considered elusive. She was not just a cock hungry maiden after all.
"Why did you make this room? Even if it was easy, you still need a purpose."
"Well, I myself am aspiring to be an Alchemist. I'm a certified grade 3 peak level concocter and I can refine powders but I'm still a little bit away from becoming an alchemist."
Xavier was a little taken aback. He didn't think that Emilia was so close to being an Alchemist. As she said, there were many different grades of medicine making.
The first were the concocters. They were the most basic level medicine makers and usually just used their knowledge to mix the medicinal extracts to form potions. They had been divided into 3 grades and each grade had low, mid and high levels as subdivisions.
The next stage was alchemy where they could concot pills but this step was a vast chasm which could not be crossed easily by the anyone. So another level was introduced in between Alchemist and concocters.
This level was also a concocter but they were called peak concocters. They were the ones who produced medicinal powders. They exchanged the medicinal essences using the power of pill fire and combined them into a powder by they were not able to form a pill because of their insufficient understanding of the way in which they needed to die the medicinal ingredients. Thus these ingredients turned into powder and they were sold as such.
Xavier was surprised that Emilia was already at such a stage.
Emilia looked at Xavier's look of surprise and smiled with self content. When Xavier looked at this, he couldn't help but think that she was still a young maiden and not some lofty Dean but she was already married according to her statement last time but at the same time she was very free.
She asked," Do you know how to concot the Qi Condensation Powder?"
Xavier immediately thought of a pill and nodded. The Qi Condensation Pill was a energy replenishment pill which could replenish the qi of a cultivator at a very rapid rate. They were divided into different grades based on the stage if cultivate who can use the pill.
This qi condensation pill was the most basic pill one could refine but at the same time, it was also one of the toughest to refine. The high energy inside the pill makes it very difficult to condense it into a pill and this it turned into a powder called the Qi Condensation Powder.
This powder was 10 times difficult to concot than other powders and was considered to be closer in grade to a pill.
So, anyone who could refine the powder was considered infinitely close to teaching the stage of an Alchemist.
Seeing Xavier nod, Emilia smiled, her eyes flashing with a bit of surprise and said," Then, I will need you to refine a batch of Qi Condensation Powder for me. If you do, I'll give you an opportunity which can make your future."
"But what if you go back on your word and imprison me to use as your personal Alchemist?" Asked Xavier.
"Do you think you have a choice? And moreover who would be foolish enough to do that?" Said Emilia as she looked at Xavier with curled lips.
Xavier also grinned as he knew the exact reason for such a statement.
"Ok then. I'll concot the powder for you but you must keep your end of the bargain."