As the 30-minute time limit passed, a sound similar to an alarm clock resounded in the entire room.
Beep! Beep!
In an instant, the corresponding Alchemy tools on each Station froze. It seemed that there's a mechanism whereas the Alchemy tools freeze when the alarm is activated. This is to prevent cheating.
"Oh no! I was about to finish it!"
"Damn!"
"One last bit.. I was about to store it.."
Even these well-restrained Alchemy Examinees lost control of their emotions for a moment. After all, they made the same Potion over and over again just for it to have a higher quality than the last one.
Though, they all went back to silence when they looked at the female proctor.
"Good. It seems that you all have a good control of your temper. I didn't even have the chance to silence you. Tsk."
The Examinees reacted as if it'll be their embarrassment if they do get reprimanded publicly. Alchemists were famous for their patience and control of emotions after all. If you lose control of your emotions easily, why would you even attempt Alchemy?
"Alright, place the Potion that you wanted to pass on the Array on your Station."
Hearing that, all of the Examinees placed the highest quality Potion that they had made in the Teleportation Array. After all of them placed it, the lights on the female proctor's desk lit up. It symbolized whether a Potion has been placed on the corresponding Teleportation Arrays or not.
Seeing that all of them placed it already, she activated the control key of the Arrays, teleporting them to somewhere else.
"Now that the Exams has been finished, you can just sit down and wait for a while. If you pass, a Badge would appear in your Stations. Those who have failed will have to get out."
""I understand!""
All of the Examinees said so simultaneously.
'She's well-respected here, I see.'
Even though Lugh doesn't know the female proctor's identity, he noticed that most, if not all examinees present are respectful to her.
'Well, all I have to do is to wait.'
***
In the designated area where the Potions are checked..
"Room 05's has come out!"
"Those who are assigned there, go check it!"
"Sigh.. This week is very tiring."
It turns out that the Alchemy Tower has a systematic process when it comes to the Examinations. They send the Examinees' results to a certain area where many Alchemists of the Tower gathered. They then check each results and send them batch by batch for a more efficient workload.
"Have we gathered enough rabbits today? It seemed that the number of Examinees surpassed our initial estimates."
"Don't worry about that. You might be new here so you didn't know, but we have a partnership with the Merchant Alliance in the City. Acquiring those rabbits are easy."
To test the effects of each Potions, they have to feed it to an E Rank Rabbit. With the use of various Alchemy tools, they can roughly know the effects of the said Potion.
"T-this!"
"What happened?"
"No, look at this!"
Thanks to his shout, he gathered the attention of quite a few Alchemists, making them curious as to what he saw just now.
"This!"
"What is it?!"
This time, even the second Alchemist who looked through the Alchemy tools was shocked, causing an even stronger curiosity towards what he had seen.
"This Potion, it can increase the Minor Rank by one!"
"How is that possible?! The test materials that we gave is only enough to make those B Ranked basic Potions!"
When Lugh chose this Potion Recipe, he knew that this will happen already. Still, he had chosen this due to the fact that this Potion Recipe is the least absurd in comparison to the other Potions that could give a temporary Elemental Affinity, A Single Law Power Attack that could be executed those of A+ and below, and so on.
It can't be helped.
[Crushing Realm Potion (B+)]
-A Potion jointly created by 12 Black-Ranked Alchemists in order to fight against the never-ending horde of the Zerg Race.
-Upon consuming this Potion, the Minor Rank will be increased by one.
-Crushing the enemies with your realm.
During the times prior to the Fusion, the Alchemists of the Magic World tried their best to supplement the power of their weaker Combat Forces. That's why they tried their best to create a Potion Recipe whereas the Materials are abundant, meaning it can be created using basic materials and not using the rare ones.
This is the only solution left that was thought by the Alchemists. Of course, this is never seen before by the Alchemists of Lugh's world.
"It is estimated to work for those B-~B Rank Combatants. As for the effect, it's more than an hour."
"That's insane!"
"Who's so extravagant as to use this Recipe in this Exam?"
"Maybe it's an inheritance.."
When Lugh chose this Potion, he had already taken into mind that someone might be tempted to steal the Recipe from him. That's why he only chose a "Budget Potion".
To others, it might seem that the Recipe is only a downgraded version of the other Potions that could increase the user's Rank, thus most Alchemists would think that the difficulty of creating this Potion is its draw back.
As for Lugh, this doesn't exist at all. He became experienced enough when he upgraded the Fourth Path to Familiar-Level Mastery. Also, the Alchemists of the Zerg World created a specific technique that can deal with this.
Of course, Lugh didn't learn that at all. The Fourth Path is enough to supplement it.
"This definitely deserves a 95. The Downgraded Potion Recipes from the higher Ranked ones are definitely harder to make than the ones that aren't. This just meant that the Examinee himself or herself has sufficient skills."
The one who was initially assigned to grade Lugh's Potion decided. He first gave this Potion the overall score before transporting the Badge out in the Teleportation Array of Lugh's Station. He didn't forget to input Lugh's grade and a remark on the Teleportation Array.
'A good one popped up just now..'
After sending out Lugh's Badge, he began checking the other Potions...