"Alchemist Guild, huh?" asked Morgan. Alice nodded as she placed the Energy Purifying Jewel into a wooden box filled with many of her jewels.
'Joining the alchemist guild will surely benefit me greatly, especially since I can obtain potion books for high-level gem formulations,' Morgan explained.
'But, I'm still a Rune student, so it would be difficult to join them,' Morgan said.
"If you want to join my sister's guild, then I'll ensure you get the sacred artifacts to help your servant expand," Alice explained.
Alice's shocking statement obviously surprised Morgan, causing the young man to respond with a widened eye. The Monarch Academy is a great and well-known academy that has a long history in witchcraft. They must have some sacred artifacts that have connections with Morgana.
[Use her to get my expansion materials ]
'I have to be careful with Alice. She might have her reasons for inviting me this time,' Morgan explained.
[You think too much!]
[If you join them, the potential for you to meet the head of the Alchemist Department increases]
Morgan was reminded of the identities of the five suspected Child of Crown members. One of them was a middle-aged man who held the position of the head of the Alchemist Department.
'You're right. I must stay focused on my purpose for being here anyway,' Morgan explained.
"How?" asked Alice, curious about Morgan's decision.
"I'll give you an answer if I make it through the three exams this time. Hopefully, you can wait for that, Alice," explained Morgan.
"Alright. It's not good to force you when we have to keep focusing on these exams. I'll be back," Alice explained, saying goodbye as she stood up and walked away.
Morgan said yes. He wouldn't go back to the Viridian dorm's hideout after half of the students refused his presence. Morgan also suspected that Albert and Lilia would definitely be kicked out after he was expelled from there.
Alice left after ensuring Morgan was safe inside the cave. Morgan sensed Alice's slight trace of magic aura fading away, a perfect time for him to perform the gem formulation.
[So, you were confident enough to make the essence jewel by yourself?]
"Too many things are being revealed about me to her. If she finds out I can make a third-level jewel, she'll never let me go," replied Morgan.
"It's better to do it alone and fail," insisted Morgan, sitting back and leaning against the cave wall.
[If you fail, do it again. I don't care how many times you try; my essence jewel has to be created]
"I will try," stated Morgan.
The main materials needed to create an essence jewel were a red Amethyst-type gem and a monster essence of any level. This time, Morgan planned to create a third-level essence jewel.
It required the materials of three Amethyst red gems and one third-level monster essence. Morgan had all the materials to start formulating the jewels immediately.
As usual, Morgan followed the phases of gem formulation with caution. He also consumed two carmine gems of different colors, red and blue. The red gem was to increase Morgan's magic power since the aggressiveness of the third-level essence jewel was high.
The blue one was useful in terms of energy recovery. These preparations were needed to ensure that Morgan would not have any difficulties when entering the material core unification phase.
BOM!
A small explosion was created around the compounding sphere, throwing Morgan's body backwards. Morgan rushed back to the sphere. He never thought the energy surge of the fusion impact could happen outside the sphere.
[Create a second layer of the sphere with your wind element]
"Alright." Morgan waved his left hand forward, summoning the magic aura of the wind element to form a larger-sized sphere that surrounded the compounding sphere. Another small explosion occurred again, but its impact was restrained by the layer of wind element created.
'I never knew this was possible,' Morgan explained.
[It's because you've always sticked to books and theories. Magic works mysteriously. If you're already at the high alchemist stage, you can compound the ingredients right in the palm of your hand.]
[Let me know when the formulation is done]
'This woman. She might be from the past, but how does she know so much about magic in the present time?' Morgan explained.
'I firmly believe magic in the past and the present are far different in their implementation,' said Morgan.
Morgan kept focusing his mind and heart on creating a third-level essence jewel, something that would be a first for him. Two hours passed, the fusion began to show results, although it wasn't perfect yet.
Five hours later, the fusion of the three material cores succeeded, forming a small orb of red-blended white light. Morgan smiled. The third phase was perfectly successful. Now, he had to focus on completing the last two phases.
The last two phases were completed in two hours. Morgan needed nine hours to complete the formulation of the third level essence jewel, starting at 10am and ending at 7pm.
"I did it, but it was exhausting and draining," Morgan explained.
[Jewel Formulation Complete]
[Congratulations!]
[Name: Jewel Essence]
[Status: Level 3]
[Rise Up!]
[You've gained an Alchemist star]
[Alchemist Stage: Adept]
[Alchemist Star: 6]
'It only requires three stars to be at the peak of the adept stage alchemist. I don't need to be rushed,' Morgan explained.
Morgan kept the essence jewel in his storage bracelet. To meet Morgana, he went to his soul realm to hand over the jewel as promised.
As Morgan's eyes opened, he saw Morgana sitting on a stone throne with her legs crossed in elegance. The woman seemed to have a cold expression when she saw Morgan's presence in the place, but Morgana could feel the energy flow of the essence jewel in Morgan's palm.
"So, you made it?" asked Morgana briefly.
"As promised," Morgan explained, stepping closer to the invisible barrier wall.
The young man opened his palm and handed Morgana a third-level essence jewel. The gem floated forward and was received by Morgana, the woman's eyes glancing over the jewel's quality.
"Not a bad one for someone like you," replied Morgana.
"Leave," Morgana explained.
Morgan did not plan to stay in that place for long. As he was about to return his consciousness to his body, his steps were halted when Morgana called out to him.
"Boy!" called Morgana.
The young man turned back, staring at Morgana intently, "What?"
"Come closer."
"Did the jewel not meet your expectations?" asked Morgan, walking closer to the woman again.
"It doesn't, but I couldn't have expected more after seeing your abilities. So, this jewel is enough," replied Morgana.
The essence jewel faded from Morgana's palm, now turning into a purple flame that blazed above the woman's hand. Morgan saw it clearly; it belonged to a different type of fire in general, just like Denis's blue flames.
Surprisingly, Morgana threw the purple fireball forward and went through the soul barrier wall. It continued to fly and entered Morgan's chest, leaving the young man shocked, with his eyes widening wildly.
"Wh-What are you doing?" asked Morgan, clutching his solar plexus area just after the purple ball went through.
"You'll find out later," Morgana replied, gracefully sitting back down with her legs crossed.
Morgan tried to adjust his breath to return to normal, not scared and worried. At first, Morgan suspected nothing significant had happened. However, a shock ensued. A burning sensation arose in Morgan's body after the purple fireball entered his body.
"What's going on?!" screamed Morgan, slumped over with a gasp, his right hand still holding his burning chest.
"It seems the purple fireball worked well," Morgana replied, smiling slightly.
"Working well? What do you mean?" asked Morgan, still holding back the heat in his heart.
"Doing recovery to relieve the heat symptoms in your body," Morgana explained.
Morgan cleared his throat in agreement. His consciousness returned to his original body in the natural realm. With no second thought, Morgan picked up a Carmine-type blue gem to aid in faster recovery.
[High Magic: Natural Energy Transformation]
The young man sat cross-legged in a relaxed state with his eyes closed. A stream of natural energy rushed into Morgan's body, and Morgan's mind directly focused that energy on extinguishing the hot turmoil in his heart.
'That purple fireball! What exactly did the woman do to me?' Morgan asked.
'Focus, Morgan! Deal with the heat first, then you'll find the answer,' Morgan explained.
With the vision of his consciousness, he saw the purple fireball still roaming ferociously on Morgan's body. What needed to be done was to restrict the movement of the purple fireball by keeping him confined within his mana cage.
'This fireball is unusual,' Morgan explained.
Once surrounded, Morgan formed a circle to enclose the purple fireball. The circle was created from his mana particles that were neatly arranged without the slightest gap.
Finally, the purple fireball was successfully imprisoned in the mana cage orb. The burning sensation in his heart began to subside, a sign of the purple fireball's ferociousness vanishing.
"What the hell is going on?" asked Morgan.
[Try bringing up your magic aura]
Morgan agreed to Morgana's command. He unleashed his magic aura, and surprisingly, the color of his magic aura was different; it was a mixture of red and purple. Morgan now understood Morgana's meaning.
"Could this be your power?" asked Morgan, curious.
[It's a hassle to help you whenever you're in trouble. I gave it to you so I could relax more.]
"Thank you. I don't know how to repay your kindness," explained Morgan, smiling.
[Get my sacred artifact and give me the second-tier expansion. That's your way of paying me back, boy.]
"Alright. I promise I'll find your sacred artifact and give you the second expansion."
[Yeah, you said that a thousand times]
[Leave me alone. I want to rest]
Morgan nodded in response to Morgana's words. Now, Morgan was very curious about the power of the purple flame he had obtained. Morgan went outside the cave and prepared to launch a simple purple flame attack at a tree.
"Attack!" ordered Morgan, shooting the purple flame forward and hitting the tree.
The tree trunk instantly split in two and burned on both sides, while Morgan's purple fireball was still streaking and not yet extinguished. Morgan quickly put it out.
"A terrible power, but it must have drained much of my mana. I have to measure this power well," Morgan explained, raising his head to stare at the night sky.
"If I can use this power well, the Golden Crown and Alexander are no threat to me!"