Bear School Astartes

Chapter 71: 71. Alchemy Practice

Lann didn’t know what expectations the Female Warlock Academy had for his future.

He only felt a wave of coldness.

”What a joke about the warmth brought by professional strength...” the Demon Hunter muttered. ”It’s too cold!”

”These gold coins are too cold!”

The heavy, borderline cumbersome large money bag twirled in Lann’s hand.

These coins represented the cold and merciless law of interests in this world, symbolizing the dirty power and strength of the world... but there were just too many of them!

So much so that when the Demon Hunter mumbled, he couldn’t help but show a satisfied smile at the corner of his mouth.

The weight of the large money bag made even the cold Demon Hunter grin!

Oren Coins, although he didn’t know how it suddenly became half as much more than promised, but it was a good thing.

Margaret gave him cash directly.

Allowing him to directly connect with the institutions responsible for sales and trading in the academy.

The academy itself is also a complex force; if the Demon Hunter were to choose items directly from the reserve, they might even need to set up a special valuation and monitoring position for him.

However, taking money to the unit already responsible for trading matters to ’buy’ saves a lot of trouble procedurally.

At this moment, Lann bought a temporary use right for an Alchemy Classroom in Airetusa Academy for 10 Oren a day.

Is it appropriate to say that it lives up to being a Magic Academy? The price alone is impressively satisfying.

”But it’s worth it, sir.”

Mentos reminded Lann in his mind.

”Alchemy is a technique with a fixed procedure; we can familiarize ourselves with and master it in a very short time, provided we have an environment and equipment that meet the process requirements. Just this convenience Airetusa provides us far exceeds a mere 10 Oren.”

”I know, I know... but I’m the one paying, is it wrong for me to comment?”

Talking with Mentos while walking towards the pre-booked Alchemy Classroom.

His assigned accommodation was on the first floor of the castle on this large island, referred to as Luoxia Palace.

Decorated luxuriously and with outstanding artistic taste, it is said that during major college events, when the King or his confidants come, they can only visit this floor.

But Lann now is heading to the teaching area above Luoxia Palace.

Arriving at the door of the Alchemy Classroom, a brown-haired, gray-eyed little girl was already there waiting with a large package.

”Good morning, my lord.”

”Alia, I’ve told you again, I’m not some ’lord’... where on earth did you learn this troublesome etiquette?”

Lann shrugged helplessly, reached out to take the package from Alia’s evasive hands.

The package contained raw materials for this alchemy practice; although it looked large, most were fluffy items like plant leaves, so it wasn’t heavy.

The original group of four arriving at Gos Velen, York had already returned to the Crow’s Nest to report back that day.

But Alia, this little girl, refused to part ways with Lann and when asked about her hometown and family.

She would blurt out words nobody knew, like ”Winterfell” and ”Ice Wolf Family Emblem.”

Margaret, though she preferred pleasure over politics, was also a learned warlock.

Yet, she didn’t know a bit about what Alia mentioned.

Seeing the girl determined to become the protagonist in a knight story, Margaret didn’t arrange a job in town for her to make a living, treating her as Lann’s attendant instead.

Alia seemed very adept at being an attendant, not just any attendant, but the kind that served noble knights.

”According to your requests, I bought ten ounces of honeysuckle, three bottles of high-purity dwarf spirits, and twenty ounces of dried black lily petals from the academy...”

The little girl pulled a note from her pocket, swallowing nervously, and checked off her report item by item.

Lann felt she was like a new employee on her first day, scared of not performing well, nervous yet excited.

Even if she hadn’t seen demon hunters or magic before, this didn’t justify her nervousness.

Lann felt a bit helpless, ”No need to be so tense, today is just practice; I don’t even know what I can make.”

”Oh, oh, okay, my lord!”

Here we go again.

Lann pouted, opened the classroom door, and thought to himself, ”Could this child be a blood relative accidentally teleported here from some remote kingdom?”

Forget about whether her demeanor and actions were standard, she certainly had the style.

Entering the Alchemy Classroom, it felt like returning to his home world’s chemistry lab.

Of course, the school level.

Familiar distillation bottles, beakers, graduated cylinders, mortars, test tube racks...

Although the glass technology in this world is not yet widespread, mages always have access to the best.

”Woo-hoo! I feel like my proficiency started to increase before I even started, Mentos. I was famous for accurate titration in my high school chemistry lab!”

Lann couldn’t suppress his delight at seeing familiar things.

But Mentos poured cold water.

”That’s your illusion, sir. All practice projects this time use coarsely processed raw materials, far different from the precise purity prefabricated chemicals used on campus.”

The implication is: getting the concentrations right is enough to trouble you.

Lann didn’t mind, setting the package of raw materials on the table.

A flash of orange light from the Igni Magic Seal on his hand, and the candles in the Alchemy Classroom went ”poof!” and lit up.

”Start practice, establish project, magic potion [Swallow].”

Once Lann’s order was given, Mentos entered its auxiliary work state.

”Command received, alchemy assistance beginning, [Swallow] alchemy formula recorded, procedure...”

Mentos’ perfect memory ability made Lann’s alchemy progress very smooth.

...At least it seemed smooth.

He didn’t have random thoughts typical of entering a new experimental environment.

In the eyes of the observer Alia, a bunch of bizarre glass vessels already dazzled people, and presenting them together was even more lethal, but Lann, also a first-timer like her.

He seemed to remember all vessel placements at a glance, never looking down to search and verify when needing a particular vessel, instead reaching out directly, grabbing, and using.

Raw materials would first pass through a small balance scale dedicated to weighing medicinal herbs in his hands.

The weighing process usually lasted no more than five seconds, then they would be transferred into mortars, distillation bottles...

The Demon Hunter’s potion formulas are born for hunting, unlike the widely complicated academic potions.

After a series of actions, Lann left behind a pile of experimental vessels needing a wash.

The Demon Hunter tasked Alia with cleaning the equipment, instructing her to rinse each at least three times with clean water, then invert to dry.

”Thirty minutes, one bottle of [Swallow]... the efficiency is too low.”

Lann held the orange-red potion in his hand, frowning.

Mentos also exited the assistance mode.

”Skill analysis in progress. [Alchemy] -23%... sir, pardon my straightforwardness. Before we attempt to improve efficiency, we should probably confirm this is a bottle of [Swallow].”

The young Demon Hunter nonchalantly raised his brows, brought the orange-red potion to his mouth, and took a sip.

After savoring a moment, he swallowed with a slightly sour expression.

”...You’re right, Mentos.”

Lann’s face stiffened.

”At best, this is a bottle of vitamin-rich alcoholic beverage.”

The first alchemy practice—failure.