"I want my personal students to meet me at the Alchemy lab," Aurora said after the lesson.The rest of the class couldn't complain. She had already fulfilled her obligations and only owed extra classes to her students."I think we have inscription class after this," Zaki said."Can't you guys skip it just for today? I'm sure she just wants you to catch up on the past work you missed," Stacy said."Let's just go," Mattimeo said, although his mind was no longer on the classes. He had a lot to deal with now, and he still had to study the Necromancy book with Zaki.When they arrived at the Alchemy lab, Aurora was already waiting for them."I called you all here because something very important came up," she said."Something important?" Zaki repeated, his curiosity immediately piqued."What can it be?""It's an alchemy competition, the 'Grand Alchemy Tournament.' The competition is empire-wide. But we first need to qualify from the sect to the region, and then from the region to the final

"Please, Master Alchemist Boris, I didn't really mean to. It was Selena who pressured me." The old woman's voice trembled, and she wrung her hands as she pleaded."Selena?" Aurora paused, realization dawning on her. Selena was her sister's rival within the sect. Her sister, Elizabeth, had been rising through the ranks lately, and only days ago it had been announced that she would become a Grand Elder.Everyone was still waiting for the ceremony to take place. Selena must have been consumed by jealousy over the news, and since she couldn't strike at Elizabeth directly, she had turned on her sister instead, seeing her as an easier target."I think I understand what's going on here," Aurora said, turning to Boris.Mattimeo stood off to the side, arms crossed, watching everything unfold in silence. Even here, within the walls of the sect, politics remained as much a part of the game as anywhere else. It reminded him of his own clan, and of Kharoth."If what you're saying is true, then thi

"Yes. With the help of my student here, we managed to complete the pill method and work out its ingredients, and then I refined it myself," she said.Aurora knew better than to simply say that Mattimeo had done it. They would take him away from her at once and put him under close watch. She knew she was being selfish, but in the same breath, she told herself she was also protecting him.Knowing Mattimeo, he wouldn't want to be controlled by the sect anyway.Boris and Mac, for their part, didn't think much of the claim. To them, Aurora was simply trying to push her student into the spotlight. There was no way a fresh alchemy student from the outer sect, someone like him, could have contributed anything of real substance."Give me one of the pills," Boris said.Aurora handed one over. He fed it to another patient and watched closely. Before their eyes, the yellow spots on the patient's skin faded and vanished."Let's go to the appraisal room. I want to determine this pill's grade. Somet

“Did you hit your head or what? I thought we were already making plans to secretly read from the library, and now you’re talking about going to any library level as if your father owns the place,” Zaki said.Mattimeo simply tossed him a golden card.“Your contribution points card. What are you giving me that for... What the hell?! How did you fucking get fifty-five thousand points? Where did the other fifty thousand come from?” Zaki’s eyes widened as he stared at the card in disbelief.“Do you believe me now?” Mattimeo asked smugly.“Of course! With this, we can just stroll through the libraries.” The Fatty’s entire body shook violently with excitement.“Calm down, Big Zak. You’re going to shake the whole house, and our neighbor will wake up,” Mattimeo cautioned.Almost immediately, the door to the third room flew open.A blonde-haired boy stepped out.His name was Wilson, the star of the Blacksmiths department.“Hey, Fatty, can you keep it down?” he said, rubbing his eyes.“Hehe, I w

"I want to ask something. I heard that if we pay for access to Level Three, we can access all the levels below it as well?""Yes, but only for that day," the attendant replied."Alright. Take the money for both of us from my card."******Legend has it that there are two miscreants who go from library to library, spending massive amounts of contribution points just to gain access, only to end up sampling all the books.Well, a certain fatty might actually be sampling them. A certain redhair, on the other hand, just flips open the chapters without even looking at the words.Once again, the two had become very famous.Meanwhile, the two culprits were in their dorms, packing their belongings."All done," Mattimeo said as he stepped out of his room.Almost at the same moment, Zaki stepped out of his own room, looking equally ready to leave."Where could the two of you possibly be going?" Wilson asked.He was in the living room, training and as usual, Incense filled the air, drifting lazil