All students read the instructions, and none of them were willing to start brewing the potion. It was a fact that the first that started would catch everyone’s attention.

Myria not only gave them the cauldron but some other tools like a knife to cut the ingredients. With that came a problem. The only way to heat the cauldron was using mana. Even if one was not a fire mage, they could still cast smaller flames, and these were what they used for Alchemy. But how could Arthur do it? He was incapable of regenerating mana outside of the Dream Realm. Even though casting a simple flame was easy, it was still something Arthur could not do.

No one knew the fact that he could not regenerate mana. Others beastly familiars also came from the Dream Realm, and they could use their mana how they wished. Arthur still has no idea why he had these restrictions.

But, when everything seemed lost, a savior. Arthur was starting to think that he was lucky.

“Excuse me, Myria,” Wisa said. She showed up at the classroom door, and no one could figure out why.

“Yes?” Myria said.

“Can I borrow one of your students? It will not take long.”

“Sure. Why not?”

.

Wisa pointed at Arthur and then waved her hand, stating that he should follow her. It was not as if he could change the outcome by staying inside that room, so he left.

She was waiting for him in the corridor with something special in her hands, a sword. It was still on the sheath, but anyone could guess it was a sword. Speaking of the sheath, it was well-adorned with filaments made of pure gold. It did look precious, and the thought of having that sword made Arthur uneasy.

“Here, take this,” Wisa said, handing the sword to him.

“But why? It is not as if I’m a prestigious student in the academy or anything like that. I can’t accept this,” Arthur said. He was being serious about it. Arthur was not the type of person to get things without deserving them.

“Take it. I would give it to you if you impressed me in our training. And for some reason, Marget asked me to give it to your earlier, so there is nothing I can’t do to change that,”

“But know that you must work hard in our training, or I’ll personally punish you,” Wisa said.

Arthur could only accept the gift in the end. When he got his hands on the sword, he felt something strange. It was a feeling he had felt before but couldn’t tell what it was.

“This sword is enchanted with fire. I used it in my adventurer days.” Wisa seemed to get lost in thoughts as she said that.

“Anyway, this sword has a finite amount of mana. But don’t worry, it absorbs the atmosphere mana. So even if you use all of the sword’s enchantment, it will still restore after some time.” Wisa left after she explained why the sword was so special.

But Arthur stayed in the corridor for some time, thinking about how lucky he was.

“Universe is truly helping me out here.” Smiling, he returned to the classroom.

Their chatting had not lasted long, and the students had yet to start brewing the potion. Everyone glanced at the sword attached to Arthur’s back, but no one said a word. Wisa was a harsh teacher, and for her to be giving a student a present, something was up.

Arthur sat there and pondered if he should be the first one to try. He did not care about being the first to start or finish. The only thing that mattered, in the end, was the finished product.

The book stated that the Nere Leaf had to go first inside the cauldron. Another thing was that Arthur needed to cut it into pieces, and all of them had to have the same size.

“The Nere Leaf absorbs mana through its roots, and all of it goes to the leaves,”

“So why can’t we cut out the root? It is not as if we will plant this again. And I’m sure that this root has a lot of impurities. The book said that only the leaves mattered anyway,” thought Arthur.

When Myria said that the Alchemy field was new and there was room for improvements, Arthur instantly wanted to deviate from the usual path. Doing the same things over and over again would grant the same result. Back in Arthur’s world, all inventions came from brilliant minds who did things others did not.

Without caring about what others would think, Arthur, cut the root of the Nere Leaf. Everyone watched his moves closely, and no one could understand what he was doing. The rest of the students decided to start their brewing process as they could not stand still forever.

Myria was the only one that kept watching Arthur. She was sure that his brewing would fail. The book never said to cut the roots of the Nere Leaf, and all alchemists followed the recipes in a precise manner.

~~~~

Arthur used the knife to cut the Nere Leaf into pieces. He then filled the cauldron with water and put all of the Nere Leaf inside. The next step was to concentrate the mana and heat it. Arthur grabbed his newly acquired sword and started to drain the mana from it. He did not know if that would work, but it did. Not only did he have mana, but it was also mana of the fire type and a pure one.

A small flame formed beneath the cauldron, and Myria was surprised to see it. It had better quality than most flames from other students.

Arthur controlled the flame to keep a steady temperature throughout the process. The book said the best temperature for each stage, and Arthur did not want to change that. He needed a lot of knowledge in the field to change these sorts of aspects. Trying to cut the root from one ingredient was already bold enough.

It was a difficult task to keep track of the flame’s temperature. But somehow, the fire felt like a part of Arthur, and he knew how to control it without putting much effort.

After Arthur burnt all of the Nere Leaf impurities, it was time to add the Ruccidamon. While the Nere Leaf had a greenish aspect, the Ruccidamon was black and looked like a dead plant. It had some holes in it, and it was as if it had not seen water in ages. Arthur knew that everything was correct with the plant. These were its characteristics that most people would confuse with a dead plant.

There were not many things to do with the Ruccidamon, only to throw it inside the cauldron and heat it. Arthur did that, mixing it up with the Nere Leaf.

Now, the last part of the process was also the hardest one. To purify the Ruccidamon, one needed a slightly hotter temperature than the Nere Leaf, but if it was too high then the Nere Leaf would die, turning everything into a failed potion.

It demanded a high level of control, and most students, especially the first-year ones, could not do it. That was the reason Alchemy was a subject for more advanced mages.

But, that was only a problem for others. The flame was already a part of Arthur, and he could control its temperature as easily as walking. Sweat dripped from Arthur’s forehead as he increased the temperature of his flame. He made sure to keep track of it to not burn the Nere Leaf, and slowly he was starting to mix the two ingredients.

Myria thought Arthur would not succeed, as she never heard of anyone who managed to brew a potion on their first try. But, just like she got surprised after hearing she would have to teach Alchemy to new students, she was surprised once again.

After the process concluded, a sweaty fragrance traveled throughout the classroom. That was not an indicator that the potion had been a success, but it was surely better than the smell of burnt herbs coming from the other cauldrons.

“Let me see this,” Myria got up from her desk and rushed toward the cauldron. Most alchemists had to taste their potions to see if it was beneficial or not, so Myria developed a huge resistance to harmful substances. She was the only one that could taste the potion and not suffer from side effects if it was a failure.

Myria used a spoon to get a sip from the cauldron. When she did that, everyone in the class watched, waiting for the outcome. Myria started to breathe heavier, and her blouse button opened, giving Arthur a taste of how her boobs looked.

He had done what no one managed to do it before. Myria grabbed both of his shoulders, getting close to him. Her boobs rubbed on his chest, and she looked at him in ecstasy.

“Would you accept me as your teacher?”

Arthur got surprised by that. But of course, he would say yes. Not only did he wish to learn more about alchemy, but Myria was a good-looking woman.

He said yes, fantasizing about a threesome of him, Myria, and Wisa.

“I accept!”