“Where is the student named Sion! Answer me!”
“……”
Professor Huain searching for Sion.
If someone saw her, they might mistake her for a little sister looking for her brother as she was small and had a childlike appearance.
…I’ve heard she’s a dwarf, but is it possible that female dwarves look like that?
“Hey, Sion, she’s calling you.”
Patrick nudged Sion with his elbow.
Patrick’s gaze, which seemed to ask what he was doing, was particularly hot.
The atmosphere of the classroom naturally shifted as the other students’ attention gravitated toward one side.
Unless Professor Huain was a fool, she must know who Sion is.
“Oh! Were you there? So you’re Sion?”
“…Yes, Professor.”
“You don’t seem deaf; you just didn’t answer? That’s inefficient!”
Swish!
Professor Huain approached Sion.
Upon getting closer, she couldn’t see Sion’s face clearly and took three steps back.
She then pointed her index finger at Sion.
“Thanks to you, I’ve received help. For a newly enrolled guinea pig, you did quite well! I’ll commend you!”
“…Thank you.”
“You should be a bit happier!”
“Um… Professor Huain? Compliments are nice, but afterward….”
“Huh?”
Fluff—
Professor Shabrina approached Professor Huain.
Professor Huain jumped in surprise from the feeling that touched the back of her head.
Shabrina tilted her head and asked.
“Do you know Sion, the student?”
“No, I don’t! But I received help.”
“Help…?”
“Yes. It’s about my ‘Energy Maximizing Power Cookie’ that hadn’t shown any clear results for nearly a year!”
Bang!
She took out a cookie from the pocket of her white lab coat.
To anyone, it might look like a cookie she was saving for later.
But Sion knew the true identity of that cookie.
That’s because he had eaten it once when Professor Lunia gave it to him.
“When making this cookie, the feedback you provided, Sion, was a great help!”
“……”
“So I became naturally curious. About what kind of process you derived such an idea from and how much insight you truly possess.”
Professor Huain’s eyes turned towards Sion.
Her gaze was filled with expectation to the point it was burdensome.
Sion averted his gaze slowly.
“Did you not hear from Professor Lunia? She would have invited you to the lab.”
“Um, well…”
“Well, it doesn’t matter! We met today… Well then!”
“Um, Professor Huain.”
Fluff!
Professor Shabrina caressed Professor Huain’s cheek.
She brought her index finger in front of her face as if to say “Eek!”
“I understand you’re happy to meet Sion, but it is class time right now?”
“…Yes, that’s true.”
“Therefore, please conduct the class. Time is passing even at this moment. About Sion, we can discuss it after school, understood?”
“Y-yes, fine! So let go of me!”
“Yes, heh heh.”
Shiver!
Professor Huain trembled unnaturally with fear.
…Why is she shaking like that?
Professor Shabrina shouldn’t be that scary.
While Sion had such a light doubt.
“Phew, phew… I got too excited. I’m sorry, guinea pigs! Now, let’s start the class!”
As if she had never trembled in fear, Professor Huain began the lecture with a confident voice, starting off with the basics of Alchemy Magic.
“Alchemy magic literally started from the process of making gold. I believe that as new students in the magic department, you all have baseline knowledge, so I’ll skip over the details! You can learn about the complete history and background in the Alchemy Magic Department later…”
Swish!
She made a ‘V’ shape with her fingers.
“Just remember this about alchemy magic. The techniques of magic stone crafting and potion-making! First, magic stone crafting refers to the technique of refining the magic of magic stones!”
Alchemy’s essence is, after all, the metal crafting technique ‘to make gold.’
What developed from that was precisely ‘magic stone crafting.’
It refers to everything involved in processing and crafting magic stones that come from magical beasts into equipment.
“Potion-making is mixing herbs and magic stones to create potions! Healing potions and mana potions are the most representative!”
Potions are something that frequently appear in fantasy worlds.
That too falls under the category of alchemy.
“I can’t teach you a lot today. The world of alchemy is vast and deep! So today…”
Smack!
She snapped her fingers.
Various items bounced out into the air.
With a thud, they landed on each of the students’ desks.
‘…Is this a bag?’
A bag the size of a school backpack. When opened, many different materials were inside.
Low-grade magic stones, herbs used for making potions, and bottles to contain potions.
“What I have distributed to you is the basic alchemy magic set. You can learn both magic stone crafting and potion-making in a set.”
Swish!
With her arms crossed, Professor Huain raised her chin.
She loudly declared.
“Today’s lesson will cover 1st Circle Magic, ‘Polishing,’ and ‘Potion Making’!”
The polishing that crafts the magic stone and the potion-making that creates potions.
Hearing this, a smile bloomed on Sion’s face.
‘Great. I can learn…! 1st Circle Alchemy Magic!’
Sion clenched his fists.
Although Professor Huain’s attention was burdensome, he could learn 1st Circle Magic.
Since magic of the 2nd Circle or lower can be acquired just by seeing it.
He wished to learn up to the 2nd Circle if possible, but… for now, he decided to be satisfied with the 1st Circle.
“Of course, the guinea pigs will think this way. Learning the 1st Circle in just a few hours is impossible.”
Woo!
A bag that was placed in front of Professor Huain floated up.
“But for those with talent, it is possible. Alchemy magic does not create the nonexistent but rather, works through materials. This means it’s easier than other magic!”
“……”
“So, keep your eyes wide open and watch closely! My little guinea pigs!”
With the materials dancing in the air, Professor Huain activated her magic.
The pink magical power, the same color as her hair.
It began to meet and change in the air.
“First, I will show you polishing!”
Swish!
The pink magical power surrounded small magic stones.
Rough magic stones around grade F or E.
Once they encountered magical power, they began to change.
“Pure energy, drive out the impurities and reveal your true form, Polishing!”
Whoosh!
With a relatively long incantation, Sion couldn’t take his eyes off the magic.
Using the mana eye that he has, he observed the alchemy magic.
It looked like various geometric patterns changing every second.
‘The magical power moves differently for each magic… It’s fascinating.’
Elemental magic has that multicolored nature capable of transforming into any element embedded in the magical power,
And spirit magic feels like it sticks together like tar.
In contrast, alchemy magic—since it creates new substances from existing ones—exudes a variety of transformations in its magical power.
Sion observed the ‘Polishing’ magic without blinking.
Before long, the rough magic stone was being beautifully cut and shining like a jewel.
[Magic Name: Polishing.]
[Attribute: Alchemy]
[Rank: 1st Circle]
[Description: Crafts the magic stone in its natural state. After crafting, it can be used for equipment enhancement.]
[You have discovered a magic of a lower rank than your current circle!]
[A new magic has been registered in the Magic Codex.]
[You can now use Polishing magic.]
‘…This is alchemy magic.’
Sion curled and unfurled his hands while examining the magic codex.
As a 1st Circle magic, it naturally entered the magic codex as soon as he saw it.
During this time, Professor Huain was already proceeding with ‘Potion Making.’
The process of potion-making was more complicated than polishing.
“You must refer to the recipe when producing! Otherwise, you might fail, so be careful!”
Inside the bags distributed to each student was a piece of paper.
A paper containing the recipe and incantation for making a low-grade healing potion.
According to the recipe, what was needed was magic grass, magic stones after the polishing process, and a certain amount of water.
For reference, magic grass is a common weed found in the mountains that feeds on magic.
“Essence of nature, pure energy! Gather in this place and shape into a new droplet, Potion Making!”
Woo!!
Various materials were put into the empty bottle at once.
They mixed together with the magical power, completing a red drink.
It was the healing potion commonly seen in games.
Immediately after making the potion, all materials returned to the bag.
“That’s all for the demonstration. Now it’s your practical work. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Then, let’s get started.”
““Yes!!””
Thanks to the visual demonstration of the magic, the students’ responses were loud and vigorous.
With a pleased expression, Professor Huain looked at the guinea pigs… I mean students.
Sion, while watching her smiling face, turned his gaze back to his desk.
‘…So, what do I do now?’
The students were just starting to gather their magic.
Some were fiddling with their magic stones, and others had already closed their eyes and entered meditation.
…By the way, Geivolg was gripping the magic stone with both hands, his muscles flexing.
I worry that the magic stone might break.
‘If someone succeeds right away just within a few minutes of starting, all eyes will be on them again.’
Everyone was eager to succeed with alchemy magic.
In contrast, Sion could use both ‘Polishing’ and ‘Potion Making’ with just his mental incantation.
However, Sion was worried about the storm that would follow after that.
The students’ stares, the rumors that would spread, and the intense interest from the professor…
If he were in first year, it wouldn’t be so bad, but if he were in the graduating class, he would have been anywhere followed by grad students.
Sion wished to avoid such a future of becoming a graduate student with all his might.
‘Yes, this is a time to be cautious. So… let’s pretend I can’t do it.’
Sion thought.
He had already learned two 1st Circle spells.
Therefore, there was no need to demonstrate them here.
Later, he could practice on his own.
If he pretended to struggle with the magic stones and magic grass—
“Hmm? Sion-kun! I can’t see any magical power at all?”
“……Professor?”
“Oops!”
With a jump!
Professor Huain landed her bottom on Sion’s desk with a little bounce.
She looked down at Sion with eager eyes, and he felt like he was choking.
“Now, let’s try to perform the incantation written here!”
“……Yes.”
The paper containing the potion-making recipe clearly had the incantation written on it.
If he read it as it was, the magic would surely activate.
However, he also couldn’t ignore what the professor was asking him to do right in front of her.
So what should he do?
‘…Let’s mess up the incantation on purpose!’
Sion read the recipe with a tense expression.
The incantation was about ten words long; it wasn’t exactly short.
If he accidentally bit his tongue or stuttered, the magic naturally wouldn’t activate.
That would surely distract Professor Huain.
‘Phew… Stay calm.’
Sion took a deep breath to compose himself.
He wasn’t nervous because he wanted to succeed; he was nervous that he might accidentally succeed.
Professor Huain waited for Sion with a gaze filled with affection for her adorable student.
“Don’t worry. You can’t be full on the first try! I just want to see how you use your magic. Is this your first time using alchemy magic?”
“Yes, it’s my first time, but… I’ll do my best.”
“Good!”
Holding a magic stone in one hand and the paper in the other.
“Pur… pure energy.”
“Umm.”
He stumbled right from the start with the incantation.
Seeing Professor Huain’s lovely eyebrows furrowed, Sion…
Began to purposely mess up the incantation even more.
“Take… the astral energy… no, drive it away! Reveal the… true… form? Reveal… oh, reveal it! …Polishing!”
“…Sion-kun, there’s no need to be so nervous. Just calmly— huh!?”
“…Huh?”
Under normal circumstances, it would be expected to fail when stumbling and going back and forth like this during an incantation.
Even if he read the incantation straight, if his magic management was off, it would fail, after all.
But if there was one thing Sion had overlooked….
It was that the absurd performance of the magic codex he possessed more than compensated for such minor incantation mistakes.
Whoosh!!
The magic stone that Sion was holding began to glow.
Gradually, the roughness of the magic stone began to fade away.
The remnants of magic covering it washed away, revealing its clean interior.
The 1st Circle alchemy magic, ‘Polishing,’ worked properly.
“Whoa! Amazing! Amazing! Sion-kun! Just as I heard from Professor Lunia! The best guinea pig!”
“……Ah.”
Swipe!
Professor Huain snatched the magic stone from Sion’s hand and examined it closely.
She looked like a child playing with a toy.
The magic stone she held was no longer a rough natural stone but a smoothly crafted one.
“Indeed, it’s you, Sion! You must come to my lab!”
“…….”
“Make sure to come, absolutely!”
Sion silently looked at his palm.
The ability he gained from falling into this world called the ‘Magic Codex.’
…He thought that having an ability this great also came with its own set of problems, like not being able to control it.
