Chapter 137: Chapter 137

After lunch, Lily and Lotte began eagerly heading towards the alchemy class. From the directions they had received, it was actually in the basement, which was a surprise to both of them, as they had assumed nothing but the dungeon was below the first floor.

As they began descending the stairs, they discovered the reason: the alchemy lab was not only the size of multiple classrooms combined but also appeared to be reinforced enough to withstand artillery spells. Lily suspected that even Rose, in full draconic rage, would probably struggle to scratch or burn the walls.

The alchemy section was even further subdivided with locked doors, each labeled with its purpose. There were large ones which appeared to be rooms for an entire focused subject, and even smaller rooms that seemed to be for a singular experiment.

Immediately upon entering, they were handed a piece of parchment with safety instructions that listed the various signs to watch out for. At first, Lily thought they might be going too far with the safety, but when she saw a sign for "extremely volatile" and another for "highly toxic," she realized why they were so cautious.

I was expecting someone like Miss Camilla, but this almost feels like a mad scientist. Should they really be teaching this?

Lily and Lotte both seemed a bit disturbed and looked around their classroom for any warning signs, and when they failed to find any, both let out a sigh of relief.

"I guess they keep that stuff out of reach for the first years," Lotte whispered.

Lily nodded. "I can only imagine the strange concoctions they make with dungeon ingredients."

The students waited and waited, but there was no sign of the professor arriving. A few began to wonder aloud if they had gotten the wrong time, while others voiced concerns that they'd been stood up.

The unease was growing until a minor crash echoed out, followed by the sound of glass shattering, which was heard from one of the rooms. The whole room collectively flinched and stared at the source, which was now making the sound of latches and chains being removed.

The door swung open, releasing colorful fumes and the emergence of what Lily could only assume was their professor, coughing and waving his hand to disperse the smoke. He had crimson red eyes, long, unkempt black hair, and was wearing a stained lab coat. Lily would have assumed he was human, except for his noticeably blue skin and the fact that he looked particularly young, as if time had somehow paused for him.

"Sorry I'm late!" the mystery man declared. "I got distracted in the middle of a brewing session and completely lost track of time. I'd love to promise it won't happen in the future, but I'd be lying through my teeth."

The students nervously chuckled, unsure whether he was being honest or joking. He walked to the front of the class and casually took a seat on top of his desk rather than using the readily available chair. He reached for a cup that had been long standing on his desk, sniffed it, and drank from it. Almost immediately, he stuck out his tongue, his face scrunching as if he wanted to retch.

"I'm Professor Sylwel, one of the leading experts in dungeon alchemy and a pioneer of potions!" he confidently declared, as if none of them had witnessed any of his prior actions. "Some of you might have heard of me. I think I have a book or two published…"

He coughed and shook his head, blinking a few times.

"Anyway, that's besides the point. I'll be your alchemy teacher while you stay at Regarth. I'll be taking you from mixing sugar water to eventually creating miraculous elixirs or deadly concoctions, assuming you pass every year. Questions?"

A few hands shot up; he chose one of the girls at the back. "Professor—" The source of thɪs content is N0veI.Fiɾe.net

"Yes, I still have my license!" he interrupted, reaching into his desk to pull out a folded piece of paper and proudly waving it in front of the class. It might have looked quite impressive if not for the stains and numerous creases from being folded and unfolded multiple times.

"That's not what I wanted to ask…" the girl replied, almost shrinking into her chair.

"Oh. Sorry, I get asked that a lot. Guess I don't get to pretend to be clairvoyant this time," he chuckled. "Sorry, what is your question?"

"Why is your skin blue?" the girl finally asked, looking quite nervous that he was going to abruptly shout again.

Professor Sylwel's head tilted a few times, his eyes blinking rapidly as if he was actively processing her question. He even glanced at his own hand, which he flipped between palm and back a few times, his eyes widening as if he hadn't realized his skin was blue.

"Oh! This old thing," he replied as if suddenly remembering. "This happened ages ago… I was experimenting with a new type of ingredient from deep in the dungeon, which was one of its kind at the time. I didn't dare let anyone else benefit from the fruits of my labor, not to mention the legal ramifications of unsanctioned experiments, so I took it upon myself to try it out. As a result, I'm now blue."

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"Professor—" a boy tried to ask.

"Yes, I'm totally sound of mind!" Sylwel interrupted again.

The class collectively flinched once more.

"No, that's not what I wanted to know…" the boy replied cautiously.

"Oh. Apologies. Carry on," the professor replied, looking a bit sheepish.

"I wanted to know if it did anything besides making you blue."

"Now that is an excellent question!" the professor replied excitedly.

Not missing a beat, Sylwel opened up the front of his lab coat, revealing a series of pockets lining the inside. He reached into one and pulled out a vial containing a purple solution.

Does he have storage enchantments for his coat? Talk about extravagant! Lily thought to herself.

He swirled around the solution before popping the cork with his thumb and downing it in one swig. The class was left speechless, unsure of what he had just ingested and what the point was, yet the professor was staring at them as if expecting a round of applause.

"Wow… tough crowd," he said with a chuckle. "What about this?"

He held out his right hand, the back side of it facing the class. Then, with his left hand, he pinched the skin and began pulling on it. To everyone's surprise, it kept stretching unnaturally before he released it, and it snapped back into place with not even a mark or blemish.

"My skin is also softer than a baby's bottom, and I look twenty years younger. If not for the blue-side effect, I'd probably make a fortune selling it to the beauty industry!" he exclaimed before chuckling at his own joke.

"I think he's crazy…" Lily whispered.

"As long as he's good, I think that's all that matters," Lotte replied softly.

[I agree with your friend. I see a lot of my past self in him, willing to cast everything aside for his research. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's already progressing towards crafting a phylactery.]

Lily was honestly surprised by Arakil's remark, as she thought he would've called this professor a crackpot. Instead, he was treating him almost like a kindred spirit and reminiscing about his past.

Well, I won't worry unless he suddenly also declares his love, Lily thought to herself, giggling.

"Anyway, enough about me," Professor Sylwel said. "Let us start by going over the basics. Have any of you prepared ingredients before?"

A few hands went up, including Lily's and Lotte's, although some looked apprehensive about it.

"I will just reiterate that this class does assume you know absolutely nothing. You won't be kicked out for having never held a mortar and pestle before."

After the professor said that, a few of the hands dropped down. Lotte was about to lower hers, but Lily nudged her to keep it up.

"Good. I'll be asking some of you for help then. There's only one of me, for now, so I occasionally require junior assistants. If your performance is satisfactory, then I'll offer extra lessons as payment; this will also keep you from being bored out of your mind while we cover the basics."

Lily was actually quite thrilled by the offer, and she didn't mind helping others. It seemed that many in the class were quite happy about it, although a few did actually lower their hands after that offer.

I guess they either lack confidence in teaching or don't want to be bothered by it.

"Alternatively, you can apply for a test and get official permission to skip classes. The choice is ultimately yours, although I will say that one can always learn new things from new teachers."

Lotte glanced at Lily, concern visible in her eyes. Lily already guessed that her friend was worried about her applying to skip classes, since she already had two other electives to keep up on.

It's honestly very tempting… I'd get a lot more free time, but I'd rather get the bonus lessons. Besides, I want to see how Professor Sylwel compares to Miss Camilla, and I don't want to leave poor Lotte to flounder.

Lily shook her head, hoping to reassure her nervous friend.

"Okay, everyone, come and take a set of supplies for yourselves. Those of you who kept their hands up can start work immediately while I demonstrate and instruct the class. When the rest of the class starts, I'll evaluate your attempt and inform you if you're allowed to assist others or if you need to listen to my lessons."

One by one, the class received their supplies and went back to their desks. Professor Sylwel finally got up from the desk and produced his own mortar and pestle, before placing it in a specific spot on another and activating a magical device.

An illusory display zoomed in on his table, projecting everything so that the class could see. He began describing the importance of adequately preparing ingredients and how something as simple as correctly grinding a leaf could affect the outcome.

Lily didn't need to watch his demonstration, so she listened while she got to her own work. She opened her bag of ingredients and found that it was just ordinary leaves and grass, making her want to almost burst out with laughter. Camilla had done something very similar to Lily when she first started.

I guess being cheapskates must run in all alchemists' blood.

Lotte also got to work, although if she noticed the ingredients were utterly worthless, she didn't show any hint and was carefully going through the steps that Lily had shown her countless times before.

Lily smiled softly at her friend and proceeded with her own task, not wanting to be shown up. Despite knowing it was just ordinary grass and leaves, Lily treated it like it were valuable ingredients, but the first thing she did was wash the tools with a bit of magic.

She could have used more effective spells, but she chose to stick with Melina's teachings, using multiple of the simplified water and fire spells to give the tools a thorough cleaning. Lily heard a small curse from Lotte, who must have noticed Lily cleaning the tools before starting. It could be seen as a small mistake, but that depended on the person's philosophy.

Lily had taught Lotte to always leave your tools clean at the end, as it not only saved you the trouble the next time, but some ingredients could create quite stubborn residue stains if not promptly removed.

However, since these were not their tools, they had no way of knowing if they had been washed correctly beforehand. You could certainly presume an alchemy teacher would do so, but Lily wasn't one to make assumptions.

As long as she cleans between work, it should be fine, Lily thought to herself while giving Lotte a friendly thumbs-up.

Once Lily was done cleaning the tools, she was ready to get to work. Since the professor didn't give them any specific instructions, she decided to demonstrate three levels of grind: coarse, fine, and medium.

It might have been seen as showing off, but in this case, Lily didn't see any need to hide what she knew. She was proud of her apprenticeship with Camilla, and alchemy didn't discriminate between bloodlines.

Plus, if there are limited assistant slots, I want to make sure I get one. Who knows what I can learn from this crazy teacher, or what dungeon ingredients he might let me work with!