Chapter 247: Chapter 247: A new aquaintance- A friend or a foe?

A few minutes later, when she had looked at each and every student’s concoction, it was finally Theo’s turn.

When Theo looked at her from up close, he could tell that the sharpness of her eyes was not normal; she was very intense.

Her gaze fell to the cauldron, which had a lot of the liquid. She smelled it a little and looked at Theo with the same expression before looking at his final product.

She looked at the colour and, a slight nod later, went back to her seat.

"Was that a nod, Theo?" Elysia asked in bewilderment and looked at Theo’s concoction with awe.

"Don’t get my hopes up, let’s just see how it goes," he spoke and looked at hers, only to get his poker face up.

’Why is the liquid she made red?’ Theo was astonished by the level of blunder she had to make to directly change the colour by so much.

It was so different that he had to double-check by looking at the other ones to see that the same with slight variations.

CLAP!

"That is enough time to make something this basic."

A loud clapping sound came from the front, making Theo alert. The instructor had made everyone look toward her.

"To test the results of the brewing, you all can now drink the potion you have brewed. Whether you did well or not will all be in plain sight after that," she spoke in a commanding tone.

Theo looked at the glass in front of him. He couldn’t lie, while he knew he may have done well, the smell that came from it made him feel like he was in a damp place where wood was rotting. There was a mild taste of that.

He then looked at Elysia, who was looking at her cup too. She took a deep breath and was going to grab the small bowl, but Theo instinctively caught her arm, making her look at him with surprise and confusion.

"Uhh... I wouldn’t recommend that you drink it, Elysia. The colour is way off," Theo spoke after letting go of her hand gently.

"Really? But I do think I have done well, Theo," she spoke and looked in the front. Some of the students had already drunk what they had brewed, but they were the same students who had completed the test way before anyone else.

"It’s fine, the instructor won’t let anything happen to us," she spoke, and suddenly, she took hold of the cup and poured down the drink as if it were water.

Theo looked at her in curiosity, and so did many others.

"If you don’t drink the potion in the next five seconds, I will deduct grades from your main exam."

Just when Theo heard that, his hand quickly went to the bowl too and he gulped it down without smelling anything. Some things should be left unsmelled, and this seemed one of them.

All the other students did the same, and there were only a small number of them who had not drunk till now.

Yet Theo was focused on what he had on his hands first.

Aside from the mild wood-like taste, he felt nothing.

But with each passing second, he felt a feeling of invigoration.

’I feel better, but this could be psychological too. I do feel some clumps in my mouth,’ he thought as he chugged down a glass of water on the side right away. There were remnants of the raw ingredient in his mouth, which shouldn’t be the case in a potion.

"Oh my lord!" Suddenly, a voice came, making Theo look at a girl who was holding her neck in panic.

He felt alarmed and touched his neck too, but nothing was happening.

Many others started holding their necks and chugging down water as if their life depended on it.

The look on the professor’s face made Theo think that she was disappointed by the results.

"Those who are feeling a burning sensation in their throats, go down to the infirmary. You will have the guidance of the helpers. Those who don’t feel anything or better, stay back," the instructor spoke before sitting in the instructor’s seat.

Theo looked at the students going one after another to the gate, while the ones who were okay just laughed and talked behind them.

He looked to the right and saw Elysia with her head down and her hands holding the table.

"E-Elysia, are you okay?!" Theo spoke and looked down, only to see Elysia sweating bullets.

"I... I am okay," she spoke with a pressured face, which almost made Theo burst out in laughter, yet he didn’t; it seemed serious..

"She needs help, instructor!" Theo spoke, making the instructor look at the girl beside him and flick her hand, making the uniformed helpers move toward her.

"I will be okay, Theo. Congratulations on doing great," she spoke while being dragged away.

Theo looked at her go to the gate and then vanish, making him not believe she had drunk that red liquid when the potion was supposed to be yellowish-brown.

He then looked at the instructor, who was looking at him. All the other ten-something students were already at her desk.

He quickly made his way down to the group, making many look at him with different emotions.

"I have successfully segregated the ones who have the bare minimum to become potion brewers and the ones that may just drop out right now," she spoke, making Theo feel bad for Elysia.

But at the same time, it might just be good for her to observe how she had made her potion.

"Write your names on this name holder and get seated in the last seats. I will come to each one of you to give some feedback before ending today’s class."

When she said that, all the students grabbed the quills and the cardholders, including Theo.

He wrote his name in bold and went back to the last seat he had already taken, while the students beside him had changed comparatively from before.

With him being on the right corner, his neighbour in the class had changed to one of the same boys who had completed his brewing a lot faster.

When he saw Theo staring at him, a light, confident smile formed on his face before he moved his hand forward.

"Tristan Highcrest, pleasure making your acquaintance, Theo Merrick," the boy said, and Theo accepted his greeting with a smile.

"You completed the brewing quite fast, Tristan," Theo said. "There should have been a ranking above us too, because I couldn’t see the instructor reacting to yours," he continued, making Tristan chuckle.

Theo could see the pride in his eyes, even though he was trying to be humble, which was a very noble-like behaviour. He looked at his crest.

"My family is known for its excellence in brewing potions. Most of the high-ranking positions Baron Aldric Merrick uses are from our family."

Theo looked at him with surprise. He hadn’t even told anything about his family, much less his father, and he already knew about him and the Baron.

"You’re just the person I wanted to get acquainted with, Theo. We are so close in the seating arrangements; it only tells me this is fate," Tristan spoke, and his eyes trailed away to the sword in Theo’s hands and then his arms.

"This brewing was nothing for you then, huh, Tristan? I hope you will help me in the future of this class."

"Pft... I don’t know why you’re even focusing on potion brewing when you are clearly a swordsman, but I have seen weirder combos in your family, so I guess it’s okay. Let’s have a great year," Tristan spoke again and offered an elbow tap, which Theo took right away. This guy knew what he was doing.

"Enough chit-chat," the instructor spoke as she came forward and looked at Tristan first.

"You had no problems with your brewing, Tristan Highcrest. You’re living up to your family name with the quality. It was excellent," she spoke as she also noted down some points in her notes before moving to Theo and staring at him.

"Your technique was better than others, making the potion’s quality better. I can see you train with swords, so it benefited you in some way. But you skipped a few steps in between and messed with the timing by a lot. You should stop staring at other students during the brewing process and focus completely on yours next time. Good job," she spoke and noted down some things before moving away to the next row.

"Wow, that was a lot better than I hoped. Good job, Theo," Tristan spoke.

Theo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Was the guy trying to butter him up?

"Please, you’re embarrassing me."

"No, you should seriously consider potion brewing. This instructor is very strict. Her demeanour is better than her reputation here," Tristan spoke seriously. "I have heard she disqualified thirty-five students out of fifty from her class the previous year."

"That’s a lot." Theo was dumbstruck. She looked strict, but her reputation seemed even worse.

"Are you going to the next class too?"

"Yes, it’s Essence Fusion and Crystal Synthesis, right?"

"Well, let’s leave for it then. I feel better now that I know someone."

Just like that, the two boys left the class to move to the next one. Theo could feel that this one was a total foreign territory. He hadn’t even heard anything about what the synthesis was.