Chapter 202 — Second Alchemy Class

Chapter 202: Chapter 202 — Second Alchemy Class

Chapter 202 — Second Alchemy Class

The next day, Victor was preparing to leave for his alchemy class.

Lyra was already sitting cross-legged inside the Library.

At this point, she spent most of her free time there. There wasn’t much else she could do while the curse still blocked her cultivation, so she’d decided to put almost all of her effort into alchemy.

And her progress was ridiculous.

Lyra could already maintain the Shadow Flame for nearly fifty seconds.

Victor still couldn’t believe how quickly she was improving.

Then again, Lyra spent close to eighty percent of her free time inside the Library. With time moving twice as slow there, she had more time to practice than almost anyone else.

Victor wished he could do the same.

Unfortunately, there were about a hundred other things demanding his attention.

Investigating the disappearances.

Cultivating.

Attending class.

Dealing with the Evil God Organization.

And everything else that somehow kept finding its way into his life.

If he could spend nearly all his time in the Library like Lyra, his alchemy would probably improve much faster too.

Still, at the rate she was going, Victor wouldn’t be surprised if Lyra became skilled enough to attend an Elite Alchemy Class before long.

He smiled as he thought about her progress.

At least one of them had plenty of time for alchemy.

Victor had made progress of his own last night.

He had finally broken through.

Rank Two Spirit Gathering.

It was a much-needed improvement after his fight with Snake Mask, but Victor wasn’t satisfied.

Rank Two wasn’t enough.

Not even close.

Still, progress was progress.

He’d also managed to finish his Body Armor Potion only a few minutes ago, with Lyra helping from the side. It had taken longer than he would’ve liked, mostly because he’d put it off until the last possible moment.

Now Lyra was practicing the same potion.

She hadn’t completed it yet, but she was getting closer with every attempt.

Victor watched her for another moment.

The more she improved, the more he wondered if Lyra actually had more natural talent for alchemy than he did.

That was surprising.

Beasts rarely possessed alchemical flames in the first place. Lyra was a special case because of the Twin Flame Flower.

But that raised another question.

Were beasts actually bad at alchemy?

Or did most of them simply never get the chance to learn?

If more beasts could somehow obtain alchemical flames, maybe some of them would be naturally talented.

Victor glanced at the Shadow Flame dancing above Lyra’s palm.

Another mystery for another day.

Right now, he had class.

Victor walked through the second floor of the Alchemy Tower and rounded the corner toward the classroom.

He had just reached for the door when a familiar voice called from behind him.

"Victor!"

Victor turned.

Zack was walking toward him with a huge smile on his face.

"What’s up, brother? How are you doing on this fine day?"

Victor smiled.

"Hey, Zack. How are you?"

"Couldn’t be better."

Zack walked over, trying his best to look completely casual.

"I finished the potion."

"Oh?"

"Yep. Used basically every attempt I had, but I got it done."

Victor laughed.

Zack pointed at him.

"I’m serious. If I failed one more time, I was about to call you and make you help me."

"At least you got it."

"Yeah, barely."

Zack glanced at him.

"What about you? How’d you do?"

"I finished mine not too long ago."

Zack stared at him for a second.

Victor could tell immediately that he didn’t believe him.

After seeing Victor’s flame control during their first class, there was no way Zack believed the potion had actually taken him that long.

Thankfully, he didn’t press the issue.

Instead, Zack asked, "What have you been doing the last few days, anyway? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you."

Victor’s smile faded slightly.

"I’ve been busy. Looking into some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"I’ll tell you later."

Victor nodded toward the classroom door.

"We don’t want to be late for Benton’s class."

Zack glanced at the door.

"Yeah, you’re right. Let’s get in there."

Victor opened it, and the two walked inside.

Elder Benton was already standing at the front of the classroom.

As usual, his eyes went straight to Victor.

Victor had gotten used to that look by now.

It always felt like Benton was trying to figure out what he was hiding.

Victor ignored it and walked toward his usual seat.

Grace was already there.

The moment Victor saw her, he slowed.

She looked terrible.

Dark circles sat beneath her eyes, and her face was noticeably pale. Even the way she held herself seemed different. Her posture was stiff, and there was a faint weakness in her movements that hadn’t been there before.

She looked like she’d been through hell.

Victor sat beside her.

"Hey, Grace. Are you okay?"

Grace looked toward him.

"Yeah. I’ve just been doing some training recently. It took a toll on my body."

Victor looked her over again.

"Yeah, it looks like it. What kind of training were you doing?"

Grace paused.

Only for a moment.

"I tried to increase my Spirit Gathering cultivation the other day."

She looked away.

"It backfired."

Victor nodded.

That made sense.

At least, to an extent.

Zack sat down on Victor’s other side.

Victor was about to turn toward the front when his eyes landed on Grace’s sword.

He paused.

There was something about it.

The shape.

The hilt.

Something felt familiar.

Victor stared at it for another second, trying to remember where he’d seen something similar before.

Nothing came to him.

Victor’s eyes lingered for another moment.

Before he could think about it any further, Benton’s voice filled the room.

"All right, everyone. Turn in your potions."

Victor faced forward.

"Let’s see how everybody did."

Benton’s eyes landed directly on him.

Victor almost sighed.

Of course.

He already knew Benton was going to judge his potion harder than everyone else’s.

One by one, the students handed over their Body Armor Potions.

When it was Victor’s turn, he pulled his potion out and gave it to Benton.

Benton held it up and examined it closely. He tilted the container slightly, watching the liquid move inside before looking at Victor.

"Victor."

Victor waited.

"I know for a fact you can do better than this."

There it is.

Victor had known that comment was coming.

"I understand, Elder Benton. But as you know, I did the best I could with the time I had."

For a moment, Benton simply studied him.

There was something knowing in his expression.

Then he nodded.

"I understand."

He handed the potion back.

"With that in mind, you did a good job."

Victor nodded and put it away.

Once Benton finished checking everyone’s work, he returned to the front of the classroom.

Only two students had failed to complete the assignment.

Benton looked toward them.

"Alice. Greg."

Both students stiffened.

"You’re expelled. Get out of my class."

Alice’s face immediately changed.

"Elder Benton, please. I was close. If you just give me one more—"

"No."

"But Elder—"

"I told everyone what would happen last week."

Alice tried again, but Benton wasn’t interested.

Eventually, she realized there was nothing she could say.

She gathered her things and left.

Greg didn’t take it nearly as well.

"This is ridiculous. You’re really going to expel me over one potion?"

Benton ignored him.

"I almost finished it! You can look at my attempts. I understand the process."

"Leave."

"But—"

"Greg."

The warning in Benton’s voice should’ve been enough.

It wasn’t.

Greg kept arguing.

Benton stared at him for a few seconds.

Then he raised one hand.

Spiritual Energy burst across the classroom.

Greg flew backward.

"Ah—!"

His body shot through the open doorway and disappeared into the hall.

Silence.

Benton walked over to the door.

He closed the door and locked it.

Then turned around.

"They’re gone."

Benton walked back toward the front of the classroom.

"Let’s continue class."