The Mage of Primordial Chaos

"The first test is simple—refine a normal Low-Grade Healing Pill, using the materials you have been given in front of you. There is enough for three attempts. If you take only one attempt, you will be given 15 points. If you take two, you will be given 10. If you take three, you will be given 5. And lastly… if you are unable to do this within the three attempts, you will receive zero points for this test. Think of this as a preliminary diagnosis, something to examine your basic skills with."

Nice and straight-forward—something I was a fan of. With this, I now knew the pill rankings here in the Living Realm were the same as that of the Death Realm. This Low-Grade Healing Pill was the first thing Ling Xin's godfather taught me to concoct. It was very simple to make, and for a Golden Alchemist like me, it could be done in the blink of an eye.

Thankfully, back then, I had also asked Ling Xin's godfather to teach me how to hide my abilities as a Golden Alchemist. I was thus able to refine normal, non-Golden pills as well, should the need ever arise—just like now.

Of course, I still wanted to gain as many points as possible, so holding back too much wasn't an option either. As such, I decided to just one-attempt this challenge.

Five Blessleaves, two Angelbarks, and a drop of Holy Tincture collected from the Arctic Trees of the north. Despite the rich-sounding names, none of these materials were actually difficult to get. The only one that was remotely hard was the Holy Tincture, but even then, it wasn't anything dangerous, only tedious.

Grabbing the materials I need, I swiftly went to work. I noticed the girl beside me doing the same with fast, precise movements that rivaled my own at my best, but I pretended not to pay any attention to her and instead focus on my own work.

Hovering my hands over the materials, I ran mana through my palms, causing the herbs to rise into the air and begin circling around. I then placed my other hand beneath their hovering, spinning frames, and closed my eyes,  listening  to them sing.

Alchemy was closely tied with nature, so in order to successfully refine something using alchemy, one had to first hear and understand the voices of nature. However, I purposely waited several seconds before actually beginning the refinement process, just to avoid this girl from developing any more interest in me.

But by the time was refined and I opened my eyes... I saw the girl staring at me, blinking blankly.

"... Need something?" I said with a raised eyebrow, quoting her own words from earlier. After several seconds of awkward silence, she turned away.

"... No, not particularly."

"..." I didn't believe her in the slightest, but decided not to engage in further conversation with her and instead wait patiently for inspection.

Several minutes later, the time was up. Anyone who still has not managed to refine the pill were urged to use up their remaining attempts, and those who had no attempts left were simply given 0 points.

Apparently, the person to have finished first was none other than this girl beside me, with a boy to the left of her coming in second. For some reason, he was sending me dirty looks, and seemed to hate me despite me not doing anything to him.

Seriously... getting jealous because your crush is talking to someone else...? It's not even like we're flirting or anything. Hell, I'd like it if she'd stop talking to me, actually...

Yes, the young lady of the Zhao Family was quite beautiful with her slim figure and flawless facial features, but I already had girls who matched her beauty if not surpassed it. I didn't care for getting another girlfriend.

After inspections were complete—with the old man tastetesting each one—I was given 15 points for only using one attempt. Most people in the room only used one, actually. The girl beside me, however, received an extra 10 points for being the first, bringing up her total to 25 points and taking first place... for now, anyway. They didn't say how many tests there were going to be in total, but surely it was more than just one or two.

My answer to that wondering came a few seconds later, when the old man began his explanation.

"It seems most of you have managed to pass this first test with relative ease. Good, for it was supposed to be easy. The real test begins now."

With another snap of his fingers, the same servants from earlier hurried out of the sides of the room and cleared away our desks, then replaced them with a fresh set of materials that I recognized to be the components for a certain Mid-Grade pill.

"Now, with the materials given in front of you, refine a Cleansing Pill," the old man said as the servants disappeared as quickly as they came. "If you don't know what that is, no one can help you... and one more thing—you only have one attempt this time around. If you fail and waste the materials, that is a flat zero for this test. However, should you succeed, the points given will be 30."

30... not bad. I have to secure this, it seems.

As soon as the old man declared 'start', I went to work. Cleansing Pill was another one of the pills I had been taught how to refine by Ling Xin's godfather. Although it was Mid-Grade, it was, in fact, quite basic and easy to refine compared to some other Mid-Grade pills, with the entire process taking only about 5-7 seconds to the average alchemist.

Of course, as a Golden one myself, refining any pill only took me the blink of an eye, maybe one second at most, so there really wasn't much difference, but for the sake of this test and my somewhat annoying surroundings, I had to hold back.

1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6...

I counted seconds in my mind while my eyes were closed, giving the Zhao family's young lady the impression that I was actually trying to refine the pill when I really wasn't. Once the timer hit 6 seconds, I actually began refining, and the pill was complete nearly instantly.

My eyes opened slowly and I caught the small ball in my hand, then set it down in the tray on the table as I waited patiently for inspection. Once again, however, I noticed the same girl staring at me with that same blank expression, blinking evenly. Her eyes were curious, observant, as if searching for something.

God... why are you so fixated on me? I've already demonstrated twice that I'm just a normal alchemist...

"Why," she suddenly said, catching my attention. "Do you, hide, your abilities?"

... Lorelei, you sure she can't read my mind?

"Lorelei is certain, master. She is merely saying this to rile you up."

I see...

Well, as if I was going to let something like this affect me.

"What do you mean?" I asked right back, playing dumb like a pro. "Hide my abilities? You're right, why  would  I do that?"

The girl blinked several more times, keeping her gaze locked to mine, then finally turned away after a few seconds.

"... Hm."

Hm?! What does she mean, 'hm'?! Please tell me my playing dumb worked...

"Unfortunately, that only made her more suspicious of you, master... so it would seem."

Ugh... damn it. And here I was, thinking I was decent at psychological warfare. But even with Lorelei's help, I can't win against this girl...!

I opened my mouth to sigh, but then hurriedly closed it again. If she heard me sighing, she would definitely catch onto it.

Inspections came soon later. My pill was accepted, so that's another 30 points for me. The Zhao Family's young lady beside me was once again the first to finish, with the boy on her other end being second. As such, she received another additional 10 points, bringing her total up to 40. And yet... she too did not seem to be trying at all.

I wonder... does her abilities rival mine as a Golden Alchemist? Or perhaps... is she, in fact, one as well?

The second option was unlikely, but certainly possible. I would have to wait to be sure.

"Now, the third test will be the last one in the introductory level. Beyond this point, those who still only have zero points will be eliminated from the competition. It involves the concoction of a High-Grade Pill named the Berserker Pill, and will be worth 50 points. Once again, if you do not know what this pill is, you are out of luck."

As the servants rushed forward with new materials and set it down on our desks once more, I felt out of luck.

This had not been one of the pills Ling Xin's godfather had taught me... meaning I would have to improvise.

Or, perhaps, should I just abandon this question altogether...? I don't have to act to show I don't know what I'm doing for this one... which means this should help me divert the Zhao Family's young lady's attention...

Probably.. Hopefully.