”Take these. It’ll help you store less stable potions, and the potions you keep inside won’t deteriorate” with a flick of his wrist, Michael took a crate containing fifty newt vials from his space ring.
Olivia was pleasantly surprised by the sudden gift,
”Are these the newt vials you told me about?” she asked excitedly with wide eyes that sparkled looking at the vials.
”Yep”
”Thank you so much, teacher. I didn’t quite expect this” the vials brightened her face more than the moon and the stars in the sky did. She held the crate close to her chest,
”Thank me by winning this silly competition,”
As soon as he said that, the smile disappeared from her face.
”It’s not silly,” She pouted, looking as though she was offended by his words.
”Relax, I’m just messing with you” Michael pinched her nose playfully. Soon, she stopped pouting and giggled.
”I’m not competing. My students are. I told you about this, didn’t I?”
”I don’t think so. Whatever, tell me again,”
Olivia sighed,
”Well, it’s simple actually. Two parts, individual competition, and group competition. Each has three rounds. First-round, participants are given two batches of ingredients and asked to concoct a pill using the ingredients. If they fail two times, they will be eliminated. It’s the judges’ task to find whether that pill is an actual pill or just a lump of essence,”
”Sounds simple enough,”
”The second round is a little bit tricky. The participants need to refine a pill or a potion according to the formula they are given,”
”I assume, you’ve yet to reveal the tricky part,”
Olivia nodded,
”The given formula will not be entirely correct. The participants have to find the mistake and correct the formula to succeed,”
”Yet again, sounds simple,”
”For you teacher, for you” She playfully punched Michael on the shoulder and continued to explain about the competition,
”The third and final round is kinda freestyle. The participants need to bring their own formula and ingredients to refine the best pill or potion they can. The best with a high purity level wins the competition. As simple as that,”
”Do you want me to give you a super awesome formula?” Michael asked. At first, she thought he was joking but looked at his rather serious face. She learned she was wrong.
”Teacher, are you serious?”
”Yep”
However, Olivia immediately shook her head,
”I want my students to win or lose on their own. Getting the formula from you is a cheat and I don’t want to cheat”
Michael never thought he would ever feel proud as a teacher. But now he did when he heard Olivia. He wouldn’t have thought less of her if she had taken his formula. Instead, however, by rejecting the formula, she made him proud.
”Now tell me again, why are we sailing instead of flying or using the portal in your sect?”
”Because you need some bonding with the nature teacher. Sometimes you just outright scare me” Michael was surprised by her words.
”Scare you? What did I do?” Asked Michael,
She quickly put the newt vials in her space ring in case he changed his mind and took them back. Then, she placed her hands on her hips and talked like a strict mother,
”You literally tortured King Bredia on his throne. I am not saying he’s a good man, he’s kind of an old asshole actually. But couldn’t you have gone softer on him? The man was at his daughter’s engagement, for god sake,”
”He should be grateful I didn’t cut him in peace and throw those pieces at the crowd,”
Olivia felt chills. The cold look in his eyes told her that he was not joking.
”Teacher, the last thing we need is a war between human kingdoms. Especially when there’s a new, more dangerous race emerged from the shadows” her voice revealed the fear in her heart,
”Are you talking about the vampires?” Michael asked, pretending to have no idea about them.
”Yeah. Did you read the papers? They suck our blood, like…like” she stuttered for a moment,
”Giant mosquitos. I can’t even imagine,”
Her words revealed to Michael that they still haven’t realized the real danger posed by the vampires. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have compared the vampires with mosquitos. Now that the vampires’ secrecy had been exposed, she was sure they would be more aggressive and dangerous.
”I heard the Ozer continent is in a messed up state due to all the war. They should have chosen Elon instead”
After discussing vampires and the current state of events, Michael commented on the Ozer continent. Ever since he arrived in this world, he never got the chance to visit Ozer or Awor. However, thanks to the alchemy guild invitation, he could finally visit Ozer.
”The competition has always been held in Ozer. It’s sort of a tradition, and the old alchemists in the guild are pretty stricklers to that tradition,”
”What’s the current state of Ozer anyways? You have any ideas?” asked Michael to get some knowledge about Ozer.
Olivia leaned on the wooden edge, looking at the clear blue ocean before them.
”Zulon and Suven are still at war with Thusia and Idrisal, where we are going to remain free of war for now. The last time I heard from my father, Thusia was winning the war, which is a good thing for you, isn’t it teacher?”
Olivia wasn’t thrilled about Michael being the leader of the Thusian Alchemy Guild. Most Elon and Ozer hated Thusia for waging war on other kingdoms and expanding too aggressively. Because of Thusia, thousands of people had become refugees and lost their livelihood. In fact, Bradford was accepting hundreds of refugees every single day.
”When you can’t beat em, join them” Michael shrugged, pretending he didn’t care. However, he was burning with rage. If Michael had the power, he would have decimated Thusia already. But, since it wasn’t the case, he could only use them to become stronger.
Olivia had no response to him. They talked and talked and lost track of time until the morning. Finally, the sun rose like a flower, gifting its petals to the world. Amid the dancing, the ocean was the blush of scarlet, the warmth of tangerine. Gazing toward the illuminated clouds, still beneath the ethereal glow, Olivia looked up at the marvelous sunrise and felt at home in a way she never had before
Only when the sun completely rose from the horizon did Kingdom Idrisal’s outline faintly appear in their sight. Currently, Michael noticed many ships anchoring at the docks while many riding various beasts flew directly into the city without going through the city gates.
”Teacher, let’s go”
Olivia had already put on emerald green robes with the Alchemist guild’s emblem on the chest.
”Is that really necessary?” Michael asked, looking at her extra-large robes that swept the ground as she walked.
”Yep yep yep” She bobbed her head excitedly before leaping out of the ship to land on the dry land. Michael only noticed that most of the people going in and out of the city gates wore the same robes as Olivia. The number of green robes he saw almost gave him a headache.
Among these green-dressed people, he looked somewhat strange in his black robes. Still, the soldiers in metal armor guarding the city did not stop them as they entered the city for the first time without giving any coins to the guards.
”Welcome to the city of Oxshore,” Olivia said, grinning from ear to ear.
The city of Oxshore was built on the banks of a large natural harbor and was truly a medieval metropolis. Its elegance was matched by the backdrop of a dormant volcano that helped shape the city into what it is today.
Michael could not see far because of the buzzing crowd blocking his view.
”We will look around!” Olivia had to raise her voice to get Michael’s attention due to the crowd. Michael felt as though he had come to a festival. The city of Oxshore vaguely reminded him of Hawaii with the lush green mountains surrounding them.
Any citizen of Oxshore knew that these hills’ resources were of great importance. They were also influential in architectural designs as the vast majority of buildings have been built in shapes and with elements of the hills around them.
The skyline was spreading with luxurious tall buildings, and even from afar, they managed to display their beauty. For the first time, Michael saw dwarves, elves, orcs, and beastmen overshadow the number of humans in the streets.
The several bars, ethnic restaurants, and coffeehouses he saw on either side of the street were evident of the multicultural ethnicity of Oxshore.
”Come on. I need to check out those herbal stores” Olivia dragged Michael by his hand.
”What? Didn’t you get enough herbs from our garden?” Michael asked, following her behind. In the entire Elon, Michael had the largest herbal garden. Granted that he lacked varieties like some other herbal gardens, it was still the largest with an abundance of herbs.
”I still need more” She didn’t back off as she dragged him into a store.
************************************
At the same, a green robes youngster, a golden-dressed girl, and a raccoon walked out of a two-story building made of marble. Noth the young man and the young girl had silky brown hair. Only the girl’s hair was longer in length than the young man’s shoulder-length hair. They were neither too striking nor too unattractive. Instead, they looked plain normal except for the talking raccoon sitting atop the young man’s shoulder.
”Dammit. In the future, let’s use a portal. My butt hurts sitting on your shoulder” After walking out of the crowded building, the raccoon deeply inhaled a few breaths of fresh air as he cursed softly.
Seeing the ugly expression on the raccoon’s face, the young man smiled and raised his head. His gaze swept across the streets and could not help but sigh with praise.
”No wonder Oxshore is one of the richest cities in Ozer,” The young man said with a smile as he clicked his tongue and let out a sound of admiration.
The raccoon was not interested in watching these buildings. Instead, his gaze swept across his surroundings before suddenly asking, “When are we heading back home?”
”Half a month from now,” the young man said as he stepped onto the crowded streets,
”Let’s first go to the auction house we saw before. It should have some of the things that we need. After which, we will make a trip to the Alchemist Guild,” the young man rubbed his chin and answered while smiling,
”Yeah, those old farts love to collect all kinds of different precious herbs and ingredients. It may be possible that we’ll find something tasty for me to snack on. I am damn hungry”