What do you mean by "this is a dating game"?

This was the first time Emilia had ever seen Steven's face.

What's going on?

Even when facing her, his employer, Steven was never this humble or considerate.

He also repeatedly instructed the servants in the house not to approach the workshop.

How come now...

Emilia stood by the wall, watching Sieg stand on the stage, constantly extracting strangely colored powders or slimes from various materials with his bare hands.

Five minutes later.

He roughly kneaded all the extracts together and slapped his hands together with a "smack".

A flash of light.

The aroma of medicine wafted through the air.

Sieg breathed a sigh of relief, placed the concoction in his hand on a piece of parchment, and walked over.

Steven reacted very quickly.

Where was his arrogance? He strode forward, bowed slightly, and took the parchment.

Looking at the oval-shaped pills on the paper, he laughed, "Wow, amazing skill, amazing skill, Master Sieg! I've truly broadened my horizons today! Extracting by hand, refining with clasped hands—I thought such miraculous operations were just legends, but I never imagined someone could actually do it!"

"..."

Sieg glanced at him.

Take another look.

As far as Sieg knows, he is not the only one who can perform alchemy with his bare hands, but this technique is indeed a high-level operation, completely different from ordinary alchemy.

Steven had never met him, which shows that he was of a low level and had not been apprenticed to a true master.

As for his change in attitude—

All I can say is that this guy isn't a bad person at heart.

He most likely genuinely loves alchemy, and his respect for Sieg at this moment is fundamentally a respect for knowledge, for a master, and for alchemy itself.

Sieg laughed and said, "Not bad, right?"

"What's so great about it? Your alchemy techniques are a real treat to watch."

Steven stared at the bright red pills on the parchment.

He then asked, "Is this the potion that can help the young lady overcome her fear?"

"Yes," Sieg asked. "Those alchemists who made those potions for Emila before were probably meant to calm her emotions and stabilize her mind, right?"

Before Emilia could speak, Steven had already said:

"Yes! The president of the Alchemy Association led a group of three or five intermediate alchemists to concoct 'Wind-Soothing Decoction' for the young lady. I've seen the finished product; the quality is excellent, but it still can't help the young lady."

Emilia then said, "It's not entirely useless. After taking the decoction of calming wind, I feel slightly better... just a little bit."

"They're going in the wrong direction. In your condition, simply remaining calm isn't enough; you need stronger medication to ignite your fighting spirit and overwhelm everything else."

Sieg smiled slightly.

He picked up a pill and held it to Emilia's face: "These I've made for you are 'Boiling Blood Pills.' After swallowing them, even a rabbit will bare its fangs, and your fighting spirit will soar like never before."

"……real?"

Emilia seemed a little skeptical.

She tilted her head and looked up at Sieg from below.

"If Master Sieg said so, I believe it can't be false!"

Steven was even more enthusiastic than Seager.

He looked at the crimson light swirling around the Boiling Blood Pill and said, "Young Miss, look at this pill! It's glowing, did you notice?"

Emilia blinked.

"All the most precious elixirs, those legendary perfect potions, will glow. That is the joy of 'materiality,' their ultimate utilization, the realm every alchemist pursues throughout their life!"

Steven breathed a sigh of relief.

He laughed and said, "Truly admirable! Master Sieg merely made a casual move, yet accomplished something that an ordinary alchemist could not achieve even in a lifetime!"

"..."

"..."

Not to mention Nefarian, even Sieg was finding it hard to stand.

Although Steven's initial arrogant attitude was not likable, it felt better than his current enthusiastic, almost obsequious, demeanor.

Please ask him to recover; I feel like I'm being stuck to him, and my body is so itchy.

Emilia's eyes lit up as she asked, "I'd like to try it now, is that alright?"

"Of course, let's go to the courtyard, that's a better place to practice."

……

……

The night wind howled.

In the courtyard.

Nepha and Emilia stood facing each other, ten meters apart.

Sieg and Steven stood on the sidelines to oversee the battle. Steven was very proper and did not stand next to Sieg, but stood a step behind him.

Every time Sieg turned his head, he would show a friendly yet shy smile.

That was a student's smile at their teacher.

Oh my god...

Should we teach him the art of alchemy? Even if we did, he might not be able to learn it; it requires talent.

Fortunately, when inheriting skills, Sieg also inherited a large number of recipes.

Taking out just one or two is enough to save face and ensure Steven benefits for life.

Nefarian, with his hands empty, said, "Begin, Emilia! Just cast your spells, I can handle it."

"Um!"

Emilia nodded emphatically, her slender fingers holding a Blood Boiling Pill, which she then bit into and crushed.

In an instant, the potent medicinal power flowed through his entire body, the white noise in his ears drowned out everything, and even the sound of the wind disappeared.

It's incredible.

All she could hear was the sudden, powerful heartbeat and the rumbling sound of blood surging wildly through her veins!

Emilia raised her hand and launched three arcane missiles.

"...It really works!"

The purple magic flowed swiftly, precisely striking the direction Emilia desired under her control.

Emilia's emotions were stirred with just one spell.

Sieg wasn't lying!

The medicine he provided worked; for the first time in her life, Emilia's spell flew along the trajectory she had envisioned!

In the past, Emilia's fragile mindset would interfere with her spellcasting when she was charging up her power.

Even when practicing against a wooden stake, she had never been able to cast the spells she envisioned, but this time—

It's perfectly integrated, as easy as using your own arm!

An unprecedented sense of exhilaration washed over Emilia. She was completely focused as she watched Nefarian condense his magic into a high-frequency vibrating iron coil, which easily shattered her attack.

Then, countless iron coils overlapped and merged, and amidst the deafening roar of chainsaws, a high-speed rolling silver-white steel curtain crashed down like a wave.

How powerful and imposing was this attack?

"this……"

Steven stood to the side, watching the rolling iron curtain descend upon him, even his breathing became cautious.

It's easy to imagine the immense pressure Emilia endured under Nefarian's all-out attack.

If it had been before, she probably would have already fallen to the ground and been unable to get up.

However at this moment...

A dazzling light shone in her emerald eyes. Emilia observed carefully and thought calmly, discovering the way out that Nefa had deliberately left behind.

On the silvery-white steel curtain formed by countless overlapping and rolling iron coils, there is always a gap.

The gap is extremely small, not much bigger than a sesame seed.

Even a person as calm as a machine would not be able to spot the tiny, almost non-existent "eye" in the constantly rolling iron roll if their observation skills were not meticulous enough.

Emilia raised her hand and unleashed a beam of light.

The beam of light pierced through the gaps in the sesame seed, shattering the imposing iron curtain in one fell swoop, and then grazed past Nefa's shoulder.

With a tearing sound, the fabric on Nefa's shoulder was ripped, revealing a shallow wound on her exposed blueberry-colored skin, from which bright red blood seeped out.

Nefa was extremely pleased!

He looked at Emilia, whose eyes were brimming with barely suppressed elation, and said, "Truly excellent! Emilia, you are outstanding! You solved the problem I posed and delivered a perfect answer."