The most shameless alchemist in history

"Go easy on me? I don't believe it. You know, I'm a two-star Flame Rank Magician now, but even if I were to deal with Lance, especially his Thunder Annihilation move, it wouldn't be easy for me, at least not as easy as it is for you. So I'm very curious, what level are you at?"

Sterling didn't believe Dure's words. Ever since they entered Maple Leaf Academy, he had been paying close attention to the actions of this peer.

To some extent, he always regarded Dure as a rival who would challenge him.

"Yeah, Dure, have you also broken through the Steel Rank threshold and reached the Flame Rank? But it doesn't seem like it."

Lance was also curious about this question and followed behind to ask it as well. He was also quite surprised by Sterling's visit.

But it wasn't surprising, because Sterling had spoken to Durrell several times before.

If we were to count who Sterling talks to the most at Maple Leaf Academy, it would probably be Durley.

“I learned something from this trip,” Du Lei said softly, not answering his question directly.

"What's the matter?" Lance was very curious about Dure's trip to the Mountain Kingdom.

He remembered that before he left, Dure was clearly a high-level magic user, but after he came back, he was completely different.

"That means a magic user's level doesn't represent their true strength. Some people are proficient in fighting skills, so their combat power will be outstanding. Some people focus on improving their magic power, but that will seem very abnormal, like someone who has a lot of muscles but can't fight."

Du Lei slowly explained that although the journey to the Mountain Kingdom only lasted a month, he experienced far too many things.

His cognitive abilities and skills also improved rapidly during this process.

“Durey, what you said makes sense. I’ve defeated opponents who were one or two levels higher than me before. Durey, I remember you were an eight-star high-level when you left, right? What level are you now?” Lance agreed with Durey’s words and continued to ask.

"Right now? You should be able to gauge that, right?" Dure asked rhetorically, and his statement was not without basis.

Because every magic user can release magic power, just like a glass of water. A high-level magic user can see how much water is in a low-level magic user's glass, while a low-level magic user, although unable to see through a high-level magic user, can judge that the glass is much larger than their own.

"That's the problem, Dure. Your total magic power is clearly at the level of a one-star Steel Rank, and you've just entered the Steel Rank. But the energy you suddenly unleashed during the fight was something even Lance, an eight-star Steel Rank fighter, couldn't withstand. What's going on?"

Kelly was also very curious, and she was quite worried when she first saw Dure.

Because a month had passed, Du Lei's progress was also very fast, breaking through from the eight-star high-level to the one-star steel level.

But compared to Sterling, or even Lance's speed, it's all too insignificant.

"Well... that's a secret," Du Lei said with a smile.

He wasn't intentionally trying to hide it from Lance and the others, nor was he afraid that his secret would be exposed because Sterling was present.

Rather, it was because the matter was too complicated for him to explain to Lance and the others.

And there are some things he simply can't say.

For example, there exists a dreamlike world within his body, inhabited by many foreign residents.

For example, Little Black, Little White, and Little Gray.

This world will extract a large amount of your magical energy; the faster you cultivate, the more it will extract.

It's like a bottomless pit.

It was precisely because of this bottomless pit that his level increased very slowly.

However, it is also because of the existence of the bottomless pit that he is able to unleash his formidable power at certain times.

For example, on the top floor of the City Council Building, didn't he defeat Tama by releasing the energy from the Bottomless Pit?

Moreover, at that time he also absorbed the Void creatures summoned by Tamma, adding a lot of magic power to the Bottomless Pit.

"What's wrong with you, Dure? When did you become so mysterious?" Lance complained.

“I came to you originally intending to fight you, but I’ve changed my mind,” Sterling said softly.

"Oh? You changed your mind? That's quite rare." Although Dure didn't talk much with Sterling.

“I have to leave the academy early,” Sterling said expressionlessly.

"Leave? Where are you going?" Lance was taken aback.

He had faced Sterling many times before, but had lost every single time.

He originally planned to train for a while longer before challenging Sterling again.

Judging from the current situation, it seems that he no longer has this opportunity.

"I am going back to my hometown. Times are changing dramatically, and I have an obligation to remind you that darkness will come soon."

After saying that, Sterling turned and left.

The most shameless alchemist in history

661 Pond Barrel

Sterling suddenly appeared, said something inexplicable, and then left again. Everything seemed so sudden. Lance initially thought Sterling was joking, but when he went to the academy the next day, he found that Sterling had really left and had already completed the leave of absence procedures.

His decision shocked the academy, as Sterling had become a symbol of Maple Leaf Academy, and his departure would be a huge loss to the academy. The academy tried desperately to persuade him to stay, but he still decided to leave, and the academy was forced to accept this fact.

In the following week, Dure visited three people. The first was Teacher Nono, because it was Nono who had helped him get into the guard team and go to Rock City. Although the trip to Rock City was extremely dangerous, it had greatly improved him.

Moreover, the benefits he gained were not limited to strength; he also gained the recognition of the Speaker of the Mountain Kingdom, Varo, and General Teda. This was an invaluable intangible resource for him, and he wanted to thank Nono properly, but Nono was not at the academy.

According to the college, Nono had taken leave of absence a month ago, apparently to attend to important matters. The college did not know when she would return, so Du Lei had to give up his plan to visit her and wait until she returned to express his gratitude.

Du Lei's second visit was to Tie Xin, the blacksmith on the narrow street halfway up Maple Leaf Academy. He and Tie Xin had quite a history; Tie Xin had forged his large crossbow for him. During their journey to Rock City, they had encountered many dangers, and the crossbow had helped him overcome many crises.

He wanted to properly thank Tie Xin and ask him some specific questions about the use of magical weapons. However, when he went to the street to look for him, he found that the blacksmith's shop was closed. He asked the neighbors and learned that Tie Xin had left half a month ago, and that his daughter, Shirley, had also left with him.

This left Du Lei empty-handed. He carefully inquired with the neighbors, but they didn't know where Tie Xin and his daughter had gone or why they had gone there.

Thus, Dure's first visit to the person he was supposed to visit failed, so he went to visit a third person.

The third person he was to visit was Winston, who could be considered his mentor in alchemy. It was under Winston's detailed explanations and patient guidance that he gradually embarked on the path of alchemy.

However, Winston's time teaching him was short, only about half a month. After that, Winston left Maple Leaf Academy because he had personal matters to attend to. When Dure returned to the academy, he learned that Winston was there. Naturally, he would not miss this opportunity to learn from him. After failing to find him on his first two visits, he went to look for Winston this time and successfully found him in the library.

"Oh, it's Dure! It's been a long time. Even so, it seems like only three months have passed." Winston, who was reading in the library, noticed Dure entering and greeted the young man.

"Only three months? But it feels like a long time has passed," Dure said with a smile, bowing slightly to Winster as a basic sign of respect for his introductory teacher.

“Yes, when I first met you, Du Lei, more than three months ago, you were just a mid-level magic user. But in such a short time, you have already become a steel-level magic user. That’s really surprising.” Winster waved his hand, gesturing for Du Lei to sit down. At this time, the library was deserted and there was hardly anyone there.

"This speed is actually quite normal, considering I'm only a two-star Steel Rank. As far as I know, many people in the academy have reached the eight-star Steel Rank, or even the nine-star. As for Sterling, he has even broken through the Steel Rank threshold and is a genuine Flame Rank magic user. Compared to them, I am still insignificant." Du Lei shook his head and said, he never felt complacent about his achievements.

“But your Steel Rank is very different from others’ Steel Rank,” Winster pointed out the key point.

"Different? Then please tell me, Professor Winster, what exactly makes me different from others?" Dure was very curious about this question.

“With your talent, your cultivation speed shouldn’t be what it is now. It seems there’s something within you that’s like a black hole, devouring your magic power and greatly limiting your cultivation speed.” Winster’s eyes were sharp; he immediately saw the difference between Dure and the Dure of three months ago.

“That sounds like a really bad thing,” Dure said softly, neither confirming nor denying.

"That's just what it sounds like. Imagine a pond with a wooden barrel inside. The barrel is empty at first. You fill it with water, and it looks like the water level has decreased, but in reality, the water hasn't left the pond. It's just been transferred to a different container," Winster suddenly said, bringing up something that seemed completely unrelated.

"So, the pond is the human body, and the water is the magical energy that the human body can hold? Then the wooden barrel is the black hole that devours magical energy?" Dure knew that Winster wouldn't bring up the wooden barrel and pond out of nowhere; it must be connected to what he had said before.

“Ponds have high-water seasons and low-water seasons. When the pond is full of water, there is naturally no problem. But once the low-water season begins, the water stored in the wooden bucket will come in handy. Everyone has a wooden bucket in their pond, but your situation is different,” Winster continued.

“Different? How is my situation different?” Dure frowned. He wasn’t surprised that Winster could notice his abnormality, but he was surprised that Winster could so astutely point out the problem.

“Inside you, the pond and the barrel are reversed,” Winster said after a moment’s thought.

"Upside down? What do you mean, upside down?" Dure didn't understand what Winster meant for a moment.

“A normal person’s bucket is only the size of a standard container, but the bucket inside your body occupies almost the entire area of ​​the pond. It has greatly drained the water in the pond, leaving it in a state of chronic water shortage,” Winster explained patiently.

“Insufficient water... How can this be a good thing? I really don’t understand.” Du Lei thought about it over and over again, but still couldn’t figure out the crux of the problem.

.

662 Bracelet Gloves

In Du Lei's memory, the library had always been a very quiet place. Compared to reading in the library, students at Maple Leaf Academy preferred to sweat it out on the training field. Very few people came to the library to read. In addition, the library was affected by the incident caused by the Ash Tower.

This resulted in half of the original library building being closed, and even fewer people came here. This was the case three months ago, and it is the same now. However, the tranquil environment is something that Dure enjoys very much. Now, there are only him and Winster in the library.

"Insufficient water is like a pond, while the bucket is full of water. Insufficient water will suppress your level, but if you make full use of the water in the bucket, you can have an explosive increase in a short period of time. You belong to this category."

Winster patiently explained, and it was under his patient guidance three months ago that Dure crossed the threshold of becoming an alchemist. Now, three months later, he was explaining it to Dure again, which was very beneficial to the latter.

"I see, I think I understand now." Dure nodded thoughtfully. It had taken him a long time to figure out his situation, but Winster had figured it out with just a glance, which surprised him quite a bit.

"How is your alchemy progressing?" Winster suddenly asked. After all, Dure could learn about magic from other places, but when it came to alchemy, he was the real guide.

"I can use alchemy to concoct some basic medicines, and I even tried to forge a magical weapon before, but I always feel that I can't fully master it." Dure thought for a moment, he had many doubts about alchemy.

"Have you reached the level where you can forge magical weapons? Being able to do that shows that your foundation is very good. Alchemy is divided into nine levels, which is slightly different from the levels of magical users," Winster explained in detail.

“I know that alchemy is divided into ‘Bronze’, ‘Iron’, ‘Steel’, ‘Mithril’, ‘Gold’, ‘Crystal’, ‘Diamond’, ‘Dragon Crystal’, and the highest ‘Sage’ level.” Dure nodded; he had learned quite a bit on his journey to Rock City.

This included knowledge of alchemy, and he tried to refine it many times during his journey, but he seemed to have hit a bottleneck.

"Your alchemy skills should now be at the 'Steel' level, which corresponds exactly to your magic user level. However, compared to the formidable power you possess in your magic user registration that could explode at any moment, your alchemy skills are much weaker... Hmm? No, you possess an alchemical amplification item?"

Winster carefully examined the boy in front of him. At first, he had already drawn a conclusion, but soon he noticed something unusual.

He clearly sensed a faint but powerful alchemical amplification power emanating from Dure.

"Alchemy enhancement items...Teacher Winster, is this what you mean?" Dure thought for a moment, then took out a bracelet and handed it to Winster.

The bracelet is entirely black, and it's impossible to tell what material it's made of. It's decorated with intricate patterns.

“This is… a cursed bracelet? Where did you get it?” Winster frowned, recognizing the origin of the amplification item immediately.

"I obtained it by chance, and I can only say that I'm keeping it safe for someone else. If I can find its owner, I will return it to him," Du Lei replied softly. He and Nono had acquired the cursed bracelet at an auction three months ago.

“I see, Durei. You must take good care of it. The Cursed Bracelet is a powerful alchemical amplification bracelet. With it, your alchemical strength, which was originally only at the Steel level, will be able to unleash Mithril-level power for a short time.” Winster said solemnly.

“I understand. Few people know that I possess this item, but I think Professor Winster is a trustworthy person, so it wouldn’t hurt to tell you,” Dure said earnestly, if he had been somewhat wary of Winster at first.

Now, three months later, he dispelled his concerns because he realized that even three months later, he couldn't see through Winster's true abilities. Moreover, Winster had seen through his true nature at a glance. Since he mentioned alchemical amplification items, he must have sensed the existence of the cursed bracelet.

Rather than keeping his worries and anxieties to himself, he might as well bring them up directly, which would make him seem much more open and honest.

“If you carry it like this, any experienced alchemist will be able to detect its presence. If you encounter a corrupt and powerful alchemist, he might try to harm you. Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll take some time these next couple of days to make you a box that can prevent others from detecting it.”

"Winter thought for a moment and then said."

"But wouldn't that be too much trouble for you, Professor Winston?" Dure was somewhat flattered by this.

“It’s just a small favor for me, but it could save you a lot of trouble.” Winster didn’t seem to care.