The most shameless alchemist in history

Lance pondered for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. So he had no choice but to ask Dure. After all, it was Dure and Elune who were fighting just now, and he was just a spectator. Even as one of the parties involved, he was completely confused and didn't know what kind of riddle they were talking about.

“So Lance, you idiot, you don’t understand women’s minds at all.” Kelly followed beside Dure and Lance, shaking her head. Lance was completely confused, but she understood perfectly well.

"What do you mean, Kelly? Why would I bother trying to figure out what's going on with that woman? She's just a little bit prettier and has a little bit better manners, but she always has that long face, like nobody cares about her." Lance scoffed at this and quickly waved his hand.

He didn't have a good image of Elune in his mind; he shook his head whenever he thought of Elune's fierce appearance.

"If you keep going like this, you'll never get a girlfriend." Kelly rolled her eyes at Lance; he was so clueless.

“I have no interest in such magical creatures as girlfriends, and having a good buddy like Dure is enough. Why would I need a girlfriend, right?” Lance smiled and put his arm around Dure’s neck. He was much taller and bigger than Dure, and could easily lift Dure up.

"What you're saying sounds a little strange, but at least I've helped you get through this. Otherwise, given your condition just now, you would definitely have collapsed during the shooting segment." Dure shook off Lance's arm; he didn't want to get too intimate with a man.

"Oh, what's so strange about it? This is what they call male friendship." Lance didn't take it seriously.

"What kind of 'friendship between men' is that? It sounds so disgusting. But as Senior Elune mentioned earlier, there are five rounds of tests. We've already passed four. I wonder what the last round will be like." Kelly frowned as she recalled Elune's words.

"You're clearly just jealous. Women's jealousy is really scary. What? I thought I passed all the tests, but it turns out it's still just one round. I really don't know what kind of crazy tests Charlotte will come up with." Lance shrugged.

He didn't care about Kelly's opinion of him, otherwise he would have been furious with her long ago. When Kelly mentioned the fifth round of testing, he rested his chin on his hand and pondered. The previous four rounds of testing had already exhausted him enough, and he didn't know what he would face next.

"Actually, the content of the final test is quite obvious, isn't it?" Just as Lance was wondering, a voice came from behind him. Dure and Kelly were walking in front of him, and the voice coming from behind was obviously not his companion, but another student who was also preparing for the test.

"Ha, do you know what the final test is about? By the way, who are you?" Lance turned around and looked at the speaker, who was a handsome boy who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. He was about 1.75 meters tall, although he was not as tall as Lance.

However, his outstanding temperament, coupled with his soft, feminine facial features, stunned Lance. He had never seen such a handsome boy before. To be precise, he could only tell that the boy was male by his attire; as for his gender, he had no way of determining it.

"I'm very sorry to have interrupted your conversation. I didn't mean to eavesdrop; I just happened to be passing by. My name is Roland." The handsome young man was humble and polite, and his speech was very appropriate, which made it easy to get along with him. Lance's goodwill towards him increased greatly.

"Roland? My name is Lance. This is Dure, and that's Kelly. You don't need to worry about what her name is, it's not important anyway. So, are you a boy or a girl?" Lance scratched his head, unable to tell the other person's gender, and asked in confusion.

"Hey, Lance, isn't that incredibly rude of you to a girl? Although she is indeed very cute and a bit androgynous, she is definitely a real girl, so adorable!" Kelly glared at Lance, thinking that everything he did was stupid.

Seeing that Roland was in a good mood, she immediately went up to him and took his hand, but he instinctively pulled away.

"Actually, I'm a man." Roland said with a somewhat embarrassed expression, feeling a little awkward after being overwhelmed by Kelly's enthusiasm.

"Huh? How can a boy be so cute?" Kelly was startled. Realizing she had lost her composure, she immediately pulled her hand back. She looked at Roland in astonishment, hardly believing her eyes.

"Shouldn't someone this cute be a boy? Hehe, you're the one who's mistaken. By the way, Roland, what did you say just now? You said you knew what the final test was about." Lance saw Kelly finally get her comeuppance, only to make such a big blunder.

This put Lance in a great mood, since Kelly bullied him all the time, which made him feel quite smug.

“I did say that, and you probably already guessed it,” Roland said, not minding that Kelly had mistaken his gender. He nodded and then asked Lance a question.

"What do you mean 'should have guessed'? But I guessed nothing at all." Lance scratched his head; he really wasn't good at thinking.

“Idiot, he’s talking about ‘you all,’ not you. Don’t include yourself in our group, or you’ll drag down the average IQ.” Kelly corrected her, as she held a strong prejudice against Lance.

"Hey, Kelly, what do you mean by this? What do you mean by 'you' and 'our'? I'm totally confused." Lance was completely bewildered, but he still knew that Kelly was being sarcastic.

150 in the final round

The fourth round of shooting tests eliminated another group of students who participated in the entrance test. As a result, the large group of four or five hundred people that started early yesterday morning has now dwindled to less than one hundred. After leaving the shooting range, they followed their instructors to the next location.

The teacher leading the group didn't reveal any other information besides telling them that the next round was the final test. The students whispered among themselves on the way, speculating about the content of the final test. After all, it's better to be prepared than not. Even though the test was about to start soon, it would be good to prepare a few minutes in advance.

"What? Du Lei? You're saying the final test is this? Are you sure they're serious?" Lance was shocked when he learned about the final test from Du Lei. He stared at Du Lei in astonishment, and his reaction attracted the attention of many people.

"Hey, can you stop making such a fuss? At least keep your voice down. It's a perfectly normal thing, but you're scaring me half to death." Kelly scolded Lance. Compared to Lance's highly emotional state, her reaction was quite normal, because she had already guessed this.

“Normal Kelly, you call this normal? If the final test is to assess magical reflexes, then why didn’t we just do it this way from the beginning? Why all this unnecessary stuff—running, traversing the forest, shooting—isn’t this just messing with us?”

Lance was furious. When Roland had spoken to them earlier, Roland had pointed out that Dure and Kelly had actually guessed the content of the final test. Lance immediately asked about it, and Dure told him that the final test would definitely be a test of the students' magical energy reactions.

"That's not how it is. Charlotte has her reasons for making these arrangements." Dure shook his head. Although he didn't have a good impression of Charlotte, he still noticed some clues from Charlotte's arrangements for these rounds of tests.

“What reason could that greedy guy possibly have?” Lance believed Durei’s words, but he disagreed on this point.

“Lance, Dure is right. Although Charlotte accepted bribes and opened doors for nobles, his arrangements did have their reasons. You know, this world has never lacked geniuses.” Kelly and Dure agreed on this point.

"What?" Lance couldn't understand Kelly's words and asked again.

“Miss Kelly is absolutely right. There are so many talented people in this world. Every year, a large number of geniuses emerge, and at the same time, countless geniuses fall.” Roland walked over, deeply agreeing with Kelly’s words, and nodded slightly.

"So what are you talking about? We're not talking about geniuses or not, we're talking about how tedious the first four rounds of testing Charlotte arranged were." Lance wondered if he was even in the same dimension as Dure and the others, because what he was saying was completely irrelevant.

“Lance, do you know what the greatest enemy of genius is?” Kelly ignored Lance’s words and asked him again.

"What enemy?" Lance was completely bewildered; he couldn't keep up with Dure and the others' train of thought.

“It’s laziness. No matter how talented you are, once you become complacent, you will completely fall into ruin. Because when you don’t work hard, there are too many people who work harder than you and crush you.” Kelly’s expression was very serious.

"I don't want to hear your criticism and lectures. You've completely gone off-topic," Lance said, somewhat annoyed.

"Charlotte arranged these four tests, which may seem like he was deliberately making things difficult for people, but in fact he was testing their patience and perseverance. You've seen how many people flock to top-tier academies like Maple Leaf Academy, but they put the magic power test last."

Dure shook his head. He understood Charlotte's intention, and after realizing this, his impression of Charlotte changed slightly.

"This means that having exceptional magical talent is a prerequisite for entering Maple Leaf Academy, but patience and perseverance are essential before that. Do you understand?" Du Lei paused for a moment before continuing to explain. At this moment, they arrived at a plaza within the academy.

"Now that you mention it, I think I understand a little. So that's what that guy was planning. In other words, the content of our final round of testing is a simple and brutal test of the students' magical energy reaction?" After Dure's explanation, Lance finally got some clues.

“That should be the case, and look at the plaza, the magic crystals are all ready.” Kelly nodded and pointed to the center of the plaza, where students wearing armbands were already busy at work. On a platform, a transparent crystal about the size of a fist was placed.

"But why not do it this way from the beginning? I have absolutely no idea about my magical energy reactions. If I don't get past the last hurdle, all my previous efforts will have been for nothing," Lance complained softly.

"What? Weren't you furious and about to leave? Didn't you ever think that all your hard work before was for nothing?" Kelly couldn't resist teasing him.

"The situation was different back then, oh no, what if I don't pass the magic reaction test?" Lance scratched his hair, extremely frustrated.

"Coming to Maple Leaf Academy to study without even testing your magical energy reaction beforehand is quite bizarre," Kelly continued to mock.

"What, is there a problem with this? Did you do this beforehand?" Lance was somewhat unconvinced.

“Of course. My brother and I tested our magical energy reactions before we left to make sure they met Maple Leaf Academy’s standards. Otherwise, we would have come all this way for nothing,” Kelly nodded, looking completely at ease.

"They actually tested it ahead of time, that's too cunning. Did you test it ahead of time too?" Lance asked Roland next to him.

"Of course, this is the basic course. So compared to the previous four rounds of testing, the last round of magic energy reaction is actually the simplest and most direct. I think that everyone who passed the four rounds of testing had a good magic energy reaction. They all prepared in advance. The only difference is the quality."

Roland nodded; he got along particularly well with Dure and his group.

"What is 'quality'?" Lance heard another new term.

"It's the difference in the level of magical energy reaction. It varies from person to person. Some people have high talent, so their magical energy reaction is of a high quality. Others don't have much talent, so their magical energy reaction is of a very low quality. Do you understand?" Kelly explained helplessly.

151 obsolete technologies

Clearly, Kelly and Roland had come to Maple Leaf Academy well-prepared, and judging from their confident expressions, they were absolutely certain of passing the magic power test. Lance, on the other hand, was completely unprepared and was scratching his head in frustration, terrified that he would mess things up.

Meanwhile, the students who had passed the first four rounds of tests gathered in the square. The square was spacious enough to hold thousands of people, but the mere hundred or so people standing there did not feel crowded at all. Around the square were four huge warrior statues, each seven or eight meters tall, clad in armor and armed with weapons.

Sixteen warrior statues in total stand guard over the square like guardian deities, while in the center of the square is a high platform, only a dozen meters wide, which can only accommodate a dozen people standing side by side. Behind the platform is a fountain, from which water flows from the water jug ​​of the goddess of harvest.

The most eye-catching thing was the transparent crystal on the platform. The crystal was plain and unremarkable, without any brilliance. Its existence confirmed Kelly and Roland's previous guesses. The students waited nervously for Charlotte to walk towards the platform. The final test would determine whether they could enter Maple Leaf Academy.

"Oh no, oh no, I have absolutely no idea what to do about the magic power test, Dure, am I going to be eliminated? I finally made it this far, and if I get eliminated because of this, it's just too cruel, waaaah, why don't you comfort me at all?" Lance wailed.

Charlotte was already speaking eloquently on the platform, but Lance was preoccupied with the magic power test and couldn't listen to her at all. He had absolutely no interest in Charlotte's official jargon.

"To be honest, I'm not confident about the magic power test either." Dure hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

"Ha, you're not sure, Dure, so don't try to fool me. You're so amazing, you should be able to pass this test easily. By the way, could you share some of your magical energy with me like you did last time? How about that?" Lance didn't believe Dure's words.

“Hey, can’t you be a little more sensible? You know you cheated your way through the last round. You already got Dure to help you once. Do you want a second time? And magic energy reactions can’t be faked. How else can I give it to you?” Kelly raised an eyebrow.

"Oh dear, Kelly, don't overreact like that. I was just saying it casually. You know I'm under a lot of pressure right now, and the atmosphere is really heavy. I have absolutely no idea what magical reactions are." Lance said weakly, his head drooping.

"The magic energy reaction is an important reference for testing the magic power index. In fact, it is your potential. If you have a high potential, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort and reach a high magic power index. The magic power index is a prerequisite for using magic energy weapons. Activating weapons consumes a lot of magic power."

Roland was more patient than Kelly, carefully explaining things to her while Charlotte on the platform continued her eloquent speech.

"I do know about magic-powered weapons. They are equipment made with the core of magical beasts and the material of magical bones, allowing ordinary people to have power comparable to that of magical beasts. But with things like magic energy reaction and magic power index, it's all too complicated. I don't understand it at all."

Lance shook his head. The thought of those complicated problems gave him a headache. He would rather fight ten battles than think about a single problem.

"As times have progressed, people's research has become more and more refined. Things that were once generalized based on experience have been subdivided into many different sub-disciplines. For example, modern medicine and weapons forging have evolved from ancient alchemy."

Roland went on to explain that his tall stature, noble and elegant demeanor, coupled with his extensive knowledge, gave him a unique charm.

"Ancient alchemy?" Du Lei was particularly interested in this point, pondering the words carefully.

"What, Dure, are you quite knowledgeable about alchemy?" Roland's eyes lit up as he looked at Dure with a smile.

"I haven't done any research, I'm just a little bit interested." At this moment, the image of that man reappeared in Du Lei's mind.

"Alchemy is a very powerful subject. I've heard my teacher say that alchemy consists of three elements: analysis, decomposition, and reforging. It's said that everything in the world can be made through alchemy, and there's even a saying that..." Roland spoke particularly much when talking about alchemy.

"What do you mean?" Du Lei immediately pressed, clearly showing how much he cared about it.

"It is said that our human world was actually created by the gods using alchemy, because the great alchemist Edward once used alchemy to create a little man from a flask, a living person, which means that humans can be created," Roland continued.

"Please allow me to interrupt for a moment. Isn't the creation of humankind considered a taboo? It violates ethics and morality. Moreover, such a thing has long been proven to be non-existent. Furthermore, after so many years of analysis, alchemy has declined, and there are very few alchemists left."

Kelly interrupted Roland, adding that it was clear Roland was quite enthusiastic about alchemy, but Kelly held a disapproving attitude.

“Miss Kelly is quite right. Alchemy has indeed declined and been replaced by a monster called science. But isn’t science just another form of alchemy? Besides, if we now consider alchemy an outdated ancient technology, then many years from now…”

Roland had his own unique perspective and immediately refuted it.

"Will what we call science be regarded as alchemy by future generations many years from now?" Dure asked.

"Hahaha, that's right, that's right, Du Lei, you're really funny. It's true. Modern science will be proven to be outdated in the future, no different from the alchemy we see now. Besides, the decline of alchemy now is only relative to its prosperity in ancient times."

"Even in a society where science is expanding and developing, alchemists still hold a lofty position. They are still active in various fields. For example, the creation of magical weapons comes from the hands of alchemists. Even the most sophisticated machinery cannot achieve the alchemy of refining."

Roland and Durand reached a consensus on this point, and the two got along exceptionally well.

152 Magical Reaction

While Dure, Roland, and others were whispering about alchemy below the stage, Charlotte was giving a long and eloquent speech on the high platform. After a good ten minutes, Charlotte finally finished his speech and officially announced that the fifth round of testing was a test of magical energy reaction, thus declaring the start of the test.

"Durey, you're quite the talker. We've chatted for so long without me realizing it. But it seems it's my turn to test my magical energy reaction now. I'll head over first." Roland heard his name called from ahead, gave Durey and the others an apologetic smile, and quickly went to undergo the test.

"Actually, it's Roland who's the most talkative one. He's clearly a boy, but he's so beautiful. It's really amazing." After Roland left, Lance rested his chin on his hand and clicked his tongue in amazement. He had never seen a boy look like that before. He would definitely be a beauty if he dressed as a woman.

“You’re just jealous, aren’t you?” Kelly added to Lance’s words, speaking sarcastically. She never missed an opportunity to put Lance down.

"Ha, jealousy? What are you talking about? How could I be jealous of him? Besides, with my handsome, tall, and dashing appearance," Lance patted his chest. He was very confident in himself and belonged to the type who had an exceptionally high opinion of himself.

"I can't take it anymore, I need to find somewhere to throw up. Even if you're shameless, there's a limit," Kelly interrupted Lance.