The most shameless alchemist in history

174 Crystal Cards

Led by Dure, Lance finally found the cafeteria. Seeing the abundant food, Lance's appetite was whetted. He took several dishes to the table and ate heartily. Although it was also Dure's first time at Maple Leaf Academy and he was not familiar with the environment, he was able to make good use of the "map".

It was evening, past the peak dining hours, and the cafeteria was sparsely populated. Apart from Du Lei and his two companions, there were only seven or eight other people scattered around. It was early spring, and the evening was still a bit chilly, with a gentle breeze making one shiver.

"Achoo! It's so cold this time of year. The north is much colder than where we are. By the way, Durei, aren't you cold?" Lance sneezed. He wasn't used to the temperature in the north. He had been wearing thick clothes before he came, but now everyone had changed into white school uniforms.

"Is it cold? There's still a thick layer of snow in my hometown." Du Lei shook his head. Maple City is located in the southern part of the Snow Country, bordering the Mountain Country to the south. On the way to Maple City, we passed through many snow-covered mountains, but we couldn't see any snow in Maple City.

"As a southerner, I just can't understand the way you northerners think. Speaking of which, the food here is really good. Roast duck, smoked ham, bread, you name it, they have it all, and you don't even have to pay for it. That's wonderful. If every day could be like this, life would be perfect." Lance patted his belly.

The tray he brought over was overflowing with food; even the cafeteria ladies suspected he was bringing it for someone else. It was enough for at least five or six people, yet Lance ate it all by himself, while Kelly didn't even finish one serving.

"You're dreaming! We only get this treatment because we're freshmen. Haven't you even read the college's rules and regulations? According to the rules, we can only enjoy free meals for one week. After that, it won't be free anymore." Kelly glared at him.

"What? One week? Does that mean I have to pay for it after one week?" Lance hadn't actually looked up the academy's rules. Hearing Kelly's words, he scratched his head. After all, this was a big problem concerning his stomach, and he was penniless, without a single silver coin.

"It's understandable to buy things with money, but there are actually some minor differences." Du Lei read the student handbook immediately and knew that Maple Leaf Academy had a complete set of rules and regulations.

“A tiny difference, Dure, what do you mean by that?” Lance was getting more and more confused.

“Money from outside doesn’t work at Maple Leaf Academy. What’s used here are crystal cards, like this.” Du Lei pulled out a very thin card, about half the size of his palm, from his pocket. The card was crystal clear, and its surface had a flowing, rotating light.

The Maple Leaf Academy emblem, which is the outline of a silver-white maple leaf, can also be clearly seen above.

"Is this thing called a crystal card?" Lance took the crystal card from Dure and examined it in his hand; it felt icy cold to the touch.

"You can think of it as the universal currency within Maple Leaf Academy. You can use it to buy anything you want, including daily necessities like food, clothing, and shelter, as well as raw materials for alchemy, and even finished products directly from alchemy," Du Lei explained patiently.

"Alchemy? What alchemy?" Lance became interested in the term and immediately asked.

"It's nothing, I was just using an analogy. In short, you can't survive at Maple Leaf Academy without this," Du Lei said, glossing over the matter.

"Durey, why did they make the rules so complicated? What currency, what crystal cards? I'm getting confused. Wouldn't it be better if they just used silver coins to buy and sell?" Lance was penniless, but he didn't have any crystal cards either.

“Idiot, if outside silver or gold coins were allowed to circulate in, do you think Maple Leaf Academy could still hold on?” Kelly gave him a disdainful look.

"What do you mean by 'can it hold up'? It's not like a massive army of monsters is pouring in. Isn't it a good thing that money is circulating?" Lance was getting more and more confused.

“Sometimes the power of money is more terrifying than an army of poor monsters.” Kelly shook her head, disagreeing with Lance’s words.

"What are you talking about? Are you sure we're talking about the same thing?" Lance felt like he and Kelly were talking at cross purposes.

“Maple Leaf Academy is different from other places. It is the southern barrier of Maple City and even Snow Kingdom, directly facing the territory of magical beasts. Lance, what do you think this means?” Du Lei had read a lot of documents in the past two days and had gained a deeper understanding of Maple Leaf Academy.

“This means responsibility; we must protect this place,” Lance replied firmly.

“It’s not just that; it means there are huge business opportunities here.” Dure did not deny Lance’s words, but added to them.

"How did business opportunities get involved again?" Lance was increasingly confused.

"Idiot, it's precisely because this place faces the territory of magical beasts that Maple Leaf Academy is facing a huge treasure trove. Every part of a magical beast is valuable; whether it's its fur or its crystal core, it can be sold for a high price. The higher the level of the magical beast, the more expensive the materials and crystal cores obtained after killing it."

Although Kelly verbally berated Lance, she would still explain when he had questions.

"So what?" Lance felt a little guilty after hearing Dure and Kelly's explanations, but he still didn't understand.

"If external currencies were allowed to circulate in, the various alchemical materials and crystal cores that Maple Leaf Academy hunts would inevitably attract the attention of major conglomerates. Under the impact of money, Maple Leaf Academy would become chaotic and impossible to manage. That is why the crystal card system was adopted."

"So-called crystal cards are cards sealed with magical energy. Each crystal card has the Maple Leaf Academy's logo and is unique and cannot be copied. Moreover, the issuance of crystal cards is limited, which ensures that Maple Leaf Academy maintains a dominant position in the trading of materials. Do you understand?" Kelly finished explaining in one breath, making her explanation clear enough.

“Now that you mention it, I think I understand a little. But there’s still one more question: where did the crystal card come from?” Lance finally asked.

"Of course, it's received. As a freshman at Maple Leaf Academy, you can receive twenty crystal cards every month, or you can obtain them by completing the academy's commissioned tasks. In general, if you just coast along at Maple Leaf Academy, this will only guarantee you the most basic food and clothing." Du Lei said helplessly.

175 Life Goals

With Dure and Kelly's explanation, Lance finally understood the origin and purpose of the crystal card. He had originally thought he could eat such a sumptuous meal every day, but now it seemed that the reality was not like that. This greatly discouraged Lance, and he sighed repeatedly.

"Isn't this just a disguised form of exploitation of students? We have to work for their academy to get crystal cards. This is outrageous! We're students here to learn, how can they do this to us?" Lance grumbled, his hopes for the future growing increasingly gloomy.

"Actually, it's not entirely like that. You don't need to choose to work for the academy, because some of the people who issue commissions are outsiders. The academy is just using crystal cards to give itself the upper hand and maximize its profits," Du Lei explained in detail.

"So even a sacred place like the academy has become so utilitarian in its pursuit of profit. It's really displeasing." Lance's impression of the academy was nothing like this, which caused his originally high expectations for academy life to continuously decline until a layer of gloom settled over it.

"This is probably what they call a product of the times. With the arrival of the steam age, new continents were constantly being discovered, and people were all aiming to maximize their profits. The whole world went crazy." Kelly, unusually, did not refute Lance's opinion. On this point, it was clear that they had reached a consensus.

"The changes of the times are like a boulder falling from a mountain; no one can stop it. Clinging to things that cannot be changed is not a wise choice. Here are your twenty crystal cards for this month; I collected them for you earlier." Dure handed a stack of crystal cards to Lance.

"Durey, you're really quite detached. If I had known even the academy would turn out like this, I wouldn't have come at all," Lance said, somewhat annoyed.

“If you’re still bothered by this kind of thing, why not think about it from a different perspective? Since you don’t have the ability to change this world that you’re not satisfied with right now, then accumulate your own strength and make yourself contribute to changing the world. Giving up on yourself too early will only make you unable to do anything well,” Du Lei put it another way.

"Change the world? Sounds pretty good. I get it. I must change this utilitarian world. Hehe, I've finally found my goal in life." Lance, who was originally dejected, suddenly became full of fighting spirit after hearing Dure's words.

"As expected of an idiot, how dare he talk about changing the world when the world is so vast?" Kelly scoffed at this. She was a worldly person and knew how insignificant a mere person was in the vast world, not even comparable to a drop in the ocean.

"Didn't Dure just say that if you do it, there's definitely a chance, but if you don't do it, there's no chance at all? Kelly, what are your life goals?" Lance had found his direction, and even his eyes reflected a bright light. He was full of energy and spirit.

“What does my life goal have to do with you?” Kelly turned her head away, ignoring Lance.

"What? So stingy! I've already told you my life goals, but you won't tell me. That's really too cunning." Lance was very dissatisfied. There were only a few people in the cafeteria. At this moment, a few people walked by the door, but Lance didn't pay any attention to them.

“I didn’t force you to tell me. You were just talking to yourself, so why are you blaming me?” Kelly raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, do you even have eyes? Can't you watch where you're going?" At this moment, a loud voice came from the other side of the cafeteria. Because there were very few people in the cafeteria, it seemed very empty, and the rough voice sounded particularly jarring. Lance and the others immediately turned their heads to look.

"We're so sorry, we're really sorry. We weren't paying attention and bumped into you. Please accept our apologies." About ten meters away from Lance and the others, at the entrance of the cafeteria, several students in white uniforms with gold trim shouted loudly, surrounding the two people.

The two people, a boy and a girl, were both around fifteen or sixteen years old. The boy was wearing blue clothes and was thin, only about 1.65 meters tall. The girl was wearing black clothes and was at least 1.7 meters tall, with a pair of extremely eye-catching long legs. The one who was speaking was the shorter one.

"Is 'sorry' all you idiots are doing? You're all so clumsy!" one of the students kept hurling insults.

Although they were of similar age, their clothing revealed that one was a formal student at Maple Leaf Academy, while the other did not appear to be a student.

"You guys, you were the ones who accidentally bumped into us while walking. It was your fault, but now you're blaming us. We've already apologized to you, what more do you want?" The girl was very dissatisfied and questioned her while biting her lip.

"Lillian, keep your voice down. Sido and the others are Simmons's men. We can't afford to offend them," the short man pulled his companion aside and whispered. He was afraid that this unnecessary little thing would be blown out of proportion and cause them a lot of trouble.

"Oh, you still dare to act like this even knowing we're Simmons's men? This is clearly disrespecting Boss Simmons. Interesting, very interesting. I think you don't want to stay in this area anymore. You can forget about working here." The student named Sido threatened viciously.

"Brother Xiduo, please don't hold it against us, please calm down." The short man still smiled and said nicely.

"Calm down, who do you think you are? You think you can make me calm down with just a few words?" Xiduo raised his voice.

"Brother Xiduo, what will it take for you to calm down?" The short man had a good temper and kept backing down.

“Three crystal cards.” Sido squinted at the short man and offered his price.

“What?” Lillian exclaimed in surprise.

"I mean, give me three crystal cards and I'll pretend nothing happened. Otherwise, you can forget about working here anymore. Of course, if you, my little beauty, are willing to keep me company, I'll not only not accept the crystal cards, but I'll also give you two extra ones, how about that?" Sido's eyes darted around Lillian.

"You!" Lillian was furious. She was not someone to be trifled with and was about to rush forward.

“Lillian, calm down, Brother Sido. You know we only get ten crystal cards a month working here. You’re asking for three? Isn’t that a bit too much? Besides, I only have one on me.” The short man looked troubled.

"They're clearly not even good enough to pass the entrance exam, yet they have such a big temper. Three crystal cards, not one less, otherwise, they can just wait to get lost," Sido sneered, determined to make trouble for these two.

176 Rules for Newcomers

The commotion at the cafeteria entrance was quite significant and attracted a lot of attention. Anyone with a discerning eye would easily recognize that it was Xiduo and his gang causing trouble. There's no shortage of bullies like this in any place, but to avoid getting into trouble, it's best to turn a blind eye.

As soon as John, the short guy, saw Siddo appear, he knew things were not good. He had heard that these people were not to be trifled with. They were always picking on those of them who had failed the college entrance exam and worked for the college. Many people had already suffered because of them. He had heard someone talking about it yesterday.

Today, he was deliberately avoiding Xiduo, walking quickly with his head down, trying to get away from this plague god as soon as possible. But even when he reached the entrance of the cafeteria and made way for him, Xiduo still swaggered over with his nose in the air and then falsely accused them of bumping into him, thus extorting money from them.

John was filled with resentment and wished he could tear Sido to pieces. However, firstly, Sido's side had more people and more power, and secondly, no matter how bad Sido and his group were, they were still regular students of Maple Leaf Academy, which was completely different from them, who hadn't even passed the test.

“Brother Xiduo, how about we pay you back first? I’ll give it to you once I receive this month’s crystal card. What do you think?” John was extremely anxious, fearing that Xiduo might really do what he said and go to their workplace to cause trouble, which would be terrible if they lost their jobs.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? Three crystal cards, you'll be in big trouble if you lose even one. Since you can't produce them, then we'll have to..." Xido's face darkened, and he raised his hand as if to hit someone, even though the academy did indeed prohibit students from fighting each other.

But his targets weren't students from the academy. He was already adept at bullying students who hadn't passed the entrance exam and were working near the academy. In reality, these students could only swallow their anger after being beaten; who would dare to retaliate against him?

Xido was harboring such thoughts, which is why he acted so recklessly. Just as his hand was about to fall, someone came over and placed something in his palm.

"Is this enough?" Standing in front of Sido was a boy who looked to be only thirteen or fourteen years old. He was thin and short.

"This is a crystal card. Where did you get this?" Xiduo looked at the crystal cards in his hand, counted them, and found there were exactly three. He was stunned for a moment and looked at the boy in front of him with a puzzled expression, not knowing what the other person's background was.

"They look like freshmen this year; their school uniforms are still brand new," someone whispered next to Xiduo.

"That's right, we are the freshmen of this year, and we just enrolled today. This is what I just received." The boy readily admitted this.

"What, so you're a newbie? These newbies these days really know the rules. They know how to fawn over me as soon as they arrive. Not bad, not bad." Xido grinned and accepted the crystal card the boy handed him. There's no reason to turn away such a tempting offer.

"Can they leave now?" the boy asked, pointing at John and Lillian, who both looked bewildered.

"Why did you let them leave me?" Sido squinted at the thin boy, who looked like he was easy to bully.

"I've already given you the crystal card you wanted. Aren't you going to keep your word and stop bothering them?" the boy retorted.

"What do you mean by keeping my word? What did I say? Besides, isn't this your gift to me as your senior? What does it have to do with them?" Xido raised his head and looked down at the sky, while his group of accomplices behind him sneered.

"Oh dear, you're absolutely right, Xido. These newbies are so well-behaved these days. They even offer crystal cards to their seniors. Hey kid, you're new here, right? You gave Xido three crystal cards, so you should at least give us two. You can't show favoritism."

"That's right, that's right. You should have received twenty crystal cards today, right? Give us a few, two each. From now on, we'll protect you at Maple Leaf Academy, and no one will dare to bully you. So hurry up and give them to us."

His companions beside Sido kept jeering, all staring at the crystal card in the boy's hand, which was a valuable commodity circulating within the academy.

"Hey, you guys, this is clearly extortion, Dure, don't give it to them!" Behind the boy, Lance and Kelly arrived. They had been eating and talking at their seats when they heard the commotion at the door, so Dure went over.

"What extortion? How can a newcomer talk like that? Is this how you talk to your senior? Kid, don't you know the rules for newcomers? Do you want me to teach you?" A male student with a missing front tooth, messy hair, and dead fish eyes stepped forward and grabbed Lance.

However, Lance was much taller and bigger than Dure, and he slapped him away with one hand, making the atmosphere tense for a moment.

"Durey, it's you? How come? How come?" John recognized the boy who had helped them. It was the same boy they had met down the mountain before. He was startled because he knew that Sido's group was very troublesome. If Dure stepped in to help, he would get himself involved.

But when he saw that Dure was wearing the academy's white uniform, he was genuinely happy, because it meant that Dure had passed the test.

“Let’s catch up later. Your name is Sido, right? I have no intention of getting into a conflict with you. I’ve already given you the crystal card you wanted. Just accept it and move on. If you insist on making trouble…” Dure waved his hand, indicating that John should stand behind him.

"I'm teaching you the rules as newcomers, how can you call it being nagging? If you don't listen to your senior's advice, you'll suffer." Xido gestured towards the guy with the missing front tooth next to him, who immediately rubbed his hands together and his fingers cracked.

"Durey, step back. Let me see how these guys can teach us a lesson. You come on!" Lance was already furious. He took a step forward, confronting his opponent head-on, and then provocatively beckoned with his finger.

"You're clearly a newbie, being too arrogant isn't good. You must remember that!" Although the man with the missing front tooth wasn't as tall as Lance, he was much bigger. He reached out and grabbed Lance's arm, as if to knock him down and throw him to the ground.

177 This isn't the end.