The most shameless alchemist in history

269 ​​got completely crushed.

Du Lei hadn't taken the requirement of being an eighth-star mid-level fighter seriously. After all, he had fought demons before and was quite confident in his experience and insights. However, he was very troubled when he discovered that he couldn't carry weapons during the test and had to fight bare-handed.

The rock giant's effortless attack during the simulation training filled him with despair. After being blasted out of the arena, he gradually lowered the level threshold, from eight stars to six stars, and then to four stars. He wanted to figure out where the difference in strength between different star levels lay. He originally thought that even if there was a difference, it wouldn't be too great.

But reality was devastating. After several attempts, he discovered that his current magic power level was only six-star low-level, a full twelve levels away from his goal. Fortunately, he tested it secretly by himself, without letting Nono know.

Otherwise, Nono would have beaten him to death. With his level, he couldn't even cross the threshold. He was even worse than an ordinary person. Of course, if Charlotte knew this, she would probably regret it. She would regret deliberately making things difficult for him between eight stars and one star.

For this, he offended Nuonuo, a very promising young teacher. That clueless kid who offended him, there's no need to pay attention to him or deliberately make things difficult for him. Even the basic passing grade is too high for Du Lei to pass, and his grades are so dismal they could fly to the sky.

Lance was the first person to know the results of the Durée test.

"What? This is a six-star low-level? Du Lei, you must have made a mistake. How can it be so low?" Lance spends every day in the training ground, so of course he knows the difference between different levels. In his impression, Du Lei is a very powerful person.

Whether it's his fighting skills or the meticulousness of his thinking, he is outstanding; he shouldn't be at this level.

“No mistake, that’s really the case. At first, I was wondering why it was so bad, but then I figured it out. The problem ultimately lies with the magic energy.” Although Dure was devastated by the result, he was a calm person and found the crux of the problem in the shortest amount of time.

And he even found it.

"What's wrong with magic power?" Lance was someone who was focused on training and didn't know why Dure would bring this up.

"Lance, you used magical energy in combat during your training, right?" Dure didn't answer him directly, but asked a question first.

"Well, I'm not too sure either." Lance scratched his head. He wasn't just being perfunctory with Dure; he was genuinely confused.

“Okay, let me explain. The world is full of all kinds of elements. The advent of modern chemistry has proven this point, and different elements have been named and their reaction formulas have been tested.” Dure sighed and began to explain to Lance.

"Stop, Dure, don't talk to me like that, I feel a little dizzy." Lance quickly made a stop gesture.

"Let me explain it to you like this: the world is full of magical elements, some places are dense, some places are sparse, and the human body has a pool of magical elements. We need to absorb magical elements into the pool, just like pouring water, to make the pool fuller and fuller."

Dure gestured as he explained, then turned back to look at Lance, "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

“I understand, I understand. Dure, your explanation is so concise, I understand it right away.” Lance nodded repeatedly.

“Once the pool is filled with magical elements, it begins to operate, converting the magical elements into magical energy. The way it operates is through training. In other words, Lance, before you entered Maple Leaf Academy, you didn’t know how to train or how to convert magical elements, but now you have learned it,” Du Lei continued to explain.

"Did I learn it?" Lance was still confused.

"You haven't even grasped the basic concepts, yet you've managed to reach this level by focusing solely on training. Lance, clench your fist, concentrate, don't think about anything, relax, and then throw a punch." Dure looked at Lance with some envy.

But he continued, saying that he needed to make Lance understand the principles before solving his own problem.

"Calm down, don't think about anything, just throw a punch!" Lance didn't know what Dure meant by that, but he did as he was told. He adjusted his breathing and threw a punch into the air.

“That’s it, you see, Lance, there’s a faint red glow on your fist, that’s a sign of overflowing magical energy,” Dure pointed to Lance’s fist and reminded him.

"Sigh, there really was one, but it's disappeared now." Lance looked at the red light wrapped around the surface of his fist, very surprised.

"Because magical energy needs to rely on the pool of your physical strength, it will disappear once it leaves your body. Therefore, it is usually difficult to see. Only by careful observation and when you are fighting with all your might will you be able to notice it for a short time," Dure explained in detail.

"So that's how it is. I was wondering why I'd noticed my strength had increased recently. It was because of these red lights!" Lance suddenly realized.

“Yes, your fist will be greatly enhanced with the magic energy. Not only that, Lance, focus your attention again, concentrate, and close your eyes.” Dure affirmed and then gestured for Lance to do as he said.

“Close your eyes? I understand.” Lance nodded and followed Dure’s instructions.

Before Lance could react, Dure suddenly threw a punch at him, slamming it down hard.

"Hmm, who is it?" Lance had a premonition and raised his fist to meet Dure's fist. It was a subconscious action. His movement was so fast that before he could even open his eyes, the fist had already arrived.

With a "boom," Du Lei was blasted seven or eight meters away when their fists collided.

"Dure, what's going on? How is that you? What happened?" Lance had thought someone had attacked him, and his body reacted reflexively.

But by this time he had already opened his eyes and saw that Dure had been driven back, so it was obviously Dure who had ambushed him.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch! That punch was really powerful." Du Lei shook his fist, chuckling bitterly.

"Durey, did I hit you hard? What are you doing?" Lance quickly went over to check on him.

"I'm fine. I'm just proving in the most direct way that you couldn't beat me before, right? And you weren't as fast as me either. But now, with the help of magic energy, your reaction speed is much faster than before, and when faced with a sneak attack, magic energy instinctively protects you."

Dure recalled a month ago, when Lance, though reckless, was no match for him in hand-to-hand combat.

But now, a month later, he has been completely thrashed by Lance.

268 Help with Special Training

Durei's journey to the academy has only just begun, and he doesn't want his hard-won admission to come to an abrupt end because he can't meet the rating standards. However, given his current situation, he knows very well that an eight-star mid-level puppet creature could easily send him flying with a single punch.

Fortunately, the battle was a simulation in a hallucination state. If it had been a real battlefield, his life would probably have been in danger. However, it was precisely because of the simulation that he was fearless and dared to confront it head-on. Now that he has found that this path is not feasible, he has no choice but to adjust his strategy.

However, a clear fact lay before him: no matter how he adjusted his strategy, it could only compensate for a portion of the gap; the absolute difference in strength was still far off. With only two days left, he had only one path to choose from.

For this reason, he turned to his close comrade-in-arms, who was also his classmate and roommate, Lance, knowing that only Lance could help him with this matter.

"Hadurey, what did you say? You want me to give you special training?" Lance had just finished a training session and was sitting on the side of the training field wiping the sweat from his forehead. He thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of sweating profusely, which had become an indispensable part of his daily life.

Just as he was about to begin the second training session, he saw someone walking towards him that surprised him. It was undoubtedly Dure. This was the first time Lance had seen Dure on the training field. He was surprised, but when he heard Dure's request, his surprise turned into astonishment.

“That’s right. The level assessment test is in two days. If I can’t reach the level of the middle stage of the eighth star, I will be expelled for too many absences. But with my current level, I’m still far from the middle stage of the eighth star. So I have to do special training.” Du Lei nodded, confirming this point.

This was the only option left. He realized that it would be difficult to do this on his own, but if he asked Lance, a hardcore training fanatic who spent every day in the training hall, for help, there might be a chance. Besides, Lance was one of the few people he could trust in the academy.

"Skipping classes? Now that you mention it, I realize you haven't been to class for over half a month. Where have you been?" Lance belatedly realized the problem and slapped his forehead as he asked.

"It's been half a month and you're only just realizing it now? You really are my good roommate. I was a bit caught up in some random things and forgot to go to class for a while, so let's just ignore those details for now." Du Lei waved his hand; he didn't have any extra time to waste on Lance's pointless chatter.

He is now eager to undergo special training to improve himself, otherwise he will have to pack his bags and leave in two days.

"I've heard about the level assessment, but isn't the requirement to reach the mid-level of one star enough? How come it's eight stars?" Lance didn't just train in the training ground; he also chatted with others during his breaks and knew a lot about the situation.

"This is all thanks to that teacher Charlotte. She insisted that I skipped too many classes and disregarded the academy's rules and regulations, and that I had to be severely punished. Instead of expelling me outright, she let me participate in the level assessment, which was already giving me a chance," Du Lei said helplessly.

"Damn it, that Charlotte is just taking revenge for personal reasons. How can a teacher be so petty? It's outrageous!" Lance was indignant. He had never had a good impression of Charlotte from the beginning, and now he was vehemently condemning Charlotte's crimes.

“There’s nothing we can do about it, and it’s a fact that I’ve skipped so many classes. Complaining won’t help if people find fault with me. So, getting back to the point, Lance, you’re in the training field every day, you should know what level you are, right?” Du Lei asked curiously.

In his memory, Lance was always full of enthusiasm. At first, his performance was mediocre. He almost failed the entrance exam because of the broken bridge incident. It was because of this incident that he became friends with Dure. The only thing that impressed Dure was that Lance seemed to have good talent.

"Well, hehe, I've just barely crossed the threshold of nine stars," Lance said, scratching his nose with a hint of pride.

"You actually reached nine stars, Lance! Your training over the past month has been truly impressive. You've improved so quickly. Now you're only one step away from reaching the intermediate level of one star. You need to train even harder." Du Lei patted Lance on the shoulder.

This result wasn't actually that good, because Nono had said that the intermediate level of one star was just the starting threshold, and Lance hadn't reached that level yet. This was slightly lower than Du Lei's expectations, but in order to encourage Lance, Du Lei didn't show any disappointment.

“That’s not right.” Lance shook his head mysteriously, speaking with great enthusiasm.

“No, what’s wrong? Wait a minute, Lance, you haven’t already reached that level, have you?” Dure initially didn’t take it seriously, but he quickly realized something was off about Lance’s words. After carefully considering it, he suddenly came up with a startling guess and was immediately stunned.

“That’s right, just like you thought, Du Lei. I’ve reached the mid-stage of the nine-star level.” Lance said confidently.

"It's actually a nine-star mid-level! I asked Nono before which score was considered normal in the level assessment, and she said that one-star mid-level was the threshold, three-star mid-level was good, five-star mid-level was excellent, and reaching seven-star mid-level already made one a key student for the academy to cultivate."

Dure had a good memory; he remembered almost everything he had said to Nono. He looked at Lance in astonishment, appearing quite surprised.

"Lance, you actually reached nine stars! Nono said that the higher you go, the more difficult it becomes to improve your star rating. Lance, you've done a really good job! It seems your training results this month have been amazing." If what Du Lei just said was just to comfort and encourage Lance...

What he was saying now was sincere admiration. You see, while Lance's talent was certainly good, it wasn't among the top tier. In fact, his talent was even worse than Kelly's. Yet, despite his lack of talent, he was still more impressive than some geniuses.

There is only one reason to bridge this gap: hard work. He trained intensely every day and achieved this through countless hours of hard work. Du Lei always believed that anyone who works hard, regardless of their level or degree, deserves admiration and respect.

"Hehe, so-so. By the way, Dure, you said you'd give you special training. Before the training, didn't you test what level you're at?" Lance asked with a smile.

“I’ve already tested it before.” Dure sighed when he mentioned this issue, looking somewhat dejected.

"What level?" Lance immediately pressed.

“Six stars,” Du Lei said weakly.

"Well, this is not bad. It's only two stars away from eight stars. With some special training, it should be able to reach the standard." Lance originally thought that Du Lei was only at the level of three or four stars, so it would indeed be difficult to train him. But now that he heard that he was eight stars, Lance breathed a sigh of relief.

"Unfortunately, my six-star is a low-tier six-star," Du Lei said with a wry smile.

270 Chickens pecking at each other

As for why the gap between him and Lance was widening, Dure knew very well that there were two reasons. First, he had neglected his training for the past month, focusing all his attention on alchemy and not engaging in any training related to magical energy, so he was far less proficient than Lance in using it.

The second reason is that his magic energy reserves are too low. In professional terms, this is called magic energy index units. Dure had measured this before, and his magic energy index units were only 8, while Lance's magic energy index units were 90, a difference of nearly ten times.

When the measurement was taken, Dure was with Lance. Lance thought there must be something wrong and didn't take it seriously. But now, a month later, the difference in the magic energy index units directly reflects the difference in the two's strength. Obviously, the test at that time was based on the true level.

Of the two reasons, the second one is the most important, but Dure couldn't find a good solution for the time being. The only thing he could do right now was to try through special training to see if he could increase his magic power index and expand his magic power reserves.

"It's all so complicated, with all this talk about magic energy reserves and magic energy index units. I don't understand it at all. But as long as it can help you, Du Lei, I'll definitely do my best." Lance scratched his head. He was never a theorist and always believed in solving problems with his fists.

“In that case, let’s begin. There’s no one at the training ground over there, let’s go there. But let me warn you first, don’t hold back, or you won’t be helping me, you’ll be setting me up.” Du Lei nodded and pointed to the empty training ground next to him.

He then reminded Lance that time was of the essence for him. If he couldn't raise his level rating to mid-eight stars within two days, his Maple Leaf Academy career would be completely over, something he absolutely did not want to see.

“Alright, I definitely won’t hold back, come on!” Lance walked onto the training field. He had always regarded Dure as his best friend, and now that his friend was in trouble, he, as a close friend, had to stand up for him without hesitation. However, the way he stood up for him was a bit unconventional: he beat up his friend.

Perhaps more than one meal.

The training ground is a place where you sweat profusely. You can often hear the whistling sound of fists being thrown and the screams of pain as each punch lands. The air is filled with the smell of sweat, which girls find repulsive. Usually, most of the students who come to the training ground are male.

Even when girls occasionally come to the training ground, most of them are there with the intention of "looking at the handsome young men." They will point at a male student who is having an advantage on the field, especially in a training area where the game is particularly intense, and occasionally cover their mouths and giggle.

The bolder ones would shout encouragement loudly, even calling out the names of others. The academy strictly forbids such behavior, but no matter how hard the academy tries to prevent it, the teenagers still keep trying, which is a major headache for the academy.

At this moment, two girls arrived at the training hall. The training hall had many training fields, some of which were crowded with people, making a lot of noise. It was clear that the people training here were the star students of the academy. Many girls were shouting loudly, their emotions were high and their enthusiasm was like fire.

However, the training ground on the other side was deserted. The reason for this was obvious: what was taking place here was not high-quality training, but just ordinary training. Originally, some people saw that there was a combat training session taking place here and came over to watch with great interest.

"Oh, look at that, isn't that Lance? He's the training maniac who's been quite famous at the gym lately. I see him almost every day. He's clearly a newbie with not much skill, but he keeps challenging older students. I heard that his record so far is more losses than wins."

"I've heard of him too. He's practically an unkillable cockroach. Who's his opponent? Why is he a complete stranger? I don't think I've seen him in the training field before. Is he a formidable opponent?" The older students watched the two people about to clash on the training field.

"I've never seen him before either. Just look at his moves and you'll know his strength. Look, Lance has made his move, and he actually got hit! Hey, even a three-year-old could dodge that kind of speed. And why isn't he using magic to enhance his defense?"

"What? I thought this would be some amazing training session, but the opponents are just this kind of trash. It's just a bunch of weaklings fighting each other. There's nothing to see here. Let's go." The older male students, who had initially been looking forward to it, lost interest and turned to leave.

After they left, the training ground was completely deserted. However, two girls happened to walk in and overheard what they were saying.

"Hey, you guys, who are you calling a noob? Du Lei is no noob at all, he's very good!" The tall girl was furious when she heard this and immediately scolded the other person. She usually had a very good temper, but she could be very irritable on certain issues.

"Forget it, Messiah, let's ignore them." Her companion pulled the girl named Messiah back. She gently shook her head. Although Messiah was somewhat unwilling, she gave up.

"Damn it, Kelly, why did you stop me? Those short-sighted guys actually said such outrageous things." Messiah was very angry. Although the group of male students had already gone far away, she was still upset about it. The two stopped on the steps above the training ground and kept a distance from each other.

"People can say whatever they want, so how can we control them? Even if you ask them to apologize, they won't change their minds. The only way to shut them up is to make them prove that what they said is wrong, but unfortunately, they can't prove it, at least not yet."