The most shameless alchemist in history

There's no such thing as a white light appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the night, especially not from such a tricky angle as to the window. What flashed in was a knife, its blade gleaming with sharp, cold light. Flying Fish, who had been waiting outside, rushed in at the last second.

It was thanks to his timely parry that he blocked the fatal blow for Du Lei; otherwise, he would never have survived the attack by the man in black unscathed.

"You are... Flying Fish, the patrol...?" Kabu, who was already quite startled by Du Lei's sudden jump, swallowed hard when he saw Flying Fish barging in. He had heard about Flying Fish and knew that he was a very powerful and ruthless character in the academy.

Moreover, to some extent, Flying Fish is still his idol. Of course, he has never been face to face with Flying Fish before, and he can even strike up a conversation with him. This made Kabu feel very nervous, and he was completely confused about his current situation and what he had done.

"Damn it, it's that meddlesome guy again... It's hard to accept, but... I've been defeated again. There's no other way but to retreat for now. You... the next time we meet will definitely be your death day!" The man in black was resentful at being blocked by the flying fish.

This wasn't the first time he'd faced Flying Fish. The time he attacked Dure was when Flying Fish led a group to hunt him down. At that time, he had a certain understanding of Flying Fish and knew that he was a very difficult opponent. After weighing the pros and cons, he decisively abandoned the assassination attempt and retreated.

"Hey, you got away last time. If you run away again this time, I'll lose face... Cough cough, did this guy really escape? He's so-so when he fights, but his running away skills are top-notch." Flying Fish didn't want him to escape so easily.

He was about to give chase when, with a loud bang, a cloud of smoke quickly spread out, obscuring Flying Fish's vision. Sensing something was wrong, he rushed toward the exit, relying on his memory, and tried to grab the man in black through the smoke.

But after he rushed out of the smoke, he saw that it was pitch black all around, shrouded in the vast night, and there was no one in sight.

"Cough cough, what's going on here? Why is there so much smoke? Could it be a fire? Oh no, is Dure okay? Dure, Kabu..." Lance, who had just gone to the toilet, came out of the toilet and saw thick smoke in this area, which scared him quite a bit.

He rushed over immediately, worried about Dure and Kabu's condition, fearing they might be trapped in the fire and suffocated by the thick smoke.

"Are you both alright? The smoke... has cleared up? Wasn't there a fire? But what exactly happened? And... Dure, you actually woke up? When did this happen?" Lance breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Dure and Kabu were both safe and sound.

Seeing Dure standing perfectly fine filled Lance with immense joy, especially considering that just a few minutes ago Dure had been lying unconscious in bed.

"Of course I'm fine, I've been sober for a while now." Du Lei shook his head to indicate that he was alright, and then swung his arm nimbly.

"You're still sleeping? That's really worrying, you rascal." Lance grinned and punched Dure on the shoulder.

"We'll talk about that later. I'm fine, but some people are, and it's not a small matter." Dure didn't stand on ceremony with Lance. He walked straight toward a certain person who was fully awake but still lying in bed pretending to be asleep. Of course, it couldn't be a mischievous prank.

"Huh? Someone? Who is it?" Lance had no idea what Dure was talking about, but he saw Dure stop in front of Kabu.

“Of course it’s your kind friend.” Dure pointed at Kabu, his attitude indifferent, while the latter was stunned at first, then suddenly began to tremble.

"Um... Du Lei, this... this is all a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding." Kabu is not Lance. Lance was confused about the situation, but Kabu, as the person involved, knew it perfectly well. Even if he wanted to keep up the act, Du Lei's eyes were enough to make him tremble with fear.

"What misunderstanding? What's wrong with you two? At least explain the situation to me." Lance was completely in the dark. He had only been gone for a few minutes, but judging from the scene, it seemed that something terrible had happened.

"What? I was wondering how this guy managed to sneak in. So he's your 'friend'." Just then, someone else walked in from outside. It was Nono, who had spoken to Lance and left the infirmary not long ago. She also looked coldly at Kabu, who had been forced back by Dure.

"Huh? Teacher Nono... Kabu, what's wrong with you? And Senior Flying Fish, what's wrong with you two..." Even though Lance was slow to react, he could tell that everything that happened here was related to Kabu, and he was puzzled as to what Kabu had done.

“Teacher Nono, Senior Flying Fish, Du Lei, I was deceived and used. They said… they said… they just wanted to ask you about something, and asked me to do them a small favor. I’m always happy to help others, as you know, Lance…”

Kabu was blocked from all escape routes by Du Lei, Nono, and Feiyu, and all three of them had frosty faces and looked murderous.

"Lance, please plead for me! I'm a victim too! I didn't mean to hurt Dure!" Seeing that Dure and the other two didn't react, and then seeing Lance looking thoughtful, Kabu seemed to have grasped a lifeline and began to plead with Lance for help.

“Harm Dure…and the voice just now…Right, the last time Dure was attacked, it was when you came to me with all that nonsense, Kabu, was that you? You actually conspired with someone to harm Dure?” Lance may not be good at thinking, but he’s not really stupid.

He connected the dots from what had happened before and immediately came to a conclusion that surprised him. He turned around and loudly questioned Kabu.

"Stop acting here. Whether you're innocent or not, come with me and you'll find out. Take him away." Flying Fish had no patience to listen to Kabu's nonsense. He waved his hand, and two male students in uniforms entered from outside. They grabbed Kabu's arms, and the latter no longer had the strength to stand.

"Lance, you have to believe me, we're friends, you have to help me, Lance..." Kabu was dragged away by the two students, and he didn't forget to shout for help to Lance, but Lance stood there with his fists clenched and didn't say anything until he could no longer see Lance.

“I never expected Kabu to… Dure, I’m so sorry, it was all my negligence that put you in danger, it’s all my fault!” Lance gritted his teeth, his right nails digging into his flesh, clearly indicating that he would not plead for Kabu after understanding the whole story.

On the contrary, he was ashamed that he had brought Kabu here and almost caused Dure's accident.

"Alright, I'm fine now, don't blame yourself. Besides, if it weren't for your help, I probably would have been lying in the rubble and wouldn't have made it out." Dure walked over, grabbed Lance's arm, shook his head, and comforted Lance gently.

.

291 That's really something.

The past night was a close call for Dure, but the real danger was the reappearance of the man in black who had attacked him before. Moreover, he had colluded with Kabu from the academy, who provided him with intelligence. They took advantage of the moment when Lance was sent away to attack Dure, intending to kill him in one blow.

However, Du Lei had anticipated this would happen and had made preparations in advance. Although he was unconscious the whole time and did not communicate with Nuonuo, when Nuonuo came to visit him, he quietly grabbed Nuonuo's hand and wrote words in her palm.

Nono was incredibly intelligent, and she immediately understood that Du Lei was still brooding over the previous attack. He had suspected Kabu before, but he had no evidence and he didn't want to live in fear at the academy, so he decided to lure him out.

So Nono found Flying Fish again. They deliberately left Lance alone in the infirmary to take care of Dure, making Kabu and the men in black think they had an opportunity. They caught Kabu red-handed. Although it was regrettable that the men in black escaped again, at least they had Kabu as a breakthrough.

"What? So you all planned this last night? Why didn't you tell me? I was so worried when I saw you unconscious and then you were attacked." Lance complained after learning about the whole plan from Dure. He had been kept in the dark the whole time.

"Durei just doesn't want his plan to be leaked and alert Kabu. Besides, isn't Kabu your good friend? If you were told that your good friend wants to get back at another good friend of yours, how conflicted would you be?" Nono teased Lance from the side.

"What good friend? I've only met Kabu a few times at the training ground and exchanged a few words. I'm not that familiar with him. He's just being too enthusiastic, making it seem like we're very close." Lance hurriedly waved his hand, trying his best to distance himself from Kabu.

"Aren't you familiar with him? If you're not familiar with him, why would you let him be alone with someone who's unconscious? Your best friend would be heartbroken if he heard you say these things." Nono continued to poke at Lance's sore spot; she was the typical type of person who built her happiness on the suffering of others.

"I already said we're not good friends anymore, and I promise I'll never let this happen again, Dure, you have to believe me!" Lance was embarrassed by Nono's repeated attempts to reopen old wounds. He knew he couldn't argue with Nono, so he could only turn to Dure and make a promise.

"Alright, Nono, stop talking about Lance. It's not really his fault, and I'm perfectly fine, aren't I? By the way, how's Kabu?" Lance wasn't as aggressive as Nono; he changed the subject and asked about Kabu.

Kabu was taken away by Flying Fish last night. Although Kabu is also a member of Maple Leaf Academy and comes from a good family, colluding with people outside the academy to attack students is too heinous. The academy cannot tolerate it and conducted a surprise interrogation of Kabu overnight.

“You…you two…” Lance’s mind was not on Kabu; he looked at Dure and Nono in surprise.

"What's wrong with the two of us? You look like you want to get beaten up, don't you?" Nono looked at Lance with a suspicious gaze.

"No, it's nothing, hahaha, you guys continue, continue." Lance quickly waved his hand, and he chuckled twice to cover up his embarrassment.

"What a suspicious guy. I really don't know what that barren brain of yours is thinking all day long." Nono's opinion of Lance was never high.

"Alright, let's talk about Kabu." Dure and Lance spent a lot of time together, so he wasn't surprised by Lance's reaction at all.

“Right, right, let’s get down to business… Hehe, as expected of Dure, the relationship has progressed by leaps and bounds. Before, it was ‘Teacher Nono,’ and now it’s ‘Nono.’ You really have a knack for this.” Lance deliberately slowed down, letting Nono and Dure walk side by side in front of him.

The sight of a boy and a girl walking and talking together in the morning light is an extremely beautiful scene.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the academy, someone was heading towards the west square. He was not tall, only about 1.65 meters, and very thin. He was walking alone with his head down. But even though he looked so frail, passersby avoided him.

"Look over there, isn't that guy... isn't that Sterling, the new student?" someone whispered, pointing at the boy from afar.

"Sterling? Who's that? Is a mere newcomer worth all this fuss about?" The boy was puzzled by his companion's reaction.

"You don't even know Sterling? He's the most outstanding freshman this year. He's only been here a month and he's already challenged more than a dozen upperclassmen." The male student who knew Sterling shook his head. He had been paying close attention to Sterling's every move these days.

"Isn't it always been the case that lower-grade students challenge higher-grade students? It's almost become a tradition at Maple Leaf Academy. What's so special about it?" His companion scoffed at this. In his eyes, Sterling was ordinary, neither imposing nor fierce, and didn't look like a tough guy at all.

"But do you know who he challenged? Kerr, Lennon, Maley..." the boy listed a few names.

"What? These people are all well-known figures in the academy. For a newcomer to challenge them is just asking for death, isn't it? No, Kerr and the others wouldn't even give him a second thought. They could easily send out one of their underlings to give him a good beating." His companion remained indifferent.

"No, that's not right. They were all taken down by this Sterling." The boy shook his head and revealed the truth.

"He was defeated? By this newcomer? How is that possible? Kerr is a mid-level nine-star magic user, only one step away from the high-level!" His companion was filled with disbelief; this was too incredible for him to comprehend.

“That’s right, he was definitely knocked down, and… it only took two minutes.” The boy said something even more unbelievable.

"He defeated Kerr in just two minutes, so he must be... a high-level magic user? He's only been enrolled for a month and he's already reached the high-level level, this is just too crazy!" The boy's companion was shocked.

"High-level? Speaking of which, the new recruits' level assessment is this afternoon, and I heard that there will be more than one high-level recruit this time," the boy exclaimed.

"More than one? Are all the new recruits monsters?" The boy's companion glanced at Sterling again, trying to get a good look at what Sterling looked like.

But by the time he tried to take a closer look, Sterling had already walked away, leaving him with only his back view.

.

292. Poor memory

The area near the west plaza of Maple Leaf Academy was already crowded with people early on. Some of these people were there to participate in the ranking assessment, while others were upperclassmen who didn't need to participate. It seemed to have become a tradition at Maple Leaf Academy to come and watch the new students' ranking assessment every year.

They observed the new students who were entering and preparing with great interest, just as the senior students who had graduated had observed them before. This feeling of being observed made the new students very uncomfortable. At this moment, there were only a few minutes left before the official start of the level assessment.

"I heard that several remarkable figures have emerged from this year's new recruits. There's Sterling, Keita, Roland, and Bailing. All four of them are said to have reached high-level strength, which is truly astonishing," someone said with a smile.

The person who spoke was a boy who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. He wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses and looked very polite. Beside him were three men and one woman. One of the men was burly and strong, like a real-life gorilla, while the other had a more well-proportioned figure.

However, his broom-like hair hanging on his forehead and his specially dyed yellow hair made him look somewhat frivolous, and he looked like a delinquent. As for the third one, who was standing in the middle of the three, he was a handsome young man who looked very aristocratic.

"One, two, three, four... Wait, that's not right, there are only four. I remember there were five new recruits with red magic energy reactions during the magic energy reaction test, right? Where's the last one?" The gorilla among the five counted on his fingers, scratched his head, and pointed out the problem.

"Huh? Only four? Locke, you must have miscounted. There are definitely five, how could there be four?" The blond guy in the five-man team yawned, looking like he hadn't woken up yet. He counted on his fingers, just like the gorilla named Locke had done, but he counted five.

"What? Did I miscount again? Let me count again. Sterling, Keita, Roland, Bailing... Hugh, there are four, that's right. Where is the extra one?" Locke counted again carefully from the beginning, but the result was still four.

"So your size and your brain are inversely proportional, huh? There are clearly five, but you insist on saying there are four. Let me count for you: Sterling is one, Keita is two, Roland is four, and Bailing is five. Aren't there five?" The blond-haired Hugh was counting on his fingers in front of Locke again.

"There really are five. What's going on? Has my memory been failing me lately? How come I can't even count properly?" Locke believed it. He scratched his head, extremely frustrated. For him, not being able to count such a simple number was a very serious matter.

“It’s alright, Locke, don’t worry. Memory loss is a common problem, it’s just a sign of aging. I know someone who used to be in a similar situation, and then he…” Hugh patted Locke on the shoulder, looking quite knowing as he spoke.

"What happened to him after that?" Locke was very concerned about his declining memory and asked earnestly.

"He passed away peacefully without any pain. He even appeared in my dream a few days ago," Hugh said solemnly.

"He passed away peacefully... Is he dead? No, I don't want to end up like that, what should I do, what should I do?" Locke carefully pondered Hugh's words, and after he understood what Hugh meant, he became extremely frantic, clutching his head and almost bursting into tears.

"Hughie, stop joking with Locke. Locke takes things too seriously. Locke, Hughie was just kidding. There are only four of them, not five." The youngest man among the five smiled and told Locke directly that it was just a prank.

"Huh? It's fake, not real? Yang, are you sure you're not joking with me?" Locke was a little confused.

"Tch, you've already said it so early, it's no fun at all. Yang, you're such a busybody." Hugh spat, clearly displeased with Yang's exposure, and crossed his arms, turning his head away.

"So it was just a prank? It really scared me to death. I really thought my memory had deteriorated so badly that I couldn't even count properly anymore." Locke finally breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Hugh was the one lying between Hugh and Yang.

"Hughie, you're really something, always playing tricks on Locke. Locke, you never learn, you've been fooled by Hughie all the time... Let me count, this is the 382nd time, including today, and you still fall for his tricks." The boy with glasses said with a smile, his smile was very gentle.

"What? More than three hundred times? That many? Ross, you didn't miscount, did you?" Even the usually composed Hughie was a little flustered; he was startled by the number.

“Of course, I’ve kept a record of every time you’ve teased Locke, and today’s is no exception.” The boy named Ross was writing earnestly in his notebook.

"Hey Ross, how could you do something so pointless? What's the point of doing this? Let me see it, give it to me." Hugh made a move to snatch the notebook from Ross's hand, but Ross spun around in place, causing Hugh to miss.

“This is not a boring thing at all. Recording what happens every day and looking back on it years later, isn’t that interesting? People always forget many things quietly, but if you write them all down in a notebook, you won’t forget them. Mission accomplished!” Ross put away his pen.

"Ross, you're really dedicated. You carry paper and pen with you wherever you go and record what happens every day. You've kept this habit for a long time, haven't you?" Young marveled at this. He admired Ross for this as well, because he admitted that he couldn't be so persistent and serious.

"This is a habit I've had since I was little. Of course, I'll also remember today's ranking assessment." Ross smiled gently.

"Give it to me now!" Hughie tried to snatch it from him again, this time with a fierce expression.

But as it turned out, Ross easily dodged it again.

"Locke, Hughie always teases you, aren't you angry?" the only woman among the five asked softly.

"Angry? Why would I be angry? We're friends, and friends shouldn't get angry with each other." Locke scratched his head and gave a negative answer.

“You really are an idiot.” The girl sighed, but Locke only responded with a chuckle.