Chapter 78

Writing smoothly, I didn't notice the time, and only realized I was hungry when it hit 7,000 words! Let's save this and comfort Ryan's little tummy!

"Little Miss, why are you being so naughty when you're fine? You made me miss the ending." Cook was so frustrated with Little Lei that he wanted to strangle her. Just as Cook was about to finish watching the examiner's process, this little one started being mischievous. You might not know how naughty a baby with the strength of a dragon can be. By the time Cook was frantically taking out something to comfort Little Lei, the examiner had already completed the final step. Cook really wanted to give Little Lei a good scolding, but he didn't dare. Once, Cook slapped Little Lei, and the little one thought Cook was playing, so she slapped back, sending Cook flying and causing a fracture. Cook was too embarrassed to say anything and had to heal himself. Cook didn't dare to pinch Little Lei, fearing she might pinch back.

There was no choice; Cook could only watch other students perform the alchemy. Cook activated the Magic Eye, his pupils slowly turning green. Fortunately, the light here was quite bright, and everyone was focused, so no one noticed the abnormality in Cook's eyes. Cook scanned the room and locked onto two students. One was about twenty years old, and the other was about thirty, making them relatively young among the students.

One was a woman at Experiment Table 3, wearing glasses. She wasn't very tall and had a bit of baby fat, but her chubby fingers were exceptionally agile. Whether it was weighing the potion ingredients or alchemy, she did it all with her chubby fingers without a hint of panic.

The other was a thin young man at Experiment Table 7, about thirty years old. Cook found this young man very steady, with no expression on his face. As for the others, Cook wasn't interested. Some were so nervous that they had to weigh the ingredients multiple times, and Cook directly ruled them out.

The processes at Experiment Tables 3 and 7 were almost identical, as they had started at roughly the same time.

"Ah!" However, when Table 3 added the Green Spot Fruit, Cook noticed that the potion in the flask should have been a pure red, but there was still some yellow magic fluctuation in the flask. This was because the Yellow Line Grass root hadn't completely dissolved. Cook knew that Table 3 had basically failed.

"Puff!" Indeed, a white smoke rose from Table 3's flask, clearly indicating a failed potion.

Cook ignored the dejected look on Table 3's face and turned his attention to Table 7. When Table 7 added the Green Spot Fruit, the potion in the flask did turn red, and the subsequent steps were the same. The final step was to add the Five-Flower Leaf, but the temperature had to be carefully controlled. Table 7 clearly knew this and reduced the temperature of the magic furnace significantly before adding the Five-Flower Leaf. However, Table 7 overlooked the fact that the temperature inside the flask didn't drop that quickly. The Five-Flower Leaf was successfully added, but Cook frowned.

Because the mentor's potion, under the Magic Eye, was a pure blue, but Table 7's potion was a dark blue. However, Cook saw Table 7's relaxed expression and the examiner's nod, indicating success. Table 7 filtered the potion and placed it on the table.

"Next... Uh!" The examiner, seeing that the last student at Table 7 had completed the potion, was about to end the session. But then he noticed that the student he had been watching had just started. The examiner couldn't help but utter a "Uh!"

"Since there are still students who haven't finished, let's wait. There are still four minutes left out of the ten minutes, which is enough time." The examiner smiled, but inwardly he was somewhat disdainful of Cook.

Cook, with the Magic Eye activated, began the alchemy. This was Cook's first time making a potion, so his movements were somewhat clumsy. Just opening the magic furnace took Cook a full twenty seconds, and he only found the mechanism after a reminder from the student at Table 6.

"Damn, the switch is at the bottom!" Cook muttered to himself while clumsily shaking the flask.

"Ha, do you think he's making a cocktail?" The student at Table 7, seeing Cook's flask bump into the magic furnace, whispered sarcastically. But in the quiet laboratory, this whisper carried far.

"You're the one making a cocktail!" Cook cursed inwardly, but he couldn't do anything about it. With one hand shaking the flask and the other ready to add the ingredients, Cook made a mistake and added the Yellow Line Grass root all at once.

"Ah, the Yellow Line Grass root should be added slowly to dissolve more easily." The mentor, unable to bear it, sighed and gave a hint.

"Damn, there's only one minute left." Cook looked at the mentor, and to his shock, there was only one minute left, with about ten more steps to go.

Cook was drenched in sweat, and the mentor had already given up on him. The other students looked at Cook with various expressions of disdain, contempt, and sympathy.

"Damn it, I'm going all out! Huh, huh, huh!" Cook was sweating profusely, but the Yellow Line Grass root was dissolving very slowly. Cook anxiously watched the flask on the magic furnace, and an idea popped into his head. He reached out and touched the switch on the magic furnace, and a flame burst out from the bottom.

"Uh! The higher the temperature, the harder it is to control the potion's reaction, and the higher the chance of failure." The examiner said in a flat voice, and the other students nodded in agreement.

But Cook was delighted because the higher temperature in the magic furnace made the Yellow Line Grass root dissolve quickly. Soon, the flask was mostly red with only a hint of yellow. Cook quickly added the Green Spot Fruit and shook the flask vigorously. Due to the high temperature, the potion solution turned red just as the Green Spot Fruit fell in. Because of the high temperature, Cook had to shake the flask even harder.

"Ten seconds left, the final step." Cook was in a panic, with crystal vessels scattered all over the table. The other students had already put their vessels back in place. The examiner, seeing Cook's messy table, shook his head. Despite only ten seconds left, the examiner didn't stop Cook because he only had one step left: adding the Five-Flower Leaf.

"What to do, the temperature is too high, and the potion color is too intense." Even though Cook had moved the flask away from the flame, the potion, being a solution, didn't cool down quickly.

"Ah! Everyone... Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!" The examiner, seeing Cook hold the flask for about ten seconds, thought Cook had stopped. But just as he said a few words, a sizzling sound came from the flask. The examiner looked and saw that Cook had put the bottom of the flask into the water sink next to the experiment table.

"Done!" Cook, using the Magic Eye, saw that the color in the flask had returned to normal and immediately added the Five-Flower Leaf powder.

"Bad!" But Cook's reaction was a bit slow, and the temperature was too low, so the Five-Flower Leaf didn't dissolve completely.

"Everyone, put...!" The examiner was already announcing the end of the exam.

"Going all out!" Cook turned on the magic furnace again, and a blue flame burst out. He placed the flask over the flame, shook it a few times, and then started filtering without further attention to the magic furnace.

"Bring the potions you've made, and I will test them in front of everyone." The examiner had already given up on Cook and was watching him add heat to the potion after it was successful, his lips twitching in shock.

Cook was frantically filtering the potion, while the others were already lining up, each holding their potion. Many looked dejected, clearly knowing they had failed. The colors of the potions varied: blue, red, and even black.

The examiner took out eight test tubes and a crystal bottle and said, "This is the poison that needs to be neutralized. I will put it into the eight test tubes. If the poison solution in the test tubes turns clear, you will pass this exam."

"Clap!" Cook turned off the magic furnace and picked up the filtered potion. The potion was only about 10 grams, and Cook picked up Little Lei, who had gouged a piece out of the experiment table, and hurriedly joined the line.

"25, failed!" The examiner, seeing the black potion from Student 1, wanted to declare failure immediately but had to follow the procedure.

"26, failed!"

"27, failed!"

"28, failed!"

"29, failed!"

"30, failed!"

"31, passed, but the potion quality is poor!"

"32, uh! Passed! Potion quality is good! Congratulations, Student 32." The examiner skillfully dripped the potions from the labeled bottles into the test tubes and announced the results. Each announcement made the corresponding student dejected, except for Student 31, who was at Table 7 and was smug despite the poor quality. But the examiner's next words stunned him.

"Thank you, Examiner!" Cook quickly bowed.

"Uh! It's you!" The examiner finally noticed Cook, surprised, and then looked at Cook's experiment table, which was at Table 8.

"It's me!" Cook answered, puzzled.

"Alright, the rest can leave, but Student 32, stay!" The examiner instructed, and an assistant quickly came to clean the experiment tables, while others guided the students to leave.

"Cheating! He cheated, there's a conspiracy, I succeeded, why wasn't I chosen? That guy, he's a mess, and he's considered successful, he doesn't even know the basics of alchemy, there's a conspiracy, I protest, protest!" Student 31, realizing what was happening, broke free from the assistant and shouted at the examiner.

"Clap! What are you? Cheating? I'll tell you, there are at least ten staff members in this lab, and there's a magical image record. Protest? Protest what! Mentor, what should we do?" The young man who had led Cook and others in shouted and slapped Student 31, who fell to the ground. The young man then bowed to the examiner for instructions.

"Let him go, I don't want to see him again. Blaming others for his failure, such a person doesn't deserve to attend my classes!" The examiner waved his hand in disappointment.

"You, you, do you know who recommended me? Our family... Bang!" Student 31 shouted, but the young man kicked him to the door, which was at least 30 meters away.

"Family! What good is a family!" The young man kicked and cursed.

"Alright, you can leave too. With that fiery temper, you're learning alchemy?" The examiner frowned at the situation.

"Yes, Mentor!" The young man waved for the staff to continue their work.

"By the way, I don't want to see anyone from Student 31's family on my client list for potions." The examiner said as the young man left.

"Ha! Thank you, Mentor!" The young man jumped up, thanked the examiner, and ran off.

At this moment, the examiner noticed that Cook was still standing there and muttered, "Zagot, this guy hasn't made much progress in alchemy, but he's good at management. Student 32, show me your student ID."

"Uh!" Cook hesitated and handed over his student ID.

"Hmm! Wood affinity, this doesn't hinder alchemy. A new student from three days ago? Damn! You're a Hunter?" The examiner put Cook's ID into a device and saw his detailed information.

Cook scratched his head and explained, "I'm a rabbit person with the Beast Tongue talent, so I thought the Hunter profession would be more suitable."

"Bullshit! This talent is perfect for alchemy. The guild idiots buried such a good talent. Kid, are you willing to switch to alchemy as your major?" The examiner stood up, cursed, and then forced a smile.

Cook was stunned by the smile, but if other mentors were here, they would be equally stunned. This mentor was known as a madman, and such a smile had never appeared on his face. Cook weakly replied, "Mentor, I don't quite understand."

"Idiot, Beast Tongue allows you to communicate with beasts. You might not know, but humans' understanding of magical plants and various herbs is far inferior to that of beasts, especially for mid-to-low-level herbs, which are not magical plants. So, the properties and effects of herbs can only be explored through trial and error. But with Beast Tongue, the situation is different. The wild is the home of beasts, and no one knows the wild better than beasts. When a new potion is invented, it must be tested, and using beasts for testing is inevitable. But we can only infer the effects of the potion from the beasts' actions, emotions, and reactions. With Beast Tongue, we can understand it clearly and accurately." The examiner explained at length.

Cook scratched his head and replied, "I plan to make alchemy a secondary profession, with Hunter as my primary profession because I have someone to protect."

"Someone to protect? Fine, you don't understand the power of an alchemist yet. When you do, come back and tell me. Cook, tell me, what was your performance today?" The examiner asked, with a serious expression.

Cook blushed and replied, "Today was my first time making a potion. I didn't see the process clearly, so I had to watch others first..."

"Bang! First, first, first time making a potion?" The examiner's hand dropped the object, which shattered on the ground. He grabbed Cook's wrist and stammered.

"Yes!" Cook quickly stopped Little Lei, knowing that only those who frequently interacted with her wouldn't be abused by her. Others would definitely be broken by her chubby hands, and that was the least of it. Fortunately, Little Lei had nothing in her hands at the moment, or the examiner might have been hit from a distance.

"Alright! Kid, are you willing to try again? I'll demonstrate twice!" The examiner took a deep breath and asked.

"But Little Lei needs to eat, or she'll get upset." Cook weakly protested.

"Zagot, get some food for this little girl." The examiner immediately called out.

"Sure, I'll prepare it right away! Milk or honey porridge?" Zagot smiled at Cook, who hadn't seen him appear.

"Get a roasted lamb, cream-flavored, and ten pounds of fresh milk, five pounds of eggs, that's enough." Cook looked at Little Lei and said.

"Cream-flavored roasted lamb?" Zagot looked at Cook, thinking he was a giant, but seeing Cook's small frame, he was even more confused by the cream-flavored lamb.

"It's...!" Cook quickly explained, as Little Lei would not just cry if she ate spicy food; she would also generate electricity.

"Go! So much talk, don't come back if you can't do it." The examiner waved impatiently.

"Yes!" Zagot laughed bitterly and left.

Zagot left through another passage. Outside the lab, the dozens of students waiting for the exam were anxious. One student had just been dragged out and taken away by the enforcement department for assaulting a mentor and defaming the Mage Guild. Everyone knew this student and his family were finished. In the Magic City, you could defame the Church of Light, but defaming the Mage Guild was a death sentence.

"Is the examiner seriously injured?"

"No, if he were, we would have been dismissed."

Some speculated, some answered, and Duntkos was anxious. Despite the chaos, Duntkos hadn't seen Cook come out. Knowing Cook's low rank, Duntkos was worried about his safety in the incident. But Duntkos couldn't do anything; the lab was a closed area, and no one dared to force their way in.

"Damn it!" Duntkos stomped his feet in frustration but didn't dare to act rashly. He had no choice but to wait.

Inside the lab, Zagot was stunned. He had spent an hour preparing the food, but it wasn't for Cook; it was for the little girl. Zagot watched as Little Lei tore the leg of the roasted lamb with her bare hands, making his eyes widen. The leg of a lamb is tough, and even an adult might struggle to tear it.

"Crunch! Crunch!" The roasted lamb was gone in less than ten minutes. Little Lei ate the entire lamb except for the skull, spine, and thigh bones. She then drank ten pounds of milk and ate countless eggs, but she still cried.

"Sorry, I forgot. Little Lei needs to drink fruit juice. Please." Cook, shaking the flask, heard Little Lei crying and quickly explained to Zagot.

"Go! Hurry up!" The examiner, seeing Cook distracted, shouted at Zagot.

"I'll go right away!" Zagot ran out, feeling like he was in a dream. How could a little girl have such a big appetite?

Cook finally handed the filtered potion to the examiner, his heart pounding. The examiner had demonstrated five times, succeeding only twice, but this was good because the potion had over thirty ingredients and more than forty steps. With the Magic Eye, Cook could see the magical fluctuations clearly, making the process straightforward, especially after watching five times.

"Good quality!" The examiner, after some fiddling, exclaimed, looking at Cook as if he were a monster. This was one of the most difficult low-level potions to make: the Secondary Invisibility Potion.

"Examiner, can I leave now?" Cook checked the time; he had been in here for almost two hours, and Micky was waiting for lunch.

"Leave? No! No! Why would you want to leave?" The examiner answered subconsciously.

"Examiner, someone is waiting for me to have lunch." Cook shrugged.

"You, you, you, fine, you're accepted. You will be my... my personal assistant." The examiner had wanted to take Cook as a disciple but thought it was too soon, as he didn't know Cook's character and needed to understand everything about him. So, he changed his mind and made Cook his personal assistant.

Cook was stunned and weakly asked, "Examiner, aren't you afraid of retaliation?"

"Retaliation