Alivia

At the Academy entrance.

Ian noticed many slight figures in gray robes coming and going through the gate, and understanding dawned on him.

"It's been two years already. Another batch of new students has stepped into the world of wizards."

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Watching the apprentices, their eyes full of hope and youthful vigor, Ian silently wished them well.

"I wonder how many of this batch will manage to stay."

After entering, Ian went to the notice board in the teaching district and carefully browsed the information posted there.

After yesterday's lesson, he had deeply felt how shallow his knowledge of Potion Studies was, so he had come back here again.

The board listed Potion Studies instructors who would be teaching in the near future.

[Edgar Peyton, Potion Studies Instructor, class time: 10 a.m., taught in Classroom 5, Area XXX... Fee: 3 magic stones]

[Everett Sinclair, Basic Potion Studies Instructor, class time: 9 a.m... Junior Scholars welcome... Fee: 1 magic stone]

[Alivia Starwhisper, Senior Potion Studies Instructor, class time: 8 a.m., taught in Classroom 1, Potion Studies Area 2. Fee: 5 magic stones]

Ian's gaze paused. Looking at the information at the bottom, he recalled what Malena had said on the day he applied for the job.

"Alivia? Isn't she the true owner of my Magic Potion Shop?"

Checking the time, he saw that he could still make it to class. He looked toward the table beside the notice board, behind which sat the Course Registrar.

"Hello, I'd like to enroll in Instructor Alivia's class. Here is the fee."

"Why didn't you register earlier? People usually sign up in advance. You're lucky, kid—there happens to be one spot left today."

After paying the fee, Ian took a wooden entry token and hurried toward the classroom.

After showing the token and entering the room, he found that dozens of seats were already filled, almost all of them occupied by Advanced Apprentices in red robes.

Ian had arrived rather late, so he could only sit near the side in the last row.

"Hello. You're an Intermediate Apprentice too, right? Why did you choose Instructor Alivia's class?"

A young, plump man beside him turned around and greeted Ian.

"Oh, right. My name is Kanon. What's yours?"

Ian saw that the other man was also wearing a gray robe, making the two of them rather conspicuous here.

"Hello, I'm Ian. Is there something special about Instructor Alivia that you mentioned just now?"

Kanon seemed fairly outgoing and enthusiastically began explaining.

"Instructor Alivia's lessons are quite profound. The apprentices who come here already have a basic grasp of Potion Studies. Didn't you see the notice board in the square?"

"Then have you gotten started?" Ian looked at Kanon. The other man was young as well, probably around Ian's age.

"Not long ago, I was lucky enough to successfully brew a potion, so I suppose I've barely gotten started."

There was some pride on the plump Kanon's face. After all, Intermediate Apprentice Potion Masters were not common even in the High Tower.

"I also happened to brew a Lesser Healing Potion a few days ago. I felt my knowledge was too shallow, so I came to broaden my horizons."

The Lesser Healing Potion did not count as a true magical potion. It could only slightly treat minor injuries, and the original owner of this body had known how to brew it before Ian's transmigration.

"That still means you have some talent. Work hard, and perhaps you can become a Potion Master too."

Though the plump man's true thoughts were unknown, at least his tone was full of encouragement.

As the two chatted, the sound of footsteps—tap, tap—came from outside.

A woman in a deep green robe gracefully entered the classroom and stood in the center of the lectern.

She set down her teaching tools and lightly tapped the desk with her fair knuckles.

"Quiet!"

Her voice was not loud, yet it was like an invisible gust of wind that suppressed the apprentices' buzzing chatter.

"I am Alivia. Many of you are hearing my class for the first time. I know you paid no small amount in tuition, and you did not come here to learn the simple trick of tossing magical ingredients into a cauldron."

Ian noticed that two pointed ear tips faintly protruded from her pale golden hair.

He did not dare stare for long. A Formal Wizard's mental senses were extremely keen, and he did not wish to offend her.

"Remember this: the essence of Potion Studies does not lie in the magical potion itself."

She bent down and pinched a leaf of Starlight Grass between her fingers. With a light twist, a pale blue glow seeped through the gaps between her fingers and fell against the cauldron wall, stirring up a layer of faint silver patterns.

"The compounding of magical potions is not a simple conversion between substances."

She raised her hand and drew a pale blue magical pattern in the air. The rune flickered briefly before sinking into the Starlight Grass.

The leaf instantly brightened, then swiftly dimmed, returning to its original appearance.

"At its root, it is energy resonance and directional conversion. In theory, all Magic Power can be converted into one another.

A male student in a red robe at the front suddenly raised his hand, his voice a little nervous.

"Teacher, I tried mixing Starlight Grass with Redfire Feather before... and the cauldron exploded. My eyebrows even caught fire. Does that count as a kind of resonance too?"

The classroom burst into laughter, but Alivia did not laugh. She merely nodded.

"Good question, but you are an idiot. That was merely disorderly resonance."

Alivia turned around and wrote two terms on the blackboard with charcoal—Harmonious Resonance and Heterogeneous Integration.

"The energy of Starlight Grass is gentle, while Redfire Feather possesses a blazing nature. Their frequencies naturally clash, like locking two wild beasts together. There is no need to explain the result."

She paused, her gaze falling on the apprentice who had just asked the question.

"When you reach a higher realm, you will gain the ability to fuse the two. Even water and fire energy can be converted into each other. That is the charm of directional conversion."

At the back of the classroom, an apprentice with glasses stood and asked a question.

"Teacher, then what is the relationship between magical potions and our meditation? I heard that drinking a Concentration Potion can double meditation efficiency. Is that true? And what is the principle behind it?"

"Of course it is true, but it is not the magical potion that helps you."

Alivia produced a dark blue potion from nowhere. It was precisely the Concentration Potion coveted by Advanced Apprentices.

"When you meditate, the Mental Power in your mind is like a tangle of scattered threads. The gentle magical energy in the potion is like a comb, capable of effectively smoothing out chaotic Mental Power."

After saying that, she placed the potion on the table, drawing the attention of many red-robed apprentices.

"The direction you must take at the beginning is to continuously use your Mental Power to resonate with the Magic Power within magical ingredients, familiarize yourselves with their frequencies, and then find methods to extract and convert them..."

The room fell silent, with only the soft scratching of pen tips across paper.

As Alivia slowly explained Potion Studies from a higher-level perspective, Ian listened with complete fascination.

Many things he had previously failed to understand suddenly became clear.

Although there were still some concepts he had not fully grasped, she had already pointed him in the right direction. He was no longer like a headless fly.

Kanon beside him was somewhat talented as well. He listened with great focus, occasionally showing a thoughtful expression or lowering his head to take notes.

Time passed quickly, and the lesson soon reached its end.

"Lastly, let me emphasize this once more. A Potion Master is not a cook. You do not simply throw ingredients into a cauldron according to a formula and call it finished. You need to listen to the voice of every magical ingredient, uncover its characteristics, and then master it."

After Alivia finished speaking, she put away the Concentration Potion and walked out of the classroom.

The classroom immediately erupted into commotion. Some hurried to copy down notes, while others gathered together to discuss the lesson.

Just as Ian was about to stand and leave, he spotted a somewhat familiar gray-robed figure in the corner, discussing something with nearby apprentices.

"Allen!"

A nostalgic look appeared in Ian's eyes. Allen came from the same kingdom as him, but unlike Ian, Allen possessed superior talent.

After entering the Academy, the two had hardly interacted. Their brief friendship on the road to the High Tower had faded amid the tense life of an apprentice.