Chapter 248 - Impressing Instructor Alex!
"I did it!" Gale exclaimed. He had cleaned 53% impurities from one of the four ingredients! Gale felt happy. With such a result, he could finally face slap the smug face of instructor Alex, who was looking down on him and the other students while degrading them a week ago.
Many pairs of eyes turned towards Gale, and when they saw that he had succeeded, their eyes widened in shock. Just a week ago, he was failing miserably. And now, after a week, he improved by leaps and bound and mastered the first step of alchemy. What had he gone through in a single week to gain such an impressive improvement in his alchemy technique?
While Gale was self-indulging in his happiness, someone else also finished his task.
"I did it too, and I did it better than you. See how vibrant this flower is looking? It makes me believe that my ingredient probably only has 30% or so impurities left." Eric Ambrose chimed in from the sides.
The eyes of their temporary classmates widened like saucers!
What did they just hear?
Another person who was failing a week ago managed to succeed today?!
Were they hearing it right?!!
"I don't believe you did better than me," Gale said, not wanting to believe that the student council president who was better than him at management would also be better than him in alchemy and energy control.
"Believe it or not, the truth is that I am better than you, and the proof is right in front of our eyes." Eric flaunted his superior skills in front of the entire class.
"That's what you're saying." Even though his ingredient looked worse, Gale still didn't want to believe that he was better than him. One shouldn't judge books by their covers. What mattered was the content inside of it.
"Well, since you don't believe me, how about we ask Mr. Holmes to verify it?" Eric offered.
Vincent could tell that Eric said those words to place a trap out in the open. If it were him, he would simply ignore it, curb his arrogance, lower his pride, and not accept it.
However, Gale and the other nobles and royals in this classroom were prideful to an extreme level. If they weren't, they would have requested to change classes and study under another alchemy master. But they not only wanted the best of the best, but their pride also didn't allow them to take someone verbal besting lying down. That's why except for one person who left, they were still here, wanting to prove to instructor Alex that he was wrong and that they were worth getting taught by him!
"Alright, let's do it. It's not like I am afraid of seeing things through. Even if you're better than me, so what. I have apologized once, and I can do it again." Gale excluded a unique sense of shamelessness, making Vincent feel that Gale had gained an extra thick layer of skin after apologizing to him the previous week.
"Then, you better prepare for it," Salvador said.
"Even you are taking his side!"
Gale revealed a somewhat devastated expression. Salvador, who was his best friend, was taking someone else's side and not his. What did that mean? It meant that he got abandoned by his best friend, too, as he didn't believe in his ability.
Meanwhile, Salvador had a unique conflicted expression on his face. One was his best friend, but the other, his lord. When it comes to the taking side, he would always be beside his best friend. But since it was his lord standing on the other side, he couldn't help but betray his friend and take his lord's side. What else could Salvador even do? Eric was his lord, and he was so loyal to him that he would not mind giving his life to save Eric if a life-threatening situation ever arises. As he was devoted to him, he was bound to take his side in matters big or small.
They both went to Mr. Holmes, and he scanned both of their ingredients. As a result, he announced Eric as the winner. The crowd cheered for him, and Eric laughed with them. Gale felt embarrassed, remembering all the big words he had said, and he also felt his inferiority complex tingling his senses. Vincent patted him and said that he was still impressive for improving so much in such a short time and that later on, he could improve even more as long as he kept on trying. It was not the rabbit who won the race but the turtle. Gale cheered up, thinking that he would keep on trying to improve, and there would come a time where he would defeat Eric in at least alchemy.
"How this you guys improve so much, though? I clearly remember seeing you guys struggling with not destroying the ingredients, much less purifying them. What kind of crazy luck did you three come across?" Asked one of them.
Gale and Salvador let Eric speak since he was a fluent speaker, "Our improvement is all thanks to him. If it wasn't for him, I don't know how long it would have taken for us to reach such a level, but it definitely wouldn't have been less than a week."
Who was he praising?
Well, it was none other than Vincent!
Everyone knew that he was as good as the instructor himself when it came to purifying ingredients.
However, they were surprised to hear that he was also good at teaching others.
Immediately they crowded around him, asking for him to guide them. Some begged him; some offered to pay him a large sum of tuition fees; some praised him to the skies, hoping that he would favor them and teach them a thing or two, causing them to become extreme alchemy masters!
"If you guys want to learn it, follow Eric and come to the training ground today. I can promise to make you guys improve by leaps and bounds if you follow my training word to word." Vincent said.
"We're willing to follow you!"
Vincent's eyes twinkled in happiness. The second part of his plan was complete! And now, he just needed to give them the same training that he gave Eric, Salvador, and Gale to make them become proficient at the first step of alchemy!