"Took you long enough Atian," as soon as Michael and Atian came to a table containing apparatus setup and many alchemy ingredients, a cheery voice resounded in the hall.

Following the voice, everyone, including Michael turned around to see a tall old man with full long white hair and a beard strolling towards them. His golden robes swept the floor beneath him as he approached Atian and Michael with a wide grin on his lively face.

"Ghost, this is the deputy chairman of the guild, Alred Sterling" Ativan introduced the old man to Ghost,

Michael moved his eyes slightly to see Jennifer standing instead of sitting on the couch.

"Deputy Chairman Alred" Michael shook his hands while some of the ignorant youngsters not knowing the number one alchemist in the Elon and Ozer gawked at Michael bewildered. One of those who had no idea about Michael was Jennifer.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ghost,"

Michael's words caused a quiet commotion among the youngsters. Even Jennifer raised her brows. Then, instead of standing still, she slowly walked toward Michael but not close enough to get the grandmasters' attention.

"Likewise, Deputy Chairman Alred"

"Grandmaster Alred would do just fine," Alred shook Michael's hands with a smile,

Then, their focus turned to the table behind Michael.

"Everyone, please gather around us" Ativan waved at the youngsters. Then, in a few blinks of an eye, all the youngsters and their guards formed a circle around the table.

Michael guessed what was about to happen and snickered inside looking at the unfairness. So the rich and powerful would get an opportunity to see him refine pills and potions closely while the rest wait in line outside. This was so unfair.

Still, Michael didn't utter anything. Compared to the unfairness, the badass points he was about to receive alleviated his mood.

"Has Grandmaster Atian explained why we are doing this Ghost?" asked Alred as Michael nodded,

"Although it's a rule, we put together something special just to witness your heaven-defying talent. Think of it as a tutelage for old bones like us,"

"Best source of knowledge is experience, Grandmasters. So you two are full of knowledge whom I can learn many new things from," Michael chose to be humble because if he learned one thing from Mazerorth, it was never to underestimate anyone. Professor Lane taught him that lesson by outsmarting him every step of the way. Besides, having a system didn't mean he had to be an arrogant young master.

"You're calling us old, aren't you?" Atian's words made everyone burst into laughter. Everyone laughed and made the atmosphere cheery and lively except for one. It was the young man who eyed Michael with some kind of malicious intent. But Michael completely ignored him.

"Cockatrice Scale Griffin Claw Silk Bittercress Silent Bittersweet Giant Bitterweed Pest Blade" Michael named the alchemy ingredients on the table one by one after they finally stopped laughing.

"Tonic of Intellect. That's what you want me to brew. Am I right Grandmaster?" Michael asked Alred and Atian without even opening up the golden parchment near the emerald cauldron fuming smoke.

"Tonic of Intellect"

A glint of surprise emerged in those old eyes. They should be surprised because they had to scour through the ancient scrolls to find the recipe, yet the young man before them immediately guessed what they could brew after taking a look at the ingredient for a second.

"How much purity can you reach Ghost?" Alred asked curiously.

But instead of answering his question, Michael said in a rather serious tone,

"Grandmasters, this is a highly addictive potion. It's not even a potion. It's kind of a drug. It will unlock the full power of the brain for a few minutes, but after that, the brain will deteriorate to the point they won't even remember their own names,"

Alred and Atian were completely taken aback by surprise. Michael could see the shock in their eyes, but these two old men were quite good at hiding their shock.

"Of course, we know that. Now please, demonstrate to us your skills,"

To Michael's knowledge, the tonic of intellect was a failed potion. Also, it was kind of a magical potion. Because whoever drinks the potion must be aware that they are drinking the potion of intellect. Otherwise, the potion wouldn't show any effects on them. In simple words, it would be no different than water. If one were aware at the time, the potion would make them a genius at their specialty for a few minutes. After the effects wore out, they would crave more potions. They would not be able to live without the potion as the potion was highly addictive. The continued consumption would kill the brain cells until the brain completely stops working.

Nodding at the two grandmasters, Michael raised his right hand. In a blink of an eye, dark green flames appeared in the form of an orb. Many youngsters weren't even sure that the orb was the alchemy fire because it was hovering above his palm in a perfect shape of a sphere. The sheer control he had over the fire stunned even Professor Lane let alone these youngsters.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 2000 badass points]

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 5000 badass points]

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 1500 badass points]

The system went crazy as he continuously heard the notifications sounds ringing in his head to the point he willed the system to mute the sounds for 50 badass points.

"So it's true. You don't use a cauldron" Ativan's eyes went wide as soon as Michael threw one of the ingredients into the fire directly instead of using a cauldron.

"It does look cool and easy. But the scars on my body will tell you another story" Michael continued to throw in the ingredients while talking to them, which surprised everyone even more. Hence, he received more and more badass points.

"It took me years of practice and lots of healing potions. If you have a ton of healing potions and desire to get burned over and over again, you can definitely use this method"

The two grandmasters stared at him with palace faces. They couldn't believe he was extracting the essence while talking to them. Atian even took a couple of steps back, fearing the fire would explode. However, nothing happened as Atian feared. Instead, Michael continued to extract the essence, forming colorful beads above the green flames.

"Grandmasters, the vials please," Michael asked, bringing the two grandmasters out of shock.

"Three vials" Yet again Michael stunned them. The two old men could not even keep the calm smile on their faces anymore. On the other hand, Jennifer was staring at Michael without batting an eye. She was completely fixated on his grace and technique of brewing the potion. Until now, she thought her teacher, Alred, was the most talented. But, after seeing Alred acting like a student in front of Michael, she learned how wrong she is.

Already held two vials while Atian had one waiting for Michael to finish combining the essence beads into a huge blob of potion. Then, with a slow graceful movement of his hand, Michael split the maroon clump into three and sent each clump flying into a vial.

"That's how you brew 90% pure Tonic of Intellect" Michael cracked his neck left and right as the green orb of fire vanished into thin air. In front of him, the grandmasters held the three vials with the sparkling maroon potion. Their bodies were rigid as though they were petrified.

"My Lord, Tiriana has departed from the warship and heading to Idrisal" just as everyone was murmuring in shock, Michael heard Azazel's voice in his head.

**************************************

The next day, there were no clouds in the blue sky as far as the eye could see. The sunlight was warm yet not overbearing. The occasional breeze that brushed past carried away the noise within the city, refreshing everyone on the streets.

Today was the first day of the Alchemy competition.

The first rays of sunlight broke through the boundary of the land and shone upon the city streets filled with alchemists in green robes like ants leaving their nests. Considering the alchemists believed green robes gave them better control over the fire and today was a big day, they all wore emerald green robes. From the aerial view, the streets looked like they were painted green. Although their paths differed, their final destination was the giant cauldron in the city's center.

Today, all the shops within Oxshore city opened much earlier than usual. Countless people climbed out of their warm beds, stood at the door, and looked at the large group of alchemists bustling through the streets.

Typically, seeing a large group of any of the specializations was rare. To alchemy, the Alchemist guild competition was such an event that brought all the alchemists under one roof. The people didn't miss experiencing such a rare event.

On this special day, Noah woke up very early. Before leaving the bed, he sat cross-legged to meditate for an hour. Only after he calmed down his nerves, collected his thoughts, and conversed telepathically with his mentor, he slowly opened his eyes. Turning his head to the side, he saw Alicia curling on the bed next to Norvin.

"Good morning Alicia," He bent down to gently kiss her on the forehead and then rubbed Norvin's head to wake him up.

"What the hell is taking you so long?" Norvin banged the door sitting atop Noah's shoulder. Since Alicia was changing, they waited for almost an hour outside the room.

"Five minutes," Alicia's cold voice came from inside as Norvin rolled his eyes,

"That's what you said thirty minutes ago,"

This time, they got no response from Alicia. Since they obviously have to wait outside for another thirty minutes, Norvin turned his gaze towards Noah, who remained calm, leaning on the wall. Just like Michael, Noah didn't believe green robes would give them better control over fire. Thus, he was in his usual white dress.

"Where is the competition taking place again?" asked Norvin,

"In the Aqua arena adjacent to the guild. The guild had no place to hold the thousands of spectators and competitors. So every time they'd host the competition in the Aqua arena,"

"Let's go," Finally Alicia opened the door, revealing her long white dress matching Noah's robes. She looked gorgeous even with the mask changing her natural face.

Noah locked his arms with her and walked out of the Inn with one two goals; Save the guild leader and win the competition.