It wasnāt until most other students had left the library that Percy registered how late it was. Getting used to Felmaraās short days would take a while. Normally, his bodyās internal clock would have helped a little, but his host was the kind of guy whoād literally overdosed on sleeping pills, soā¦ no luck there.
āIām not even halfway done with the booksā¦ā
he groaned.
He still wanted to research his choices a little better before submitting them. Sure, he had two more weeks until the next term started, but he also had lectures to attend. Sighing, he closed the book he was reading, getting up. Whatever the case, he couldnāt miss the Pre-casting class tomorrow. It would help him make his mind up.
āThough I can probably skip Geography the day after.ā
Technically, the academy
did
monitor attendance. Apparently, each academic year consisted of seven terms ā a total of twenty-one courses of the studentsā choosing. The kids were assessed at the end of the year, selecting eighteen of those courses to sit exams for. And they only needed a passing grade on fifteen of them to move up to the next year.
A studentās seniority simply denoted the number of subjects they had studied. That said, most courses werenāt locked to specific years. For example, one was free to pick Affinities 1 on their first or fifth year if they wanted. Of course, courses with a lot of pre-requisites would often be picked later out of necessity.
Admittedly, it was a rather generous and flexible system, but missing too many classes incurred a penalty on oneās grades, making their life harder. Still, Percy wasnāt very concerned about that. The second term hadnāt even ended yet, and he intended to be gone before the fifth at the latest ā depending on how fruitful his time here proved to be.
āExcuse me, sir. Can I borrow these for a couple of days?ā he asked the clerk.
āUp to three at a time.ā the man replied, passing him a check-out slip to fill in.
Percy nodded, storing the ones he had yet to read in his satchel before returning the rest to their shelves. Then, he waved the clerk farewell as he left.
The corridors were much emptier than theyād been in the morning, most of the students having gone to bed to prepare for tomorrowās classes. Finding his way back took some head scratching, thanks to the contrived path heād taken to the library in the first place.
But he didnāt care much. He had a few more things to take care of before calling it a day. Grabbing one of the food bags from his satchel, he opened it, tossing the first of the orange flakes into his mouth as he leisurely strolled through the dormitories.
āThis stuff tastes awesome!ā
he blurted out as the exotic snack crumbled between his teeth with a satisfying crunch.
It was really crispy! Salty too, though it left some lingering sweetness in his mouth as soon as he swallowed it. They were called
krimbian leaves
ā according to the label ā but he wasnāt sure if theyād come from an actual tree. Either way, this journey was turning better and better by the hour!
Returning to his room took him around fifteen minutes in total ā more than twice what it should have taken. In that time, he finished three packs. He was tempted to open another one, but he figured he should probably ration them a little until he figured out how to get more food.
Luckily, he made it to the correct door on the first try, saving himself from a potentially awkward situation. Dropping off his stuff on his desk, he then stopped by the restroom for a quick shower, his mind still pondering over the things heād read earlier.
As he had expected, alchemy on Felmara wasnāt that different to what they had back home. Their core-cleansing pills were made from the goo of some caterpillar-like beasts. Having consumed one earlier, he realized it wasnāt any more potent than the elixirs he was used to.
A pity.
Their other products
were
a little more varied than the potions they had on Remior, however. Part of that was due to having a greater variety of useful ingredients, but another part was due to something else. The locals referred to it as
alchemical restructuring
, and he was confident it was the kind of thing that his Status would register as an alchemic principle once mastered.
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āItās definitely worth looking intoā¦ā
Apparently, the natives brewed their products in all sorts of different states. Potions, pills, soluble tablets, gels, lotions, and even inhalables. Suffice to say, this had initially struck him as odd, as he hadnāt encountered this elsewhere.
Alchemy on Remior had been developed entirely around the purification of nectar into elixirs, and so everything they crafted usually took liquid form, largely thanks to the underlying techniques used.
Meanwhile, alchemy was a lot more developed on Atlantis than either Remior or Felmara, but the fact that it was underwater placed a lot of restrictions on what was possible. People there had to condense their brews into dense, water-proof pills, so as to store and handle them without worrying that they would disperse.
Evidently, Felmaraās alchemists had gone down a different route, learning how to customize their brews into a phase tailored for their intended application. And it was easy to see the benefits of doing so. Some products could be more effective when applied directly to oneās skin, whereas others might be best delivered into oneās lungs or stomach.
Percy already had an idea as to how this could benefit him. The mushrooms his potions were extracted from worked better when injected directly into oneās body. Unfortunately, heād been forced to use the potions somewhat suboptimally, as he had no intention of planting mushrooms inside his skin, and no idea how to brew them into something other than drinkable potions. But this new principle could potentially open a new door for him.
āPlus, there are other advantages to learning this.ā
The Divine Order was currently on the lookout for the Aurora Dew. Specifically, the old version of the Aurora Dew ā vials containing a turquoise liquid. But Percy had brewed the most recent batches using his teal powder instead ā because heād stashed a lot of it for his constructs. Using the fused mana instead of regular pure mana didnāt change the effects of the elixir in any way, but it
did
change its colour slightly, giving it a silver tint.
āIf I can reshape it into pill form, itāll be completely unrecognizable. Not to mention that itāll probably take less space in the amuletsā¦ā
These two applications aside, he wouldnāt say no to mastering a new alchemic principle. Even on a purely theoretical level, it would deepen his understanding of the field and help him boost his yield a little faster. Not to mention that his eyes would benefit from it too, possibly allowing him to see things he might otherwise miss.
āThe only problem is that itās taught in Alchemy 9 through 12ā¦ā
he grimaced.
Naturally, one couldnāt learn alchemy without getting their hands dirty. Consequently, the relevant courses were split into theoretical and practical, typically alternating between the two for any given topic. Alchemy 1, 3, 5 and 7 introduced the fundamentals from a theoretical perspective, whereas 2, 4, 6 and 8 gave the students a chance to put that knowledge to the test. Sadly, it wasnāt until the ninth part of the course that the restructuring principle was taught, and Percy would need four terms in total to master it if he went solely through the official route.
āI guess I can pick 10 and maybe 12 for some demonstrations. Iāll have to cram the theory on my own in parallelā¦ā
It wasnāt going to be easy, but Percy was already a veteran alchemist. At any rate, this should be enough to wrap his mind around the topic. If not, he could practice more at home. Yet, there was one more issueā¦
āLeoās never studied Alchemy beforeā¦ Will they even allow me to skip to 10?ā
Heād have to ask. If they didnāt let him, heād have to study the topic on his own and pick Runecrafting or Affinities instead. Of course, heād rather not, as neither of those seemed very useful for him, based on what heād read.
He sighed.
āItās barely been a day since I got here and Iām already planning to pack my schedule full of workā¦ā
At least, he didnāt intend to study for Cosmic Studies outside of the classes. He didnāt need to memorize anything for it either. Just learn some useful information that might come in handy in his future travels. That meant he only really had to split his time between Alchemy and Pre-casting for now. Well, Mana Flow too, but heād yet to figure out how that one worked.
āBetter prepare a little so that Iām not late tomorrow.ā
he thought.
Sifting through Leoās notebooks, he familiarized himself a little better with the list of topics his host had studied in the past. Sadly, most of them didnāt interest him much.
Picking out the notes on Pre-casting 1 through 3, he placed them in his satchel for tomorrow. At the same time, he looked through the boyās stuff for any map or other reference he could use to actually find the place.
Luckily, he did stumble upon a map of the building listing where each course took place. It also included other places of interest like the library or the cafeteria ā where he hoped to get some more food tomorrow.
Based on what heād read in his hostās diary, all students received some annual allowance from the academy, so he figured he should be able to buy food that way. Though heād have to observe the other students to understand how it all worked to avoid making a fool out of himself.
Satisfied with his preparations, he switched off the lights, going to bed. As tough as the next few weeks promised to be, he was just as excited about Pre-casting as he was about Alchemy.
āHopefully I donāt have to interact with any of Leoās friends much thoughā¦ā