Chapter 47: *So jealous ...*
Ian continued, staring seriously at his students, "Kevin is an orphan and has therefore never cultivated his Soul Force reserve before. With only a Soul Force of 180 and absolutely no knowledge of how to use it, he was the first one to finish his potion, and it was perfectly executed. Now get back to work! The next one who blatantly laughs at another student in my class will be kicked out, not for a week but for a full month!"
Kevin smiled; he hadn’t made a mistake. He really liked this teacher, and with Ian, he was sure he could improve quickly.
Kevin refocused on crafting his potion. This time he didn’t need to reread his teacher’s detailed formula; having gone through it once already allowed him to memorize the crafting process.
After preparing all the ingredients like the first time, he started to craft the Healing Potion. Exactly 20 minutes later, he heard the System sound echoing in his head again.
He checked the message, and as he had expected, he succeeded in crafting his second potion, gaining again 10 EXP points and 1 Soul Force point. Those rewards were truly amazing, especially since they were only for low-grade potions. He hoped that when he would be able to craft medium-grade potions, the rewards would get even better.
He checked the time on the main menu of the System and saw it was already 10:23 AM. He then raised his hand to attract the attention of his teacher, who immediately came to see him since he was free. Kevin, curious about something, asked, "Teacher Ian, with the ingredients provided to us by the Sun Sect, how many low-grade potions of each kind can we craft?"
Ian smiled kindly at him and said, "I was planning to give this information at the end of my class, but since you asked, I will answer you now. With the ingredients you’ve received from the Sun Sect, you can make three potions of each kind. If you want to train and make more, you will have to go and buy the necessary ingredients in the warehouse. If you don’t have any money, don’t worry; with the potions you just made, you will make a lot of money. The ingredients to craft a low-grade potion cost only 1 gold coin, and you can resell it for 20 gold coins."
Kevin was very surprised and asked, "If we can really make three potions of each kind, that’s 45 potions in total; why then does it cost us only 15 gold coins?"
Ian nodded in satisfaction and said, "Smart! The Sun Sect has set this price so that even students like you, who come from a disadvantaged background, can study without worrying about money. If you are good at alchemy, being a mage is a very profitable profession. There will always be fighters willing to buy your potions or mages who would prefer to buy ready-made potions rather than make them themselves to focus on creating spells. As for the fighters, they have to go to fight in dungeons to earn money, and the more skilled they are, the more they are allowed to participate in those expeditions.
The Sun Sect is a very good sect; it’s not the same everywhere, believe me. I hope you will enjoy being with us, Kevin."
Kevin was truly thrilled by this new world, and crafting potions was really fun. He then thought of Axel and answered honestly with a big smile, "I already like it, teacher... And your detailed formula is exceptionally well-written; it’s very easy to learn this way."
He exchanged a few more pleasantries with his teacher before Ian finally left. He immediately began his hour of meditation and couldn’t wait to tell Axel about his morning; it had been really exciting.
After an hour, when Kevin saw the familiar message appear in front of his eyes, he immediately closed the holographic screen without checking it properly and came out of his meditation. He barely had time to hear Ian tell everyone to keep practicing until they managed to successfully craft the Healing Potion after each attempt, and then he dismissed them, saying that on Monday they would learn how to craft the low-grade Spirit Potion.
Kevin quickly put his things into his magic bag, pulled his hood over his head, and then mingled with the others, disappearing into the crowd of students without anyone noticing him.
Kevin spotted Axel immediately; he was so accustomed to checking for hidden threats in the shadows that he easily saw Axel standing a little away from the crowd.
To his great displeasure, Axel was talking to a young man with red hair who was quite handsome. This made Kevin feel a surge of jealousy, surprising him. He was definitely not prepared to see Axel with another man, and luckily for this guy, Axel had forbidden him to wear his daggers and blades; otherwise, he wasn’t sure how he would have reacted.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. If he wanted to be honest with himself, he would have already thrown a blade at this man if he had them with him. He really hoped for the young man’s sake that he was Erik; otherwise, he wasn’t sure if he could restrain himself. He needed to calm his racing heart and restless mind before Axel asked him what was wrong.
And how was he supposed to answer that question? "I was so jealous that I wanted to kill your friend on the spot." He wasn’t sure his man would appreciate that, so it was better to calm down first.
To help with that, he thought Axel must have stepped aside intentionally to avoid attracting too much attention, after all, he was very popular, and it could become quite annoying if everyone wanted to greet him.
Axel immediately caught Kevin’s scent and looked up, trying to find him among the crowd of students leaving the building. Kevin noticed that Axel was searching for him, so he decided to make himself visible. He took off his hood to keep the promise he had made to him.
He descended the steps, and when he saw the smile on Axel’s face as he spotted him in the crowd, all of Kevin’s earlier fears and doubts about the man vanished immediately.
Axel opened his arms, and Kevin rushed to hug him tightly. He heard Axel’s voice close to his ear, "Babe, I missed you."
