The Silly Alchemist

“Ahem, ok, let’s begin the class. If you have any questions, just ask,” said the class teacher after coughing several times.

This academy had different teaching methods, perhaps due to influence from the magic discipline. After they had instilled the basics, they would allow disciples to learn independently. Later, if there were any doubts, it could be raised during the lesson.

Mentors were only responsible for leading students into the world of martial arts and magic. It was a rather personal journey so other than teaching the basics, they didn’t provide anything else. What they could do was only guiding them while the disciples practised on their own.

Yet, this would cause some people to think: “Why not just practise alone without a mentor?” This could certainly work. The truth was that there were not many good, famous teachers in the world. Perhaps you’d get one or two to guide you at most. 

It was different in the academy. Not only were there many masters present to guide you, but also disciples who could help verify your martial skills and magical abilities. 

While the master was guiding a student, it would also benefit other disciples. That meant that questions raised during lessons would benefit the whole class too. It wouldn’t feel like the lesson was pointless if you hadn’t raised a question. 

Of course, there were times when they would share their personal experiences.

Just after the teacher gave permission to ask questions, someone would always raise his hand.

“I...I...” stuttered a disciple, his arm in the air.

However, once the teacher noticed him, he frowned, “Uh...Ye Lang... You have a question? Let’s discuss it privately during recess. Listen to other questions in class first.”

After learning their lessons multiple times (which cost them blood, sweat and tears), no master dared answer Ye Lang’s questions in class anymore. His questions did not benefit other students either so they’d often choose to speak to him after class. That's if they even answered his questions at all. 

“Oh alright…” Ye Lang seemed to be used to it. After putting his hand down, he flipped through a stack of thick alchemy notes while listening to the conversations between other disciples and the master.

Very soon, the morning was over. It had been a question & answer session excluding little breaks in between. Recess also signified the end of today’s theoretical knowledge lecture. Later, after lunch, it was either a self-practice session or a practical lesson.

This was the arrangement made by the academy. In the morning, it was all about theory; in the afternoon, it was all up to you. If you loved studying theories, you could continue with that; if you prefer practical, then you could proceed with hands-on activities.

Ye Lang noticed the teacher had disappeared immediately after the class as if he was running away from something, so he temporarily gave up on his question. Instead, he went along with a sleepy Tigress to the canteen to have lunch with his sister.

Tigress had no passion for alchemy. While accompanying her young master to attend alchemy lessons, she would sleep or read books related to martial arts borrowed from the library.

Regarding this matter, Ye Lang once suggested to let Tigress attend the martial arts academy. The alchemy academy was pretty safe and he could handle himself, so there was no need for Tigress to accompany him. However, Tigress refused without a second thought. She was there to accompany him so if she attended the martial arts academy, there would be no reason for her to come to the academy.

She would never leave her master for anything. 

As she surveyed the magnificent and spacious school cafeteria, Tigress remained alert because he was most vulnerable to attacks at this moment. It was also the only chance for people to be in contact with the thirteenth prince. 

Her fears were not baseless as attacks occurred daily- though most of them were blocked by her and Ye Lanyu. They, of course, had their unlucky days too but they were fortunately only harmless pranks or attempts at humiliating him.  

Yup, to the thirteenth prince, such humiliation was not worth mentioning. It was, naturally, a completely different matter to Ye Lanyu. She would go berserk, ensuring the bullies suffered for what they did.

After leading the thirteenth prince with utmost caution to the canteen, Tigress found a table and sat down. The tables in the canteen were all identical, there were no special tables for VIPs. This was a message the school wanted to convey--in this academy, everyone had only one identity, a disciple. No matter how high your status was in this continent, everyone was treated equally here.

The academy didn’t want to witness any conflicts due to special privileges.

“Tigress, I’m hungry, get me some food,” cried the thirteenth prince after a while.

“Please wait a little longer, we’ll wait for Miss Lanyu.  Why isn’t she here yet? She should’ve been here a long time ago,” said tigress, puzzled, as she stared at the entrance. 

Before Ye Lanyu arrived, she would never get food first because this would mean leaving the thirteenth prince alone. She didn’t know what would happen if she did. On the other hand, she dared not to bring along the thirteenth prince to get food because they had to pass through a huge crowd.

Therefore, she waited. She would only be able to queue for food with a peace of mind if Ye Lanyu were present. The problem was that she seemed to be caught in some trouble because she didn’t usually take this long.

More time passed. Ye Lanyu finally arrived, looking very annoyed. She’d obviously run into trouble. Just behind her was a gorgeous girl, about the age of the thirteenth prince. In contrast to Ye Lanyu, the face of this girl lit up with a bright smile. She was delighted indeed. 

Everyone put two and two together to conclude that both of them must’ve been involved in the same incident. 

Yep. Tigress was sure it was exactly the same incident. This girl wasn’t just anybody, she was the seventh princess of the empire.

Since the birthday party incident, they were officially enemies, always in an argument. If one was happy, the other would be flustered, and vice versa.

She finally understood. They had run into each other, that was why Ye Lanyu was late!

“Don’t follow me and leave my brother alone. Ye Lang, don’t talk to her or I’ll never talk to you again,” yelled Ye Lanyu at the girl behind her, at the same time, warning her brother as she sat.

“You don’t have to talk to him, I’ll talk to him instead. Am I right, Ye Lang?” grinned the seventh princess as she took a seat too. 

The air was tense between the two girls, and if the thirteenth prince didn’t watch his words, then there would be a war, sigh… maybe a small one.

However, the thirteenth prince was indifferent. Instead, he told Tigress, “Tigress, get me some food. I’m starving!”

“……”