Practice

The accumulated snow had melted, and the colors of Grey Mist Mountain Town shifted from a vast white to a withered yellow...

After the freezing heavy snow, very little vegetation could maintain its lush green; everything became bare, as if they had just lost a battle.

Just like the students of the Grey Mist Mountain Lower Academy upon hearing the news of the final exams—their eyes lost all light, looking as devastated as if they had lost their parents.

This was largely because the provincial unified examination was far too unfriendly to the remote Grey Mist Mountain Town.

Sitting at the rock bottom of the Monte Province education system year after year, Grey Mist Mountain Academy was merely an object used to drag down the average, and the resources allocated to them were growing increasingly poor.

Instructor Felina, who had been teaching at the academy for nearly two years, was highly dissatisfied and helpless about this situation.

This time, naturally, she hoped that her little man could soar into the sky and win back some face for the academy.

After listening to Felina introduce the exam details with full encouragement and hope, Lizer also felt a bit of anticipation, wanting to clear the name of his small town:

Village kids could rise up too!

When the exam papers for the first subject, General Knowledge Theory, were handed out, Lizer indeed felt some pressure.

These questions were incredibly obscure and difficult; the experts who set the questions were simply inhuman!

Damn it!

What was the name of the first wizard who discovered that the number of Wizard's Hands could be increased?

Which plane were they from?

What is the maximum number of Wizard's Hands it can be increased to?

What the hell kind of questions were these?

We are just tiny students of the Newa Plane who aren't even apprentices yet.

Are you sure you want me to care about matters from outer planes? Isn't this scope a bit too lofty?

Ghost-faced vines are extremely difficult to propagate; in what season should they be grafted onto which magical plant?

What measures can be taken to increase the propagation rate, and by how much?

Holy crap!

Even a wizard apprentice specializing in magical plant research might not get all of this right!

Lizer rubbed his face. No wonder he remembered scoring only 40 in his past life; it seemed that getting 40 points was already pretty good!

He really had no idea how those high-scoring students from Gele City and other cities managed their exams.

Could it be that they didn't go to the same kind of school and the textbook contents were different?

If he didn't have Krypton Gold, Lizer felt he would truly fail completely. Fortunately...

Through the analysis of Krypton Gold, all the materials within these courses were transmitted straight into his brain...

Accessing the analyzed knowledge and information, he found that these contents were indeed present in the courses taught at the academy.

However, they were generally hidden in easily overlooked footnotes and expanded knowledge sections.

Speaking of which, these test experts didn't actually go beyond the syllabus.

They were just too sneaky!

They definitely didn't have kids taking the exam themselves!

With Krypton Gold backing him up, a perfect 100 points in General Knowledge Theory was a sure thing.

Felina seemed to have mentioned that there were no 100-point scores in previous years.

Lizer hesitated for a moment over whether he should control his score so as not to appear too monstrously talented.

After pondering for a moment, Lizer decided not to hold back.

What if someone else got 100 points this year, and by controlling his score, he ended up losing out by just a few points?

Lizer was determined to win the special meditation technique of Monte Province.

These special meditation techniques were the foundation of every organization; normally, one couldn't even dream of obtaining them.

Lizer hadn't seen anything similar in the Internal Affairs Bureau's merit exchange manual, nor was it in Gloria's police station exchange manual.

Of course, this could also be due to their insufficient status.

But this only further proved its rarity.

If heaven offers a gift and you do not take it, you will surely suffer the blame!

The final provincial unified examination for Monte Province was scheduled for three days.

Day one was the General Knowledge Theory exam, day two was the Practical exam, and day three was the Combat exam.

After the first day's theory exam, it felt as though the entire academy was drooping in dejection like defeated dogs.

Rumor had it that Aunt Mary was so infuriated when she saw the exam paper during invigilation that she threw her thermos right on the spot.

It smashed the classroom window, and she wanted to abandon her invigilation duties right then and there to go to the provincial department and fight the question-setting committee to the death.

It was too hard for her, the director of the Wizard General Knowledge teaching department:

These exam questions got more and more obscure every year. Was there any hope left for this year's year-end bonus?

It was tough!

On the second day, when the invigilator dispatched from the provincial department announced the questions for the practical exam.

Lizer felt as if he could hear the wails echoing above the entire academy:

1. From 100 types of materials, select the raw ingredients for making six inferior potions: Inferior Defense Concoction, Inferior Healing Powder, Inferior Vitality Potion, Inferior Agility Potion, Inferior Strength Potion, and Inferior Mental Clarity Potion.

2. Process the aforementioned raw ingredients prior to potion brewing.

3. Select the required tool combinations for brewing the aforementioned potions.

4. Choose any two to actually brew.

Was this really an exam meant for humans?

Lizer saw several people who couldn't help but give up on the exam immediately.

If he didn't have the analysis from Krypton Gold, he would definitely end up with a single-digit score.

Lizer glanced at his dejected classmates nearby, each of them hanging their heads in despair.

He felt that the questions for this final exam weren't actually too obscure; material identification was a compulsory subject they had to learn anyway.

But combining it with potion recipe brewing was a bit excessive.

Was potion brewing something one could learn just by having the teacher explain it once or twice?

It seemed last year's exam was slightly easier; it was just identifying metal ores and smelting the alloy Black Magic Iron.

The year before that was selecting the correct magical monster to dissect, and carrying out raw material collection and preservation.

This year's exam was truly difficult!

For this kind of exam, students from big cities definitely had the advantage, as they could more easily acquire these raw materials for experiments.

For example, just outside Gele City were vast plantations specifically supplying raw materials for brewing such potions.

Lizer carefully inspected the raw materials; there were also many interference items set up.

For instance, the raw materials for the Inferior Healing Powder included the brain of a one-year-old frog and the stinger of a hornet.

Alright then...

There were brains from frogs of four completely different ages here, and the stingers also came in four varieties: hornet, honeybee, wasp, and mason bee...

Who knew how many students would choose incorrectly and lose points?

Watching Lizer swiftly and skillfully select the raw materials for the six inferior potions from the hundred varieties and arrange them into six piles.

Some students revealed looks of surprise, while others were in sheer disbelief.

They secretly guessed: Was this guy completely relying on blind luck?

After Lizer processed the materials according to standard procedures and prepared the tools for brewing the potions.

In the gloomy laboratory, Lizer was engaging in a dangerous gamble.

His hands wandered among the materials emitting eerie auras, eventually resting on a bundle of withered Shadow Grass.

The leaves of this grass displayed an unnatural ghostly green, as if they were faintly breathing.

Whenever his fingertips brushed past, the blades of grass would gently tremble, emitting a faint hissing sound.

He took out a silver knife engraved with runes and carefully sliced off three blades of grass.

When the blade touched the stem, what oozed out was not sap, but a faint wisp of black mist that twisted and dissipated in the air.

Next, he retrieved a hissing toad eyeball from a sealed crystal jar.

The eyeball suddenly snapped open after leaving the preservation fluid, a bizarre red light flashing in its pupil.

The preparation of the experimental tools felt more like a mysterious ritual.

Lizer ignited the obsidian alchemy furnace; ghostly blue flames instantly flared up, yet they didn't emit the slightest heat. Instead, they caused the surrounding temperature to plummet.

He placed the moonstone mortar directly above the flame. The mortar automatically levitated and began to rotate slowly.

Utensils of various materials shimmered with different colored glows in his hands: a crystal funnel capable of automatically filtering impurities, a silver stirring rod engraved with ancient runes, and a set of glass test tubes that changed color according to the properties of the potion.

As the brewing began, Lizer first tossed the shadow grass leaves into the mortar.

Under the grinding, the leaves turned into a puddle of bubbling black slime, emitting a cloying scent similar to rotting flowers.

When he added the toad eyeball, piercing purple sparks suddenly burst from the mortar. The slime began to boil violently, and countless agonizing, twisted faces surfaced on it.

Lizer quickly poured in the base solvent. The potion instantly turned a murky dark red, with tiny dark shadows seemingly swimming within it.

Holding his breath, he followed the analytical instructions in his mind and began to stir the potion to a specific rhythm.

Every stir caused the potion to change color, from dark red to eerie green, and then to an ominous deep purple.

An eerie humming echoed through the laboratory, and the shadows on the walls began to writhe unnaturally as if they had a life of their own.

Cold sweat beaded on Lizer's forehead, but his hand movements remained steady.

He knew that in this forbidden dance of potion brewing, even the slightest mistake could bring about disastrous consequences.

These skillful and cautious movements made even the teacher sent down from the provincial department drop his jaw, secretly asking the invigilator from the Gray Mist Mountain Lower Academy:

"Is this guy really from your academy? He actually seems to be a novice wizard apprentice already!"

That instructor also looked at Lizer in confusion. He practically knew all the wizard seeds in this grade at the academy.

Lizer had just been a very ordinary student before, and very low-key, so he had never seen him either. He shook his head and said vaguely:

"He's not in my class."

The provincial instructor looked at him suspiciously and was about to press further...

Suddenly, the energy particles in the air fluctuated and converged in one direction. Someone had successfully brewed the first batch of inferior potion!

Everyone looked at Lizer in unison. Even the students who were not apprentices had felt a trace of something mystical just now. They knew Lizer had succeeded!

The student who had suspected him of just guessing blindly earlier dropped his jaw:

"R-really!?"

The provincial instructor curled his lip:

"You Gray Mist Mountain Academy folks aren't being honest this time. Tell me... how much did you pay to temporarily hire this student?"