32 Training

When Alex came back, Alicia was startled because she saw Alex kept scratching his skin continuously.

"Alex, what happened? Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I...I will take a bath first," he hurriedly went to the bath not saying anything else.

Alicia was dumbfounded, even so, she was still worried about seeing Alex like that. She waited at the door, anxiously.

After a while, Alex had finished bathing, but to her surprise she saw Alex's transformation when he came out. Although his skin didn't look much different than before, the change was still visible.

Alicia examined him up close and she couldn't really tell what had improved or changed from Alex. However, when she touched Alex's arm, she immediately noticed something. His skin became so smooth like a baby, even her smooth white skin was nothing compared to Alex's smooth skin.

"Alex, what have you done to make your skin look like this?"

"I ate another pill."

"Another pill? What pill?" Alicia's eyes brightened.

"Skin refining pill," Alex answered casually without explaining what it did to him.

There were stars in her eyes. She looked at Alex, "I want it! Can I have it, Alex?"

"This pill didn't have an extraordinary effect on the status, and this pill was hard to make," he didn't understand why Alicia became so eager to ask him for this pill, "I only managed to make one of the highest grade pills today."

"Highest grade pill? Then, there must be a slightly lower grade one, right?" she now looked at Alex like he was her prey.

"Yes... I have them on me."

"Then give it to me," she raised her hand in a 'give it to me right now' gesture.

"But.. the effect will be lower too, Princess. I think I can manage to make another one tomorrow. Can you wait?"

"I..." she hesitated. This kind of pill will make many women crazy, even Alicia got excited right away after she saw what it did to Alex's skin. 

After she saw the effect of this pill on Alex, she immediately demanded it from him. Who would pass an opportunity to have such smooth skin?

"I still want it," her desire got better than her rationality. She didn't know that she had been blinded by gre - Ahem, Skin Refining Pill.

"The pill can only be consumed once. More than that, you wouldn't get any effect," Alex dropped another bomb.

"I..." she pondered a bit, "I...will wait for tomorrow. But you must give it to me after you made the pill, promise?" she reluctantly said this but since she wanted to have such smooth skin she didn't hesitate to demand him like this.

Alex nodded his head again and again. He was thinking, will she become like that too if she the one who made the pill was not him? What if she demanded an absurd thing in exchange for the pill? Alex immediately shook his head, he was...glad that he was the one who made the pill. After all, deep within his heart, he felt that she was one of the closest to him other than his teacher. At least, if he wanted to try trusting or starting another relationship, it would surely be her.

The next day, Firia had noticed Alex's difference when both of them were in class, but she didn't know what the change was.

She looked at Alex confusedly.

"If you are curious, try to touch his skin," Alicia gave her a hint.

Firia touched his skin and when she touched his skin, she could feel how smooth Alex's skin was.

"Ah!" she was shocked. The people around them started looking at her after the shout. Firia was embarrassed, she didn't realize she was reacting that loud.

She looked at Alicia and she demanded an explanation from her rival.

"He has medicine to make his skin smooth," Alicia explained.

"Really? Is there any divine medicine like that?"

"There is. Look, he is an example. He said he would give me one today," she proudly said.

"Ah... I want it too," Firia was envious and she wanted Alex to give her one as well.

"Hehe...You need to be obedient to me first. Maybe I can ask Alex to give you one as well."

"Are you serious? I will be obedient and I will follow your order then," the allure for this pill was too much. Even a seductress like her can be tamed with it.

But after a while, she realized she was schemed by Alicia. Why would she need to be obedient to Alicia? Can't she just ask Alex for it? She thought.

She glared at Alicia, who was still grinning as she won. And then, Firia turned to Alex ready to beg him to give her the pill too.

"Alex...That medicine. Can you give me one too?" she tried to seduce Alex. She grabbed his hands and pleaded with a seducing tone.

"Ah...yes, I will give you too," Alex said. He was led by others once again, albeit he didn't seem aware of the fact.

Alicia noticed what Firia was trying to do and she instantly got between them.

"I... you will give it to me first, right? Right?" Alicia desperately asked Alex while shaking him.

"Ugh...Yes, I have promised you so I will give you first, then I will make one for Miss Firia," Alex turned to Firia, "I'm sorry, Miss Firia. Can you wait after I give one to Alicia?"

"That's my Alex," Alicia's attitude changed drastically and she was now smiling happily.

"Ugh..." Firia was jealous, but she knew that she couldn't do anything about it, she sighed and said, "As long as I get one, I'm willing to wait. Thank you."

The class proceeded as usual and when the class was over Alex went to the dean's office like he had been doing these days. When the dean saw Alex, he was also astounded just like Firia and Alex.

"Alex, is this because of the skin-refining pill?" he touched Alex's arm, face, and leg. Alex's skin had become smooth just in one night.

"Yes, Sir."

"This skin-refining pill will make all women crazy. This is a big business potential!" the dean laughed.

"..." Alex was speechless, his teacher was a rank 8 mage and managed a credible academy like the one he was studying in but the dean was still thinking about turning the pill into a business opportunity? As soon as body tempering was made he aimed for the military, and now he wanted to be a businessman? Alex was surprised to see the dean's response each and every day.

Alex shook his head and sighed, he then walked to his cauldron. Before he started refining again, he looked at his teacher, who was still laughing while thinking about his business plan.

"Teacher, this is the rank 2 pill recipe," he handed a few papers to him.

"Ah..." the dean snapped from his daze. He grabbed the pill recipes and looked at a few names.

'Blood and marrow pill, rank 2 restoration pill, bone refining pill, blood replenishing pill, antidote pill, Qi gathering pill, and Qi replenishing pill.'

"Oh.. this much? You gave me only four recipes for grade one pill. Why do you give me seven recipes for this rank 2 pill?"

"There are a few more for rank one pill. But I chose what was the most useful one from them for me, and those four were chosen."

The dean nodded and he didn't care about Alchemy, he was already old enough so his achievement in alchemy won't be that great. He also saw Alex can make some decisions for himself. At least, he knew what was good for him and what was not. He didn't mind losing all of his savings to nurture him. But earning money while nurturing him was a good choice too. After all, as someone like him who didn't have any relatives in this world, it would be a wise decision if he inherited his fortune to Alex after he died. If he didn't have any inheritances for him, he would be too ashamed. The plan concerning the military was also for Alex.

"There are a few rare ingredients for these recipes like ten years old ginseng for blood and marrow pill, bone mushroom for bone refining pill, and this white snake gland for antidote pill. For the ginseng, I have a few old friends who have many of it and I can buy it from them. As for bone mushrooms and white snake glands, I can only try from adventurer guild and hunter guild."

"No need to rush, Teacher. We haven't refined the next batch ingredients for grade one pills."

"Yes, you are right. I will try to buy these ingredients because with our refining speed we can finish all the ingredients this month."

"That's true," Alex nodded and started refining again.

This time, Alex managed to make 40 skin-refining pills out of 100 sets of ingredients. But what made Alex so happy was that he managed to make four peak grades of the skin-refining pill. He was planning to give this to Alicia and Firia since he had promised them. As for the other two, he will keep them for now.

He went back and the bright moon was over his head. He was surprised to see Alicia was sitting on the couch.

"Hi, Princess," he greeted her.

Alicia didn't say anything and she just stretched out her hand to Alex. Her eyes were sparkling with the massage that said 'give it to me.'

Alex tried to explain, "This is a skin-refining pill, Princess's skin would become itchy after eating this pill. It's to force the old skin out so the new skin can come out. So I recommend taking a bath after eating this pill."

"Pill!" she gave Alex a threatening glare.

Alex took out the refining pill, and the pill was immediately snatched by her. She ate the pill right away and went to the bathroom.

Alex shook his head and sigh, he sat on the sofa and cultivated again. He didn't know what to say about her behavior. It was just too much for him to give any response. After all, he got used to her acting like a child.

After half an hour, Alicia came out and her skin was glowing beautifully. She happily went to Alex.

"Thank you, Alex."

Alex opened his eyes, he sighed, "As long as you like the result."

"Hehe..." she leaped to the bed and fell asleep instantly.

She looked so tired because she should have gone to sleep an hour ago but she was eagerly waiting for Alex. Her face looked exhausted, but a big smile still planted on her face. She looked like she will have a beautiful dream tonight.

The next day, they came to the class, and Firia had been excitedly waiting for them.

When Firia looked at Alicia's glossy new skin, she was so jealous and she stuck out her hand to Alex, just like what Alicia did to Alex last night.

Alex tried to explain, "This is skin-refining medicine. Miss Firia's skin will become itchy after eating this medicine. It's to force old skin out so the new skin can come out. So I recommend taking a bath after eating this medicine. So I think I will give this after the practice later."

Hearing Alex's short explanation, she hesitated a bit. After thinking about the pros and cons, she pouted and reluctantly accepted and sat down on her seat.

Alex let out a relieved sigh, he was glad she didn't become the second Alicia. At least, she was more rational than Alicia.

In practice, Alex noticed that Firia was distracted. He knew the reason for it, so he stopped the practice early and gave the skin refining pill to her.

She leaped out of joy after receiving the pill, but suddenly she realized something.

"Alex...I heard in the legend, the one who made a pill like this was Alchemist. Are...You also?"

Alex nodded, "I hope Miss Firia can keep this secret for now."

"Yes! I will make sure to guard this secret to death," Firia promised.

"You don't need to do that, just pretend that you didn't know about any of this," Alex said, but she already left without hearing Alex. She was already impatient to use the pill.

Alex shook his head and sighed helplessly. After saying goodbye to Alicia, he went to the dean's office as usual.

"Alex, we have used all of the ingredients. The batch will be delivered the day after tomorrow. For today, how about we take a day off so you can relax a bit?"

"Okay, I agree. But Teacher, may I request something?" before Alex went back to his room, he asked.

"Oh...what is it?"

"I want to request a few more cauldrons."

The dean was surprised by his request, "For what?"

"For rank 3 pills or above, there is a chance for the cauldron to explode when refining goes wrong. As for the rank 1 and 2 pills, the chance to explode is almost zero because it is the pill for newbies. I just want to take preventive measures in case something like this happens."

"Alright, I will make it more," after hearing his teacher's answer, Alex excused himself to go back to his room.

Alicia was surprised to see Alex came way earlier than his usual schedule. Alex indeed went back just not long after she came back.

"Alex, what happened? You rarely come back this early."

"Nothing. The Teacher and I have used up all the ingredients. He told me to take the day off, so here I am. I will practice here."

"How about a spar?"

Alex thought a bit and nodded.

"But we can't use any magic," she added.

He looked at Alicia in confusion. After all, magic was the weapon of mages.

"I'm thinking, if the warrior gets a close range to mage like us, we will be defeated. So I think I want to practice melee combat."

Considering her reason, he could understand it better and he nodded, "Alright, let's do that then."

He made some space in the room. Although the room was a bit small to practice a fight, he managed to make good enough space. He thought that it was possible for a small bout if he cleared some space.

Alicia took her wand and Alex only used a wooden stick, "Are you ready, Princess?" Alex asked.

"Yes, let's start!"

Hearing the confirmation, Alex started to make a move. Alex put up his stick and swung it down. Alicia tried to parry it with her wand, but suddenly Alex's leg tripped her. She fell.

"Even if your opponent raised his weapon, they might not be attacking you with their weapon."

"Ughh...A knight wouldn't do something like that," she let out a groan and some complaints. But soon, she backed up again and looked at Alex with determination, "But my opponent might not be a knight. Again!"

Alex smiled and continued, he trained her for a few hours.

After a few hours, she got many bruises on her hands and feet. Alex was ruthless when he trained her. She could only lay down on the floor, and her whole body was sore. But she still smiled, this might be the one thing he didn't hold back when he was with her, albeit he was too cruel.

"We better end it here for today, Princess," Alex put down his stick, he came to her and gave her a pill, "Princess, please eat this."

She ate them without question, she was surprised at seeing the bruises healed at an amazing speed to the point the process was visible with naked eyes. She was astonished by the effect just now. Although her muscles were still sore.

"Alex... this..." she looked at Alex.

"This is the effect of a peak-grade rank 1 restoration pill. It is the best pill for minor injuries like bruises. I'm sorry, Princess, I was too hard on you."

She shook her head, "It's fine. I learned many lessons from this training. But what is this peak-grade thing?"

"For pills, they have four gradings. Low-grade, mid-grade, top-grade, and peak-grade. The higher the grade, the higher the efficiency of the pill. Also, the harder the difficulty to make."

"Then how about that skin-refining pill you gave me?"

"Yes, it was a peak-grade skin-refining pill."

"Umm...Thank you, Alex," her heart became warm and a bit guilty. Alex gave her something precious so easily. She was very thankful to Alex.

"Don't mind it, Princess," Alex smiled.

"Then, can we practice like this again?"

"The next batch of the ingredients will be delivered the day after tomorrow. So tomorrow, we can practice like this again."

"Okay," she smiled happily.

"Princess, how about you take a bath first."

"Ah..." she just noticed that she was sweating so much. She wanted to stand up, but her muscle was sore, she let out a weak groan "Ugh..."

Looking at this, Alex felt a bit guilty, and he helped her up.