Second Assessment Begins!

Albert's trio headed towards a cold area with dense shrubbery.

The young apprentices immediately recognized which herb they were going for and they quickly "accidentally" intercepted them while the other young apprentices took all of the frostglaze flower.

Albert's trio showed an "enraged" expression and said

"That's our herb!"

"Hmm? What do you mean? We got it first so it's ours!

"You intercepted us so we couldn't take it!"

"Hahahaha what do you mean?! It was an accident!"

"Hmmph! This better not happen again or we'll report you!" Marie said

The young apprentices merely chuckled after hearing what Marie said.

Albert's trio stopped arguing with the young apprentices after realizing that they had no intention of giving them the herbs.

However, unbeknownst to the young apprentices, Albert's trio smiled once they left the area.

The next area where the three of them were headed was an overwhelmingly hot area where a human couldn't stay for more than half an hour.

Again, after spotting the herb, an "accident" happened and the three of them were blocked from taking the alchemy ingredient.

At a huge office inside the praetorian alchemy headquarters, a large group of examiners and their superiors were watching the second assessment through a screen.

"Sir! Let me go in and disqualify these youngsters! Not only are they bothering other competitors on purpose, but they are also disregarding the rules!

An examiner said. This examiner seems to have taken a liking to Albert's trio after seeing their performance on the first assessment.

"Hmmph! It was clearly an accident! You dare disqualify the grandmasters' apprentices due to an unexpected accident?!"

Another examiner said.

A conflict began among the examiners due to the talented young men and women. Fortunately, before the situation escalated, the old man handling the examination spoke.

"Enough! We shall observe them more before taking action!"

After hearing the old man's words, the examiners who took the side of the young apprentices smiled in satisfaction while the examiners who took Albert's trio's side were dejected.

Back at the Grand Alchemy Forest, the young apprentices were still tailing Albert's trio.

By this time, they'd already stolen at least 6 kinds of herbs and there were only three and a half hours left.

"H-Hey, Corey, should we continue to trail them? After seeing the herbs they were going for, I still can't think of any potion to craft. Shouldn't we go our own way and look for our own ingredients? We might not finish crafting a potion on time if we continue this…"

"What are you saying? Why are you so scared? Then what about them? They don't have a single herb!"

After thinking about it, they indeed still have the advantage. They already had a few herbs and still had three and a half hours.

A few more minutes later, Albert's trio arrived at the 7th spot.

"Yin herb! I finally identified what potion they were trying to make! Hahahahaha! You think you can make us give up by seemingly going for "random" herbs?!"

"Oh! As expected of Corey! Enlighten us! What are they trying to craft?"

"They're trying to craft a strong blight-purifying potion! The key point is the frostglaze flower! They tried to fool us and make us give up before we got to the yin herb!"

"The combination of the 6 herbs alone certainly wasn't enough, however, with the yin herb, the frostglaze flower can become an alternative to the ingredient called frozendew grass!"

The man named Corey proudly declared.

"I see! Although I haven't tried it myself yet, it is indeed feasible!"

The young apprentices quickly stole the yin herb from Albert's trio.

Meanwhile, at the headquarters…

"Hahahaha! In the end, the apprentices were still too much for those no-name youngsters! That's what you get for trying to obtain something that isn't for you!"

An examiner said

The other examiners who were on Albert's trio's side were downcast. They were also alchemy experts and they knew that the guy named Corey was right.

The old man in charge of the examination didn't want them to disqualify the young apprentices so there was nothing they could do.

"Hahahahaha! We've figured you guys out! There's no way you can pass the second assessment now! Maybe try again next year!"

After getting the yin herb, the young apprentices laughed at Albert's trio before leaving. 

They got all the materials they needed to craft a strong blight-purifying potion and there were only three hours left. They won't be able to finish their own potions if they don't leave now.

Albert craned his neck to check if the young apprentices were indeed gone.

"Pfffft! Hahahahahahahahaha!"

"Hahahahaha oh Albert! You're so evil!"

Albert's trio was unexpectedly happy after seeing that their plan was a success.

However, they had to cut their celebration short because time was running out. 

Fortunately, they already knew the real locations of all the herbs that they needed as ingredients. They weren't just roaming around earlier while letting the young apprentices steal the other herbs.

The three of them were actually passing through certain places to check the locations of the real herbs so all they had to do now was sprint back to those places to retrieve the herbs.

Albert's trio quickly sprang into action and retrieved the herbs that they needed before heading back to the workshop.

"Phew! That's everything. We still have 2 hours, way more than enough time to teach those spoiled apprentices a lesson!"