Chapter 11: Pill Forging

As Nadran walked with the rest of the successful applicants toward the instructor, Zosal looked at him in derision. [Does he think he can just waltz in here without actually passing? There's no way the teachers would overlook that. Are you trying to get in trouble?]

Zosal's expression changed, however, when that commoner successfully entered the next room without being stopped or called out. [How could the instructors miss that he came in too? Unless…] He suddenly stopped, almost causing the person behind him to bump into his back.

[No way, he couldn't be…] Zosal thought in disbelief. [He was one of the people who placed in the top two? One of the dark horses that nobody recognized? How is that possible?!]

He looked over at Nadran again, who was calmly reading as he walked over to one of the benches in the second room before sitting down, only sparing a cursory glance at his surroundings. [He's just reading nonstop, ignoring everything else. Wait, maybe he always spends all of his time reading, and so that's why he knows a ton of information about all sorts of herbs. In that case, he must have chosen that book to mess with us, to make us underestimate him. Yeah, that makes sense. In that case though, he likely spent all of his time on theory in order to be able to score that high, and thus he has very little practical experience due to a lack of time or money.] Zosal smiled, regaining his lost confidence. [Well, the second test will reveal your incompetence. After all, it is a practical test, and is not just theory like the first test. I can't wait to see your despairing expression…]

Nadran continued reading, unaware of Zosal's speculations and malicious thoughts. He hadn't had a chance to read this book before coming to the test, having been too busy reading other books and trying out what he learned. Thus, he decided that he should read through it now, while he had the free time to do so.

In the past, Nadran had not been as dedicated and studious as he was now. While he had still worked hard, it was not to this extent. With his father's injury and the incidents with the Evegarts, though, his outlook had undergone a radical change. He realized that unless he put in more effort than anyone else, him and his family would surely be hurt or killed by others who were so strong that he could not oppose them. It is one thing to understand this concept, but it is another thing altogether to experience this happening to his family personally, to almost lose someone he loved because he lacked the strength to protect them. This motivation had caused Nadran to devote every waking moment to getting stronger and more knowledgeable.

Nadran's reading was soon interrupted by the lead instructor, who began speaking once more. "The second test is to create a pill through alchemy. It must be at least at the mid slate tier, but any pill is acceptable, as long as you make it yourself with no help. After you make the pill, the instructors will judge your pill, taking into consideration quality, quantity, grade, and difficulty of creation. Those who meet the standards of the examiners will pass the test and be admitted into Mirror Dragon Academy."

It could be seen from this just how difficult it was to become an alchemist at this prestigious academy. The baseline was the ability to craft a mid slate pill, and even accomplishing that was not sufficient to pass if the quality of the pill was not noteworthy. It must be said, the difficulty of crafting a mid slate pill was substantially higher than casting a mid slate sigil. Sigils could generally be executed with a few seconds of concentration, and while learning them was no simple feat, it was still generally considered less demanding than alchemy. Alchemy was an art where a high level of concentration had to be maintained for minutes, or even hours at a time. One mistake resulted in failure. This concentration requirement, in addition to the vast knowledge and experience that was needed, meant that even the simplest pills were no joke to create.

Nadran heard the details of the task set before him and frowned. He had mostly been practicing with low slate pills, so this could prove to be a bit troublesome. [I hope I don't make a mistake due to my unfamiliarity with the process,] Nadran thought as he decided on what pill to create. He only had access to the absolute basic pill formulas, since, as with powerful sigil diagrams and cultivation manuals, the more uncommon pill formulas were often closely guarded by their owners. Nonetheless, the public library still had a few mid slate pill formulas, which was sufficient for Nadran's needs at this point. [Once I get accepted, I hope I'll be able to get some higher quality pill recipes to use. I can't proceed very far in alchemy without more complex and valuable formulas.]

"Since pill forging requires more space than a written exam, we will divide everyone into several groups," the head teacher explained. "Each group will enter the pill forge room together, and each person will create their own pill for us to inspect. There is enough space for everyone in a given group to work at the same time without any interruptions. Also, I don't think I need to say this, but we will be watching you as you forge your pills. Any attempts to aid or sabotage the other examinees will result in immediate disqualification."

Nadran waited calmly as the groups were decided by the instructors. Nadran ended up in group 6, the final group. After hearing this, Nadran began reading once more, not wanting to waste a moment.

In the meantime, the first group of 20 people entered the pill forge room. They spread out to the different pill forges, most examining their equipment before they began. They then moved over to the sets of herbs that lined one side of the room, moving among them as they picked out the ones that they needed. The herbs were carefully weighed, then carried over to the pill forges.

The academy had provided the most common type of pill forge, the cauldron. These charcoal-black cauldrons were more than 4 feet in diameter, standing on a small set of legs to elevate their bottoms off the tables. These high slate grade cauldrons were incomparable to the mundane cooking pot Nadran had been using. They had strong insulation effects, sides that trapped the herbs' energy inside without letting it seep out, and they were resistant to corrosion from powerful herbs. Just the fact that 20 high slate cauldrons could be casually produced by the academy for an entrance examination showed just how strong Mirror Dragon Academy was, or perhaps how highly they valued talented new alchemists.

Nadran looked up from his book to watch the examinees preparing, and decided to see if he could identify any of the pills that were being created. It seemed that most of the pills were being made from private recipes that nobles or powerful figures had access to, but there were a couple Nadran recognized.

[Based on the herbs he's collecting, that guy is most likely making a 3-Bell Unsealing Pill. It serves to aid those who have impaired muscle movement, whether it is from a low-level curse, tissue damage, or simply from old age. It loosens and repairs the muscles, unsealing their movement options. It can also be used when uninjured to further increase someone's movement options beyond the norm, but the effects are less pronounced. Upon consumption, the one who eats it hears the sound of bells tolling within their ears, hence the name. Let's see, it also… wait, what is he doing?]

Nadran interrupted his little self-testing session when he noticed something was amiss. [That guy took way too many String Berries. The 3-Bell Unsealing Pill only calls for 4.5 grams, but he took just under 5 grams by the looks of it. Looking at the ingredients and the amounts he gathered, my prediction of what he's making should be right, but if that's the case… this could result in an explosive failure.]

Alchemy relied heavily on exact proportions between the herbs. Alchemical herbs often had strong, strange, or unique effects, and these traits needed to be properly balanced out when someone is combining these different herbs into a single pill. If this delicate equilibrium is not achieved, the pill will almost always fail to form, sometimes with explosive results.

Realizing that there was not much for him to gain by watching further, Nadran went back to reading, keeping a mental countdown in the back of his head. People who made mistakes like this were not worth his time.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people sat in the spectator stands, watching excitedly as the pill forging processes began. "Look how quickly they're able to measure the ingredients," one spectator exclaimed, looking on in admiration. He always took nearly half an hour to measure out the right amounts, but the people in the second phase of the exam almost all finished the measuring of ingredients in less than ten minutes.

"Yeah. Within the participants of the second phase of the exam are some of the most alchemically talented people in the city who have yet to join an academy or similar force," his friend replied. "Many are still so young, but they are still able to forge at this level. They will surely be influential figures in the future, even if they don't pass."

Most of the examinees who were waiting for their turn were also watching, but their responses were more muted than the spectators. After all, they had their pride and at least some degree of confidence in their own abilities. Besides, almost nobody felt that they were inferior to everyone who was currently taking the test. Of course, Nadran and Noctis were exceptions, completely ignoring the happenings as they read and slept, respectively.

[9, 8, 7, 6,] Nadran continued his mental countdown. [5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.] As he reached zero, he put down the book he was reading, covering his ears with an irritated expression.

This action got the attention of numerous other examinees, who were confused by Nadran's inexplicable actions. They listened carefully, but didn't hear any noise that they felt would warrant such an action. "What is he doin-" someone began to speak, when suddenly a loud bang stopped him short.

The sound was deafening, and everyone clutched their ears, wincing as they looked over to see the source. One of the test-takers was lying flat on his back, face covered in ash. He started to stand up, wincing, and looked at the cauldron he had been forging in. Black smoke was billowing from the top, and it was clear that the pills he had been working on were completely ruined.

One of the instructors looked at the young man, clearly unimpressed, before informing him that he had failed. He walked dejectedly out of the room, avoiding eye contact as he quickly left the building.

"Wow, that scared me," the person who had been interrupted by the explosion commented, looking over as one of the instructors called over a helper to clean out the cauldron before the next person would need to use it.

"Yeah, alchemy really isn't something to be taken lightly. If you mess up, it could end in disaster," his friend commented. "I heard that mistakes for higher level pills are even more dangerous. If you're not careful, you could lose your life or be crippled."

"Scary stuff. Wait!" the boy suddenly gasped and looked over at Nadran, who was reading the alchemy book once again. "Could he have known…?"

"What? How could he have known that someone's pill would explode right then?" the friend protested. "He must have just gotten lucky."

The first boy did not look convinced, but didn't respond, instead looking around to see that Noctis was still asleep, not having been woken by the sound of the explosion. [How could he have possibly slept through such a loud sound?] He sighed, shaking his head. "This exam has a couple weird people in it."

Meanwhile, the first round of pills were just finishing, and the examiners inspected the finished products. To the dismay and surprise of many, none of the 20 participants in the first round passed.

"It truly is difficult to become an alchemist of Mirror Dragon Academy," one of the examinees said despondently. They had been so confident in their ability to pass, and yet they could not pass the final hurdle. It was incredibly frustrating, which was only partially mitigated by the fact that none of the other first-round participants had passed, either.

The exam continued on, with only a single person passing in the second round. 1 pass out of 40 candidates, this success rate was truly too low, especially since this was after the written test, which had already screened out 80% of the participants.

Zosal did not lose his confidence from these success rates, though. He walked smugly over to Nadran and spoke loudly. "It seems like you aren't aware of how far behind you are and think we aren't worth your time, but I will show you the truth. Watch my performance; I will show you how a true alchemist works."

As Zosal sauntered away toward the door to join the third round of the test, Nadran blinked, feeling wronged. [Does he think I'm picking a fight or something? I've literally just been sitting here and reading!]