Chapter 264 – Proudheart

The library didn’t have any windows, so Percy had to rely on the students coming in every afternoon to keep track of time. Over the past few days, he’d skimmed through the books with very few breaks, only stopping when he estimated it was the morning before the class. Granted, he should still have a couple hours left, but he didn’t want to cut it too close.

‘It’ll probably serve me better to give myself a chance to unwind.’

Picking the pile of empty food containers up from the table, he walked up to a trash can by the corner of the room, shoving the bags inside. Next, he returned the books to their shelves, neatly arranging them before waving the librarian goodbye. On the way to the dormitory, he couldn’t help but reflect upon his recent progress.

‘I’ve learned a ton, but nowhere near enough…’ he sighed.

Last time, Dugris had mostly stuck to methodology and the course’s curriculum, except for a few tougher questions here and there that skirted the lines a little. But Percy was under no delusion the petty teacher would be as courteous today.

And, truth be told, if Dugris truly wanted to catch him off, Percy wouldn’t be able to stop him. Not even the oldest and wisest alchemists knew of all the ingredients on Felmara. Certainly not the countless ways in which they could be mixed. Hell, Percy had encountered dozens of recipes on healing potions alone – just the liquid variants, excluding any inhalables or solids.

Consequently, most alchemists resigned to learning only what was immediately relevant to them, taking into account their goals as well as the resources they had access to. Similarly, Percy had opted to expand his knowledge base more broadly, focusing on understanding what was possible on Felmara rather than specifics.

‘Hopefully he won’t go too far.’

Failing him for being unable to elaborate on the 13 different ways in which bazman flowers could be brewed into cooling lotions would be too obvious even for him.

What worried Percy a little more than the theory were any potential questions on the practical side of things. Last time, he’d managed to get through those due to his experience, but he’d never actually worked with the restructuring principle before, so he had plenty of gaps there.

Alas, he’d already prepared as best as he could. The rest would be up to chance…

‘My priority right now is to make sure I don’t fall asleep in the middle of the class.’ he realized, fighting to keep his eyelids open.

Percy put the three-pronged approach he’d decided on beforehand into action. First, he stopped by the restroom, splashing some cold water on his face. Next, he dropped by the cafeteria – the place was completely empty at this time – grabbing a couple packs of ranki beans from the vending machine. The plan was to eat one now and another right before the class started. Finally, he walked out of the building, hoping that the cold breeze would help knock the last traces of sleep out of his system.

The sky was still dark, neither of the twin suns having risen yet. However, the faint radiance of Felmara’s three moons, coupled with the luminescent flowers in the garden helped Percy see where he stepped. Strolling along the cobblestone paths, he travelled farther than he had with Klatz and Lyn the other day. He circled the perimeter of the academy, examining more of the school’s grounds as he enjoyed breathing in some fresh air for the first time in days.

‘That’s one big statue!’ he noted at some point, his eyes widening at the sight before him.

The statue was tens of metres tall, towering far above him. Even more astonishingly, it was made almost entirely out of solid gold, except for a few gemstones decorating its clothes. The man struck a gallant pose, his chin up as he faced the stars above. His long mane would have certainly reached all the way to his lower back if left alone, but it split up into dozens of disparate strands instead, each seemingly fluttering in the wind.

Percy struggled to make out the man’s expression, as the statue was too tall for that – he barely reached its ankles. Still, from what little he could see, it looked like the artist had gone above and beyond, giving a lot of attention to the man’s features.

‘Rhaziel Proudheart, Ruler of Felmara and the patron deity of Proudheart Academy’ the inscription said.

Percy wasn’t too surprised, having read mentions of this guy in several places. Apparently, Felmara was a relatively small world, despite its technological advancements. They’d produced a bunch of gods throughout their history, but no titans. Consequently, the planet’s leader was simply the strongest god they had at any given time, granted the title Proudheart to denote his status. Other than him, Felmarans didn’t generally use surnames.

‘Oh well… good for him…’ he shrugged, already heading back to the building.

From what he’d heard, Rhaziel was personally involved with the academy, not only funding it out of his own pocket, but even keeping up with it regularly.

Honestly, Percy did find the notion of a god being so close to his people somewhat touching, having never encountered this before in his travels. Still, it didn’t matter much at the end of the day. He wouldn’t be here for long.

By the time he reached the lab, the first of the two suns was already visible outside the window. A few students had arrived too. Contrary to other classes like Pre-casting or Cosmic Studies, Alchemy students were supposed to get here early, to prepare their equipment.

Subconsciously, Percy averted his gaze. Needless to say, he hadn’t received the warmest reception from his classmates either last week. Of course, it wasn’t nearly as bad as the way Dugris had treated him, but the kids had also looked at him coldly, partly due to his host’s troubled past and partly due to his current attempts to breeze through their course.

‘And I bet they’re even more annoyed at me now, after he punished everyone alongside me…’

Percy made his way to one of the least conspicuous seats by the back of the room, trying not to draw too much attention. Not that he cared about what the others thought, but he wasn’t in the mood to deal with them right now.

Yet, his hopes were dashed when one of his classmates got up, walking up to him. Percy frowned, bracing for the inevitable confrontation, though the boy’s words surprised him.

“Man, don’t tell me you stayed up all week, studying for this?”

Percy creased his brow. There wasn’t any mockery or irritation in the kid’s tone. Just curiosity. Maybe even a smidge of compassion.

“What gave it away?” he asked.

The boy chuckled.

“The bags under your eyes. The pack of ranki beans you’re crushing in your hand. Your hair is a mess. Your eyelids are twitching… Need I go on?”

“Ha. You got me there.” Percy laughed out too, not sensing any hostility. “It’s not like he gave me much of a choice.”

Pulling a chair from a nearby table, the kid sat across him, a few others approaching them too.

“That’s hardcore! You know you don’t have to bend over backwards to please him, right? Even if he rejects you, you can request to join the class next term under a different teacher. I bet they’ll be more reasonable.”

“Yeah, anyone who doesn’t have a stick up his ass will realize you’re qualified for the class.” a girl jumped into the conversation, the others nodding along.

“Thanks for the votes of confidence, but I’d rather not waste a term if I can help it.” Percy replied, still weirded out by their friendly tone. “Say, aren’t you annoyed at me for last week? You all had to sit here for hours listening to him interrogate me.”

The first boy shrugged.

“Why should we blame you for that? We aren’t dumb. It was clear within the first twenty minutes you knew what you were talking about. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the asshole in the story.”

“I admit I was initially annoyed at you.” the girl said. “You look quite young, and this is a tough course. At first, I really thought you were making a mockery of the subject. But anyone who listened to you with an open mind could tell you’ve studied very hard to be here.”

“More than studied!” somebody else exclaimed, some genuine admiration seeping into his voice. “He even brewed the potion right in the afternoon! Only him, Jun and Korin managed!”

The first boy frowned at the sound of that.

“Hey, in my defence, I can brew healing potions too! Just not with a splitting headache!”

Everyone laughed, Percy with them. Apparently, the kids weren’t that bad. Dugris’s efforts to turn the whole class against him had clearly backfired spectacularly.

“Say, do you think you’ve got this?” the girl suddenly asked.

Percy sighed.

“I did my best, but there’s only so much one can cram in a few days. I guess it all depends on how badly he wants to get rid of me…”

“No way!” a boy shook his head. “If he doesn’t give you the ok, I’ll go complain to the registration office!”

“Me too!” “Count me in.” the others concurred.

“Thanks for the backup, but what’s in it for you?” Percy asked.

The girl was the one to reply this time.

“Well, it’s just a question of fairness, isn’t it? If somebody as knowledgeable as you doesn’t make the course, then what are the rest of us even doing here? The academy has regulations to prevent things like this from happening. Teachers aren’t supposed to just bully any student they dislike.”

Percy was about to thank her, when the door closed shut. Dugris was finally here.

The students all returned to their seats, as Percy prepared himself for the second round of the interrogation. In the end, he hadn’t eaten the second pack of beans. Hopefully he’d last through the day…

Placing his stuff on his desk, Dugris looked around the room, his eyes slightly less stern than last time.

“Before we begin today’s class, there’s something I want to say.”

Percy tensed up, steeling himself for the test. Yet, the man’s next words caused his jaw to slacken.

“I want to apologize to everyone in general, and to Leo in particular, for my actions last week. My behaviour was truly unbecoming of my position as a teacher.”