LGT Chapter 16

Professor Edwin Nolan led the students into a basement room filled with strange machines. The tables were cluttered with papers covered in mysterious formulas, and the walls were lined with diagrams illustrating the progress of various experiments. It was the quintessential alchemist’s laboratory.

Adrian Heather entered the room, marveling at the bizarre and fascinating equipment. The freshmen reluctantly followed, their feet dragging with hesitation. Mikhail Rous Inehart was the last to enter, clearly unimpressed. The room, with its disorganized, chaotic appearance, seemed dangerous and dirty to those unaccustomed to such spaces.

Suddenly—

Crash!

A sharp sound echoed, causing the students to instinctively cover their ears. A glass bottle had shattered, spilling a suspicious green liquid. The bubbling sound they had heard earlier had finally resulted in the inevitable.

“Oh dear. Step aside for a moment, please,” Professor Edwin said as he waded through the gathered students to approach the table. The green liquid oozed out of the broken glass, emitting wisps of smoke and a hissing sound as it spread across the table. He motioned for the students to back away, and they quickly retreated to the far corners of the lab.

“…Well, it looks like we’ve got a perfect teaching moment here,” Edwin remarked, trying to maintain an air of confidence, even though the scene was anything but orderly. The liquid continued to spill, sizzling as it moved across the table.

The professor grabbed a metal pencil holder from the table, dumping its contents haphazardly onto the floor. Pens and pencils clattered everywhere. Edwin then tilted the holder toward the oozing green liquid, covering the opening with his hand to block out any light.

“This is how you deal with something like this,” he explained.

The green liquid began to writhe and move, as though it were alive, slowly retreating and slithering into the dark opening of the metal container. The students stared, wide-eyed, at the strange sight. As the last of the liquid entered the container, the professor poked the goo with one of the fallen pens. It left an indentation for a moment before the slime smoothed over again.

“Let me introduce you to a substance discovered by the scholar Mason Hower. It’s a type of algae, and to make it easier to remember, we call it ‘Mason Algae.’” Edwin gave the students a playful wink. “This algae is a remarkably resilient organism. It can even survive in active, scalding undersea volcanoes. As you saw, it despises light.”

Once all the green goo was safely contained, Edwin sealed the makeshift container and gave it a little shake, as though he had just performed a magic trick.

“…Ta-da! A fascinating subject of research, don’t you think?”

A student near the back cautiously raised their hand—a young, bespectacled boy who looked particularly nervous. Professor Edwin glanced around and then nodded encouragingly, giving him permission to speak.

“Professor, why do we research algae like that?” the boy asked timidly.

“Hmm… why? Why do we study it, you ask? What’s your name, student?” Edwin seemed genuinely surprised by the question, tilting his head as he set the container down on the table.

“My name? …It’s Arthur Hailen,” the boy replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

The freshman, feeling suddenly timid after being asked for his name, replied in a soft voice.

“Arthur, imagine this,” Professor Edwin began, leaning on the table with both arms and locking eyes with Arthur Hailen, speaking with a firm, almost dramatic tone.

“Suppose you’re exploring an underwater cave and lose your way. It’s a deep, dark cave, and there’s no sign of life around you.”

The example was quite extreme, and Adrian, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, indulged the professor’s instructions and let his imagination follow.

“In the dark depths of the underwater cave, how would you find your way out? Arthur Hailen, you’re trapped! Oxygen is running low, and you need to find an exit, but there’s no obvious path. You swim endlessly through the cave, but…”

With a snap of his fingers, the professor continued.

“Without knowing about Mason’s Algae, Arthur Hailen would never find his way out and would die in that cave. Ah, but don’t worry, Arthur. This is just your imaginary self.” Edwin chuckled slightly before continuing. “However, if you had learned about Mason’s Algae in this class, you would have survived and made it home. You would discover this resilient life form clinging to the cracks in the rocks. Holding it in your hand, you would swim in the opposite direction from where the algae moves—until you finally reach the surface where sunlight breaks through. Congratulations, Arthur Hailen! You’ve made it home alive, thanks to Mason’s Algae.”

Arthur nodded awkwardly, his face uncertain. In a quiet voice, he muttered, “…Yes, I understand, professor.”

Alchemy, with its odd practicality, had a certain appeal to Adrian. He found this functional aspect of the subject intriguing. Professor Edwin continued his explanation of Mason’s Algae.

“If we apply the properties of this algae, the possibilities are endless. Curtains that move on their own when exposed to sunlight… self-cleaning aquariums…”

Edwin’s expression turned blank, and his examples began to sound more and more far-fetched. He seemed to realize this and quickly gathered himself.

“Well, those are the kinds of ideas that the market will figure out once we alchemists publish our findings. After that, it’s out of our hands,” he said with a shrug, stepping away from the table.

“Now, let me explain what you’ll need to prepare for the next alchemy class,” he said as he walked to the front of the room. The students, who had been huddled in the corner, began to cautiously move toward the tables, ready for the next instruction.

***

The first day of classes at the academy finally came to an end.

Taking advantage of the empty dorm room, Adrian returned to his room and immediately crouched down to check beneath his bed. He wanted to make sure the “All-Seeing Eye” stone was still safely hidden. Thankfully, the dull, unremarkable stone was exactly where he had left it.

Fixing his gaze on the unimpressive stone, Adrian took a deep breath. His hand reached out to slowly lift the insignificant object.

Huh?

…Had it gotten lighter?

The dragon gently placed the small stone onto his palm. Adrian brought it close to his brown eyes for a careful inspection. Is this Mikhail’s doing? He blew a soft breath over the stone, and slowly, glowing letters spelling “Adrian Heather” shimmered into view on its surface.

So, it is mine.

Adrian quickly retrieved the other stone from under the bed. Holding both in his hands, he could now better feel the difference in weight. Though the stone was still far heavier than Mikhail’s, it was noticeably lighter than it had been at the entrance ceremony.

He closed his eyes briefly, pulling a small amount of mana from his core to further inspect the stone. When he opened his eyes again, his golden irises, gleaming like starlight, mirrored the exact color of his golden hair. Despite using his draconic sight, the stone’s nature remained an enigma, even beyond the abilities of a noble dragon like him.

What did I do today?

Adrian racked his brain, trying to recall his actions. But to his frustration, he hadn’t done anything particularly noteworthy. This was troubling.

Not only was it alarming that the weight didn’t lessen after doing good deeds as it should have, but there was a bigger issue at hand—he hadn’t done any good deeds today, yet the stone had somehow become lighter. For a researcher, this was the worst kind of experiment result: completely inexplicable.

Just then, Adrian sensed a presence and quickly shoved the “All-Seeing Eye” stone back under the bed. The door burst open moments later.

Naturally, it was Mikhail.

As Mikhail entered, his gaze immediately fell on Adrian, who was crouching near the bed. When Adrian turned his head toward the door, his eyes briefly seemed to glow golden… but upon closer inspection, Mikhail saw that they were back to their usual soft brown.

“Do you have something to say?” Adrian asked, as if wondering why Mikhail was staring at him. Mikhail, without giving it much thought, passed by Adrian and dropped his belongings on his desk.

“If you’re cleaning the floor, do my side too,” Mikhail said flatly.

“What? I’m not cleaning,” Adrian replied, standing up and brushing off his knees.

“You’re lying on the floor, not cleaning? …Why?”

“…I’ll do my side first, and if I have time, I’ll get to yours,” Adrian muttered, deciding to grab the dorm’s cleaning supplies anyway. Since Mikhail had interrupted him, he figured he might as well make use of the moment. Adrian began to clean, noisily, as if venting his frustration.

The All-Seeing Eye? Yeah, right. It can’t even figure out my name properly, so what’s it actually ‘seeing’?