Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"Please be seated. As I've already said, I'll not waste my time explaining the basics of potioneering. Some of you have passed my entrance test. Others need to take up private lectures conducted by other professors if they wish to learn the basics."

Levine de Montmorency started her first lecture in the most straightforward manner possible. Of course, Eren and Jake were there among the seated students.

"The first year is only the beginning for you guys as students of LA. But I expect my students to have elementary knowledge in my field from an early age. That's because five years are far too short for me to bestow all that I could teach you.

The field of potion-making is as mysterious as the ranking journey itself. It needs a specific skill set that isn't found in every student of the subject. And that's a good thing for those who have it.

Potioneering is one of the most lucrative businesses out there. That is if you're a good potioneer and know what you're doing. I can't teach you how to do business. At least I don't want to. But I can certainly guide you in the right direction when it comes to the art of concoctions.

The higher you climb the ranking ladder, the more you realize the wondrous nature of mana. It is the genesis of all concepts that are related to mana. And as these concepts, spread across various fields, have the same origin, it becomes possible for an accomplished expert in one particular field to mimic the expertise of someone in the other.

Take our field for example. Potioneering at the rudimentary level is supposed to be limited to be used by rankers and animals. Basically by the living beings. But at its advanced levels, it can be used to strengthen a normal weapon in such a way that it becomes an artefact.

Use potioneering in combination with specific spells and the concoction will spread on any surface to act like an array. The elemental effects of spells can also be trapped into a concoction so that they can be used as instant spell executions.

At its profound level, the potioneering can be used to advance quickly and steadily in your ranking journey without having any adverse effects. In short, the field is as vast as an ocean. Or probably more than that. It is only limited by the rankers' talents and imagination.

But you are far from achieving any of the marvellous feats in the field of potioneering yet. What you need right now is a strong start. The very first concoction formula I'll be teaching you guys is a potion named Novice Speed Boost.

As the name suggests, it is a potion intended for Novice rankers. It temporarily raises the AGI stat of a ranker upon consumption. The effect and potion's active time would depend upon its quality. There are no drawbacks other than the fact that one would feel exhausted after the potion's effect wears off.

As you must have known by now, this Novice potion is one of the most basic concoctions Novice rankers carry in their person all the time. Since it could stay potent for months on end, it has a very high stick-up value.

Novice Speed Boost is an element neutral potion. Therefore, it can be used by anyone. But it is frequently used by close combat experts to enhance their natural advantage.

Now about the potion's formula itself…."

Levine started describing the potion's formula and its intricacies. She was very detailed in her explanations. And she also told her students about any possible mishaps that could happen during the process.

Most students present were glad that they had chosen to get lectured by Levine over other professors. Usually, other potion-maker professors would start by teaching about elementary potions. But here, Levine had given them a recipe for a Novice potion right in her first-ever lecture.

This was the most dream-like situation for students who wanted to make their career in the field. That's because they could immediately start the practice for a Novice potion as soon as the lecture got over.

These potioneer-wanna-be students didn't have many ways to earn Merps. But that could all change if they were able to make Novice potions. They could sell such potions to LA in exchange for Merps or they could trade them with other students.

This was the biggest reason for Eren to join Levine's private lectures. He could immediately start to encash his Novice pioneering skills while building a better foundation. He already knew about the potion's formula from his previous timelines. But he listened to the Adapt ranker's explanation with absolute attention.

Eren could now see that Levine was a better teacher than most Adapt level rankers teaching across various fields. Her suggestions were precise and her solutions to various potion-related problems were on-point.

Levine then talked about various aspects of Novice potioneering that one needed to pay attention to no matter what kind of potion they intended to make. Her lecture stretched till 2 PM, after which she decided to finish it by stating some precautions.

The students left the lecture room. Eren told Jake to do the same and that he'd catch up with his team in the canteen after some time.

"Hello, madam Montmorency. My name is Eren Idril. Honoured to be attending your lectures. I was wondering if I could have some of your time?"

Eren greeted Levine with a light bow. The latter stopped reading from her notes and looked at the origin of the interruption:

"What is it, boy? You should have asked about the doubts related to…"

"I don't have any doubts related to the potion, madam…"

"Miss Levine is fine."

"Alright. Miss Levine, kindly teach me the modified recipe you came up with instead of the standardized recipe you just explained."

"Eren boy, do you know what you are asking?"

"Of course, Miss Levine. I was trained by a C-Rank healer and a potioneer before coming into LA. So I know what it means for a potioneer to teach their modified recipes to anyone.

I'm confident enough in my skills as a Novice potioneer. Plus, I already know about the standardized recipes of all stat value enhancement potions.

What I want are the modified recipes of the same from you so that I would be able to make higher-star variants. I'm ready to go through another round of tests if that can allow you to see me as a worthy disciple."

"It's not about your worthiness as a potioneer, Eren..."

Of course, Levine was going to reject Eren. the guy just popped out from nowhere and asked her to take him as her disciple. A disciple-master relationship was even more personal than what apprenticeship would entail.

An apprenticeship ends when a student graduates or leaves LA. But discipleship could stay active for a lifetime. Unless of course if and when a disciple leaves their master behind.

An apprenticeship was a professional way of forming a mutually beneficial relationship between higher and lower level rankers. Although it was more up and personal than professor-student interactions, it still had limits. Moreover, it would usually have an expiry date.

But discipleship didn't have such an end date in a traditional sense. The rankers' custom dictated disciple should be considered as your kin. The disciples also had moral obligations to listen to their masters even if they lost contact for years on end.

So it was natural that Levine would reject Eren's ludicrous demands. But the butcher interrupted her before she could do so:

"Please hear me out, Miss Levine. I'm not telling you to take me as your disciple without testing my worth.

I also know that you are looking for a rare C-Rank ingredient called Malva Hibiscus."

Eren said that and lightly smiled at Levine before continuing:

"And I know where to find it!"

Author's Note: Some references are taken from chapter 19. Give it a quick read if there's anything you didn't understand. ;)