Challenge The Queen

"Lotus, you came up with all this?" Crewel looked upon him and his poison apple experiment in bewilderment and frowned, "Now, I can see why the advisor asked me to supervise today's trial..."

Without any concerns for failures, Lotus nodded, "I asked him to do this because the product would be something dangerous and require constant supervision. Mister Crewel is our school's alchemy teacher and taught Magical Pharmaceuticals course in our school. That's why we believe it would be better to ask Mister Crewel to supervise today's trial for the safety of those watching my experiment. Because the testing process also had its dangers, I asked the club advisor to help watch over my experimentation as our senior. Rather I came up with all this myself, the club advisor can attest to that."

"You are very prepared for this..." Crewel nodded with a heavy sigh as he acknowledged her product as being the real deal, "You've created the actual poison apple and the new antidote to the poison."

"When alchemist and scientist draw conclusions and hypothesis, they must be accountable for their own safety and experimentations. An error isn't allow not because of perfection, but for our own safety. One error has a high chance for an accident to occur. There are people who have lost their limbs and even lives just because they dropped their guard. What I've prepared these couple of weeks are just the normal procedures."

"Then, why not present the new antidote in the next trial?" Crewel responded curiously.

"Because it is my responsibility to create an antidote to any poison I created or recreated by my hands." Lotus responded, "There's a common knowledge back in my birthplace. If a person knows how to create the medicine or poison, they must also know how to create the opposing factor. So, naturally, I have to do this."

Crewel looked to the boy hiding behind his goggles and mask to see the set of purple eyes staring back at him and his eyes widen in shock but he nodded with a smirk on his face, "Well said... Is there any other questions?"

"I do!" One of them cried out, "Why did you skin the lizard's tail instead of just putting in the tail?"

"Because the tail as a whole contains flesh and blood. These substances will influence the ratio of the concoction. You won't know what affects would happen if you throw in the crushed berries after that. the skin is toxic, but, during testing, I found that the flesh of the tail is just that. Flesh. If you dumb in the flesh into a pot, it'll do what other hotpots will do and absorb a good portion of the poison of the nightshade berry ruining the ratio. You'll also have to separate the scum from the boiled blood on the surface to maintain the potency of the toxins reducing the ratio that was initially prepared..."

As the questions and answers continued, Trey breathed a sigh releasing all of the tension he held before he pushed back his goggles and sighed, "That Lotus is really ambitious. There's still a couple more trials to go and he's already pulled out his trump card..."

"That's true..." Epel muttered in bewilderment, "Still, I can't help but find it very shocking... The beautiful queen's poison apple is so difficult to recreate and he did it, even when using a different recipe. Potion and dancing... He's so really talented..."

"Hm..." Vil spoke up with a frown, "For what purpose did you want to use the poison apple as your first trial's experiment? Are you challenging the Beautiful Queen's achievements?"

Hearing this, Lotus huffed, "Of course. Are we not suppose to? Or do you want to make her disappointed with what we've been able to do as far and not to be able to recreate her apple when she could've made a hundred more by now and even a brand of cosmetics that can't be matched by others."

There was a look of shocked faces on their faces as she continued without hesitation, "The reason why I chose this experiment is because I'm reminded of the past and the present. As you know, I am fascinated by herbal medicine. Without the advanced knowledge of science, the Beautiful Queen pulled in all her efforts to create a poison apple capable of putting its consumer into an eternal slumber. She didn't use any chemicals or machines. A book, her cauldron, and herself was all she needed to begin formulating concepts and formulas."

"Today, I've recreated a poisoned apple. An achievement that others of her time could not achieve. However, if she were here today and gained our knowledge, she would definitely make many more breakthroughs to today's alchemy compared to the past." She frowned and continued, "She is truly the prodigy of her time and a model for Pomefiore. However, there was something I wanted to demonstrate by creating another poison apple. Her achievement is still a milestone in the field of alchemy. A milestone that only the future generation can dare to touch. With her own creativity and knowledge, she created the poison apple. You say that I am challenging her majesty, but there's something I want to ask. If she were here today and saw that, even after having advanced technology and attained so much knowledge called science, no one have been able to recreate her apple, would she not have been dismayed that after all this time, there is no one that can try to match her in this field called alchemy? Letting your curiosity and ambition be the reason for your unrelenting efforts to achieve your goals. The Beautiful Queen wanted a poison apple, so she created one herself. However, if she wanted to create a batch of blue poisonous roses, she can do that too. She spent all of her efforts to create a poisoned apple out of what they have during that time. Then, during the next trial, I'll teach a raven to understand human language and talk like one too. I promise to show it to everyone who a raven's mind work."

"Is that your next experiment?" Vil responded with a frown, "You're not going to try and create life?"

Lotus huffed in disdain, "I'm only curious in how far I can dive into alchemy and decided to play around with some poisons and spices. I have no intention of breaking any natural laws set by gods or any higher powers of that sort in this world. Do you want to challenge that? If so, I'll just advise you to stop before you start."

"Are you afraid to challenge that, then?"

"Of course."

The others were flabbergasted when they heard her blunt answer.

"No matter how ambitious I am, I certainly do not have the power or stupidity to challenge them as a human." Lotus said without flinching, "Or do you want to go back and listen to our alchemy textbooks to hear what happened to those who have tried to do so? The only ones that have succeeded had to receive help from a higher power to be able to gain the chance to achieve such a thing."

There were silent whispers amongst the group when they heard this. It was true! Aside from the legends of the wooden puppet granted a chance by the wishing star, there was no other successful stories throughout history!

As it turns out, one needs to also maintain a sense of morality and humanity when they dive into the field of science and alchemy!

Mister Crewel clapped his hands and sighed, "All right. That's enough. Please clean up your materials and prepare for the next candidate... Club advisor, make sure that those harmful substances are disposed of properly. Who is next?"

There was a moment of silence as a hand raised up in the air silently, "I... I'd like to resign from the trials..."

"M-Me too..."

"Gr... I hate to say this... There's no way I can compete against a poison apple of that level either!"

One by one, those who signed up for the trials quickly trickled away till there was only one participant left and that was... her!

"Wh-What sort of situation is this?!" Trey and the other third year students cried out in disbelief when they saw the scene before them.

"With just this one candidate left..." Epel looked on his shock when he heard this as he is taken aback in shock, "Lotus basically is the next advisor and president of the club!"

"This is crazy..." Trey sighed as he struggled to regather his composure with a look of discomfort, "But, it makes sense... Everyone is challenging against a replica of the Beautiful Queen's poison apple... Still, seeing it is still shocking... It's a like a royal flush on the first turn..."

"Magnificent indeed..." Rook huffed quietly in silence with a face decorated with a set of narrow eyes and a sneer, "Monsieur Snowfox is indeed a sly fox..."

Vil shook his head and sighed in dismay when he heard her speak up in bewilderment, "Huh? Seriously... does that mean I don't get to bring in the raven, then?"

"Huh?"

They all looked to her flabberghasted as she continued, "I've already begun that project in the greenhouse this week after catching him. The guy was already to clever and can say his greetings and a small conversation over the weather and what he wants to eat-"

"NO!"