Chapter 39

"Good afternoon Prof. Novil!" Cat called out as soon as the professor's door opened. "We came here to play!"

"C-Cat, we're not just here to p-play!" Lycan stuttered from behind him.

"Ho-ho! What energetic students you have here!"

It was Grand Master Albert standing in the doorway, with his hands on his waist.

"Good afternoon, Grand Master Albert," I greeted him with a nod, is the professor here?"

"Welcome, please come in," Prof. Novil called us from inside. "I didn't think that all of you were planning to be alchemists," he remarked.

"I brought my friend Lycan to see your toys, professor!" Cat declared. "Can we play with them inside?"

"Well, if you can stay quiet while Master Albert talks with Patrick and Arman, then go right ahead," replied the professor.

The four off us entered the professor's room where he had prepared some tea and cookies for us, much to Cat's delight. We had a short snack before we entered a separate office while Cat and Lycan went with Prof. Novil to play with his perpetual motion machines.

"Hoh, so, where were we...?" Grand Master Albert said with a sigh as we sat around a low coffee table.

"About the apprenticeship, Grand Master Albert?" I reminded him.

"Ah, right, I want the two of you to start next week! And please, just call me master or simply sir."

"Don't we have to pass some kind of test, first?" Arman asked.

"Nope, no need, I prefer observing my apprentices in action," Grand Master Albert answered with a grin. "Now, as to what we were discussing earlier in Prof. Novil's class, I heard that you are already quite proficient in magic?" he said, looking at me.

"N-not really, Master Albert..." I answered meekly.

"Sir, sorry for being rude, but can we really trust you?" Arman suddenly blurted out. "As someone from an apothecary house in the capital, I know how students get dragged to the Ivory Tower. My grandfather, even I, get real frustrated whenever the apprentice we train for months, even years, are suddenly taken away to the Tower as soon as they manifest," he went on, "how can we make sure that you won't send us there one day?"

"Why would I send my alchemists to that blasted tower?" Grand Master Albert frowned at us. "You have no idea how many of my own protegees were lost to those bastards! Three, to be exact! I have no plan of sending them more!"

"Then, Master Albert, what did you mean when you told me that you were on my side?" I asked him.

The grand master grinned at me.

"I suppose you've met the third prince?"

My eyes widened at the mention of my senior.

"What about the third prince?" asked Arman.

"That's right, Master Albert, what is this talk about the third prince who is currently under probation in the Holy Temple?"

We turned to look at Prof. Novil who was staring daggers at the Grand Master.

"Oh, um... I mean..." Grand Master Albert stammered like a student being chastised by his teacher. "Sorry, professor..."

The Prof. Novil sighed and sat next to him.

"I guess you already know the truth, anyway," he told me, "but that's not what we're here for."

I was tempted to ask him what he thinks that we knew.

"We are here to talk about your apprenticeship, am I right?"

"Y-yes professor!" Arman and I answered in unison.

"Yes, that's right, professor!" Grand Master Albert answered with us.

"You haven't changed a bit since you were in here," Prof. Novil shook his head with a sigh.

"Neither have, you, professor," Grand Master Albert replied with a grin. "Anyway, we simply wish to bring back the old times, when mentors were true masters, and not horny, power tripping, damn brats out to create their own harems."

"Mind your words, Master Albert," the professor cleared his throat.

"Yes, yes, and in that, we are all at the same side!" the grand master concluded.

"I guess you're right," I replied with a smile, "my friends and I are glad that the rules in the student master-apprentice situation suggested by senior Nigellus was amended this year. At least, we are able to defend ourselves."

"That's right," Arman nodded. "It's a pity, though, that that bastard Nigellus refused our latest challenge!"

"Language, Arman," the professor reminded him.

"Sorry," Arman grinned.

"Anyway, enough of that," Grand Master Albert faced Arman. "Aren't you Master Fentibeau's grandson? I heard you're a pretty good apothecary yourself, do you make your own creams? Can you show me some of your work?"

"Well... actually..." Arman looked flustered and actually shy.

"Sir, the base cream I used for the Magic Mask was made by Arman," I told him. "He formulates his own skin care, hair cream, and essential oils as well."

"Hoh, is that so?" Master Albert pulled a familiar looking compact from his pocket. "I did notice that this cream has moisturizing properties, as well as masking effects for blocking the sun's harmful rays!"

"Oh, and did you see how it whitens the skin and evens out scars, blemishes, and skin discoloration?" Arman piped in. "That is actually a day cream I invented for walking under the heat of the sun!"

"Ho-ho, and the magic mask illusion?"

"We used it to hide Arman's beauty, so that the seniors would leave him be," I informed him.

"And you meant to use it only to put burn marks on the skin, right?" he asked me.

"That was the plan, Sir."

"Then I guess that's why you simply stopped there."

"What do you mean, Sir?" I asked.

In reply, Grand Master Albert touched both his cheeks and pulled his mustache and beard away!

"What the –!"

Arman and I were both surprised to see a clean-shaven man lying underneath all the masking illusion. He looked so much younger than his bearded counterpart!

"After I noticed the illusion spell in the cream, I tried to modify it myself. An illusion is anything you wish to show, after all. It doesn't necessarily need to be fixed on a certain image, like the illusion of burnt skin."

He opened the compact which was almost empty. He smeared an ample amount of the cream on his nose which suddenly grew longer and sprouted a hairy mole at the tip.

"As you can see, the unique way you interpret magic into equations, makes it so flexible, that you can mold it into something more than what it was intended to be," Grand Master Albert explained. "Sigils have fixed meaning, there's a sigil for fire, wind, water, and so on. Runes, on the other hand, are letters from an ancient writing. But you have combined both of them so seamlessly that even a non-magic alchemist such as myself can manipulate the mana in your equation and command it to do my exact bidding!"

"Okay... you've lost me at illusion spell..." said Arman with a groan.

"Let me explain it this way," Prof. Novil stepped in. "If a fire charm made with alchemy could be likened to a book with words permanently written on it, then fire magic created by a magician is like a play with live actors."

"The difference is, in a play, you can ad lib and create impromptu scenes that are not in the script," Grand Master Albert concluded.

"A magician's fire spell can be made to grow bigger and burn stronger..." I nodded in understanding.

"...But a fire charm made by an alchemist will only burn as much as the sigil dictates it to," continued Prof. Novil.

"Oh, so you're saying, this cream that Pat made with alchemy can be changed, too!" Arman brightened up in understanding. "It's just like real magic!"

"Exactly!" I was surprised when Grand Master Albert suddenly clasped my shoulders. "That's why I'm here to learn just how you came up with the idea of such a unique way to write formulas and equations! In fact, I'm willing to be apprenticed under you, Master Patrick! We can start right now if you have the time!"

"Master Albert," Prof. Novil cleared his throat once more.

"Ah, that's right, apprenticeships can only start officially next week," Grand Master Albert said with a frown.

"That's not it..." the professor shook his head and sighed.

"I don't think I am qualified enough to have you as an apprentice, Sir," I rationalized.

"Why not? I certainly have a lot to learn from you!" he insisted.

"B-but to teach a grand master..."

Grand Master Albert burst out laughing, making my face burn with embarrassment.

"Ah, Patric, I like you already," he said, wiping a tear from his eye.

"You shouldn't tease the students, Albert," Prof. Novil glared at his former student.

"Sorry, sorry, just couldn't help it!" the grand master laughed some more.

"Well, that would be all for today," the professor said with a sigh. "The apprenticeships will formally begin on Monday. You can talk about the apprenticeship with more detail, then. In the meanwhile, I'll see you two in class tomorrow."

And with that, the professor sent us on our way.

"I really love those toys in the professor's room," said Cat as we made our way down stairs. "Do you think you can make something like that, Lycan?" he asked his friend.

"I think so," Lycan replied with a shy smile on his face. "I just need some wood and some tools and I can work on it this weekend."

"Oh, good! I'll be sure to help you out!" said Cat.

"Can you make one for me, too?" asked Arman.

"Sure, if we can get enough materials."

"We can ask Senior André where we can get some," I volunteered.

"What materials?"

The four of us looked at Elliot who was approaching us from the 2nd floor hallway.

"Elliot!" Cat called to him with a wave. "Is your meeting over? Where's Darius?"

"He decided to stay, turns out, the two Grand Knights plan to keep the prospective apprentice overnight. They plan to go on a hiking trail early tomorrow morning to test their endurance."

"What about you?" I asked him.

"Well, I wasn't really serious about joining them anyway," replied Elliot. "It's enough that my father's a knight, though he's more of a merchant. I would rather pursue my dream of being a chef."

"What about Darius?" I asked him anxiously.

"Don't worry," Elliot reassured me with a shoulder pat, "he was doing great when I left, and he was getting along just fine with the three other apprentice wannabes that Grand Knight Lucifer picked in our class."

"Are you sure?" I asked apprehensively. "Did his fever get better?"

"Well, he didn't look sick at all."

"I'm sure he'll do just fine, Pat," Arman chimed in. "And you know fully well that Darius can take care of himself."

"I just hope that his fever doesn't get any worse..."

After all, I am the reason he got sick in the first place...

"Pat, you worry too much," Cat said with a sigh, "for now all we do need to worry about is what we're gonna eat for dinner!"

This was agreed upon by Lycan's grumbling stomach which was shortly joined by Elliot's.

"Yeah, I guess there's really no need to worry," I told them with a smile.

"We'll see Darius tomorrow!" Cat said to cheer me up.

"And we'll congratulate him for getting apprenticed to a grand knight," Arman added, "just like he wanted to."