094 Genius?

Leaving Ing’s little haven, Teresa rode on at an easy pace, only to begin at once pressing the book spirit with questions. She was certain that it had to be because of its existence that she had managed to reconstruct the ancient formula so smoothly.

Sensing her doubt, the book spirit lazily replied, “What did I even do? The crucial point in that formula was nothing more than turning water into fire. That was your own insight; what does it have to do with me? At most I gave you two conversion magic arrays. Even if I had not told you, a little more pondering and a couple more trials would have led you to the right ones.”

Hearing this, Teresa tugged at her hair. The book spirit did have a point. No matter how she turned it over in her mind, she could never quite understand why that ancient formula had stumped the other alchemists. Frowning, she gave the reins a pull, then at last turned her horse toward Cervantes Military Academy. She was going to ask Carol for guidance.

Riding hard all the way, Teresa arrived at Carol’s cottage only to find the courtyard gate shut and locked. Clearly no one was home. She blinked, tilted her head, and did a quick calculation before realizing she had come too early. Carol was probably teaching at the military academy right now and would not be back for at least another half hour.

With a helpless pout, Teresa decided to wait. Since she had nothing else to do, she dismounted, tied her horse outside the cottage wall, and set off alone along the path at a leisurely pace.

Carol’s cottage stood on a small hill. This whole area consisted mainly of the residences of the teachers at Cervantes Military Academy, though the grounds were spacious enough that the houses were quite far apart. On foot, it still took more than ten minutes to get from one to another. Nestled among the hills, the place was quiet and serene. As she followed the winding road, she could occasionally see, in the distance, the students training on the academy’s grounds.

Yet Teresa had no mind to enjoy the scenery. Her thoughts kept circling that same question: what, exactly, had tied the hands of the other alchemists?

According to the book spirit, alchemical experiments, whether potion-making, crafting other devices, enchanting, or operating magic arrays, all depended on three essentials: alchemical materials, alchemical design, and the handling of spiritual power. Of these, her manipulation of spiritual power, though precise and deft, never went beyond the second-touch level; the materials themselves were fixed by the ancient formula. So the problem must lie in different alchemists’ understanding of alchemical design, and in the process of reconstructing it.

Lost in thought, Teresa walked on and stopped now and then among the trees. She had no idea where she had wandered to when, all at once, voices drifted from ahead and snapped her back to attention.

“Ien, my birthday is next week. Can’t you take leave and come celebrate it with me?”

“Patricia, this trip was arranged long ago by Grandfather. I leave the day after tomorrow, but I’ll do my best to get back before your birthday. Even if I’m late, I’ll still have someone send your present on time.”

“You already promised you’d spend my birthday with me. How can you go back on your word now?”

The sweet feminine voice was full of spoiled indignation, and one could faintly hear the sound of boots kicking at the gravel.

“I’m sorry, Patricia. Otherwise, I promise I’ll spend your birthday with you next year, all right?” Ien’s voice was heavy with apology. “This journey was fixed long ago. It’s not something that can be changed easily.”

“I don’t care. I don’t care! Next year is next year, but this year you already promised me. You can’t go back on it!” As she spoke, the sound of stamping and kicking stones grew louder. “Go and speak to the teacher. He dotes on you so much, he’ll surely agree! Anyway, there’s a Cervantes-to-Minadia carriage every week. If you miss this time, going next week will be the same!”

“Patricia…” Ien sounded deeply helpless. “I swear I’ll do my best to come back. All right?”

“What good is trying your best? By the time my birthday is over, you can come tell me you did your best. What use is that? You clearly don’t have to go right now. Wouldn’t it be fine to go after my birthday? The teacher dotes on you so much. If you tell him, he’ll definitely agree! Ien, a birthday comes only once a year. Miss it and it never comes back. Just talk to the teacher, just talk to him, please, please, please…”

Hearing such a conversation, Teresa stuck out her tongue and quietly backed away, thinking to slip off and avoid the awkward scene. But the heavens did not favor her. Behind her came a burst of rapid hoofbeats, as though two or three horses were advancing at once. Startled by the sound, Ien and Patricia, who had been entangled at the corner ahead, quickly circled around a small grove and looked over.

“Tess, what are you doing here?”

“The same question, but the tone could not have been more different—one brimming with delight, the other with grievance.

“Oh, what are you two doing here?” Teresa put on a look of delighted surprise at a chance encounter. “Oh, someone’s coming up. Let’s step aside.”

As she spoke, she took the initiative to retreat to the roadside. Seeing this, Patricia and Ien followed her. The three of them had only just steadied themselves when three swift riders came galloping up from the foot of the hill, trotting past them one after another and kicking up a cloud of dust.

The three riders came and went quickly. Once the fine dust had settled, Teresa immediately spoke first. “I came to ask the teacher for advice on some matters, but the cottage is locked. Has the teacher gone to class?”

“Mm. Grandfather has three classes today,” Ien said, always in excellent spirits whenever he faced Teresa. “If I’d known you were coming, I would have come back earlier. You didn’t wait long, did you?”

“No, I only just arrived. So, um, when will the teacher be back? If it’ll take too long, I’ll come again tomorrow.”

Teresa could feel Patricia’s resentful gaze upon her, and for a moment she only felt a slight chill along her back.

“No, no, class should be ending soon. It usually takes Grandfather about fifteen minutes to return from the academy,” Ien said hastily. “Let’s go home and wait first… ah, listen, that’s the dismissal bell.”

Taking the chance, Teresa walked off a few steps, went around several big trees, and looked toward the training grounds at the foot of the hill. As the distant bell chimed, she saw students scattering across the grounds in twos and threes. Clearly, class was over.

Carol took the ancient alchemical formula Teresa had copied and studied it, stroking his beard in thoughtful silence. After a little while, he handed it to the attendant Ien and said, “Take a look.”

Ien accepted the page and frowned at once. The more he read, the tighter his brow knit, until at last his whole face seemed to crumple. Patricia leaned in to look as well, but after only two or three glances she retreated in a daze. Only Ien continued struggling over it. After a long while, he looked at Carol with difficulty and said, “Grandfather, this formula is strange. Quite a few parts don’t quite add up.”

“Mm. Do you think it can work?”

Ien thought for a moment before saying, “It ought to work. But since I haven’t actually tested it in practice, I can’t be completely certain.”

“That’s enough. Coming to that conclusion is already very good.”

Carol took back the formula, stood up, and waved Teresa over so he could give her individual guidance. Teresa rubbed her nose and followed him away under the gazes of Ien, who looked a little envious, and Patricia, who looked a little jealous.

Once inside the alchemy laboratory, Carol pointed to the workbench. “It happens that the materials listed in this formula are all here. Make it again for me and show me.”

Teresa had already prepared herself for this. Alchemists were often a group of scholars who spoke with practical results; no matter how well one could argue in theory, they always wanted to see the outcome of the experiment.

Rolling up her sleeves, Teresa steadied herself. Without looking at the formula, she took out the needed materials one by one and carefully began operating according to the experience she had gained from the first successful experiment.

With a thunderous blast, flames erupted straight into the air. At the same time, a sheet of light sprang up with a ringing sound, trapping the fire within the bounds of the workbench. Teresa remained composed in the face of this failure. She took out a magic scroll she had prepared in advance and poured in magic power. At her command, a rain of ice arrows flew forth. The deluge was slight, confined to a space of barely one square meter, yet it continued without end. Under the splitting and pounding of those ice arrows, the flames gradually died down. Though the melting ice occasionally caused some reignition, the ceaseless barrage eventually extinguished it completely.

“I failed in the same place last time too,” Teresa said to Carol after putting out the fire, a little embarrassed. “My control still isn’t quite there. I didn’t fully convert it.”

Carol was silent for several seconds before asking, “You were operating the absorption of water by the purple speargrass and the dissolution of the fireroot grass at the same time?”

“Yes,” Teresa answered matter-of-factly. “Of course I was doing them at the same time. If the two processes aren’t synchronized, you can’t find the point of balance. If the purple speargrass absorbs water too quickly, the fireroot grass’s dissolution will be interrupted. On the other hand, if the fireroot grass dissolves too quickly, it explodes. I always get a little too eager.”

As she spoke, Teresa lowered her head in embarrassment. Rushing in alchemy had long been one of her old habits, and Carol had pointed it out to her more than once. Even now, she had failed because of it.

She kept her head down, intending to wait for Carol’s lecture, but after waiting and waiting, she never heard him speak. Finally, she raised her eyes carefully, only to find Carol staring at her in a daze.

“Teacher?”

Only then did Carol come back to himself. Looking at Teresa with a somewhat complicated expression, he said, “This impatience of yours never changes. Let’s not even talk about alchemy—didn’t I already tell you that whenever you have a new formula, you must make sure it’s safe before you start? ”

“The formula was given to me by someone else. He said it was very safe…” Teresa muttered, then finally lowered her head and said, “Teacher, I was wrong. I’ll be careful next time.”

Seeing this, Carol let out a faint sigh. “Tess, your talent is remarkable—more remarkable than I ever expected. But precisely because of that, you must not rush your training. If the foundation isn’t laid properly, the higher you go, the harder it is to develop. If you’re not careful, you may even lose control of your spiritual power and suffer a complete collapse. There have been countless such lessons throughout history. So every step of your advancement must be steady and solid. Do you understand?”

“Yes, teacher.” Teresa answered respectfully.

Carol gave Teresa more instruction for quite a while before waving her off. After she left, he instead stood alone in the alchemy laboratory for a long time, somewhat unsettled. At last, he let out a long sigh and murmured, “A genius, a genius… ah…”