In Ethan’s experience, being too exceptional was a problem. Various factions would see you as a threat and try to hunt you down before you grew too powerful.

However, this mostly applied to fighting mages. A talented Alchemist would usually be coveted and given special treatment wherever he went. Furthermore, with an Alchemist Association backing him up, few would dare get in his way.

The teacher gave each student a contract and a recipe for study, and then told everyone to report tomorrow to room 3. However, she told Ethan and Oliver to report to room 10. This was apparently a huge deal, as there was so much envy in the eyes of his peers that some of them were munching on their shirts in frustration.

“What’s room 10?” asked Ethan after they left the building.

“The teachers’ room. It’s where they share pointers and come up with recipes.”

“Ok.” Ethan’s lack of excitement ticked Oliver off.

“Dude, that’s incredible! Trainees never make it into the teachers’ room. The only reason I got accepted was due to my background, but you…”

Oliver was a smart teen. His family sold pills for a living and both his parents and grandparents held positions within the Alchemist Association. Because of this, he developed a keen eye for alchemy and a merchant’s mindset.

He could tell Ethan was a prodigy, so he had to befriend him at all costs. If needed, even marrying his sister to him was something to consider. Unfortunately, the youth had other plans.

“Want to grab something to eat?” offered Oliver.

“Nope.” Ethan was already walking away.

________________

Earlier that day, on the Academy’s training grounds, the newest trainees of the fighting class were waiting for their teacher. While most of them had formed small or large groups, a blond girl with a warm demeanor and beautiful black eyes was sitting alone.

When younger, she dreamt about how her life would change when she became a mage, but some things were bound to stay the same. ‘It doesn’t matter.’ she thought to herself. ‘It’s easier this way.’

“Hello, what’s your name?”

Ana lifted her eyes to see a youth with long black hair tied behind his back. From his beautiful clothes to his charming smile, he exuded an air only a noble could possess.

“Cat caught your tongue?”

“No, no…” Ana stuttered while rapidly getting up. “My name’s Ana. And you are?”

“Charles Wilson, charmed.” The boy chuckled. “I and my friends are sitting by that tree. Want to join us?” Happy and surprised by the unexpected invitation, Ana took him up on his offer.

There were 3 boys and 5 girls sitting below an oak tree. They seemed nice and welcomed her with open arms.

However, she should have known something was up. Everyone stood a bit too close to each other, and the girls seemed to pay more attention to Charles than to whoever was talking to them.

Soon after Ana joined, one of his friends left only to return a few minutes later with another girl. A second boy went afterwards and did the same.

With this, there were now 2 girls for every boy. The lads eyed each other suspiciously, and as if they had discussed it previously, pulled the girls closest to them into a hug.

“Eh…?” Ana giggled nervously but didn’t want to rock the boat. Like he hadn't noticed, Charles carried on joking and chatting. The atmosphere turned tense, and even some of the other girls had noticed.

After a while, one of Charles' friends tried to kiss one of the girls. She seemed uncomfortable but relented nonetheless.

The others soon followed including Charles who was making out with the only girl that did not seem to mind. While Ana was staring wide eyed at the display, the boy turned towards her and tried to do the same.

“S, Sorry, I have to go.” She pulled herself out of his embrace and hastily got up. All around her, the group was kissing sloppily. Charles shrugged and got back to his date. After a vigorous make-out session, his girl turned her head towards Ana.

“Chicken shit!”

Fortunately, she was already some distance away. Ana kept walking as far away from the group as possible despite the increasing number of ‘jokes’ she heard behind her back.