Now, the Elders would’ve said that was partly true, had the young cadet actually asked.

But unbeknownst to Theo, these were all necessary steps to help him use his ability properly.

Because without going through this process, the level of frustration he’d feel when dealing with an ability that seemed to refuse to function properly could eventually kill his drive to continue.

So while it likely felt frustrating for the talented and hard-working lad to be doing something the technology of this era could superficially handle well enough, the Elders still had to step in for his own sake.

Knowing that such helpful devices would have limitations the moment he actually used his ability meant having to do all of this maddening groundwork.

In fact, didn’t Elder Wei himself understand how stupid it felt when he was much, much—like, so much—younger?

Of course he did.

Therefore, as a carrot to the stick already being used, the Elders, after much squabbling, agreed that since they already had a hunch about the child’s ability, they’d guide him until he managed to perform one of the simplest brews.

Then, hopefully, even if he felt dead tired, the lavish amount of ambient spiritual energy would help him recover, and in the end, he’d appreciate all the work he’d just done.

And maybe, just maybe...

After going through it, he wouldn’t feel so intimidated by the amount of work waiting for him from this day onward.

Okay, maybe that last part wasn’t something they should say out loud to the young one who’d been shaking like a leaf...

But as for the other things, Elder Wei felt confident it’d be fine!

"..."

And what "fine" looked like was this: after successfully completing the challenging task of restoring the jar’s contents to their original state, Theo looked like he had seen better days.

But still, he was alive!

__

"Fine" was, of course, an understatement.

In truth, most of the onlookers—Noah in particular—wanted to interrupt the session.

However, he knew Theo’s personality well enough to stop himself. There would only be regrets later if he were pulled away now.

While he sometimes didn’t look it, that frail-looking guy was simply too driven, too ecstatic about putting in the work, and too elated with knowing just how much effort he’d put in to get where he was.

He’d definitely complain like any normal person, but at the end of the day, after looking like he’d gone through an entire physical match in the training hall despite spending it making pills, Theo would end up at his happiest and most fulfilled state.

So Noah could only watch.

He couldn’t particularly understand what was happening and couldn’t even explain to the Duchess what they were supposed to be looking at.

But after announcing that Theo’s ability was a support type that was particularly difficult to discover, everyone—including the pharmacy cadet himself—looked shocked.

However, it wasn’t just because of the announcement, but because they witnessed the end of the Elder’s finger glowing, pulling forth something extremely luminescent that had everyone gawking.

Something peculiarly green practically pooled at the end of Elder Wei’s pointing finger, gathering in a thick concentration. It was mesmerizing for everyone. To the point that they only realized they were staring far too intently when the Elder finally spoke.

"Now that you’ve managed to do all of those earlier, you can move on to something that’d hopefully make more sense."

"!!!"

"You can call this essence," Elder Wei said as he produced an empty jar to put the collected essence in.

Theo looked genuinely interested now, his body suddenly repositioning as if he hadn’t just been fighting for his life earlier.

"Think of this as the concentrated and extracted version of one’s bloodline ability."

"!!!"

Now, everyone who heard that practically felt their knees weaken.

There they were, simply attempting to get their bearings to get their abilities to manifest, but Elder Wei was already out there showing them this thing called "essence," that was clearly far beyond anyone’s pay grade!

If that wasn’t shocking enough to use as a wake-up call, what could be?

"Just as spiritual water can be concentrated enough, this too can appear in this state. But just like the rarity of spiritual water—despite how much of it you’re all seeing today—this also isn’t something you need to worry about until you cross a certain threshold of mastery..."

"And because of that, I’m currently providing this ingredient to our cadet over here."

Elder Wei looked at Theo, and the aspiring pharmacist realized everyone was looking at him!

All he could do was gulp.

He wasn’t even sure what that was all about or what credentials he’d have to be next to someone’s precious bloodline affinity!

Wasn’t this too insane for a glorified litmus paper?!

But Elder Wei didn’t look bothered and simply instructed Theo to watch carefully—and by watching, he meant not with his eyes, but with his abilities.

"Desire to familiarize yourself with the things in front of you, all of which currently come in liquid form—something that’s apparently most natural for you."

"!"

Theo wasn’t sure about all of that but tried to do it like earlier when he was trying to determine which jars weren’t quite the same. The ones that gave him the same feeling should be grouped together, and so on and so forth. Then, when he opened his eyes—which he didn’t realize had been closed all the while—Theo was surprised to see a projection of a ratio.

Huh?

The youngster tried blinking several times, but it was still there. He was really looking at a ratio for a mixture.

"Now that you’re familiar with these three different things, combine them exactly like that and wait until it feels just right."

What?

The first part about combining it exactly like that made sense, but waiting until it feels just right?

What was "just right"?

How was he supposed to know when he was currently feeling like his existence was entirely wrong?!

But seeing the Elder’s eyes narrow at him, Theo decided to just try it first. If anything, he could eliminate methods that wouldn’t work for him.

However, much to his mind-blowing surprise, "just right" was somewhat a valid yet extremely dubious measurement for him.

What the hell?

Theo couldn’t understand what was happening as he envisioned mixing as told. He was aware this was an important step because going under or overboard would typically have undesirable effects. But normally, he’d have an idea of what perfect would look like from texts, teachings, or examples... but to be told that he himself was supposed to know felt like crazy talk—

Until it happened.

Feeling like his body suddenly clicked into place shocked the young cadet. His eyes flew open to see the jar of luminescent green that, honestly, looked a little too shimmery to him.

It was blinding.

But so was the reaction of the people watching. Not only did they have their hands on their mouths as if in an effort not to disturb his concentration, but they also looked extremely shocked.

"What? What’s wrong!?" Theo finally blurted out in concern.

Elder Wei, on the other hand, just said, "Ha! Nothing! It’s all good. Now, moment of truth! What do you say we do a little bit of testing?"

"!!!"

Theo, who hadn’t used his legs for a while, shot up and felt like an old man despite all his training. "Ow!"

"Elder Wei! Isn’t this dangerous?! We haven’t tested this yet! What if someone—" Theo reacted worriedly, hands flailing as he tried to dissuade his teacher from letting someone drink his first attempt at whatever this was.

But instead of heeding his words, the Elder said, "What, did you think someone would have to drink this?"

"Huh?"

"You’re a beginner of beginners. Why’d we make you produce something that’d have to be ingested on your first attempt?" Elder Wei said this as if making everyone understand it was simple common sense.

"Oh."

Theo blinked and then asked, "Then Elder... if this wasn’t supposed to be ingested, then what is this?"

"Ah! You finally asked!"

"..."

"..."

Theo took a deep breath after hearing that. But thankfully, the Elder didn’t make him wait and said, "An enchantment."

"...Enchantment?"

"Mn."

"But rather than explain it, why not see it in action for yourself? If done correctly, you’d be able to see something interesting," Elder Wei shrugged with a smile, while Theo looked mortified.

The boy looked even more alarmed because Elder Wei suddenly called for volunteers—specifically weapon users who hadn’t managed to awaken yet—to ensure the effects could be showcased better.

Theo was embarrassed, but he almost wanted to crumple to the ground when he heard a familiar voice.

"I’ll do it. I haven’t figured out my bloodline ability and can handle most types of weapons."

Duchess Amelia.

Oh gods.

The actual Duchess!

"!!!"

Gaaah!

At this point, even Noah was worried.

But Duchess Amelia only asked, "How should I use this?" after Elder Wei confirmed she would be suitable for the demonstration.

"Your Grace, please coat your weapon of choice with it. Then once done, kindly swing towards the ground in an empty space."

Everyone heard that and began turning their heads, wanting to see more as the Duchess carried out the instructions before walking toward a clearing where people took turns testing things.

But what do you know?

Apparently, swinging a weapon usually meant to take a life could also do something as surprising as giving it.

Because the moment the Duchess’s sword swung down toward the ground, the land suddenly erupted with life—

The rapid growth of grass, weeds, and flowers where the blade had passed.

"!!!"

Just like that, they’ve managed to witness what enchanting using another being’s ability could look like.

And man, how generous was that?