134 See Me After Class

It was time for the practical class for basic Alchemy with Lisa again.

Whoops, I mean Professor Lisa~ Hehe.

Now that we were in the practical part of the class, the layout of the classroom had also changed to accommodate that.

Instead of the tables that had been arranged in the centre of the class, the cauldrons had been moved in their places instead with a small standing table beside it to hold the ingredients we would be using.

Doing a quick count of the cauldrons, I realised there were enough cauldrons around for everyone in the class. I was actually half expecting it to be a group project but apparently she was expecting us to do the potion making on our own.

But really, on the first day though? I'd thought we would have some kind of safety or moral lesson first before we went to the brewing, not even the theory lesson in the morning covered that.

For this class, I chose to take up a spot at the very back of the class instead of the front. No, it's not because I wanted to stay away from Lisa but more because I know I already have experience ahead of the other students. If they see how much I'm progressing ahead of them, there might be problems arising from that...

I wouldn't put these kids above trying to sabotage my brewing process when I'm not looking.

Lisa clapped her hands together, "Alright class, as I had mentioned in the morning, it's your practical class now. I'm sure all of you remember all the theory portions I've taught you in the morning so we'll just get straight to the potion making section."

She gestured to the tables beside our cauldrons, already I could tell what potion she wanted us to make just by looking at the ingredients placed on top of it.

"I'll be having all of you make a Lesser Healing potion hopefully by the end of this year. You will continue to attempt this until you pass and I most certainly am not expecting most of you to achieve this today... Or even in the next six months to be honest."

Oh yeah... She did say it took her three months to even successfully make one. With how she said that the mana infusion part being the hardest to get right, I suppose it's a matter of getting used to it by practising it repeatedly until you get it right.

But since I have my cheats, I could already do it quite easily from the start.

As for the other students, they might even have trouble doing it within three months.

Lisa then moved to her own cauldron at the front of the class, "Now, I will do it once so make sure to watch and note the process carefully. I at least hope that some of you can do the preparation part of this process by yourselves by the end of this month. Now watch as I show you how it's done first."

All of us watched attentively as she started the process of brewing the potion.

She made sure to explain each part of the process in detail, from the identification of the Milgras herb, the processing of said herb and then to the brewing of the potion itself. She even gave them the tips on altering the taste of it with the different types of binding agents and activators for our future references.

In less than five minutes, she had already prepared an entire batch of Lesser Healing potions which was definitely way faster than the first time I tried.

Lisa placed the completed potions aside, "Most of you will fail and be stuck in the mana infusion part of the process, that is natural. Unfortunately there is no guide for this part as the mana of each person is different so the required mana you need to pour into your potion is also different. The only way for you to know how much exactly is through repeated practice. There are no shortcuts to this."

Ah... So it's not possible for an alchemist to somehow measure how much they put their own mana into making their potion and let someone use the same amount to create their own.

She clapped her hands together, "Alright, no time like the present. This is one of the easiest potions to make so I'll be surprised if any of you screw up the preparation part. I've already written the steps on the board in front of you so go ahead and start trying to make your own potion. There is a tap for water at the front of the class and those who are unfamiliar with pyromancy can ask me to start your fires."

Everyone dispersed back to their own cauldrons and began their own process of making their potions.

I did the same as well. It was a process I've already done once before so I was already a little familiar with it, but now I was aiming to at least do it as fast as Professor Lisa did.

Another thing I had to note was that we were actually using these relatively large cauldrons to make our potions instead of the small pots that Lisa had made me use back in the shop.

Sure, it was smaller than the full sized versions, but these ones still reached my waist in height, which meant that it was quite big for the other students that were in my year.

That also meant that the amount of ingredients used to craft this batch of Lesser Healing potions was higher than the last time I did it, so I have to be careful here.

I started off by grinding the Milgras herbs into paste to prepare them to be dumped into my cauldron.

I made sure to follow the instructions written on the board and measured out what I needed carefully, including how much water I needed in the cauldron.

Because Lisa was the one who casted the fire the last time, I only just realised that even the temperature had to be controlled specifically for each type of potion. Luckily, this one merely needed to bring the water to a boil so that was easy enough for me to do.

Tossing in the binding agents and activators that was also provided to me, I then started to infuse my mana into the cauldron while stirring it, making sure not to put in too much at once.

Steadily, I watched as the water slowly began to turn red and I felt my gut instinct tell me to stop.

Trusting it, I cut off the flow of mana and left the pot to simmer, which would allow my mana to spread throughout the concoction and turn it into Lesser Healing potions.

All of a sudden, I felt two arms wrap themselves around my waist and I was pulled a step behind.

"Oh, I missed you so much, Aster~" A voice whispered in my ear.

"What are you doing, Lisa? You're still in class..." I whispered back, frantically looking around to see if anyone saw us.

"Ehehe~ No need to worry, everyone is concentrating on their potions so we're fine for now~ Just let me enjoy thi-- Eh? Wait a minute..."

She suddenly moved closer to me and started sniffing me.

I was just about to ask what she was doing when she turned me around and grabbed my shoulders while sporting a very serious look on her face, "Aster?! You're no longer a virgin?!"

Ok...

First thing... She can tell just by the smell? Must be an Infrid thing.

Second thing... She can tell just by the smell?!

At least she kept her voice low enough that no one else heard us, otherwise things would have gotten really awkward really fast. I'm really glad I chose to stay at the back of the class now.

I sighed, "Yes, Lisa... I lost my male virginity just yesterday, in fact..."

"Ehhhh... No fair... And I even asked you back then but you rejected me... This is so not fair..."

"Is... Is me not being a virgin a problem?" I asked, wondering if she was only interested in me purely because I was a virgin.

"Of course it is a problem! I wasn't there to witness your first time! How is that not a problem? Ahhh... Life is so not fair... I even planned to have a really big, sexy party when you reach that age too... Is life even worth living anymore..."

Really? Putting aside the fact that you had planned for a party six years in advance, is it really that big of a deal though? She even started crying too...

"Umm... Calm down Lisa... It really isn't that serious is it?"

"It is! Do you know how much I wanted to take your first time? I was even fine with just being there and watching it as well! Now I will never be able to see it! This is the worst day of my life!"

Ok... Not good, she's starting to sob and I'm pretty sure the rest of the class would notice if this goes on any further.

Taking a risk, I leaned forward and planted a kiss on her cheek, surprising her enough that she stopped crying and stared at me in shock.

"I... You know... Umm... I don't mind pushing forward our schedule a little... So we don't need to wait for another six years anymore... So how about this weekend I'll go to your place and we can have some fun?"

Her face brightened up almost immediately, "No, no... How about later you stay behind for a while, Aster? Then we can have a very intimate talk about your condition?"

She didn't wait for me to answer but gave me a kiss of her own on my cheek before walking away with a spring in her step.

Alright then... Guess I'll be having an Infrid partner soon...