Albert fell into his routine. He took out the reagents and meticulously checked their accuracy, a process he had now repeated countless times. With calm determination, he approached the cauldron and began adding the ingredients one by one.

To Betty, it all seemed rather chaotic, but Matilda, with her trained eye, could see how carefully Albert was working, noting every detail and executing each step with precision.

The next steps involved simply waiting for the correct temperature to be reached. Once the ideal heat was achieved, he extinguished the fire and began to apply compression magic, a crucial step in the process.

Betty was astonished at this point. She had never performed compression magic before, as most of her elixirs were sold as liquid potions. Watching Albert, she decided that she would give this method of pill refinement a try in the future.

Meanwhile, beads of sweat began to form on Albert's forehead. However, this was nothing compared to the first few times he had attempted such magic. He was now more confident, though the strain was still apparent.

After about a minute, Albert had used up half of his mana and lifted the lid of the cauldron. Inside was a small orb. Matilda initially thought the brewing process had been successful, but Albert gently pressed the center of the pill, and it crumbled slightly.

Mr. F then stepped forward, catching the pieces in mid-air before they could hit the ground. Now it was Matilda's turn to be shocked. This was telekinesis, and Matilda knew that only Rank 6 mages and above could use such magic. Who was this man? she wondered, but decided to save her questions for later.

Albert was already used to failures and immediately sat down to meditate. After about five minutes, he had restored a significant portion of his mana and began the next brewing process. Matilda was impressed by how quickly he recovered from failure. This was not unusual for a Rank 2 alchemist, but was Albert truly at that level already?

Albert started the new attempt, following the exact same steps. However, at the final stage, Matilda noticed that he was applying stronger compression magic. His mana was depleting faster than before, and she began to think that Albert might succeed in this attempt.

But Mr. F stepped in at that moment. He shielded Albert and cast a protective spell over the cauldron. A muffled bang was heard, and black smoke rose from the cauldron.

“Don’t overdo it, Albert. You know that your compression magic needs to reach the correct intensity. Adjust slowly and stop trying to rush success.”

Although Albert appeared calm in his trance-like state, Mr. F, who had been working with him for days, could tell he was nervous.

Hearing his master’s voice, Albert calmed down a bit. He resumed his usual stance and gathered his mana.

The third attempt ended in failure, then the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, and finally the seventh.

Albert’s determination was unshakable, but Betty began to have doubts as she watched him. Failure after failure, and with a success rate of 20%, he should have at least had one successful attempt by now. She was about to voice her concerns to Matilda but noticed how intently Matilda was focused on Albert’s brewing process.

Albert was already in the midst of his seventh attempt, and had reached the final step. He worked the compression magic just like before, but suddenly, he had a moment of insight. It was as if he had been enlightened, and his body moved on its own.

His hands were spread apart, as if holding an invisible football. In the final moment before completion, he twisted his arms and gave the elixir a brief surge of magical energy.

He exhaled deeply and approached the cauldron with confidence. From it, he retrieved a perfectly formed round pill. It was 4 cm in diameter and entirely black.

He handed it to his master and then sat down again to gather his magical energy.

Stolen story; please report.

Mr. F examined the pill, nodded in approval, and passed it to Matilda. When she saw the pill, she exhaled in disappointment and handed it back to Mr. F.

“We’re done here,” Matilda said, to Betty’s surprise.

“What do you mean, Lady Matilda?” Betty asked.

“You’re welcome to stay and observe the next brewing processes, but if my senses aren’t deceiving me, he should succeed in the next three attempts.”

Matilda gave Mr. F a knowing look and left the lab.

Indeed, it was just as Matilda had predicted. In the following attempts, Albert successfully completed the recipe each time.

During the tenth attempt, Matilda re-entered the lab. Albert hadn’t even noticed that she had left. She stood a few meters away from Betty and motioned for Mr. F to come over.

She handed him a parchment and began to speak, “Here is the official document recognizing Albert as a Rank 2 alchemist. But I want to know how you figured out that he has a special physique.”

Mr. F chose to remain silent, giving Matilda only a smile. He could tell her, of course, but he used the brief pause to concoct a lie. After all, he couldn’t just say that he sees letters and hears voices.

Matilda grew impatient and said, “You’re not the first to suspect that he might have an unusual physique. When I heard why his first master dismissed him, I wondered if his trance-like state had something to do with a physique.”

“However, I couldn’t connect it to any known physiques. No matter which books I scoured from the family’s or my private collection, I found no answers. I even visited the local library, but none of the books on known physiques provided any clues.”

Mr. F understood why she couldn’t find an answer. After all, the book that had led him to the correct path wasn’t really about physiques. It had simply ended up in the physique section, likely because the library itself wasn’t sure if it was or wasn’t.

Mr. F decided to tell her everything, omitting the part about the system. He explained how, based on his suspicions, he had gone to the library and found a book that seemed out of place. Out of curiosity, he read it and developed a theory based on Albert’s chaotic brewing processes.

Matilda listened attentively, amazed at how clever Mr. F's approach was. The story sounded logical from beginning to end, but it required a creative mind to connect such dots. In the end, she could only attribute her failure to her own inadequate research and lack of insight.

“You’ve won the bet, and I will honor our agreement. However, I ask that you keep his physique a secret for now until I’ve spoken with Lady Emma. It seems he has a talent for brewing chaotic formulas, which are quite rare but can be organized by the family. However, it’s still unclear how valuable he is to the family since he has talent for one type of elixir but may lose all talent for others as a result. This is a common drawback with such physiques, so it’s possible that we might transfer him to a specialist. This would mean that he could no longer be your apprentice.”

Mr. F listened to her but was slightly irritated by what she said. “Does that mean I’ve awakened his talent, and now you’re just going to take him away from me?” he asked, annoyed.

Matilda understood his frustration but tried to explain her perspective: “Our family doesn’t have an inheritance for chaotic elixirs. If he stayed here, it would mean slowing down his growth. As his master, even if only for a short time, you should understand how important it is to have enough recipes. Moreover, it must have taken great effort to obtain that Rank 2 recipe. Your financial resources would quickly deplete searching for such recipes without receiving any real return, aside from Albert’s growth.”

“And who’s to say I can’t provide him with such recipes? Just so you know, that Rank 2 recipe was developed by me.”

Matilda was astonished by his statement. She wanted to probe further into how he developed the recipe, but at that moment, Albert finished his last brewing process and approached Mr. F with a smile on his face.

“This conversation isn’t over,” Matilda said as she congratulated Albert on his success. He laughed and grinned. But when he received his parchment, officially recognizing him as a Rank 2 alchemist, he threw himself at Mr. F's feet and began to cry, thanking him profusely.

Mr. F felt a sense of déjà vu and tried unsuccessfully to shake Albert off. After Albert calmed down, Mr. F decided to resolve the last remaining issue.

“Betty, come here,” he called out to her.

Betty was still confused by the events of the day and couldn’t understand how Albert had managed to produce four pills in a row. She had the feeling that if he had continued, he would have had a 100% success rate. How was that possible? But she put on her professional face and approached Mr. F.

“As you’ve seen, Albert is now a genuine Rank 2 alchemist. I want both you and him to be my apprentices from now on. The sad truth is that while Albert is a Rank 2 alchemist, he won’t be able to help me with the brewing processes. That task will fall to you, and I expect great things from you.”

Betty heard this, and a fire was lit within her. Although Albert was her equal at the moment, she was determined to earn Mr. F's favor and eventually replace Albert. Although she didn’t know Mr. F well, she could sense that something great was hidden behind him.

"You are now my apprentices. Bow before your master," Mr. F declared with authority.

Betty managed a slight smile, but before she could fully react, Albert shoved her aside in his excitement. He lunged at Mr. F's legs once again, shouting, "Master, Master... you've finally accepted me as your apprentice!"

Matilda, watching the scene unfold, could only shake her head as she left the lab. "What a chaotic duo," she muttered to herself.