After his speech, Mr. F handed each of his students a small spatial pouch. These pouches were only about half a square meter in size, but they were something special.

"In these pouches, you will find the materials you need for the next seven days. I want to see your results after this first week. If you run out of reagents, the reagent dispensary has been authorized by me to provide you with additional supplies.

Since I will be deeply immersed in my own work, please only disturb me if it’s truly necessary.

We will meet here every morning, and you will have one hour to ask me any questions. Is everything clear?"

Both students nodded, and Mr. F went to his own lab to begin the brewing process. Betty stood up to start her preparations as well. Her plan was to first memorize the recipe and then conduct some initial trials. She intended to thoroughly document these trials and analyze them over the coming days.

Albert, on the other hand, remained seated, wondering what could be so difficult about his task. After all, he only had to grind some crystals into powder. With a bored expression, he stretched lazily and scratched his back before slowly shuffling towards one of the labs.

Betty noticed this and silently judged his lackadaisical work ethic. She was determined to prove to Mr. F that he had made the right choice in taking her on as a student, and that she and Albert were not on the same level.

She too entered her lab and began her work. After thoroughly memorizing the recipe, she organized her materials and inspected them for quality. She noticed that some of the alchemical ingredients were no longer at their peak potency; they had aged and lost some of their magical power.

Next, she practiced the recipe in the air without actually starting the alchemical process. During this dry run, she identified several challenges and began thinking of solutions. After multiple iterations, she felt confident enough to attempt her first trial.

Betty carefully added the reagents to the cauldron, controlling the temperature with her magic. Although the cauldron had its own magical heating system, using her magic allowed for better temperature regulation.

Step by step, she executed the recipe successfully. The final step required the mixture to simmer for two minutes. If all went according to plan, the reagents would react and form a hard mass, which would then crumble into fine powder.

Betty waited anxiously for the result, jotting down any observations she made during the brewing process. When the time was up, she extinguished the fire immediately and waited thirty seconds before lifting the lid. Inside, she found a thick, blue sludge-like substance.

Betty carefully removed the substance and scrutinized it for any irregularities. She then recorded everything she had done during the brewing process to compare different outcomes in the future.

While Betty was diligently documenting her first experiment, Albert was in his lab, sitting in front of a large stone mortar containing small pieces of crystal. He was sweating slightly and looked a bit frustrated. He had been trying to grind the crystal down for an hour, but his efforts had only produced coarse chunks.

An idea came to Albert. He took a new mortar and placed a few of the coarse pieces inside. To his surprise, this worked well, and within a few minutes, he had ground them into fine powder. He transferred the powder into a vial and repeated the process.

When the entire crystal had been ground into powder, Albert checked the time. An hour and a half for one crystal. This was the time it took him. "This is taking way too long," he thought. "If my master expects 20 sets a day, that would take 30 hours. The day doesn’t even have that many hours! How can I speed up this process? Hmm..."

Albert pondered deeply but couldn’t come up with a solution. He decided to check on how far Betty had gotten with her experiment. He left his lab and slowly opened the door to the lab where Betty was working. Through the crack in the door, he saw Betty deeply engrossed in the process of brewing the catalyst.

A mischievous grin spread across Albert’s face. He took out one of the small bombs he had created earlier while experimenting with the rank 2 recipe his master had given him. These bombs didn’t cause any damage, but they produced a loud bang that could easily startle someone.

He waited for the right moment and then tossed the ball at Betty's feet. She was so focused on the brewing process that she didn’t notice anything flying toward her. Suddenly, a loud explosion went off in front of her, causing her to jump. In her shock, she lost control of the flame, causing it to flare up and incinerate the reagents instantly, producing a cloud of black soot.

A completely soot-covered Betty whirled around and saw Albert peeking through the doorway. When he saw her, he panicked, slammed the door shut, and bolted down the hallway. Enraged, Betty stormed after him, ready to tear every single hair out of his head.

Albert tried to run away, but Betty was a whole rank above him and quickly caught up. Albert found himself cornered in front of Mr. F’s lab and pulled out a real rank 2 explosive pill. "I warn you! Don’t come any closer, or I’ll be forced to use this!" he shouted.

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Betty conjured a flame in her right hand and advanced on Albert, unfazed by his rank 2 pill. Albert pulled out more pills until his entire hand was full, barely able to hold them all.

Even Betty was slightly intimidated now. But she couldn’t back down, knowing that if she did, Albert would continue to pester her in the future.

The confrontation had reached its peak, and Betty and Albert were only two meters apart. Then, something unexpected happened. The door Albert was leaning against suddenly opened, causing him to stumble backward. The pills slipped from his hand, and an irritated Mr. F stepped out.

"What is all this noise about... huh?"

The last thing Mr. F saw was a bunch of all-too-familiar pills hitting the ground.

BOOM! A massive explosion followed, shaking the walls and floor. Throughout the entire lab building, many alchemists were startled, causing their elixirs to fail as they jumped in shock from the tremor.

In the hallway, several alchemists gathered, all uncertain about what had just happened. Matilda also appeared, accompanied by two men, and was surprised by the tremor. The two men were also rank 5 mages, responsible for the lab's security, but they couldn’t immediately determine the source of the disturbance.

Matilda hurried through the corridors, checking on her staff. As she counted heads, she suddenly realized—where was Mr. F.?

Cold sweat broke out on her back as she remembered what Albert had been working on in recent days. She had a sinking feeling that the worst might have happened.

With all the speed she could muster, she dashed towards Mr. F’s lab, the two guards following close behind. Black smoke was already seeping out of the lab, confirming her worst fears.

She flung the door open and cast a cleansing spell. The black smoke cleared instantly. What she saw next astonished her beyond measure. The entire room was destroyed; nothing remained intact. At the far end of the room, in the doorway between the main room and a lab, stood Mr. F, arms outstretched. A barrier emanated from him, encasing both Albert and Betty. Most of his magic was concentrated in the shields protecting them, with only a small amount surrounding Mr. F himself.

His lab robe was in tatters, barely hanging onto his body. But beneath it was another completely black robe, adorned with six cats that seemed almost alive, as if they might leap off the fabric at any moment.

Seeing that his students were safe, Mr. F exhaled in relief. Matilda was about to scold Mr. F and demand an explanation, but she could never have predicted what Mr. F would do next.

He deactivated the barrier surrounding his students and first approached Albert. He drew back his hand and slapped Albert across the face with the palm of his hand. "Have you lost your mind?!" he shouted. One blow after another followed, accompanied by various insults that even Matilda had never heard before. Albert's face looked like a bruised cactus bush, covered in blood.

Matilda took a step forward to calm Mr. F down, but as she approached, he shot her a cold glare that froze her blood in her veins. The guards sensed a powerful energy and rushed forward to protect Matilda, but Mr. F turned away from her, completely uninterested in her presence. The glare had been a warning, clearly saying, "Don't interfere; this is my business."

Betty, meanwhile, was completely petrified. She watched as Mr. F beat Albert to a pulp. If his chest weren’t slowly rising and falling, she would have thought he was dead. She had hoped Mr. F would go easier on her, considering she was a woman. But her thoughts were misplaced. She too was beaten thoroughly by Mr. F, though she could feel that he wasn’t hitting her as hard as he had hit Albert.

After finishing with them, Mr. F finally spoke, his voice laced with both anger and disappointment. "Do you two have a death wish?" He turned to Albert, his gaze sharp and unforgiving. "Do you think these pills are a game? Do you think magic is just for fun? Magic isn’t just a tool for good in this world—it’s been used to kill since the dawn of time. If I hadn’t come out of my lab by sheer chance, you both could have been dead right now." He then turned to Betty, his expression equally stern. "And you, Betty—if you hadn’t cornered Albert, he wouldn’t have felt the need to use those pills. As someone who is an entire rank above him, you should have shown more restraint, more wisdom."

Yet, in the next moment, Mr. F did something completely contrary to the harshness of his words. He reached into his robe and pulled out two pills. Without a word, he placed one in each of his students’ mouths. Their injuries healed instantly, the bruises and cuts fading as if they had never existed. Matilda, who had been holding her breath, finally exhaled in relief as she saw that no permanent harm had been done to either of them.

Mr. F then stepped forward and approached Matilda. She was still feeling the weight of the tension, especially after the icy glare Mr. F had given her earlier. The guards beside her remained on high alert, ready to defend her in case Mr. F’s anger was redirected towards her.

But what happened next was something none of them could have predicted. Mr. F bowed deeply before Matilda, his back forming a perfect 90-degree angle. It wasn’t the action itself that shocked Matilda, but his words. "I am deeply sorry for what my students have done, Matilda. This is all my fault for giving them too much freedom. I ask that you direct any punishment towards me, as I am their master and therefore responsible for their actions."

Of all the responses Mr. F could have given, this was the last one Matilda had expected. She knew many alchemists who would have immediately expelled their students from the lab for such a mistake, effectively ending their careers in alchemy, as no one else would have taken them on after such a disgrace.

But Mr. F, by taking full responsibility, had not only protected his students but also safeguarded their future careers. He was willing to do so at the cost of his own reputation and standing. Matilda was deeply moved by Mr. F’s words and sincerity. She assured him, "As you wish, I will only punish you. To compensate for the damage your students have caused and for the new lab I now have to prepare for you, I will dock three months of your pay. Do you agree to these terms?"

Mr. F straightened up and responded humbly, "I accept."

Matilda let out a deep breath and simply remarked, "What a mess."

Mr. F didn’t comment on her words, his attention now focused on surveying the destruction of his lab.

Matilda then instructed the guards to carry the unconscious students to their rooms. They hesitated at first, unsure if the danger had truly passed, but ultimately, they had no choice but to follow Matilda’s orders.

With the students now gone, only Matilda and Mr. F remained in the ruined lab.