Inside the box, there was a rather small fruit. It had the shape and size of an orange, but it was colored a bloody red and had markings that resembled burning trees.

The moment Ron took it out, he almost lost control. It was as though something within his soul demanded he for him to eat the damned thing.

'This... Impossible! I thought this was extinct!' Ron shouted within his own mind, doing his best to resist the soul-wretching allure of the fruit.

If Ron's memory served him correctly, the fruit was nicknamed the Blazing Tree Pomelogram. It was, in ancient times, popular amongst fire-attribute magi, especially those of rank one and two.

It was extremely beneficial to the consumer's spiritual force as well as soul, but that was all that the short mention in the book he'd read said. And yet, Ron couldn't fathom just what made this fruit so alluring to him. After all, while it was very beneficial to magi, nothing was said about this crazy hunger Ron felt.

Still, Ron was by no means weak-willed. It took a lot of effort, but he succeeded in putting the fruit back into the box, which he then hid in a secret compartment underneath his bed.

'If I eat it now, It'll be very beneficial to me. However, if I eat it when I become an official magus, it will be of even more help. Ugh...' Ron encouraged himself, trying his best to look at the big picture and ignore the almost physical pain that this unsatisfied craving of his was giving him.

'God, if this is how drug addicts feel, I'm never touching those things...' Ron grumbled inwardly, feeling quite depressed. Still, he cheered up after a bit and threw himself into learning about potions.

He spent the remainder of the day setting everything up and practicing a bit without using any of the more expensive materials. He failed every time, obviously, but that was alright to Ron. He was just familiarizing himself with the tools and techniques.

Unfortunately, for the entire following week, he was forced to abandon his potioneering plans, as his sexy teacher decided that since Ron had already advanced to be a rank 3 acolyte, he was now qualified to truly help him in his non-crucial experiments, as well as some other things he'd withheld previously.

Thus, saying that he was just busy would have been a colossal understatement. At one point, he just decided to sleep in his teacher's lab since he was basically working 18 hours per day there anyway, and the rest of the time was spent sleeping.

Nonetheless, despite the terrifying amount of work Ron had to do, which usually consisted of keeping records of the experiments and organizing the ingredients, sometimes even being allowed to do the experiments himself, Ron actually found it all to be fun rather than stressful.

"Careful there with the Hateful Root, Alice. Remember to stir it the correct amount of times, not one more, not one less." Loki directed from the side as Ron danced around a table filled to the brim with equipment, trying his best to handle over three different parts of the experiment at once.

"Good, good. Keep going. You're almost done." Loki encouraged from the side, not lifting a finger to help the obviously tired princess.

Finally, Ron gathered up the two boiling tubes and the strange, screaming root that had a face on it and put them all together in one of the cauldrons at the side. Then, he chanted in the Byron language, something that he'd been doing so often as of late that sometimes he'd even think in it rather than the Common language.

"Hyrrs Mukles Nya Nya Lobbsta!" She whispered, causing the root stuck inside the cauldron to scream even louder as the various substances within converged around it, fusing into it.

A dozen seconds later, it was over, and Ron collapsed on his bum, not even having the energy to speak. He'd been working an entire day nonstop, and although he'd succeeded, he was tired.

Loki carefully picked up the brownish-green pearl that had appeared inside the cauldron, examining it with a critical eye before giving Ron a huge grin. "Congratulations. It's perfect. I knew you had it in you." He praised, truly impressed by his student.

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She'd crafter something that, normally, only official magi and above could even think of making: The Thousand-Emotion Pearl, something that was coveted by illusion magi so much that it was basically guaranteed to be sold for well over a thousand magic crystals.

 Still, while she'd done a perfect job, he'd been the one giving out instructions and occasionally preventing her from making mistakes. Thus, he was the one to pocket the pearl.

He gave her a wide smile as she wheezed on the ground, wiping away the sweat that covered her face and bare arms. "Since I gave you the materials and everything, I'll keep the pearl. Still, you deserve a reward for doing such a good job. Is there anything you wish?" 

When Ron registered his teacher's words, he thought for a moment before asking, "Could we work on potions next week? I'm planning on doing it independently, but if Teacher could help me, I'd be happy."

"Of course. Since you've been such a diligent little student, I'll go ahead and pay for the materials myself. Still, I'll be keeping the potions we make. If you wish to make some profit, you'll have to do it on your own, understood?" Loki said even as he worked to store away the precious pearl.

"Yes! Thank you!" Ron said, excited. He bowed to his teacher before retreating away from their lab, massaging his temples in the meanwhile.

'Ugh! Teacher really doesn't know the meaning of rest, does he...' Ron felt a little speechless. If this was his old world, Loki would have probably have been sent to prison for using child labor, but in this world, he was only praised, with countless children willing to work for him if he just asked.

Still, Ron was satisfied. It had been a busy week, and despite it only having been a month and a half since his arrival at the Fire Mausoleum, he'd already caught up to his peers that had been working and studying here for much longer. In fact, with his teacher's help, he may have even surpassed many.

'Thankfully, he still allowed me time to practice my Ten Sacred Flames technique.' Ron thought to himself, knowing full well that, without some sort of impossibly lucky event, it would take him quite a bit of time to reach the necessary foundation to attempt to advance. Even with his heaven-shaking talent and the sheer amount of resources being poured into him, it would still take a significant amount of time to become an official rank 1 magus.

Nonetheless, Ron didn't mind. He wasn't in any particular hurry, and he was of the firm belief that as long as he tried his best, everything else would come around eventually.

After arriving back in his room, he first took a quick power nap that lasted until dawn before throwing himself into potions by himself. His teacher had kindly given him some of his own notes regarding potion techniques, which Ron happily made use of.

Ron's tongue stuck out of his mouth as his eyes narrowed, gauging how much of the Blood Apple's powder he should put into the mixture. In a split second, he decided and put his decided amount in.

Unfortunately, his decision turned out to be an incorrect one as the tube he'd been working on exploded in his face, showering his white coat with sizzling acid and landing quite a bit on his face.

"Fuck!" Ron cursed, quickly picking up a towel that glowed with a golden color and using it to wipe his face. He quickly took off the protective coat he'd been wearing and threw it into the trash. 

Touching his face, he made sure he was unharmed by the acid. Thankfully, it had been a rather weak mixture, but it had still stung a bit. His recovery speed was leagues ahead of normal people though, so he was fine in the end.

"Damn... This is the third fail in a row..." Ron murmured, pursuing his lips in annoyance. Without his teacher to prevent him from making dumb mistakes, he was quickly realizing just how annoying some of the procedures were.

It wasn't even that he didn't know what he had to do, but rather, it was purely instinctual. The bug extermination potion he'd attempted to brew just now should have come out perfectly, he'd followed the instructions to a T after all. And yet, it failed miserably.

'Huff... It's just as Teacher said. I just need more experience...' Ron sighed to himself. Since the morning, he'd made a total of 8 attempts at brewing different potions, and yet, only two had come out successfully, and even then they were rather poorly made.

Still, Ron wasn't discouraged. He checked the time real quick and noticed that it was already 8 pm, and the sun had long since fallen beneath the horizon. He attempted one more brewing, trying to make a strength potion, but it melted in his hands, ruining itself.

"Fuck, this is so annoying! What am I doing wrong!" Ron shouted out, frustrated. One of the potions he'd succeded in had also been a strength potion, and he'd did the same he did then for this potion, meaning they both had the same exact fucking procedure.

And yet, one failed, and one succeeded. It made sense for Ron to start getting angry.

'Calm down, I'll just ask Teacher tomorrow' Ron consoled his aching pride, well aware that the fact that he'd been able to brew two potions out of 9 attempts was already considered a spectacular result for a beginner like him.

Still, he'd gotten used to doing everything perfectly. To suddenly fail so many times in a row left him frustrated, but he could ignore it, knowing he'd eventually get better.

Huffing in irritation, Ron ran a hand through his long locks, tucking them behind his ear. 'I should probably get myself a hairpin or something...' He silently thought to himself before cleaning and putting everything he'd used in his experiments away, careful not to damage anything. Then, after calling for someone to come clean up the mess on the walls and floor, he returned to his bedroom, ready to sleep away his worries.