[Notes from the Story Channeling System: Names were translated into their phonetical versions of the world they are channeled into. The name for females were translated to end in the letter A or E or Y, with the names for males ending in any of the other letters. The names for the futa/hermaphrodites can end in any letter. Some information is censored or modified, to fit into the world it is channeled into, due to the limits and filters set upon information entering the world from outside of the world.]

After everyone got inside the classroom, the teacher finally started speaking in a feminine voice. "Today I will show you how a certain pill is made. The ingredients have already been prepared, and are currently resting in the cauldron. Your goal for today is to watch and try to learn from the cauldron. I am currently using a technique which makes me difficult to look at, so you can focus on the cauldron, instead of looking at me. After the pill is ready, I will show you the pill and you will have to guess what it does. Guessing wrongly will not come with any downsides, at least for this lesson."

"Since this is probably the first lesson for at least some of you, I will let you know that you will have two different teachers for each path. For alchemy, the first day will be spent on alchemy and the second day will be spent on foraging and gardening, foraging so you can properly harvest wild resources, and gardening so you can grow them yourself."

After saying that, she quietly moved next to a cauldron, letting us watch the cauldron from a distance for a while. Sipher took a quick look at the cauldron with normal eyes and then with Aura Eyes at the Stone level, since he did not yet have the time and energy to try using the Copper level of the same technique, then used the same technique to try to look at the teacher. However, something strange happened. While his eyes were glued to her, he did not see her. Because of that, he started circulating his energy, similarly to how he did in order to advance, and when enough energy was moving through his body, he directed all that energy to his eyes, which had the unfortunate effect of activating the Copper level of the Aura Eyes technique, which would normally let him see a white overlay over his vision in the places where the aura concentration was high, but because of the high aura concentration used by the teacher, it had the effect of blinding Sipher, and he had to try his hardest to not scream in agony, managing to quietly close his eyes and stop the flow of mana.

It took a few minutes for vision to return to his eyes, and during that time the rest of the students were looking at the cauldron, thinking that they were given such a long time to look at it because there is something important they must observe about it. Unknown to them was the fact that the teacher noticed Sipher's attempts, as well as the technique used, and gave him time to recover, before starting to do alchemy. After all, the teachers have access to information about the students accepted to their classes, and he caught her eye because he had the Aura Eyes technique, which meant the outer librarian saw some potential in Sipher. If not for that technique being listed in his test answers, she would not have waited for him to recover, but such a high level technique being taught to an orphan is a very unexpected thing to happen. Especially since graduating from the academy meant that one would be able to be adopted into another family upon marriage, or make a new family name if two orphans marry, and their family name would be granted to them by one of the highest levels of institution they have graduated from or accepted into, which would reflect something about them.

After Sip recovered, the teacher finally started doing alchemy. Sipher managed to open his Aura Eyes right before a fire was made under the cauldron using aura. The herbs inside the cauldron were already turned into a few sets of paste and placed in different locations on the bottom of the cauldron before everyone entered the room, and the teacher used aura to move water to the cauldron from what looks like a wooden water tank with a tiny opening on the top, in the form of a cut from which a ribbon of water started flowing. Inside the cauldron, Sipher saw aura act as a separator between 3 different compartments, a spherical one on the bottom behind of the cauldron, in which 3 pastes were dissolving in the same water, and the rest were split in two halves, one half including the spherical compartment and 1 other herb, and the other half including 4 herbs and which had what looked like a rolling pin made from aura which was used to stir the water without stopping. After around 10 minutes, the half with 4 herbs was done being dissolved, and the two halves moved from vertical to horizontal, keeping the liquid with the 4 herbs on the top, and the rolling pin got shorter but kept stirring. 4 minutes later, the sphere started bubbling with aura, and after around half a minute of bubbling, the spherical container turned into another rolling pin which was violently stirring the insides of the bottom half of the pot, while the top half was being compressed, having it's bottom limit unchanged but it's top limit moved lower and lower, until it eventually reached half the height and roughly half the volume. Reached the new height caused the disappearance of the rolling pin used to stir the bottom compartment which was now two thirds of the entire volume used in the cauldron, and the rolling pin used to stir the top half turned into multiple spoons which caused the liquid in the top compartment to rotate very quickly, and a minute and a half after reaching the top speed, the divider keeping the two compartments separated quickly disappeared, which caused the top liquid to quickly expand into the lower liquid, and the spoons started getting lower and lower until they reached the bottom and disappeared into the bottom of the cauldron, then the fire was removed from behind the cauldron using aura, and the compartment expanded to include the sides and bottom of the cauldron, after which the container started to slowly release some of the liquid to the top, until the water level reduced to the level before the compartments were made, with some of the liquid evaporating without boiling, and the compartment started shrinking until it turned into a sphere, another spoon appeared inside the sphere and started moving the water inside it so it doesn't stagnate, then the sphere became smaller and smaller until it got big enough to fit only two spoons, after which the spoon made from aura disappeared into the wall, and the compartment kept getting smaller until it got around the size of the nail of the thumb of the students, but spherical, which made for a somewhat large pill if it was meant to be swallowed, but not so big if the shell ended up dissolving in the mouth, when used. After another minute, more water was drawn from the container on the other side of the cauldron from where the teacher sat, and the ribbon of water was used to cool down the exterior of the cauldron.

After a few more minutes, no more steam came from the cauldron, the teacher stood and used aura to pull the pill from the cauldron, at which point Sipher knew that the time to drop the smoke pill will come, so he started consciously slowing down his breathing, and kept at it even after the teacher started speaking.

"The pill is done. However, that does not mean an alchemist is done. Discarding the remnants is a very important task, and some remnants are actually useful in alchemy, as well. For example, the liquid left behind can be used as a numbing agent, when placed on a wound."

As she said that, Sip thought: "Numbing. The smoke might be numbing our sense of pain. If it releases that as a smoke, then we might end up biting our tongues, as a lesson of how such a pill can be used in combat."

As he was thinking that, the teacher sat up, then after Sip was done thinking that, the teacher told the students to look at the liquid, to which Sipher did that very slowly, while skill keeping his slowed down breathing, then the teacher told everyone to sit straight and look at her, the pill dropped between the teacher and the students, and an aura shield appeared around the students. As soon as that happened, Sipher quickly took a deep breath right before the smoke got to him, and held it for a while before slowly releasing the air in his lungs, trying to delay as much as possible having to breathe in.

Everyone stayed quiet. Sip did not want to need to breathe in, but strangely, people did not cough more than a few seconds after the smoke appeared. As Sipher started looking around, he noticed that nobody else was moving. In fact, he was the only one who kept moving, and with his slowed-down breathing feeding less air to his brain, he only thought the words "paralysis gas pill", then started walking to the aura wall, towards the part closer to him, which was to his right when he was looking at the teacher, then he tried and succeeded in pushing his finger through the wall, then pushed his whole body through the wall, and only after he got outside of the wall made from aura, did he move his head to the right and then quickly expelled all the air from his lungs facing the way opposite to the teacher, before quickly moving his head to his left to face the teacher and then take deep breaths of fresh air, slowly turning his body and moving towards the teacher, and stopping after a few steps. All that time, everyone else was paralyzed, and only after he stopped stepping did he look back at the students and saw a few of them looking at him, which he guessed included mostly those who resisted the paralysis as well as those who counteracted or otherwise removed it.

The teacher started speaking. "The liquid can be used as a painkiller in a fight, to let yourself fight without pain, or to get the enemies to injure themselves more and ignore their wounds. The pill, however, releases a gas which paralyzes people and animals. The price of such a pill is very high, because used in a fight it can at least slow down if not outright stop the enemy's movements, which gives you and your allies plenty of time to dispose of your enemies. However, there are a few ways to deal with it. One way is to simply not breathe in the smoke, which is what one of you successfully done, and he use that opportunity to try to escape from the aura wall. The wall was not meant to keep you in, only to keep the smoke inside it. A few others also managed to keep their breaths for a while, but only he thought of trying to get away from the smoke. If this was happening outside of class, it meant you were betrayed by your supposed ally or allies, so his decision of getting outside was the correct one, in this case, because you were not informed ahead of time that such a pill will be used on you, even if it's public knowledge that in the first alchemy lesson a pill is made and it's effects showcased to you all."

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

As soon as she was done saying that, the wall got connected to one of the vents, a hole opened to face the vent and another opened close to the teacher, then spoons of aura kept moving from the hole close to the teacher and to the hole close to the vent, which caused fresh air to get inside the aura shield and slowly remove the smoke. As that was happening, the teacher help speaking.

"But being affected by the pill to a lower degree also has it's uses in battle, and getting injured while not completely paralyzed can help you play dead without actually getting a deadly injury. Another way to deal with the smoke is to use pills which remove toxins and poisons, and some of you managed to use that method. Another one is to use techniques which slow down or stop those toxins and poisons from being absorbed or from spreading. And the last method I will mention is using your own aura shield or items which remove the smoke from the air you breathe, in order to not breathe in the smoke. Around half the class was powerless against the pill. A quarter of the class breathed in only a small amount of the smoke, another quarter used pills or techniques to remove the effects of the smoke, one person did not breathe in any smoke and is now standing outside the aura barrier from which I'm slowly removing the smoke, and one person used both a pill and a technique to remove the impurities, and was the second one to be able to move after I released the smoke. If she also didn't breathe in the smoke, then she would have been able to move outside the barrier, as well, but breathing in even a small amount of the gas caused quick paralysis, so she only managed to take one step towards the barrier, before the paralysis took effect. Oh, and the boy who got outside the barrier started slowing down his breathing as soon as I mentioned the effects of the liquid still in the cauldron, but that only worked because this was a class, if you get betrayed, don't expect the enemies to signal their betrayal ahead of time. That being said, keeping your guard up in times when others leave their guard down takes a huge toll on your body, especially as a non-combatant or as someone who doesn't fight physically, but it can coincidentally lead to avoiding some situations in which your life would otherwise be lost. Those two kids are the only ones who get a passing grade for this class, but just barely, even though this doesn't have any effect on your future performance in my class. That being said, this is the end of what I'm teaching you today. As soon as you recover, move close to the door, and once everyone has recovered, you can all leave the room in silence."

And that is what was done. Sipher was the first one to get to the door, and saw the girl who was one step away from the opposite end of the barrier, undoubtedly the other student being praised by the teacher with a 'barely passing' grade. After leaving the room, the whole group walks outside, and while people disperse and start walking towards other classes, Sipher gets confronted by the girl who got a 'passing grade" alongside him.

"How did you do that?" she said.

"Hi! I'm Sipher Filk. Who are you?" he said.

"Answer me!" she said.

"After you tell me your name." he said.

"Fine! Zora Alteris. How did you do that?" she said.

"Nice to meet you, Zora! Long story short, I failed advancing once using Sword Aura, and while training before trying to advance, I once tried to see how much I can fight holding my breath. The answer was not much. But I found out that I can hold my breath for longer if I don't make physical effort, and I also found out that if I start breathing slower and slower, after a while I can keep my breath for longer than if I didn't start slowing down my breath, but as soon as I make some physical effort, I end up needing to breathe faster than normal, for a while. I remembered hearing that in one year the alchemy teacher put a barrier and used a smoke pill to get everyone coughing for a while, so as soon as the teacher was done talking about the liquid, I started slowing down my breath in case the same thing happens, hoping that I will make it without coughing, or at least not cough as much. After everyone stopped coughing really quickly, I thought something was strange, and I thought it might be a paralysis smoke, so I tried to get to the aura wall. I was expecting to be stopped by the wall, and if that was the case I would have been close to the fresh air, when the aura wall disappeared, but I found out that I could go through the aura wall, and it only held back the smoke. After I got out of the smoke, I breathed out to remove the smoke already inside my mouth and nose, and then moved my head and breathed in fresh air. That's all there is to it." Sipher said.

"And you didn't have any pills or enchanted items?" Zora said.

"I'm not sure if you know this, but those with the family name Torec are either members of the family who founded the academy, or orphans with at least one of their parents a former inner disciples in the academy, and Filk is the family name the academy gives to orphans who do not have parents who were inner disciples. That means I'm an orphan. And since I don't have family in the sect, or outside it, I simply cannot afford to buy pills and enchanted items. A week of doing menial work for the sect only pays 18 to 20 Flows, and very rarely above that, but at least they let us eat for free for every day we work. That's part of why I decided to walk the path of alchemy, because it's a good way to make money while also training my aura at the same time, as well as getting a discount for alchemy products by making them myself. And I'm planning to start enchanting outside of classes after I advance from Copper to Iron, so I'm also going to the class which starts an hour from now. Am I going to see you there?", Sipher said.

"... I see. I didn't consider that circumstance. Very few Filk get to join the inner academy, you've done well. Yeah, you'll see me at the enchantment class. My classes are weapons, alchemy, enchantment, and singing.", Zora said.

"Singing? This is the first time I hear about it. What's it about? Any uses in fighting? Can singing make your allies stronger, or your enemies weaker?", Sipher said.

"... Yeah, if you get good enough. But I have to learn an instrument because my parents want me to have at least one skill which can make me money without the risk of significant injury, getting injured when fighting with a weapon, or when making pills or enchantments. Oh, yeah, you're an orphan, so you might not know, but although it's not rich, my family has contact with minor nobles, and they think that if I learn to sing I can make friends with noble children who aren't prone to fighting at the least offense or misunderstanding.", Zora said.

"Well, I have no money and probably won't have much for at least a few decades, but we can be friends, if you want." Sipher said.

"I'll think about it. We can be acquaintances, until I decide." Zora said.

"Alright. Your parents probably want you to marry at least a minor noble, I guess." Sipher said.

"Yeah, you're right. At least if I don't become one myself. And even then, they don't want me to get too close to people who have no chance of becoming at least minor nobles. So even if we become friends now, we might not remain as friends a few years from now, depending on your achievements in your classes and in aura mastery." Zora said, looking sad.

"I won't hold it against you. Besides, there are levels to being friends, too. For example, we can simply be distant friends, or barely friends, and still be on somewhat good terms. Besides, becoming a noble doesn't mean doing so alone. Many people team up, to advance together. For example, there are many love stories between weapon aura masters and alchemy aura masters or enchantment aura masters, because they advanced together by having the fighter fight for resources and guard the crafter, and in exchange the crafter crafts things much cheaper. But in most cases, the love story is not between friends who progressed together, but because one of the friends ended up together with someone in higher places than the others from the group, and some of the others from the group ended up together with some friends or family of the first one." Sipher said.

"Are you hitting on me?", Zora said, chuckling.

"It depends. But I was genuinely trying to get you to not be so sad, and maybe end up becoming friends with me. How old are you? I'm 14 years old." Sipher said.

"I'm 15 years old, and a bit taller than you, but you did convince me to more seriously consider making friends. But we won't see eachother outside of the school days, because my parents and some of their friends made sure to plan ahead of time most of my life for the next few years. Speaking of that, what did you observe in the class, while the teacher was making the pill? You explained how you got out without getting paralyzed, so I'll start this time." Zora said.

After a few minutes of listening, Sip decided to hide everything about the aura eyes, and simply pass it as merely a feeling he had while trying to pay attention to the cauldron, replacing the spoons and stirring rolling pin with only noticing the overall movement those caused. After explaining his part, and some more discussions, Zora can differentiate between the types of aura already, even though she is only at the Copper level, and that usually ends up happening only at the Iron level or when on the verge of an advancement, but she's only two thirds of the way there, which means it will probably only take her a few years to advance, just like she predicted. So she knew roughly the elemental aura used in each of the partitions, but only in terms of positions in the cauldron, but after finding out about the shapes Sip saw with aura eyes and which he claimed to have merely felt, things made a lot more sense for her, and her knowledge about the process helped him better understand what happened in the pot, in terms of how the aura types of the herbs mixed together and changed because of that.

And around the time they were starting to have nothing more to say about alchemy, they noticed the enchanting class was going to start in a few minutes, so they started walking to the enchanting classroom. After asking if she learns singing in the academy's classes, she said she does, and the classes start after the enchantment classes, and last for one hour. And after walking in silence for a while, they reach the class right as the other students start walking inside. It seems the power of friendship did not make them miss the first class on enchantments for the first year Sipher spends in the inner academy.