‘In the end, I have to do this.’ Alec thought. His weird interaction with Ms. Rebecca had left him confused and, most importantly, nervous. ‘She told me something about the final exams of this semester. And that crystal... I have to get stronger. And I also need more information.’

Alec took out one of his potions made by The Author’s Pen and downed it in one go.

As the citrus-flavored potion made its way through his esophagus, Alec savored the taste to the best of his abilities. He was lying on the ground, beneath a tree and amidst some waist-high bushes like a snake waiting for its prey.

He could feel the potion taking effect, slowly spreading through his joints and relaxing his body. Although the system didn’t show how much this temporary agility enhancement potion increased his stat, Alec guessed it to be at least 3, which was a substantial amount considering his agility was already at 20.

When his heartbeat calmed down, he started throwing educated glances at his surroundings, trying to see if there were any patrolling guards.

The forest behind the infirmary building was a go-to place for lovebirds in the academy. At least, it used to be. As the foliage was just thick enough to hinder visibility while it was spacious enough to not worry about bugs and cuts from the tree branches, students who wanted some private time with their partners would come here. Obviously, the academy authorities wanted nothing to do with that, which led to this place becoming a forbidden zone for the students.

This forest was the one Alec had tried getting past when he made his first escape attempt. Looking at it in hindsight, it was a stupid move from him. The forest extended from the infirmary building to the edge of the academy grounds, which was about a five-kilometer distance. It would have taken him quite a long time and plenty of stamina to cross that distance. And even after that, he would have to try and find his way through the walls surrounding the academy.

Now, however, this forest had become his ally, instead of a foe.

There were no guards in his vision, and by sheer luck, one of the first-floor sickrooms had an open window.

‘There might be someone inside,’ Alec thought. Readying himself, he took out The Author’s Pen and dashed out of the bushes. There was a small opening between the forest and the building, which would render him visible for at least a few seconds.

Utilizing his newly gained speed, Alec arrived next to the wall of the building and started writing without a stop.

[Wooden Crate]

After his writing turned real, using a little bit of his mana in the process, Alec climbed on the one-and-a-half meter crate. As the building had a high entrance, and was built on somewhat uneven ground, the first-floor windows were about four and a half meters above floor level.

‘Bastards... If the nurses didn’t stop me from entering, I wouldn’t have to deal with this bullshit,’ Alec grumbled mentally as he readied himself for a jump. After leaving the Alchemy building, he had tried going directly to the infirmary building to test his potions. However, apparently, only authorized personnel and patients could enter the building.

Flexing his leg muscles, Alec jumped as high as he could. Surprisingly, not only did he reach the first-floor window, but he also went past it by some measure, which caused him to scramble for a protrusion on the wall to hold onto.

When his hands grasped the lower windowsill, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief and looked into the room.

Just like he had guessed, it was occupied. There was someone lying on the sickbed, covered in white sheets. He couldn’t see the person’s face in detail because of the lack of light. Their only discernable quality was the white hair, that somewhat blended in with the bedsheets.

‘Lucky... They seem to be fast asleep,’ Alec analyzed before climbing in without any hardship. When his feet hit the floor, Alec took another look at the patient to make sure they were asleep and started walking close to the wall. Circling around the room with practiced ease, he approached the door and reached out to its handle.

Just as he was about to grasp it, he heard a gentle cough from right outside the room, which made him freeze.

‘T- There are guards? Again?’ Alec questioned in his head. His heart quickened and cold sweat poured from his back. No matter how much he felt like he wouldn’t be punished even if he was caught, he didn’t want to get mixed up in anything that might expose the existence of The Author’s Pen.

Slowly tracing back his steps, Alec found himself in a bit of a predicament. On one hand, he didn’t want to leave without accomplishing his goal. On the other hand, however, the patient could wake up at any moment and alert the guards, which was less than ideal.

‘I should leave,’ he decided. He wasn’t in a hurry, and he could come back any time as long as he wasn’t caught.

Turning around, he was about to leave as his eyes caught something interesting.

‘Huh..? Isn’t that..?’ Alec thought as he walked up to the occupied sickbed. ‘Iris?’

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Looking at the white-haired girl’s sleeping visage, Alec felt a bit conflicted. Ms. Rebecca had told him that Iris was still comatose. Although he had no other choice in that fight, he was still the one at fault. There she was lying, completely unresponsive.

‘Well, considering that she is comatose, I don’t think she is getting up any time soon,’ Alec thought. This was the perfect chance for him to deal with his own endeavors, as Iris wouldn’t be waking up any time soon.

Crouching behind the bed furthest away from the door, Alec silently pulled the curtain to further strengthen his stealth game. Taking out his tools, which were respectively three vials of hand-made health potions, one vial of health potion made with The Author’s Pen, another vial filled with a purple liquid, and the Author’s Pen itself.

Holding the artifact in his hand, Alec started writing the necessary tools.

[Sturdy Steel Knife]

[Wooden Bowl]

Making sure the steel knife didn’t touch any other surfaces to keep it somewhat sterile, Alec took the purple potion.

‘Hopefully, this painkiller will be enough to deal with it,’ he downed the potion, which caused a tingling sensation to spread throughout his body. This test was going to be very crude, as he couldn’t use the potions created by the pen on the Alchemy Crystals. He didn’t know how those artifacts would react if he did after all. They could start blaring alarms in every direction, indicating that a heavenly low-level potion was born.

‘These problems will be solved once I become strong enough. It’s just temporary,’ Alec gave himself a bit of a motivational speech. What he was about to do was something crazy, after all. To get ready, he took off his jacket and shirt before putting them aside.

Holding up his arm above the wooden bowl, Alec took a deep breath and put a piece of cloth in his mouth. Raising the steel knife, he stabbed it, perforating his arm down to his bone, breaking it in the process and coming out the other side.

Alec’s breathing became rough as he started biting down on the cloth. The painkiller was doing its work, numbing the pain down to that of being stabbed by a particularly large needle, rather than a full-on knife.

When he took out the knife, Alec’s arm was already pouring blood. Fortunately, he hadn’t hit an artery, which kept the blood spilled to a manageable amount. He didn’t want to dirty the surroundings with his blood after all.

After taking the knife out of his arm and placing it inside the bowl, Alec brought one of the health potions he had made and downed it in one go.

The effects were immediate. The potion’s essence first spread throughout his body, then, as if it had a mind of its own, it rushed to the wound and started infusing it with vitality. The broken part of the bone started making tiny connections between the two ends. However, it wasn’t enough. The recovery was too slow. Alec would bleed out long before the wound closed.

Thus, he downed another potion. And then, another. Even with all three potions, Alec’s wound didn’t completely close. Blood was still trickling down his arm, albeit at a much slower rate. His face had gone pale from all the blood loss. Although it was a bit worrying, health potions had a blood-replenishing feature, which was nice to have.

‘It seems that I will have to write another health potion,’ Alec thought before drinking the pen-produced potion. He had to be in top shape to continue his testing.

As color came back to his face and his nausea passed, he felt the effects of the potion dissipate, putting him back to his initial state.

Alec took The Author’s Pen and started writing.

[Very Low Health Potion]

As the potion was being manifested into real life, Alec noticed something weird about it.

‘My mana consumption is down..?’ he thought. Normally, he was capable of creating 10 Very Low Health Potions with a full mana pool. Now, however, the consumption was about down to half, which surprised him. ‘But why now? What changed?’ he thought. The last time he produced a health potion was right before going to the alchemy lesson, and the mana consumption wasn’t halved then.

After contemplating the implications of such a change, Alec understood what the reason was.

‘Is it because I understand how a health potion is made? Maybe because I made one myself, my understanding of it has increased?’

To test this, he wrote a new very low focus potion on the spot, which cost the same amount of mana as before.

‘This needs further testing, but it seems like my hypothesis is true for now. I will return to doing what I came here for,’ Alec thought before picking up the knife.

He wiped away the blood on the knife with his index finger and thumb and stabbed his arm once again. Fortunately, the painkiller potion was still going strong.

When a similar wound was opened in his arm, Alec drank the potion with hardship. With such a gaping wound in his body, Alec was able to notice the difference much more easily. As the potion infused his wound with regenerative energy, the muscle tissue, and the bones quickly connected.

When the effects of the potion ran out, the wound had nearly been completely healed. The small slit left in his arm was easily handled by creating another potion.

‘The potion I made had 95% quality. So a Very Low Health Potion created by the pen is as effective as three beginner-level health potions made by hand,’ Alec calculated. Scratching his cheek, he sighed deeply. ‘Which means, I can’t start creating and selling potions willy-nilly. It must be a completely different formula. There would be no way for me to avoid suspicion.’

Leaning against the bed while sitting on the ground, Alec took a deep breath and started cleaning up his mess. He filled the blood in the bowl into containers to be disposed of later. After putting the empty vials on the ground back into his pockets, he walked up to the window. However, he stopped himself right before jumping out.

‘Sigh... I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?’

Turning around, he walked up to Iris’s side and lifted the sheet covering her. Seeing her chest tightly wrapped with bandages, he felt a tinge of guilt before reaching into his pocket.

‘This should be enough to make up for my mistake,’ he thought before pulling out a Low Health Potion. These potions were much more effective, and cost about five times as much as the Very Low versions.

Opening Iris’ mouth with his hand, Alec gently poured the potion while paying attention to not choking her.

Right as the potion was about to deplete, Alec felt Iris’ chin tighten under his touch.

‘Huh? There is no way she is waking up this quickly!’ Alec shouted in his head. Not wanting to deal with the consequences of getting caught, he turned around to escape, which was stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist.

‘Oh, my fucking..!’ Alec was cursing mentally as he turned around, however, seeing Iris’ face made him calm down.

“W- Where are you g- going? D- Don’t leave me alone in the dark!” she whispered.

“Huh?” Alec exclaimed with confusion. By now, he could only hope that the guards wouldn’t hear them. “What do you mean? I’m sorry Iris, but I have to go.”

After hearing his words, Iris’ brows rose into a cute frown.

“Who is Iris?” she asked. For a moment, her eyelids closed tightly before reopening. “No... Who am I?”

“Oh just fucking great...”