“Alright, everyone, pair up into groups of two,” announced the elderly professor who taught the class, his voice calm yet commanding.

Erik and Clara exchanged a glance, an unspoken agreement passing between them. Without hesitation, she made her way to his workbench.

This class was unique in that it brought together students from the Houses of Valor, Knowledge, and Mischief—a necessity due to the small number of students who had chosen it.

The professor turned to a small chalkboard he had set up at the front of the laboratory. “Today, you’ll be putting all of your knowledge to the test. Your task is to create the best potion or concoction you can, using everything we’ve covered so far. You’ll have one hour and full access to the ingredients in our storage.”

A hand shot up from among the students. “Professor, how will we be graded?” someone asked.

“Your potions will be graded based on their magical strength, so the tier of spell they would be comparable to, however, I will also factor in the duration of effect, toxicity, and of the potion creativity,” he wrote those three conditions on the chalkboard, circling them. “This test will have a time of 90 minutes and will account for 25% of your grade in this class. Furthermore, each pair that scores first will earn 5000 points.”

The room fell silent as the students digested this information. Erik gulped. Five thousand points was enough to buy weeks of premium lunches at the cafeteria. He glanced at Clara, who already looked deep in thought, her fingers tracing on the workbench.

“Do you have a plan?”

She shook her head slowly, her eyes still on the bench as if imagining her options. “Before coming to the academy I had made potions once or twice but I’m still not that good. Any potion below the second tier likely won’t give us a good grade also so I’m not great in here,” she sighed, glancing at Erik. “What about you?”

Erik smiled. “Actually, I think we’re in a pretty good spot. My grandmother is a witch, and I trained with her for over a year before coming to the academy. I’ve made several second-tier potions before—healing, strength, and even smoke concoctions.”

Clara blinked, clearly surprised. “You’ve made second-tier potions? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

He shrugged. “Didn’t think it’d come up. But if you’re alright with it, I can take the lead on this.”

“Alright, potion expert,” she chuckled. “What’s the plan?”

Erik glanced at the storage shelves, his mind going through the hundreds of ingredients and possibilities he knew. “We’ll go for a stamina potion. I think Moonshadow petals for strength is a good idea… we’ll also add nightroot for sustained energy, and silverthorn leaves to neutralize toxicity. With the right ratios, we can push this into second-tier territory without risking instability.”

Clara nodded, her confidence in him growing. “That sounds solid. I’ll help with prep—just tell me what to do.”

Erik grinned. “Perfect. Let’s grab what we need and get started.”

As they worked, Erik’s movements were precise and practiced, his hands steady as he measured and mixed the ingredients. Clara followed his instructions closely, impressed by his efficiency and the calm focus he brought to the process.

“We’ll need to heat this mixture at exactly 120 degrees for five minutes,” Erik explained, adjusting the flame beneath their cauldron. “Now let's just wait until it's good to be strained,” Erik said calmly, a smile on full display on his face.

After he said those words, he noticed there was a weird silence. Finding it off, Erik glanced at Clara. He frowned as he noticed she was staring at him so much it made him question if he had something on his face.

“What’s up?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Clara blinked as though snapping out of a trance. A faint blush crept up her cheeks. “Oh, uh… nothing. I just…” She hesitated, then muttered quickly, “You looked really amazing just now.”

Erik blinked, caught off guard for a moment before laughing. “Well, what can I say? That’s just how I am.” He said, patting himself on the back like the humble kid he was. “But you’re not too bad either, Clara. Glad to have you on my side.”

Clara’s blush deepened, and she turned her gaze away, suddenly very interested in the potions of other students. “Thanks,” she mumbled, her voice quieter than usual.

Erik decided to follow her gaze, nodding. He had been so focused on his craft that he didn’t even look at the competition.

The results were varying, it seemed. The cauldrons the students were using had a wide array of colors, from bright yellow to violet to mud. The smell was terrible as it came from over a dozen brews, however, the windows were open so hopefully it would get better soon.

Erik recognized a few recipes simply by seeing the ingredients on the table and the colors of the brew. Some would give decent tier 2 potions while some others were barely passable by his own standards.

He smirked. “Not bad, but they’re playing it too safe,” he muttered

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“It seems like they’re going for standard recipes,” Erik explained, gesturing subtly towards a workbench students were working on. “Nothing creative. Sure, they’ll probably get passing grades, but they’re not going to win. That’s why we have to go all out.”

Clara tilted her head. “Isn’t that kind of… cocky? You can’t always be the best”

Erik crossed his arms, taking a moment to think. “Umm no,” he said, grinning. “I’ve lost enough already so I need a win to be happy now.”

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Clara laughed softly, and covered her mouth. “Sure, sure. I guess it hurt really bad being defeated by that girl,” she teased, making Erik groan. “But well, what’s our edge, then? Just the second-tier potion, or are we doing something to make it stand out?”

Erik leaned back, his hand resting on the workbench as he considered her question. “A straight-up stamina potion might not be enough if someone else tries the same thing. It's good but maybe not quite what he wants.” His eyes scanned the shelves of ingredients, and a spark of inspiration hit him. “What if we add another amplifying element? That way, it will become stronger. Maybe approach the 3rd tier,” he said, looking at her to see what she thought.

“Its… risky…”

“It’s perfect then!”

Clara hesitated for a moment, eyeing Erik's confident grin before finally nodding. "Alright, let's do it. But if this blows up, I swear, you're the one explaining it to the professor."

“It’ll be finee,” he said before going to look for some FrostVine. Due to its magical properties, it would make the potion much more powerful.

After grinding it, Clara added the fine powder to the simmering potion. Almost immediately, the potion began to emit faint puffs of smoke, swirling around the cauldron.

Clara stepped back slightly "I don’t like the look of that."

"It's fine,” Erik said, watching it happen with arms crossed. “I hope,” he muttered as this all was kinda sketchy.

After a tense moment, the puffs of smoke subsided. The potion’s surface calmed into a dark amber liquid with faint blue glows. Erik’s grin returned. “See? Told you.”

Then, they strained the mixture and poured the remaining brew into glass vials. The stamina potion was done, but it wasn’t perfect, due to the added potency it could be a bit unstable, and/or the toxicity levels could be above ideal, however, Erik hoped that these detriments would not be a huge problem.

"It looks... impressive. Do you think it’ll really pass as a third-tier potion?" Clara asked, her face almost hitting the vials as she couldn’t help but look closely.

Erik grinned, securing the cap on the vial. "Yeah, I think so. If it doesn’t, then we might have screwed ourselves a bit.”

Just as they finished sealing the vial, the professor’s voice rang out across the room. "Alright, everyone! Time’s up!"

The students quickly scrambled to present their potions. The Professor swept his gaze across the room, his eyes narrowing as he prepared to use a spell to assess each concoction.

He began at the front, waving his hand and uttering an incantation that sent a magical pulse over the first student’s potion. The potion’s magical properties flickered into the air above it, and the professor nodded in approval. "A standard healing potion, tier two. Well done," to that pair, he gave a simple B-.

One by one, he moved down the line, praising the students for their basic efforts. As he came closer to Erik’s workbench, Clara tensed, and Erik’s heart began to race. He was confident in his alchemic skills, however it was still nerve-wracking to be assessed. Everyone was getting passing grades as even the worst pair so far had gotten a D—which while bad was passable—however, Erik would never be pleased with just that.

Finally, the professor stood in front of Erik and Clara’s potion. He lifted an eyebrow and extended his hand, casting the spell once more. The pulse of magic washed over the vial, outlining the potion. There was a moment of silence as the professor examined the results.

“Interesting…” he said in a low tone before stepping back. “You didn’t use a standard recipe, did you?” he asked, his gaze focused on his student’s reaction.

Erik met the professor’s gaze, trying to keep his expression neutral despite the weight of the moment. "No, sir," he said, his voice steady. "We modified the recipe to enhance the potion’s effects. The goal was to push it into a higher tier by adding amplifying elements."

The professor’s eyes flickered to the potion again, studying the faintly glowing liquid. He crossed his arms as if considering Erik’s answer. “And you’re confident in its stability?” he asked, the question deliberate.

Clara shifted uncomfortably beside Erik, but he didn’t falter. “Yes, sir. We used Silverthorn to balance out the other ingredients and reduce the toxicity.”

“Interesting,” the professor repeated, his tone thoughtful. “This potion is indeed effective but I can sense that the balance is delicate. Any sudden changes in the environment—temperature, pressure—could cause a reaction,” the teacher explained, writing something down on his notepad.

There was a moment of silence, broken by Clara’s worried voice. “H-How good did we do, professor?”

Upon hearing those words, the old man’s features softened. “It's not perfect, but it’s an impressive potion for those who only started in this academy just a month ago. I’ll give you two an A for this performance.”

The professor’s words settled over the classroom like a wave, and for a brief moment, there was a sense of stillness. Then, as the students began to process the professor's approval, Erik felt a grin spread across his face. An A—that was more than he had expected. He glanced at Clara, who stood quiet, he could see that she was proud though from her grin.

The professor, seeing the students’ reactions, gave a small nod. "You’ve earned 5,000 points for your house, as well. Well done."

The mention of the points sent a ripple of excitement through the class, and murmurs of congratulations filled the room. Clara clapped her hands together, a wide smile breaking out on her face. "We did it, Erik! 5,000 points!" she exclaimed, her voice bubbling with excitement.

Erik chuckled, feeling the weight of the accomplishment settle in. "Yeah, we did," he said, leaning back slightly in his chair as he lived in the moment. It was a good feeling—pride, relief, and even a little thrill at the thought of the points they had earned.

----------------------------------------

"What’s got you down?" Colin asked in a teasing voice after seeing Erik’s deplorable state.

“Shut up, servant,” he said in a sharp, almost threatening, mostly tired tone as he laid his face against the hard wooden table. He seemed to understand the words, however, as the ex-bully didn’t utter another word.

“Aw, come on. You should be celebrating!” Emilia said in an excited tone.

Erik glanced at her, his sharp gaze filled with threats, however, she ignored it and went back to her things. After earning so many points, of course, Emilia had to be the one to make him waste it all for their entertainment.

In the end, he could only sigh.

His eyes wandered over the strange contraption in the center of the room. It was an unfamiliar device to him—nothing like the usual gadgets or equipment he had seen from where he came from. It was a magical apparatus, with a glass panel that displayed a list of songs it was somehow capable of reproducing. However, what caught Erik's attention was the fact that the machine didn’t just play the songs—it seemed to invite them to participate, wanting them to sing along.

It was odd, to say the least. He didn’t quite understand the point of it. Music was supposed to be played by musicians, or you’d hum or sing along in a casual setting. The concept of renting an entire room dedicated to just singing to a device? That was something entirely foreign to him.

They even had a table full of food and snacks they had ordered.

‘Bye bye, 2,000 points,’ Erik sighed. It was almost frustrating, but at least he got to learn the academy had rooms built for the entertainment of students.

“Alright, Erik, your turn!” Emilia said, her voice full of excitement as she pushed a remote into his hand, pulling him out of his thoughts.

‘Ah shit, I better use what I bought,’ he thought before aggressively taking the remote from her hands.

That evening, Erik sang to his heart’s content and had a sore throat for a couple of days in return.