Chapter 17: The Merciless Teacher

Having emerged from a hell of nature, Alexander found himself in a new hell of academia.

Stormbeard was an excellent teacher but equally greedy. He would only explain a topic once, and if you needed him to elaborate further, answer a question, or recover a subject, you were expected to pay. Likewise, he allowed access to his library for only an hour a day, but more time could also be purchased. Similarly, his basic fee covered housing but not food, bathing privileges, bedding, or any other comfort items.

Alexander couldn't blame the Tiefling for his greedy nature, especially because he had taken on the same oath of not accepting payment when rendering services to those in need. Magic research and alchemy were both expensive endeavors, so it made sense he would try to steal as much as he could when the opportunity arose. Still, not being a complete pushover, the Elf would argue and haggle at nauseam with his mentor down to the last Copper coin.

To make matters worse, Stormbeared required him to complete a daily exam that was at least three pages long. If he passed, they would move on with his lesson, but if he failed, the Elf would have to pay for another attempt after self-study.

Alexander didn't need much review, thanks to the cognitive boosts from his various skills and titles. However, he still invested in additional lesions and the right to transcribe some of Tiefling's many books.

Alexander found learning Lightning and Darkness magic easy enough. There were more than enough books, and the basic spells Stun and Darkening were not very difficult to learn. Unfortunately, he had woefully underestimated the complexity of learning Alchemy.

As a baseline, one needed three Fusion Skills, three Identification Skills, and sufficient magic control. Regarding Fusion Skills, Alexander already had Medicine Synthesis, which focused on fusing plants, and Metallurgy, which focused on fusing metals. As for Identification Skills, he only had Plant Identification, and his skill was already sufficient in terms of magic control.

Like so, the Stormbeared began his lesson by teaching him Chemistry, a skill that fused elements; Mineral Identification, which could identify rocks, metals, and crystals; and Material Identification, which could help identify materials either dropped or harvested from monsters such as fur, claws, organs, and even mana stones. Each subject possessed a great deal of intricacy and required much experimentation and studying from massive books full of tinny text and obscure pictures. None of which came cheap.

He just took three weeks to learn and raise these three skills, and his metallurgy skill reached level three. This was a lot of time away from leveling in the eyes of most layers. Still, these skills, especially the Identification Skill, were considered quite rare and desirable. Like so, the Elf happily devoted himself wholeheartedly to his studies while trying to ignore his ever-growing debt.

Luckily, while his understanding of Alchemy grew from Stormbeard's lessons, his proficiency in making Mana Stones also rose to 30%. With every extra bit of Mana he had, the Elf would practice making Mana Stones, knowing this was likely his only way to pay off what he owed the Tiefling. At the same time, if he wanted to continue practicing Alchemy in the future, buying materials would also cost a lot, so refining this skill would only benefit him.

Alexander was also happy to have formed not only his Lighting Symbol by this point but, unexpectedly, his Mana Symbol, which earned him the skill Basic Atributless Magic. The Elf originally had no idea how to advance this spark; however, practicing the Mana Stone Creation spell seemed to meet its criteria. Now, all he needed was to finish with his Darkness Symbol to have mastered all the Elements. After this, Balin had contacts who could teach him Holy Magic and Summoning Magic in London. As for his Spark of Wisdom, it left them both baffled and wasn't a talent he may not be able to pursue at the moment.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The Elf was most excited about learning Summoning magic, which meant he could call on his fairy friends again. However, given that he hadn't even acquired the Alchemy skill, the youth knew this may still take a while.

Thinking about this had distracted the Elf from the book in his hands. At the same time, his teacher curtly snapped, "Enough daydreaming, Elfling. You're not paying good money to stare off into space."

Alexander refocused on reality, glanced over the page in his hand, and counted, "This is just an analysis of mineral attributes. I already learned this from 'Properties of Minerals'."

Stormbreared nodded and added, "Yes, but this book discusses the mana capacity limitations of each material. Suppose you use too much Mana, Mana of the wrong attribute, or apply Mana incorrectly. In that case, you can ruin many perfectly good materials." He rubbed his nose while grabbing a drink with his tail and added, "That counts as your last pre-paid tip for the day. Anything else will cost two silver."

Alexander looked at the hourglass on the table before him and noted that he didn't have much time left. He scowled and remarked, "Fine, I'll go ahead and pay for another thirty minutes."

The Tiefling raised an eyebrow and questioned, "Only half an hour. Your exam will be on the whole book."

The Elf grew focused on the text and responded, "I know what I said."

Alexander's Fast Thinking and Studying skills had advanced to level 5 and level 8 that morning under the pressure of his teacher's grueling pace of teaching. Now, he wanted to put a 100% increase in Thinking Speed and boosted Compression to the test. His eyes began to rapidly work their way down the page, looking for keywords that attracted his attention.

Flipping a page almost every ten seconds, he soaked up knowledge about different minerals and their mana-related attributes. By the time the last few grains of sand fell from the hourglass, he had already reached the end of the book and returned to re-review a few of the more difficult sections. This didn't stop him from promptly putting the text down once his time was up, unwilling to be fined for trying to sneak in more time.

His teacher let out an impressive whistle and complained, "I wish I were Enlightened. Your comprehension ability must be close to three times that of a normal person."

Alexander shrugged and responded, "Like I said, just Max out your Mediation Skill. That's what worked for me."

Rolling his eyes, Stormbeared retorted, "I know plenty of people who have maximized their Mediation level, and none of them were Enlightened." Rubbing his chin, he added in a questioning tone, "Maybe it had to do with you being a hermit or a Foreigner."

The Elf shrugged and stood up while stretching, "Hey, you took 100 gold off my debt, and I told you what I know. If you want me to therize with you, that'll cost 10 silver."

The Tiefling snorted and grumbled, "Your price gouging is even worse than mine."

Alexander smiled and responded, "And thus, the student surpassed the teachers."

Stormbeared smacked him over the head and snapped, "In your dreams, kid! You still owe me 3000 gold and then some right now."

The Elf stuck his tongue out at his mentor and shot back, "A 100 MP Mana Stone goes for 50 gold even in the worst market. If I held myself up for a week and focused, I could pay you back easily."

Stormbeared held his hand angrily, shouting, "Sounds to me like I should raise my interest rate then."

Alexander crossed his arms and turned away from the wizard. He scoffed, "We had an agreement, you grouchy old hellspawn. You're not going back on your word, are you?"

Losing his cool, Tiefling threw his cup at his student's head and hollered, "Bad student! Bad, bad student!"

The Elf ducked and darted out of the room, calling, "Let me know when my exam is ready!"

His relationship with the moody NPC was certainly unique but very endearing in the older wizards' own unique way. Alexander had sensed the Tieflings' mood towards him change over time and now felt very comfortable messing with his teacher. In-kind, the wizard was very happy to find a pupil who might not be his ideal student but was definitely a kindred spirit in his ideals. Like so, their bond had deepened over the last month.