Nanomancer Rising: Divine Alchemist Reborn as Academy's Worst Teacher
Chapter 90: What am I, a teenager to be horny like that?

Chapter 90: What am I, a teenager to be horny like that?

"No, that’s not it..." Theo muttered to himself while looking down at the rough blueprint of a new formation he drew on a simple piece of cheap parchment.

Previously, when getting his first formation set up, his only limit was the amount of effort he was willing to put into clearing the land for it. Right now, however, with the idea of replacing the formation set in the mansion’s inner courtyard, Theo had to obey the hard limits of the predetermined size.

A limit that quickly turned out to be quite damn difficult to overcome.

’I’m already spending more time on it than I would ideally want to,’ Theo thought, gritting his teeth as he used the edge of his hand to wipe the faint markings off the parchment, setting it to a blank state anew.

This parchment was cheap... but only when compared to the prices of high-quality, white paper, something that could easily go as high as a golden coin per sheet. In contrast, a single sheet of this crude parchment went as low as a quarter of that price, making it four times as affordable...

And pretty much infinitely more expensive than paper from back in Theo’s original world... at least, back while it still had any real use.

In a world where proper paper mills had yet to exist, each sheet of parchment, each sheet of clear, white paper had to be made by hand in artisan guilds, jacking up their price to the high heavens. And while for someone with Theo’s newfound weight all of those things cost too little for Theo to reasonably give a crap...

Just the thought of wasting an item worth as much as several dinners in high-class restaurants made Theo’s insides boil. As a result of his stinginess, however, Theo was quickly reaching the limit to how many times he could draw on the parchment and then wipe it all out before the whole thing would turn the same color as the mix of diluted ink and soot he used.

"Still no luck?" Celeste asked as she came out from the shed, only for two of Theo’s disciples to quickly follow.

"Master!" This time, both Lukas and Tesh bowed down and greeted Theo at the same time, only for each of them to throw an angry stare at the other.

’They are still going at it?’ Theo raised one of his eyebrows, welcoming this much-needed distraction from the problem he was struggling to solve.

’Just use the hive!’ A part of him suggested the most obvious option, one that would calculate all the possibilities and offer Theo the most optimal solution backed by the extensive calculations designed to prove the formation’s effectiveness.

Using the hive would be the rational way of cutting down the time needed to craft the proper, optimal blueprint, allowing Theo to move on to the practical stage of his plan. But...

Was there actually any rush?

"It is as you can see," Theo sighed while pointing his hand at the empty piece of parchment with nothing more than smudged marks of the wiped ink solution. "I’m trying over and over again, but it really seems like I will have to give up on some parts of my plan to make it work within the limits of this courtyard."

There was absolutely no reason for Theo to be in a hurry other than his own desire to get things done quickly. A desire born from how he could do anything he desired with the power he had at his fingertips back in his former life, even if the results would often be limited to just extremely elaborate and complex illusions he would imprint upon his perception.

Nowadays, however, especially after spending the chilly night in this courtyard, merely enjoying his time of peace, Theo realized he actually liked the tranquility, the silence, the peace.

’To think this mansion would be growing on me so damn fast,’ he thought with a bit of self-aimed critique. ’But...’

With just a single look at his disciples’ faces, Theo could tell they had yet to reach the same enlightenment he just achieved. Their eyes were full of drive and curiosity as they stole glances at him, their postures brimming with excitement and eagerness to test their new strength and then seek even greater heights.

In a way, Tesh and Lukas became Theo’s only drive to become stronger himself, just so he could tread the path for them to walk on.

’I am really turning into a bona fide teacher, aren’t I?’

Still, teacher or not, Theo still wasn’t willing to give up his own creativity and run away to using his hive. Not yet. Not while he still held hope he could solve this planning issue himself. After all, if all he needed to do to get the best possible answer was to ask, what was the harm in trying his best for just a little longer? Wasn’t it the hive that suggested relying on it too much when it comes to cultivation would limit Theo’s potential to freely wield it?

And if such was the case with things directly related to Theo’s physical and metaphysical abilities, why would it be any different when it came to formations?

"Okay, I’m going to take a little bit longer here, so why don’t you guys go get something to eat?" Theo suggested before turning his head and looking towards the sky, judging the time by how high the sun managed to climb on it. "You two slept in quite late, so you must be starving, especially after all that exercise of two days ago."

"Huh?" Lukas was the first to reveal his surprise, only for Tesh to use the opportunity and actually voice her concerns out. "Teacher Celeste, didn’t you claim our master was only waiting for us to begin?" she asked, leaning her head to the side while putting Celeste on the spot.

Initially, Celeste looked over to Theo, as if expecting him to give her some sort of lifeline...

Only for Theo to take note of the look and merely shrug his shoulders.

’I don’t know what you told them, but I’ve never claimed I was anywhere near done,’ he thought before looking back at Celeste and slightly shaking his head with a small, mocking smile. ’You’ve brought this upon yourself, so it’s up to you to deal with it.’

"It seems I was under the wrong impression," left with no other choice, Celeste admitted while rolling her eyes around. "Be it about your teacher only waiting for you to wake up or..." she hung her voice for a moment, only to then speak again in a much deeper, tense tone, "or knowing how to repay favors given!"

This accusatory sentence was enough to jolt Theo’s memory awake, putting the images of Celeste walking with him while carrying his students around, all the while patiently explaining all sorts of things about magic that were likely common sense for her but a brand-new world to him.

"Well, now that I think about it, I might have said something like that..." Theo pretended to take a deeper look back into his memories before suddenly shifting in his seat. "Ah, I’ve got it!" he then exclaimed, fully aware of just how unconvincing his act would be. "I guess you’ve heard me talking to myself like two designs back?" he suggested before pressing his lips together and shaking his head. "I’m sorry, but I’ve given up on it for a while already. There were some flaws in the design I didn’t notice right away, forcing me to redo the entire thing from scratch."

"So that’s the case," Celeste smiled lightly, forcing Theo to look away.

This conversation was already a huge distraction. He didn’t need Celeste’s charm to linger in his memory and then make focusing on the task any harder once she left!

A wish that ultimately failed to come true, when Celeste scooped Theo’s disciples before dragging them back to the mansion with the idea of getting them properly fed while explaining how they did indeed sleep through the entirety of yesterday.

Normally, that would be it. But given how Celeste stayed with Theo ever since he discovered her by his formation at the academy’s outlands, through the entire yesterday and all the way to now, her clothes were far from being in their best shape. And now that the material of her robes lost some of its springiness, just by sparing the trio a quick glance as they started to leave, Theo ended up with his eyes glued to the perfectly visible shape of Celeste’s backside all the way until she hid in the mansion’s interior.

’Shit, what am I, a teenager to let my junior do the thinking for me?’ Theo self-critiqued when he realized he actually went ahead and licked his lips clean while feeling the pressure start to grow around his crotch area.

Once again, Theo shook his head before taking in a deep breath and then slowly sighing it all out.

’To be honest, would there be anything wrong if I enjoyed myself a bit in this world? Who is there to say finding a woman in this life would be wrong?’ he thought, only to roll his eyes over his own stupid delusions before shaking his head one more time and then pinning his eyes down on the dirty parchment sitting firmly on the ground, stuck in place by a set of four small stones pinning down its corners.

’While not entirely a stupid idea, there will be a better time to think it through later. For now, though,’ Theo forced himself to grab the stick he was using to draw with and then lower it into the small cup with his homemade ink solution, tapping it against the cup’s edge to knock off the excess ink before bringing the stick back over the parchment. ’Now, how the hell do I make it work in this very specific place?’