The Red Dragon Just Wants To Do As It Pleases
Chapter 87 - 85: Success

Chapter 87: Chapter 85: Success

Thanks to the favor and arrangements made by his teacher, Attilicia—who had been "arrested" by the Drow in the Gloomy Region right before he left.

In the half-month following David’s own perceived "distraught and sudden departure," he had initially faced a series of daunting questions: How to steal Century Aroma pollen? Where to find a suitable temporary Alchemy Workshop? How to complete the potion configuration within the three hours before the pollen’s pharmacological effects wore off? And how to do so without being discovered by the Public Order Officers patrolling the city, alerted by odorous alchemical waste gases? These, and many other problems, had loomed large.

Later, David was somewhat dumbfounded to discover that none of these were problems anymore.

With the temporary authority granted by Priest Attilicia, David could come and go freely in the Duke of Silver’s Alchemy Workshop.

Although the alchemists naturally couldn’t allow his "three Drow" and Barbarians under his command into the Alchemy Workshop, David, having utilized three Authorities to completely memorize the entire process of Master Attilicia’s creation of the Sobering Potion, was fully qualified to start making the Sobering Potion and even the Anger Potion on his own.

Hence, in the following half-month, David, upon returning from the luncheon at Silverfort, went straight into the Alchemy Room that had been Master Attilicia’s private space.

Then, in this fully equipped room with abundant fresh ingredients, separated from the group of alchemists by only a wall, he began his potion smuggling endeavor.

Of course, even though he had entirely replicated the production process, for a novice like him, who hadn’t learned any alchemy, it was a significant challenge to get straight to work.

One of the main challenges he faced at the beginning was operational...

Master Attilicia was a High Elf, while he, David, was a Dragon. Although in his current juvenile form, he was only about two sizes larger than an adult Northeast Tiger, the difference in operational stability and precision between a Dragon’s claws and a humanoid’s hands was still significant.

This was even considering that when David initially evolved his Heavenly Intelligent Dragon template, he had also evolved his claws, making them better suited for grasping items like weapons and scepters.

He couldn’t possibly de-evolve his claws back to those of a mammal just to mix a potion, or even transform into a humanoid using Jealousy, could he? Wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse?

Arrogance.

However, David quickly found an alternative method:

He used his relatively more flexible forked tongue and tail to directly replace his comparatively clumsy claws.

This unconventional breakthrough allowed David to kick open the door to the world of alchemy.

With Master Attilicia’s production process to repeatedly reference and compare within his memory palace, whenever David encountered a problem he couldn’t solve, he could simply step out, turn right, and consult the five alchemists directly.

Later, feeling that running back and forth was too time-consuming and cumbersome, he simply rang the bell on the workbench, just as Priest Attilicia had.

Initially, David hesitated, wondering if doing so would come across as too Arrogant and disrespectful to seniors, and if the five alchemists would consequently ignore him entirely.

But he soon realized he was mistaken.

These five alchemists, who were typically treated with utmost respect by Noble families across the entire Granyel Continent, were not only eagerly attentive to David but even overly enthusiastic. So much so, they began to argue amongst themselves because they were constantly coming in together, thereby disrupting the production schedule for the High Elf military’s potion orders.

Seeing how the situation had developed, David simply created a duty roster for the five alchemists and posted it at the entrance to the Alchemy Workshop:

Each day, one alchemist was specifically responsible for serving—ah, no—specifically tasked with instructing him, the young Silver Dragon, in the ways of Alchemy.

This grandeur, this setup, this impressive, arrogant attitude—it all left the Alchemy Apprentices, who had initially been watching with some amusement, utterly dumbfounded.

And David’s manner of treating the five Alchemy Grandmasters as if they were servants, the Arrogance radiating from him, only reinforced the Elves’ conviction in their earlier guess:

This young Silver Dragon, whom even Master Attilicia had desperately sought as his disciple but failed to secure, likely possessed an incredibly formidable background.

As a result, not only the five eagerly attentive alchemists but also the hundred or so Alchemy Apprentices, who were normally seldom seen, began to devise ways to curry favor and fawn over David.

With the entire Alchemy Workshop treating him with a level of reverence that even Master Attilicia had not enjoyed, David, who had originally intended to humbly seek guidance, was soon spoiled to the point where his tail practically stuck straight up to the sky.

With such comprehensive and cooperative teaching, David, who was already ’cheating’ in his alchemical endeavors—or rather, on his path to concocting the Sobering Potion—advanced by leaps and bounds, soaring to new heights.

When he formally entered this mode of learning, or rather, imitation and restoration:

One hour and fifteen minutes in: David, on his own, processed, ground, and extracted the raw materials to a degree suitable for potion brewing. (An average apprentice with basic knowledge typically needed three months to two years to master this initial process. The most time-consuming and mentally taxing part was learning the characteristics of various raw materials and their different processing methods.)

Three hours and six minutes in: David mastered the steam distillation purification method, reaching an initially proficient standard. (An average apprentice typically needed six months to three years.)

Six hours and thirty-three minutes in: David boiled the purified water, dissolved the purified raw materials in it, continued heating to a boil, and strained the mixture while hot to obtain a single raw slurry. He then integrated the processed Century Aroma pollen into a coupling device for mixing. The coupler remained stable, with no signs of leakage. (This was already a process that only junior alchemists could typically handle and master.)

This unbelievably rapid ’learning progress’ sent the alchemist on first-day duty through a whirlwind of emotions: from initial surprise, amazement, shock, and horror to numbness, and finally, to manic excitement.

Reflecting upon his own alchemical journey, his worldview gradually began to shatter. He started to doubt whether he was an incredibly dull idiot. He wondered if, for such a foolish idiot like himself, choosing to study alchemy had been a complete waste of time. As these thoughts overwhelmed him, his nose suddenly erupted in a bleed.

He passed out on the spot from a cerebral hemorrhage.

A somewhat headache-stricken David eventually rang the bell to have this ’overreacting’ alchemist replaced. When the alchemist scheduled to tutor him the next day arrived and saw David had already finished processing raw materials and was starting the coupling stage, he nearly had a heart attack.

He hadn’t forgotten that on the first day, if Attilicia hadn’t directly intervened with Magic Power to stop the material aggregation process, half of the workshop might have been blown sky-high.

However, after waiting for some time, the alchemist noticed David operating skillfully, with no signs of an uncontrolled reaction or a pressure surge. This alchemist, belatedly grasping the situation, simply pointed at David’s back and stammered, "Ah... ah... ah..." for a long time, unable to form a complete sentence as veins throbbed on his forehead.

After hurriedly downing a bottle of fast-acting, blood-pressure-lowering potion he kept on hand, he managed to steady his shocked emotions. He resignedly accepted the truth: this Silver Dragon, in just half a day, had mastered the learning and experimental procedures that had taken him eight full years to complete after graduating from the Magic Academy’s alchemy school!

It was only at this moment that he finally understood why Serxi, his colleague and superior, had suddenly spurted blood and fainted on the spot. He also finally realized why Attilicia, a master who had achieved dazzling success in the realm of alchemy, would plead to take David as his disciple, and, after being rejected, had left alone, despondent, to heal his wounded spirit. At last, he witnessed what a true alchemy genius looked like! He also acknowledged how insignificant and powerless a mere mortal like himself was compared to a true genius!

It was fortunate that he was older and had already witnessed Master Attilicia’s ’genius.’ He no longer harbored any competitive ambitions, desiring only to coast along in the alchemy workshop to provide for his family. This saved him from having his ’alchemical conviction shattered’ like Serxi.

That was a small consolation to him.

Another point of relief for him was that, by the time the workshop’s closing bell rang, this genius from who-knows-which Silver Dragon clan thankfully hadn’t managed to concoct a complete Sobering Potion in a single day—an outrageous achievement that would have been beyond his wildest dreams.

Furthermore, when Lord Saphistouin, the noble Silver Dragon, left the workshop, he hadn’t implied any need for ’secrecy.’

Consequently, the ridiculous stories spread by word of mouth among the Alchemy Apprentices. Tales of Master Serxi’s dramatic nosebleed and fainting, and of David, the once-in-a-millennium alchemy genius who, in a single day, had surpassed the eight years of learning progress it had taken an alchemist—once hailed as a ’genius’ by the academy—to achieve. These stories even reached... the well-informed upper echelons of nearly half of Dewensen.

One very direct result was this:

The next morning, Master Serxi and at least a quarter of the Alchemy Apprentices in the Duke of Silver’s Alchemy Workshop submitted their resignations to the Duke.

The reason was simple: when a genius beyond comprehension suddenly appeared and, with unimaginable speed, surpassed decades of their learning and achievements, it dealt a terrifying, dimension-crushing blow to these ordinary individuals’ desire to learn, and even to their self-confidence.

This was especially true for those apprentices who had once been hailed as ’geniuses’ and possessed a strong competitive drive.

As for Master Serxi, while he truly struggled to accept it, his head injury was indeed not minor, requiring him to leave for a period of quiet recuperation at home.

Another, equally tangible result was:

The next morning, the Duke of Silver’s desk was buried under a flurry of visiting cards and letters, like falling snowflakes.

The road before the fountain garden outside the Silver Fortress was also congested with carriages that had raced in overnight from various regions, some even from Dewensen itself, carrying stewards and confidants representing numerous Noble families.

Their sole purpose was to seek an audience with Lord Saphistouin, who was currently studying alchemy there.

They hoped to invite him to their own domains to continue his ’advanced studies,’ armed with offers so tempting they would be ’difficult for even a dragon to refuse.’

The Duke of Silver, having received word the previous night, knew exactly what these individuals were after. Already troubled by Attilicia’s ’unannounced departure’ and consequently in a foul mood, he had his butler ’escort’ all of them out of his territory. This action restored some tranquility to the domain and, by extension, to David.

But what no one knew was that David, being a dragon, hadn’t returned to the ’Dragon Nest guest room’ assigned to him at the Silver Fortress. Instead, much like his father Attilicia—who had locked himself in his private alchemy laboratory in the Hall of Justice that same night—David hadn’t slept at all.

And by seven-thirteen the next morning, just before the alchemists were due to start work:

In front of David sat an 8-milliliter test tube. It contained a potion, slightly murky in color.

Though its purity was lacking, the potion still contained active ingredients and was barely passable...

A Clarity Potion.

From the moment David had begun ’learning’ at the Alchemy Workshop, strictly speaking, only twenty-one hours and fourteen minutes had passed.

In the truest sense of the word, less than a day.