"Welcome to the alchemy trial, everyone!" Professor Selwin Myrr said with a smile.
With her luscious black hair and twinkling brown eyes, she was one of the loveliest professors.
Moreover, her tall, curvaceous body was one of the main reasons why alchemy was a very popular subject in the academy even if most students did not have an affinity for alchemy.
"I’m sure that all of you are very excited to start alchemy, so without further delay, I want you all to create the best alchemical product that you can create at this point in time," Professor Selwin stated.
"It doesn’t matter if it’s pills, potions, or any other diabolical creations. I will grade you depending on how your products turn out. However, remember this: Each of you will only be given three opportunities.
"Once you mess up—maybe by accidentally burning your creation—thrice, it means that you have failed this trial and will not get any points from me. Does everyone understand?"
Alex blinked and looked at his surroundings.
’Who am I? Where am I?!’
Those were the things that he wanted to shout out loud, but he knew that if he really did that, he would die of embarrassment on the spot.
He had studied the books of alchemy and knew how to create simple healing potions and salves.
But they were very basic and obviously not enough to give him the points he needed to get into the class he wanted.
Still, since he was already there, he had no choice but to just go with the flow.
With Professor Selwin’s permission, all the students went to the shelves to get some ingredients for their alchemy work.
Dim Dim thought that everyone was going to do something fun, so it also took a few things from the shelves before lighting up a small furnace beside Alex.
Professor Selwin couldn’t help but smile when she saw the adorable little bun throwing some herbs and mushrooms into its small pot.
Dim Dim was even humming Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star as it tried its hand at alchemy.
Alex was worried that the Professor might reprimand Dim Dim. But seeing that she was amused by his partner’s antics, he stopped worrying and instead focused on his own alchemy.
Fortunately, he still remembered the step-by-step process for crafting a low-quality healing potion, which he was currently making with great care.
Half an hour later, Alex breathed a sigh of relief as he poured the contents of his pot into a small vial.
Dim Dim had also finished whatever it was working on. After looking at Dim Dim’s handiwork, Alex blinked a few times. The little one hadn’t made any alchemical product.
Instead, it had cooked what looked like mushroom soup! The delicious smell made Alex’s mouth water a bit.
"I’m done, Professor." Alex raised his hand to get her attention.
When the beautiful lady arrived at their table, Alex saw the corner of her lips twitch after seeing the mushroom soup that Dim Dim had made.
"Dim Dim~" Dim Dim raised its body proudly, and even asked Professor Selwin to try what it cooked.
Professor Selwin chuckled. "Thank you. I was feeling hungry, so this snack is perfect. But I’ll eat it later, okay?"
"Dim!" Dim Dim nodded in understanding.
Professor Selwin lightly patted the Dim Sum God’s head before shifting her attention to Alex’s potion.
"A low-quality healing potion," Professor Selwin said. "It’s not bad, but nothing outstanding. I give you one thousand points for it. Would you like to create something better, or is this the limit of what you can do?"
"I’m sorry Professor, but this is my limit," Alex answered honestly.
He didn’t want to say that he was only here because Astrea had accidentally bumped into him as he was about to enter the Trial of Defense.
"Understood." Professor Selwin said before shifting her attention to Dim Dim’s mushroom soup.
The Professor held a necklace with a blue crystal above Dim Dim’s creation.
The necklace was a magic tool that could detect poisons. But since it wasn’t reacting, it meant that what Dim Dim made wasn’t poisonous.
Summoning a small bowl and ladle, the Professor took a scoop of the mushroom soup and started to eat.
"D-Delicous!" Professor Selwin hadn’t expected much, but she was really blown away by Dim Dim’s cooking.
"Although this is the trial of alchemy and not the trial of cooking, I’ll give you a bonus of one hundred points for cooking something very tasty. Alex Stratos, you get one thousand and one hundred points here in the trial of alchemy."
"Thank you, Professor," Alex replied. "Let’s go, Dim Dim."
"Dim Dim." Dim Dim waved goodbye at Professor Selwin before jumping on top of Alex’s head.
The young man then walked towards the portal, which would take him back to the spacious platform, where the portals to other trials were located.
There were other students on the platform. Some of them were chatting happily with their friends and acquaintances.
It seemed that some of them had gotten good scores during their trials, making Alex feel a little anxious.
"This time for sure." Alex didn’t hesitate and headed towards the Trial of Defense in a hurry.
But, just as he was about to step inside, he heard someone calling out to him from behind.
Alex turned around to see Astrea running in his direction.
"I want to say sorry for what happened earlier!" Astrea said when she was only a few meters away from the young man.
However, she suddenly tripped on her own foot despite being on flat ground and "accidentally" pushed Alex into another portal.
The portal that the young man entered this time was the Trial of Music, which Astrea had challenged earlier.
Alex blinked once then twice as he found himself in what seemed to be a concert hall.
There, a lady wearing a minstrel dress smiled warmly when she saw him enter.
"Welcome to the Trial of Music!" Professor Arienna Lyrell greeted. "Well then, what do you plan to do? Are you going to play a musical instrument, dance, or sing a song?"
"Um... is this the Trial of Music?" Alex inquired.
"It is." Professor Arienna replied. "So, what will it be, Mr. Alex Stratos?"
The Professors automatically knew the names of the students who entered their trial room
This time, Alex wasn’t disappointed. Although he was, once again, not in the Trial of Defence, the Trial of Music was actually one of the three trials he had intended to attempt.
He was quite confident with his singing ability because his Guildmaster had dragged him into karaoke bars to sing duets with her.
"The song that I want to sing may not be known here in the Kingdom of Avalon," Alex explained.
"That’s fine!" Professor Arienna replied. "Just place your hand on this orb and think of the song. The orb will automatically play the tune and you can just sing along."
"Oh! That’s very convenient!"
"You want to try singing as well, little one?" Professor Arienna asked.
"Okay, you go first."
The Professor then handed the orb to Dim Dim because she was very curious if the little one could really sing.
Dim Dim then closed its eyes to imagine the song that it wanted to sing. A few seconds later, the orb hovered above its head and transformed into small musical instruments that started playing.
Professor Arienna sat and prepared herself to listen to Dim Dim’s performance.
Dim Dim then started to sway its little body, becoming one with the music.
"I’ll sing you a song, it’s a song of the sea
Row, me bully boys, row."
"Oh, I’ll sing you a song if you’ll sing it with me
And it’s row, me bully boys, row."
And it’s row, me bully boys
We’re in a hurry, boys
We got a long way to go~
And we’ll sing and we’ll dance
And bid farewell to chance,
And it’s row, me bully boys, row
Alex, Professor Arienna, as well as the other students inside the concert hall, all clapped as Dim Dim sang, making the atmosphere very lively.
Seeing that everyone was having fun, the little white bun smiled, swayed its body, and sang happily.
What many didn’t know was that Dim Dim was singing one of the favorite songs of its best friend, Eiko, who was known as the Pirate Princess of the seven seas.