Chapter 49 Dark Mage? Get Out!

Chapter 49 Dark Mage? Get Out!

I jumped at his sudden appearance. I stopped working and looked up to see Royce standing in the doorway.

"Mr. Castillo, I'm practicing potions."

Royce strode over, his eyes scanning the inside of the cauldron. "You made a bet with Zach."

It wasn't a question. He must have heard the students talking.

I nodded calmly.

But then Royce frowned, his voice cold. "You're no match for him. Do you really think you can win?"

I met his eyes, steady. "Whether I can win or not, I have to try. And even if I lose, my effort won't be wasted. I'll only get better at controlling potions."

"Mr. Castillo, I've never thought losing was shameful. Not having the courage to try—that's shameful."

Royce clasped his hands behind his back, his expression tight, and studied me for a long moment.

He didn't leave. Instead, he tilted his chin toward the cauldron. "Do it again. I'll watch."

Joy surged through me. Having Royce's guidance was a gift.

Learning from my previous failures, I carefully controlled the cauldron with my magic, adding herbs one by one, using magic to adjust the temperature in different parts of the cauldron to refine the ingredients.

Soon, beads of sweat formed on my forehead.

This was the closest I'd ever come to success.

"Bang!"

Just as all the extracted liquids were about to merge, the cauldron exploded again.

Everything turned into a pot of murky waste.

"Your timing for the Frostmint was wrong. Frostmint and Emberroot conflict. You can't add them one after another. You need a stabilizer in between as a neutralizer."

Royce's expression was serious, but his tone was patient.

"The extracts merged too fast at the end. You need to watch the solution and combine them bit by bit."

Suddenly, it made sense. No wonder I kept failing.

I bowed gratefully. "Mr. Castillo, thank you for your guidance."

Royce rarely smiled, but he gave a small nod. "Try again."

Following his advice, I started brewing once more.

This time, a grassy fragrance rose from the cauldron. The pale green Polymorph Potion was complete.

I looked at the liquid, thrilled.

A flash of approval crossed Royce's eyes. "Not bad."

I looked at him, a little confused.

According to what everyone said, Royce was not only stingy but also had a strange temper and was hard to approach.

Yet tonight, he had come to the lab specifically to guide me.

He didn't seem as bad as the rumors suggested.

"Mr. Castillo, you're amazing. You could tell at a glance what I was doing wrong."

I meant it sincerely, then asked casually, "You and Gareth are both serious, responsible professors. Logically, you should get along. So why do you target him?"

Royce snorted. "That's none of a student's concern. If all you want is gossip, go back to your dorm."

I quickly shut my mouth and shook my head. "No, no. I'll stop asking. I need to keep practicing."

Royce took out the Polymorph Potion and cast a light spell to illuminate it.

"What you made is the crudest version. There are still many impurities. That means your herb refinement isn't good enough. You won't beat Zach with this."

Only then did I notice the tiny particles floating in the liquid under the light.

"I'll keep practicing," I said seriously. "I'll make a better Polymorph Potion."

"No matter how hard you try, you can't surpass Zach in five days."

Royce set down the potion, his gaze sweeping over the herbs on the table. "But the Purification Potion and the Polymorph Potion share the same foundation. You can learn them together. It won't hurt."

He walked toward the lab exit with his hands behind his back, his still-serious voice drifting back to me. "If you can succeed, you might win."

My heart stirred.

Had Royce figured out that I was brewing the Purification Potion?

And why hadn't he scolded me? Instead, he gave me a path to victory.

I felt more warmth and curiosity toward him.

But this wasn't the time to dwell on it. I shook my head, gathered my thoughts, and continued practicing.

Over the next few days, whenever I had free time, I stayed in the lab, practicing until late every night.

Before I knew it, Saturday arrived.

I got up early, got ready quickly, and planned to head straight to the lab.

"Vanessa, you've been busy for three days straight. You're going again today?" Darius stopped me, concern in his eyes.

I nodded. "Only two days left until the competition with Zach. I need to use every minute."

Darius took my hand and said gently, "It's Saturday. We planned to find Tristan. We'll go and come back quickly. It won't take long."

I realized he was right. The black magic matter still needed investigation.

"Okay," I said. "Let's go and come back fast."

Darius visibly relaxed, a slight smile tugging at his lips as he held my hand and led me out.

The tavern district.

Standing at the entrance, I could already smell the strong scent of alcohol.

Most of the patrons were adults. Darius and I, in our Aethergate College of Magic uniforms, looked out of place.

Tristan wasn't hard to find—he was the disheveled man in the most secluded corner.

As we approached, I could see he was already half-drunk, his face flushed red.

Before I could speak, Tristan suddenly looked up at us. A flash of shrewdness crossed his cloudy eyes.

His gaze passed over me and landed directly on Darius, undisguised disgust on his face. "A dark mage? You should leave. You're not welcome here."

"But we haven't even said anything yet," I said.

Tristan tilted back his head and took a long gulp of alcohol. His glass slammed onto the table with a dull thud.

He twisted his lips into a sneer. "I have nothing to say to you. Scum who use black magic—being alive pollutes the air."

I frowned. I hadn't expected Tristan to be so resistant to black magic.

Darius's hand, still clasped in mine, felt stiff.

I looked at him with concern.

He shook his head slightly.

I took a deep breath and turned back to Tristan. "Whether black magic is good or bad depends on the person wielding it. You don't know anything, yet you're cursing at us?"

"Don't you think that's narrow-minded? We're both from Aethergate College. If the academy allows us to study it, that means black magic isn't completely unacceptable."

Tristan didn't care at all.

He let go of his glass, lowered his eyes, and slowly flexed his fingers. "That's the academy's business. What does it have to do with me? As far as I'm concerned, people who use black magic all deserve to die. My patience is limited. If you keep standing here, don't blame me for being rude."

Just as I was about to speak, Darius gently tugged my hand and shook his head.

His voice sounded in my mind, connected through our consciousness. "Tristan has a very faint trace of black magic aura on him..."

Black magic?