The free Alchemy segment had also reached its final evaluation stage.
Feeling slightly nervous, Fleur arrived at the entrance to the hall that had been temporarily designated as the final venue.
Just then, she spotted a familiar figure. Lucien was leaning against a pillar, seemingly resting with his eyes closed.
However, his condition startled Fleur.
Lucien's complexion looked terrible. His normally fair skin had turned sickly pale, even his lips had lost their colour, and his whole body radiated obvious exhaustion, as though he were only just recovering from a serious illness.
"Lucien?" Fleur hurried over, concern filling her blue eyes. "You... you look awful. Shouldn't you go to the hospital wing first?"
Lucien opened his eyes at the sound of her voice. Even his dark green eyes looked somewhat dull.
He gently waved a hand and forced a smile. "I'm fine, Fleur. It's just that last night... I went a little overboard while researching something. I'll be fine after some rest."
Lucien sighed, feeling deeply helpless.
The reason he looked so exhausted, as though he had completely burned himself out, was entirely because of that Apple of Youth.
Last night, he had used a drop of qilin blood to awaken the Apple of Youth seed.
But when he infused magic into the seed and attempted the first round of magical irrigation, Lucien finally understood what the system meant when it said the seed required "a large amount of pure magic."
That tiny seed was practically a bottomless pit.
It greedily absorbed his magic at a speed and in quantities far beyond his expectations.
Even more troublesome was that the irrigation had to remain completely uninterrupted. According to the system, during each stage of growth, the seed could only recognise and accept the magic of a single wizard.
If someone else took over midway through the process, all previously accumulated irrigation progress would be reset to zero, forcing them to start again from the beginning.
Furthermore, the magic it required had to carry the wizard's distinct personal characteristics. Naturally neutral pure magic produced by something like the Philosopher's Stone could not satisfy the seed's growth requirements.
That first attempt alone had nearly drained Lucien of all his magic.
Lucien had never experienced what it felt like to have his magic almost completely exhausted before. It was even more uncomfortable than staying up all night for a month straight to finish papers and then immediately getting into an intense boxing match.
Even now, he could still feel the emptiness and weakness caused by the near-total depletion of his magic.
He possessed SS-grade magical talent, which meant both his rate of magical growth and his upper limit already far surpassed those of his peers and even many adult wizards.
Yet this was only the very first stage of planting and cultivation.
Lucien could not help but feel a deep sense of sympathy for Idunn, the Goddess of Youth from mythology who had been responsible for tending the Apples of Youth.
The gardener's job had probably been extraordinarily demanding, certainly nothing easy or romantic.
In addition, according to the system's explanation, as the Apple of Youth entered different stages of growth, the amount of magic required for each subsequent irrigation would increase step by step.
The only saving grace was that this magical irrigation, which could practically drain a wizard dry, was not required every day.
It only needed to be done roughly once every two weeks.
Otherwise, if he had to go through this every day, Lucien would not be able to do anything else.
Normally, it was enough to water and cultivate the Apple of Youth using various magical materials or special compounds refined from them.
However, even this seemingly simple requirement of "watering it with magical materials" became a headache upon closer inspection.
Lucien had studied the long list of required materials and found that it covered almost every type of material known to the wizarding world.
Quite a few were already extremely rare, and some were even on the verge of extinction due to overharvesting or changes in the environment.
Most troublesome of all, the list explicitly included several materials that had already been officially declared extinct by the wizarding world.
That was the hardest problem to solve.
If gods had truly existed in the ancient magical world, and there really had been a mythical age, then as a relic of that era, some of the "nutrients" required for the Apple of Youth's growth would naturally have originated from an environment that had long since disappeared.
After thousands of years of change, it was hardly surprising that some materials had vanished completely.
As for the loan task of "curing three different bloodline curses," Lucien already had a clear first target in mind.
Nagini, whom he had yet to meet.
Nagini carried a rare bloodline curse. People like her were also known as Maledictuses.
Those afflicted with the curse naturally possessed an ability similar to that of an Animagus, allowing them to transform into a specific animal, but the transformation came at a price.
Eventually, their human reason and emotions would be completely consumed by their animal nature, leaving them permanently trapped in their animal form.
Lucien rubbed his temples, which were still throbbing faintly.
None of this could be rushed.
Gathering materials, curing curses...
He could only take things one step at a time.
Lucien circulated the magic that was slowly recovering within his body, bringing a little more colour back to his pale face.
After feeling somewhat better, he pushed open the heavy doors of the hall together with Fleur, who had been waiting beside him.
Inside the spacious hall, contestants, professors from various schools, specially invited judges, and many upper-year students who had come to watch the competition were gathered in small groups, chatting among themselves.
The judging had not yet officially begun. Several long tables were covered with delicate snacks and various kinds of tea, creating a relaxed atmosphere more like a social gathering than a competition.
Lucien's gaze quickly swept across the crowd and immediately landed on Madame Maxime's exceptionally tall and conspicuous figure.
Standing beside her were several elderly people with greying hair and distinguished bearing. Judging by the respectful and curious expressions of those around them, they were most likely the Alchemy Masters specially invited to serve as judges.
Drawing on his memory, Lucien matched several of them with photographs and names he had seen in journals such as Alchemy Progress and Matter Transformation, confirming that they were all renowned figures in the field of Alchemy.
His gaze continued moving across the hall until an elderly man who had been speaking with Madame Maxime turned around.
The moment Lucien saw his face clearly, his pupils contracted slightly.
The old man seemed to notice his gaze as well and looked over.
The instant their eyes met, a gentle smile appeared on the old man's face. He exchanged a few brief words with Madame Maxime and another master beside him before walking straight towards Lucien.
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