As expected, Tenjo Hikari once again became the top scorer in this exam.
Although the absence of an Alchemy Class narrowed the score gap between Tenjo Hikari and other students significantly, his score remained decisively ahead of Mitsuzawa Daichi because the practical test was a duel with Mitsuzawa Daichi.
"Heh heh heh, see that, Diox? As long as I'm in the academy, there's only one number one in the grade, and that's me!"
"Where'd you pick up that tone?" After the exam, several friends gathered in the classroom to look at the scores. Seeing Tenjo Hikari's glowing full marks, Mitsuzawa Daichi felt his blood boiling.
"Don't mind too much, Ghost God! You'll definitely win next time!" Judai patted his shoulder in a carefree manner, comforting him.
"I don't need consolation from you, who ranks at the bottom!" Mitsuzawa Daichi clenched his fist, "And why are you also starting to call me the same thing as Hikari?"
"Don't you think Ghost God sounds cool?" Judai laughed, "Just like Thunder is still just Thunder—"
"No, don't do that. It's so dumb."
"Mitsuzawa Daichi!"
The two began to play-fight, while everyone else laughed heartily.
Although in the later stages of the original work, they drifted away from the main plot for various reasons, outside the story, their personalities were actually pretty good, and they could take a joke. Everyone had similar goals, and attending classes together was quite enjoyable.
Besides this, Tenjo Hikari had many of his own things to handle.
On one hand, the Polymerization Alchemist recently had a new product; he finally succeeded in creating a card in his "normal" state, but regrettably, most worlds could not use this card.
Pendulum Monsters are non-functional in this world.
So this card could only be held and looked at.
On another note, Tenjo Hikari had to take time to focus on studying Teacher Daitokuji's "Emerald Book," which was the most important "textbook" for Tenjo Hikari's alchemy studies, hiding some worlds Teacher Daitokuji had traveled through. If Tenjo Hikari wanted to see Teacher Daitokuji again, he had to solve the book's puzzles to find that "Mage's Domain."
Of course, the most fundamental task was also there.
Building the Dimensional Transfer Tunnel.
Using just the school's Dimension Gate to complete some tasks was too slow, and it didn't necessarily lead to the desired place next time. Regardless of the perspective, constructing a teleportation gate to go to a dimension of one's choice was quite cost-effective.
Therefore, Tenjo Hikari's recent focus was on building a teleportation gate.
And today was the day Tenjo Hikari prepared to open the first "Key Gate" and unravel its secrets.
"Hmm..."
Tierra held a cup of instant noodles, floating in the air, eating while trying not to disturb Tenjo Hikari's experiment.
At this moment, Tenjo Hikari was using some metal to create a specific shape, then attempting to ignite and place it into a container.
"Boom—"
As before, Tenjo Hikari's attempt unsurprisingly led to an explosion, fortunately, Captain Crystal was there to help, preventing the fire and dust from enveloping Tenjo Hikari.
"Strange, my actions are exactly like the book?" Tenjo took out his portable book, flipped through it twice, and furrowed his brow in puzzlement.
Tierra didn't understand the "mortal" technology either, seeing Tenjo Hikari fail again, she neither spoke nor disturbed, eating noodles as relaxation.
"Could it be insufficient Spirit Power?" Captain Crystal suggested.
"That's possible, but I asked Tierra for help, and logically, the energy built upon her would be absolutely sufficient, there's no reason to fail!"
Tenjo Hikari's own Spirit Power might be lacking, but Tierra's surely wasn't.
Even without resurrection, Tierra's abilities, along with her current body's status in the Spirit World's "Shaddoll Race" were relatively high, and her Spirit Level should not be low.
But that's alchemy for you.
No matter how identical the actions and behaviors are to the book, all kinds of accidents can happen.
After all, this is "Mystic Study."
"Could the energy conflict?" After trying twice more, Tierra threw her noodle cup into the trash, suggesting a possibility, "Your energy, conflicts with this Alchemy Workshop's energy source."
"Conflicts? Impossible, there's no conflict with the Philosopher's Stone and... right?"
The Philosopher's Stone is a universal energy source, a panacea; Super Polymerization is an extraordinary force capable of merging everything. From any angle, both are "same type" or "same category" of power.
"Perhaps it's the reverse then, not a conflict, but suppression?"
Suppression?
That might be possible.
Tenjo Hikari followed this thought, grabbed a calculator, and began pressing buttons non-stop. Meanwhile, he summoned Polymerization Alchemist: "Polymerization, help me get the materials again, the quantity should be... 1.5 times the previous amount, iron and silver only need 1.2 times."
"Okay."
One person and one spirit began a new attempt, placing the materials into the container, slowly burning.
This time, no explosion occurred.
Tenjo Hikari showed an excited expression, and Polymerization Alchemist was also slightly thrilled.
He learned Otherworld alchemy!
After a burst of green light flashed, Tenjo Hikari carefully removed a strange, ring-like object with a missing part from the container with tweezers.
The broken, Ouroboros-like ring floated inside with an unusual point, which was precisely the special alchemical symbol Teacher Daitokuji frequently used!
"Looks like the first step is done."
"Thank you, Tierra." Tenjo Hikari wiped the sweat from his forehead. Although Tierra didn't understand alchemy, as a God, her knowledge far exceeded Tenjo Hikari's and could enlighten and remind him at crucial moments.
"Heh heh heh, this is Divine Favor. Just accept it with respect, no thanks needed~" Tierra spread her hands in front of her, emitting divine light, eyes closed, delivering an oracle to Tenjo Hikari.
Unfortunately, Tenjo Hikari didn't notice her rare display of her divine side, because at that moment, he was busy following the book's instructions, setting up the "beginner-friendly dimensional teleportation gate" for ordinary people to use.
Seeing Tenjo Hikari's delayed response, Tierra quietly opened her left eye, observing one person and one spirit starting another alchemical experiment. Slightly bored, she let down her hands, casually pouring hot water into another cup of instant noodles.
Oh well, there's plenty of time.