The first day of classes at the Royal Academy felt less like an educational experience and more like a high-stakes poker game. In the "Hall of Transmutation," the air was thick with the scent of ozone and the pretentiousness of three hundred teenagers who believed they were the next gods of the continent.
I sat in the back row, adjusting my spectacles—plain glass, purely for the "scholar" aesthetic. Before I could even open my notebook, the System pinged.
[STATUS SYNC: MORNING REVIEW]
Current Environment: Mana-Rich (High Concentration)
Active Status: [Undercover Scholar]
New Data Point: Intelligence +2 (Synthesizing magical theory with modern chemistry).
"Welcome to Alchemy 101," a voice grated from the front. Professor Hadrick was a man who looked like he had been partially dissolved in acid and then poorly reconstructed. He didn't use a podium; he stood over a massive, bubbling cauldron. "Most of you think alchemy is about stirring a pot and praying to the gods. It isn't. It is about Equilibrium. If you tip the scales, the scales tip you into an early grave."
Hadrick waved his hand, and a small vial appeared on every student's desk. Inside was a murky, grey sludge.
"The Crescent Moondrop," Hadrick announced. "A basic potion, currently contaminated with Lead-Arsenate. Your task: Purify the Moondrop. If you use too much mana, you'll trigger the arsenic and poison the entire row. Begin."
Around me, students began to glow. They were trying to use "Purification Light," a standard spell that acted like a magical filter. It was messy, loud, and incredibly energy-inefficient.
I looked at my vial. To the naked eye, it was sludge. To my [Atomic Sight], it was a beautiful, chaotic mixture of polar and non-polar compounds.
[System Analysis]
Contaminant: Pb(AsO_4)_2 (Lead Arsenate).
Target: Crescent Moondrop (C_{20}H_{24}N_2O_2 \cdot Mana).
Suggested Method: Fractional Distillation via Kinetic Excitation.
I didn't have a glass column or a condenser, but I had something better: localized thermodynamics. I placed my hands around the vial. Instead of casting a "Purification" spell, I used [Bond Disruption] to create a temperature gradient within the liquid.
I was essentially turning the vial into a miniature, high-efficiency centrifuge.
"What is he doing?" I heard a whisper from two seats over. It was Elara. She wasn't even working on her own vial; she was staring at mine.
I ignored her. I focused on the boiling points. The Lead-Arsenate had a much higher density and a different resonant frequency than the Moondrop essence. By vibrating the Aether at a specific 440Hz frequency, I caused the heavy metals to precipitate—to literally fall out of the solution—while the pure Moondrop rose to the top as a shimmering, silver vapor.
Then, I condensed it using a simple cooling technique (absorbing the heat into my own Mana pool to act as a heat sink).
The result? A crystal-clear, glowing liquid that looked like bottled moonlight.
"Done," I said, my voice barely a whisper.
Professor Hadrick marched over. He picked up my vial, his eyes narrowing. "Veridian... you didn't use a single Purification chant. I didn't even feel a spike in your mana output."
"I just... accelerated the settling process, Professor," I said. "Patience is a catalyst, after all."
Hadrick uncorked the vial. A scent of fresh rain and mint filled the air—the sign of a 99.9% pure distillation. The room went silent. Most students were still struggling with grey, cloudy mixtures.
"99.9% purity," Hadrick muttered, looking at me with a mixture of awe and suspicion. "Even the Royal Alchemists rarely hit 95%. How did you handle the Arsenic bonds?"
"I asked them to leave, and they were very cooperative," I replied.
[NOTIFICATION]
Skill Evolution: [Atomic Sight] has evolved into [Molecular Forensics].
Reward: +300 EXP.
Current Level: 13 [Exp: 1050/1300]
As the class ended, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It wasn't the Professor. It was Elara. Her silver eyes were glowing with an amethyst hue—her [Truth Seeker] trait was active.
"The 'friendship' between salt and water yesterday, and 'persuading' arsenic today," she said, her voice dropping to a dangerous level. "You're not a 'B-Rank' student, Cyrus. You're either a genius or a very dangerous liar. And my father's kingdom doesn't like either one if they aren't on the payroll."
Before I could respond, the floor beneath us vibrated. A low, rhythmic thrumming started—a sound like a massive heart beating miles below the stone.
[ALERT: QUEST UPDATE]
The Hidden Threat: Structural decay has reached 5%.
Location: Seal Chamber 01 (The "Old Library" Basement).
Objective: Investigate the leak before the 'Anti-Magic' pathogen is released.
I looked at Elara. "I'd love to stay and be interrogated, Princess, but I think the school is about to have a very bad plumbing problem."
I bolted for the door, leaving her standing in the middle of the hall. If that "pathogen" was what I thought it was—a biological agent designed to consume mana—then my chemistry knowledge was the only thing that could stop it. My family's secrets wouldn't matter much if the world's mana disappeared