Mountains and Buffalo.

Chapter 10: Wednesday.

I was standing in front of a building with a conspicuous sign. My memory served me well leading me back to this place. I entered it with a letter in hand and stood by the receptionist's desk. An older gentleman with a fuzzy mustache came from the backdoor.

"Hah, if it isn't Bison Frost."

My brows furrowed.

"Do you need to call me that nickname? You already know how I feel about it; I think it's insulting at this point."

"Sorry, sorry. So, what will it be today? You've got another letter for your family at home?"

"I do. The first one in three months."

"Alright, well just sign right here and we'll get it delivered."

I filled out the paperwork and handed the receptionist a couple of Triangle Grants then left the postal office immediately. I had a busy day ahead of me. According to my schedule, today was a study day, and I'd be teaching Flinty magic at the Tea Mage's place as well.

"Maybe... she'll study with me too."

The thought made me smile like a moron and gently embrace myself. Of course, it was wishful thinking, but her presence was something worth wishing for.

I shook my head. I was getting distracted, and though I feel like I couldn't help it, I had to hurry either way. I ran through the streets and made it to the Tea Mage's shop ten minutes later. Entering it, I saw customers already browsing the shelves. I ignored them and walked to the counter.

"Ah, good morning, Kenny. Today is a study day, I presume?"

"Good morning. And yes. Is Flinty here already?"

He shook his head no. I grimaced.

"She said she will stop by later, so don't look so upset. In the meantime, why don't you read up on page 132? I believe it would help you to review that."

"Alright."

I entered through the backdoor, went into the greenhouse then walked downstairs to the laboratory. Looking at it, I noticed how it was far tidier than the first time I entered here. Dare I say, it looked professional. It made me feel strangely proud of myself. I sat down at the desk and rummaged through the pile of books before picking one up.

As it would turn out, studying at a university was infinitely more boring than I could've imagined. The Tea Mage hardly even lectured me, and when he did it was when I was creating potions or working on mana manipulation. Having someone tell me that I was doing things wrong was different, but not unwelcome.

The average experience consisted of just this. Sitting in the laboratory, reading an oversized book for a few hours, and writing down the contents. Turns out that Talbot wasn't an alchemist's school. In reality, it was a school that specialized in alchemy. Sometimes it would tell me to practice mana expulsion or improve my skills in this or that element. Usually, it was just to be better at mana expulsion, but sometimes it was for the sake of potion creation. For example, one sentence on the page I was on told me to fire a thin string of mana with a cleansing Intent. It was apparently to amplify its speed of effect. I closed the book and leaned into the flask, hovering my index finger above it.

"Alright..."

I began mana expulsion, trying to follow the book's instructions. The potion's color was darkening rapidly, meaning that I was probably doing it right.

I did it for a few more seconds before stopping then quickly closed the lid. I leaned back, taking a careful look at the flask. After my initial assessment, I picked it up and shook it a few times. And then–

**BOOM**

"Gah!"

The flask blew up. Or rather, the tip of the flask blew up, and the contents of the potion shot out like a geyser. I managed to avoid getting my clothes dirty, but now the floor had a terrible stain and the ceiling had glass shards embedded into it.

"Crap. That went terribly."

I doused the floor in water with magic and picked up a nearby towel. A few minutes of drying later, and the carpet was relatively stainless. For the glass chards, I came up with the idea to pull them out with pliers. I needed to make a small stone stool on top of the table to reach it, but I managed to yank them all out. I put all the glass in a dustpan and tossed them in the trash.

I sat down and wiped my brow. It was one of the few times that I failed making a potion, and it was the first time that the consequences were acute.

I took a few deep breaths and stood back up, reaching for another flask and restarting the whole process. This time, I eased up the amount of mana I dispelled, and the potion turned out fine.

Sighing, I stood back up. I stacked the books and tidied up the room before leaving. Now in the greenhouse, I checked the clock on the wall. Around four hours had passed.

"I'm kind of hungry."