Principal Smith
After breaking through to the 9th stage of the Body Refining Realm, Adam felt proud of himself, but before he could relish the feeling, he saw the time.
"Sh*t! It's already 5 a.m." Adam cursed.
Between awakening his system and breaking through to the 9th stage of the Body Refining Realm, Adam had unknowingly wasted 5 hours. And now, he realized he had spent another whole day in his alchemy lab.
It wasn't a bad thing for this to happen, per se. Adam had done this many times, so many that he brought a small bed into the lab and put it in the corner for such days.
He would sleep on it whenever he unknowingly overworked himself and became too lazy to return to his dorm.
The campus of Sagittarius High School was huge, and the dorm he lived in was at least 20 minutes away on foot. Alchemy was also extremely exhausting, both mentally and physically. So there were days when Adam became far too tired to trek just to sleep.
However, even though it wasn't a bad thing, it also wasn't a good thing. Adam's dorm was something he had to pay rent for. So whenever he slept in his alchemy lab, he would also feel a pinch in his wallet.
Adam was cheap, and it felt like he was burning money whenever he did this.
However, as he cursed himself for being stupid, he realized something.
"Wait a minute. I'm rich!" Adam remembered.
He had $70,000 worth of pills sitting in his furnace right now, while his rent was barely $500 a month. Wasting one day of that month that he paid for was nothing!
Thinking this much, Adam no longer felt bad but instead felt proud.
'Cost efficiency!'
With joyful steps, Adam walked over to his shelf full of alchemy equipment. There, he grabbed a small tube-like bottle made for pills before delicately placing his three precious creations inside it.
"I should find Professor Singh. She would buy these things from me." Adam thought aloud as he walked out of his alchemy lab.
Professor Singh was his alchemy teacher, an extremely knowledgeable woman, and a Tier 3 alchemist. She taught him most of what he knew. Moreover, from what he knew, her family owned a pill-selling business.
Selling his three pills to her was the best choice. She wouldn't scam him because of their relationship and wouldn't become greedy over his skills, either. It was a simple choice for Adam to make.
Formulating this plan, Adam climbed the stairs leading out of the alchemy floor and re-entered the school's main area.
The alchemy floor was on the basement floor one and separated from the school's main building by a mini bomb shield.
Alchemy sometimes went wrong, especially at the higher tiers.
Last night, Adam wasn't even a fully fledged alchemist yet, and he could knock himself unconscious with toxic black smog. Imagine the damage Professor Singh could accidentally summon if she failed to concoct a Tier 3 pill, or, god forbid, a Tier 4 pill.
Adam would buy a lottery ticket if she only created a cloud of smog.
The furnace could explode, sending shrapnel everywhere, or a poison cloud could manifest, turning the alchemy floor into a forbidden area. Many other plausible scenarios could occur.
So, to avoid destroying both the school and the alchemy floor, a small checkpoint was created between them. Students and teachers would need to check in and out when entering and leaving the alchemy floor.
Adam wasn't annoyed by this feature and instead felt happy that his school was extremely cautious. When he arrived at the checkpoint, he planned to catch up with the security guards who worked there.
They were cool people and great conversationalists.
But once he entered the checkpoint, he also saw the dim-witted class president checking out.
Adam's arrival was quickly noticed, and as he walked in, three pairs of eyes locked onto him: Sam and the two security guards on duty.
However, their expressions quickly went from inquisitive to extremely confused.
Thankfully, before Adam got confused about their confusion, Sam spoke up.
"Adam. Why is there a scalpel in your thigh?" Sam asked as she pointed at the thigh in question. Her facial expression looked extremely confused. The two security guards behind the desk also nodded. They were also just as puzzled as the class president.
Not exactly realizing what they were talking about, Adam subconsciously looked at the thigh Sam was pointing at, and she was indeed right. There was a scalpel in his thigh.
'I forgot to pull it out!' Adam cried inwardly.
Ever since his inner flame had evolved along with his alchemy talent, the pain from the scalpel in his thigh had become negligible. And after he broke through to the 9th stage of the Body Refining Realm, it had become nonexistent.
He had spent almost an entire night with it in his thigh, and at this point, it was as noticeable as his skin.
Embarrassed, Adam tried to yank it out quickly before they continued to question him. However, it never came out, no matter how hard he pulled on the scalpel.
It was stuck too deep in him, and his thigh muscles had already contorted around the blade far too well. Yanking on the scalpel with his hands did nothing.
While Adam dug a deeper hole for himself, Sam noticed something.
"Adam, you broke through?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow, slightly surprised.
Even though it was hard for people in the Body Refining Realm to detect the cultivation bases of their peers, it wasn't impossible. From Adam's skin being clearer, his back straighter, and his heavy footsteps, it looked like he had just broken through a stage.
At first, Sam thought that it was just her imagining things, but once Adam struggled to pull the scalpel out of his thigh, she realized that maybe it was true and decided to ask.
Adam stopped struggling for a moment and nodded at Sam's question. It would be stupid for him to hide his breakthrough. There was no reason for him to be low-key at such a time. He had no enemies, no people to face slap, nothing. Hiding his strength gave him no advantage.
Sam was shocked after his confirmation, but quickly returned to her senses.
"Adam, go talk with the principal quickly. Don't cultivate anymore." Sam hurriedly warned.
"Huh? Why?" Adam was confused. Why couldn't he cultivate anymore?
"Just go to him. He'll explain everything to you. But just don't cultivate for the moment. Trust me, if you break through now, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Sam didn't bother to explain and instead just warned him once more.
She finished speaking, signed out, bid the three people farewell, and left.
Still standing there dumbstruck at how serious Sam looked during the conversation, Adam didn't know how to react next. He only came back to reality once the security guard tapped him on the shoulder.
"Adam, you gotta sign out. You know the rules, man," the security guard told the listless Adam.
"Oh, right!"
—
Adam talked with the security guards for a few minutes to catch up, but eventually, he left. Sam's words still rang, and he was extremely confused about what they meant. Not only were they rather cryptic, but they also contained many hidden meanings.
So after signing out, Adam walked up Sagittarius High School's many staircases until he reached the top floor.
The top floor contained no classrooms but instead only the offices of the school's higher-ups: the principal, disciplinary heads, department heads, and so on.
Walking through the hallway, still with a scalpel sticking out of his thigh, Adam certainly gained some odd looks, but he had come this far. Giving up now would be stupid. So thickening his skin, he traversed the hallway and reached the end of it, where the principal's office was.
Once he reached the door, Adam was about to raise his hand and knock on it, but before he could, the door swung open, and an old voice sounded.
"You can come in, Adam. No need to knock." The principal kindly spoke.
Adam walked in.
Inside was a simple-looking office: a mahogany desk covered in paperwork, two red oak chairs across from the desk, a water jug filled with crystal clear water, and a couch.
The principal of Sagittarius High School was a man with no worldly desires. As the principal of the planet's best high school, he cared only about the younger generation and the future of the federation.
He didn't buy glamorous products or expensive clothes, but lived a near-Buddhist lifestyle.
Adam knew this and wasn't afraid of the old man sitting behind the desk.
Behind the mahogany desk was an old, white-haired Caucasian man in a black suit. There were wrinkles on his face, but with his bright smile, one could mistake him for being much younger than he was.
The old man was Principal Smith of Sagittarius High School. He was a kind, strong, and smart man who was one of the planet's most influential men.
"Did Sam tell you to come?" Principal Smith asked with a smile.
Adam simply nodded. While he didn't know how strong Principal Smith was, Adam knew he had to be at least above the Martial Master Realm.
The professors at Sagittarius High School were all Martial Masters, so how could the person above them and paying their salaries be at their level of strength?
So the fact that Principal Smith could see through his breakthrough didn't surprise him.
"That's good." Principal Smith laughed happily. Then, standing up from his desk, he walked toward the door.
"I know you must be feeling confused about Sam's poor choice of words. But suppress your curiosity for another minute and follow me. I'll show you what she meant," Principal Smith continued. He started walking out of his office with steady steps and motioned for Adam to follow him.
Still not speaking up, Adam nodded silently and followed the old man.
The two quickly left the office and trekked down the hallway to the elevators. Principal Smith pressed the button to call the elevator and, during the pause, turned to Adam.
"So, while I don't know which words Sam used to explain the situation, I can assume she didn't give you many context clues to guess." Principal Smith said with a smile.
"I have been trying to get the girl to brighten up, but to no avail. So I do like to apologize for her mistake."
"No, no, no! Not at all. There is no need to apologize, Principal." Adam hurriedly said. He didn't dare accept the man's apology.
"It's fine. I, as a man, should know how to bend and stretch. Apologizing for my granddaughter's stupidity is nothing." Principal Smith reassured Adam as he patted him on the shoulder.
"Wait? You're Sam's grandfather?" Adam asked, surprised. He knew that Sam was the daughter of an extremely powerful military man, but he didn't know who her grandfather was.
Adam and Sam were both alchemists and spent a lot of time talking. They could be called friends. But asking someone who their grandfather was wasn't a normal question, so Adam never did.
But it was surprising to suddenly find out that Sam was the granddaughter of one of the planet's strongest and most influential men.
"Yes. Sam is my granddaughter." Principal Smith confirmed.
"Oh." Adam nodded dumbly and waited for the man to continue with his previous train of thought.
"Anyways. Back to my previous words: Sam might've given you vague words, but while I wished she had brightened up, she was right not to tell you. It's better to show you." And with those words, Principal Smith stopped talking.
Adam didn't ask anything more but waited for the elevator to arrive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every little thing helps - https://ko-fi.com/slarbi123.
There is now a Discord for this novel. However, be warned. It is rather bare bones. I suck at Discord. The link is in the synopsis.
Also, if you like this novel, you can check out my others!