Selling the Pills
"So you're telling me you manage to concoct a high-quality Body Refining Pill?" Principal Smith asked with a raised eyebrow. Skepticism was plastered all over his face.
He obviously didn't believe Adam's explanation at all. How could he? Even Professor Singh, one of his best teachers, a person with a high-grade alchemy talent, didn't concoct even a middle-quality pill on her first success, let alone a high-quality one.
So, how could Adam, someone with a mere low-grade alchemy talent, do so?
He wasn't looking down on Adam; he thought the lad was extremely tenacious, but was he talented? Adam's proclamation wasn't realistic whatsoever.
"I'm not lying!" Adam cried, unresigned. Following his statement, he also pulled out the bottle of pills he had planned to sell later in the day. Inside were one low-quality and two middle-quality pills he had just made.
Principal Smith was slightly surprised by Adam's show but still skeptical. However, Adam looked so confident, so he waved his hand, and a small wind current brought the bottle of pills over to him.
Ignoring Adam's shock, Principal Smith closely examined the three pills. He even went as far as to uncork the bottle and then sniff the pills. And eventually, his old and wrinkled face couldn't help but reveal a hint of shock.
"Did Sam make these?" Principal Smith asked accusingly.
With his experience and senses, it wasn't hard to tell that the pills in the bottle were extremely new and freshly made, but he still couldn't believe Adam made them. And since Sam was the only other person on the alchemy floor last night, Principal Smith thought she made them.
"Principal, am I such a person who would claim the achievements of others as their own?" Adam's face crumbled when he heard the principal's accusation. Did he look like such a person?
"Also, look at the engraving on the side. Those are my bottles," Adam continued as he pointed at the initials on the side.
Principal Smith subconsciously looked at where Adam was pointing, and as the boy said, his initials were indeed on the bottle.
A.C.
"Ah. That's not what I meant. I was just being sarcastic." Principal Smith awkwardly apologized. He felt a little bad once he saw the effect of his subconscious reply on Adam.
"However, you're telling me that you managed to concoct four pills, one of which was a high-quality pill, on your first attempt?" Principal Smith asked once more. He still couldn't understand how Adam accomplished such a feat with his average talent.
Adam, to this question, only shrugged. Though he respected the principal, he wouldn't ever tell him about his system or his new cosmic grade alchemy talent. If he did, it would cause far too many questions, complications, and problems.
So, besides claiming his new talent, Adam would give the president no bones.
Principal Smith looked at Adam in the eyes deeply for a few seconds, but after seeing the sleazy look in Adam's eyes, he eventually stopped.
"As long as you don't destroy your future or bring harm to the Federation, I don't care what you do." Principal Smith said.
At the end of the day, he was only the principal. Forcing Adam to reveal every secret was unethical and would create enmity between them, so Principal Smith said nothing.
"I promise I will do neither!" Adam swore with a smile. He could tell the principal was extremely curious about his secrets, but he couldn't say it. Adam admired the old man, but not as much as his life.
"Wait. Also, Principal. These stats represent my vitality index score, right? How do I raise them?" Adam asked once he looked back at the computer.
Seeing the extremely high number and the shock Principal Smith had on his face when they appeared, Adam thought he should capitalize on his newfound talent.
"Of course. If not, why would I bring you up here?" Principal Smith smiled, "There are three months until the college entrance exams. During this time, the school will start giving you specialized resources to allow you to unearth as much potential as you have. However, looking at your vitality index, I can warn you now: It will be a painful few months."
"Why?" Adam asked, confused. Were they going to torture him? What did he do to deserve such pain?
"Your bone strength. The bones are the hardest and most painful to strengthen of the five main stats that comprise someone's vitality index. So since your bones' strength is the lowest, we need to increase it." Principal Smith simply answered. However, his old face revealed a smile once he finished his sentence.
Adam felt a chill go down his spine when he saw the principal's smile.
—-
After getting a few rather morbid words of encouragement from the principal, Adam left, but not before asking Principal Smith to remove the scalpel from his thigh. He had almost forgotten about it again. Thankfully, he remembered.
The task wasn't a hard thing for the principal to do, and after a swift but painful yank, the scalpel was removed from his thigh.
After he had removed the scalpel, Principal Smith explained why it was stuck.
The reason was that after his breakthrough to the 9th stage of the Body Refining Realm, his thigh muscles had strengthened and toughened around the scalpel, and he treated it as just another part of his body rather than a wound.
Adam thought about it and agreed.
Back on Earth, countless stories of undiscovered wounds were ignored for long periods, and the body healed over them, leading to a horrible situation.
Bullets, shrapnel, and even broken glass were common offenders of this phenomenon. The only difference this time was that Adam had a scalpel in his thigh.
After leaving the Federation Lab, Adam quickly went to his next destination, wasting no time.
School was about to start for the day. And while Adam was a senior and could skip a few days of school, he wanted to meet Professor Singh so he could try to sell his pills.
She was only at school in the morning, so he would miss her if he delayed too long.
Adam wanted to buy the three talents as soon as possible, mainly to discover how to unlock the level 2 talent shop.
He had two guesses on how to do so. Either to buy all the items from the level 1 version or to break through to the Martial Apprentice Realm. And since he couldn't do the latter, Adam planned to do the former first.
Either way, buying the talents now rather than later would be beneficial. Buying the talents earlier would give Adam more time to get used to them and to study their benefits.
Bidding the old principal farewell, Adam returned down the stairs and left the school's main building.
Professor Singh taught in a different building near the main one. The one she taught in was much larger, as it mainly contained lecture halls rather than the main building's classrooms.
Following a quick ten-minute walk, Adam arrived at his mentor's lecture hall.
"Professor, are you here?" Adam asked as he knocked on the doors to her lecture room.
He was answered with a faint but mature-sounding yes, and after receiving permission to enter, he did.
Professor Singh's lecture hall was large and built in an upside-down half-dome shape. Inside, there were almost a dozen rows of seats, and it could easily accommodate a few hundred students.
At the bottom of the dome was the professor herself, Professor Singh. She was standing by an almost 4-foot-tall furnace and writing notes in a journal.
Professor Singh was an Indian woman in her late forties. Due to her profound cultivation base, she didn't look a day over 30 and kept her appearance beautiful and mature-looking.
After finding out who disturbed her, Professor Singh put down her journal and focused her full attention on Adam.
Though the boy was one of the least talented people in her best class, he had a tenacity unrivaled by anyone. Well, except for one, Sam.
However, that girl was in her own league. Professor Singh never compared the two. It would be harsh on the conscience of 16-year-old Adam.
So after seeing the diligent student enter her classroom, Professor Singh felt proud of herself for being able to teach such a student.
"What do you want, Adam?" Professor Singh asked kindly, "Do you want to see me make those Body Refining Pills again?"
Adam often came to her and asked for a demonstration of how to concoct the body-refining pills, and since Professor Singh was a rich woman, she did it frequently. Between the discount she got at her family's shop and the low price of the pills' ingredients, Professor Singh had no trouble making them.
Plus, she could sell them for a small profit after successfully making them.
"No, but rather the opposite. Professor, I need to sell some Body Refining Pills." Adam shook his head and replied as he descended the staircase.
"Sell? Why do you have Body Refining Pills and extra ones at that?" Professor Singh asked, confused.
In her mind, if Adam had a Body-Refining Pill, he would simply consume it for himself, not come to her and sell it. However, she knew the boy's financial situation, so he couldn't buy all of these pills. And when she factored in how far Adam was from refining the pills, she assumed that he got them from somewhere before thinking he actually concocted them.
Adam sensed that and showed it rather than replying to her with words. Actions were louder than words, after all.
Going into his pocket, he pulled out the bottle of pills and tossed it to the woman.
Professor Singh was a martial master, and it was more than simple for her to catch an underarm pass throw, but after she saw it, she almost dropped it.
"You succeeded?!" Professor Singh was shocked. She pinned the pills to Adam because of the bottle.
She had given Adam a set of branded bottles with his initials, A.C., on them as a birthday present last year, so when she saw them finally holding the pills, she was shocked.
Adam nodded proudly at her question, indirectly giving her the answer.
"Aren't you going to use it then? I heard you are..." Professor Singh's words paused as she noticed Adam's new appearance.
"You broke through as well?" Professor Singh asked subconsciously. However, she felt like her question didn't need an answer and continued speaking.
"Well, look at you! I thought you would be the last person to concoct the Body Refining Pill, but you were the second! Truly a surprise." Professor Singh said approvingly as she gave the now-close-by Adam a pat on the shoulder.
"I couldn't have done it without your help, Professor." Adam humbly replied.
But as humble as he was acting, he wasn't lying. Professor Singh had taken a liking to him ever since his freshman year four years ago. And because of that, he received a lot of favoritism from her.
This favoritism led to many one-on-one discussions and personal demonstrations she gave him.
If not for those, Adam would've been much farther away from concocting the pill than he was yesterday.
Of course, none of this mattered as Adam now had a cosmic-grade alchemy talent, but Adam still engraved the favor in his heart.
Professor Singh only smiled at the boy's humility and instead pocketed the pills.
"I'll sell these pills before the school day ends. Just give me your bank account number now, and I'll send you the money," Professor Singh said as she pulled out her phone.
A quick exchange later, and finally, Adam got his long-desired paycheck.
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