Chapter The First Potions
Dnn… dnn… dnn…
The bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson at exactly 3:45 PM. Eugene, Rin, and Reem walked out of the hall, dragging their feet after a long day.
"What a boring class," Eugene said in a tired tone.
Rin glanced at Reem. "Did you tell Mousa about the cat?"
Reem's expression mixed between sadness and anger. "No… I didn't tell him."
"Why?"
Eugene answered for her, looking at Rin. "Because, simply, those rich kids have tons of powerful connections. And also… she doesn't even know who did it."
Rin understood Eugene's explanation—it was logical.
He turned his head toward Eugene with a small smile, his tone and expression dripping with sarcasm. "Looks like you finally realized I actually have a brain."
Eugene frowned, while Reem let out a soft laugh.
The three of them headed toward Professor Alex's class.
"Is Alex back?!" Eugene asked, raising his eyebrows in curiosity.
Rin pushed the door open and stepped inside. "Yeah, he's back."
---
All the students entered the class and took their seats. After a short while, Alex walked into the room, followed by a group of men and women between the ages of twenty and thirty-five, all wearing black suits, black gloves, and dark brown robes.
"?!" Eugene stared in confusion and looked at Rin. "Who are these people?"
Rin shrugged. He had no clue either.
Alex stood beside his desk and shouted, "For the past period, you've been learning theoretically about imprints and what they are. But today… is your first official step into the world of cultivators."
Really? What does he mean by that? Why all this dramatic buildup? Just get to the explanation already.
The students' whispers filled the room. Alex raised his hand, signaling them to quiet down.
"Alright, enough with the introductions." He stepped aside and gestured toward a collection of wooden crates.
The people accompanying him moved, each picking up a crate. Every person stood beside a student's chair and placed a crate on the ground next to them.
Eugene stared at the crate beside him in confusion. What's inside these boxes?
Alex continued, pointing at the crates. "Inside each crate… are potions."
Potions?.. Potions of what? Finally, we'll start the practical training!
The room erupted again with whispers of excitement, confusion, and tension.
"Let me finish talking first!" Alex snapped in irritation.
Silence fell. He continued, "Inside each crate, there are the three Level Identification Potions."
Alex used his power—golden sand materialized in the air, shaping itself with his words.
"We studied earlier about imprints, talent, and potions."
The sand formed the shapes of potion bottles and imprints, and the students stared in awe.
"Each one of you has a different talent, personality, dreams, thoughts, and destiny. Which means each crate contains different potions."
"By the end of the class, each one of you must choose one potion from your crate."
Eugene opened his crate a little and saw three small bottles inside.
One of the rich students called out, "Professor, Eugene isn't paying attention."
Alex looked at Eugene. "Eugene, focus."
The students chuckled quietly as Eugene glared at the annoying student. "What a pain," he muttered.
"The potions were selected for each of you based on your behavior these past weeks, and also on your talent."
Eugene felt a sting of annoyance remembering the issue with his talent, but he didn't dwell on it. He nodded and looked back toward Alex.
"But… there are things you need to understand."
Alex's tone shifted from tired and dull to sharp and serious. His gaze hardened.
"First: The potion you choose from the crate… cannot be changed."
"Second: You must understand and train with the potion, not just drink it. Otherwise, the consequences will be severe."
"Third: It is forbidden—no, strictly forbidden—to use your abilities inside the academy unless it's an extreme emergency."
"Fourth and finally: The potion is the first piece that builds all the other pieces. It does NOT fully determine your cultivation path. For example, if you choose a fire potion, it doesn't mean all your abilities will be fire-based," he took a deep breath and a sip of water, "rather, they will be built on the concept of fire: hardness, aggression, destruction, burning, and so on."
Eugene rubbed his nose lightly. "Why is the cultivators' world so complicated?"
Alex stopped talking, then after a short pause, said: "You may leave now."
---
Each student took their crate, and their minds filled with pink, dreamy fantasies.
"I bet I'll get flying abilities!"
"No, no… fire! Or ice!"
Rin held his crate and examined it. Sweat dripped down his face, and his heartbeat quickened. "I feel so nervous."
Eugene felt the same, but instead of nervousness he said, "I'm the opposite—I feel excited."
Meanwhile Reem was still thinking about her cat. "Once I get stronger, I'll take my revenge myself."
Eugene looked at Reem, trying to make her talk. "Is Farid coming today?"
Reem said with a soft sadness in her voice, eyes on the floor: "No, he said he's going on a mission with Edeous."
"Oh, alright." Eugene walked toward his apartment beside Rin and Reem. "I guess I'll go open the crate and see what's inside."
"Alright, me too," Reem headed toward her place and waved at them.
---
Eugene grabbed the door handle, entered the apartment, and said goodbye to Rin.
"See you later, brother."
He closed the door, went to shower, and afterward took a one-hour nap.
"Aah, okay, let's see what's inside the crate."
He walked to it, unlocked the silver latch, and pulled out three bottles: one red-blue, one brown-blue, and one grey.
He placed them in front of him, sat cross-legged on the floor, and studied them carefully.
Fire Imprint.
Mist Imprint.
Explorer Imprint.
I need to focus, and not rush the decision.
He stared at the potions. "Okay… what I want is to find out who attacked my village, and who that man with the emblem was."
His eyes moved toward the Explorer potion.
In that case… this potion seems like the best choice.
He reached out to grab it—but something felt wrong. His hand froze, then he quickly pulled it back.
He continued analyzing them, listing the pros and cons:
"Fire Potion: strong, destructive, great offense… but weak in defense. And it won't help me uncover the truth."
"Mist Potion: from the name, it seems related to mist. Maybe it'll help with hiding or escape. But I barely know anything about this potion—if it's weak or limited in compatible potions, I'll be in trouble."
"Explorer Potion: probably gives me analysis, observation, tracking abilities. Good for my goal, but weak in defense and offense, and I doubt it has many compatible potion paths."
Eugene scratched his head in frustration. One wrong decision could destroy his cultivation career.
He lay down on the floor and fell asleep again.
---
He opened his eyes to find himself in an extremely dark place, similar to the one he dreamed about that morning.
"Damn it, this place again?"
But this time, something was different.
Tkk… tkk…
The void around him began cracking like glass.
His eyebrows rose with concern. "Huh? What's happening?"
Fog began leaking from the cracks, pouring out like water—grayish-white fog.
"What is this?" He reached out to touch it. "It's a little cold!"
The fog filled the whole area like seawater.
Whoooosh!
A strong wind blew from behind him. He turned to see clusters of stars—red, gold, blue, and green—moving rapidly.
His head moved with them as they flew upward, forming a beautiful scene.
Tkk… tkk…
More cracks appeared, and this time icy water poured out, freezing the ground.
He brushed aside his hair and stared at the icy floor. "Fog… stars… icy water… This dream is so random?!"
Another crack formed.
"More cracks? What's next, blood?" he joked sarcastically at the dream's randomness.
Boooom!
A waterfall of blood burst out, mixing with the fog and ice, creating a beautiful yet terrifying painting.
"Huh?! Blood really came out? Was that luck or what?"
Hssss…
Eugene turned just in time to see a sword fall from above, landing five centimeters away from him. His eyes widened.
Hssss… hssss…
More swords fell everywhere.
"AAAH!" Eugene dodged quickly. "Wait—hold on! This is a dream, why am I dodging?!"
He stopped dodging and simply watched them scatter across the area.
Moments later, a massive tree appeared—colossal, with eleven branches, differently colored leaves, and thick, sprawling roots.
"A tree… blood… swords… fog… ice… What's the point of this dream?"
Tkk—
"Again?!" He looked up at the new crack—this one was bigger, and it was the only one.
"Weird… why just one?"
The crack shattered, and multicolored flames burst out—followed by a large butterfly with blue, red, gray, and green patterns, along with strange symbols.
His eyes widened even more, shock flooding his face.
"These are the same symbols on the academy walls!"
The butterfly beat its wings and began pulling everything in the dream toward it.
"What's happening?! Is it going to explode?!"
Eugene tensed up, fear rising—despite knowing it was a dream.
BOOOOOOM!
A white light swallowed everything—
---
Eugene shot up from the floor, drenched in sweat.
"Ahh, what's with these annoying dreams?!"
He stood up, confused, annoyed, and sweating all at once.
"I need a shower."
As he walked toward the bathroom, his eyes fell on the Mist Potion. Instantly, he remembered the fog in the dream.
It felt like the dream wasn't just a dream.
His heartbeat quickened. He felt an odd pull toward the potion—completely different from the Explorer potion.
He reached for it, holding it tightly, studying it.
"I don't know why… but I guess I'm choosing you. I'll trust my gut. I just hope I'm not making another mistake."
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End of Chapter