Chapter 17: Have I Become an Old Man?! (Please Keep Reading! Please Comment!)

Greila truly lives up to her reputation as a wealthy woman. On that very day, Vivian received three thousand bottles of mildly toxic potion as a gift from her.

This completely altered Vivian’s plans.

Vivian looked at the potion inside the ring and thought, “The potency doesn’t seem strong enough…”

After all, these potions were meant for healing. Even though they were mildly toxic, their toxicity was minimal and they could hardly provide much strength enhancement during the Burning Body state.

“Well, then let’s refine them,” you suggested.

From a knowledge standpoint, Ron was considered an experienced alchemist. Of course, his path as an alchemist was somewhat unconventional, since he learned the craft purely to brew potions that enhanced experiences.

Don’t assume such potions are easy to make. Creating something that heightens experience without causing addiction is an immense challenge for any alchemist.

You imparted relevant alchemical techniques to Vivian.

Vivian couldn’t help but exclaim, “Ron really knows a lot.”

She began preparing the tools according to your instructions.

Fortunately, these potions weren’t high-end, so refining them didn’t require additional stabilizing materials.

The only obstacle was probably Vivian’s constitution.

In Ron’s era, the fire used for alchemy was controlled by mages. Vivian didn’t even have a firm grasp of magic; hopefully, she wouldn’t end up burning herself.

“Won’t you ask a classmate for help? Your body can’t control fire, right?” you asked.

Vivian glanced at you curiously, then pulled out an automatic magical crucible. “No need.”

Damn! I’m getting old!

The magical world hasn’t remained stagnant over the past five thousand years. Magic theory, magical artifacts, and other aspects have constantly undergone transformation.

In fact, according to the current magical education system, today’s mages can easily surpass many ancient ones—though they still can’t match extraordinary prodigies like Ron.

Alchemy has benefited the most from these technological advancements.

Vivian’s automatic temperature-controlled crucible was already considered a cheap, common product.

It is said that the most advanced magical crucibles now allow one to simply insert ingredients and refine potions with a single command.

Watching Vivian happily refining the potion, Ron thought he might need to find a chance to study the technological changes of the past few millennia.

At least, when guiding Vivian, he wouldn’t have her take a roundabout path.

“Why go to the library?” Vivian asked with some doubt, following you there at your insistence.

You said, “You refine here; I’ll find some books to read.” You glanced at the dazzling array of books before you.

Ron wanted to learn but also didn’t want Vivian out of his sight.

He had a feeling that Vivian was unreliable—if he stopped watching her, she might cause trouble at any moment.

The Vast Library of Vigfart contained an immense collection, and it indeed held the developments in magic technology you cared deeply about.

So you left Vivian to one side and immersed yourself in the sea of books.

You had a feeling that something related to you existed here.

But having lost most of your authority, you couldn’t locate it among the countless volumes.

The only certainty was that it wasn’t your residual soul, and it seemed sealed with some special standard enchantment.

This reminded you of the technology used by your maids.

They employed similar techniques on their underwear to evade your constant spying.

You weren’t angry about that; the secrecy made things more interesting.

Back then, you truly were a pure pervert.

Ah! Don’t suddenly self-assess like that!

Looking back now, Ron also thought he had been a pervert, but one’s own feelings and ruthless written criticism are two different things!

It seemed the stabilizer wasn’t without flaws.

Besides not being able to see some desired instantaneous images, the sudden exposure of inner thoughts was rather embarrassing.

Thankfully, the words revealed by the stabilizer could only be seen by the person involved; otherwise, it would truly be a stream of unfiltered thoughts.

Ron tried to find the hidden secret in the library, but it seemed that thing was genuinely resistant to the Demon King’s Eye.

After several fruitless searches, Ron gave up.

Meanwhile, Vivian’s progress was going very smoothly.

Under her careful refining, thirty bottles of mildly toxic potion were condensed into a single small vial.

“Hehe! Let’s try it!” Vivian didn’t hesitate to activate Burning Body.

Orange-red flames instantly erupted from her body.

Vivian gulped down the entire potion she held.

“Whoa! Wait! Are you experimenting here?!” you suddenly realized.

The next moment, towering flames engulfed the entire library.

Ron stood stunned for a long time before slowly raising a hand to hold his forehead.

The scorching blaze burst out of the room, even sweeping through the corridor.

Screams of the girls outside echoed.

Vivian hurriedly withdrew the flames.

The fire on her body had already turned a ghostly blue.

She glanced around anxiously, then sighed in relief. “Luckily, or else the teacher would have scolded me to death.”

Thanks to Vivian’s unique constitution, the Burning Body flames caused no harm to her physical form.

The books and equipment in the library remained completely undamaged.

If the flames had been capable of damage at that scale, the entire library would have been destroyed instantly.

And in Vigfart, that would only warrant a scolding?

Ron now understood why Vivian trusted her teacher so much.

But he had no time to comment further on this matter.

After Vivian’s flames dissipated, you clearly sensed the aura emitted by the thing related to you.

You found it among a pile of old books.

It was a contract.

The elegant iris flower pattern caught your eyes.

“Iris Society?!” Vivian quietly exclaimed, leaning over.

You glanced at her. “You know it?”

“Seems like a society formed by witches determined to resurrect the Mad Demon King,” Vivian said, looking at the contract’s end.

There was…

Vigfart’s signature.

“The teacher is a witch of the Iris Society!” Vivian covered her mouth in surprise.

“So, your teacher really is a villain?” you asked.

Vivian patted your head.

“That’s not entirely true. Several times when demon gods descended, the witches of the Iris Society were always on the front lines,” Vivian explained. “But during peace times, they’re definitely unwelcome, since they like to snatch the Demon King’s residual souls.”

“So most of the time, they hide themselves.”

“Resurrect the Mad Demon King…” you murmured to yourself.