Chapter Ninety-One: Departure (2)

Hughes heard the sound from the chip, and at the same time, he felt a scorching heat rushing toward him. Having just experienced this once already, Hughes knew exactly what this reaction meant.

"Another explosion?!" Before Hughes could finish speaking, the Guiding Guardian cast a protective shield over him. In the once-charred room, another violent explosion thundered.

As the blast echoed, Hughes sensed his dormitory shaking; it seemed that some of the fixed runes on the walls had been damaged by the two explosions. Many members of the Shadow Ring had heard the familiar explosion sound from over an hour ago and were now filled with curiosity.

Lindsey, who was sipping tea, was startled by this sudden explosion. "Another blast?" Lindsey recognized the familiar sound—there was no need to guess; Hughes had failed at his refinement again.

The Enforcers appeared once more, and coincidentally, it was the same two who had just visited. "Um, sorry about that—an error, just a mistake!" Hughes felt awkward upon seeing the familiar faces of the Enforcers.

The two Enforcers said little, their faces as cold as before. They glanced at the area of the explosion, but couldn't help giving Hughes a few more looks. "Same as before—five magic stones will do," one said, wasting no time.

Hughes handed over the magic stones he had already prepared. Watching the Enforcers depart and looking at the now-useless equipment, Hughes felt a wave of frustration.

"This won’t do! I refuse to accept defeat—even if I have to blow things up again!" Having already wasted two sets of medicinal materials, Hughes eyed his last batch and resolved to try once more. After all, it was the final set and wouldn't take too much longer.

After hearing the explosion, Lindsey had hesitated about checking on Hughes, but as she came to her senses, she found Hughes standing outside her shop, his face dark with gloom.

"Uh, are you all right?" Lindsey was at a loss for words, unable to think of anything to comfort Hughes.

"Give me a set of equipment! Actually, better make it two!" Hughes worried another explosion might require him to return again.

"All right!" Lindsey, seeing Hughes in this state, said nothing more and quickly fetched two brand-new sets of apparatus.

"I'm off." Hughes took the equipment without further ado and headed back.

"Let's do this." Hughes set the apparatus on the table—his original lab bench was now destroyed, so the table would have to suffice.

"Decompose..." Hughes repeated his previous steps, this time determined to proceed slowly, ensuring every move was precise.

"Here we go again." Hughes picked up the Tear of Magma Flame, preparing for the final step.

"This is the last attempt! I must succeed!" As he watched the Tear of Magma Flame drip into the beaker, Hughes guided his spiritual energy into the vessel.

"Bubbling..." He watched the boiling liquid, expecting failure yet again, but then the rolling fluid stilled.

Inside the beaker, the liquid began to spin on its own, its color shifting from red to a pale crimson.

"Does this count as success?" Hughes observed the changes, so different from before; the blazing aura gradually faded.

When the spinning ceased, a faint crimson mist rose above the beaker, forming a flame—Hughes knew the potion was finished.

Carefully, Hughes poured the potion into a test tube, feeling a gentle warmth—the distinctive temperature of the Explosive Elixir.

His joy at successfully refining the potion was swiftly replaced by the acrid scent of charred room.

"Refining one potion destroyed my dormitory!" Hughes looked at the ruined chamber and could only move to another room in resignation.

Fortunately, Hughes didn’t have many belongings—just some medicinal materials and previously refined potions; nothing else of note.

Hughes lay on the bed of his new dormitory, reflecting on the events of the day.

"My spiritual energy was consistent in all three attempts, and the timing was right. Why did only the last try succeed?" This question baffled Hughes.

"Beep! Analyzing! Estimated time: one hour!" The chip responded immediately.

"So long?" Hughes was puzzled; the chip had never taken this long before.

"Forget it, I'll sleep." Seeing the hour-long wait ahead, Hughes decided not to bother and went to bed.

"Chip! Give me the analyzed data!" Upon waking, Hughes requested the results.

"Beep! Host's spiritual energy affected by unknown influence! Source: ocular region!"

"Again, from here!" Hughes frowned at the chip's analysis.

"If not for my experience with other potions, my failure rate would have increased!" Hughes realized he needed to resolve his eye issue quickly—the effects were becoming increasingly pronounced.

"I need to speed things up!" Hughes studied the data.

Three months passed swiftly, and Hughes’ final public lecture concluded. The potions required by the two families were all completed within a month. Seeing Hughes’ rapid progress, both families wanted him to make another batch, especially Billy's family; Billy's father hoped Hughes would produce more for Billy's sake, but Hughes politely refused.

The two families thought Hughes found the payment too low and tried to negotiate several times, but all efforts ended in refusal. The real reason was that Hughes simply didn’t want to continue refining. After nearly a month spent solely on potion-making, he truly didn’t want to touch another one anytime soon.

"It’s time to leave!" Hughes saw that half a year had already passed and felt he should depart early; though some time remained, it was better to leave ahead of schedule.

"I should find a time to let Billy and Lindsey know." Hughes resolved to bid Billy farewell.