The Herb King



"Good luck, Christopher." Alec and the others said to Christopher. 

"Thanks. I'll do my best!" The young prince muttered solemnly. 

At this moment, only the participants of the Alchemy competition remained on the stage. They were the best young Alchemists in the Regalis Continent. They all came from prominent backgrounds since no ordinary family could nurture an Alchemist. After all, Alchemists needed a vast amount of resources to further their research. Only rich households had the wealth to train them! 

Christopher stared at the people around him. He was looking for Level 3 Alchemists since only someone at that level could match him. 'Most of these guys are Level 2 Alchemists and there are only less than ten Level 3 Alchemists...' He thought to himself after observing the other participants. 

"The Alchemy competition has three parts! The first part is Ingredient Identification, the second part is Pill Fire Control, and the last part is Pill Refining!" Omar announced. 

Soon, a group of old Alchemists came up on the stage and distributed the test papers to the participants. 

"The test paper in your hands contains questions that would ask you to identify the specific ingredients described. You have an hour to answer all the questions! Cheating isn't allowed and whoever is found cheating will be immediately disqualified! Begin!" Omar shouted in a loud voice.

Christopher glanced at the test paper in his hands. They weren't even given a pen to answer the questionnaire. He grabbed a pen from his storage ring and read the first question. It wasn't that hard so he was able to quickly identify what ingredients were being described. He then squatted and started writing on the test paper. However, he noticed that he couldn't write anything on the test paper! 

"What the hell is this?!" He furrowed his eyebrows as he tried one more time, but the result was still the same. He raised his head and found out that the other participants were experiencing something similar. 'Is this also part of the test? In that case, how should I answer these questions?' He thought.

Suddenly, he thought about something and his eyes flashed with brilliance. 

Christopher kept his pen and sent a stream of his world essence to the test paper. Sure enough, words started appearing on his questionnaire! "So that's how it is..." He muttered excitedly.

While the other participants were still struggling on how to write their answers, Christopher was already one step ahead of them. However, there were also a few participants who found out the logic and they quickly answered the test papers through this method.

Soon, most of the participants had already found out the answer, but they didn't have much time because of the one-hour limit.

Christopher answered the last question as he wiped the sweat on his forehead. After writing the answer using his world essence, he heaved a sigh of relief. 'I should be able to get full marks from this.' 

He received comprehensive training from Aethelwolf and all sorts of knowledge related to herbs, pill refining, and Alchemy in general were taught to him. He was even asked to memorize a few books. He thought that it was unnecessary back then, but he felt thankful that Aethelwolf insisted on making him do it. 

Not long later, the one-hour time limit was over and the old Alchemists observing the stage immediately collected the participants' test papers. Only a few people managed to answer everything on time. 

A magic rune was used to correct the test papers so everything was done quickly. The test results were then broadcasted to the crowd through a giant screen. 

1st Place - Christopher Leone - 100 Points

2nd Place - Judy Kristel - 100 Points

3rd Place - Frances Canon - 100 Points

4th Place - Brandon Flores - 100 Points

5th Place - Shaina Sapio - 99 Points

6th Place...

7th...

Everyone's scores were exposed on the giant screen. There were over a hundred participants and even the lowest rank had 50 points. It wasn't much compared to those in the top spots, but it still showed that everyone in this competition were competent people!

Looking at his name at the top spot, Christopher's lips curved into a smile. He then turned his head in the direction of Alec and the others. He saw them giving him a thumbs up. 

Seeing this, he smiled softly. His hardwork paid off and he felt happy that he didn't disappoint the others.

"After a ten-minute break, the second part of the Alchemy competition will begin!" Omar announced. 

Hearing this, the participants jumped down from the stage. Christopher also got down and met with the others. 

"Good job, Christopher! At least you learned something from King Aethelwolf!" Grace chuckled teasingly. 

The group chatted happily. 

***

Aethelwolf stared at the huge screen and smiled. "Not bad." He muttered. 

The people who were sitting together with him immediately congratulated him.

"Congratulations, Aethelwolf! It looks like you have a genius Alchemist among your participants!" General Trevor chuckled lightly. 

Hearing this, Aethelwolf shook his head. "The competition has just begun and there are still two stages left. We don't know what will happen next. Besides, the people in the top ten don't have that much of a difference in their points. Who knows what the outcome will be?"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. 

"At least you're not an idiot." They heard someone snorting behind them. Everyone frowned and turned their heads. It was Lark Whitmond from the Paramount Heaven Empire! 

After noticing their cold gazes, Lark smiled as he said tauntingly. "The top three is one of our participants. Let's see if your young elites are better than mine!" 

Aethelwolf quickly ignored him after hearing the man's words. He didn't have the time to play with this childish idiot so he might as well treat him as if he didn't exist. 

After seeing that Aethelwolf was ignoring him, Lark crossed his arms and snorted. "Coward!" He muttered under his breath. 

Einar who was sitting beside Aethelwolf frowned when he heard this, but Eliazar quickly grabbed his shoulder and shook his head. "Don't cause trouble during the competition." He warned. 

Hearing this, Einar gave Lark a hard stare before he sat down in silence.