my armed maid

Chapter 7: Alchemist Qualification Examination
The next morning, Nolen arrived at the Alchemy Society in Linfeng City half an hour early.

The Alchemical Society is an organization created and run entirely by alchemists. It is dedicated to facilitating research and communication among fellow alchemists. Almost all well-known alchemists in history are members of the Society, and they have a strong reputation in the alchemist circle. The highest authority.

The Mage Tower, the Knights Alliance, and the Alchemy Society, these three organizations each represent the three most difficult groups of people: mages, knights, and alchemists. Their history of existence is older than the 77-year-old Roland Empire.

Only one who is recognized by the Alchemy Society can be considered an official alchemist.

After sitting quietly in the hall for a while, Wilson, the director of the society, appeared on time. Behind him were several alchemists also wearing black robes. There was a sense of oppression when they walked together.

"Noren Vishers." Wilson said without any nonsense, "Are you ready?"

"Ready." Nolen met the scrutinizing gazes of the alchemists without changing his expression and walked straight over.

"follow me."

Wilson nodded and walked into the room first.

This is a spacious laboratory with all basic alchemy equipment and alchemy materials.

Wilson took his seat at the front of the podium first, and two accompanying examiners sat down with him. The remaining three alchemists stood at different locations in the examination room to invigilate the examination.

Nolen took a glance and saw that the alchemist Wright, who was hostile to him yesterday, was also the invigilator, standing behind him on his left.

His expression of being clearly angry but unable to kill himself is really interesting.

"Noren Vyshes studied under the alchemist Rusty Vyshes and has been at school for ten years."

Wilson shook the information in his hand and said, "After his master Rusty passed away, in view of the fact that he had reached the school age standard, according to regulations, the society wrote a letter of recommendation for his deceased master and gave him the qualification to take the alchemist examination.

"Wilson Lei, the director of Linfeng City Alchemy Society, will serve as the examiner for this examination, and the examiners will be..."

He spoke eloquently about the opening remarks and precautions for 5 minutes, and finally said: "...then, now begins the first round of the written test, which will be timed for two hours."

He turned over the hourglass on the table, and the proctor on the side handed Nolen two papers and two quills.

Nolen took the test paper and glanced at it briefly. He was already confident.

There are no multiple-choice questions or true or false questions in the Alchemist's written test. There are only fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and discussion questions. There is very little chance of getting right on questions that are generally difficult to answer.

But these are the most basic alchemy knowledge, which is not difficult for him. It only covers three subjects and only requires two papers.

He didn't hesitate, picked up his pen and started writing quickly.

The sand in the hourglass slowly drained out, and the laboratory was so quiet that only the sound of Nolen's almost non-stop writing was left. In less than 10 minutes, the first paper was finished.

so fast?
Wilson raised his eyebrows slightly. If it was not scrawled, it meant that this young man had a solid grasp of alchemical knowledge and did not need any time to think or recall.

Then another 25 minutes passed. Nolen stopped writing and checked the two papers for any omissions. Then he raised his head and raised his hand to signal to Wilson: "I'm done."

"Are you sure you want to hand in the paper in advance?" Wilson took a sip of tea, "You still have one hour and 15 minutes."

"I'm sure." Nolen spoke clearly.

The alchemists on the side began to whisper, and Wilson said calmly: "Then retract the scroll."

It was Wright who came to collect the papers. He picked up the papers and glanced at them casually. He thought with disdain to himself that he could write so fast without checking twice for such an important exam. His personality was really reckless and impetuous.

He originally thought that he would be able to find a few mistakes by scanning the paper at random, but soon he couldn't walk because he suddenly discovered that... he couldn't seem to find any mistakes?

Not only could he find no errors, he scanned half of the paper carefully and found out angrily that this damn little brat didn't even have a single typo. The paper was as clean and neat as a printed standard answer!
"Wright?" Wilson coughed lightly on the podium.

"Ah, oh..." Wright then realized and hesitantly handed over the two papers.

For a moment, he wanted to tear the two test papers into pieces, but his reason restrained his actions at the last moment.

No, there is no point in tearing up the test paper in front of everyone. It will only make you look like a madman.

Wright walked back with a gloomy face, not knowing what he was thinking. A colleague on the side came over and asked curiously: "You have been watching for so long, how is this young man's answer?"

"...I don't know, I haven't seen much."

"He seems to be very confident. If he can pass the exam today, the 17-year-old alchemist will have a bright future. Let me tell you, Wright, remember you were 27 when you became an alchemist, right?"

"..." Wright turned his head away, not wanting to chat with this unsighted colleague anymore, but the uneasiness in his heart gradually began to spread.

"The second round of practical sessions begins now."

After a 10-minute break, Wilson opened a sealed envelope in front of everyone on the podium and read the title inside, "Please move to the test bench and refine a bottle of primary magic potion within one hour."

A primary magic potion that continuously restores magic power to the user after drinking it. It is suitable for extraordinary people who can absorb magic power. It has no effect on ordinary people after drinking it. Occasionally, there are cases of diarrhea and dizziness.

The primary magic potion, like the primary recovery potion, is a relatively basic alchemical potion. Even without using the omniscient and omnipotent book in his mind, Nolen can recite its formula by heart:

Take two clusters of magic mushrooms and mash them; take a cluster of earth ivy, remove the leaves and chop them into small pieces; pour the two into the boiler, add an appropriate amount of water and simmer for a while; take a cluster of wind flowers, mash them and put them into the pot; low heat Simmer for a certain period of time and filter the residue; complete the preparation of the medicine.

The above is the most common formula for refining primary magic potion. Basically every alchemist is familiar with this formula, but remembering the formula does not mean that you can refine a qualified alchemical potion.

Descriptions of alchemical materials and operating methods in alchemical recipes often use vague words such as "cluster", "appropriate amount", "a certain amount", etc. However, in actual operations, if the proportions and boiling times of different materials are different, the results will vary. change.

If a layman gets this formula, he won't be able to easily make an effective alchemical potion without blowing up the furnace several times. If the alchemist apprentice has a teacher to explain the specific operation process to him, he will avoid a lot of detours.

However, when the master leads you in, the practice depends on the individual. How you can refining a qualified alchemy potion stably and quickly on your own also depends on each person's understanding, practical ability and proficiency.Refining primary magic potion was naturally not difficult for Nolen. He glanced at it and found the materials he needed from the material shelf on the side.

But...looking at the complete range of alchemy materials on the shelf, his mind suddenly became active.

He can actually refine higher-quality intermediate magic potions, and the right materials happen to be here.

The formula for the intermediate magic potion was something he "stolely learned" from Rusty.

The reason why it was said to be "stealing" was because Rusty had no intention of teaching him, but by observing the finished intermediate magic potion, the Book of Omniscience automatically recorded the formula of the potion.

And the moment he recorded the recipe on the page, he automatically remembered the corresponding refining technique in his mind, and there would be no possibility of error in the actual operation!
He is determined to inherit this alchemy workshop. To do this, he needs to show enough talent in the exam to make people in power like Wilson value him more and be willing to provide more for cultivating such a talented alchemist. help.

Thinking of this, he asked Wilson: "If I refine an intermediate magic potion, can I still be considered to have passed?"

The atmosphere in the entire laboratory fell silent, and everyone present looked strange.

The efficacy of intermediate magic potions is of course much better than that of primary magic potions, but the corresponding refining difficulty is higher and the error tolerance rate is lower.

The most important thing is that even if you make an intermediate magic potion, you can get full marks in this exam without getting any extra points!

And if you make a mistake, there is only one hour of exam time which is not enough for you to practice again!

The benefits and risks of this kind of behavior that makes it more difficult for him are completely unequal. Either he is stupid, or he is just showing off his skills.

But who can become an alchemist?So this is a show off, this must be a show off!
Among the alchemists with weird faces, Wright appeared a little annoyed. It was obvious that he took Nolen's behavior as a provocation to him.

After all, there is a direct conflict of interest. The better Nolen behaves, the less favorable it will be for him to inherit the alchemy workshop, so it is not an over-interpretation.

Nolen didn't care what Wright thought. He looked at Wilson with sharp eyes. Wilson also sat up slightly and said in a deep voice: "Okay."

With these words from the examiner, you can go ahead and do it. The book of omniscience in your mind turned to the page of the intermediate magic potion. He shuttled between the material rack and the boiler, his skills were as experienced as a senior Senior Alchemist.

Seeing his smooth and familiar operation techniques, the expressions of the alchemists present gradually changed from weird to serious.

As the aroma of medicine came from the boiler, they gradually realized that this young man might really have the ability and confidence to make a bottle of intermediate magic potion!
"Oh my God, is he serious?"

Several invigilators looked at it with great interest. They almost put their faces to the edge of the boiler and discussed excitedly in their voices: "It will be successfully refined soon. It seems that this exam is basically stable."

"More than just being stable, even a formal alchemist who is not proficient in pharmacies can't be as skilled as him, right? His techniques are definitely not like ordinary alchemy apprentices!"

The reviewers sitting on the podium also discussed: "That guy Rusty actually taught the formula of an intermediate magic potion to an alchemy apprentice. He really trusts his student's ability."

"But it's strange. He has obviously already qualified to become an official alchemist. Why hasn't Rusty written him a letter of recommendation?"

"Quietly train your own students, and then suddenly surprise everyone?"

Wilson, who was sitting in the chair, did not express his opinions easily, and the approval in his eyes became more and more obvious.

This young man named Nolen is a good prospect, and the Alchemy Society has really found a treasure this time.

After that, as expected, after 45 minutes, the intermediate magic potion refined by Nolen on site was successfully released.

The tube of blue potion that was still warm was passed to the examiners through the hands of the invigilator. After a brief appraisal, Wilson stood up and smiled at Nolen:
"The practical exam is over. You can rest for a while. The final interview will begin in 10 minutes."

Nolen breathed a sigh of relief and smiled back.

The major factors that affect test scores are the written test and practical exercises, which together account for [-]% of the total score, while the interview only accounts for [-]%.

The interview basically does not test professional knowledge. It is mainly used by the Alchemy Society to understand the character, philosophy and future plans of the new alchemist.

As long as you pass the written test and practical training, and then come to the interview stage, becoming an alchemist is basically a certainty.

Knowing that the results of this exam had settled, everyone present relaxed. When Nolen asked the invigilator where the bathroom was, they expressed great enthusiasm and goodwill towards their future colleague.

The only one who was not relaxed was probably Wright. During the break, he called out an examiner sitting on the podium and asked with the last bit of luck: "How was the boy's written test score?"

"Full marks." The reviewer spread his hands. "If we can't prove that he cheated, we must admit that he has the qualifications to become an alchemist."

Wright's face looked ugly. If Nolen cheated, as the proctor, he would definitely be the one shouting the loudest.

But Nolen's performance was impeccable, and even if he tried hard, he couldn't find any mistakes.

"Don't lose heart, Wright."

The examiner was his good friend and patted him on the shoulder to persuade him, "It's one thing whether he can become an alchemist, but it's another thing whether he can inherit the alchemy workshop.

"This matter is handled by Mr. Wilson. As long as you have a good relationship with him, it won't be easy to squeeze out the newcomer's spot?"

"It's just that this road won't work." Wright stamped his feet irritably, "That old guy can't get enough of it, and my inheritance priority is not as good as that kid's. It's useless to talk about it!"

"Then there is another way." My friend came up with another idea, "Talk to the young man privately, promise him more compensation, spend some money and exchange it with him for other land, and see if he is willing to voluntarily give up his inheritance rights. .

"But if it were me, I definitely wouldn't give up. The location of this alchemy workshop is so good. It's only a few streets away from the city center. Hey, just ask."

"...I know." Wright glanced at Nolen's back walking towards the bathroom not far away, thought for a while, and followed quickly.

(End of this chapter)