Arcane Academy: The Divine Extraction Legacy

"Captain, you've been observing Vale for a few days… Are you still curious about him? Why don't we just ask him directly?" Elena asked her captain as she saw him observing the second-year student once again.

"Can't you tell that this person is too suspicious? His current statistics reported by the Professors were too weird. Those Spirit Strands, Life Strands, and Power Strands were too much! What if he was already controlled by a Psychic from the Secret Organization? Even if not, this student might've been replaced by a Shapeshifter already." Zack replied in exasperation as he felt baffled at this student.

His team's Spells and Mystical Artifacts fail to scan or evaluate Vale's status. This wasn't something that would normally happen as it means that Vale's Spirit was too high or that he was using a Mystical Item that stops them from probing him.

Just being untraceable already says a lot to them since no second-year student would bother to hide their current strength with high-level Artifacts. As a matter of fact, they would normally be proud of their achievement and wouldn't use any Mystical Items that block people from sensing the amount of their Dark Energy, the number of Spell Lights, and their Artifacts, especially inside the Academy.

Normally, they would only be conscious of this when they reached their fourth year or sixth year since there would be plenty of practical subjects during these years.

"I don't think he's a Shapeshifter though… The only thing that changed about him according to his classmates was the glasses he was wearing. However, Headmaster Jean confirmed that it was due to a mystical item Vale had been using. It seemed to affect his eyes as kept using it." Elena explained.

"Is that so?" Zach responded as he looked at her.

"Yes… Unfortunately, even the Headmaster doesn't know which Artifact it was since Vale doesn't have plans to reveal this item yet."

Zach sighed at this as it seems that he really had no other choice but to force Vale to reveal his true identity.

Zach Everette was a member of the Order of the Evanescent Vessels. Specifically, he was the Captain of the Order's Alchemy Division and a master of Dark Alchemy.

He had blond hair that was turning white from the roots, a sign of his extensive use of Dark Alchemy's Mutation Inducement. He was in his late twenties but looked older than his age.

He came to the Vermont Academy for a mission related to the previous infiltration of the Secret Organization into the Academy, but he also had another goal, which was to meet the disciple of Dark Alchemist Heinz Becker.

According to the information they gathered, the disciple was Vale Chambers, a second-year student of the Vermont Academy. He was only 15 years old, but he was a prodigy in terms of his Attribute Strands.

He wasn't sure if Vale was already this talented when Heinz Becker had noticed him or if Vale evolved into something after Heinz helped him.

Zach took a deep breath as he followed Vale after his class ended.

Zach had heard of Vale's reputation and was curious to see how great he was. If possible, he also wanted to use him to meet Heinz Becker so he could learn from the great Alchemist.

He had a feeling that Heinz had recently made a huge breakthrough that could change the course of Dark Alchemy, so he wanted to learn of it first.

He soon found Vale in one of the open laboratories, working on an experiment. He knocked on the door and entered without waiting for an answer.

These laboratories are meant for the Introductory Alchemy Class of second-year and third-year students. This class existed to ensure that when they reached their fourth year, they wouldn't be overwhelmed or scared of choosing to walk in the path of Alchemist.

"Hello there..." Zach said with a smile. "You must be Vale Chambers, the disciple of Heinz Becker."

***

'He's finally here…' Vale silently thought as he looked up from his work and showed a frustrated expression.

Of course, he recognized the man who had appeared as Zach Everette, the Captain of the Order's Alchemy Division. He had seen his picture in one of the files that Heinz had given him.

Thankfully, the Headmaster already informed him about this person so he was no longer surprised that he was being watched.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly.

During the past few days, he had been using his Spell Dispersion and ESP Spell to ensure that no one would probe him and discover his secret. Although he knows that his natural high Intelligence could block these types of investigative spells, he would still use his defensive spells from time to time to increase his success rate.

He even had to wear his Demonic Mask inside his room when this person tried probing him last night using a powerful probing artifact.

The problems in his vision had gotten worse because of that!

"I'm here to talk to you, Vale Chambers." Zach said.

"I'm interested in your work, and your potential. Aren't you working on a unique potion? You should've heard about me since I conducted a few seminars with your seniors for a few days in the field of Dark Alchemy, I can help you." He added.

Vale shook his head at this as he didn't need any help or someone to analyze his creation. In the first place, he was only doing some minor adjustments with his Healing Medicine or Holy Water that he could make through his Blessed Healing Spell.

He was simply trying to make its shelf life longer. He couldn't ask other Professors about this since they would question his possession of Holy Water and the source would obviously be questioned.

"My work is none of your business, and my potential is not for you to judge." Vale bluntly said as he was already feeling annoyed after being interrupted and being probed in secret for a few days.

"Oh, come on," Zach said. "Don't be so rude. We're both blessed with talent in Dark Alchemy, after all. We have something in common."

"We have nothing in common, Senior. I'm not going to specialize in Dark Alchemy either. I'm just here to restudy what I've learned in my class." Vale replied.

"Is that so?" Zach curiously said. "Then why did you accept Sir Heinz Becker's help? He's not exactly a noble mentor, you know. He's a madman who experiments on living beings and creates abominations."

Vale sighed as this person was obviously unaware of how he really met Sir Heinz.

"Master Heinz? I don't know why you suddenly brought him up but he's a genius who pushes the boundaries of Dark Alchemy and Dark Arts…"

Zach went silent after hearing this as he tried probing Vale once again. He used his Spirit Vision and Dark Sense but once again, he failed.

This time, Vale wouldn't pass it up. He endured it when he did it sneakily. However, he blatantly tried to inspect his body like a pervert in front of him.

Vale looked at the man in front of him and spoke coldly.

"Senior, I don't think you're allowed to do something like that. You need to be taught a lesson."