Chapter 192: Professor Nico’s Stress

Chapter 192

Professor Nico’s Stress

Ellie’s cultivation began shortly after arriving at the institute. While waiting for the others to arrive, Ellie could take advantage of this brief moment to get started. There wasn’t any strict rule against this. If Ellie chose not to return to her village, she could use this 1 month to cultivate herbs. However, most students didn’t do this.

If they chose to stay at the institute, students or professors had to prepare their own meals or go to the city of Erel for food. Most professors had their own ways of preparing. Some bought long-lasting food supplies, some went down to the city once a week, and some were so engrossed in their work that they didn’t eat for 3-4 days. This was mentioned because Ellie’s Professor Medik used to be one of the latter. He chose to work all week without eating, surviving only on small fruits or herbs from the Botanical Building.

It’s no surprise that his body was quite thin compared to other professors. However, his changes were noticeable, especially since Professor Lucien started hanging around him.

“You’re cultivating Larffle herbs that take 3 months to harvest and the challenging Clear Skite. Are you giving up on your second year?” Lucien teased the diligent girl working on her plot.

“I believe that Professor Lucien wouldn’t let anything happen to these plants because it would mean the only student of Professor Medik has failed,” Ellie responded deadpanned. Lucien raised his eyebrows at her words.

He wanted to ask where she got her confidence, but after questioning himself if he would do as she said, the answer was "yes." He might help the only student of Medik and the first one with hopes to graduate easily pass the years. If he didn’t intervene, Medik might be called a failure, having never gotten a student past the fourth year. Despite his skills, he couldn’t be called successful...as a professor.

“You’re not planning to just cultivate herbs, right? Are you planning to enter the Tower of Eternity for missions? With your skills, the 1st-floor missions shouldn’t be a problem,” Lucien guessed. And he was right. 1st-floor missions weren’t scary anymore. With Purple Mushroom or increased combat skills, Ellie felt much more confident facing beasts.

However, being overly strong wasn’t good. She didn’t intend to present herself as a powerful hunter. Ellie wanted to complete simple missions quietly and without attracting attention.

“I might join hunts occasionally, but it’s not something I enjoy.” When it came to hunting, let Luke handle it alone. For her, excelling in other areas was crucial, making it impossible for anyone to guess they were the same person.

“So, what are your plans? You haven’t accepted either me or Medik as your direct mentor, even though we could give you many missions for points, so you wouldn’t need to cultivate these low-level herbs.” Lucien felt a bit puzzled by Medik’s student. Actually, he didn’t understand both Medik and his little student at all. They both had their own peculiar thoughts. Nevertheless...it was the peculiarities of these two individuals that intrigued him.

He hadn’t planned to take on another disciple after making a wrong choice once before. That incident had shattered his pride completely. The disciple he had chosen turned out to be a thief, sneaking in to steal a few gold coins from a friend. How could his judgment have been so flawed?

However, after spending time with Medik and his student, he felt a genuine desire to teach again as a mentor. Originally, the combat technique using threads shouldn’t be easily taught to others. Yet, he honed the skills of that student to such an extent that she could defeat an institute professor. That was when he realized how truly talented Ellie was. Whatever she was taught, she succeeded in mastering it.

As an enthusiast of study, he wanted to pass on his knowledge to his disciple and see them shine. Seeing Ellie master techniques in no time gave him immense satisfaction and a stronger desire to teach. Unfortunately, the girl rejected him outright without a second thought. She didn’t want to be his direct disciple, nor did Medik, the sole user of botanic power.

Nevertheless, Ellie had a remarkable talent for potion concocting, leading the top institute, Ares, to win numerous awards and becoming a legend in her own right. Instead of honing her innate talent, her plans took an unexpected turn.

“I plan to take on missions from Professor Medik. Assisting him in making level 1-star potions is not difficult for me. But more importantly, I want to learn how to create “stratagems” in various forms. In my third year, once I master stratagem-making, I can take on stratagem-making missions, which I heard give more points than concocting 10 cauldrons of potions,” Ellie stated ambitiously.

She knew that she had only 4 years at the institute, and beyond that was an uncertain life. The story ended after Nara graduated in the fourth year, with a vague, idealized summary: "The heroine lived happily with those who truly loved her." That’s it. Therefore, to be prepared for anything, learning a multitude of arts and sciences would increase her chances of survival.

Ah...though she spoke grandly, the truth was, Ellie just wanted to learn how to make a stratagem for creating ice magic!

In this kingdom, there were no refrigerators or freezers. Usually, when they needed to transport fresh goods, they simply used ice magic. But...were there that many users of ice element? No wonder people regarded dimension rings, which could store items, as more important.

Above all, the Ares Kingdom had an extremely harsh winter. This season was despised by all because it reduced hunting opportunities and caused many poor villagers to perish. If not for Ellie being at the institute with its Botanical Building unaffected by the seasons, she might not have met her score requirements in the first year. These herbs could not grow in snowy areas.

Thus, the tastes of the people had never included "ice," "cold water," "ice cream," or other cold things. They preferred hot and warm foods, even when there was no snow.

However, Ellie didn’t share their tastes. No matter the weather...whether it’s hot or cold, having ice was happiness! Imagine drinking milk without it being cold. It would taste bland and unappetizing. Conversely...if the milk were chilled, it would be refreshing. Wouldn’t that make it more enjoyable?

Ah...having said all this, it boiled down to personal preference that others didn’t understand. When no one understood, the only thing to do was to "learn" and "do it" yourself!

"Do you...want to be Professor Nico’s disciple?" Lucien thought of the big-bodied professor who spent his time crafting stratagems like an old man near death. He found Ellie’s decision quite unexciting.

Crafting stratagems wasn’t new; it’s just copying the blueprints of higher-level races found in the tower. Besides, making stratagems was headache-inducing and complicated, with too many details. If you made even one mistake, the stratagem collapsed instantly. It might seem similar to high-level magic, but it wasn’t.

Crafting stratagems wasn’t easy. It’s not just casting a spell and infusing magic power. It required many materials and was very costly. If you messed up a stratagem, it’s like throwing money away.

But at least crafting stratagems was more fun than concocting potions. Stratagems could at least generate income and even made someone famous as a hunter, since many stratagems could be used to deal with beasts. No wonder Professor Nico had many disciples, all of whom were the children of wealthy families.

“Do you think Professor Nico would accept me as a disciple?” Ellie paused her soil tilling and asked the professor in front of her seriously.

"He will definitely accept you as his disciple, but how can you be sure that path is the right one? I understand that you don’t want to work as hard as your professor, whose rewards are relatively low compared to a single stratagem. However, crafting stratagems isn’t easy. Don’t you know that more than half of the students have to withdraw from Professor Nico’s mentorship because they can’t complete the stratagems?"

"I’ve heard about that, but I still want to try."

"Mmm...If you just want to try, that’s no problem. You can always withdraw. Your potion-concocting skills will support you in your second year. You have 1 year to see if you’re suited for stratagem-making. If not, withdraw quickly and learn from your professor, or let me teach you combat skills properly."

Lucien advised her, feeling a bit regretful for Ellie. But everyone had their preferences. He remembered a professor who tried to force him to be his disciple when he was a student himself. However, he chose not to be anyone’s disciple and just spent time learning what he liked. In the end, he made it this far.

He didn’t know if Ellie had any particular preference. She excelled in many disciplines, so as a well-meaning professor, he just wanted her to find what she hoped for.

"If you really want to be his disciple, you should take this opportunity to approach him. Stop tilling the soil. Right now, there aren’t many students. If you don’t hurry, Professor Nico might not have time for you," Lucien advised again. Ellie understood his meaning well, but...she wasn’t in a rush.

"Understood," she replied nonchalantly. Lucien sensed she wasn’t really listening. So, instead of wasting time with her, he decided to find Medik and take him out for some good food.

Ellie watched Lucien leave, thinking of Professor Nico, her target. As long as he received her "gift," he would seek her out himself!

As Lucien understood, being a stratagem creator required more than talent. It demanded many resources to craft each stratagem. Ellie was truly cunning. Within the institute, she knew everything about everyone’s plans. How could she not know what Professor Nico lacked?

When it came to gathering information, Ellie was unmatched. As for resources... if she claimed to be the student with the second most rare resources at this institute, she believed no one would dare claim the top spot! In this institute, not even Aman, the second son of the Setter family, could compare unless the eldest young lord himself stepped in.

At the same time, Professor Nico, frustrated by his failed attempts to create a stratagem more than 4 times today, stopped what he was doing.

“Professor Nico, perhaps you should take a break for today. It seems you’re having trouble focusing,” one of the assistant professors suggested. Professors could hire graduates to assist them, much like Professor Medik had hoped Ellie would become his assistant. This assistant of Professor Nico was a genius well-trained by him.

It was no surprise that after working together for many years, he understood what Professor Nico was thinking. For a stratagem creator, concentration was crucial. Even a slight distraction could cause the positioning of the runes and resources to go awry, leading to the immediate failure of the stratagem.

Unlike potion concocting, which only resulted in lower quality potions or, in severe cases, damaged potions, stratagem-making had no middle ground. There was no such thing as a low-quality stratagem. If it wasn’t successful, if there was an error, it meant starting all over again. Thus, it wasn’t surprising that stratagems were more expensive than medicinal potions.

“Mmm, I think you’re right. Even if I continue working today, it won’t yield any good results.” Nico set his tools down. His thick eyebrows were still noticeably furrowed.

“Professor...are you thinking about those goblin parts?” The assistant asked worriedly. His professor was like this; if something was on his mind and he couldn’t resolve it, he wouldn’t produce good work for days.

But how could they let this continue? In a few days, the institute would officially open. If the professor remained in this state, wouldn’t it undermine the disciples’ confidence?