I Refused To Be Reincarnated

Julius explained last night's events to Louise and Asha around breakfast, shocking them. Then, they went to class together.

As they entered the classroom behind an elegant, blond middle-aged man, Julius shook Adam awake, just in time for him to hear the teacher introduce his field.

"Welcome to the spell-casting class. I'm Mr. Armand, and I'll teach you how to pronounce ancient incantations correctly. I bet most of you haven't learned any spells yet. That's normal. Before the age of twelve, your mana circuits are still immature, making it hard to manifest spell effects." The teacher explained, his brown eyes sparkling.

However, immediately after, Adam said, a bored expression on his face. "Alright, I don't care about spells. Bye."

He closed his eyes and returned to the dream place under Julius' shocked gaze.

'... I don't care about them either!' He screamed internally.

He considered skipping this class since neither of them was interested in it as he closed his eyes to focus on his body.

At the end of the lesson, Julius, having understood the pattern, immediately left the class before Armand could Speak about his apprenticeship propositions.

******

After lunch, he returned to class, ready to attend Vikram's alchemy lessons.

"I'll be your Alchemy fundamentals teacher for the next two months. My name Is Vikram Aurelium." He declared, his hands crossed over his chest and his long coat fluttering.

The students gazed at his stylish figure in awe. After all, contrary to the unpopular transmutation subject, they all dreamed of becoming tier-four alchemists like this renowned teacher.

"I won't waste time with useless explanations. Most of you enrolled here for this course. So, let's start with potion brewing immediately." Vikram said, placing his hand on a glowing circle on his teacher's desk.

Right after, every student's desk glowed brightly before transforming into cauldrons, shocking everyone.

'This college really studied how to manage space efficiently!' Adam thought, taking an interest in those magic circle's functions.

"Today's objective is to familiarise yourselves with the most basic skill in alchemy: Infusing mana. No matter what potion tier you brew, this skill will be used." Vikram explained, pointing at a bottle filled with a liquid. "We won't use materials as they would be wasted. Instead, we have a special liquid developed by our director that changes color when infused with mana properly."

He distributed several bottles to the students before explaining to them how to infuse mana. Then, he turned to Julius, retrieving a monocle from his coat's pocket and placing it on his eye.

"Let's brew that elixir." He declared, looking straight at Adam, finally able to see his peculiar form completely, with a smile.

Adam nodded while Julius retrieved the materials Shepard had given them the night prior.

Then, under Vikram's advice, Adam started the brewing, shocking the teacher more and more after each passing minute.

Vikram's mana control was obviously better than Adam's. However, the ghost was almost as fast as he was in changing his mana's shape.

After half an hour, the materials were all gone, leaving behind a shimmering sky-blue liquid.

"You can brew more potions with the materials left or let the boy train. Your choice." Vikram said, his brow twitching. Since when did it become so easy to brew tier-three potions? He estimated that Adam would have to use the three sets to finally succeed, understanding well that Shepard anticipated he would help.

But here he was, witnessing a newly promoted acolyte concoct a tier-three potion on his first try. He couldn't help but think that the ghost was a potion prodigy.

"I'll brew two more then. I'll give them to Arun and Asha." Adam responded after a short pose.

However, Vikram shook his head disapprovingly. "Your situation is special, so we didn't say anything. But taking potions is highly unrecommended before turning sixteen."

Vikram then explained that a practitioner's mana circuits matured enough at twelve for them to use mana-gathering techniques to slowly improve. However, taking potions might have adverse effects as the potent mana would, most of the time, overload the circuits.

'So, that's why, despite having mages in their families, no nobles learned anything before enrolling.' Adam realised. He had learned from Lucius that the techniques were tightly regulated by the academies but had no idea that they could be dangerous for the young ones.

"Well, I'll give the first to Louise and sell the other one, I guess. Any recommendations on the selling price?" Adam asked, hoping to earn a decent amount from older students.

"If you can brew it as well as the first one, you can probably sell it for thirty or forty gold." Vikram's response made Adam's eyes widen.

He knew potions could be sold for expensive prices, but... Wasn't that too much? I was only a tier-three potion! What about tier four, then?

Noticing his astonished face, Vikram teasingly added, "That's nothing. The dividing line between tiers three and four is as huge as a mountain. I usually sell my potions for five hundred gold each, hahaha."

As Vikram giggled, Adam almost yelped in surprise. It seemed that in this world, things only started to become serious after reaching tier four.

Then, he refocused his attention on the cauldron, determined to improve to become a tier-four alchemist as soon as possible.

******

As the bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson, Julius, who silently cultivated and familiarised himself with his body's new capabilities, rose from his seat. He concluded that his promotion granted him a harmonious improvement. Be it his bones, muscles, strength, speed or vitality, everything had been improved.

Moreover, he discovered that his eyesight seemed to reach further and catch more details. His hearing became sharper, allowing him to hear subtle noises that would have escaped him before.

Happy to see his body improve so much, Julius, accompanied by Asha and Louise, headed to the adventure club's office to meet with their supervisor.

He found Arun waiting for them with a refreshing smile before the door. Despite his punishment, he still decided to sneak out of the room for the meeting.

"Ready to meet her?" Arun asked happily after he rested for the whole day.

However, before Julius could respond, a loud noise coming from inside the office startled him.