621: Counterhex Alchemy

Counterhex Alchemy

Alchemy…?2

Now this was a word I never expected to see on a timetable of Counterhex Academy. Considering the entire purpose of this school was to train us to become elite soldiers able to fight against the Hex forces, what place was there for alchemy to serve? I guess pills may be useful to supplement energy in the heat of battle, but if that's the case, they can just hire some alchemists to do it for us. There's no need to have the students learn alchemy themselves.

Below that, Period Three seemed like a pain as well. It was named 'Etiquette'. Naturally, it was straight-forward what this class was going to be about, and if you ask me, it was utterly useless. What, were we going to be polite to the Hex when they're pounding on our doors? Ha. Though I guess I can understand what the purpose of this class was—discipline. As soldiers, knowing etiquette means knowing how to act as a real member of the military, disciplined and dignified. It can help shape our minds into a stable, solid state…

… But still, useless class nonetheless.

Period Four today seemed to be interesting, however. It was titled 'Combat'. Since the name didn't go into specifics, I'm guessing this involved all sorts of different combat types, such as barehanded, firearms, and melee weapons. Out of all the classes thus far, this seemed like the most fun—though I suppose that could change after we actually get to start doing things with the Hexdroids during the Hexdroid Training class.

In any case, the girls and I made our way over to the front lobby of the dormitories after we finished eating breakfast. Of course, they shouldn't be seen exiting from my dorm since it should've only been me and Claire in there, but the one overseeing the security cameras of the school was A.R.X.A., and she was an acquaintance of mine. 

In other words, she would turn a blind eye to the matter. Besides, all of us were on the same floor anyway, so the other students wouldn't notice anything weird even if we all boarded the same elevator. They did, however, look like they were about to explode from jealousy, which was normal given how much the girls were clamoring me. Not that I cared, really.

Soon, we reached the Academy campus once more via the teleportation platforms, and groggily headed to class. I felt like if it wasn't for the girls supporting me, I would've simply fallen over unconscious while walking. That's how tired I was, and for good reason.

Just like the day before, the students entered the front lobby, then headed off to their respective homerooms. Only this time, there was no Tian Lin to give a speech.

Ling Xin greeted us in our homeroom as usual as well, and like yesterday made a few announcements regarding upcoming events. That was the whole point of homeroom—announcements.

As for the particular contents of today's messages, there weren't any that caught my attention. It was mainly just telling everyone who hasn't yet installed the Counterhex Academy app to do so as soon as possible, and also providing a brief explanation of the application and what it did. However, near the end… Ling Xin also added a final remark that made me somewhat curious.

"Oh, right. This week is just a warm-up period for you all to get used to the school, so things won't be too difficult. But next week… fufu, you'd all best be prepared."

Obviously, workload was going to scale up as we progressed through the curriculum, but her wording of that sentence made me think an important event was going to happen next week. I could only guess as to what that was, but it would seem we had a challenge coming our way.

Finally, it was time for period two, Alchemy. We walked into the assigned classroom… and was immediately punched by the distinct and rich scent of various herbs and plants. Some smelled good, others smelled bad. But when mixed together, it produced a very unique smell that… yeah, was very bad.

"Ugh…" Qing Yue immediately groaned upon smelling it, and backed away a few steps subconsciously. Being a chef, her nose was extremely sensitive, so this pungent smell was hitting her harder than most.

On the contrary, Zhao Xiuying boldly stroded into the classroom without even an ounce of change in her perfectly deadpan expression, as if this was her own home. The smell didn't seem to bother her in the least, and as everyone else watched on in awe from outside the door, Xiuying took her spot near the back of the classroom—the same seat she had been using in homeroom.

Because every classroom's seating layout was more or less the same, it became an unwritten rule for students to use the same spot in every one of their classes, just to avoid confusion. Still, in this case, some were reluctant to go to their usual spots, since that meant they would be closer to the source of the smell—namely the various alchemy furnaces stationed around the room. Strangely enough, all of them were burning, as if they were all being used at the same time.

Inside, an old professor was hunched over behind his desk, gaze glued to the herbs laid around messily on his table. As Zhao Xiuying passed by, his eyes glanced at her for a moment in interest, but only for a fleeting second before returning to his work. The rest of us students were confused as to what to do next—the teacher didn't invite us inside, and we were reluctant to enter as well.

After some brief deliberation, however, I decided to just head in—perhaps this was a test to see if we were afraid of the smell or not. But as I passed by the teacher's desk, I noticed the old man didn't even look up at us, as if this entire teaching business wasn't any of his concern.

"…"

The other girls followed after me, some covering their noses, while the remaining classmates followed. Even after all of us took our seats, the teacher did not seem to care, and remained engrossed in his own research.

Really… why are all of my teachers like this?

pqdm.com