Chapter 294: Betty and Her Dear Mentor
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 294: Betty and Her Dear Mentor
It wasn't long before Betty returned, though this time she had two white mice in her hands.
"Wait, you just carried them over like that?" I asked, frowning.
"Oh, don't sweat the details. I was just worried about getting caught."
Betty set the mice down on the counter. They stayed put, making no move to run. It seemed these experimental mice had been domesticated to the point where they didn't even know the meaning of resistance. Fortunately, that made things much easier for us.
Holding a sharp blade, Betty picked up one of the mice and sliced a large gash into its body.
"Whoa, okay, with a cut that big, are you sure you weren't trying to split it in half?" I couldn't help but interject as I watched the mouse squeaking in agony in Betty’s hand.
"True... whatever, let's just go with it. I hope the potion is up to the task." Betty set the blade down and scratched her head. She had been a bit too excited and had instinctively started a dissection, only to realize she was supposed to be testing a wound-healing potion.
"I hope the little guy makes it..." Betty pulled out a fresh dropper and drew some of the potion she had just brewed.
Generally, this kind of potion was administered through a combination of topical application and oral ingestion.
As soon as Betty dropped the liquid onto the wound, the mouse let out another series of shrill squeaks. Then, a sizzling sound, like something being corroded, erupted from the injury.
"What's happening?" I leaned in to get a closer look.
"Did I... did I kill it? Huh?"
Betty looked at the struggling mouse in disbelief, panic rising in her voice. Seeing that the topical application wasn't working, she squeezed a few drops into the mouse's screaming mouth.
A moment later, the mouse went completely limp. It was dead.
"You really are a genius!"
"Don't... don't say that! I don't know why it turned out like this!"
Betty felt like she was on the verge of a breakdown. She had followed every step perfectly; how had she ended up brewing a lethal poison?
Even if it struggled to kill a single mouse, her goal was a wound-healing potion! That was a life-saving medicine. If such a thing were released to the public, people would be trampling each other to get it.
Just as Betty was about to burst into tears, the laboratory door swung open, and a figure walked straight in.
I looked at the stranger—a mature, statuesque woman who radiated an air of authority. I didn't even have to guess; this had to be a Transcendent Witch. Most likely Betty’s mentor, as she certainly didn't look like a fellow student.
"M-Mentor Lola..."
Betty’s voice confirmed my suspicion, though the tremor in her tone was almost comical.
"Betty, what have you done this time?"
The Transcendent Witch Betty called Lola spared me only a brief glance before fixing her focus entirely on Betty. Her question carried immense pressure, making Betty look as if she were suffocating.
However, as Lola stepped closer to us, something seemed to catch her attention. She turned her head toward me, her deep gaze boring into my eyes. It made my skin crawl.
The next moment, she reached out toward my face. Just as I thought this Mentor Lola had recognized my identity and was about to either recruit me or pinch my cheeks, her hand snatched the glasses off my face.
As the alchemical glasses Teacher Ji Niang had given me were taken away, I instinctively swallowed hard.
"You know Xi Lan?"
"Xi Lan?" I blinked, then quickly realized that Xi Lan was just another name for Ji Niang. "She’s my counselor."
After calming my nerves, I began to reflect. When Teacher Ji Niang gave me these alchemical glasses... she mentioned she had gotten them from another witch. It couldn't be such a coincidence that it was her, could it?
"Counselor? Isn't she handling the new students? You... oh, you look familiar. Yang Yuehan, right?"
"Yes, Teacher," I nodded.
"You're that brat Xi Lan's student. What are you doing running around in my lab?" Lola carefully placed the glasses back on my face. "I crafted these glasses myself. Since Xi Lan gave them to you, don't let them go to waste."
"I won't."
Seeing how readily I agreed, Lola stopped bothering me and turned back to Betty. For a second, Betty thought she had dodged a bullet, but she couldn't escape her fate.
"No... stop! Don't hit me... Xiao Han is right here! Xiao Han is still watching! I'll be totally humiliated!"
Despite Betty’s pleas for mercy, Lola hoisted her up and started spanking her... and she was really swinging. I had to look away.
"Did you even bother with dust-free processing when you came in today? And you used a cleaning spell on my instruments? Do you think instruments can just be cleaned with magic? Do you have any idea how much unnecessary wear and tear that causes?"
"And you're running experiments without even turning on the protective measures? Do you not want your hands anymore? Or do you just want to destroy the rest of my equipment?"
"And stealing my mice? Didn't I tell you not to touch them lately? You ignored the crate I set aside for you and insisted on taking the ones I sealed for my own experiments. I think you're just begging for a beating..."
Lola lectured Betty with every strike. I realized then that our entire "experiment" had been under this witch's watchful eye. I glanced around the room and finally spotted a "monitor" powered by Ley Line energy.
This kind of monitoring went far beyond standard surveillance. It didn't record images; it recorded Ley Line information. Once collected, that data could be reconstructed to recreate the scene from any angle.
I’d have to be more careful in the future. This kind of "monitoring" left absolutely no blind spots.
A long while later—whether because Mentor Lola was tired or Betty had finally repented—the farce came to an end. Betty’s backside was practically glowing.
"Betty, you’d better remember this. It’s been a few days since your last thrashing; don't tell me you were already itching for another one." As she spoke, Lola walked over to the lab bench and picked up Betty’s masterpiece—the potion that had poisoned the mouse.
"Truly a talent. Is this how you brew a potion? What happened to the techniques I taught you? What happened to everything you supposedly studied on your own?"
"This... this was my first time," Betty stammered, struggling to climb up from the floor. Even so, she had to lean against the table for support. It looked like Mentor Lola hadn't held back.
She really laid into her...
Lola looked at the materials on the table and the potion in her hand, then began to brew a fresh batch herself. As she worked, she explained the principles behind the process and pointed out exactly where a certain someone had messed up.
This was information that would have been incredibly difficult for us to figure out on our own, but Lola made it sound simple and clear. I couldn't help but marvel at the benefits of having a mentor.
As the saying goes: A single sentence of true teaching is worth ten thousand volumes of guesswork.
This kind of tutoring was far more valuable than any paid lecture. Even though I wasn't her student, Mentor Lola didn't mind my presence while she explained.
"There. Drink it."
"Huh? Drink it?" Betty stared at the potion her mentor held out. Just moments ago, she had killed a mouse with her version of this!
Even if her mentor had fixed it, the psychological barrier was still there!
"Doesn't your backside still hurt? Drink this and the pain will stop. Also, did you memorize everything I just said?"
"I... I did."
"Then go do it again. How a student of mine managed to turn a simple wound-healing potion into something corrosive is beyond me."
"Eh? I have to do it again?"
"Or you can drink that mess you made. It’s your own work, after all. Drink it to help your memory."
"I... I'll drink this one!" Betty snatched the corrected potion. She trusted her mentor’s skill; at worst, she’d end up in a hospital bed, which was still better than more "discipline."
But Lola’s next words nearly made Betty spit the potion back out.
"I wasn't giving you a choice. You're doing both. After you finish that, you're going to brew another bottle yourself—and you'll keep brewing until you've made one you're brave enough to drink. I'll provide the materials."
"Cough... gulp... Huh?!" Betty, having nearly choked on the potion, looked up in shock.
"What are you 'huh'-ing about? You invited someone else to brew with you and you only prepared six sets of materials? How stingy can you be? Go to my storehouse and take what you need, but only for the wound-healing potion. If I find anything else missing, I guarantee your backside will be twice as red!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
"As for you..." Lola turned her gaze back to me. "If you like alchemy and truly want to learn, you can work with her. Just don't let her bad habits rub off on you. I can see you have a spark of talent for alchemy. Don't waste it."
"Thank you, Mentor Lola," I said, bowing slightly in a show of humility.
Lola’s words meant that while I wasn't her official student, I could study alongside Betty. Wouldn't that mean I could effectively leech off Lola’s teaching for free?
And it was free!
Moreover, it was far more effective than anything I’d learn in those standard classes. Those courses only taught the basics, and then more basics. They never pointed out the subtle mistakes in the details—and the details were where everything usually went wrong. That was something you could never learn in a classroom.
Then... Lola left, as swiftly as she had arrived, as if she had only come specifically to give Betty a lesson.
"Is she gone? She’s really gone. Phew~ thank goodness." Betty let out a long sigh of relief. Once Lola was out of sight, she immediately reverted to her usual self.
"Xiao Han, did you hear that? We’re in luck! That’s my mentor’s private storehouse! Even I’ve only been in there a few times, and now she’s opened it to us!"
"She only opened the materials for the wound-healing potion," I corrected her. "By the way, how’s your... backside?"
"Oh, that? It’s... it’s fine. That potion really is amazing, it doesn't hurt anymore. But I should apologize for letting you see that..."
"It’s fine. I looked away, I didn't see anything," I lied.
Actually, I was more interested in the effects of the wound-healing potion. It had a pain-killing effect too? That was quite impressive.
"Well, it’s no big deal. Several of my senior sisters have seen me get thrashed. Since you’ve seen it too, Xiao Han, that makes us official friends!"
"Huh? What kind of logic is that for making friends?" My lip twitched. I really couldn't wrap my head around Betty’s thought process.
"Oh, don't worry about the details~ Let's go! It looks like we might actually finish this potion today, hehe~ This is my first time trying to brew a potion independently."
After we returned from raiding Lola’s storehouse, Betty had finally wised up and remembered to turn on the protective measures before starting.
The testing lasted the entire day. Since there were plenty of materials, I tried my hand at several batches. My very first attempt was a success; though the purity was a bit lacking, it definitely had healing properties.
Once I got the hang of it, the rest was easy. Many things are like that—they seem impossible until you succeed once, and then it all clicks.
Betty, however, had a much harder time. She wasted a lot of materials. The six sets she had bought herself were gone in a flash. After using several more sets from the storehouse, she finally succeeded in brewing her first wound-healing potion late that evening.
"I did it! I actually did it! Xiao Han, did you see that?!" Betty was so excited that even the mouse, whose wounds had just healed, scrambled away in fear.
"Yes, I saw. Congratulations." This time, my praise was sincere.
But after the initial joy, she set her potion on the rack—right next to a row of my finished products.
"Xiao Han... sniff... I really don't have the talent to be an alchemist, do I? Maybe I should just switch to being a pharmacist!" The sheer difference in our success rates shattered her confidence in an instant.
"Come on, Betty, don't be so hard on yourself. You succeeded, didn't you? It only took you one day. You succeeded in a single day." I wanted to tell her she was comparing herself to the wrong person, but I opted for a gentler approach. "I checked earlier; most apprentices just starting alchemy take about a week to independently brew a finished potion. So you're still a genius. A genius who succeeded in one day."
"I’m... a genius? Then what does that make you, succeeding on the first try? A... a freak of nature?"
"Oh, stop it. I had you to watch for trial and error first, didn't I? Plus, I only succeeded because of Mentor Lola’s explanation. You should have more confidence. Can't you see how much Mentor Lola cares about you?"
"By 'cares,' do you mean spanking me and making me drink my own failed experiments?"
"Well... yeah, basically. If she didn't like you, why would she bother correcting you? Indifference is the greatest insult. A mentor won't even spare a glance for someone without talent, you know?"
"That actually makes a lot of sense... Xiao Han, are you really a freshman? How about you be the Senior Sister instead..."
"No thanks. Anyway, I should be going. It’s getting late, and we’ve reached our goal. Are you coming?" I checked the time.
"Oh right, I almost forgot. But I’m responsible for cleaning up here, so I can't walk back with you... Oh, wait! Will you come back tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow... well, we'll see. I can't spend all my time here. I have plans with another Senior Sister; I still need to study Runes, after all."
"Why are you still studying Runes... fine... see you later then. Come visit me when you're free."
"Alright, alright. Don't make it sound like you're visiting a lonely senior citizen."
After saying goodbye to Betty, I prepared to head back.
Even though I had spent the whole day immersed in potion-making, I had been keeping an eye on the academy’s situation.
The news about the Nightmares had been brewing for a while. While I was eating lunch earlier, I had found some related posts on my phone.
As expected, the Nightmare Incident was starting to gain momentum...
But when I looked at the news regarding my own class, I noticed something strange.
"Mingyun... I remember her. The one who overslept on the first day... Is it related to her talent? It looks like the Academy Dean might have accidentally caught someone in the crossfire this time..."
But there was nothing I could do. I couldn't go to the Academy Dean for the sake of one person. Besides... this was part of the Script. It was better if I didn't interfere... However... there was one more thing that bothered me: Lucianne.
Looking at the group chat, Lucianne was actually hanging out with Mingyun?
Come to think of it, Lucianne was also a Child of Destiny. From that perspective, could this really be called a coincidence?
As expected, the people around a Child of Destiny always seem to attract trouble...