Although Brand didn’t understand what strange things Professor Morian was imagining, the man meant well after all, so Brand still thanked him sincerely. Seeing Brand’s thoughtful expression, Professor Morian nodded in gratification. Then, he steered the topic back to the coffee beans.
"Regarding the coffee beans, I have a proposal. Given their potentially vast prospects, how about we jointly invest resources into developing them?"
"Your proposal is very fair!"
That was exactly what Brand had been thinking. Coffee beans were the product of Imaginary Manifestation. Since the coffee beans were valuable and he was the only one who could create them, Brand’s years of aristocratic education would have been for nothing if he didn’t monopolize them! Cooperating with Professor Morian was also a move born of necessity—the Holland family did not have any familiar Alchemy Masters.
Next, the two engaged in a friendly and harmonious negotiation of interests. During the preliminary research stage, Brand would provide the coffee beans, and Professor Morian would conduct the basic research. For every batch of coffee beans Brand provided, Professor Morian needed to pay him in Magic Gold Coins and maintain the secrecy of the research. Ultimately, the academic research results would be named solely after Professor Morian, while Brand would enjoy full rights to use the results. In the mid-to-late stages of profit development, Brand and Professor Morian would co-invest. The profits would be split thirty-seventy: thirty percent for Morian and seventy percent for Brand, though Brand would bear the costs of promotion.
The negotiation process was very relaxed for Brand. Professor Morian conceded profits that he could have easily fought for, which left Brand slightly puzzled. However, looking at the 500 Magic Gold Coins in his hands, Brand quickly tossed his doubts to the back of his mind. This was Professor Morian’s initial purchase fund for the coffee beans. Moving forward, as long as he provided a batch of coffee beans to Professor Morian at regular intervals, the transaction could proceed smoothly.
Having Magic Gold Coins meant having Demon Cores. According to market prices, the Demon Cores bought with 500 Magic Gold Coins were enough for Brand to reach the level of a Junior Mage Apprentice. At this moment, all obstacles to becoming a Junior Mage Apprentice had been cleared. The final exam could no longer be an obstacle for Brand! Brand’s heart relaxed.
Since the Magic Contract had been signed and both sides had achieved their goals, their conversation became much more relaxed. Morian smilingly asked Brand if he had any recent study problems, offering to give him private tutoring for free. This chapter was taken from novelping(.)com without permission.
Although he attended classes, Brand always felt like he was listening to an alien language. His understanding of Alchemy and Potion Making stopped at its profound name. However, to maintain the consistent confidence and grace of an aristocrat, Brand still smiled and said, "Magic is indeed a profound subject. In the process of studying Magic, I have inevitably encountered some doubts, but with my own thinking and the help of friends, most of them have ultimately been answered."
To prevent Professor Morian from asking Alchemy-related questions next, Brand proactively shifted the topic to an area he was more familiar with. "I actually still have some doubts regarding Meditation recently. Because there are a lot of things to learn, Meditation has taken up a large amount of my time. So, I have been wondering lately if there’s any way to do both simultaneously."
"There is." To Brand’s question, Professor Morian answered without hesitation. "The Meditation Potion can achieve this. It has a very strong auxiliary Meditation effect and can help you enter a state of multitasking. After drinking the Meditation Potion, you can study while Meditating. I remember mentioning this in the midterm classes, didn’t I?"
Looking at the deep blue potion Professor Morian handed him, Brand froze for a moment.
On Professor Morian’s side, seeing Brand’s dumbfounded expression at being caught not paying attention in class, he smiled understandingly. A person’s energy was limited, after all. Even geniuses had things they weren’t good at. Like Alchemy! His inner sense of superiority allowed Professor Morian, as an Alchemy Master, to magnanimously forgive Brand.
***
After bidding farewell to Professor Morian, Brand returned to his dorm. Upon entering, he couldn’t wait to drink the deep blue Alchemy Potion. He needed to verify an idea. If Meditation and studying could be done simultaneously, then could he multitask while his physical body was awake in the real world, sinking part of his consciousness into the Simulation World?
After some experimentation, the answer was yes! At this moment, Brand had two perspectives. One was the perspective of his dorm room. The other perspective was by the carefully constructed outdoor pool in the Simulation World, where he was flipping through a thick exam reference book. Read the latest chapters at g.com.
"What miraculous Alchemy!" Brand was in a joyful mood, instantly thinking of how to use this in his exams. "Although it’s a bit expensive, the Meditation Potion lasts for about five hours, which is enough time for me to finish answering the exam questions. So, I’ve already practically passed one final exam!"
The market price for a Meditation Potion was 20 Magic Gold Coins. Having just acquired a huge sum of money, Brand didn’t really care about the cost. Moreover, the bottle he had just drunk was a gift from Professor Morian, so he hadn’t paid for it anyway. Of course, that wasn’t the main point. The main point was that through the Meditation Potion, Brand could turn what was originally a closed-book exam entirely into an open-book one. Ignoring the time it took to enter the state of Meditation, even if the reference book had an enormous number of pages, Brand still had a great chance of passing the exam!
"If that’s the case, there’s no need to rush into becoming a Junior Mage Apprentice." Just as Professor Morian had said, being too famous wasn’t a good thing. Brand prepared to spend some time looking over the content of his elective exams. If there were "shortcuts" he could take, there would be no need for Brand to spend a massive amount of money to become the nail that stuck out.
***
A day passed quickly.
Because the courses for this semester had already ended and they were just waiting for the exams next week, there was no need to go to classrooms for morning classes every day. Today, Brand uncharacteristically woke up early to eat breakfast in the cafeteria, after which he headed straight toward the library.
Because the final exams were next week, the library was surprisingly packed. Looking inside through the glass windows, every table was piled high with books and crowded with people. The Mage Academy strictly provided individual dormitories with plenty of quiet space, yet these students insisted on coming to the library, claiming that the study atmosphere here was excellent. Brand couldn’t quite understand the baffling behavior of these students. What annoyed him more was that despite arriving very early, he still had to wait in line to verify his identity before entering.
Unlike those students who went in for "self-study," Brand was preparing to look up the content of the elective subject exam questions from previous years. Although the practical contents of the elective exams were all derived from textbooks, who knew exactly which ones would be tested! Looking at those heavy books, Brand didn’t want to waste time slowly flipping through them. Right now, he just wanted to hold a few thin exam papers to see what had been tested in previous years and check if there were any elective exams he could crash-course. It would be best if there were some elective subject exams where he could rely on his Simulation World and take an "open-book shortcut" like he did with the theory exams!