Chapter 177 — First Day

Chapter 177: Chapter 177 — First Day

Chapter 177 — First Day

Victor sat quietly in the middle of the studio apartment.

His attention was focused entirely on the small flame hovering above his palm.

The flame flickered gently.

His Soul Power flowed through his body, carefully maintaining the flame’s shape.

He had been practicing for roughly an hour and a half.

By now, it had become part of his routine.

The flame remained stable.

One minute and thirty seconds...

Still going.

Victor didn’t push his Soul Power recklessly. He had learned enough about his limits to understand that control was more important than simply forcing the flame to remain alive.

Two minutes.

The flame continued burning.

Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Then, at two minutes and thirteen seconds, the flame finally disappeared.

Victor lowered his hand.

"Two minutes and thirteen seconds."

Not bad.

After reaching Spirit Gathering, something about his flame had changed.

His Soul Power had increased slightly, and his Black Flame seemed to have grown alongside his Spiritual Core.

It wasn’t a simple increase in strength.

The two seemed connected.

Almost symbiotic.

As his Spiritual Core became stronger, the flame seemed to have more room to grow. And as he continued developing his flame, his Soul Power seemed to become more refined.

From what he had learned after speaking with people around the Tower, a Tier One alchemist usually struggled to maintain their alchemical flame for around fifty-four or fifty-five seconds.

Breaking a full minute was already considered exceptional.

Victor could maintain his for more than two minutes.

He had no intention of telling Elder Benton that.

The less Benton knew about his actual abilities, the better.

Victor flexed his fingers.

Tomorrow—or rather, today—was finally the day.

His first Tier One Alchemy class.

It had been roughly five days since his return to the Tower.

He still didn’t know exactly where the classroom was located, but he assumed the Tower would provide him with whatever information he needed.

And if not...

He would figure it out.

Victor was about to begin another exercise when—

Knock. Knock.

He paused.

Victor looked toward the door.

"Who could that be?"

He stood and walked over.

When he opened the door, a man wearing what appeared to be a delivery uniform stood outside with a package in his hands.

"Victor Ashcroft?"

"Yep."

The man nodded.

"Please show me your citizen ID. I need to scan it before handing this over."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"This package contains personal information and registered Tower property. I need to confirm your identity before delivery."

"Yeah, sure."

He pulled out his citizen ID and placed it against the man’s scanner.

Ding.

The scanner flashed.

"Identity confirmed."

The man smiled.

"Thank you for your time, Victor Ashcroft. Here is your package."

He handed it over.

Victor accepted it.

"Thanks."

The man nodded and walked away.

Victor slowly closed the door.

He stared at the package in his hands.

"...What?"

He had absolutely no idea why someone would be delivering something to him.

Victor shrugged.

"Well, the worst it could be is a bomb."

He laughed quietly.

Then he looked at the package again.

"...Probably."

Victor placed it on the table and opened it.

The moment the box came apart, his eyes widened.

Inside was a robe.

It was a beautiful deep-blue alchemist’s robe with intricate embroidery running along the edges. The material looked smooth and durable, and several elegant patterns had been woven into the fabric.

Victor picked it up.

"Wow."

Lyra glanced over.

Her eyes widened slightly.

"That’s beautiful."

Victor held it against himself.

The size was perfect.

Victor frowned.

How did they even know my size?

There were probably magical ways to determine something like that.

He continued searching through the box.

There was a badge.

Victor picked it up.

Tier One Alchemist — Class Elite

He raised an eyebrow.

"Class Elite?"

Interesting.

He placed it beside the robe.

Then he found a small chip.

There was a simple instruction written across it.

Hold against citizen ID.

Victor did exactly that.

The moment the chip touched the card, a faint light appeared.

A voice came from the citizen ID.

Permission granted.

Victor listened.

You now have access to Tower Level Two.

A small map appeared.

Authorized zones: A and B.

The message continued.

Entering unauthorized zones will trigger an alert through your citizen ID. Continued violations may result in loss of access and further disciplinary action.

Victor nodded.

"Good."

At least now he knew where his class would be.

The location had automatically appeared on his map.

That would make things much easier.

Victor set everything down.

A few minutes later, he had changed into the alchemist robe.

He adjusted the collar.

Straightened the sleeves.

Then ran his fingers through his hair and slicked it backward.

Victor stood in front of the mirror.

For a moment, he simply stared at his reflection.

It was strange.

He had changed so much recently.

He no longer looked like the little boy who had first arrived in this world.

His body had grown.

His muscles were clearly defined without becoming excessive, and his frame carried the balanced strength of someone who had spent countless hours cultivating and fighting.

His cheekbones had become sharper.

His facial features had matured.

He looked less like a child and more like a young man.

Victor smiled at his reflection.

"Not bad."

Behind him, Lyra glanced over.

A faint blush appeared across her cheeks.

"That looks really good on you."

Victor turned.

Lyra immediately looked away.

She cleared her throat.

"I think you’re going to do very well."

She paused.

"I mean... I hope your first day goes well."

Victor smiled.

"Thanks, Lyra."

The moment she finished speaking, Lyra immediately sat back down.

Her eyes closed.

A second later, her Soul Power disappeared into the Library.

Victor couldn’t help laughing.

"That was fast."

She had practically escaped the conversation.

Their Soul Bond had changed considerably over the past several days.

They had tested its range repeatedly.

Victor could now move through large portions of the Tower while Lyra remained inside the Library.

They hadn’t tested the second floor yet, but there had been no problems with most of the other areas they had explored.

More importantly, the distance seemed to be increasing every day.

The farther Victor went, the more stable the connection became.

Victor smiled.

"She’s getting used to it."

A small chirp came from beside him.

Nala flew upward and landed on his shoulder.

Victor glanced at her.

"You want to come too?"

Nala tilted her head.

Victor thought about it.

There probably wouldn’t be a problem.

How would anyone recognize what she really was?

Nala was still relatively small, and her appearance was nothing like Rakasha’s enormous Guardian Spirit form.

There was no obvious connection between the two.

Besides, Firebirds weren’t exactly unheard of.

Victor nodded.

"Sure. You can come."

Nala chirped happily.

Victor laughed.

"You really thought I’d say no, didn’t you?"

Nala chirped again.

Victor grabbed his citizen ID and slipped it into his pocket.

Then he looked toward Lyra.

She couldn’t hear him anymore, but he still smiled.

"See you later."

Victor opened the door.

Nala settled comfortably onto his shoulder.

Victor stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him.

Today, Victor Ashcroft was going to his first alchemy class.