Chapter 202: Perfect Talent

Chapter 202

Perfect Talent

Even though she had read books about stratagem-making, Ellie didn’t know how to verify if they were functional or not. The texts stated that the connecting rods from Rattus A should have a diameter of 0.05 millimeters to be accurate. So, Ellie, knowing nothing more, simply made them to that size.

Nico took Ellie’s work and examined it closely, astonished. However...what he saw left him utterly shocked!

“This...This is impossible!!” His exclamation drew the attention of all the other students. Even the direct students from other years looked at their mentor in bewilderment. Normally, they had never seen their mentor lose his composure like this. It was indeed a first.

This could only mean that there was something extraordinary about this student’s work, right? They weren’t stupid, of course. If the professor found the student’s work lacking, he wouldn’t have been so surprised. It was already known that Ellie had just learned the technique from Professor Nico, so it was expected that her results would be poor.

But if the professor showed such disbelief, it must mean the opposite result, right?

“You...Student Ellie, did you create this yourself?” Professor Nico asked incredulously. The only explanation he could think of was that this girl had brought pre-made resources. There was no way she could have produced such work herself.

“Yes,” Ellie answered, puzzled. Was the professor overreacting? Or was there something wrong?

“If you insist, then do it again for me,” Professor Nico said seriously. The students had never seen anything like this before. They exchanged glances as Professor Nico led Ellie to the front, with other direct students following with interest.

“Why is he making her do it again?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen this happen before.” Two fourth-year direct students conversed, with Nadia standing nearby. She glanced at Ellie and then let out a mocking laugh, drawing the attention of the seniors.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing, senior. I just...think that the professor suspects this student of cheating.”

“Hmm?”

“If he didn’t suspect cheating, why would he make her do it again in front of everyone?” Nadia laughed with satisfaction. She was initially surprised that Ellie could produce 6 pieces, just 2 less than herself. How could she be content with that? Someone who cheated their way in didn’t deserve to be even compared to her!

Seeing that Professor Nico wasn’t naive and was making Ellie recreate the work in front of everyone, Nadia felt a surge of satisfaction. It was as if she could barely contain her anticipation to laugh at Ellie’s impending humiliation, so she couldn’t stop smiling.

"I don’t think she cheated," one senior said after hearing Nadia’s speculation. Ellie’s demeanor was too calm to suggest dishonesty. Additionally, he knew she had now become "Duchess Ellie," who owned 4 cities, albeit through the Setter family. There must be a good reason for the Setter family’s favor towards her, right?

This senior’s family had collaborated with the Setter family many times. The Setter family were known to be honorable and steadfast. They would die for their family, this admirable action made him view everyone associated with the Setter family positively. Even the notorious Demon Aman wasn’t considered truly evil by him; if left alone, Aman wouldn’t cause trouble. Thus, he believed people unfairly maligned them.

His thoughts were just a small ripple in the sea of opinions. Most people had the same thought as Nadia because they had seen that Ellie couldn’t do anything at first. The fact that she produced 6 pieces made it seem like Ellie have cheated, thinking that this was more reasonable. If a novice could produce 6 pieces, what did it say about those who trained hard but accomplished less? Should they just give up?

Of course, these thoughts would be laughable once they learned the truth, leading many to feel utterly embarrassed.

Ellie also shared the same thought as everyone. She understood Professor Nico’s suspicion. She thus performed her task slowly. Under Professor Nico’s scrutiny, Ellie needed to make the most of her time, making sure not to rush or pause like before, so the professor wouldn’t realize she could work faster.

After exactly 30 minutes, as if the timer had been set, Ellie completed her task. When Professor Nico saw the result, his hands trembled even more. He called his assistant over to take a closer look. Everyone was puzzled by their reactions, but the professor and the assistant professors’ faces clearly showed shock.

"Do you see what I see?" Professor Nico asked, and the assistant nodded vigorously.

"Indeed, it’s not my imagination." The elder looked at Ellie again. Silence fell over the stratagem branch for nearly 10 minutes before Professor Nico realized he had startled everyone too much.

"Ahem...alright, I will announce the results of Student Ellie’s first 3 hours. You did very well. No! It was actually excellent. You took 30 minutes to complete each piece, making a total of 6 rods."

Many students applauded in disbelief, but they had seen Ellie’s smooth performance firsthand. Now...even Nadia’s face turned sour.

"It’s not necessarily good, though. Hand speed is one thing, but it doesn’t mean..." Nadia muttered to herself. However, Professor Nico’s next announcement, with a flushed face, interrupted her.

"These 6 pieces, despite how unbelievable it seems...all are perfect. No! This should be called works of true perfection!!" The students erupted in amazement as Professor Nico declared the results and changed his words.

"Professor, what do you mean by true perfection?"

"If you are a stratagem creator, you should know that there is a perfect level, right? However, until now, everyone has called what is almost perfect the perfect because finding something truly perfect is difficult. So, the standard for praise has only been at that level."

"However, Student Ellie has managed to reach a truly perfect level. It’s as if her work was copied directly from the theory, with no inconsistencies. Above all, it’s about the magic power within these Rattus A bones."

Professor Nico held up a normal, unrefined bone and one of Ellie’s pieces.

"Normally, when creating work, every time magic power is infused into a tool, there’s usually some leakage of magic power into the work, which destroys the stability of the magic power. Pieces suitable for level 1 stratagems are those where the magic power is nearly destroyed all the balance. Using these in high-level stratagems would cause the entire stratagem to collapse."

"But these 6 pieces by Student Ellie...I can confirm they are utterly perfect. Just by examining it, you could tell that no extraneous magic power has seeped in, demonstrating Student Ellie’s excellent control over her magic power."

"Now I understand why you’ve become an outstanding apothecary. Truth be told...apothecary also requires meticulous skills. It seems your training in potion-concocting has benefited your stratagem creation."

"Perhaps...with such ability and more diligent study, you might become the second person from Ares Kingdom to enter the Annihilation Stratagem Association!"

Professor Nico held Ellie in high regard, his eyes full of admiration. His words made many students look at Ellie with newfound respect. They were future stratagem creators, and if one day they could tell other people that they were peers of someone chosen for the Annihilation Stratagem Association would be a great honor for their families.

"Professor! Is that...really possible? It’s just...just honing Rattus A rods," Nadia said unyieldingly, unable to remain silent.

Everyone turned to look at the second-year girl who had produced quite a decent work but now seemed disrespectful by calling it "just honing Rattus A rods." If it were so simple, why didn’t she do better!? Their gazes reflected this sentiment as they looked at Nadia. Besides...the skills required for honing Rattus A rods were more than just casual play or simple work!

"Hmm? It’s surprising that, despite being from the Ryuger family, you have such shallow thinking. Do you think this is “just honing Rattus A rods”? Do you not understand the effort this involves?"

Professor Nico’s eyes narrowed dangerously. If she had kept quiet, he wouldn’t have said anything. As someone from the Ryuger family, receiving better training, yet producing only average work, she couldn’t even compare to other direct students not from the Ryuger family, but still speaking in dismissive manner like this.

"The ability to keep your hands steady, the concentration needed during the work, the skill to control magic power, and the correct movements—don’t you know these are the essentials of creating stratagems?"

"That’s why your work is mediocre! If you want to bring pride to the Ryuger family, you must do better. You have to work much harder, even more than many students I’ve had before."

"Aside from what you’ve said, I haven’t yet mentioned an important skill of Student Ellie." Professor Nico chuckled forcefully. He looked at the other students.

"Do you see what’s special about the work that Student Ellie has done?" This was an open-ended question and everyone could answer. However, no one understood what Professor Nico was getting at.

"It’s not surprising. This isn’t something people talk about often. Even I hesitate to bring it up because I can’t do it myself...However, this is an excellent example for you all to learn from." Nico lightly patted Ellie’s back, acting like he was so proud of her, unaware of her disappointment.

While she had hoped to produce average work, she now realized her actions might have been a mistake...

"Look at Student Ellie’s worktable. Do you see how much Rattus A bone she used?" That question made the students look at Ellie’s table again. They didn’t understand at first, but this time they noticed something astonishing!!

"No way!!"

"Amazing!!" Everyone exclaimed, saying that “it’s unbelievable.” Ellie herself was confused by their reaction. She tried to figure out if she had done something extraordinary, but she didn’t need to waste her time thinking, because Professor Nico eventually revealed the answer.

"Typically, making a Rattus A rod requires 1 Rattus A backbone per 1 rod, right? However, everyone knows that the width of a Rattus A back allows for 2 rods from 1 bone if you can precisely split the power core without damaging it."

"This difficulty makes most people choose to ignore making 2 pieces from 1 bone but prefer to carve the bone gradually to get the right size. However...Student Ellie didn’t need to do that."

"She split it beautifully in one go, and she can also create 2 flawless Rattus A rods. With such skill...that’s why I said she has the potential to become a member of the Annihilation Stratagem Association."

Professor Nico spoke with pride. Who would have thought he’d one day take in such an exceptional disciple? If not for the gift Ellie gave him that day, he might have missed out on this rare gem!!