Chapter 116: Mahler's Weight Loss

In the thousand-year history of Potter Academy, Thomas held the record for the youngest student to reach the level of a Level 6 mage, having achieved it at eighteen. Kerson held the second spot at twenty-one. However, that ranking has now shifted, as Victoria has reached the rank of Level 6 mage at the age of nineteen.

Previously, although Victoria was known as a peer to Thomas and Kerson, everyone understood that as a mage's rank increases, breakthroughs become significantly more difficult. No one knew if Victoria might suddenly hit a bottleneck at some stage and fail to advance, which would cause her aura of genius to fade—a fate not unknown in the millennium-long history of Potter Academy.

Now, by leaping to the rank of Level 6 mage at nineteen, Victoria has achieved a milestone that stands proudly among the many geniuses in the academy's history. When Dean Leif heard the news, he remarked with deep conviction: "Victoria is certain to reach the rank of Level 7 mage before she turns thirty!"

This statement shocked the entire academy. In the thousand-year history of Potter Academy, only Thomas and Kerson had graduated as Level 7 mages before the age of thirty. For the Dean to explicitly predict that Victoria would reach such heights was arguably the highest praise she could receive.

The academy prepared to celebrate Victoria’s achievement with great fanfare to inspire other mages. Regrettably, shortly after reaching Level 6, Victoria departed once again for the Maya Mountains to hone her skills. This news swept through Potter Academy like a whirlwind. To return to the Maya Mountains after only two years required extraordinary courage and determination.

In Dormitory 2015, Lorin, Gerbatz, and Bill were chatting. Mahler was absent, off on some unknown errand.

"Bill, your sister is truly insane. She just broke through to Level 6 and is heading straight back to the Maya Mountains!" Gerbatz said, his eyes filled with admiration.

"My sister has been incredibly driven since she was young. Her talent is exceptional—I’m basically trash compared to her. Our parents hold high expectations for her, and she has truly lived up to them. Since coming to Potter Academy, she has made breakthrough after breakthrough. Reaching Level 6 at nineteen... if our parents hear this, they will be overjoyed!" Bill replied.

Hearing Bill’s words, Lorin couldn't help but recall what he had heard Victoria whisper while she was delirious in a cave two years ago. He knew that her rapid cultivation was largely driven by the heavy burden of restoring her family’s prestige on her fragile shoulders.

Thinking of this, a sense of melancholy washed over Lorin. In the year since his relationship with Karina had grown closer, he and Victoria had barely seen each other. Although she always cited "intense training" as her reason for skipping gatherings, Lorin secretly felt she was intentionally avoiding him—or, more accurately, avoiding him and Karina.

At the current rate, his relationship with Karina seemed to be unfolding naturally, like a river finding its path. Meanwhile, his relationship with Victoria felt like two intersecting lines; they had a brief point of contact in their lives, but once past that point, they were destined to grow further and further apart.

"Hey, Fourth, thinking about Karina again?" Lorin snapped out of his reverie to find Gerbatz waving a hand in front of his face.

"Oh, no, not at all. What is it?" Lorin asked, scratching his head in embarrassment.

Gerbatz sighed helplessly. "Fourth, we were just talking about the beauty potion you brewed. Hey, Third went to the library last time, and I heard two beautiful female mages nearly got into a fight over him!"

Lorin was stunned. He hadn't expected his beauty potion to have such an effect. Half a year ago, his alchemy had reached the Four-Star Advanced level. Bill and Gerbatz had spent that time gathering the materials, and Lorin had brewed a batch for each of them.

After drinking it, the effects were far superior to Green-Winged Bee honey. Gerbatz, who had previously been cursed with an unfortunate appearance, had changed so much after taking it for a while that others found him quite pleasing to the eye.

Bill’s transformation was even more dramatic. He was already handsome, but after drinking the potent beauty potion, his skin took on a crystalline luster, and his demeanor improved significantly. It was no wonder this fellow had become such a magnet for attention, causing those two female mages at the library to grow jealous over him.

Just then, the dormitory door opened, and Mahler walked in, beaming. He hurried over to Lorin, eager and breathless. "Fourth, the materials are all here! You have to brew it for me right away!" With a flash of light, a large parcel of alchemical materials appeared in his hands.

Seeing the massive changes in Bill and Gerbatz, Mahler had been unable to sit still. He had accelerated his search for the materials required for a weight-loss potion. Finally, he had collected them all today, rushing to retrieve them himself rather than waiting for his family to send them over. That was why only the other three had been in the room.

Lorin inspected the materials and, finding them in perfect order, took his alchemical stone table from his spatial storage. Mahler carefully placed the pile of ingredients onto the table.

The room fell silent as Lorin prepared to brew. The others had witnessed him brewing the beauty potion once before; his graceful, fluid movements and masterful technique were truly a sight to behold.

Under their expectant gazes, Lorin’s fingers moved, rapidly tracing a formation with fire-attribute magic. The weight-loss potion he was creating was a Four-Star Advanced concoction, the highest level he could currently produce. The formation was a four-pointed star containing 1,024 intricate strokes. To Mahler and the others, the formation looked impossibly complex and obscure, but Lorin understood it perfectly, drawing each stroke with absolute clarity.

Whether it was the beauty potion or this weight-loss one, they were unique formulas gifted to him by Mythias—original creations developed through Mythias’s own research. They didn't exist on the market, which made the ingredients difficult to source.

Thanks to Lorin’s practice, his success rate for Four-Star Advanced potions had reached about eighty percent. Out of the three sets of materials Mahler had prepared, the first attempt was a complete success!

Having seen Lorin brew before, Mahler cheered when he saw the "formation leak" appear beneath the alchemical array in mid-air. Gerbatz and Bill watched with delight as Lorin collected the weight-loss potion.

Lorin performed exceptionally well today; the remaining two sets of materials were not wasted at all, and he succeeded with those as well. Each batch produced three bottles, so nine crystal vials filled with pale green weight-loss potion sat on the table.

Before Lorin could speak, Mahler impatiently grabbed a bottle and downed it in one gulp.

"Boss, don't!" But before Lorin could stop him, the entire bottle was gone.

"What’s wrong, Fourth?" Mahler asked after finishing the potion, noting the urgency on Lorin’s face.

"Boss, why were you so impatient? You didn't even ask me! The formula says you can only take one-third of a bottle at a time, and you..." Lorin said urgently.

Mahler patted his bloated belly and blinked his small eyes. "Uh, it should be fine, right? I was just so happy I got carried away..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he noticed the other three covering their noses. "What’s wrong with you guys?"

As soon as he asked, he caught a whiff of a foul odor permeating the air. "Huh? Where is that strange smell coming from?"

A moment later, he realized the source was his own body. He saw oily, turbid impurities rapidly seeping out of his skin, and the foul stench was coming directly from them.

"Boss, go take a shower! Look what you've done to the room!" Bill pinched his nose, pulled the door open, and ran out, with Lorin and Gerbatz scrambling to follow.

Reminded by Bill, Mahler hurried into the bathroom at the end of the hall and turned on the tap. Even as he washed, the impurities kept seeping out. Finally, he had no choice but to jump into the large bathtub and stay there.

Half an hour later, the odor had dissipated, and the others returned to the room. When they curiously approached the bathroom door, they were stunned to find that an entire bathtub of clear water had turned into a thick, paste-like sludge.