I Became a Terminally Ill Magic Genius at the Academy

“That’s an excellent answer, Yohan Hart. You’ve pinpointed exactly what’s crucial in a recovery potion.”  

In a recovery potion, it was not just the recovery effect that mattered. 

A truly high-quality potion was one that enhanced many elements in balance. 

And the potion that Yohan and Kyle made was exceptional.  

Using commonly available ingredients, they achieved double the recovery effect and 1.5 times the recovery speed. 

But that wasn’t all.  

“You also minimized the pain felt during recovery, didn’t you?”  

“Yes. We utilized the hallucinogenic effects of goblin’s herb to produce a mild anesthetic effect.”  

“And the other ingredients were chosen with thorough calculations as well, correct?”  

“Of course.”  

Yohan nodded without hesitation.

Of course, it wasn’t that complicated of a calculation. 

To be honest, it was just the potion that Kyle would end up making later anyway.  

‘Still, I’m the one who made it now.’  

After all, he was the original creator. 

Kang Ji-hoon had drawn the scene where Kyle created an effective recovery potion. 

Rather than any complex calculations, he just thought about it with a common sense approach as a modern person.  

When thinking about what would go into the potion, the first thing that came to his mind was the so-called red medicine applied to wounds, which stung quite a bit. 

His idea was to add one of the ingredients from a pain-amplifying potion used to torture crow members for information into a recovery potion.  

Because, it was widely known that applying red medicine stung painfully.  

Anything good for the body usually tasted bad, and red medicine hurt when applied.  

Too much pain?  

‘Then add an anesthetic.’  

It wasn’t exactly arcane knowledge that overuse of anesthetics could cause hallucinations. 

That’s how he came up with the potion. 

While it might not have seemed like an impressive calculation to Yohan, to Professor Norman Ford, it was a different story. 

He continued speaking with a hint of excitement in his voice.  

“You might not fully grasp how remarkable this is, but for most people, this potion would feel like one that has three or four times the effect of a regular one, with hardly any price difference.”  

“That’s not what’s important, is it?”  

Once again, Norman Ford seemed to be testing Yohan. 

Yohan lightly interrupted to add his own comment.  

“The real question is whether it can be mass-produced or not. Isn’t that the most important part?”  

“… Precisely.”  

No matter how impressive a potion is, it becomes pointless if it can’t be mass-produced. 

Of course, if a mage intended to use the potion solely for themselves, it was not an issue. 

But beyond that, it became impractical.  

Since most mages tended to think primarily about themselves, potions were generally not created with mass production in mind. 

However, the potion that Yohan and Kyle just produced could indeed be mass-produced, given the ingredients and the recipe. 

The ingredients were easy to source, and the preparation method simply followed basic magic circles in a particular sequence. 

In essence, with the right system, you could set up a factory for large-scale production.  

“So, considering that, how about registering a patent for this recipe and starting mass production?” 

Norman Ford looked at Yohan.  

Yohan pondered for a moment. 

Mass production of the potion? 

That was definitely something he planned to do. 

After all, in the future, Kyle would eventually establish his own system to mass-produce the potion and sell it through the trading company he managed, so for Yohan, it was a natural step.  

However, what he was contemplating was the timing of the mass production.  

‘Should I do it now?’  

There was no particular reason to do it immediately.

Even if Yohan didn’t proceed with mass production, it wouldn’t be difficult to make enough for his own use. 

However…  

On the other hand, there was also no particular reason not to proceed now. 

If the goal was to mass-produce and sell the potion, starting early wouldn’t be a bad thing.  

“Do you have any specific requests?”  

“What requests could I possibly have? If the potion is mass-produced, it would benefit the citizens of the Empire, so I’m merely asking. I’m happy to help if there’s any way I can assist.”  

It seemed Professor Norman Ford had no hidden agenda. 

If he had wanted a share in the potion or demanded a cut of the profits, it could have been a headache, but luckily, that didn’t seem to be the case.  

“Well, this isn’t something I can decide on my own. I should discuss it with Kyle first.”  

“So, you plan to involve your partner to the very end. I understand.”  

Professor Ford nodded, appearing as if he didn’t mind much about the mass production of the potion. 

However, it appeared what he was about to say next was more significant to him since he cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking carefully.  

“By the way…”  

Yohan quietly waited for Professor Ford to continue, curious about what he would say.  

“Would you, by any chance, be interested in studying alchemy more seriously?”  

It was clear this wasn’t just a suggestion to study alchemy a little more. 

Learning more about alchemy was something Yohan was going to do anyway for his life at Arcana Academy, but the look in Professor Ford’s eyes suggested this offer had a deeper meaning. 

Yohan instinctively understood the true nature of the question.  

‘A proposal to become his disciple… No, to become his research assistant.’  

In that moment, Yohan remembered it vividly once more.

“Well… If you’re curious, just don’t refuse.”  

The face of his senior who had spoken those words to him.  

——-

Of course, Yohan intended to refuse, but Professor Norman Ford was persistent.  

“Why would you say no? You have an exceptional ability to understand the properties of ingredients and know exactly how to position them to bring out their best effects. You have a natural talent for alchemy.”  

But that was just because Yohan was the original creator and knew well the alchemy materials that appeared in the story. 

It was not as if only one or two ingredients were used in alchemy; dozens or even hundreds of different materials could be involved, and Yohan didn’t know all of them.  

‘It wouldn’t take long for my limits to show, and anyway, what good would it do to study alchemy in depth when I’m not going to be making potions myself?’  

Yohan had no intention of becoming an alchemist. 

Sure, if the need arose, he could make potions himself. 

But why bother when there was someone right next to him who could make potions far better than he could?  

“I would actually recommend Kyle instead of myself. When I brought the ingredients, he immediately recognized their uses. He clearly has a talent for alchemy.”  

In the end, Yohan managed to escape from Professor Ford’s persistent proposal by recommending someone else. 

Though even as Yohan stood up to leave, Professor Ford watched him with a hint of regret in his eyes.

Yohan left Norman Ford’s office without looking back.  

‘I rushed over, but there’s already a huge crowd.’  

After quickly finishing his conversation with Professor Ford, he headed straight to the central garden—the place where the initial dormitory assignment took place. 

Since the dormitory competition was set to be held there, Yohan had to be present as a participant.  

“There are more people than I expected, huh?”  

Kyle’s voice came from beside him, and Yohan nodded in agreement. 

It was understandable that people from both the Golden Lion and White Wolf dormitories would gather; after all, this was the moment when their meals could change, so who wouldn’t be interested? 

The issue was—  

‘It’s not just the Golden Lion and White Wolf dorms here.’  

While everyone was wearing the same uniform, their badges differed. 

Some wore badges with a deer symbol, while others had bear-shaped ones. 

Yohan let out a soft chuckle. 

Honestly, it was a bit of a hassle. 

If it wasn’t for the matter of food, he might have just participated half-heartedly and bowed out, but he couldn’t afford to do that now.  

‘In that case, the best thing is to win quickly and clear things up.’  

Just as Yohan was thinking this—  

“Violet is here.”  

“Geron’s arrived too. Looks like it’s about to start.”  

The representatives of the Golden Lion dorm, Violet, and the White Wolf dorm, Geron, appeared at the same time. 

Upon their arrival, they each began checking the members of their dormitories.  

“Alright. Yohan and Kyle are here. As for Leila…”  

“Present.”  

Geron, who was looking around, turned as he heard a voice behind him. 

Leila stood there with a calm, expressionless face. 

Geron grinned as he confirmed her presence.  

“Good, everyone’s here. Violet and I will explain the rules together, so listen closely. Nothing particularly special about them—just do your best to fight, and you won’t have any problems.”  

“Yes. Understood.”  

Yohan answered plainly. 

Meanwhile, Kyle raised his hand timidly and asked a question.  

“Um. Do all three of us have to fight?”  

“The dormitory competition is best out of three matches. If we win the first two matches, then there’s no need for all three of you to fight.”  

Geron answered Kyle’s question and patted his shoulder reassuringly. 

Then, he turned and walked toward the center of the garden. 

Violet, who was on the opposite side, also stepped forward, and the two met in the middle, each raising their magic pens at the same time.

The two representatives began to draw a large magic circle on the ground, moving in a clockwise direction. 

As expected from dormitory representatives, they effortlessly completed the circle and activated their magic. 

A hemispherical barrier was formed.  

“The participants will duel within this magic circle. Stepping outside the circle will result in immediate disqualification and a loss.”

Violet pointed at the magic circle drawn on the ground.  

Geron continued with the explanation.  

“Each participant will be given an artifact inscribed with a defensive magic circle.”  

With that, Geron pulled out six necklaces from his pocket. These appeared to be the artifacts embedded with the protection magic.  

“The mana stone in the center of each necklace is designed to break if the shield protecting a participant accumulates a certain amount of damage. The duel ends when either the mana stone in the opponent’s necklace is broken or the opponent admits defeat.”  

In other words, the goal was to damage the shield enough to break the necklace’s mana stone or force the opponent to surrender. 

Since Yohan was already familiar with the rules, he just nodded casually. 

What mattered now was the order of the matches.  

Since the duels would follow the ranking order of each dorm, knowing when each participant would fight was crucial.  

“The match order will be decided by drawing lots. The first match will be determined now, and immediately after each duel, lots will be drawn again to set the order for the second and third duels.”

Violet reached out toward the small container held by Geron.  

Everyone held their breath as they watched Violet draw from the container.