The Rise of a Master: It Starts With Rejection

"Mr. Webb, please evaluate this," Ezra said.

A middle-aged man stepped forward. As Harmony Clinic's chief steward, Wyatt Webb served as the head examiner for this Intermediate Alchemy Assessment.

"Josie and Felix, you completed your pills at the same time. Now open your boxes so we can check your pill-forming rate."

Josie opened her box, revealing six Phantom Mist Pills.

The crowd gasped. Producing six pills on the first attempt just proved her terrifying talent.

"Josie Brennan, six pills."

The Brennan brothers smiled. With such a pill-forming rate, the outcome seemed clear. Though Felix had caught them off guard by appearing at the same time as Josie, the final result had not changed, so it didn't matter.

Ezra and Dickson exchanged pleased glances.

Felix was quite surprised. He hadn't expected Josie's pill-forming rate to be so high. Clearly, talent had little to do with character.

When he opened his box, another wave of gasps arose. Inside lay six pills, identical to Josie's.

"Felix Zeller, six pills."

Wyatt looked surprised. In all his years, he had never seen such a situation—even truly rare would be an understatement.

The Brennan brothers' faces darkened with tension. The identical pill count seemed far too coincidental.

"Mr. Whitwell, in this situation, we

can only determine the winner

based on pill quality," Wyatt respectfully said. His implicit suggestion was to declare both winners, but he lacked the authority

for such a decision.

Ezra smiled. "You may examine the pill quality, then. The path of alchemy shares much with martial arts. As they say, many may share the crown in literature, but there can only be one victor in combat."

Seeing Ezra's decision, Wyatt dared not speak further. "I'll examine the quality right away."

Just then, Josie spoke up, her gaze sharp, "Mr. Whitwell! He must have cheated!"

Ezra raised his hand to stop Wyatt's rebuke. "Hmm? What evidence do you have?"

Johnny clenched his fists, silently cursing. Josie, the spoiled brat, was getting out of hand. How dare she accuse someone of cheating at Harmony Clinic!

But Josie was oblivious to the gravity of her words, so she continued saying proudly, "Mr. Whitwell, Felix Zeller is a nobody who suddenly excelled in this assessment. Isn't that suspicious?

"My mentor is Jake Zinker, the chief steward of Harmony Clinic, and my cousin Johnny has exceptional alchemy talent. These facts prove I'm above suspicion. Based on this alone, my doubts about Felix are completely justified."

Wyatt's expression turned strange. While Josie had talent for alchemy, her sense and sensibility was certainly not as great. How could she make such accusations before Ezra without any evidence?

After hearing Josie out, Ezra noddednoveldrama

slightly. "You make some good

points. Very well. Both of you will

rest for half a day, then cultivate pills here before everyone. That should reveal whether Felix's talent is genuine or not, shouldn't it?"