Inside the dormitory of Aurelian Academy.
The academy dorms were shared between two students, fully furnished, but currently, only Locke occupied the room.
His roommate, also from Anjou, was the son of a count from the Anjou Kingdom. Due to financial difficulties, he had already withdrawn from the academy and left.
The dorm was silent, which suited Locke just fine for what he needed to do.
Locke retrieved a level 2 synthesized item from the Synthetic Cube. With a mere gesture, the cube began rotating on its own, sparks flying like a galaxy exploding—a breathtaking sight.
Then, several beams of light coalesced in his hand, forming a fist-sized blue sapphire.
Before Locke's eyes appeared the description of the sapphire:
[Level 2 Item: Blue Sapphire, velvet blue in color, medium saturation. Under sunlight, it shimmers like rippling water, a luxury favored by nobles. Can be used to craft high-value accessories such as rings and jewelry, estimated worth 10-30 gold coins.]
Locke's expression turned thoughtful. He had merely placed three fragments of blue sapphire into the Synthetic Cube—fragments he had bought for three gold coins in a market, a cheap bag of scraps even gemstone craftsmen wouldn't bother using for inlays.
Yet, after synthesis by the Synthetic Cube, their value had increased dozens of times over.
The Synthetic Cube truly lived up to its reputation as the ultimate artifact from his past life's game, capable of transforming low-tier resources into high-tier ones.
Back then, he had only just obtained the cube and hadn't thoroughly studied the game's Synthetic Magic Cube guides or recipes.
Even if he had, it wouldn't be of much use now.
After all, this was a different world, not a game.
So, how to best utilize Synthesis Magic and the cube—that was something he needed to research carefully.
Locke mused, "With the Synthetic Cube, at least I have a way to solve my financial crisis. But distant water can't quench immediate thirst."
"First, I need to establish myself firmly in this academy. To do that, I must secure the outstanding graduate nomination. That should be enough to dissuade Professor Olde from his intentions."
A flicker of doubt crossed his mind. "But why did the original owner die just from copying textbooks for Olde? In the week before his death, he felt increasingly exhausted, day by day."
"How exactly did that old man manage it?"
He had observed that Aurelian Academy and this continent—Corfu Continent—had no supernatural forces.
This was just an ordinary medieval world.
Not even something like knight breathing techniques existed here.
Locke decided to continue synthesizing, this time changing the recipe.
Instead of using three sapphires of the same level, he used one level 2 blue sapphire, a gold ring rated by the Synthetic Cube as a level 2 synthesized item, and a natural ruby also of level 2 quality.
The Synthetic Magic Cube could synthesize items of the same type and level, or different types but of the same level.
The only catch was that the outcome would be unpredictable.
Therefore, the synthesis recipes require players to explore and discover them within the game themselves.
Locke looked at the Synthetic Magic Cube before him, which indicated he still had to wait two more hours.
In other words, he would have to wait two hours before obtaining a level 3 synthesized item.
"The best use I can think of for the Synthetic Magic Cube right now..." Locke pondered, "is to create high-quality gemstone accessories, then sell them under the guise of a genius jewelry designer. The profits could cover my tuition."
"Take it one step at a time."
"Maybe I'll find a better use for it later."
Locke turned his attention to the homework booklet given to him by Dean Tungus. Flipping through it, he realized the difficulty of the questions was several times higher than the previous assignment.
Given his current level, completing it was impossible.
After reviewing the homework thoroughly, Locke found nothing unusual. He flipped back to the first page. "What was Mr. Tungus's purpose in giving me this assignment?"
"Just to have me complete it? But the difficulty far exceeds the current course progress, so his intention must be for me to self-study."
Locke glanced at the thick textbook in front of him.
"But History class is in two days. There's no way I can self-study in time. If Mr. Tungus is testing my ability to self-study and complete his assignment, I won't be able to finish it within two days."
"Still, there might be a shortcut."
"If one path is blocked, take another."
Locke stood up and left his dorm, heading to the common room.
In the dormitory common room.
Patty Eisa crossed her arms and leaned against a pillar, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the Runic textbook Locke handed her.
"Locke Augustine, we've never been friends, nor have we ever spoken. Why come to me?"
"To tutor me!"
Locke wiped his nose as he faced the blonde girl before him. Unlike him, Patty Eisa was a commoner student and one of the top performers in Language class.
Her relationship with Dean Tungus was excellent—he often gave her extra tutoring. Rumor had it she had already finished all the ancient language coursework for the semester ahead of schedule.
There was no way Locke could complete that assignment in two days on his own. But if he took a different approach and sought help from someone else, that was another matter entirely.
He could have someone proficient in the subject explain the key points from the textbook based on the assignment's requirements. That way, he could "learn the language" in the shortest time possible—at least enough to pass the assessment.
Locke wasn't inflexible. He chose Patty Eisa for two reasons: first, she excelled academically and had a good relationship with Dean Tungus; second, as a commoner, she was relatively short on money.
While their tuition was waived by the academy, earning opportunities were still hard to pass up.
However, the noble-born students had much lower graduation requirements, so they rarely attended lectures seriously, let alone sought out commoner students for paid tutoring.
Locke said, "I can pay for tutoring."
"I genuinely want to complete the assignment Professor Tungus gave me in class."
Patty Eisa nodded and, after some thought, said, "Alright then. Since it's you nobles' money, I might as well take it—no loss for me."
"I want two hundred Gold coins. That's not expensive."
"Tutoring you means sacrificing my own time—time I could've spent studying myself."
Locke replied, "Fine. I'll pay you once the tutoring is done."
After all, he was already deep in debt—what was a little more?
If he could manage to stay, he'd find a way to scrape together those two hundred Gold coins.
Patty Eisa looked at Locke with a peculiar smile and said, "Just so we're clear—I'll tutor you, but if you don't learn, don't blame me."
(End of Chapter)