Chapter 37: Concoction Class Group
Shani had chosen the Concoction as her elective class back when she was still broke, thinking that making her own baby beast food would help reduce expenses.
Kiran, on the other hand, enrolled purely because she loved cooking, experimenting with new recipes, and creating her own.
Everyone in the class was enthusiastic, each for their own reasons.
Seated in the second row, Shani found herself watching the girl sitting in front of her. The young woman listened to Iris’s lecture with complete focus.
It was Noella Rosenbaum, widely recognized as the top student of the first-year. Though Shani knew that Jeryon’s beast energy was actually the highest.
Whenever Iris asked the class a question, Noella answered it correctly.
’So she’s not just the top student in terms of beast energy and gene. She’s also incredibly studious.’
This time, Shani genuinely acknowledged Noella as the best student.
Iris didn’t spend long on theory. This class was, at its core, a practical class.
She immediately instructed everyone to form groups of four based on where they were seated.
Meanwhile, her assistant began placing a thirty-centimeter square box on each table.
The two students sitting in front of Shani and Kiran turned around to form their group.
"Oh! You’re Jeryon’s partner." The boy sitting beside Noella, and the only male student in the class, exclaimed in surprise.
Kiran glared at him. "Focus on class."
The boy didn’t seem bothered by her remark. Instead, he looked at Kiran with obvious interest.
"So you really are that protective. You were pretty fierce in combat class yesterday."
Kiran frowned. Meanwhile, Shani couldn’t help wondering if something was wrong with the boy’s brain.
He seemed completely incapable of reading the room, blurting out whatever came to mind without the slightest filter.
"My name’s Mason Walton, by the way. Just call me Sonny. I’m from Class 2."
He introduced himself as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
Kiran wanted nothing more than to ignore Sonny, who was sitting directly across from her.
Shani also stayed silent, curious to see what other bizarre thing Sonny might do next.
Unexpectedly, Noella spoke in her usual calm voice.
"My name is Noella Rosenbaum from Class 1. You can call me Noel. Or Ella works too, since people call my older brother Noel."
Kiran and Shani both facepalmed. Since when had this turned into an introduction session?
Even more unbelievable, Noella, or rather Ella, and Sonny were now looking expectantly at Shani and Kiran, waiting for them to introduce themselves as well.
Shani finally gave in. "My name is Shani Rowan from Class 5."
Although clearly exasperated, Kiran followed. "I’m Kirana Blackwood. Just call me Kiran. I’m from Class 1."
"I know you. We’re classmates," Ella added with a somewhat stiff smile.
Kiran looked at Shani, and the two exchanged a glance.
Even though they’d only known each other for less than a week, they could already read each other’s thoughts.
They were both surprised. Noella Rosenbaum, who seemed almost perfect, was actually just an awkward girl trying to make friends.
Shani remembered what had happened when they first entered the classroom.
Ella had already been there. The seats beside and behind her were empty, which was why Shani and Kiran had ended up sitting behind her.
Several students came in, glanced at the empty seat next to Ella, but chose not to sit there.
Then Sonny arrived and plopped himself down beside her without hesitation.
It seemed that the aloof aura surrounding the top student made everyone feel awkward about approaching her.
Silence lingered around their table for a while until Sonny broke it. "I know all three of you too. You three are the famous first-years."
Completely oblivious to the situation, Sonny started listing exactly why each of them was famous.
His words were enough to make Kiran want to smack him over the head.
Shani knew there wasn’t any malice in Sonny’s voice. Still, hearing someone say those things out loud made her feel a little uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Iris called the class to attention as soon as all the boxes had been distributed.
"Before you begin making concoctions, you first need to learn how to prepare the ingredients properly. There are several ingredients for beast food inside your box."
"Your group’s task is to write down the characteristics of each ingredient, identify its name, and finally list every beast food that can be made using the ingredients provided."
"Everything you need is already in the course e-book. You can use that as a reference." With that, Iris let the students begin.
Ella moved swiftly, opening the box on their table.
Inside were five different ingredients, each with its own unique shape, color, and smell.
"Is this an organ? Liver?" Sonny asked with a disgusted look.
He poked a reddish-purple ingredient sealed inside a smaller temperature-controlled container.
Ella shook her head as she handed gloves to the other three members of the group. "That’s a bloodworm that lives inside wild creatures."
Sonny immediately jerked his hand back. "That’s a parasite?!"
Without asking another question, he hurried over to the sink at the side of the room.
"It’s not a parasite. It actually feeds on the parasites inside wild creatures. Its body works like a detoxification system," Ella explained.
But Sonny had already stopped listening.
Kiran let out a quiet giggle, thoroughly satisfied that Sonny and his loose tongue had finally gotten a taste of his own medicine.
Shani looked at her teammates. ’This class is way more fun than I expected.’
Four hours passed, yet not a single group managed to finish.
Partly because the ingredients were incredibly tricky. Many shared nearly identical characteristics, and the possible beast food combinations were far more varied than anyone had expected.
Another reason was that Grand Academy students were perfectionists.
If they weren’t one hundred percent certain about an answer, they’d stay stuck on it for ages.
Shani’s group was actually almost finished with the assignment, but Ella wanted to double-check that they hadn’t overlooked any possible recipes.
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