Although Hawkins had been a Great Alchemist for many years, it was clear that he was still far from advancing to become a Master Alchemist.
And let alone Hawkins...
Even other Great Alchemists who were senior to Hawkins such as Bassoro, Granger, or even Cadgar were far from being at that level. In Thousand Sails City, only Thorpe and Lys were close to that realm.
With Hawkins' current level, challenging this difficult formula would only end in tragedy.
True enough, Hawkins was quite pitiful at this moment...
He had been in a hurry to deal with Faleau. After all, what kind of complicated question could an Alchemist come up with? He planned to solve it quickly and then leave, but he ultimately ended up in a bind. 'Damn, is this really the kind of knowledge an Alchemist can come into contact with? Are you kidding me?'
It wouldn't be that bad if Faleau were a Great Alchemist, as in that case he could have just said that he couldn't solve the issue. So what if he couldn't solve it? He could just throw the problem back, and since Faleau couldn't either, it could have easily been put aside if no one could solve it.
The problem was that Faleau was an ordinary Alchemist.
This was truly annoying.
An Alchemist asked for pointers from a Great Alchemist on a formula he had issues with. Wouldn't it be shameful to throw the problem back after being unable to solve it?
Hawkins felt his heart grow cold.
What could be done… If the stalemate persisted, would he really have to stay the night as Faleau said? That would be such a huge joke, yet the people of the Gilded Rose even prepared a blanket!
'But if I can't get out of this stalemate, wouldn't I have to admit defeat to an Alchemist? Me, an esteemed Great Alchemist? If this spread, how could I have any reputation left…'
Hawkins felt like he was like a slice of meat on a barbecue: regardless of which side was on the grill, he would still be roasted.
Beads of sweat accumulated on Hawkins' forehead as time passed. He finally stopped calculating and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Over a hundred completely filled pages had fallen near his feet as he was already sinking in despair due to that formula. That simply wasn't a problem he could challenge. Hawkins was now only thinking of finding a way to escape this predicament, and as for that formula…'To hell with it!'
In the end, an entire five hours passed.
But none of the remaining onlookers were willing to leave, as they all felt that a rare, amusing show was unfolding.
Since matters reached this point, even the most slow-witted onlookers could see that the Great Alchemist Hawkins might end up like a fool.
This Great Alchemist Hawkins came to the Gilded Rose to exchange skills, or in other terms, to trash their reputation, but ultimately, he didn't even meet a Great Alchemist from the Gilded Rose, yet he was stymied by a young Alchemist in his twenties. They could rarely see such a good show, so who was willing to leave?
And thus, Hawkins' pressure was increased quite a bit.
Losing face was losing face, but Hawkins was truly unable to accept having his reputation trashed in front of so many people.
'No, I have to find a way to counterattack! Right, there is still the Berserk Blood Potion!'
Hawkins' eyes suddenly brightened, and his thoughts became clear, as if a bolt of lightning streaked across his mind. 'Fuck it, I'll make Faleau lose his mind. I came today to the Gilded Rose for a skill exchange, not to help you with a problem.'
Indeed, it was really a loss of reputation for a Great Alchemist to be unable to answer an Alchemist's question. But since that already was the case, he might as well pull the Gilded Rose down with it.
'In the end, you have to see whose reputation is affected the most!'
"Ah… Faleau…" Hawkins made his decision and immediately put the quill down to the side before slowly standing up. "I already have an idea on how this formula should be calculated, but I'm short on time today. I'll look into it after the exchange of skills is over."
All the onlookers felt disdain for him when they heard those words.
'Damn, that's a true Great Alchemist, he is so much more thick-skinned than the Alchemist.'
This kind of lie definitely couldn't be believed. He hadn't managed to calculate the formula in five hours, and his sweat was completely drowning the Gilded Rose. Even idiots would be able to understand that he hadn't found the answer. Saying that he had an idea and that he would share after the exchange of skills, didn't he mean in his next life instead?
But Hawkins had already made a decision. Since he decided to use the Berserk Blood to drag the Gilded Rose down, he wouldn't care about the audience's contempt. He already lost face anyway, so what was a bit more? At this moment, Hawkins felt as if he had touched upon the pinnacle of shamelessness!
"Then I shall thank Great Alchemist Hawkins…" Faleau was still smiling cordially, but everyone could see the ridicule hidden within.
"Hehe, you are welcome…" Having committed to this route, Hawkins' facial expression became natural. He even ignored Faleau's ridicule and smiled as if nothing had happened as he took out a red potion from his bag.
"This is a bottle of Berserk Blood, everyone should already know of its effects. But our Twin Moons Splendor has always insisted on sharing skills, and thus we do not plan on keeping the formula and recipe of the Twin Moons Potion secret. Of course, that is as long as the Gilded Rose can take out a formula and recipe with similar effect. Our shops can still go through the skill exchange even if the potion is a bit inferior. I believe the Gilded Rose wouldn't refuse? After all, this would give more alternatives to the customers, unless the Gilded Rose doesn't think about their customers…?"
Hawkins' words were quite fierce. This showed why Monchi would want to send this Great Alchemist for an exchange of skills. He truly wasn't a typical Great Alchemist, always immersed in knowledge and experiments. He was a Great Alchemist from the Black Tower! How could one survive in that place without the ability to scheme?
With a few sentences, the Gilded Rose was pushed to the edge.
No Hurry
'Forget it, I'm already here… I just have to do as Leader Monchi told me and teach these poor Alchemists what potioneering truly is!'
Hawkins helplessly shook his head, hoping that he wouldn't waste too much time here.
"I came here today because I heard that the Gilded Rose had some accomplishments in the potioneering field. The Hope Potion that has been released some time ago has been called the most mystical potion of the past ten years in Thousand Sails City… Haha…"
Hawkins stopped there, his chuckle full of clear disdain as he made fun of his counterpart.
"Great Alchemist Hawkins, how come you have time to visit the Gilded Rose today?" Faleau knew that he had no other choice but to step up and respond.
Honestly, if it had been before, Faleau would definitely have turned around without a word upon being confronted by Hawkins. What a joke, with his status as a 9th Rank Mage and Alchemist, how could he oppose someone who was a Great Mage and a Great Alchemist? Wasn't that asking for trouble?
In fact, during his time at the Black Horn Auction House, Faleau had always done so.
There wasn't anyone in the Black Horn Auction House that was better than Faleau at reading body language and adapting to the situation.
He worked there for many years and the only time he made a mistake that got him in trouble was when he met Lin Yun.
But Faleau had no plan to retreat today.
"Who are you?" Hawkins asked.
"I am Faleau, the Gilded Rose's Alchemist. I listened to your lessons a few times at Oakland."
"Oh, Faleau. I'm sorry, I'm getting older and my memory is playing tricks on me," Hawkins said, smiling contemptuously.
Hawkins was only in his forties and was far from losing his memories due to old age. He only said this because he didn't feel like speaking to a mere Alchemist. He was an esteemed Great Alchemist, so wouldn't it be a loss of reputation if people learnt that he met an acquaintance in such a place that was a mere Alchemist?
Saying that his memory was playing tricks actually meant, 'Sorry, I don't know you, don't act familiar with me!'
Unfortunately, Faleau was far less tactful than Hawkins imagined.
After being ridiculed by Hawkins, Faleau acted as if he hadn't heard him and revealed an extremely passionate smile.
"I really didn't expect to come across Great Alchemist Hawkins in Thousand Sails City. Oh, right, I heard you mention an exchange of skill with the Gilded Rose? That's very good, Great Alchemist Hawkins, I've always kept in mind your profound knowledge after your classes in Oakland. If you have time, please give me some pointers.
"This… Faleau, I'm very busy right now," Hawkins muttered while showing obvious displeasure. 'Fuck, did you not hear me saying I couldn't recognize you? Was my meaning not clear enough? I don't know you, okay?'
"That's strange, Great Alchemist Hawkins, didn't you come to the Gilded Rose for an exchange of skills?"
"Yes? What about it?"
"Well, in my introduction, I did say that I was an Alchemist of the Gilded Rose…"
"I…" Hawkins almost choked. At this time he really felt like pulling Faleau's ear and asking if he was dumb enough to not understand what he meant by exchange of skills. 'I came here to smash your reputation. You didn't expect the great me to come from the Black Tower to give some pointers to the Gilded Rose's inept Alchemists? I just received a lot of precious materials from Leader Monchi to cause trouble down here.'
'Calm down, calm down…'
Hawkins took a deep breath and kept telling himself to keep his composure.
He was an esteemed Great Alchemist, how could he lose his manners in front of an Alchemist and a bunch of onlookers? That would bring shame to the Black Tower.
'Forget it, isn't it just giving some pointers? What kind of knowledge could an Alchemist in his twenty have access to? I could easily do it even if ten of him participated.'
After convincing himself of this, Hawkins thought about how to proceed.
'Okay, let's just go with pointers, I'll use this opportunity to show everyone how poor the level of the Gilded Rose's alchemists is. If they still dare to talk about compounding the most mystical potion of the decade after that...'
"Okay, Faleau, ask your question, I am in a hurry."
"Thank you, Great Alchemist Hawkins." Faleau hurriedly fished out a paper from his pocket and explained, "You see, Great Alchemist Hawkins, this formula only lacks one key piece of data. I computed it for a few months, but there has been no result. Can you help?"
"Sure, let me see…" Hawkins carelessly took the paper and checked the formula written on it.
One minute later, Hawkins was faintly frowning.
Ten minutes later, Hawkins' expression became grave.
Thirty minutes later, Hawkins finally pushed away the crowd to look for a table, before taking a quill and starting to jot down some computations.
One hour later, his forehead was soaked in sweat.
Two hours later...
Two hours later, it was Faleau's turn to become impatient!
"Hmm, Great Alchemist Hawkins, have you computed the result yet?"
"Hold on…" Hawkins wiped some sweat from his forehead and quickly wrote more calculations on a sheet of paper. One piece of paper wasn't enough, so there were now several dozens of sheets spread before him, filled with all kinds of characters and figures.
But the more he calculated, the more Hawkins felt powerless. From where did that damn Faleau get such a broken formula? It was like a maze. Regardless of how hard he tried to solve it, it felt as if he was getting lost in that maze.
"Great Alchemist Hawkins, it is already evening, do you want to eat dinner?"
"Snap." The quill in Hawkins' hand broke.
"Hmm… Go get a new quill for Great Alchemist Hawkins. Bring a blanket too, he might be spending the night here."
"Understood, Alchemist Faleau." There was no need to ask. Hauss knew that Faleau was asking him. He quickly changed Hawkins' quill. But when he fetched the blanket, he noticed that the Great Alchemist was glaring at him in anger. He didn't know whether or not he should hand it over.
"Don't worry, Great Alchemist Hawkins, there is no need to hurry, you should take your time to make sure you do it properly."
Faleau's expression looked sincere, but he was already inwardly laughing. 'What a lousy Great Alchemist, he really thought that he was omnipotent and dared to come to the Gilded Rose for an exchange of skills. Did you even check who this building belongs to? Do you understand now? A formula that Great Mage Merlin casually gave me to practice can easily stump you.'
Hawkins' quill was filling page after page. Besides Faleau occasionally asking a few concerned questions, there was actually no sound in the entire lobby as all the remaining onlookers were curiously wondering what kind of formula would take a Great Alchemist like Hawkins a whole afternoon.
Only Faleau knew the real reason.
This formula had been given to him by Great Mage Merlin some days ago. It was to be used as daily practice. Faleau remembered Great Mage Merlin saying that the day he was able to complete the calculations for the formula would be the day he advanced to become a Master Alchemist.