Chapter 1213: A Crushing Defeat

"Then, I will accept Apothecary Izroth’s request to test the pill he has made personally. Naturally, I will be objective. Of course, that’s only if the judges deem the judgment of this old man as trustworthy." Malric said.

"Surely you jest, Apothecary Malric. If your word is not trustworthy, I fear that no one in the Apothecary Guild’s judgment could be trusted." Avia commented.

Avia did not know the exact reason why Izroth requested that Malric, a grade eight Apothecary, be the one to judge his pill. But, Avia knew from firsthand experience that Izroth’s thoughts were not simple.

"Since I have already said what needed to be said, Vice-Head Malric can use the pill given to me." Mirael stated as she walked over to Malric.

She handed Malric the Life Gathering Pill. And, right after doing so, Mirael returned to her place at the judge’s area.

"I have searched for countless methods, but everything turned out to be useless. The injuries back then were too severe to treat. I shouldn’t have been so full of pride in my own skills. Now, it’s too late to regret what has been done." Malric thought to himself.

During the war with the shadahi, Malric pushed himself to the utmost limit. As such, he received many wounds both externally and internally. As a high grade Apothecary, Malric did not trust anyone else to treat his wounds and so tried to take care of things himself.

While Malric was able to treat his injuries with the pills he created, unfortunately, in the middle of crafting a grade eight pill, his wounds began to act up. And, before he knew it, Malric not only failed in crafting the pill, but also received irreparable damage that affected his life energy.

As a result, Malric set aside his pride as an Apothecary and reached out for help. But, it was too late as the damage had already been done. With his life energy damaged so severely, high grade elixirs and pills that contained Natural Energy would be too overwhelming to consume. In other words, it would be no different than taking poison for someone in Malric’s state.

In the end, Malric needed a pill that did contain Natural Energy, while simultaneously housing enough life energy to replenish his own to a point where he could consume at least one high grade pill. However, such a pill did not exist in the Mortal Realm. And, although he tried his best to create one with the Apothecary Guild’s research team, the results were too poor.

Ultimately, it was too unrealistic to create a grade four or lower pill that met Malric’s conditions.

"Aye... Pride and arrogance leads to downfall. If I had relied on others back then, would I be in such a beaten up state? Well, I must not allow my thoughts to linger. Since my life is quickly fading away from this world, I will spend the last few months of it living as an Apothecary—just as I have always done." Malric thought to himself.

Malric held the pill up to his nose and studied its scent. He then lifted the pill directly into his line of sight as his eyes opened ever so slightly. Malric carefully examined the pill before he closed his eyes once more. At the same time, a faint green glow flashed on Malric’s fingertips that held the pill that vanished just as fast as it appeared.

"Hm... Good pill. Now then, I won’t stand on ceremony." Malric said as he gave a small nod of approval before he placed the pill into his mouth.

The moment the pill dissolved in Malric’s mouth, his eyes shot open. Simultaneously, a refreshing energy full of an abundance of life flooded into his body.

A few seconds later, Malric let out a deep breath as a faint black fog was expelled from his body.

"What a heavy concentration of life energy. Is that really the effect of a grade four pill?" Van commented.

"Do you think the Vice-Head wouldn’t know the grade of a pill he consumed? Besides, what person in the Apothecary Guild would be brave enough to give the Vice-Head the wrong grade pill?" Korzon chimed in.

Meanwhile, Rygar watched on with a darkened expression as his face lost some of its color.

"What kind of grade four pill gives off such strong life energy? Is it an ancient pill recipe? There’s no way he came up with such a pill recipe himself!" Rygar thought to himself.

Ancient pill recipes were known to be extremely mysterious. They often involved using unorthodox crafting techniques and other strange methods to create pills. However, it was not easy to come by an ancient pill recipe. Plus, despite their effectiveness more often times than not, many of the ancient pill recipes had unusual side effects.

"T-this pill...!" Malric exclaimed as his eyes widened in shock.

Without hesitation, Malric sat down on the ground in a meditative pose with an uncomfortable look on his face and his eyes closed. Every time Malric opened his mouth, a dark and foul fog was expelled.

"This... The death energy within the Vice-Head is being forcibly expelled...! How is this possible?" Oaklein said as his brows rose in surprise.

"Back then, I remember the Vice-Head mentioned that he required a pill below grade five that contained strong life energy to treat his deep injuries. Can it be that Apothecary Izroth has created such a pill?" Cryosa stated with an inquisitive expression.

"A grade three Apothecary creating a pill that even the Vice-Head and Apothecary Guild’s research team was unable to create—it sounds too farfetched to be true, but... The truth might be right before our eyes. Where has such a talented guy been hiding all along? It makes sense that those stingy old men finally parted ways with the Dark Abyssal Cauldron." Oaklein said with a slight smile.

Roughly one minute later, as the last of the death energy was expelled from Malric, a new pill appeared in his hand.

The pill was deep blue in color and contained a sequence of unique golden patterns on its surface.

Malric consumed the pill as a new reinvigorating energy poured into every pore of his body.

The previous uncomfortable look on Malric’s face turned into one of relief as beads of sweat fell down his forehead.

"Ha!" Malric projected as a heavy shockwave exploded forth in every direction.

Avia reacted quickly and formed a wall of wind infused with her mana to block the shockwave and prevent it from causing damage.

A couple of seconds later, Malric released one last long breath as his eyes slowly opened.

"Ah..." Malric stood to his feet as he looked down at his hands that were no longer trembling uncontrollably.

"I had forgotten what it’s like to open my eyes without experiencing pain... Truly, I..." Malric halted his words as he looked over at Izroth.

Malric approached Izroth and cupped his hand into his fist respectfully.

"Apothe- No, my life’s benefactor—you have my gratitude. So blinded by arrogance and pride in my youth, I made an irreversible mistake. Today, you have shined a new light onto a life that I had already given up on." Malric said as he lowered his head.

Izroth placed his hand on Malric’s shoulder and replied, "Vice-Head Malric, raise your head. You have done a lot for the Mortal Realm. The price for your arrogance—it has long since been paid in full."

"Vice-Head sounds too distant. Please, call me Malric." Malric quickly responded.

Avia cleared her throat and asked, "Apothecary Malric, have you made a judgment?"

Based on Malric’s reaction alone, everyone present understood the results even without Malric saying it directly. However, since there was a bet on the line and it was the Right of Challenge, it still needed to be said clearly.

"Ah, forgive my lack of manners, Apothecary Avia. Excuse me for one moment, benefactor." Malric said as he stood upright and turned to address the entire room.

"The Life Gathering Pill created by Apothecary Izroth, throughout the many years of my life as an Apothecary—there has been no grade four pill I have seen that comes remotely close to it." Malric announced.

’It wasn’t able to achieve a divine pill core rank. But, the effects still turned out better than I expected.’

Name: Life Gathering Pill

Rank: Grade-Four -> Grade-Four Heavenly Blessed [Appraised]

Usage: The user who consumes this pill permanently gains 2,500 HP upon the first consumption. The user will temporarily gain the passive skill «Enhanced Lifeforce». Non-players who consume this pill for the first time will instead have their lifespan extended by 3 years.

«Enhanced Lifeforce» - Increases the user’s maximum HP by 35% and reduces physical-type debuffs effectiveness by 50% for 1 hour. For this duration, the first time the user would take damage equal to or more than their current HP, instead, they will heal for 150% of that damage.

Special Note: This pill can be consumed more than once, but its effects cannot stack.

~Appraisal~

Quality: S

Hidden Effect: For 1 hour, whenever the user’s HP falls below 50%, the user’s HP regeneration is increased by 1% of their maximum HP per second. Non-players will have their physical conditions greatly improved.

After Malric spoke, those gathered in the promotion test room whispered and spoke among themselves.

A pill with the Vice-Head of the Apothecary Guild Malric’s stamp of approval—there was no one present who did not want to get their hands on one to see for themselves.

"Since Apothecary Malric has given his judgment, we will now decide the winner of the Right of Challenge. We will keep it simple. If your choice is Apothecary Izroth, raise your right hand. If it is Apothecary Rygar, raise your left hand." Avia stated.

In the blink of an eye, the right hand of all the judges were raised into the air.

Seeing the results, Rygar’s face turned deathly pale.

"Then, the winner has been decided." Avia stated with a light smile.

She then announced, "The winner of the Right of Challenge is Apothecary Izroth!"

When Avia officially made that declaration, Izroth received a stream of system alerts as a change happened to the Apothecary badge on his shoulder.

〈System Alert: You have been promoted from «Grade Three Apothecary» to «Grade Four Apothecary»!〉

〈System Alert: Your favor with «Vice-Head of the Apothecary Guild, Malric» has been maxed!〉

〈System Alert: You favor with «Fifth Elder of the Apothecary Guild, Cryosa» has been increased by 2,000!〉

〈System Alert: You favor with «Seventh Elder of the Apothecary Guild, Oaklein» has been increased by 2,000!〉

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