Ivor was very impressed with the progress Eren had made over these months while he was busy fighting wraiths and whatnot. He was sure that he couldn't have done something of this magnitude even with his previous connections and reach.
Perhaps he went through his own version of hell. A person doesn't change overnight. They don't start a pseudo empire like this on a whim.'
Ivor thought to himself before concentrating on the task at hand. He was enjoying his time in this separate dimension. Unlike the previous separate dimension he was forced to stay inside, this place wasn't trying to overtly kill him. So it was natural that he was having a good time venting out his stress on monsters.
***
The eastern testing grounds.
This was the test of patience, conducted inside a greenhouse. It boasted a flower-shaped structure with four distinct energy barriers serving as the four petals of the flower.
The roof of each building was transparent, while the energy barriers served as its walls. Each of the four sections of the greenhouse harnessed four different ranks of mana from rank F to C.
Meeli would send the participants to the greenhouse according to their ranks, where a test would be administered. The rankers would be judged independently by Meeli as per the expertise they had shown as per their rank and the ingredients they had been given.
The test of patience tested rankers for their patience in handling the raw ingredients. This was an essential pre-procedure in potion making. As such, it was no surprise that Minerva's Utopia would undergo the same test.
This test also judged the rankers by the points they scored out of 100. The top three placeholders would be given special rewards per test. The rewards this time were the raw ingredients and precious herbs.
The potioners were supposed to take the test specifically. That's why those who had gathered here for the test were mostly potioneering experts.
The test had already started. The participants concentrated on the test they had been assigned by Meeli.
Lensa was maintaining a steady flow of mana to imbue into Yellow Fire Flower, which was placed inside an array in front of her work table. This was the raw ingredient she had been given to work with.
The Yellow Fire flower was a very delicate raw ingredient. Pour too much mana and it would burn with the yellow flames it would create around itself. And pour too little, it would refuse to bloom.
To process such an Ace-ranked raw ingredient, an array was needed. Lensa was quite an expert in potioning herself, thanks to the basics taught by Dan. She had successfully cast an array with her mana before placing the raw ingredient she had been given by Meeli.
The flower was just about to bloom and her test was going to be over after three hours of utmost concentration and patience. However, she suddenly experienced a mana interference caused by another ranker and her mana flow stopped.
Fwoosh!
The Yellow Fire flower caught fire inside the array and started burning immediately. The mana interference faced by Lensa resulted in her array facing a malfunction.
Lensa had failed the test.
The elf girl was very angry as she watched her Yellow Fire flower burn in its flames. She wasn't angry because she had failed the test. But she was angry because she failed it. After all, someone else meddled.
Lensa looked at the source of that mana signature that caused the interference. She found out to be a girl who was giving her test not too far away from her desk.
Lensa saw that it was a human girl with red eyes and black hair. She had dressed sophisticatedly. And she carried herself with a sense of superiority only she felt about herself. When Lensa turned to look at this girl, the girl looked back and flashed a welcoming smile. Mixed within that smile was a hint of mockery.
Lensa refused to resort to the same tactics now that she was out of the test and its competition. But she wasn't someone to let this slide easily either.
"Madam Meeli, may I have a word?"
Lensa imbued her voice in mana and made it so that other competitors wouldn't get disturbed by her voice. Meeli who was seen sitting quietly on the raised platform placed in front of all the participants opened her eyes and stretched her neck to look at the source of the voice.
Meeli flew towards Lensa in the blink of an eye before responding.
"Can I help you, child?"
Lensa found it awkward that someone who looked like a child called her a child. But she ignored what had just happened.
Hearing this, Meeli sighed and looked at the girl who had interfered briefly. She then shook her head before responding to Lensa.
"I know what just happened, child. I was paying attention, you know.
But there's something you need to understand. As part of the patience test, you should handle the raw ingredients with care. While external interference is unfortunate, potioners are expected to handle it on their own by being prepared for it beforehand.
Because you were not prepared for interference, you failed the test by default. Thus, I am sorry to say that the result won't change for you even if I acknowledge that it was not completely your fault."
Meeli said and sighed. She then looked at the girl who had interfered unjustly in Lensa's test but didn't say anything. For the participants who were still processing their ingredients, the test was ongoing. They weren't aware of the clash that had happened between the two girls. And Meeli wanted to keep it that way until the test was over.
Lensa clenched her fists when she heard Meeli's statement. But she couldn't do anything about it now that the test was over for her. Just when she was about to use her tattoo to get herself out of the testing grounds, she was stopped by Meeli.
It seemed that Meeli was not done with Lensa. The caretaker of the separate dimension looked at the cheater girl who was occupied with her work. The caretaker accessed the information embedded in the tattoo and found out the girl's name– Sienna Slughorn.
