Lucius' jaw dropped after witnessing the boy condensing mana to form a spell, bypassing the need for chanting.
He knew how crazy that was as he joined the Academy of Elemental Arts and learned magic in his younger years. Sadly, after reaching the second tier and becoming an acolyte, he understood he had reached his limits.
Yet, despite being only seven, the boy had almost as much mana as he did, in addition to having much better control. Even he couldn't expel a ball of mana at that speed.
To reach that level of control, he suspected a mage had to be at the third tier and must have trained for a decade. So, how did the boy reach that level?
As he pondered in stupefaction, Julius scratched his head in embarrassment as he opened his mouth.
"I also have alchemy notions. I... hum... brewed a tier-two and two-tier one potions," he said, repeating the voice's script and wondering if it would be enough.
Upon hearing his words, Lucius' hands trembled, and his pupils dilated as he gazed at the boy as if he had seen a ghost.
Simultaneously, Alina gazed at her son with quivering lips and tears rolling down her cheeks, feeling guilty. With such overwhelming talent, she was sure he could have become one of the best mages. Sadly, she was a commoner.
As her sad gaze lingered on the boy, Lucius shook his head, recovering his bearing and asked, "Do you realise lying in front of a noble is a crime, young man?"
Cold sweat formed on the boy's forehead as the words echoed like thunder in his ears. He was indeed lying. Thankfully, Theodore came to his rescue.
"He is not lying. I'm the one who taught him how to brew medicines. If you don't believe him, he can brew a potion before your eyes," he said, a cunning smile tugging at his lips.
Feeling amused by the nonsense, Lucius responded, "Oh? I would like to see that."
Was he a fool to believe the empty boasts of a kid? There was no way he brewed a tier-two potion. After all, only tier-four mages could bypass the need for mana control to brew one using brute strength.
Even tier-one potions required a tier-three apprentice to brew them successfully. Yet here he was, listening to an early stage tier one boy who didn't begin his magic journey spouting nonsense.
"Follow me," he said, leading them to his warehouse.
Shelves filled with rare magical herbs and other ingredients lined the walls, impressing the trio as Lucius said, "Pick what you need and follow me to my laboratory."
Despite not being an alchemist, he had built that laboratory more than twenty years ago for someone he thought would succeed him.
As Lucius reminisced, Theodore and Julius noticed the main ingredient they had failed to find for years was in the lord's stock.
Grinning from ear to ear, they picked it up and followed behind Lucius, reaching a vast lab five minutes later.
In it, Julius noticed a magnificent cauldron shining as if it had never been used. Magic utensils, neatly organised and glowing softly, covered the walls on which old symbols shone dimly.
"You can begin," Lucius said with a playful smile as he sat on a chair.
Following his words, Julius instantly busied himself with the arrangement of the ingredients. After years of training under Theodore and the specific preparations they made for this occasion, he managed them like a professional, his movements sharp and accurate.
Then, he lightened a fire under the cauldron and filled it with a crystal-clear liquid under the voice's guidance.
"First, the fernheart essence. Second, add crystalised Springwater. Not this one! The essence of Earthroot comes in fourth."
As he added the ingredients one after the other in a specific order and at regular intervals, a natural scent wafted from the cauldron, enchanting and invigorating the wide-eyed spectators.
However, handling the materials didn't require mana and could be done by anyone with the required knowledge. The hard part came next.
As he stirred the concoction with a wooden rod, a ghostly hand firmly grasped his. From it, mana infused the rod and gradually harmonised with the mixture.
After three minutes, he grabbed a flask of lightfrost essence and uncorked it before the fire. Then, mana gently guided it into the cauldron while subtly enhancing its magical properties.
After five minutes of vigorous stirring, he finally reached the last phase of the brewing process.
He outstretched his hands above the cauldron, grimacing in concentrating to trick Lucius as mana harmonised the potion's magical energy, balancing it with its natural components.
Finally, he poured the potion into a vial and sealed it.
"Done. It's a tier one Veilheart Draught. The potion influences the body's vitality and improves physical endurance, resilience, and overall health." Julius said with an exhausted smile, feigning tiredness to make the scene more credible.
Lucius couldn't believe his eyes. It happened in front of him, in his own lab, yet he couldn't believe it. This kid was more than a genius. He was a monster.
He couldn't let go of a talent like that! At first, he wanted the kid to work for him. He was sure the boy would become his strongest knight with a bit of training and his talent for mana.
However, after he displayed his mana control and really brewed the potion, he changed his plans. The kid's talent was too monstrous to make him a mere knight.
"Sadly, he isn't a noble." He muttered amidst his pondering before his eyes lit up with a crazy idea. He slowly assessed its viability while pondering about alchemists.
He had never seen or heard of a poor alchemist in his life. Even the worst potion sold for a minimum of five gold coins.
Obviously, the prices were high because of the even higher investment necessary to train. After all, the loss of ingredients stacked after each failure. That's why most mages saved their money and bought the potion they needed directly.
While the lord pondered, its features rapidly shifting from shock to joy and seriousness, Julius walked to his family.
"Well done, kid! I knew you could do it," Theodore exclaimed, his eyes brightened with joy as he grinned.
However, Alina swiftly interrupted their conversation as she said with a frown, "You two! Did you hide more things from me?"
She understood nothing was a coincidence. They had planned everything and kept her in the dark.
"Who knows?" The kid and old man said in unison, laughing in celebration of their successful plan.
Simultaneously, Lucius stood up and called the two adults, wanting to have a private conversation with them.
After ten long minutes, he finally called for the boy, his eyes burning with ambition.
"I have made my decision. Starting today, I, Lord Lucius Riverwood, adopt Bernard as my son and grant him the noble last name Riverwood." He declared solemnly.
However, despite their prior discussion, Alina and Theodore couldn't help but frown as they heard the name.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA. Bernard Riverwood."