Hellfire sparkled around his fingers as Derek stuck them above the Bunsen burner, igniting the gas rapidly streaming out of it … and then the whole affair went to hell in a handbasket in an instant.

  The top of the burner, a thick ring of metal, promptly began to liquefy and distort, the flames beginning to slip down into the device itself, now that oxygen was present in there, melting that part, rapidly descending into the Bunsen burner while it turned into a puddle on the stone alchemy table, until it reached the rubber tube that was channeling the gas, which promptly ignited itself, flames racing down it … until the far end of the tube popped free of the wall socket, while the teacher’s hand twisted the valve shut, leaving her standing there, glaring at him as the hellfire finished racing up to the very end of the rubber line and it crumbled into ash in her hand.

  Oh … shit …

  “Mr. Thoma. What exactly made you think that it was a good idea to light your Bunsen burner with hellfire?” she asked, her tone acidic.

  “Uh, Dr. Leshchenko said to use our magic for utility purposes whenever possible, at least in the academy,” Derek admitted.

  “Dr. Lesh- …” Dr. Hyong, the teacher who taught basic chemistry and alchemy as they pertained to combat, went a dangerous shade of crimson, while her voice became icy. “Did he, perchance, know you had hellfire as your element?”

  Derek nodded. “He said that I’d never need a lighter, I figured this was exactly the kind of thing he was talking about.”

  “It might have been ...” Hyong sighed. “… if you’d been using something designed to work with hellfire, and downgrade the spark into something that won’t fry anything that you try to heat. Don’t try that again until I tell you you can. For now, get yourself another burner, light it normally, and work at a different table.”

  While Derek slunk off to go do that as she stalked off towards the front of the room to explain the next steps of the experiment, though he had the distinct feeling part of her was strongly considering storming off to go murder her colleague.

  Should he feel guilty about throwing him under the bus?

  Maybe.

  But at the same time … did he really want to suffer the consequences of not explaining himself? Because considering how the hellfire nearly burned its way back down into the gas line, depending on which parts of the building were fully warded, that whole affair could have gone terribly, and he really didn’t want to catch the entirety of the blame.

  Some, yes, he probably deserved that because thinking this through should have prevented him from pulling that stunt, yet at the same time “do this whenever possible” meant doing the indicated thing as often as was appropriate, and the knee-jerk assessment of “can hellfire be used to light a Bunsen burner” had fallen on the side of “yes.”

  He just hadn’t expected the damn thing to be that freaking fragile … he should have, though. Simply because machinery was typically designed for what it was expected to encounter, and bitch-basic Bunsen burners normally did not have to contend with hellfire.

  Although at the same time, he also seriously needed to start figuring out how to dial down the power of his hellfire. Not because that would reduce its mana cost, which stayed constant regardless of how little you used, the price could only go up, but because as it stood, the black flames were far too destructive for non-combat applications.

  Case in point, the potions they were presently learning to make.

  Bitch-basic healing and mana potions that could be cobbled together from what was effectively random junk, which needed huge portions to be effective and even then barely did anything, with a massive backlash to boot, reducing regeneration and mana recovery to an even greater degree to which they’d been boosted once they wore off.

  A very vital skill to learn, but by the end of the lesson, Derek found himself keenly aware of the fact that if he tried to heat the ingredients with his inborn abilities, he’d turn them into ash, rather than make something useful. Or even use-able.

  All told …

  By the time class ended, Derek was feeling thoroughly unhappy with both himself and the situation, and painfully aware of the fact that he couldn’t change anything anymore.

  Even the fact that [Apprentice Alchemist] had been unlocked as a [Class] only drew a small, tired smile from him.

  “Thoma, huh? Any relationship to Isaac Thoma?”

  Oh … shoot.

  “I prefer not to …” Derek cut himself off with what he, personally, felt was a rather convincing fake cough, still leaving him with the awkward situation of still having to somehow finish the sentence he’d begun without thinking, so he turned to face the one who’d spoken, a Korean who, based on appearance, was likely another student.

  “I prefer to not define myself based on who I may or may not be related to,” he said after an awkwardly long pause.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “But you are related to him.”

  It wasn’t a question this time around, that was for sure.

  “Yeah,” Derek said, trying to keep his tone even but fearing it had wound up “flat” instead.

  “You know, I think it’s pretty impressive how you’re keeping that on the down low. I don’t think I’ve even heard you use your last name once without prompting.”

  “And now it’s just creepy, guy who hasn’t introduced himself yet,” Derek shot back, this time not regretting letting his impulsive snark have free rein.

  “Right, sorry,” the guy laughed, scratching the back of his neck in that “aw, shucks” way that very few people could actually pull off convincingly. “Kong Chihun, nice to meet you.”

  He offered his hand with that, and after a moment’s hesitation, Derek shook it. It wasn’t like Kong had done anything except be a bit awkward thus far … but something certainly set his teeth on edge.

  Derek heroically fought down the urge to raise a single eyebrow when nothing was forthcoming, instead choosing to leave the silence to hang awkwardly believe them for however long it would take … which turned out to be all of two seconds.

  “Anyway, I was wondering if you were interested in being shown around Seoul sometime. I know being in a new city can be a bit overwhelming at times.”

  Well, wasn’t that nice … though the fact that the conversation had begun with a question about a sibling Derek had never met still hung over everything like a bad smell.

  “Thanks for the offer, but I like exploring on my own, poking my head in weird places, stuff like that,” he replied.

  “Then maybe I should introduce you to some of the good restaurants that aren’t hidden,” Kong offered. “You could probably use some connections of your own. Or figure out the ones you already have.”

  “Maybe. But I think it might be for the best if I try doing as much as I can by myself, because I won’t always have help,” Derek said evenly. It certainly felt like this was the sort of nonsense Ye-in had been dodging her entire life, the shit he’d fortunately managed to be largely insulated from thus far.

  “Oh, of course. But, despite how many people try and fail to prove otherwise, no man is an island,” Kong offered.

  True, and something Derek might even have needed to hear … but at the same time, it felt inappropriate in that moment. No, not inappropriate. Disingenuous.

  “One smart line does not a convincing argument make,” Derek responded, rolling his eyes this time. “I like doing things the way I am, and while this conversation might have just gotten off to a very bad start, I don’t feel like it’s gotten much better since then.”

  “Are you saying you don’t need help?” Kong practically growled, his mood having flipped in an instant.

  “I’m saying I don’t think I’ll need your help,” Derek sighed. “Look, I’m trying to be me, you seem to want to deal with Isaac Thoma’s younger brother, how about we just chalk this up to a misunderstanding and go our separate ways.”

  “Do you really think you can make your own way if you keep acting like that?” Kong scoffed.

  “Are you threatening me with you, or your contacts?” Derek asked archly. “Because a fight of ‘who can get more reinforcements’ is something I’m willing to ask for help over. And I’m pretty sure I’d win if you make me go that far.”

  After all, if the other guy was running for help, Derek wasn’t going to pit himself against an army out of sheer stubborn pride.

  Kong cocked his head to the side, eyes meeting Derek’s for a long moment before he spun around and stalked off without saying goodbye.

  Yep. That could have gone better. And hardly have ended worse.

  Son of a … urgh, he still had another class left before it was time to go home.

  ***

  By the time Magical Theory let out, Derek had had far too much time to get into his own head, thinking far too deeply into everything that had happened today.

  Because, based on how Kong had been talking, now that he thought it over, it did seem like the other guy had been representing more than just himself.

  Just how many people had he pissed off today, and how many were on the verge of becoming mortal enemies of his?

  None, hopefully. Hopefully.

  But he couldn’t help but fear that there were going to come actual issues from this. Though before he could go even further down the rabbit hole, he decided to call Ye-in.

  “You know, after today, I think I need you to teach me that ‘leave me alone’ glare of yours …” he tried to begin with a joke, but once he’d gotten started, it all just came tumbling out.

  “So, in other news, people are idiots, and the teachers are people. But you know what? Fuck ‘people,’” Ye-in suggested once he was done. “I like some, I hate others, but people as a whole? It’s not like you can have a proper relationship with the concept of ‘people,’ can you? Be nice to the ones you like, and bite the head off anyone you have to, you got this.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Derek sighed. “I need to learn to be mean.”

  “It should be easier than learning to be nice,” she teased him.

  “At least there’s that,” he conceded, then sighed. “See you tomorrow.”

  “See you tomorrow,” she echoed and hung up.

  From there, he slowly made his way home.

  Ye-in had, of course, been one hundred percent correct. People were individuals and should be approached on an individual basis, but the issue they both shared was that neither of them could really trust that the people they did get along with were being agreeable for “pure” reasons.

  Because of who they were. Because of what they were. And both those things weren’t even things they hadn’t achieved or chosen, but because of the actions and choices of others.

  Ultimately … ultimately, the people he could trust to have no, or at least minimal, bootlicking tendencies were those who already had what he could provide, or those he met without his name being known. Anyone else … well, there was every chance they were perfectly lovely people, hell, they were more likely to be such, considering how most of the “rich kids” he’d met in his life had acted, but even so, he’d likely have to put the idea of having a proper relationship with ninety-nine point nine percent of relationship out of his mind for the rest of eternity.

  That attitude would likely get him in trouble at some point, either directly or by depriving him of help at a critical juncture.

  And you know what? Derek straight up did not care. Because, if nothing else, if the constant barrage of nonsense cost him his sanity prior to anytime his attitude cost him, he’d be worse off.

  Besides, one proper friend was worth a thousand fakes.

  Part of him wanted to just go find Ye-in againand do something together, but a second, far larger part wanted him to just collapse onto the couch and stay there watching Stargate until he fell asleep or he figured out a way to pettily retaliate that wouldn’t get him into trouble … because the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Kong had been talking out of his ass when it came to his connections.

  After all, if the other student had had that kind of pull, then what the hell had he needed Derek for?