Ron arrived at the Chaos City Magic Academy and quickly found Harper.
He was planning to stay here all afternoon, so he intended to get his original task done first.
As for the earlier assassination attempt… that was pushed to the back of his mind for now.
Ron retrieved a few samples of Scalevine from his [Inventory], which Harper promptly began setting up for testing.
Edith also came running over from a neighboring lab, curious to see what was going on.
"Based on what His Highness described yesterday," Edith said, crouching down to examine the Scalevine specimens in Ron's hands, "testing these might be a bit of a hassle."
Ron's gaze couldn't help but wander to certain topographical features as she bent down, but he quickly snapped back to attention. "It's just a defense test. Why would it be troublesome?"
"Well, maybe not troublesome, but definitely tedious," Edith replied as she gently handled the vine, her fingers tracing along it to observe its reactions. "According to what you said, the Scalevine's defense scales based on how much mana and battle aura it receives. That means there's a lot of data to collect."
From the side, Harper—busy setting up the experiment—cut in:
"If we're just doing a basic test, we can simplify things. Leave the in-depth research for later. For now, let's gather what quick data we can."
"For example, the changes before and after the Scalevine bonds with a master can be split into six separate test categories."
"Also, the identity of the user matters—are they a regular civilian, a mage, a warrior, or a dual-path practitioner? We'll need to group them accordingly."
"And beyond that, we'll need to test whether mana and battle aura boost the Scalevine equally. Do different schools of magic affect it differently? What about the properties of the aura? These are all questions we'll only answer through actual experiments."
"In short, if we're aiming for comprehensive results, the workload's going to be huge. We'll need a lot of volunteers, too—without enough comparative data, our conclusions could easily be skewed."
Ron listened to the two of them geeking out with increasingly blank eyes.
His understanding of magic came entirely from the system's divine downloads and his innate talent. Even when he studied with Edith, it was mostly spell-casting practice. As for the deeper theory… yeah, he just tuned that part out.
This whole setup felt like he'd walked into a high school chemistry lab again.
In other words: completely lost.
Without saying much more, Ron left the testing to Harper and Edith.
He didn't have high expectations—he just wanted to see how effective the Scalevine really was.
After all, it was a system-produced item, so there had to be something special about it, right?
Thankfully, the basic results came back fairly quickly.
Without mana or battle aura, the Scalevine could only block low-tier spells—and even then, it couldn't withstand rapid, repeated attacks.
But if it only needed to endure a single hit, it might get damaged but would gradually regenerate, especially with some time and energy input.
Both mana and aura helped it recover faster.
In essence, it worked like a magical shield that had a fixed damage threshold.
As long as attacks stayed within that limit, it could regenerate—even after taking some hits.
Harper and Edith were visibly impressed by its performance.
Even though its base defense was low, the fact that it scaled with energy input was what made it promising.
Of course, the bonding process hadn't been completed yet, so they couldn't test those advanced functions right away.
"I'll take care of the follow-up tests," Harper said, patting his chest. "If this stuff really works, I might be able to redesign the academy's puppet testing grounds. Then I can run explosion tests with sturdier puppets!"
"…" Ron's mouth twitched.
And here he was thinking Harper looked unusually motivated—turns out it was just for his blast-happy experiments...
Since the Scalevine hadn't been officially released at Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop, the samples provided to Harper were free.
Ron had specifically requested testing, so of course, he wasn't going to charge Harper for it.
But once Harper developed a new puppet design using Scalevine, he'd have no choice but to buy in bulk from the shop later.
Leaving the two researchers to their work, Ron stepped out of the lab.
He had something more important to deal with today.
Edith followed him out, smiling. "Are we studying magic again today?"
Ron shook his head apologetically, a serious look on his face. "I'd like to meet the Headmaster. Is he in?"
Edith was surprised. She didn't know why His Highness wanted to see the Headmaster, but still said, "Yes, the Headmaster's been staying in the academy lately. He should be in his office right now."
Yeah… spying on my shop just yesterday, weren't you...
Ron grumbled to himself but didn't say it out loud, and followed Edith toward the Headmaster's office.
As they walked, Ron chatted casually with her while thinking things through.
That Tier 6 assassin had left a Shadow Mark on him.
Which meant he absolutely couldn't leave the academy casually right now.
Sure, the passive effect of his [Chosen One of Hervesta] badge—Vital Bloom—could instantly kill the first person who posed a lethal threat to him…
But there were still two more assassins lurking nearby.
He wasn't about to gamble with his life.
If one assassin made a move and suddenly dropped dead, the other two might back off out of caution.
Might.
But Ron couldn't guarantee that.
What if one of them was a hothead or a berserker-type?
He'd have no choice but to burn his Wealth Points on that absurd Interdimensional Side-Step Technique.
And it wasn't even a permanent skill—it only lasted for three seconds!
Other guys got to be "Three-Second Real Men"—he'd be stuck being a "Three-Second Cowardly Turtle"!
Better to play it safe.
There were so many powerful mages at the academy. What's wrong with hugging a reliable thigh or two?
If he could build a connection with the Headmaster, maybe a Legendary Mage could personally act as his bodyguard.
Now that would be living the dream.
Thinking this, Ron opened his [Inventory] and looked inside.
[Nether Orchid with a Trace of Divinity]
This was something he'd cultivated just yesterday in the planting space using the Seed Acceleration Spell.
Because he used his own mana to grow it, the flower carried a faint divine aura.
Its effects were strong—even Legendary Mages would find it valuable.
Of course, it probably wasn't enough to hire the Headmaster for a direct intervention. But it made for a good greeting gift.
Ron wasn't counting on the Headmaster personally taking action.
If rejected, he could always fall back on Professor Hicks.
Sure, one of the assassins was also Tier 6—same as Professor Hicks.
But when a mage knows there's an assassin coming, it's almost impossible to get close.
And even if one did get close, it wouldn't matter.
Mages like Professor Hicks were armed to the teeth—just his enchanted robe was probably priceless, not to mention his other magical gear.
In short, Ron was determined to find a backer—otherwise, he'd just hole up in the academy indefinitely.
It was his life on the line, after all. No way he was taking chances.