217 THE SABOTAGE
Meanwhile, on the other side of the hall, Bara and her sisters struggled to maintain a steady flame under their cauldrons. Their inexperience showed as they fumbled with the controls, but it gave the Cergontyn team precious time to resolve their issues.
"Finally fixed," Ajit grumbled and spat on the ground. "If someone's trying to sabotage us, they could at least be more competent about it."
"Enough with your whining, Ajit. Focus on brewing, and keep your saliva out of the potion," Amil snapped.
Just as they regained momentum, the flame on all of their cauldrons flickered and died again.
"What now?" Ajit growled. "I just fixed this!"
"This has to be sabotage," he added, glaring around the room.
"Stop whining and fix it!" Amil ordered. "We don't have time to waste."
Though they managed to relight the flame, the issue persisted. Over and over, the fire under their cauldrons failed, interrupting their brewing process.
"We should demand new cauldrons," Ajit suggested, his voice laced with frustration.
"It's too late," Amil replied sharply. "We don't have enough time left for a switch to a new cauldron. Focus on salvaging this batch, we still have time to catch up to those novices."
The team's control over the brewing process remained flawless as they poured in their ingredients with precision. But just when they began to regain confidence, the flame sputtered out entirely.
"What the hell is wrong with these cauldrons? The flame is off balance again," Ajit shouted, slamming a hand on the edge of his station.
"We don't have time for complaints. Get it working now!" Amil urged, glancing toward the girls' side. "They're still in the early stages. We can catch up."
But as they worked furiously, the flames refused to stabilize, and soon all five cauldrons stopped functioning entirely for no reason at all.
"This is ridiculous," Ajit muttered, exasperated. He turned toward the judges. "Something's wrong with these cauldrons! We demand an investigation."
The judges approached, examining the cauldrons carefully for some time as the time for the exam continued to tick.
"Come on, we are running out of time."
"Everything appears to be in order now," one judge said after a while of checking the cauldrons that stopped working. "The enchantments are stable. There is nothing wrong with the cauldrons."
Ajit gestured angrily. "They were malfunctioning a while ago! We demand a rematch!"
"I'm sorry," the judge said with a tone of finality. "The allotted time for this round would expire soon, you can't complete this round. If we confirm any faults with the equipment, we'll consider arranging a rematch for you at another time. For now, the results will stand."
"What about those girls?" Amil asked, his voice tight with frustration.
The judge replied calmly, "If the girls produce usable potions, even if the quality is less than ideal, they will pass this round. Unfortunately, the five of you failed to submit a potion in time and would be eliminated."
Ajit clenched his fists, his face red with rage. "Damn it! This is a complete failure!"
Across the hall, Bara and her sisters carefully handed their finished potions to the judges. Though visibly exhausted, they exchanged hopeful smiles, knowing they'd at least crossed the finish line.
-----
"See? We passed the second round!" Bara exclaimed, her voice bubbling with excitement as she threw her arms around her sisters.
"That was way too close," Megane said, her expression a mix of relief and concern. "If those pharmacists' cauldrons hadn't malfunctioned, their scores would have crushed yours."
Bara turned to Leo, narrowing her eyes with suspicion before punching him lightly on the shoulder. "You messed with their cauldrons, didn't you? Only you could pull off something like that."
Leo smirked, feigning innocence. "Maybe I did a little... tweaking here and there."
"Great!" Bara said with a mischievous grin. "I'll give you a good ride later as a reward."
Leo rolled his eyes. "No, thanks."
Ignoring his reluctance, Bara turned to her sisters, clapping her hands. "Alright, girls! We won this round fair—or mostly fair. Let's go home, get a bath, and celebrate in an orgy!"
The group began to pack up, but Leo's mind lingered on his handiwork.
While he had indeed tampered with the Cergontyn pharmacists' cauldrons with his hacking skills although his interference had been subtle. Adjusting flame levels here, destabilizing runes there—just enough to throw off their rhythm without causing outright failure.
Potion brewing was an exact science that bored no imperfection. Those small failures here and there caused the Cergontyn pharmacists the competition.
-----
The next day marked the final round of testing.
The tension in the air was serious as Bara and her sisters stepped into the examination hall. This time, the organizers split them into separate teams, scattering them. But unlike before, there were no obvious signs of interference from the Cergontyn family.
"They didn't tamper with the arrangements this time," Megane observed as she stood beside Leo.
Leo nodded, his eyes scanning the room for anything suspicious. "They must've assumed we'd be eliminated by now. Looks like they didn't bother planning ahead."
"That means it's all up to them now," Megane said, her voice carrying a mixture of worry and hope.
Bara and her sisters understood the stakes. Each sister worked diligently at their station, facing unique challenges designed to push their abilities to the limit.
The hours dragged on as they brewed, measured, and analyzed. The room was filled with the bubbling of cauldrons, the clinking of glassware, and the quiet murmurs of spells being cast.
When the test concluded, the judges announced the results.
Two of Bara's sisters, despite their best efforts, failed to meet the strict standards and were eliminated.
On the other hand, Bara and two of her other sisters emerged victorious, their potions deemed acceptable by the panel.
"We did it," Bara said, her voice trembling with joy as she clutched the license, she'd worked so hard to earn.
"You're licensed junior pharmacists now," Megane said, her eyes shining with pride as she joined them.
Leo gave a small smile to Bara and her sisters. "I knew you could do it."
The Cergontyn family watched from a distance, their expressions unreadable. But their anger could be felt from a mile away.
"Lilleo Gullee," Milwe Cergontyn murmured to himself.
This was not going to be the end of it.
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