A Chemist's Interstellar Saga
Chapter 80: A Weak Arix

Chapter 80: A Weak Arix

The next morning, Arix arrived at the training base very early. She first went to the administrative office to hand in her opticomputer. Then she returned to her dormitory.

When she opened the door and walked in, she found that her roommates were already awake. They all looked surprised when they saw Arix.

"Hey! Our missing roommate has finally come back!" Rei saw Arix and immediately showed a big smile, exclaiming exaggeratedly.

Leyla and Calista rushed over, happily hugging Arix’s arms on both sides.

"Arix, where have you been these past ten days?" Calista, now bolder after getting to know everyone, hugged Arix’s arm and asked sweetly.

"Yeah, I was so jealous of you. You don’t know how hard it has been for us at the training base. Look, my hands have become rough, and my skin has darkened," Leyla said, sounding very pitiful.

She showed her hands to Arix.

"The Fifth Legion needed potions, so I went to help for a while. Oh, and I brought you gifts," Arix explained quickly, not knowing what else to say. Then she changed the topic.

"Wow, what gifts?" Rei got excited at the mention of gifts and quickly ran over to Arix, asking curiously.

"Don’t worry, everyone gets something." Arix took out a bunch of potions from her Space Button.

She started distributing the potions and gave detailed instructions. "Maya, Rei, these are special Star-Class forging potions to repair your body. Leyla, I know you love beauty, so here’s a skin lotion for you to apply before bed. Lilou, I didn’t know what you’d like, so I got you a Star-Class healing potion. And Qingqing, this is a mecha model that someone in my family loves. It’s for you."

Arix winked at Calista with a playful smile.

Calista blushed, but she quickly took the mecha model from Arix’s hand.

Maya and the others were very touched by Arix’s thoughtful gifts. They each took out their most precious items from their Space Buttons and handed them to Arix.

"Arix, I got this by accident. I don’t know what it is, but it’s a material for making mechas. I hope you don’t mind," Rei said, handing Arix a box of something that looked like a mix of metal and liquid.

Rei didn’t recognize it, but Arix did. The material was called mithril. It could enhance the flexibility of mecha joints. It wasn’t very expensive but was just what Arix needed. She was so happy about the gift.

"Thank you, Rei, I love it," Arix said, taking it happily.

"Yeah! I love mine too," Rei said, smiling as she looked at her potion.

Maya’s situation was the worst among them. In her Space Button, there was nothing precious, only a few hometown snacks that were decent enough to give as gifts.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, she said, "Arix, I don’t have any fancy gifts for you. Just some special snacks my parents prepared. I hope you like them."

Arix saw Maya’s embarrassment but genuinely liked the gift. She immediately encouraged her with a bright smile, "Thank you, Maya. I was just wondering what to bring my parents as a gift, and now I have something. I’ll share these with them and I’m sure they’ll like it."

Warmth filled Maya’s heart, and she smiled back at Arix.

"Arix, look at my gift!" Leyla, finally getting her turn, said with a mischievous grin.

Arix’s eyelid twitched as she took the gift and opened it. Inside was a pink princess dress with a big bow on the chest, almost making Arix lose her composure.

Quickly closing the lid, Arix forced a smile, trying to hide her amazement, "Thank you, I really... like it."

"If you like it, I have many more at home... When school starts, I’ll bring a few more sets for you and the other girls," Leyla said. She was excited by Arix’s forced compliment, even wanting to offer dresses for the others too.

Arix and all the other one chuckled.

Fortunately, the gifts from Lilou and Calista were normal mecha materials, giving Arix a sense of relief. She never thought receiving gifts could give her such anxiety.

The joyful time was short-lived. Soon, Arix and the others checked the time and left the dormitory, heading to the comprehensive training ground to start their physical power training class.

The physical power training was the same as always: wearing weight rings and running ten kilometers.

What surprised Arix was that her classmates and instructors didn’t seem surprised at her sudden return. They seemed quite used to it.

The students were genuinely accustomed to it since Arix trained less often than they had weekends. They all thought Arix disappeared occasionally due to health issues.

The instructors, knowing the real situation, turned a blind eye.

Two days passed, peacefully.

On the second day after training ended, the instructor didn’t dismiss the team as usual.

Instead, he looked at all the students with a serious expression and said, "The training period is almost over. For the last week, the school and training base have decided to hold a one-week-long wilderness survival competition. Unlike previous competitions, this one could be life-threatening. Participation is voluntary. If anyone does not wish to participate, you can raise your hand now to withdraw. However, withdrawing means you are no longer eligible to enter the military academy. If you want to withdraw, raise your hand now."

Ortiz looked around at the students of the Hecaris Military Academy. Seeing no one raise their hand, he continued, "Good, you are all very brave. But I also hope you do not push yourselves too hard. If you change your mind before the competition starts tomorrow, you can come to me privately. The competition starts tomorrow at 9 AM. You need to gather at the comprehensive training ground by 8 AM. Any questions?"

"No, sir!" the students of the Hecaris Military Academy responded loudly.

"Alright, you’re dismissed," Ortiz said. Then he turned and left with Virtanen and the others, seemingly busy preparing for tomorrow’s competition.