"Hermione, pass me the armadillo bile, and then you can start dry grinding the scarabs - remember to use an agate mortar, and take your time, don't rush."
In a small room in the wizard's tower, Maka gently stirred the warm liquid in the crucible. At another table not far away from him, Hermione, who had helped him, was handing over a vial containing animal bile.
After waiting for a while, when Hermione also sent the dried scarab powder to Maka's hand, he suddenly raised his head and glanced at the pocket watch he placed on the corner of the table.
As you can see, the hour hand on the dial has pointed to the "1" position.
"Okay, there is no more material that needs to be processed next, so go to bed quickly! Just leave the remaining steps to me. There will definitely be a lot of things to do in the next period of time, so you have to have a good rest. "
After that, he continued to stir the liquid in the crucible at a steady speed with one hand, and slowly added the powder that Hermione brought over little by little with the other hand.
But beside him, Hermione did not leave immediately.
"Maka, I...can I talk to you?"
"Huh?" Maka quickly answered her, "Yes, yes... But, what do you want to talk about?"
"It's about what to do next," Hermione said hesitantly as she watched him patiently stir the potion. "Just like you just said, 'There are a lot of things to do next' - what are the specific ones? What’s the plan?”
Thinking that Maka had taken huge risks and survived the loss of strength today, Hermione knew that he would definitely start thinking about launching a counterattack against Haierbo again. After all, blindly defending and retreating is by no means a solution to the problem, not to mention that they have now reached a point of no return.
However, Haierbo's growing strength is also based on his increasingly powerful magical power. If Maka, who had regrouped this time, faced the opponent head-on, she didn't know how sure she would be.
Regarding this, in fact, not only Hermione, but everyone also wanted to know something.
"Plan?" Seeing Hermione asking about her plan, Maka couldn't help but pause for a moment, "I want to say that I haven't thought about it yet, do you believe it?"
"Believe it!" Hermione said decisively, "As long as you say it, I will believe it. But... if this is the case, wouldn't we be very passive if Halbo takes any unpredictable actions?"
I have to say, Hermione's words are still correct - she did hit the point. However, given the current situation, it is almost impossible for Maka to think of a set of interlocking response plans in advance as before.
At present, Maka has been forced into a "corner" by Haierbo's series of fierce pursuits.
Under the premise that it was difficult to capture Haierbo's movements, not to mention that now it has completely lost the ability to monitor, and even the degree of control over the status of various external forces has been reduced a lot.
With the current situation of extreme lack of information acquisition, if you still want to make plans or something, it will definitely be a very ridiculous thing.
It's a pity that at this moment of "taking one step back will mean death", even if you have to bite the bullet, you have to face the difficulties.
"Well, to be honest, I'm always grateful that you all trust me so much." Maka said, "As for 'passive' or 'active'... If you have to say it, this question is actually not that difficult. solve."
At this point, Hermione seemed to want to ask more questions, but Maka immediately shook her head. Then, he stopped what he was doing, pulled the stirring rod out of the liquid, and put it on the tray aside.
Then, he turned to Hermione and said:
"How to solve it specifically involves another question - that may be a more difficult choice for me, but I have to rely on myself to make the decision. Therefore, when I get the answer, I will talk to you again. Say it!"
Maka said so, obviously not wanting to continue discussing this point.
Hermione, who knew this, was still very curious... No, in fact, after hearing Maka's words, she wanted to know even more. But considering Maka's mood and wishes, she nodded slightly and said she wouldn't ask any more questions.
So, Hermione thought about it again, and then said:
"Then, in addition to the plan to directly target Haierbo that needs to be considered, you should also have other ideas to deal with it indirectly, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't say that you have something to do next."
Just when Hermione asked this question again, Maka raised the temperature of the flame under the crucible by another stage. As the liquid inside gradually began to boil, he finally picked up the lid and covered it.
"Yes!" Maka said after closing the lid tightly, "Of course, I also know why you want to ask this - you want to know what I plan to ask you to do, right?"
When Maka revealed what she was thinking, Hermione couldn't help but pursed her lips, as if she was a little embarrassed. Because she herself knows that this is somewhat of an "old problem" of hers, that is, she can never tolerate being in a state where she can only sit there and wait silently.
"Um."
Finally, Hermione nodded again and responded softly.
And soon, Maka smiled at her, and then said seriously:
"Although Hogwarts is not able to restart normal teaching for the time being, my 'private lessons' will be restarted here! I have some ideas and need you...especially you, Luna, Delphi, Ha Leigh and five Neville, plus Enns and Alexander...well, maybe Mr. Blois - I need you to learn more before you can actually do something for me!"
"Oh! Really?" When Hermione heard this, she finally couldn't help but whispered in surprise.
"Of course it's true," Maka said with certainty, "I have now clearly realized one thing - in the disasters that Haierbo can cause, my personal ability is always limited. Previously, because of the pressure of the other party, , we don’t have that buffer, but now we seem to have no choice... "
As he was speaking, he suddenly heard a slight "crackling" sound from the crucible in front of him. He immediately stopped what he was saying and reached out to lift the lid of the crucible.
Then, he stretched out his finger and flicked it inside. The boiling liquid immediately lost its heat and calmed down completely.
It was only at this moment that Maka nodded and said:
"Okay, it's time to go to Alexander and give him medicine... The sooner he recovers, the sooner I can have an outstanding student, right?"