"You're thinking of going to look for a job at the alchemy shop?" Susan repeated.
"Yes, seems you have good hearing," Alex teased.
"You are ten years too young to tease me, boy!" Susan said, trying to hold a smile. She felt a fresh sensation — being teased by her kid was indeed funny.
"Well, the money we have is not going to last forever, even though if we spend it sparingly, it would last like fifty years. But if I want to go to a magic academy, I'll need more money," Alex explained after teasing her.
"Also, today is the promised day with Marc," he then said to her.
"Yeah, now that I think about it, you did indeed tell me that before," Susan remembered.
"Seems you also have a good memory." Alex took the chance and teased again.
Susan simply laughed and lightly punched his arm.
"You feel no shame, teasing your mom?"
Today marked the fifteenth day since the night they parted in the forest.
"So, if you have nothing to do, try keeping up with the training. Once you form your core, getting more elements in is easier.
"Also, before I go down, I'll share with you what I know about the wind element, since we share it. I'll periodically teach you what I know about them, but you'll need to practice to increase your proficiency."
Alex then explained to her what he had learned from the element of wind, saving water for when she actually learned it — if she even needed it. After all, she had lived longer, so she was bound to have a better understanding of the elements than him.
Susan, on the other hand, found herself happy to have discovered something she could do to bond with Alex, even if the reason they started this training was born of tragedy.
Alex also explained to her that, with time and training, mana would start altering the body of a mage — making one prettier and stronger as mana removed impurities from the body and extracted the potential from the genes.
Susan found herself listening seriously to this part of the explanation, and after he finished, she found herself wanting to quadruple her efforts. In the end, what woman in the world didn't want to be prettier?
After explaining to her other nuances — like the status window and whatnot — he left her to train and went downhill.
This time, he took the bag, as he still had the plants he had gathered in the forest to sell.
He reached the alchemy shop in ten minutes and went in.
As he reached the counter, he found it empty, with a ring on it.
He pressed the ring, and soon after, a voice came from inside.
"Coming!" shouted a masculine voice.
Not long after, a man with a grayish beard came from the back, carrying a box of potions with him.
"What do you need, youngster?" he asked politely.
"Ehm… do you happen to need magical plants?" Alex asked with the same polite tone the old man had shown him.
"Oh? And you happen to have what you think are magical plants? Show me, then." The old man was curious about what the youngster could have.
Alex started taking out all he had gathered in the forest, placing it on the counter before him.
"Oh, it's indeed a nice little collection of stuff you have there. Hmm… let's see — gravemint, water bead, and arcane moss. Not bad! They're all quite common, but that doesn't make them any less valuable — especially gravemint, since it's used in almost every common-to-advanced recipe, and arcane moss is used as the base of all tier 1 mana-related potions."
The old man was impressed. He had thought the boy had simply gathered some curious-looking plants and assumed they were magical, but he had actually brought all magical ingredients — and they were quite fresh, a week old at most, nothing like the one- or two-month-old plants he got delivered from the city.
"So, you want to sell these?" the old man asked.
"Yes, I want to know how much I can get for them," Alex replied simply.
The old man took a piece of paper and a quill and started calculating.
"Hmm… I could give you… one gold and fifteen silver," he finally told him.
"I'll be honest with you, young man, the reason for this price is quite simple. Besides selling potions, an alchemist's shop also sells plants for other fellow wandering alchemists, so I can't buy these plants from you for the same price I would sell them." The old man explained.
"O-okay…" Alex didn't know the nuances of negotiations and economy.
"Great, sit tight, I'll bring the money." He went to the back of the shop and came back a minute later with the money in hand.
After pocketing the money, Alex thought for a bit and, after gathering his courage, said:
"…Do you happen to also need someone to work?" It was Alex's first time asking for work, and he didn't actually know how to go about it.
"Oh?" the old man responded.
"Now that you mention it… lately I have been in need of someone to keep watch over the counter while I make potions in the afternoon," the old man began.
"So how about we strike a deal? You can watch over the counter in the afternoons while I make potions, and I'll pay you ten silvers a week — besides teaching you the basics of alchemy during the free moments," he proposed.
"Okay!" Alex was happy. He got the job, and while the pay was on the low side, he was actually going to get alchemy classes during the times when the shop was empty in the afternoon.
"Hoho, it's rare to see a kid so happy to have to work. You'll start tomorrow, from 5 p.m. to close — around 9 or 10 p.m.," he explained his schedule.
"Tomorrow I'll teach you the prices and where everything is placed. Then, until tomorrow — I still have a batch of potions to finish," the old man said and turned back to go to the back of the shop once again.
As Alex walked out of the shop and looked forward, he stood frozen in place.