And so began Alex's first day at work.
Truth be told, the alchemy shop's busiest hours were in the morning, when hunters and guards were on duty cleansing the jungle.
The rest of the day, Octavius simply dedicated himself to crafting more potions.
The reason he had hired Alex was to cover the afternoon shift so he could focus purely on crafting, as he had started to lag behind on requests.
Hearing the door open, Alex opened his eyes and stopped practicing Windgathering.
He took full advantage of any idle moments, never wasting even a single minute. Whenever he wasn't doing anything, he trained his mana gathering or mana control.
"Hello, kid. First day at work?" asked the man in armor."Yes, Octavius hired me yesterday. So, is there something you need?" Alex replied politely."Yeah, I'll need ten basic healing potions—six for topical use and four drinkable," the customer said."Sure, give me a moment," Alex answered, heading to where the potions were stored and bringing them back.
After placing them on the counter, separated by their type of use, Alex checked the price list Octavius had given him. When he saw the prices, he gulped.
'Sixty silvers apiece for topical use and seventy-five for ingestible potions?!' he thought, astonished.
He quickly grabbed another sheet of paper and started calculating the total, just as Octavius had done when buying plants.
"That'll be six gold and sixty silver, please," Alex said.
At that moment, he suddenly decided that he had to become an alchemist—even if it killed him.
'What an insane amount of money!'
"Hmm… a discount?" the hunter asked.
Before Alex could reply, a thunderous voice roared from the back of the shop.
"THERE IS NO DISCOUNT!"
It was Octavius. Alex didn't even know the old man still had his ears tuned to the front, or if he was just especially sensitive to the word discount.
"You heard the owner…" Alex said."…Okay," the man replied.
After taking the money and placing it into their respective boxes, Alex went back to training.
But not long after, he heard Octavius's voice again.
"Alex, if you have nothing to do, come here," he called.
Alex, of course, knew what that meant and walked into the room where Octavius was working, exited that he was about to learn alchemy.
Inside lay a multitude of instruments. Some looked fancy, others looked ancient.
As Alex approached, Octavius—without even turning to look at him—began explaining.
"Listen, kid. Alchemy is a process that's both simple and complex.The complexity lies in developing or perfecting a potion. You need to know which plants or minerals to use, understand their compatibility and properties, then test to find the best method and ratios to create it.The simplicity comes afterward. Once you've developed or perfected a potion and memorized or recorded it, all that's left is to follow the recipe—like cooking."
Octavius spoke at a steady pace—not too fast, but not leaving much room for questions. Fortunately, with decades of experience, he was skilled at explaining things clearly.
"There are various types of flora and minerals used in alchemy, and they're grouped into categories: Healing & Restoration, Toxic & Poisonous, Elemental & Reactive, Arcane & Spiritual, Reagent & Empowering, and finally, Rare, Ancient & Forbidden.
The last group mainly consists of ultra-rare or highly dangerous plants and minerals—hence the name. You don't need to worry too much about that one, since none of its common ingredients are native to this continent."
Octavius suddenly stopped speaking and turned to look at Alex.
"Any questions?""Yes!" Alex replied.
'Finally, this old man took a breather,' he thought.
"What kind of elixirs can one make with the last group of flora that makes them forbidden?"
He could understand Rare and Ancient, but Forbidden? Just what kind of disasters could be created with such ingredients?
"Well," Octavius said, "let me tell you about the most common plant in that category. Its name is Mirelily, and its properties are rot and decay. Rot isn't the main issue—but decay is.
If one exploits that property with the correct reagents, it's theoretically possible to make a potion that decays a person's mind, leaving them in a vegetative state. Combine that with the right use of the rot aspect, and you could make the poison barrier-proof.
I think you get the rest, right?"
Alex was stunned. Just the most common plant in that category could be turned into a nightmare potion with the right crafting. He couldn't help but wonder what the Ancient part of that category might produce.
"But don't overthink it, kid," Octavius continued. "If you're ever caught with forbidden plants or minerals, you'll end up in prison—or dead. Any other questions?"
"Aren't Ancient plants also rare? What's the difference between Rare and Ancient?" Alex asked, now that he thought about it.
"Hmm, using your head, I see… I didn't think you'd catch that." Octavius huffed, then explained.
"Rare plants aren't called that because of scarcity, but because they don't have properties—they have functions. For example, Bloodfern has no inherent properties, but it serves as a reagent in ancient blood rituals—rituals used by martial artists at the Master to Grandmaster realm."
Octavius finished explaining, then began showing Alex how to use the various instruments—stopping now and then to head outside whenever a customer arrived.
All in all, Alex grew more and more interested in alchemy and found himself wanting to learn how to craft potions himself.
'Sneaky old man,' Alex thought. 'You explained quite a bit, but you never once mentioned a single recipe you use.'
After a moment, realization struck him.
'Damn… am I being too greedy? Octavius's only way to make money is by selling potions, and here I am, trying to get his recipes.'
He concluded that if he were in Octavius's place, he wouldn't share his recipes either—so the fact that the old man was willing to teach him about alchemy at all was already generous enough.
And so ended Alex's first day at work. He was a bit tired, but happy nevertheless.