First day of the eleventh month of the year 989951
Luther Robles was a mage apprentice from the blue light academy.
He was average, with 2nd-grade talent and a little hope of becoming an official mage.
With his 2nd-grade talent, he can become an official mage only with resources like the rank 0 'root mana' pill.
Luther was passionate about pursuing his mage path, so he asked his father, a duke from the Robles kingdom, to send him money to buy resources.
His father sent him gold coins, but in the Mage world, gold coins aren't worth much.
He put together everything and finally bought a bottle of rank 0 'root mana' pills!
"they say consuming pills in the full moon can increase efficiency." he thought.
It was his first time using these precious resources, so he wanted to get the most out of it.
Moon is a source of pure energy, and meditating when it's full is very beneficial.
He waited patiently in his allocated room, and when it was midnight, he went to the meditation room.
A small mana-gathering formation had been set up, so the concentration of pure energy was a little higher in the room.
He felt comfortable as the moonlight shone on his body in the meditation room with no ceiling.
Luther opened the bottle, took out one of the three pills inside, slowly put it in his mouth, and swallowed it.
Then he closed his eyes tightly and focused on his stomach.
Warm energy started to spread, and with his control, it entered his meridians.
After 10 hours, he finally opened his eyes, and his face lit up with a wide smile.
"It's so great to have pills! I wish I had been born into a mage family like Chris Barry. It isn't strange that he reached 1st-grade mage apprentice in three years! Thanks to his father's deep pockets, he can access all these pills every night!"
Chris Barry was widely considered a genius, reaching 1st-grade mage apprentice in 3 years.
But now, Luther realizes that it is normal for him to have higher speed; after all, Chris' father is a rank two mage, and he must have given lots of pills to his son.
The mage apprentice stage has three sub-stages.
3rd level mage apprentices are the most common. They only have a little root mana stored in their mana pool.
2nd level mage apprentices are the ones who can use some simple spells, and the root mana they have is much more than rank three apprentices.
1st level mage apprentices are the ones who have a chance to break through the official mage!
The title of Rank 1 mage, also called an official mage, is considered very prestigious.
Official mages can live up to 500 years. They also possess the ability to cast a rank one spell.
All in all, official mages are wholly separated from ordinary people and respected wherever they go.
Even nobles in mortal kingdoms have to bow their heads when they meet an official mage!
Becoming an official mage was Luther's dream! he wanted to return to his father's territory and take revenge on that woman who was his father's wife.
Every night, he thought of what he would do after becoming an official mage, and even often struggled over whether he should forgive his father or not!
Then reality hit, and he looked at the two remaining pills in the container and sighed deeply.
"with the help of these three pills, I may save a few months on my path to 2nd-grade mage apprentice! But still, it will take decades if I meditate without pills! No, I can't wait that long! I have to find a way to get more pills! My father probably won't send more money with that woman besides his ears."
After thinking for a while, he calmed down and decided first to use these remaining two pills, then think about other things.
…
Soon, it was the next night, and the full moon was still in the sky.
The moon was a mystery; nobody could predict when the full moon would appear or how long it would last.
There are many theories about the moon and how it works, but as far as Luther knows, they have yet to be proven.
Sitting in the meditation room, he took out the pill container and opened it when the time was right.
He placed his fingers inside and took out one of the three pills.
"wait, what?" he was stunned!
"I used one pill last night, and only two remain! How can there be three pills inside?" his heart throbbed as he thought of various possibilities.
"It can't be wrong! I only bought three pills and got three, so one just appeared out of nowhere!"
His eyes were hot, and he thought about everything but couldn't think of any possibility! Nobody is kind enough to put a pill in his container, and even if such a person existed, he would be afraid because he didn't notice any such thing!
"maybe pills split up, and two pills become three? Let's remove them from the container and place them in a transparent bottle. I'm going to observe them for a while." he thought.
He was cautious, so he decided to test it before using it.
He meditated without using the pills and occasionally checked the pills but found nothing out of the ordinary.
Soon, it was morning, so he got up and left.
He went to the library to research.
He thought of asking higher-ranking mages but immediately shook his head and rejected this idea!
If, by any chance, the pills he bought were treasure or anything valuable, those official mages and higher-grade appearance mages would snatch them from him, and he would have nobody to rely on.
Then, he would lose the pills, and even his life might be in danger!
The Blue light academy is righteous, but that is only the academy's policy and stance.
Luther knows for a fact that many people in the academy would do anything if it could help them advance in their mage path!
After finding nothing in the books, he returned to his room and took out the three pills, observing them to find anything wrong with them.
…
Soon, it was night again.
Luther went to the meditation room he had rented and looked at the sky.
It was a full moon.
Then he looked at the transparent bottle.
The three pills were at the bottom, with nothing abnormal happening.
"then where that third pill came from?"
He subconsciously took out the original pill container and looked inside, and his heart skipped a beat!
Inside the pill container, there was another pill!
He was so shocked that he almost screamed!
"Impossible! I checked it many times last night! There was absolutely nothing in it! unless…."
He was so excited that his heart was about to come out of his throat.
"This container is a treasure that produces pills! It must be it!"
Luther wanted to scream and jump up and down, but he suppressed it with difficulty and thought," I can't let anyone know! This is my chance! This is my luck! With this pill container, I can reach to official mage someday!"
His eyes shined with determination when he thought about becoming an official mage.
Unknownst to him, the pill container was also very determined now!
"I have to get rid of this guy as soon as possible!"
She was Rachel, a poor soul from Earth struck by lightning and transmigrated into this mage world.
Her transmigration wasn't like everybody else's!
She became a pill container that produces one pill a day!
Rachel was extremely frustrated in the first few months as she was trapped and could neither move nor talk.
She was terrified of everything!
The system in her mind explained this world to her, which terrified her!
She feared being discovered by a powerful mage and getting dissected, so she used her 'essential skills' to stop pill production.
The system would give her a new skill with each rank, and the skill for rank 0 was called 'essential skills.'
Producing pills, storing pills up to 1000, improving pill quality slightly, and a few other skills were all batched together as rank 0 'essential skills.'
The bottle was on the ground in a forest when she first transmigrated.
Then, she was found by a mage apprentice.
That guy was working for an official mage who makes pills, and he used her to store a few pills that he sold to this gut Luther.
As the previous guy was working for an official mage, Rachel didn't dare to produce any pills.
But after observing Luther for a few weeks, she made sure he was alone and weak, a poor mage who would keep her a secret.
But even then, Rachel was extremely unsatisfied with him!
His talent was abysmal, and his progress also slowed down her progress.
She could progress like everyone else, but the conditions are different.
She is a rank 0 magic treasure and can produce rank 0 pills.
The requirement for advancing to rank 1 is that 100 of her pills must be used by her host.
Then the host must be promoted to rank 1.
After those conditions are met, she would be promoted to rank 1.
But as she sees it, this guy would need 1000s of pills before he can reach rank 1!
"If it were someone talented to take these pills, they would be promoted by with a few hundred!" she sighed deeply and cursed at Luther.
"but at least he is cautious and keeps the secret; anyways, he is my only choice at the moment, and I can't risk giving him the poison pill." she thought.
The poison pill is another one of the 'essential skills' that allows her to produce a pill that kills her host.
However, using it in this academy is extremely risky as every death would be investigated.
She might be found out by official mages.
Other risks include a terrible reputation.
Nobody would use her pills if she became known as a cursed object that kills people!
"I'm stuck with him for now, so let's help him reach rank one as soon as possible."
She could produce one pill daily and only knew how to make a rank 0 'root mana' pill.
She can not produce any other pills.
The condition of learning to produce other pills is to have that pill inside the pill container for a moment.
If the pill in question is in the same or lower rank, she would automatically learn how to make them.
The produced pills' quality and properties would be a copy of the pill placed inside unless she improves it with her skills.
"but I can't tell this idiot Luther to get other pills and put them inside! That damn skill 'communicating with the host' wouldn't activate until rank 1!" she was frustrated.
There were other pills than the rank 0 'root mana' pill, but she didn't have them.
She knew this thanks to 'prescribing,' which is also part of 'essential skills.'
'prescribing' would give a list of useful pills for the host and how and in what order to use them, but she can't produce them.
She put these thoughts aside and looked at Luther.
…
Luther was usually very cautious, but he was exploding with excitement right now.
"I need this to be true. It might be deadly, and I might die if I consume this pill, but this is my chance! Without it, I might not be able to reach the official mage in my lifetime!"
He struggled but finally decided to take the pill and try his luck.
He took the pill, put it in his mouth, and swallowed.
Then he concentrated and began checking changes in his stomach very carefully.
Everything went without a problem; after 10 hours, he absorbed the pill without any problem!
"It's rank 0 root mana pill without any problem! With this, I may be able to become an official mage within a few years!" he was crying from happiness.
"I must not let anyone notice it! Even my speed of progress might make everyone suspicious, so I have to take missions outside the academy and go to mortal lands so nobody notices. Anyways, with this container, I don't need the energy-rich environment of the academy." he thought deeply.
He sat there for an hour and thought about many plans before leaving and returning to his room.