Taking the goods in his arms Johnson led James to a weathered old shed. It stood closer to the forest than the light house and had not been viewable before since it was down closer to the beach between two dunes.
"We process the materials here."
James listened to Johnson, but was really doubtful of his assertion. The shed was barely big enough for one person. Trusting that his master had more going on then he had originally assumed James trusted and squeezed into the shed expecting it to be extremely awkward.
Instead James found some stairs that lead down to an enclosed landing. The flight of stairs wasn't that long. About eight feet down there was a flat area. At the end of the landing there was an industrial elevator.
"Come on. There is a lot to show you."
Stepping into the elevator James became more and more impressed as the elevator went deeper and deeper into the bowels of the island. After a certain time he was no longer able to track how far they were below the ground. Mostly because he kept thinking they would stop when the elevator caught on some obstruction and slowed down. In the end James realized that there were no floors on this elevator ride only a top and a bottom.
"You are going to be spending a good portion of your day down here. Try to remember as much as you can."
This was what Johnson said when they arrived in a vast open space. Along the walls were various bins filled with what appeared to be different colored dust, dirt, logs of wood, bricks, vats of liquid, and tanks filled with who knew what. Between all the bins there were twenty open corridors that looked like they led off in all directions.
"I hate to break it to you kid, but you need to understand that I have many apprentices. The ones who have gone before you have earned the right to take over all this when I retire. So don't think any weird thoughts."
When Johnson saw James ogling all the resources his master made sure to set the record straight from the very beginning.
"I have them all out studying and learning on their own right now. Some will want to stay where they are. But some will be required to come back and take my place. Really it is SPAM that will decide all these things when the time comes."
"Master, it is okay. I am not worried about that at all."
Looking out of the corner of his eyes James saw the telltale signs of one of his mouse pets spying on him. As he said, for himself he was not worried, but when it came to the mice it was a different story. Johnson didn't know, but he had just led a whole society of mice right to a treasure trove of expensive things.
There we're only a few bins that had anything shiny or flashy, but James' nose told him that there were others that contained something good to eat.
"Great, now let me show you how to process all this."
Responding to James' spoken word and not his thoughts Johnson proceeded to walk down one of the the hallways. A few doors were along the left and right, but at the end of the hall was another large room. This one was no where near as large as the main hall, but it was still probably as large as the house.
Here Johnson found a table and putting everything down began to sort and separate out all the ingredients. Then he went to the various other tables and desks found tools or containers and one at a time began working with the many materials.
"See this? It is the only part of the plant we need. The rest can be thrown away."
"Grade this with a 5 millimeter grader like this. Make sure all the bark is removed first."
"These butterfly wings just need to be powdered. Don't do it with your fingers . These special gloves will make sure you get most of the powder in the bowl."
"This wood needs to be turned into charcoal. It's a very delicate process. Ensure an even burn and take it out just when the wood has smoldered for ten minutes for every 10 centimeters of length."
The instructions went on and on. At the end of which Johnson looked at James' sweating and desperate face and said,
"Don't worry the instructions are all written up there in that big book by the door. Haha!"
So relieved, James didn't care that his master made him sweat for an hour.
"Alright, now let's go to the next one."
Eventually James found that Johnson had specifically taken at least one material from the forest that could be processed in each of the twenty processing stations.
"Do you have a beast of burden pet?"
At the end Johnson asked one last question. It sent chills down James' spine. The last thing on his mind right now was contracting another pet.
"Ah, no, …"
"Oh, that is weird. I told them that I needed an apprentice with a beast of burden pet!"
Suddenly the atmosphere became really awkward.
"Hmm, SPAM didn't send me I came looking for you…"
The old man was obviously tired after a long day walking around and lecturing.
So James had to repeat himself,
"I found you. SPAM didn't send me."
This time Johnson was paying attention when James first started to talk.
"What? You found me on your own? You wanted to be my apprentice? SPAM didn't force you?"
It seemed like the old man had a hard time understanding this concept.
"Yes, I had no idea SPAM was doing anything. I contacted you on my own."
The explanation started to sink in.
"But why would you agree to do all this if you weren't being incentivized to do it?"
"Oh, well, I wouldn't mind being incentivized. But yes, I am just really in need of some help and you seem like the best person to give it."
"I am the best, … , kid, is your head alright? How long have you been Mana exhausted?"
His master went straight to the Mana exhaustion. It was a logic place to start.
"Yes, that is right. And I need to learn how to identify and read my pets."
James added.
"Okay, hmmm, well I am afraid I can't go easy on you because of your situation. But I will contact SPAM, they should at least give you something."
"Thank you, master."
Gratitude overwhelmed James' heart at the simplest of outcomes.
"Come on let's get out of here. Make dinner while I call the head office. We've had enough alchemy for one day. Tomorrow is soon enough to do more."
In complete silence they went back up the elevator and over to the house. One of the rooms had a radio station and Johnson immediately sat down and began lobbying with what he called the head office. Evidently SPAM was not of the attitude to provide incentives for activities or capacities that were already filled.