Chereads / Ascension Program: Alchemist Kai / Chapter 3 - Chapter 3: The Cherry Inn

Chapter 3 - Chapter 3: The Cherry Inn

Along his way back to the inn, he stopped at a bakery.

"Four chocolate muffins, please."

"Kai hasn't seen you all morning, where have you been?" A boy working at the bakery walked up to Kai and asked.

"Don't ask, I went to work early, hoping to finish early. But out of nowhere the owner increased my task."

As Kai complained, the boy packed four chocolate muffins for him.

"Enough about me, recently I heard you have been going hunting. Alex I don't doubt your abilities, but you should think about your parents. If an accident happens and you get injured, who would take care of them?"

Kai advised Alex, as he was aware of his family situation. His mother has been in vegetative state because of a car accident back on Earth.

To make matters worse, just last month his father lost both his legs while out hunting monsters.

"I know, I have to take care of my parents. But it isn't easy earning five gold coins a month running the bakery. If I don't do this, I will lose my mother." Alex replied in a low voice.

"sigh* If you need any help, you can come find me anytime." Saying so, Kai paid for the muffins and left the bakery.

Munching on the muffins, he arrived at the inn. Kai directly headed toward his room.

After resting a little, Kai took out a book titled [Principles of Herb Weaving] and started reading.

For the past two months, Kai has been trying his best to learn Herb Weaving. Every ounce of time he had, he would spend to decipher this skill.

Because for Alchemy this skill is very crucial, this is the line that separates real Alchemists from amateurs. However the problem is, [Herb Weaving] skill used by Fairies can't be learned by humans.

The reason behind this is very simple, both use a different energy system. Humans use Ki, whereas the Fairies overseeing the management of the Ancient World use Soul Powers.

Soul power can be easily manifested into the world, meanwhile it is difficult to bring your Ki out of the body without endangering one's life.

The moment Ki comes out of the body it will disperse into the air, leading to one's death.

To use [Herb Weaving], Kai needs to overcome two challenges. One, bringing only a small amount of Ki out of the body, so that he wouldn't endanger his life. Two, controlling the Ki when it's outside the body.

Knowing the risks involved, Kai has been reading all books on [Herb Weaving] trying to get some inspiration.

Unfortunately, uptill now Kai hasn't come across anything that could be useful. But he still hasn't lost hope.

Reading the [Principles of Herb Weaving] for two hours, Kai felt a little hungry. So, he put the book down and headed out to get some food.

"Should I eat at the inn or try some street food." While wondering to himself, Kai arrived at the inn's dining area.

"Welcome! What would you like for dinner?" As Kai entered the dining area, a Fairy came flying toward him.

"I would have the usual." Placing his order, Kai found an empty table and sat down.

"Hahaha Today was great, we not only killed an Elite Monster but also found a bronze Treasure Chest. I think this was the luckiest day this month. However, transporting that body was quite a hassle."

"Maybe we should pool our money and buy a storage bag. At the rate we are improving, in a week we should easily be able to hunt low level Elite monsters."

"Let's wait for the Boss to arrive, before deciding anything."

On a table across Kai, three men similar to his age were discussing the spoils of harvest.

"We barely survived today, if it wasn't for the new kid all of us would have died."

"Like you are the one to talk, it was your idea to attack Silver Wolves."

"My idea was to attack the cubs that wander off. But who would have thought that the moment we get foot in Silver Wolves territory we would be attacked by a whole squad of Elite Silver Wolves."

"Stop it you two, it doesn't matter whose fault it is. What matters is that we encounter a squad of Elite monsters and survive as a team."

To Kai's right, another group was busy

arguing.

"Have you heard, on the other side of the Talif Mountain there seems to be another town."

"I heard that the Scarlet party went out hunting on Talif Mountain and had an accident and were stranded on the mountain for days.

Although I don't know the details, it seems that they encountered some powerful Elite monster up there and to avoid it they had to go up the Mountain."

On Kai's right, gossip was ongoing. Seeing and hearing all this Kai thought to himself.

'Maybe I should also go hunting.'

Kai has never set foot outside the town ever since he arrived in this world.

He saw many of friends go out of the town but never return. Fear of losing his life before he can reunite with his family kept him from becoming a Hunter.

But in these past three months a lot has changed.

Although the Dark Forest outside the town is still scary, a lot of area has been explored. So, everyone knows which area is best suited for them. The fear of the unknown has been greatly reduced.

Best of all, everyone is working together. It isn't like before when encountering a powerful monster meant death.

Now, everyone who goes hunting carries a Call Stone, which basically works like a radio. If one encounters danger, he can ask for help from nearby Hunters.

'Should I try, maybe this way I could gather enough funds to hire an assistant.' As Kai was lost in thought, the Fairy brought his food.

Coming back to his senses, he looked at his food and the Fairies around him using the Soul powers, he felt envious.

'If I had Soul powers, I wouldn't be struggling with [Herb Weaving] so much.'

Kai didn't dwell too much on these matters and instead focused on his food. After eating, he paid and left.

Coming back to his room, Kai once again spends about two hours reading [Principles of Herb Weaving].

After that he slowly drifted into dreams.