[Ancient Calendar: 7 April 0001]
Waking up the next day, Kai freshen up at the public bath and headed to work. Along the way, he stopped at the Kato Barkery and got some muffins.
"Thanks for the purchase." Alex's dad thanked him as he walked out of the bakery. After getting the muffins, Kai headed to work; munching on them along the way.
"Early again. But I get it, the Shop owner did increase your brewing list. If it continues at this pace maybe in a month or two you will be sleeping at the shop." Miya comments, as she saw the Human named Kai enter the shop.
"Isn't the shop owner trying to get me to sign the Tier 2 contract?" Kai spoke in a helpless voice as he took the brewing list from Miya and headed to his Alchemy room.
When he came to the Honey Pill shop to learn Alchemy, he signed a contract. The contract was simple and harsh.
[Contract for Alchemy Apprenticeship
Parties Involved:
- Kai (hereinafter referred to as "Apprentice")
- Honey Pill Shop (hereinafter referred to as "Shop")
Purpose:
This contract establishes the terms and conditions under which the Shop will provide alchemy education to the Apprentice in exchange for the Apprentice completing daily alchemy-related tasks.
Terms and Conditions:
1. Alchemy Education:
- The Shop agrees to teach the Apprentice all aspects of alchemy, including but not limited to potion making, herb identification, pill refinement, and other related skills.
- The education will be comprehensive, covering both theoretical knowledge and practical application.
2. Daily Tasks:
- The Apprentice agrees to complete daily alchemy-related tasks assigned by the Shop.
- The tasks assigned will be reasonable and will not exceed half the capability of an average Fairy without alchemy talent who has trained for the same period as the Apprentice.
3. Punctuality and Penalties:
- The Apprentice must complete each daily task on time, as specified by the Shop.
- For every delayed task, the Apprentice will incur a penalty. The penalty may include, but is not limited to, additional work or temporary suspension of training privileges.
- If the Apprentice accumulates ten penalties, he will be bound to serve as a slave to the Shop for a period of ten years.
4. Duration and Termination:
- This contract will remain in effect for a period of one year from the date of signing.
- If the Apprentice becomes a slave due to penalties, the contract will automatically extend for ten years, during which time the Apprentice will be bound to serve the Shop.
- The contract may be terminated before the end of the year by mutual written agreement.
5. Miscellaneous:
- This contract is binding upon both parties and can only be amended by mutual written agreement.
- Any disputes arising from this contract will be resolved through mediation by a mutually agreed-upon third party.
Signatures:
Kai Orin
Honey Pill Shop (Representative)
Date: Year 0, Month 1, Day 7]
Although becoming a slave for ten years sounded bad, he didn't think much about it back then. Because as the contract said, he doesn't even need to be half as good as a Fairy with no Alchemy talent.
However Fairies and Humans can't be measured in the same sense. Fairies use Soul Powers which make their brains more powerful enabling them to learn things faster. Aside from that, their power system makes it easier to succeed in Alchemy.
If it was any other person they would have long become the shop's slave. But Kai has good Alchemy talent. He learned how to make Basic Vitality Pills in a week and Essence Boost potion in two days.
Since then, he made a lot of progress and now the only thing holding him back is the [Herb Weaving] skill.
"Sigh* If I can't figure out a way to use Herb Weaving by the end of month, should I sign a second Tier contract?"
Entering his Alchemy room, Kai mumbled to himself.
Currently he has two options, one to figure out a way to use Ki outside his body or two to sign a second Tier contract.
Right now Kai is running out of time. If he can't figure out how to use [Herb Weaving] skill in a month, he couldn't be able to bear the workload.
If he can't complete the tasks on time, he will surely become a slave of the Honey Pill shop.
But the conditions of the second Tier contract wasn't something he could digest easily.
The conditions of the second Tier contract are similar to the first one he signed. The shop will give him a Knowledge sea and teach him how to cultivate Soul power.
In return he would be the subordinate of the Fairies. He would have to work at the shop for ten years and complete daily tasks assigned by the owner. If he failed to complete these tasks, he would become the slave of the shop for the next 100 years.
"I should focus on the present and worry less about the future. What's on the list today?" Motivating himself, Kai brought the small piece of paper near his eyes to read.
[Brewing List
Name: Kai
Date: Year 0, Month 4, Day 7
Task: 25 Basic Vitality Pills, 4 Strength Potions.]
"Eh, Strength Potion. Well I should finish refining the Basic Vitality Pills first." Reading the brewing list, Kai shoved it in his pocket and started making pills.
He activated his Heaven Gifts and followed the same process he always does. Kai spent around an hour making sure that the Sunlit Blossom doesn't explode and mix well with the essence of Whispering Fern.
After adding the Elemental essence, Kai didn't rest. Instead started preparing ingredients for the Strength Potion. The effects of Strength Potion and Essence Boost Potion are somewhat similar. Essence Boost Potion increases one's Ki for a certain period of time, while the Strength Potion increases one's physical strength.
He took four large Bloodroots and mashed them into a thick paste. Then he grinded a dozen dried Iron-leafs into powder and carefully placed them aside.
"It's about time." Looking at the furnace on the fire stones, Kai mumbled to himself. Sure enough, in a minute or so strong herbal aroma started coming out of the furnace.
Kai opened the lid, poured the paste into a mold and shaped the pills. In one batch, Kai made a total of 16 pills.
[Basic Vitality Pill
Grade: Low
Effect: +1 Ki
Description: A Pill for increasing Ki. Taking too many might lead to stomach problems.]
After checking every single pill making sure that there wasn't anything wrong. Kai cleaned the furnace and put it back on fire. 45 minutes later, Kai poured in the Elemental essence.
Putting the lid back on, Kai started preparing the ingredients for the second batch of Strength Potion.
About an hour, the refining of Basic Vitality Pills was done and he poured the thick paste into the molde, to shape the pill. Then he carefully started inspecting each one.
[Basic Vitality Pill
Grade: Bad
Effect: -1 Ki
Description: A Pill containing the raw essence of Sunlit Blossom. May cause severe stomach pain.]
"What?" After checking the first pill, he was shocked. How could he create a waste pill? Making sure there was nothing in his eye, he again inspected the bill.
[Basic Vitality Pill
Grade: Bad
Effect: -1 Ki
Description: A Pill containing the raw essence of Sunlit Blossom. May cause severe stomach pain.]
"How?" Now he was confused, then Kai checked all the other pills and the result was the same: they all were waste pills.
"This can't be, after my initial days I have never created waste pills." Knowing something was wrong, Kai started checking the herbs and sure enough he found the reason.