"Didn't I say be out by five." Hovering near Kai's head, Miya said in a bossy tone.
"I don't remember there being a rule like that?" Kai asked, wondering why he had to be out by five.
"You didn't read the rule book did you? The working hours are from 7am to 5pm." Miya reminded, before yesterday Kai never worked for more than four to six hours. So, usually he leaves before the end of working hours.
Yesterday, Miya didn't disturbed him because she thought he was taking leave for a few days and let him work extra hours.
"What, since when?" Although it's true, Kai never read the rule book, but he never heard that there were working hours. If it's true then he is cooked.
"Since this shop was established." Miya replied.
"Then what will I do if my workload is high and I need more than ten hours to complete." Knowing that in two months, his brewing list would have increased to the point Kai would have to work more than ten hours.
"Then you will just have to rent the Alchemy room. It isn't expensive, just one silver an hour." Miya repiled, naturally as an Alchemist shop they rent out Alchemy rooms.
However this is just the beginning of the Ascension Program and people are still exploring. It wouldn't be long before they settle down and learn real useful skills.
There are also Alchemists trained by different Alchemist shops, whose contract will expire in a nine to ten month; wouldn't they also need Alchemy rooms to perform Alchemy.
"What? One Silver coin for an hour!" Kai exclaimed, one silver for an hour was too expensive. Working for the Honey Pill shop, he earns about four Gold coins a month.
Deciding all his daily expenses, his monthly pay isn't even enough to use the Alchemy room for thirty hours.
"You are just an Apprentice Alchemist so you think this is expensive. Once you master a skill like herb weaving then earning money is as simple as moving your hand." Miya said, as an official 2nd Rank Alchemist she can refine a batch of Basic Vitality Pill in under five minutes, while it takes Kai two hours.
Even if she only refines 10 Basic Vitality Pills in a batch, in an hour she can make 600 pills. From which she can easily earn eight to ten gold coins.
This is for just entry level pills, refining higher rank pills and potions can make more money.
"Will I even have the chance of becoming an Official Alchemist?" Kai mumbled under his breath.
"What was that?" Miya asked, as she saw Kai's lips move.
"Nothing, just let me clean, I will be out in a few minutes." Not willing to argue, Kai said and started tidying up the place.
"Then finish quickly, I will be waiting for you." Saying so, Miya left the Alchemy room.
Kai cleaned the place, put everything where it belongs, and made a list of all the herbs he used. After leaving the Alchemy room, Kai handed over the pills and potions he made as well as the list of herbs used.
"Here you go, now you have 993 Honey points." Miya handed Kai his employees card and reminded.
Taking the card, Kai didn't speak a word and left the shop.
Along the way, Kai fished out the tiny rule book he was given when he joined the Honey Pill shop. After flipping through many pages, he found what he was looking for.
"It's true, the working hours really are from 7 am to 5 pm." Reading the page about employees working hours, Kai tossed the rule book back in his storage pouch.
"If I only earn 35 Honey points daily, it will take me four months to gather enough points. But can I continue at this pace?" Kai thought to himself.
Although four months isn't long, what worries Kai is the increase in the brewing list. If the list only increased two more times then he would have to spend at least eight to ten hours just completing those tasks.
Then he wouldn't have any time to earn Honey points and one more increase would lead to him becoming a slave.
"Can I use the Alchemy room on Sunday?" An idea came to Kai's mind and he once again started going through the rule book.
After going through the rule book, Kai didn't find anything mentioning that employees can't use the Alchemy room on their day off.
"Counting the Sundays, I can probably earn enough points in three months. However, will the brewing list increase again?" Thinking about the increase in the brewing list, Kai started to feel a little pain in his head.
Not thinking about the worrying matters anymore, Kai headed toward Kato bakery, to get the dose of dopamine.
"Kai, this makes it twice." As Kai entered Alex greeted him again. He knows a little about Kai's abdication to sweets.
"Get me some muffins." Kai spoke in a tired voice. Yesterday he was physically tired, however today he is both physically and mentally tired.
The sword of becoming a slave is leaning over his neck and no matter what he does he can't escape.
"What happened? You look tired." Alex asked, as he saw Kai's tired expression.
"It's the contract I signed. It seems in a month or two I will become a slave." Kai said, trying to empty his heart.
"You mean the contract you signed when you went to learn Alchemy?" Alex asked as he remembers Kai talking about the contract he signed at the Honey Pill shop.
"Yes, that one. The workload keeps on increasing and I can't find any way to use herb weaving skills. Current tasks take about six hours to complete. In two months I won't be able to complete the tasks assigned to me." Kai spoke with helplessness in his voice.
"Why can't you use Herb weaving skill?" Alex asked, as he handed two chocolate muffins to Kai, wondering what's wrong. Didn't Kai use to brag about how talented he was in Alchemy.
"In simple terms Herb weaving skill uses force like Ki or Soul powers to extract the essence of herb. However I don't have Soul power and whenever I try using Ki outside my body it dissipates." Kai answered while munching on muffins.