'Yes, he still needs us!' the two thought at the same time.

Afterwards, they all came to a decision of 10 Erzi a week. It wasn't much in the grand scheme of things, and definitely not enough to buy everything he'd want to perform [Alchemy] with, but it would be enough to buy some of the worse quality ingredients.

"Sweetie, I'll take you out shopping with me tomorrow if you like, although it'll be early in the morning. Would you like that?" asked Morissa as she tucked Donis in his bed.

"Of course Mom! I'd love that, thank you," said Donis as he hugged his mom.

She kissed his forehead and left the room, allowing Donis some time to think about what he could possibly buy with 10 Erzi. He had no idea of the base concept of money here, but he a.s.sumed 10 Erzi wouldn't actually be much. Putting those thoughts aside, he wanted to figure out what sort of things he'll be able to buy and what potions or pills he could make.

He had a few really simple recipes already in mind, such as [Basic Health Potion] and [Basic Pill of Healing]. Both of them require incredibly common ingredients, and don't require much work to process. Their usages are very limited in the adventuring world, but for every day sc.r.a.pes or wounds it does the job well enough.

He learned of these from the sheets that Corvig pa.s.sed out. Yet none of the info he had received had prepared him for the upfront costs of anything listed. He was stumped, but that'll only last until tomorrow.

***

At the Market.

The shouts in the air, the intoxicating smells of the freshly cooked street food, and the chaotic atmosphere of a morning market never ceases to capture Morissa's imagination. She loved it here, felt almost at home at this point. Morissa held Donis's hand in hers and the two made their way across the many stalls that littered the pathways.

They decided that they'd hit up the Alchemical sections first, as Donis had no clue where anything would be, and would need time to orientate himself in this brand new aspect of life.

He was searching for three ingredients for the two items. He needed [Girdlily], [Rosewater], and [Bonepowder]. After searching some of the stalls he'd found that most places actually sold all three of them. Turns out [Girdlily] is a common flower that grows near rocks with iron deposits, which help the miners figure out where setting up a potential mine would be beneficial.

[Rosewater] was even simpler to get, as it's just water that has had rose petals infused into it by soaking it for a day or so.

[Bonepowder] was a bit of a variant. The alchemical sheet didn't explain what sort of powder he'd need, and he was stuck with a problem when purchasing it. Each vendor had different sort of [Bonepowder]. Some had chicken bones, others had [Monster Bonepowder].

The monster variant was slightly outside of his budget but he wanted to not forget about it when he came back here the next time. It was definitely going to be an integral part of him to experiment on everything.

As the morning market finished, Donis stored everything in his [Inventory] and made his way to the Academy. He'd hoped that he could use the Academies facilities and potentially lift some of the costs a.s.sociated with processing pills and concocting potions.

His morning cla.s.ses followed the same boring routine, of staying boring. At least Adel seems to be enjoying it. He kept on bothering Donis with his new revelations and abilities about magic and Mana. Donis could see the wonder and thirst for more in his eyes. He knew Adel would be a lot like him if given enough time.

Lunch came around and Donis only grabbed a small bite to eat. Luxurious as it was, he had more important things to worry about.

He walked up to Corvigs office and knocked gently on his door.

"Come in Donis," he said from somewhere in his office.

"h.e.l.lo teacher. I came in here for a small request!" said Donis as he opened the door only to find Corvig elbow deep in a chest filled with paperwork.

Seeing Corvig with his a.s.s up in the air made Donis reflexively laugh out loud. Hearing the boy laugh, Corvigs face soured lightly. Getting up, sighing, and motioning Donis to sit down alongside him, Corvig took out a gla.s.s and filled it with some orange looking juice giving it to Donis.

"So, what can I help you with?"

"I was wondering if I can use the [Alchemy] lab here to try out some of the stuff mentioned in the sheets you gave us, teacher."

"Oh yes of course, I may have forgotten to mention it to you all yesterday that the facilities are actually free to use for all students of the Genius cla.s.s," said Corvig while smiling.

"Oh that's great! I thought maybe I'd have to pay, but after paying 7 Erzi this morning for my items, I didn't think I'd be able to afford anything,"

"No worries anyway Donis, if there's ever something you really need, feel free to come to me. I don't want to see your studies being bogged down by small things such as fees. That goes to all the students, too," said Corvig.

The two finished their calm chat over a gla.s.s of what looked, and tasted like orange juice. Feeling refreshed and reaffirmed, Donis left the office in search of the [Alchemy] facilities. He thankfully had kept the pamphlet of all the facilities and schedules in his [Inventory]. It didn't take long to find the room, and it was breathtaking.

The room looked like something out of a witches wet dream. Cauldrons, Alembics, Mortar And Pestles the size of small dogs. Bottles and pills littering the tables, concoctions brewing, plants and leaves hung out to dry on pegs.

The smell of the place wafted through the hallway as soon as the door opened. It was strong, and medicinal in quality. Yet the sheer quant.i.ty of the smells seemed to make it almost like a physical experience.

Walking in he was greeted by some stares of the older students around him. Some with crazed expressions in their eyes, some with bored stares at boards with notes on them. But they all looked like they belonged here. Grey lab-coats adorned by all, some even wearing goggles to protect their eyes.

A man walked up to Donis, looked him up and down, and spoke with a slightly sarcastic tone – "Uh hey, kid. You lost or something?"

[Name: Klavell Taurant]

[Age: 15]

[Level: 6][0% EXP]

[Mana State: Wisp]

[Health: 89]

[Mana: 220]

[Occupation: a.s.sistant Alchemist]

[Strength: 9]

[Perception: 10]

[Agility: 8]

[Intelligence: 10]

[t.i.tle: Green Thumb, Potion Aficionado]

Donis not wanting to be looked down upon, yet also not wanting to spark any animosity, spoke with a gentle tone, "No, I'm actually here during my lunch to attempt some tests with [Alchemy] Level-0. I'm part of the Genius cla.s.s and I was told by Corvig that I am allowed to use these tools here!"

Even if the 15 year old in front of him matched him in strength, Donis knew he'd be able to probably outwit him. It gave him an air of confidence most kids his age wouldn't have. This unknowingly made Klavell slip out of his sour stupor.

"Oh sorry! It's just we've had a lot of new students coming in to have a look at what makes those weird smells. We've had well over a couple of hundred and are getting a little irate. Sorry, I apologise, the names Klavell, pleasure to meet ya."

"I'm Donis! And no worries, but I do have to bother you, sir, could you show me how to use the.. uh.. tools? To make the [Basic Potion of Healing] and the [Basic Pill of Healing]?" asked Donis faking his emotional distress to potentially play on this guys empathy.

"Of course, follow me, lemme show you around!" said Klavell with a proud look on his face.

As Klavell showed Donis around, he named all the tools for the making of the those pills. Explained how they're used and even showed a small demonstration to Donis, just so he doesn't hurt himself.

He'd first need to process the root by drying it out, via the ManBoosted Drying Rack. This actually reduced the final quality of the root because Donis didn't let the root naturally dry out, and because the ManBoosted Drying Rack wasn't of the highest quality. The high tier tools are only for those with the credentials to use them, which Donis didn't have even while being a part of the Genius cla.s.s.

The dried root then had to be pulverized using the mortar and pestle, slowly combining with the [Bonepowder] to form a cohesive off-white powder.

After getting the powder combination, he'd move to the press. Using the press, he combined the ingredients into a singular form, into a pill. If he had the minimum Mana State of at least [Breath], the process could be done faster, and the quality would be increased tremendously. Yet he didn't, so he was stuck with an [Alchemy] Level-0 pill.

A Level-0 pill didn't even register on the [System] as having a grade. Which stumped Donis, but after thinking about it for a while. If the whole process requiring the [Breath] Mana State only gave a Basic Grade pill, then not using any of those would be even below that.

[Pill of Healing - Level-0]

Effect: Heals for a flat amount of 10.

Yet he wasn't disappointed. It was successful, and it even actually had an affect. He knew that he could manage now if he really put some effort into. He wondered if he could sell it, or if it was worthless out there.

'Hmm, I do wonder. Yet I can't even think about selling these until I go out into the market tomorrow with mom,' thought Donis.

'Oh well, maybe I can scam some old fool with my cuteness.'