"Then why are you even bringing it up? Like we were just talking about my -"

"Okay, I get it, stop! I misspoke!" laughed Donis.

"Alright alright, c'mon, we gotta make our way down to our resident chemist!" shouted Jimmy, turning the heads of the surrounding travelers.

"Hey Jimmy, I just wanted to say thanks, for all of today so far" said Donis, bringing his head a bit lower.

Not missing a beat, Jimmy threw his arm around Donis and brought him in closer. Donis could smell the alcohol off of him, but he didn't mind anymore, it was an almost pleasant smell at this point. A touch mushroom-y.

"Lad, don't worry. You've got a good head on your shoulders, you seem to be smart, and you seem to feel things. You'll get far in this business. The fact that you're not mercilessly killing these things and feeling nothing shows that you're the correct type of person for this job. Yeah it's hard, yeah it feels ruthless, but it's necessary," said Jimmy with a slightly faded smile.

"But.. why.. what would happen if we just left the swamp to itself?" asked Donis.

"Firstly, the higher leveled monsters would eventually kill off all the lower ones, reducing diversity, which would then reduce the diversity of nutrients for the vegetation that has adapted to feed off of monster carca.s.ses, which would then reduce the food for the Eco-system in total. Then, a dominating species would emerge and eventually grow big enough to then threaten us, and our towns," rattled off Jimmy as they walked, his arm still around Donis's shoulders.

"There's more to it than that, but to me, just keeping the balance of the area is important enough to warrant such a merciless job. In a sense, we're culling some lives, to let an even greater amount of lives continue. The only solace I've taken from it, is that they're even dumber than me," he laughed bitterly.

Jimmy turned Donis to himself, and looked him straight in the eyes, "So don't be so hard on yourself, accept it, and become stronger Donis. You can do this."

Sighing, and picking himself up a little, Donis nodded. A steeled look glazed over his eyes, "Okay, thanks Jimmy. For a constantly drunk man, you've got some wisdom to you."

"That I do, that I do. Don't tell the others though, they'll rip me to shreds," laughed Jimmy heartily.

The two continued in an amicably light banter towards the headquarters. Donis's heart felt a little lighter. He realised that the people here, while odd, mean no harm. If anything, they're closer to a dysfunctional family.

***

At the Grimbay [Monster Specialist] headquarters.

Donis and Jimmy continued inside the building, taking turns Donis never knew existed. Somehow the building was actually a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside. The way everything was situated confused Donis, there were far too many rooms with separate functions to fit inside this medium sized inn-like building.

The duo eventually came across a set of double-doors, which by itself wouldn't be weird but since everything so far has been behind a single door, it stood out. Jimmy stood beside the door in a prim and proper manner, holding his arm out across the door, with the other close to his chest.

"Welcome Donis, to the one and only Yyrthrubs [Alchemical] Workshop, the most eccentric and nerve wrecking place there is," said Jimmy as he swung the doors open.

What greeted Donis was like seeing the Academies [Alchemy] lab on steroids. There were machines that worked without human interaction, roots and plants colour and alphabetically organized, there were potions and pills strewn about. It was a room that was far far too large for this entire building, not only vertically, but it seemed to stretch for at least 30m in every direction.

The smell that wafted from within was nausea inducing, but at the same time reminded Donis of a hundred different potions being brewed at the same time. There were iridescent lighting coming from seemingly every corner, yet no bulb nor visual source of light. Pipes of unknown liquids were being pumped from one side of the room to the other. It was like watching a one man factory function at the height of production.

Yet there he was, a man with green skin. Though Donis would use the word man, it was closer to a humanoid with masculine features. He had 2 horns protruding from each side of his head, lightly scaly skin which glistened in the light and a stature of at least 2m. He wore a white lab-like coat but one that made room for his curving tail.

Shocked, Donis couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

'This is Yyrthrub? What even is he? Is this one of the other races on Erazar? Am I seeing a different humanoid race?' thought Donis, his mind whirring with the new possibility. Checking Yyrthrubs status netted him no extra info on whether or not he was seeing a new race, unfortunately.

[Name: Yyrthrub Vayylen]

[Age: 183]

[Level 152][22% EXP]

[Mana State: Aurora]

[Health: 4,200]

[Mana: 12,990]

[Occupation: Alchemist of Darkwater]

[Strength: 101]

[Perception: 100]

[Agility: 130]

[Intelligence: 169]

[t.i.tle: Unquenchable, Pill Master, Potion Master, Self Sufficient, Experimental Mind, Plague Manufacturer, At Deaths Door]

"Don't stare too much, he's just a lizard," whispered Jimmy.

Realising his mistake before Yyrthrub turned around, Donis righted himself slightly. Consciously making the effort to not let his mind devolve into a questioning mess.

As the man turned around, Donis was greeted with a lizard-like snout, beady black eyes and a what he a.s.sumed to be a smile. The two horns that protruded from Yyrthrubs face weren't the only horns on his face. The ridge of his snout was riddled with much smaller, duller looking horns that tapered off near his nostrils. The smile itself was far too teeth-y, that bordered a murderous look.

"H-h.e.l.lo!" stammered out Donis, reaching his hand for the [Alchemist]. Unfortunately for Donis's messed up mind, he was a few steps too far away from actually being able to reach the man.

Laughing, Yyrthrub walked up closer and shook the boys hand. It was scaly too, but with a much softer texture on the palm of his hand. Shaking his head mentally trying to rid his mind of the weird distractions, Donis focused back on Yyrthrub.

"Greetings human. Are you as idiotic as Jommy here, or do you have at least a modic.u.m of thought in that primitive monkey brain?" laughed Yyrthrub.

"Hey, the names Jimmy you d.a.m.ned lizardbrain," chided Jimmy.

"Yes, yes Jammers, whatever you say," sighed back Yyrhtrub.

"Uhm, my names Donis, pleasure to meet you Yyrthrub. I've been told you're the resident [Alchemist], and I was excited to meet someone of your stature! I'm actually a level-2 [Alchemist] myself!" said Donis with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Donner, how old are you?" said Yyrthrub with what could be called an inquisitive look.

"Uh, it's Donis, sir! I'm 15," replied Donis with a confused look on his face. How could the chief [Alchemist] already forget his name?

"Ah yes, sorry Donald. 15 huh? That's a mighty early age for a human to be a level-2 [Alchemist]! Are you sure you're not lying to me?" he hissed.

"Uh, no sir, I'm not! And it's Donis, just Donis. D o n i s, sir," Donis replied respectfully.

"Then you wouldn't mind a small test of mine, would you Dunmer?" said Yyrthrub as he walked over to a relatively clear table.

Looking at the table, Donis noticed it was made of silver and gold intertwining. There were 8 Blue Mana Crystals lining the legs of the table itself, and a single Purple Mana Crystal at the center of the table itself, all seemingly deactivated. It was a beautiful table, and definitely exorbitantly expensive. Casting [Inspect] on it gave him no details.

'That's odd. The last time [Inspect] failed was due to that box the headmaster had in the Academy. What's going on?'

"Uh, no sir, I'd love to partic.i.p.ate in any test you'd be willing to try. Of course I could only attempt the ones for my level, sir," said Donis, giving up on the idea that this man will remember his name.

"Well said Dinner, come, make me the potion [Basic Siphon]. Do you require the materials?" Yyrthrub said as he touched the table with one of his elongated black nails.

The Mana Crystals quickly lit up as runic lines spread from his simple touch to all the corners and crystals available. Beckoning Donis over, he grabbed his hand and placed it on the table itself. The moment Donis's hands touched the table, a rush of information gushed into Donis mind, explaining how to use the tables functions for all the necessary steps in processing the [Basic Siphon] potion. It would generate the perfect environment for the processing, it would create the tools of the highest grade, and it even sped up the entire process by 300%. It still didn't explain why Donis couldn't [Inspect] it, but it made his jaw drop.

"Uh, G.o.d sir, that's amazing! And no, no, I have everything on me, you don't need to waste your resources for this," Donis said with a hint of excitement rus.h.i.+ng through him.

"And what are the ingredients for the potion, hmm?" questioned Yyrthrub.

"Mindbug Blood, Powdered Vampire Tooth, Medicinal Powder, and Rosewater, sir."

"Good! Show me," Yyrthrub said as he sat down to watch Donis.

Without saying another word, Donis quickly got to work. The table itself seemed to know exactly what Donis needed at any given moment in the processing for the [Basic Siphon] potion, which sped him up even more, not needing to waste time in between tool changes.

Donis had never expected to finish the potion so quickly, it took him just under 30s. It was his personal best, a brand new record to create something this complex with such ease and speed. The table was magnificent.

"Well done Dylan. Your skills truly belong to the level-2 [Alchemist], you're officially a grade above the morons here. Don't let it get to your tiny brain though," said Yyrthrub as he walked over to the double doors.

"Ch.e.l.ly, show these two out please and thank you," he said into the ceiling.

"Who the fu-" Jimmy tried to ask right before two tree-trunk looking arms came out of the ceiling and threw the duo out the door.

"ck is Ch.e.l.ly…" said Jimmy face flat on the ground outside the door.

"She's my a.s.sistant," Yyrthrub said as he closed the door behind them.

While laying flat on the ground, Donis just laughed.

"I think I like him, but I'm not sure I like Ch.e.l.ly ahahah," laughed Donis even harder.

"f.u.c.k them both," Jimmy spat out.