After a brief conversation with his students, Mr. F sent them off to their rooms. He told them he had a few things to finish up in the lab, but in reality, he was more interested in discovering how the system would reward him. He thought about what he wanted from the system, and almost instantly, he received a response.
[The quest 'Assist Albert in successfully reaching the standards of a rank 1 alchemist' has been successfully completed.]
[The material rewards have been directly deposited into the system inventory. Please note that items from the system inventory can only be withdrawn and not placed back. It is recommended to withdraw these items only when you are ready to receive them.]"
Mr. F thought about his rewards, and his thoughts suddenly plunged into a vast, dark void. In this world, there was nothing except a soul, floating motionless before him.
"Interesting," Mr. F thought. "But how do I get out of here?" No sooner had he thought that, than he found himself back in his lab, as if no time had passed—a mere fraction of a second had gone by in the real world.
"What does the quest reward 'loyal apprentice' entail?" Mr. F asked the system. Did this mean Albert was now completely loyal to him?
[The reward 'loyal apprentice' in this context refers to Betty, who has now become the host's apprentice alongside Albert]
Mr. F was puzzled. What did this mean? When he received the quest, he hadn't even met Betty. And Albert becoming a rank 1 alchemist wouldn't have been enough to make him equal to Betty. "System, what does this mean?" he questioned.
The answer came immediately.
[The system can calculate the causality of the world to foresee certain events. By attempting to make Albert an alchemist, regardless of the rank, there was already a 100% probability that Betty would become the host's new apprentice.]
"That doesn't make sense," Mr. F retorted. "What if I hadn't completed the quest? Wouldn't Betty have still become my apprentice?"
[The system calculated that the host would have rejected Betty as an apprentice if that scenario had occurred, and the host had attempted to obtain the reward in the future.]
"But even if Albert had become a rank 1 alchemist, he wouldn't have been equal to Betty, so I wouldn't have been able to take her as an apprentice."
[By calculating the causality, the system predicted that the host would attempt to brew the rank 2 recipe after requesting the downgrade of the Mini Nitro Bomb. However, if the host had chosen the rank 1 recipe, there was still a high probability that Betty would have been impressed by Albert and become an apprentice anyway]
Mr. F wasn't sure if the system was truly capable of making such calculations or if it was simply pulling these explanations out of thin air. However, if the system was indeed a rank 12 spell, influencing causality shouldn't be a problem. But where did the rank 5 soul come from? Did the system create it out of nothing? Is that even possible?
As if the system could sense that Mr. F was pondering things that should remain a mystery, it responded again.
[Please note that a follow-up quest was generated when the host's apprentice was recognized as a rank 2 alchemist. Would you like to see it now?]
Mr. F was jolted out of his thoughts, finding it odd. What had he been thinking about just moments ago? He tried to recall but couldn't. He decided to investigate it later and instructed the system to display the follow-up quest.
[It has been detected that the host has two apprentices. Quest generated: Brew 500 potions with the help of your apprentices]
[Quest rewards: 1x Rank 6 Soul, 1x Improved Day Boost Recipe.]
When Mr. F saw the rewards, he was initially shocked, but then excitement took over. A rank 6 soul! He couldn't wait to see what effect this would have on his vitality. But he knew he needed to be cautious, as the soul possession issue was still a concern.
"What about the improved recipe?" Mr. F asked.
[For a rank 6 soul, different sub-materials are required. The system has determined that a new recipe is necessary for this]
"Does that mean I couldn't have brewed a new potion even if I had a rank 6 soul?"
[Most likely]
The system's answer puzzled Mr. F. "What do you mean 'most likely'?"
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
[The likelihood of the host obtaining a rank 6 soul before the follow-up quest was initiated is zero. Therefore, no exact answer can be provided]
Mr. F was taken aback by this response. Hadn't he already pondered something similar? But the goal of the quest was a bit confusing. What does it mean to brew 500 potions with the help of apprentices? What about pills? How involved do they need to be in the brewing process?
[Any action that assists the host in brewing counts as help in the process.]
This answer didn't clarify much for Mr. F, but he decided to test it out tomorrow. Five hundred potions was a large number and not something he could complete quickly. However, he had a feeling that the system had already made provisions for this.
With these thoughts, Mr. F left his lab and headed to his bedroom, already looking forward to the next day as he went to sleep.
...
When the next day dawned, young Albert had already jumped out of bed, eager to be the first to arrive at the lab. However, as he approached a junction on the way to the lab, Betty appeared and quickened her pace to get ahead of Albert. He didn't like this at all, so he sped up as well, trying to overtake Betty.
The two kept increasing their speed until they started running, even using magic to enhance their bodies to go faster. Sweating and out of breath, they arrived at the lab simultaneously, fighting over the doorknob to determine who would enter first.
"I touched the doorknob first! Get in line behind me!" Albert declared.
"Nonsense," Betty retorted. "I got here first, you just pushed your hand in front of mine."
People passing by stopped to watch, peering out of their own labs, wondering what was going on. But when they saw it was just two young people arguing, they returned to their own tasks.
"What do you two think you're doing?" they suddenly heard from behind. Both felt themselves lifted by the collars of their robes. They couldn't resist and saw Mr. F pushing them aside as he entered the lab.
"If you're done with your squabbling, you can come inside," he told them, closing the door behind him.
Betty and Albert exchanged glances, dusted off their clothes, and squeezed through the door simultaneously, slightly embarrassed.
Mr. F waited for them at the tables, where they sat side by side in front of him.
"Remember, you are both my apprentices, and I expect you to uphold my reputation. I don't want people to start talking about how I can't control my students."
Both stared down at the table in embarrassment, not daring to lift their heads.
"Today, I'll be assigning your work schedules. As you already know, I've been tasked with creating a rank 5 elixir for the lab on a regular basis. This is the Magic Gathering Elixir, a rank 5 potion that is most effective when consumed as a liquid to avoid wasting potency.
"I will begin by refining the brewing process in the coming days, and then I'll start producing the potion in larger quantities for the lab. This potion is used by the elite for training, and its effects last only a few hours before a new dose is needed, so the demand is particularly high. Our success rate in the brewing process will directly impact the number of work points we earn. Keep in mind that your direct cooperation will affect this. You'll also be rewarded with work points based on my success rate, so you'd better give it your all."
Albert was starting to feel bored with Mr. F's long speech, but when he heard about the work points, his excitement flared up. "But don't only rank 4 alchemists who run their own labs earn work points?" he asked.
"Indeed, that's usually the case. However, to give you both some extra motivation, I will be transferring some of my work points to you."
Albert could hardly believe the privilege he was being offered. Only his master could be so generous, he thought to himself.
Betty, however, raised a valid concern: "But Master, when will we have time to use the work points if we're working in the lab from morning till night?"
Albert listened closely, as Betty had a point. The work points wouldn't mean much if they couldn't use them. After all, they would have to wait until they were rank 4 alchemists with more control over their time.
"A very good question," Mr. F replied. "Let me first explain what your tasks will be in the coming weeks. For the rank 5 potion, we'll be working with four ingredients: a mana catalyst, the mana crystal of a rank 5 beast, fairy dust, and midnight roses.
"The fairy dust and midnight roses will be provided by the lab. The mana crystal of the rank 5 beast will need to be ground before the brewing process. Since Albert already has experience with this, he will take on this task for me. Although I will slightly break the crystals apart to help you, it will still take a long time to grind them. If there are any larger pieces left, it will reduce the potency of the potion.
"Now, Betty, you will be responsible for creating the catalyst. I have selected a rank 2 catalyst that borders on rank 3. Ideally, we would use a rank 3 catalyst, but that will have to wait until you feel ready for it. The rank 2 catalyst I chose can easily be modified to a rank 3 catalyst by substituting one reagent. The process remains the same but requires more mana. Practice with the rank 2 recipe until you feel confident, and then let me know. I'll support you in learning the rank 3 catalyst.
"Now, regarding your free time. I expect each of you to produce 20 units per day. I will only accept units that meet certain minimum requirements. For Albert, this means finely ground crystals. For Betty, a potency of at least 50% is required for the catalyst to be considered successful. Since your success rate with the catalyst will be low at first, I'll make my own at the beginning. Just make sure you reach a 20% success rate within a week. After that, you should be able to produce 100 units a day without any issues."
Albert wasn't yet sure what 20 units would mean for him, but Betty jumped up in shock. "A 20% success rate in a week, Master?! How am I supposed to manage that? And producing 100 units of the catalyst will take me all day! When will I have any free time?"
Mr. F understood her frustration but responded firmly: "A 20% success rate is the minimum I expect from my students after a week. If that's too much for you, perhaps I've misjudged your abilities. And producing 100 units of the catalyst is just the beginning. Once you're more experienced with the recipe, you'll be able to produce 80 units or even less with a 25% success rate. The amount of free time you have will depend entirely on your efficiency."
Betty wanted to protest but thought better of it. Most apprentices had no free time at all. Considering that Mr. F was theoretically allowing them to work on their own recipes, it wasn't such a bad deal after all.