Author’s note: It’s been so long… I hope I can still continue this fic. I really miss Royal Road. :(
Here’s a new chapter for you guys. It’s still raw so please bear with me ‘cause there’s no one to proofread my work. Ugh so pitiful peasant penguin.
Just point out grammar mistakes and comment if you like. I will gladly read it all. Thank you and hope you enjoy!
Mew saw Guard Roupert talking to Lucia. The atmosphere around them gave off a feeling of sweetness and closeness which clearly shows that there's really something between them. But that atmosphere vanished when they saw Mew enter the shop. Like a couple caught in the act, they immediately fixed themselves. Lucia slightly brushed her hair while Roupert cleared his throat twice.
Really… Great timing there Mew, he said resenting to himself for barging in so suddenly.
"..."
A sudden air of gaucheness fell inside the shop for a moment.
"Ah, M-Mew! What took you so long?" Lucia said stuttering a bit.
"U-Uh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt."
"I-Interrupt? No, no, we're not really discussing anything that important? Aha ha ha!", Guard Roupert tried to look cool and act like it's nothing.
"Yes! W-We are just chatting a little.", Lucia added, even though it's clearly written in her flushed face.
"..."
There's something missing… Yes!, Mew noticed something different about the way Guard Roupert spoke. He's not talking the way he usually does.
HA! He's trying to look cool and macho in front of Ma'am Lucia, isn't he?, Mew thought, amused. Maybe I can take advantage of this later on.
Mew doesn’t really care in whatever their business with each other would be. He was only amused by Roupert’s sudden change in demeanor which clearly shows the guard’s pretentious display in front of the lady.
"By the way sir, I thought you were in guard duty?"
"Ah, yes. I just dropped by to check if you're doing well in helping Mage Lucia here-ny- *Cough*.", Guard Roupert cleared his throat as if trying to cover something.
"Ny--?", Mew wanted to tease him a little but Guard Roupert cut his words.
"I HAVE to get going now milady and adventurer Mew! I'm sure they're waiting for me in the east gate now.", Roupert said with panic trying to evade Mew’s teasing words. “Well then, I’ll see the both of you around!”
Roupert said his goodbyes to the both of them. Mew let out a teasing smile as he saw Guard Roupert walked hastily to the door.
…
After Guard Roupert left, Mew greeted Mage Lucia. He noticed Lucia’s fretful action and decided to not pursue such a trivial event. Besides, he was just too excited to give the herbs to Lucia.
"Here's all the herbs you needed ma'am.", Mew said with a innocent smile in his face, as he handed the basket full of herbs to Lucia which broke the silent atmosphere earlier. "I'm sorry for taking so long."
"N-No, don't worry. It's not like I'm in a hurry or something and I know it’s wasn’t easy gathering these herbs.", Lucia said ignoring the embarrassing occasion earlier. She took the herbs out from the basket and at the same time putting them in their separate containers.
Familiarity with Mage Lucia increased.
Mew noticed the notification and let out a soft smile. He knew from all the articles and forums he read that each familiarity points is a big asset to his future here in this game.
"Ah, about the materials that I promised, I'll give it to you tomorrow," Lucia said.
She noticed that even though the young man is smiling, he is obviously exhausted. Lucia knew that on his way to the forest, battle is inevitable and anyone will be worn-out after a fight or two. So she told Mew to rest for the day and continue with his job and training tomorrow.
"You should rest for today Mew. After I put these containers away, I'll make you some dinner."
"Eh? I'm a little tired but I can still help you with the shop, ma'am", Mew said, he doesn't really want to trouble Lucia so he insisted on helping.
"No, just rest for now. Besides it's already late, so there won't be that much customers anyway," she said.
"Okay, thank you ma'am. But if you need something, I’ll be at my room so please don't hesitate to call me."
Mew went inside after Lucia shooed him away for him to rest. She really is thoughtful, Mew thought, while grabbing some of Lucia's books as he went to his room. While Lucia hadn't prepared the dinner yet, he decided to read a little and brought six books with him.
Two of them are about Ancient and Advance Apothecary; the other ones are about plants, herbs, medicine and one with no title on its cover.
Mew wanted to learn more about apothecary so he started reading the book, Ancient Apothecary. It was a thick hard bounded book which composed of more or less 500 pages.
He used his skill Quick Reading to speed up his pace. As he read through the pages, there are words that he can't understand, weird texts and illustrations of people fighting, dancing, eating, and drinking. But he only gave it a glance and diverted his attention to the texts he can vaguely understand.
…a special drink of the Gods prepared by extracting juices from divine plants and herbs, Soma, the spirit of immortality.’
That specific passage sparked Mew's curiosity. Above that text was an image of an unexplainable creature pouring something from a large chalice. Mew fixed his eyes onto that image for a couple of seconds.
I'm still amazed by all the details in these books. Even though these may be all made up, but to provide such detailed information makes me want to completely adore the people behind this game, Mew was lost in his thoughts for a moment.
"What if…", he mused.
Mew continued reading. He thought about the possibilities of finding it or even creating such a drink, and as to what exactly its effects to those who can actually acquire it.
We imbibed ourselves in Soma. Gift of abundance and perpetual life, we have attained the light, the Gods discovered--'
Mew was halfway thru finishing the book when Lucia called him for dinner. His focus broke and realized that Mage Lucia was staring at him with amusement. He hastily put away the book and went to the kitchen together with Lucia.
“Did the book interest you?”, Lucia uttered with curious eyes. She knew what Mew was reading and wanted to ask whether something about the book caught his attention. “You didn’t budge a bit when I called you a few times.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I was too absorbed in your book that I haven’t noticed you were calling for me.”, he reasoned.
“I see. Then, you should it first before you continue with your reading. I know you’re already hungry from your short trip earlier." Lucia said.
“Yes, please.”, Mew smiled.
Mew sat down, grabbed the spoon and fork, and took a bite. "D-Delicious!", Mew said, screaming with delight. "How did you make this so delicious ma'am?"
"Eh? It's simple," Lucia said, while smiling. "I'll teach you some time if you want to."
"Wreery? Ayd wob cho!", Mew replied with a mouthful of food. But he quickly swallowed it.
"Please teach me!"
"Now, now, don't eat too fast or you'll choke yourself."
They both shared their meal with joy, while Mew talked about his little trek in the forest earlier about how he defeated his first monster and how he scavenged the herbs he brought earlier.
After eating, he washed the dishes before returning to his room. He continued reading to where he left off. And after an hour, he reached the last paragraph of the book.
-------
This is only the beginning…
You must seek for what's been forgotten,
for the forgotten to draw close, and seek for you.
------
Is this some kind of message?, Mew pondered for awhile. "I should take note of this…"
You have finished reading Ancient Apothecary.
Intelligence increased by 1.
Wisdom increased by 1.
Mew also read through Advance Apothecary and gain some intelligence and experience on Apothecary. Additionally, his Quick reading and Reading Comprehension both leveled by 1 on the process.
"By the way Shun, thanks earlier. I'll log out for now so go get some rest too.", Mew said to the sprite sitting in his shoulders at the same time wondering if the sprite really do rest.
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He left the other books for tomorrow reading. He slept which triggered the logged out function.
Just in time for dinner, Mew sat down and ate. Though he just ate inside the game, it only made him think that he ate and was full. To forget that fact is crucial and will harm your body. Mew was of course aware of that.
In front of him were his parents Mrs. Merline and Mr. Andrew Cross and beside him was his 5 year old little brother, Aaron.
"We saw that you bought a strange machine last week and it looks quite expensive. Don’t tell me you spent all your savings to buy that?", his father pose an inquiring yet calm look. “What is it for anyway?”
"I did use my savings for that machine, dad. But it was because our school required us to explore this new technology called Virtual Reality. And to do that, I have to buy a capsule machine.", Mew reasoned.
"Virtual Reality?", Mr. Andrew asked. "I don't follow."
"Yes, dad. Simply speaking, it takes you inside a virtual space which is inside the game itself where you can actually do anything you want. So as I researched.", Mew explained briefly. His parents doesn’t know anything about online games especially VR gaming so he needed to at least give them the gist of it.
"Game? They want you to play a game?, his father uttered in confusion. “How can this help your studies? Ugh, Just make sure this Virtual Game whatsoever doesn't affect your studies, no?"
Her mother, Mrs. Merline, was watching the father and son exchanging words. She just chuckled silently in her husband’s fussy attitude.
“It’s okay, hon. Our son is responsible enough to know his priorities already.”, she said, interrupting their conversation.
“Yes, mom and dad.”, Mew said, agreeing to her mother’s words. He let out a soft chuckle realizing his parent’s still over protectiveness despite him being a college student already.
They talked about other things and after a while finished their meals. Mew washed the dishes quickly and went to his room afterwards.
He browsed for news about Royal Road, some tips and guides, and some forum topics. After an hour and a half, he felt tired and went to bed. Mew was obviously hooked in Royal Road and can't wait to login again so he set his alarm at 4:00 A.M so he can have more time to explore before his mom calls him for breakfast.
I should sleep now, so I can wake up early tomorrow and continue my quest!, Mew exclaimed in his thoughts before he fell into a deep slumber.
---
[4:00 A.M.]
Bzzt… Bzzt…!
Mew woke up straight away like he hasn’t gone to sleep at all; as he got up from bed, he tapped the clock and quickly went to the bathroom, switched the lights on and took his hot shower. It didn’t took him long to clean himself up and excitedly dressed himself in a long cotton pants and a dirty white shirt.
"All set!", he said with excitement then screamed in his head. Yeeah!
He went to his capsule like a child thrilled to play his favorite toy. Mew doesn't realize that, unconsciously, he is starting to get a little bit addicted to this game. Mew woke up for the second time.
But this time, he is inside Royal Road.
His eyes slowly opened and a familiar object hovered before him.
“Good Morning Shun!”
“Good Morning.”, Shun responded.
"9:28…", Mew checked the time. "Perfect day to learn Apothecary!"
He fixed his clothes and his bed head and went to the counter. He saw Lucia tidying the shop.
"Good Morning ma'am!", he exclaimed.
"Oh Mew, Good Morning as well!", the lady replied with a smile. "Hungry?"
"If it's your cooking, who won't be?", Mew replied with a short chuckle.
Lucia smiled. "Can you help me with this first so we can go grab a bite?"
Mew helped with cleaning. Dusted every cabinet and arranged the items with Lucia. Afterwards, they ate their fill and decided to start their first lesson about apothecary. Lucia brought out all the herbs Mew gathered yesterday, some flasks and bottles in different sizes, mortar and pestle, and some other materials essential for their training.
"Okay, everything's prepared! Now, let's start with making a basic healing potion.", Lucia said enthusiastically. "Are you ready?"
"Yes!", Mew exclaimed.
Lucia can't keep smiling as she saw the young man's interested expression. She felt for the first time the very feeling of being a teacher, teaching her student for the first time. Never in her life had she dreamt of sharing her knowledge to her very own student.
"First, we need five leaves of red herbs and two of that of the white herbs. Put them together in the mortar and grind them with the pestle..."
Lucia taught Mew how to make it step by step. Mew followed her instructions in order. He crushed and grinded the herbs smoothly, mixed them carefully, until the herbs became a red paste. He added a cup of water and let it boil for twenty minutes or so. And after a short while, he put the mixture into a bowl to let it cool down. Mew then poured it inside a small bottle and voila his first potion was made.
Basic Healing Potion acquired.It is proven to mend small wounds and bruises. Heals 40-80 HP for 5 seconds.
Basic Apothecary experience increased.
Lucia tasted the potion and gave her remarks. "You heated this a little longer than I told you, no?", her question startled Mew.
"Sorry, I don't know if I timed it right ma'am.", he replied. "Was it bad?"
"Heating it for too long will reduced its effectiveness and the taste will differ.", Lucia adviced. "You need to time it right and check its taste from time to time."
"But it’s not that bad, you just need to improve you timing", she motivated the young man a little bit. "Now, do this nine more times and make sure you finished it before I come back.”
"Roger that ma'am.", Mew accepted the task without batting an eye.
He repeated what Lucia instructed him to do. Mew crushed the herbs, mixed them properly and boiled them at a specific time, let them cool and transferred it to a proper bottle. Mew realized that making potions is harder than he thought it would be and it consumes more time than he expected.
I can't imagine how much time she spent from creating those high grade potions in her shelves. He thought, praising the mage’s dedication to this kind of job.
Three hours have passed and Mew is down to his last potion. He poured the contents out of the bowl unto his tenth bottle.
Basic Healing Potion acquired.It is proven to mend small wounds and bruises. Heals 60-100 HP for 5 seconds.
Phew! That's the best potion out of the ten, he muttered to himself.
Mew understand that if he can perfect creating potions and increase the healing rate of them, it will be of great use to him later or maybe save a life or two.
Basic Apothecary level increased by 1.
Wisdom increased by 1.
Art increased by 1.
---
Lucia came back and saw Mew already finished his task. She checked every potion that he made and found just small mistakes on it.
"A fine job for a first time", she praised him with expectations. "I'm sure you'll make better potions in the future."
"I will do my best ma'am", Mew replied.
"Now, why don't you take a break? I prepared us lunch"
Mew left his area for a while and joined Lucia for midbreak. They talked about potions mostly, how they can make it more effective, some tricks to add more value to it, and also about his next task.
"You will keep on making the same healing potions. But your goal this time is to create a potion that instantly heals."
"Is that possible?", Mew asked with curious eyes.
"Why not?", Lucia said, bemused. "You'll be surprised as to what potions can do."
“But before that, would you like to become my official apprentice? I could use your assistance in the future. That, if you’re interested in the art.”, Lucia inquired with expectant look on her face.
Mage Lucia offered you to become her apprentice and learn the ways of the Alchemists.Subclass: Greenhorn Alchemist
Type: Rare
Subclasses can only be changed by the same type or above.Would you like to accept?YesNo
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Thank you for reading!