Elydes

Chapter 124 - The Joy of Mass Production

Kai stood in front of his lab, his hand dithering an inch from the lock, key firmly in his grip. He had already sent word of his return to Reishi, which left little doubt about the identity of the two glowing figures waiting inside.

No way to avoid it. I’m sure he’ll forgive me. With a bit of luck, it might even be before he enforces our business contract and takes away everything I own. He wouldn’t do that, would he?

Taking a deep breath, Kai opened the door. “I’m back.”

Reishi sat on a table that gave his back to the entrance, so he couldn’t read his expression.

“It’s been four days, today’s the fifth,” the merman punctuated each word. “You said you’d be back in three, at most.”

Jiro closed the door behind him. The guard stood stiffly, giving him a pitying glance.

“I don’t think I need to remind you what was written in the contract you signed. I’ve been accommodating to your needs. If you think that means you can do whatever you like, I think there was some miscommunication,” the merman turned to look at him, his eyes cold like his tone. The lack of anger only made Kai more guilty.

Damn, I fucked up.

“I’m sorry,” he meekly took a seat across from Reishi. “The Republic found out my master was gone, and I had to go deal with it.”

“Did they give you any problems?” His tone lost some of its edge, heating with a welcome note of irritation. “And why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped instead of standing here like a fool, wondering whether you’d been kidnapped by a siren or pirates.”

Kai fiddled with the edge of his shirt. “I— I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I truly didn’t think it would take that long.”

It all happened so fast, and he hadn’t wanted to write anything compromising on paper. Those were excuses though. He could have found a way to be clearer if he really tried.

“Which is why you need to tell me when these things happen,” Reishi scolded him, moving a palmed hand over his face. “Sometimes I forget you’re still a child.”

The remark hit him like a slap. Kai rose in his seat ready for a remark before deflating.

I guess I deserved that one.

Reishi stared him down before continuing. “So, how did it go with the Republic? Are they going to become a nuisance? I mean, more than they already are.”

“Oh, I think I got that handled,” Kai puffed up with pride. It had been a well-executed plan given the circumstances.

Reishi gave him a long look. “Do you think, or are you sure?”

“Quite sure, they would have done something by now otherwise, right?”

“Yes, probably… The governor is known for his decisive actions. I’ll ask around, you just stay put and warn me if you’re going anywhere.” The merman took out a notebook to scribble some notes.

That wasn’t too bad. Who would have thought Reishi was such a sweet fish?

“I imagine you’re eager to recoup the time lost,” Kai stood up. “I’ll get to work immediately.”

“Stay where you are,” Reishi's attention snapped back on him. “We still have to discuss compensation.”

“Naturally, I’ll make up for any shift I missed and do an extra one whenever you prefer.”

“For the whole month.”

“What about—”

“One extra shift for the next four weeks. You are in no place to bargain,” Reishi gave him a dangerous smile. “Your disappearance right as we were beginning operations threw my plans in disarray. I’ll need to adjust our whole strategy, and I don’t work for free. Indeed, I should probably ask for more—”

“One month is perfect, thank you for your understanding. You’re truly the best business partner I could wish for,” Kai nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve also recently had a breakthrough in my race, you won’t be disappointed.”

“Have you?” Reishi squinted at him. “I assumed you couldn’t be Orange ★… what kind of concealing are you using?”

After a moment of consideration, Kai took off Virya’s amulet. If he was going to practice Alchemy without holding back, it was only a matter of time before Reishi deduced his attributes and grade.

A flash of surprise crossed his blue eyes, leaving behind a calculating look. “Mhmm… I see… Can I see that pendant? The craftsmanship looks interesting.”

I’d bet. Virya rarely took an interest, but when she did the mage wasn’t one for half-measures.

“It’s not for sale,” Kai specified before letting go of the simple metal disc. Even with Mana Sense, it would appear like a plain iron amulet. Only after pushing enough mana into it, would it start to reveal its secrets.

The merman accepted the artifact with a delicate touch, thousands of tiny threads probed the object as he activated a skill. His brow furrowed in concentration and confusion.

“I don’t think I’ve met this enchanting style before. Where did you say you got it?”

Kai rolled his eyes. “I didn’t. It was a gift from one of my teachers.”

“I wish I could have met them. Concealing your grade is easy,” Reishi fixed his own enchanted clothes. “But that’s obvious to everyone. Creating a disguise that doesn’t look like a disguise. Now, that requires some real skill. How about you sell it to me after it stops working?”

A jolt of panic flashed through Kai. “What do you mean?”

Did I miss something?The enchantment looked more durable than anything I made.

“Oh, I mean when you reach Yellow. This pendant won’t work after you advance. I’m pretty certain it’s designed specifically for Orange.”

Could Reishi be lying? The truth would be easy to confirm once he reached the next grade, so that wasn’t likely. He could also simply ask Moui to check.

This is probably what Virya wanted. Though if the enchantment always makes me look at the beginning of Orange, it wouldn’t work for long anyway.

“When the time comes, I’ll come to you first if I want to sell it,” Kai put the amulet back in its place, around his neck. “You better prepare a convincing offer for this unique piece of equipment.”

“Go brew your potions,” Reishi showed his pointy smile. “This conversation doesn’t count towards your shift.”

“Yes, boss. I’ll go slaving away for your glory.”

The merman scoffed at his antics. “We're a team. And I need something to sell to make us both rich. I’ll see you later.”

Yeah, you’re the paragon of generosity.

Alone with Jiro, Kai read the list of what Reishi expected him to do today.

That’s ambitious… At least he didn’t chain me to the desk, though Jiro is standing suspiciously close to the door. I’m sure it must be a coincidence.

The woodworker had delivered the new desk while he was away. A low reinforced table covered by a polished stone layer. The metal monstrosity he would use to brew had already been placed on it.

Kai had outlived the size of the testing cauldron. The silver cask couldn't contain batches bigger than seven or eight doses, depending on the recipe. Reishi wanted him to begin creating usable goods as soon as possible. He’d start with batches of twenty to thirty healing potions, and slowly work his way along the rest of the list.

It was time he confronted that hunk of metal. It looked like one of those cauldrons witches would use in stories—the fact a small child would fit snugly inside didn’t help its case. Up close, the levers, dials and knobs gave it a mad-scientist vibe instead.

Perusing the instruction manual helped him make sense of all those unknown features. Most were used to control the heating enchantments in different areas. Keeping track of the internal conditions over such a large volume would be the main challenge and the reason behind most of its functionalities.

All these enchantments to solve the problems that its size creates. I’m sure Dora would hate the lack of efficiency.

Practicing Alchemy this way seemed more about mastering the tool than anything else. No wrestling with the ingredients to push his capabilities. The research and passion that Dora always emphasized had been lost somewhere along the way.

I suppose there must be some value in mass production, and it’s what I signed up for. If nothing else, new challenges always make skills grow faster.

As Kai sorted enough ingredients to brew fifteen potions in neat rows before him, he realized another problem. Mana herbs began decaying as he cut them. With so many sets to prepare before he even started the actual brewing, any tiny mistake could mean a significant loss of properties by the end.

Thank the spirits I just got a boost.

The challenge became a welcome chance to test his improved attributes. Snapping his fingers, Kai played all the steps in his mind. Once he began, he couldn’t dither.

With all his knives, pestle and sieves ready beside him, it was time to see how far the upgrade had pushed him. His hands danced quick and precise, slicing, mashing and squeezing the herbs for all they were worth.

The gurgling mixture inside the cauldron proceeded smoothly. Spirit had grown his mana reserve while Mind improved his control. It would take a few tries to maximize his efficiency. For now, smashing through any obstacle worked just fine. He would settle for nothing less than perfect quality today.

Speaking with Jiro during his lunch break, Kai realized the reason why Reishi brought all those bizarre tools to process the herbs. He could simply pass a lushstalk through a press to squeeze out the juices instead of doing it manually. Without keeping track of the internal mana structure, the result would be inferior, but still many times faster.

What would I learn if I let a machine do the work?

“Do other alchemists all use these?” Kai asked.

“This is not my field of expertise,” Jiro said, struggling over whether to eat the fried squid Kai bought for him. “I’ve only visited an alchemy lab twice and briefly. One used them, the other master had a team of apprentices taking care of the preparation.”

Well, that’s way more than I know.

“Both methods must not give amazing results,” Kai reasoned out loud. “It probably doesn’t matter as long as they can produce more… Most people don’t even know the same potion can have widely different effects depending on the skill of the alchemist.”

Jiro nodded his agreement. It seemed the man had decided that refusing the food would be ruder than eating it. He chewed slowly to reduce the crunching sound of the fried squid.

One meal at a time, I’ll buy your loyalty. Muhahaha!

In a good mood, Kai got back to work. The twin brothers were put to full use as assistants, disposing of the scraps and carting ingredients back and forth.

Now that he had begun production, his workdays would be counted by the potions he brewed. The faster he finished, the better. Today’s goal was 200 healing tonics in eight hours.

He would get faster with experience, but Kai wanted to finish on time. By the eighth hour, he had to Empower his hands to keep them steady. His mana prodded the energies of the last batch to coalesce in a perfect whole.

Slowly controlling the cooling of the cauldron, Kai distilled 24 doses. One had been consumed to maintain the quality, but it didn’t matter since this made 203 potions.

Kai fell back into his chair, exhausted. After staring intently for hours, even his eyes hurt. He massaged them and almost moaned in pleasure when he turned off his skills. Without the drain of Mana Sense, Mana Manipulation and Inspect, his mind could finally relax.

I might have underestimated this thing a little. Thank the spirits I got Orange ★★★.

Alchemy had reached level 43. It was the fastest improvement he had had in the last three years. With the jump in stats that was to be expected, he would probably gain two or three easy levels in every skill below the first milestone.

It was a nice head start, the first steps after each upgrade were always the easiest. Unfortunately, Yellow was a marathon, and no amount of sprinting could bridge the gap. He got a headache just thinking he’d need to fill 300,000 XP.

Why does it always increase by such a stupid amount? I can’t believe Red ★★★ was just 40,000 and I thought that was a lot.

The increase was a little less than doubling in Orange.

If it were easy, everybody would do it, wouldn’t they?

Kai flopped on his sofa resting his legs on the coffee table. When the door finally opened, he waved at the merman, without any intention of moving from his seat.

“I think we should consider hiring some apprentices.” Reishi started before noticing his sprawled form on the couch. “You’ve already finished all 200 of them, right?”

“Yep, 203 to be precise, all perfect quality. You can check.”

The merman went to inspect the boxes Jiro had helpfully filled with the green vials. No matter how long he looked, he wouldn’t find any fault.

Reishi scanned the room. “And you didn’t use the tools I’ve bought for you.”

“They don’t seem very reliable, and I prefer to use my hands,” Kai wiggled his finger as if they weren’t cramping just an hour ago. “I think perfect quality should be our thing. Easy enough to brand.”

“You finished in under eight hours on your first day,” Reishi looked like he had eaten a sour lemon. “Maybe we should revise the estimates on production, clearly I’ve underestimated professional alchemists.”

“Oh, I think they’re pretty accurate, and I know what was written in the contract. The numbers have been decided, no second thoughts now,” Kai stood up and started gathering his things to leave. “Cheer up. Didn’t you say we were a team? The better I do, the better for the both of us. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Kai patted his back, vainly trying to hide his glee. He’d been trained by the best of the best, of course, he needed to be at least this good.

For once, he had come out on top in the negotiations.

Okay, I got lucky with the timing of my enhancement, and he couldn’t have known. But it’s not like I didn’t earn that.

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