Chapter Fifty: Rank Promotion Exam 2
“Karen, don’t push yourself too hard.”
“I-I know…!”
After making thirty minor healing potions in one go, Karen staggered to the break room, drenched in sweat, and collapsed onto a bed. She was completely exhausted as if she’d just finished an intense workout. The sun had already set, and it was dark outside the window. In the dimly lit room illuminated by lamplight, Karen worked to steady her ragged breathing.
Even with Karen’s magical capacity, it was possible to make thirty minor healing potions in half a day. The question was how much of her magical power would recover in the remaining half day.
“Guild examiner! I’m finished!”
“Let me check… yes, they’re all minor healing potions. You pass. Congratulations.”
“Yes!”
He must have a considerable amount of magical power. A boy who looked younger than Karen received his passing grade from Natalia, collected his documents, and left the room triumphantly.
He had apparently completed fifty minor healing potions without breaking a sweat. With a B-rank level of magical power, that was possible, they said. But Karen was D-rank. She fell short of even a C-rank, which was considered barely acceptable for an alchemist.
“Need to sleep…”
After quickly wiping her sweat with a towel she’d brought, she collapsed onto the bed. For now, all she could do was sleep a little to recover her magical power.
Karen whispered this to herself and closed her eyes.
After a while, she opened her eyes to the sound of distant bells.
Her fatigue had eased considerably.
When Karen returned to the alchemy workshop, Natalia, who was sitting and reading a book, informed her, "That was the night bell just now." It was midnight.
Karen returned to her seat and opened the lid of the basket she’d brought. It was an egg sandwich with salty prosciutto and chopped cucumber pickles that provided a pleasant, crunchy texture. The mayonnaise and black pepper hit the spot, deliciously seeping into her tired body. The mustard she’d spread on the bread beforehand added a nice kick.
Her water bottle contained simple herb tea made from ingredients used in fatigue recovery potions. Bringing actual potions was prohibited. Though it had no magical effects, the ingredients should help Karen.
For dessert, she had honey lemons. She opened the jar lid and fished out a golden lemon gleaming in amber honey with her fork, eating it in one bite. Perhaps because she knew this sweet-and-sour taste would soothe her fatigue, even though it wasn’t a potion, she felt her exhaustion melting away.
After finishing her meal, Karen resumed making potions.
“Phew…”
Her speed in infusing magical power had dropped dramatically. The magic core embedded near her heart was almost depleted. They said magical power would recover with rest, but Karen’s reserves hadn’t recovered much at all.
Still, thanks to the alchemy cauldron’s magic conductivity, she managed to make a full cauldron of potion. One full small cauldron made ten bottles of potions.
That made forty bottles in total.
“Alright!”
Karen did some light stretches, then put a bottle’s worth of water and one medicinal herb into the alchemy cauldron and sat down. She no longer had enough magical power to make ten bottles at once. From here on, she would have to make them one by one, slowly.
She would continue making them while waiting for her stamina and magical power to recover.
Forty-one bottles.
Forty-two bottles.
Forty-three bottles.
As dizziness set in, Karen thought about heading back to the break room. But when she suddenly became aware, she realized she had dozed off. She quickly lifted her head and found it was bright outside the window.
“If one more incense stick burns, it will be the second bell.”
Natalia, sitting in a chair by the wall, informed her without being asked. It was around eight in the morning. Four hours remained. Time was limited, yet she had fallen asleep in such an awkward position. Having slept while sitting in her chair, she didn’t feel like her magical power had recovered at all.
No one else was in the room anymore. Maybe they were in the break room or had passed, or given up. Karen had no time to worry about others’ fates. She turned back to face the alchemy cauldron.
“Karen, you don’t need to push yourself. At this rate, you could probably pass next time with a better cauldron.”
“Yeah… you’re right.”
Taking this promotion exam had taught her something. The magical efficiency of an alchemy cauldron was indeed much better than a kitchen pot.
They had always been too expensive for her, but she wanted to save money to buy one, even if it meant living on water for a while. Karen could probably only afford a cauldron made of iron or copper coated with magic-resistant solution. But eventually, she wanted to save up for a cauldron made of magical ore. Someday, she wanted to try alchemy with mithril or adamantite cauldrons.
Come to think of it, what material was the cauldron she borrowed from the Ehlertt family made of? Looking back, maybe that cauldron was what made her potion dishes possible.
“You look like you’re having fun, Karen.”
“…Yes, it’s really fun.”
Karen answered with a smile while dripping with sweat. She might end up being the only one to fail. While she couldn’t say she felt no embarrassment at all, more than that, she wanted to quickly get her hands on a cauldron she’d come to desire through this new challenge and try out the ideas that kept coming to mind.
At that moment, an idea she could test right away suddenly popped into Karen’s head.
No comments:
Post a Comment