Chapter 114 – Insei Rais the Cripple (1/2)
Chapter 114 –Insei Rais the Cripple
Nie Yan leapt off the ledge, descending the rock face, and proceeded to collect his spoils of war.
From the Leader class Kobolds, he obtained five pieces of Silver-grade equipment, each one for a different profession, Warrior, Thief, Mage, Paladin, and Priest, but they were only for Level 20s. By the time he reached that level, how could mere Silver-grade equipment possibly catch his eye?
He threw the equipment into his bag, before beginning to collect the money that dropped from the Kobolds. Confirming that he hadn’t missed anything, he began tallying his profits—twelve silver, which was a considerable sum.
Nonetheless, the main purpose of this trip had been to quickly increase his level. With that accomplished, He put his normal equipment back on and threw the Intelligence increasing equipment into his bag then retrieved a Return Scroll.
Twenty seconds laters, a brilliant radiance enveloped him as he was transferred back to the city. Before doing anything else, he checked the leaderboard rankings. Currently, the rank one player was also no higher than Level 9, the same as him.
The vast majority of players had yet to surpass Level 5. Seeing this, Nie Yan no longer felt the need to rush and raise his level. At least at the moment, his main priority was retrieving the second chapter from the Book of Order.
Suddenly, he received a call…
「Boss, I-I…」
「What? Speak up.」
「The materials you gave me, I ended up using them all for concocting, only…」Bird stammered nervously.
「Oh? So what were the results?」
「You can probably make back three silvers… I’m really sorry… it’s just that my success rate is really low…」Bird responded in a rather embarrassed tone. He understood full well that the alchemy ingredients Nie Yan had provided were worth at least ten silver. After diligently practicing, he had managed to burn through this supply in less than a day. Yet despite his earnest efforts, he couldn’t even recoup a third of the costs. No matter how rich his boss might be, Bird feared that such incompetence wouldn’t be tolerated by anyone.
「Head to the Alchemist Guild. I’ll meet you by the entrance.」Nie Yan sucked in a cold breath of air after hearing Bird’s results. Even incompetence should have its limits…Wasn’t this guy’s success rate a bit too low? If he had given the same amount of materials to any other Alchemist, although it would be unlikely to earn a large profit, at least he wouldn’t be making a loss! Just why were most of these material going to waste when they entered Bird’s hands?
「Alright…」Uneasiness had long crept upon Bird, as he even bordered on complete despair. It seemed this time around Nie Yan was probably going to fire him.
…
Bird impatiently paced back and forth in front of the Alchemist Guild’s entrance. Nie Yan had only just asked him to meet up, but he was already jumping to conclusions. He was definitely going to be given the boot.
Various Alchemists entered and exited the Alchemist Guild. Although their attires were varied, the vast majority had silver moon badges on their chests, a symbol of an Apprentice Alchemist. Occasionally, one or two Junior Alchemists wearing a gold moon badge could be seen as well. When one of these players passed by, an expression of envy could be seen on Bird’s face.
At this point in time, the gold badge on their chest represented a noble status. Within a guild, these Alchemists were highly valued because the pills, potions, tonics, and other concoctions they could prepare were extremely vital for the guild’s growth!
Generally, a large quantity of alchemy materials would be provided to an Apprentice Alchemist upon joining a guild but in exchange, they received none of the profits from their concoctions. In essence, they would serve as nothing more than free labour. On the other hand, when they were able to increase their proficiency in Alchemy and ascend to the rank of a Junior Alchemist, their status would soar by leaps and bounds. Once such a talent worthy of being nurtured was discovered, the talent would receive generous benefits, and from receiving no profit whatsoever, their income would suddenly become comparable to a white collar worker.
It wasn’t long ago that Bird also dreamed of such a leisurely position as a valued guild Alchemist. Though at present, he had already given up on such an extravagant hope.
Dark Hero, the guild Bird formerly belonged to, was a well-known name. Prior to Conviction’s release, they had long secured a strong presence in several other games. Although they weren’t big players in Conviction yet, they were nonetheless much more united than the average guild. The only reason they had made an exception and allowed Bird to enter their prestigious ranks was because he obtained a hidden skill. Though, after only several days, he was expelled because of his abysmal success rate. They quickly realized that if they wished to nurture such an incompetent Alchemist, who was devoid of any skill, it would take an unimaginable toll on their resources. Even though they were by no means poor, money didn’t simply rain from the sky into their pockets.
Why was he unable to accomplish anything, while there were many others who had already struck it rich in the game?
Since he only had enough money left to get by for a couple more months in real life, Bird felt an indescribable sense of urgency. Just as his circumstances were taking a turn for the better, after finding another backer who was willing to help him grow, he ended up messing up yet again. Reasonably speaking, every Apprentice Alchemist should have roughly the same success rates while concocting, yet why was his so low?
As Bird nervously paced back and forth near the entrance, he happened to raise his head and notice Nie Yan walking toward the building.
“B-boss…!” Bird awkwardly exclaimed, not knowing what else to say.
“Save it for later, let’s head inside first. Do you have your own workshop yet?” Nie Yan asked. The Alchemist Guild had many private workshops that players could rent for thirty copper a day, enabling them to work freely without being distracted by any outside disturbance. As for those who couldn’t afford to rent a private workshop, they would have no choice but to endeavor in the bustling halls of the Alchemist Guild, where the noise and clamor was likely to negatively influence their concocting.
“No, I don’t. Renting one is too expensive…” Bird responded. He was unwilling to part with so much money just for the sake of a quiet workplace.
Nie Yan headed over to the receptionist. The pine wood desk she worked behind was patterned with a rippling wood grain, giving it a sense of antiqueness and succinctness. The beautiful NPC who was wearing a blue flower dress went by the name Salania. Her eyebrows resembled crescents while her eyes were as blue as sapphire. She had a straight nose, and two locks of hair hung down from her shoulders with a ruby at each end. In every sense possible, she perfectly captured the essence of Viridian grace, and the game’s technology was able to present this fluidly, interpreting the word “perfection” with flawless accuracy.
“Hello, how can I help you today?” Salania asked. Her voice was akin to a nightingale, exceedingly pleasant to listen to.
Such a beauty would inevitably cause any man’s heart to start racing.
Though for Nie Yan, he had long become accustomed to these NPCs. Not affected in the slightest, he said, “I’d like to rent a private workshop.”
“What grade of workshop would you like to rent? There are common, fine, and luxurious workshops available to rent at thirty copper a day, five silver a day, and sixty silver a day respectively,” Salania responded.
“A common workshop please,” Nie Yan said. At this point in the game, a common grade workshop was already enough for any Alchemist.
“Isn’t this too much of a waste?” Bird cried out in alarm. This was another thirty copper going down the drain every day! Nie Yan had already spent so much money on him yet he failed to produce any results, a fact which made him feel deeply ashamed.
“It’s only thirty coppers,” Nie Yan selected a workshop and paid the deposit, before turning to Bird and saying, “Alright, let’s go.”
Bird followed Nie Yan from behind as they entered the private workshop.
Nie Yan scanned the area with his eyes. The workshop wasn’t large, only a five by five meter space. However, since early stage materials were still relatively sparse, it was more than large enough for preparing concoctions. Two glass cabinets filled with various potions flanked the left side of the room. The delicate crystal bottles contained red, blue, green, and every colour of liquid under the sun. Each bottle had a white label plastered on the side that stated its respective name and price. They were all provided by the Alchemist Guild, but they weren’t free of charge. Upon exiting the workshop, they would have to be paid for along with the rental fee.
In the center of the room was a large rectangular work table with various alchemy wares arranged on top of it.
“When you’re concocting, do you have a hard time focusing?” Nie Yan shot a glance at Bird and asked.
Bird recalled the previous times when he had been concocting. He realized there really was a dark cloud shrouding his mind, causing him to grow increasingly restless. His eagerness to accomplish at least something in Alchemy had negatively influenced his state of mind, which negatively affected his concocting to such an extent that his average success rate was only a mere three tenths of an average Alchemist’s.
“Yes, I think so.”
“It’s best to have a tranquil state of mind before you begin concocting. Shut everything else out and devote your heart to Alchemy. Only then will your success rate reach sixty percent, the standard for the average Alchemist. At the same time, the quality of your tools and wares also influence the success rate of your concoctions, where the highest quality ones will even increase it up to ninety percent. Starting from now, erase any distracting thoughts from your mind and focus solely on concocting. Go ahead and give it a try,” Nie Yan instructed. Although there were no high-level Alchemists yet who could impart their experiences upon Bird, Nie Yan had the benefit of coming from the future. His advice was the accumulated experiences of the Alchemists from his timeline, and he wouldn’t be shy in using this knowledge.
Nie Yan placed several portions of alchemy materials on the table.
“Yes!” Bird nodded his head, picked up a portion, and began processing the materials while taking Nie Yan’s advice to heart.
Perhaps it was because Nie Yan was standing right beside him, but Bird felt a little nervous as his handling of the materials became clumsy.
This is the Alchemy King from my past life…? Nie Yan wrinkled his brows. This doesn’t make sense! There’s no doubt the Alchemy King was named Bird Leaves No Eggs! On second thought… I guess this should be normal. No one becomes the Alchemy King overnight. He probably put in a lot of effort to reach that level.
“Doing any activity requires an absolutely calm mind. Don’t let outside matters distract you. If you’re going to be this clumsy every time you concoct in front of me, then you might as well beat it. Stop making a fool of yourself,” Nie Yan harshly chided, not holding back in the least. He had given Bird a chance; it was now up to him to firmly grasp it. If Bird still didn’t show signs of improvement, there was nothing left for him to do but boot him out of the door. No matter how much money he had in excess, he wasn’t willing to waste it on a useless Alchemist.
Bird felt like his heart was being stabbed upon hearing these words. Did Nie Yan have any reason to keep providing him materials to practice Alchemy? Definitely not! If he really did continue on this path of incompetence, just like the Dark Hero guild, Nie Yan would kick him to the curb without the slightest hesitation. Even if Nie Yan didn’t shoo him away, he wouldn’t have the face to stay. In fact, these sort of opportunities were exceedingly rare and he wasn’t about to let it go to waste!
Taking in a deep breath, Bird slowly calmed his mind and focused all of his attention on the potion bottle in his hands. As the medicinal liquid inside the bottle gently swayed back and forth a rich colour began to emerge. Seeing this, he tensed up while proceeding to the next step, which caused the colour to immediately fade.
「System: Concocting has failed…」
I still failed… Bird didn’t raise his head to gauge Nie Yan’s reaction. Instead, he absentmindedly stared at the work table that had ten more portions of alchemy materials set on top of it. There were only ten more chances left… If he didn’t manage to improve his success rate while concocting, then after using up these ten portions of materials, he would probably beat it even if he wasn’t being forced to leave.
If I fail this time around, then I’m probably just not meant to be an Alchemist. Maybe I should delete this character and start over and pick a combat profession.
Upon reaching this line of thought, Bird picked up the next portion of alchemy materials. He had nothing to lose, and only everything to gain.
“Hold the neck of the bottle and rotate at a uniform speed. You don’t need to exert too much strength…” Nie Yan had never practiced Alchemy, so he could only rely on the obtained information from his previous timeline.
Bird understood that this was his last chance and finally managed to solely focus on concocting. He was completely absorbed in swaying the bottle in his hand back and forth.