On the face of it, there hadn’t been any real reason that Sven would feel attracted to becoming an alchemist. Beyond the fact that it was clear that alchemists were by far the richest people in town.

  This was because, back on Earth, he had not enjoyed science. That wasn’t to say he had done that badly in science class, but he had just never found that it was a subject that clicked with him.

  Hence, in the ensuing five and a bit decades after he graduated, he had gradually shed any insight into the workings of particles, or the evolution of species, that his teachers had tried to bequeath to him.

  But, despite having been a precursor to science on Earth, alchemy in Empyria was different to science in almost every conceivable way.

  While the scientific method called for repeatability and peer verification, the alchemical method, if one could even call it that, implied that the product of alchemy necessarily differs from like items.

  The books that he’d read hadn’t bothered to explain why that was exactly, but they did hint that it had something to do with the esoteric properties of mana.

  Which, as far as explanations go, was beyond unhelpful. Being essentially sum-upable as “magic is mystical and arbitrary, deal with it.” But, it was the best he had so far garnered, so Sven could only run with that explanation until he found more advanced books to read which would hopefully clue him in a bit more.

  However, though knowing alchemical theory was important, the books he’d read also emphasized that all such knowledge was empty of meaning without engaging in the craft of alchemy itself.

  Only through practice, it was believed, would insight into the nature of the esoteric be unlocked as only through experience could one gain a feel for those aforementioned esoteric properties.

  Thus, once Sven felt as though he knew enough basic theory, he saved up a month’s worth of pay and, skipping out on any more library sessions he then purchased a bare-bones alchemy set.

  And, now, with today’s pay in hand, he’d have enough to pay for the last ingredient he needed to make the easiest potion for him to make - a potion of hunger-reduction.

  The potion was the easiest for him to make as the ingredients needed to concoct it weren’t that costly as most of them could be gained locally. Something that couldn’t be said of other potions.

  A sad smile appeared on his face as he thought over the reality that if everything regarding potion making went well for him, he’d likely no longer be able to, nor desire to, do the job that he had.

  Which meant he’d likely be saying goodbye to his co-workers, and the adorable young girl Emily, quite soon. A sad truth indeed as it had taken him a while to ingratiate himself with his colleagues.

  The ingrained suspicion his co-workers had toward foreigners had been a major stumbling block between them for the first few weeks. Yet, once Sven had shown them all he could contribute, and dazzled them with his old man charm, he had managed to win them over. Even if some still didn’t act normally when they were around him.

  Sven didn’t mind this slight awkwardness though, as he’d gone through the same thing as a kid. His disgruntled Russian parents having not bothered to teach him how to speak English.

  Furthermore, he felt that the distance was also a positive for him as it meant that he was given lots of alone time in which to think about all of the stuff he needed/wanted to do in this world to properly establish a new life here.

  Case in point, even though he’d been standing by the water bowl for more than five minutes, not a soul from the crew bothered to call him out or anything.

  Not wanting to push it, however, and also fearing the foreman might return soon, Sven returned a moment later back up to the roof of the building they were working on and resumed hammering.

  All the while his mind was full to bursting with an almost child-like excitement as tonight would be the night that he’d finally become an alchemist. The system also wanted him to get on with achieving his goal as it granted him a new quest.

  —

  Quest Gained!

  Quest Name: Humble Beginnings

  Rank: [Mortal]

  Objectives: [Create your very first potion (0/1)

  Reward:

  -The [Alchemist] Class

  -???

  —

  Sven couldn’t stop himself from shivering even as he moved closer to the old metal dixie pot that he planned on using as his make-shift cauldron.

  Due to obvious reasons, he wasn’t going to start a fire in his nice inn room, and so he’d had to go and find a spot somewhere outside the city where he could start his alchemical career.

  Which meant, unfortunately, he had to endure the freezing temperature of the desert in autumn in nigh total darkness beside the fire that he only just about kept alive with his mana.

  It hadn’t taken him that long to pick up the basics of elemental magic as all it required was that he will his mana to transform hard enough, but he was still proud of himself nonetheless.

  But, he pushed that pride aside for a moment to triple-check that he had all the items he needed.

  When he had confirmed with a nod that everything he needed was indeed present, he picked the mortar and pestle up, and then threw a few brownish thistle stems into it and began to grind.

  The mature desert thistle weed ground easily thanks to Sven’s enhanced strength, but he also had to be careful not to apply so much pressure that he broke the mortar.

  This made even the first step in the long process to follow a challenge as up till then, Sven had felt no sense of urgency in learning to control his strength, but now he suddenly had to.

  He quickly ascertained this reality and, having always been a quick practical learner, he learned the art of controlling his power was quite simple, he just had to keep his mana flow under control.

  With the thistle turned into a fine brown powder, Sven poured it very carefully into the boiling pot full of water. At this point, the true challenge of the brewing process began. The following steps tested both his speed, accuracy, and depth of his mind and his true level of mana control.

  Sven’s right hand began to glow gold as he floated it over the steaming hot pot and began to use his mana to keep the heat from just evaporating the water powder mixture.

  As he did this he had to count down in his head and when he reached zero, he thrust his left hand out and grabbed the chili-looking berry from the ground nearby and threw it in the pot.

  The mixture immediately began to react as the book said it would, which is to say, it reacted in an incredibly violent fashion, as the muddy-looking water in the pot devoured the red flame berry.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  This sort of reaction immediately began to put additional strain on Sven’s control as a foreign type of mana began to interfere with his control.

  But, Sven held strong. He kept his control over the pot and its contents firm. Until, at last, the last of the red flame berry’s spiritual energy was absorbed, making the water look more disgusting.

  If before the water had looked like diluted sewage, now it looked like… well… diluted bloody-Yeah, that was not a good image, and so Sven instantly tried clearing his mind of it.

  The brief lapse in focus, however, came back to bite him instantly as he was hit by a sudden burst of said interesting mixture right to the face, threatening to overwhelm his senses.

  Like a stoic hero enduring a thousand wounds and yet continuing to fight on, however, he forbade himself from failing his first brew just because the mixture had looked disgusting.

  He thus boldly reasserted his control over the heated pot as he pushed mana into the fire he had set up beneath the pot, making it roar as it began shifting colour from orange to blue.

  It was at this point that Sven began to regret his poverty as the metal pot began heating up to a point where it couldn’t handle it by itself.

  Which, naturally, added another thing that Sven had to aid by supplying his mana. Adding more mental strain onto his already encumbered mind.

  Pain and exhaustion began to pulse from his skull as each new second passed and the mixture in the make-do cauldron reached a whole new temperature and yet was prevented from boiling.

  Then, it happened. The liquid began to turn yellow, the signal for him to add the final ingredient.

  With his left hand, Sven began to probe his surroundings until he found the mug full of ale and he zoomed it over to the pot and poured in the alcoholic beverage.

  The potion’s recipe had called for alcohol, but Sven had no idea how one was supposed to distil a sample of pure ethanol so he had just decided to settle for a pint of ale.

  A choice he didn’t regret as the liquid began changing the way he wanted. Even if the mixture was not as bright as before. Potion brightness, according to the book, was a key sign of quality.

  Sven didn’t care about that though as it wasn’t his fault that he was poor in this world and as a result, couldn’t afford any better ingredients.

  All that mattered to him at that moment was that he was only a single step from success.

  After taking a huge gulp, and forcing a brief moment of mental over-exertion, he pushed all of his will into his voice and bellowed his first sacred word, “Concoct.”

  Sparks of golden energy instantly began to erupt from the mixture as Sven felt the huge weight, that just a matter of seconds ago had felt overwhelming, disappear completely.

  He let out an excited laugh before he began scrambling to grab the dirty glass bottles that he had bought to store his new creation in.

  Ignoring the resurgent cold barraging him from all directions in the form of a chilly gale, Sven got to work carefully filling each bottle until his now slightly malformed pot was empty of content.

  Then, being barely able to contain his curiosity, Sven made use of a skill he had the feeling he’d be using a lot more from now on. Analysis.

  The skill brought up a new blue panel for him to read as he also received a certain quest complete prompt which was accompanied by yet another damn pop-up.

  Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Sven let out a sigh before he made the call to just go through them one at a time. Starting with the analysis prompt.

  —

  [Potion of Hunger Reduction] - Rank: [Copper] - Quality: [E] - Drink to lessen your yearning for food, but only if you’re truly desperate, as this potion is full of imperfections and so will be more harmful to you than just waiting a few days or hours to eat normal food.

  —

  Sven’s eyebrow raised in pleasant surprise as he saw the quality of his first potion wasn’t [F] as the book had all but declared any beginner’s first potion would be.

  And, if he was being honest, that was all he cared about in the description as all the negative stuff was to be expected as he had had frankly terrible ingredients and gear.

  Which way why he was overall rather pleased as he lowered his gaze to look at the next prompt.

  —

  Quest Completed!

  Quest Name: Alchemical Beginnings!

  Rank: [Mortal]

  Objectives:

  -[Create your very first potion (1/1)]

  Reward:

  -Class: [Alchemist]

  -[(Iron) Novice’s Cauldron] - A crude steel cauldron designed to withstand the force of a novice alchemist’s first many failures at his craft.

  Claim items?

  -YES / NO

  --

  A small smile dawned on Sven’s face as he selected yes and a good-as-new cauldron, which had walls that were much shorter and thicker than his make-do pot, appeared in his lap.

  He then picked up the cauldron and put it to the side for now as he glanced at the final pop-up.

  This ethereal blue panel possessed content that made Sven both proud and yet at the same time determined that this would only be the beginning of his path.

  —

  Class Gained!

  Class: [Alchemist]

  Rank: [Novice]

  Stage: [Early]

  -Skill Gained:

  [(Mortal) Alchemical Sense (Early)] - You now possess a greater instinct for the alchemical craft, allowing you to better learn from your mistakes, as well as see potential opportunities.

  —

  Sven let himself bask somewhat in his pride for a moment as he read over the prompt before the elements reminded him he was still just a mere mortal, a gust of wind making him shiver in place.

  Taking this as a hint from the universe that he should get a move on, he scrambled to gather all of his things, before he hightailed it back to the city in the vain hope the gates would still be open.

  A hope that was crushed the moment the city gates came into view, Sven thus needed to weigh a couple of options, neither being particularly appealing.

  The first was to approach the guards who were on patrol and beg to be let back into the city, but he doubted the guards would bother for just him without some unpleasantness.

  The second was to spend the night out in the open desert in the freezing cold. A bad option for a few obvious reasons, but also by far the easier of the two to pull off.

  Unless that is, he was to be suddenly attacked by a desert crawler. Though, miraculously, he had so far yet to be the target of the infamous roaming spirit beasts’ ire.

  There was no way to guarantee that would continue to be the case, however, so Sven had to make his decision with that possible consideration in mind.

  Which, in retrospect, made it a rather easy choice between some unpleasant conversation and an unreasonable fine of some kind, or the potential to be eaten by a damn massive scorpion beast.

  His decision thus made rather easily, he strode down the dune and up to one of the guards.

  The unfamiliar man gave him a highly sceptical look as one of his hands moved to the pommel of the blade that hung at his side.

  “Hail, stranger!” The man then called out, his voice rough, “Identify yourself!”

  Sven made sure his frame was lit sufficiently by the torch the man carried in the hand that wasn’t currently clutching at a weapon, before he replied, “I am Sven. I currently reside at the Serpent Tail Inn in the Solomon district in the northeast part of the city.”

  The guard seemed to consider his words before he scanned Sven up and down with his eyes, and then he asked, “What are you doing out past closing time anyway?”

  Sven could sense in the man’s voice that if he failed to give a good explanation, he likely wouldn’t just not be spending his night in his bed, but possibly barred from re-entering the city entirely.

  Hence he decided to be truthful, “I was working on my very first potion and didn’t want to cause a mess inside the city.”

  The guard man’s eyes went wide as he stuttered out, “Y-you’re an alchemist?! A magician?!”

  Sven nodded, but before he was able to explain anything further, or even provide proof, the man in front of him bowed in his direction, “This one apologizes for his suspicion, sir alchemist!”

  Somewhat taken aback by the man’s sudden shift in attitude, Sven was hardly able to even get out a response before the man shot leftward and shouted at another man, “Open the gate! Now!”

  Sven was then awkwardly shepherded over to the rapidly opening gates where he received a big bow and apology from yet another guard who then implored him to enjoy the rest of his night.

  The sudden shift in attitude left him bewildered, even after he had long since cleared the gate.

  Eventually, though, he just shook off the odd encounter and his mind quickly got to thinking of all the things he now needed to do if he wanted to build off of tonight’s success.

  The most important thing to do was join the Alchemist’s Guild/Association.

  A goal that while it had initially seemed very intimidating to Sven, he now suspected would be far simpler than even some of his more obscure and unimportant goals.

  For, while the guild was rich and ostentatious, due to the relative lack of available resources in the desert that could be used in alchemy, the city suffered from an extreme alchemist shortfall.

  Yet, simultaneously, the city’s huge population, and more specifically the city’s decently large rich population, had an only growing demand for alchemical products.

  So much so that Sven had even heard that the guild was desperately trying to recruit people from other regions and other oasis cities to come to Narses to help them handle the backlog.

  Or else, the guild risked losing customers to the city’s famous cultivation sects. While they were known to charge exorbitant prices for their services, they at least didn’t seem to suffer from a lack of resources, or skilled alchemists.

  Hence, Sven believed, the Alchemist’s Guild would jump at the chance to enlist him as a member if it meant they’d be able to hopefully pawn off all of their lower-level jobs onto him.

  An arrangement that Sven was perfectly fine with as he’d spent not an inconsiderable number of his early adult life working in a company that operated on a similar premise.

  Plus, the jobs, even if he had no doubt they’d be tedious, would replace his currently meagre and not very impressive salary and then some, while also giving him more alchemical experience.

  Which, at a later date, he hoped would translate into independent success. But, as with nearly all things in life, Sven guessed only time would tell whether all of his efforts would prove worthwhile.