Chapter 124: The Joy of Mass Production

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. Im sure hell forgive me. With a bit of luck, it might even be before he enforces our business contract and takes away everything I own. He wouldnt do that, would he?

Taking a deep breath, Kai opened the door. Im back.

Reishi sat on a table that gave his back to the entrance, so he couldnt read his expression.

Its been four days, todays the fifth, the merman punctuated each word. You said youd be back in three, at most.

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

I dont think I need to remind you what was written in the contract you signed. Ive 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.

Im 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 didnt you tell me? I could have helped instead of standing here like a fool, wondering whether youd been kidnapped by a siren or pirates.

Kai fiddled with the edge of his shirt. I Im sorry I didnt tell you. I truly didnt think it would take that long.

It all happened so fast, and he hadnt 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 youre 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. Ill ask around, you just stay put and warn me if youre going anywhere. The merman took out a notebook to scribble some notes.

That wasnt too bad. Who would have thought Reishi was such a sweet fish?

I imagine youre eager to recoup the time lost, Kai stood up. Ill get to work immediately.

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

Naturally, Ill 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. Ill need to adjust our whole strategy, and I dont work for free. Indeed, I should probably ask for more

One month is perfect, thank you for your understanding. Youre truly the best business partner I could wish for, Kai nodded enthusiastically. Ive also recently had a breakthrough in my race, you wont be disappointed.

Have you? Reishi squinted at him. I assumed you couldnt be Orange what kind of concealing are you using?

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. Ive 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, thats way more than I know.

Both methods must not give amazing results, Kai reasoned out loud. It probably doesnt matter as long as they can produce more Most people dont 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, Ill 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. Todays 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 didnt 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 hed need to fill 300,000 XP.

Why does it always increase by such a stupid amount? I cant 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, wouldnt 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. Youve 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 wouldnt find any fault.

Reishi scanned the room. And you didnt use the tools Ive bought for you.

They dont seem very reliable, and I prefer to use my hands, Kai wiggled his finger as if they werent 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 Ive underestimated professional alchemists.

Oh, I think theyre 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. Didnt you say we were a team? The better I do, the better for the both of us. Ill see you tomorrow.

Kai patted his back, vainly trying to hide his glee. Hed 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 couldnt have known. But its not like I didnt earn that.The roots of this story extend from novell bi?n origin.