Emery got off the carriage and stretched his neck in an attempt to see the top of the three majestic buildings of the Apothecary Institute. The two buildings on the front were for the artisans and masters alike while the apprentice level had its own building behind the two.
Once he was inside, Emery walked up to a dwarf sitting behind a large table that had the signage receptionist on it. He then laid down the emblem, which had a triangular container and a number one on it, to the dwarf, and explained to the receptionist if he could see Master Grom.
The badge was enough to show Emery's association with the Apothecary Institute, but the dwarf didn't seem impressed as he unflinchingly told Emery the highly-respected apothecary alchemist was preoccupied at the moment. The dwarf also mentioned Master Grom had a busy schedule and if Emery wanted to meet with the master, he would have to make an appointment.
This made Emery frown. Based on how this receptionist had treated him, this dwarf sounded as if he was trying to shoo Emery away. Was it because he was a rank 1 apprentice, hence, this dwarf had taken it upon himself to block such meeting requests? Should he mention Magus Minerva's name? Emery remembered that the alchemist dwarf seemed to have fancied her… Thinking about it though, no that probably wasn't a good idea.
Magus Minerva seemed to be distant and quite different from how she had first introduced herself. Remembering Emery still had another person he could try to ask for help, he asked the dwarf receptionist if Cedric, his senior apprentice in alchemy, was still here.
The dwarf receptionist had a grumpy look at him as he pressed something and the floating cube appeared. He ran his finger down with what seemed to be a list. Once he had clicked on something, the dwarf turned his attention back to Emery and mentioned that Cedric was in the practice room on the fifth floor.
Emery still gave a respectful bow to the dwarf and proceeded to enter one of those doors that opened and closed on its own as well as go up and down after pressing which level he wanted to go to.
Ding! As Emery watched the door hissed open, he grabbed the edges of the door, feeling a bit lightheaded just like how the first time he had ridden this thing. It was only for a moment though for he got his bearings back already. He found Cedric among the many apprentices working on their concoctions.
Walking in the middle of the room, various kinds of scent, bitter, sweet, salty as well as a multitude of other things wafted into his nose as he made his way to the other side of the room where Cedric was stationed.
When he neared, Cedric noticed Emery's presence and appeared a bit shocked, evident by his furrowed brows before saying, "You… Your name was… Emery... wasn't it? I'm surprised to see you're alive and still in the academy."
Ignoring Cedric's remark, which sounded a bit offensive, Emery said, "Why is that?" with the intent of gathering as much information as possible.
"Well… if I recall correctly, you have a spirit aptitude of B with a quadruple element. That should've meant barely passing the required acolyte rank for your first time here. And as for returning, only those who have reached rank 5 are allowed back here. You must've worked extremely hard for them to consider your return since as far as I know, no one with that spirit aptitude, even less with your four elements, passed the threshold of returning back. In addition, I believe you're from a low world, aren't you?" Cedric said, laying down the potion he had been holding before looking at Emery with inquisitive eyes and adding, "I wonder what kind of secrets you have."
With just this single meeting, Cedric had deduced a lot. Truly, he was the smartest person Emery had known in this place. Nevertheless, Emery had no intention of confirming or sharing his experiences, unless forced to.
Emery answered with the most casual tone he could muster, "No secrets. Just fortunate, I'd dare say,"
"Fortune has favored you, huh. I wonder what kind of fortune have you received? Hahaha. So, what do you need, Emery?" Cedric said, gesturing to Emery to take the other open seat.
Emery took the seat and said, "I returned here the other day. We were told about the upcoming Magus Games in nine days. I'd like to know if you have any pointers or something you or the institute can help me with to win the games?"
"I see…" said Cedric, thinking. "I may have something. However, what is in it for me then?"
Last year, Emery had caught Cedric in a ploy to scam him. Fortunately this time, Cedric was being more straightforward and somewhat Emery appreciated this. Still, Emery decided to do something similar just to test the waters. He said "Well, aside from having my gratitude, you'll be known as a caring senior to his young junior."
Cedric snorted as he said, "Huh! I don't need gratitude."
Emery was half-expecting that. However, this seemed to have some effect on Cedric for he stared at Emery with great curiosity showing in his eyes. Cedric said, "Having said that though… ooh boy, Emery. I think there's something about you that's making me want to befriend you. For now, let's just say I want your fortune to rub on me."
Cedric smiled. He then started giving Emery some pointers but not about the Magus Games, rather how to get the help of the Apothecary Institute. Cedric mentioned that right now, Emery was still a rank 1 apprentice and hadn't contributed or shown any talent within the institute. That meant in the eyes of the institute, he was a nobody and not worth helping. This would be the case until he proved himself by increasing his rank or made an extraordinary achievement, which would give him more access to the institute's resources or help from the institute.
According to Cedric, the only way to increase the ranking was through the Apothecary exam, which was held only once a month. Unfortunately, the next one would be in three weeks. Cedric himself was an apprentice rank 4 and was preparing for his advancement exam to become rank 5, which would give him the artisan rank.
Since Emery wouldn't be able to do that, Cedric suggested that Emery practice making potions and see if he could make an original new potion. He would receive reward from the institute contribution point or spirit stone alike.
Emery then thought about the cleansing potion, healing and strength paste he had made in his world. He had them on the three items in his storage ring. Somehow, he hoped the healing paste would still be registered even though there was little left of it after he had used it on Morgana's wound. Emery took out the cleansing potion, what remained of the healing paste and placed one strength paste, placed it on the table and said to Cedric, "Let's try that then."
"Oh, you have some you want the institute to check? Alright, I also want to see what it is that you have made." Cedric then took him to the second floor, which didn't have any kind of scent like in the practice room.
Emery was getting a bit used to using the room, which moved up and down since he no longer felt as lightheaded as earlier. He then saw five big white stone panels including what appeared to be large diamond-like objects floating on top of it.
Behind the panels, which acted like a counter, there were a mix of humans and dwarfs, sitting and in front were a few other apprentices waiting in line, holding containers with varied colors.
Once it was their turn to present Emery's healing and strength paste, Cedric said, "Okay, place your prized potion here to be analyzed. Who knows, maybe a person from a lower realm will receive the highest authentication level and receive crazy amounts of contribution points as a reward! Haha.