I began my day trying to learn how to cook breakfast. Rose tutored me on how to cook. With a book I borrowed from the library on one hand and tongs in my other, I felt like a MasterChef. Sadly the same cannot be said for the taste. But according to Rose, it is still edible compared to what she had before. That does not sound very assuring to me.
After breakfast, it was my turn to tutor Rose in training. I brought Rose to the blacksmith to find a weapon suitable for her. He recommended her to use a rapier due as the weight is more suitable for her body size. However, she will need to be much older until she have enough strength to wield it one handed. Until then, wooden sword it is. I am not familiar in using a thrusting weapon but I trained her all the same. Swing a set amount of times a day, have a short sparring with me and then continue swinging until your body is exhausted.
Although I suspected that Rose's parent did trained her before. Her stats are not low to be honest. She is an all rounder in the stats department which I will be curious to see what guild they will recommend her. She also told me that she perhaps did some basic training when she was around five. Her memories were overwritten with all the other horrible things that happened to her after that.
I have faith in Rose that she will succeed in the guild's initiation test despite only a few months of training. I wonder if she will be stronger than me in the future as her stats are so well balanced. As for me, my skill training is going... horribly. Cooking alone barely increased my skill stats. I went fishing to try to further increase my skill stats. But seeing as my fishing skills was so horrible, only managing to catch at most one or two fishes, I turned down the idea of continuing that path. So what's next? Time for baking. I almost destroyed our kitchen with my horrible baking skills. Rose patted me on the shoulder and told me to never ever do any sort of baking in my life ever again. I thought of depending on cooking alone but after about three months, my skill stat only increased by one. I need to find something else quickly.
All I have left are construction or doing medicine. Construction is out of the picture as it takes a lot of time. The guild will fire me if I don't do at least one quest per week. All that's left is medicine. I have to try it out as cooking alone is way too slow. But where do I even begin? Is there someone in the city that practice medicine? I am certain there is some that do. Otherwise where do we get our few potions from?
I sought out to find Miss Angelica, wondering on whether she knows anyone that practice medicine. To my surprise, she does. One of her close relative practice medicine, although it is mostly for curing sickness. He does not create potions or medicine for combat purposes. I'll take all the help I can get. Better to start somewhere than nothing. Curing sickness or diseases is useful when travelling to another city or continent. It will be good knowledge for me even if I sucked at it. I pleaded for her approval to have her relative teach me in medicine and she said that she needed to ask for permission first. Thankfully her relative agreed to help train me and I can go very the next day.
I headed to the clinic in question. It was a small clinic but I was not picky. I headed in and was greeted by a male that look like he is in his forties.
"Ah, you must be Zen, come in, come in," he said.
"Yes sir I am, I am here to learn about medicine if possible," I said while standing straight.
"May I ask why? Just for curiosity," he asked.
Should I tell him the truth? Will he be asking why I am trying to increase my skill stats when other people in turn do not bother about it?
"I.. am actually trying to increase my skill stats for a purpose," I said to him.
He looked at me stumped. Then he chuckled and laugh. Did I said something embarrassing?
"Since you're a relative of my niece, let me give you a hint. Come closer," he gestured me to come closer until my ear is directly next to his mouth.
"If you wish to increase your skill stats quickly, you will need to practice Alchemy," he whispered to me.
Huh? Am I going to be a wizard or something now? Is medicinal practice the same as alchemy?
"What do you mean, good sir?" I asked him.
"All you need to do is to purchase as many ingredients as you can from the medicinal shop and start combining together. If the end product tastes good, chances are you found something that benefits you. Bad taste end product de-buffs you while no taste end product might give both benefits and de-buffs. I've made a short list on what I have tried before. It is not much as ingredients are quite expensive to purchase in the first place so I was not able to dive into it more. You will also need a lot of stat scrolls as you will never know what each potion does to you. So, unless you're not loaded, don't even think about starting this hobby," said the man.
"I guess I do have some spare change to try out. But if it really is the best way for me to increase my skill stats then I must try it," I said to him with conviction.
"You remind me of when I was younger. So eager to try out the unknown. Alright, I'll give you another hint seeing that you are so eager to try it out. Head to this shop and tell her I sent you. She'll probably give you some discount but do expect the price to remain steep," he said.
I bowed to the man giving him plenty of thanks before heading out. The shop name is 'Pink Carnation'. I believe I saw it somewhere not too far from the library before. Time to head there then. I have a few gold coins in my pocket which I assumed was enough. Otherwise I still have grandfather's 150 gold coins hidden in the forbidden forest. I hope I don't run myself dry before achieving at least thirty-five skill stats.
Time to find this shop in question. It did not take me too long this find the shop. I knocked before heading in. An old lady was busy sorting out items on a shelf behind the counter. She wished me "Welcome" without even looking at me. Guess she is busy. I just waited at the counter until she decided to serve me.
"Sorry about that kid. Thank you for waiting. What can I help you with?" she said.
"Someone recommended me this place for purchasing ingredients. I would like to purchase some," I said while pushing the recommendation letter to her.
She took a read and smirked. They must have known each other well to get a reaction like that. She proceeded to take something from behind the counter which I couldn't see. After a short while, she placed a decent sized box on the table with some wrappings.
"This is my starter pack for Alchemy, kid. I got no recipes that can help in creating potions or medicine for you. You got to figure that out on your own. Not many people make it far because ingredients are expensive," she said.
"Then how much are you charging me for these?" I asked her.
"Two gold coins. I would have sold it for three gold coins if it wasn't for your recommendation. Be glad for that, kid," said the lady.
Huh, two gold coins for a starter pack. Let's not get ahead of myself and purchase additional items. What did she even provided me with?
I opened the box. Inside was a mortar and pester, some glass containers and candles. Oh, there is a leather gloves too along with some other things that would make you look like a mad scientist. Seems alright for two gold coins. Got to start somewhere eventually.
"I'll take it. Here are the coins," I said and passed it to her.
I left the shop and hurried home with the items. It was early evening when I reached home. Rose was preparing dinner when she saw me carrying the items. She was surprised by the large box and curiously followed me into my room to see what it was. The table in my room was quite long in length but I never had a use for it. But now, I will probably turn it into an alchemy table or something. Let's check on the doctor's list and see what he researched before. Let's see..
Fortify Constitution + 1
Grounded jikentette bone + honey + red berries. Boil the bones in 30ml of water and add in honey. Add red berries after honey is melted.
Fortify Strength + 1
Pounded goblin bone + strong berries. Boil the bones in 20ml of water. Add berries in after 30 seconds of boiling.
Yikes, seems like there is a lot to study here. Do I even have anything to check the time with? Oh, there are hourglasses in the box. Labelled according to specific time too. This is indeed a good starter pack. Alchemy is getting me pumped now. I'll probably need a notebook to keep track on all the methods I have tested. But for now, let's test out on some of the existing recipes in the list first.
***
Rose's Perspective
Onii-chan came home with a large box and some wrappings. I was worried that he might have killed someone and hid the body in the box. Thank God it was only some glass equipment and some other things that which I don't recognise. He then eagerly proceeded to decorate his table with the equipment. I thought that I'll be bothering him so I decided to continue in getting dinner ready. Roast jikentette for dinner~ How long have I've not eaten this. Mushroom soup is boiled properly too. Oh, I missed out in adding some salt. Hmm, alright. Tastes good now. Everything is almost done. I should call Onii-chan.
"Onii-chan, dinner is almost ready," I called out to him.
Hmm? Strange. Usually he makes a response to my call. Did he fainted or went to sleep? Let me check on him. Oh, his door is closed.
Better knock before I enter. I called out to him once more after opening the door. Still no response. Why is his room so darkly lit? Is that him at the table?
"Onii-chan? Why are you in the dark?" I asked him.
Hie! Who is this person with bloodshot eyes wearing a goggle? Is this even Onii-chan? I'm scared right now. What do I have with me? I only have a mitten. Better than nothing! Just throw at him and run!
"Rose, what are you doing?! I need to concentrate right now. Give me a moment, please. And stop throwing stuffs at me," he said.
Oh, that is definitely Zen Onii-chan. Geez, why do you have to scare me like that? Not to mention he covered his hair with some netting too. This brother of mine needs to be more aware that I am living here. Good thing he keeps his room clean though. I should light up some candles for him.
"Done. Bottom's up I guess. Ugh, doesn't taste good. I followed the exact same recipe. What did I do wrong? Hmm," said Onii-chan.
"What are you doing Onii-chan? Are you making drinks?" I asked him.
"Hmm? Oh no, I am making potions. According to the doctor, it seems like this is the best way to increase my skill stats. But I need to improve more as I couldn't even prepare a potion properly even with written recipe," he sighed at the end.
Maybe I'll help him out later. Sounds like fun. I can use some of my cooking skills to see whether he followed the recipe properly.
"Oh, is dinner ready? Let me check out my stats first," he said and went looking for the scroll. He blew on to it and cheered out loudly. What a noisy brother I have.
"Look Rose, Look! My skill stats increased by one even though I failed at making the potion! But it seems as though the potion I made earlier de-buff my agility stats. No wonder it tasted so bad," he put on a thinking face.
"I'll help you out later, Onii-chan. Come eat before dinner gets cold," I said and headed out.
Dinner was excellent. I'm impressed by my cooking skills so far. I usually cook dinner and lunch once a while. Onii-chan said he will be handling breakfast most of the time. His food leaves a lot to be desired but it is at least better than what was served in the horrible caretaker's house. I hope he can improve his cooking skill soon before I give up in teaching him. Oh onii-chan, you are hopeless in so many things that requires you to use your hand with precision. Now I need to quickly join a guild so I can support him.
"Rose, dinner was excellent. Thanks for cooking. I'll head back to my room now," he said.
"Onii-chan, you forgot the rules. Whoever cooks will not be doing the dishes," I said to him with a smug face.
It is his rule that he created so I just reminded him. I don't really mind doing it as I am living in his home. I should be doing things for him as thanks for feeding me. But I do want to be spoilt once a while. Heh heh.
"Ha.. ha.. well, I made the rules. No arguing there," he said and proceeded to do the dishes.
I headed into his room to see what recipe he was doing. Hm, a paper? Oh, so these are the ingredients needed for the recipe. Let's see what he did so far. Huh? It's said grounded bones here. But the bones are still in chunks. Is this supposed to be the pounded bones? But it is still too large to be considered pounded. Is that why he failed? Geez. He really is hopeless without me.
"Rose, what are you doing? You shouldn't play with onii-chan's equipment. These are very expensive," he said.
"Here, taste this," I passed him my version of the potion.
"T... this.. tastes good. What did you do?" he asked me. I sighed at his remark.
"Come here onii-chan and sit down. You don't seem to know the difference between pounded and grounded. Let me show you how," I told him.
We proceeded with alchemy until it was late night. My eyes were feeling droopy now. How is Onii-chan still so excited? His eyes are practically sparkling.
"Onii-chan, I'll head to bed. Good night," I said and yawned.
"Thanks for teaching me, Rose. I really appreciate it. You can sleep on my bed if you want" he said and petted my head.
Geez, he really knows how to make me feel glad that I met him. He also knows that I love getting petted by him.
"I'll take you up on that," I said and jumped on his bed. Ah, so comfy~
***
Three months passed. I can officially wear the gauntlets now but I held back. Wearing the gauntlets alone won't be me any good. It is the hidden spell that intrigues me the most. I initially thought that I will be increasing my skill stats per potion created but I was wrong. It turns out that I need to do more each time to increase it. But at least I managed to increase my skill stats by four points in just three months. This is the best method for me so far. And I have gotten the hang of doing alchemy. It is certainly very tricky. Everything should be recorded right from the boiling time to how much ingredients is needed and how long to prepare it. A slight mistake will cause the whole potion to change its properties for better or worse.
Not to mention it is really expensive. Buying just the ingredients alone can burn up a single gold coin each time. No doubt I purchase in bulk quantities but still, even my quest does not reward me with a gold coin per quest. I've already retrieved all the gold coins from the hidden stash in the forbidden forest. I have not touched the 150 gold coins yet but I'll probably be starting soon. Just another ten more skill stats to go. I can do it!
"Onii-chan, I think I might be...." said Rose.
Huh? Might be what? Why is she starting to count with her fingers? Don't tell me she is late. Wait, does she even have it yet? Please don't say you're P, don't say you are P!
"Eleven by now," she said.
I put on a blank face. Huh? Eleven? When exactly?
"Um, Rose? When exactly is your birthday? Do you recall?" I asked her.
"O.. Of course I do, it was yesterday I think" she said while feeling unsure.
"Rose, did you ever celebrated your birthday before?" I asked her.
"I didn't know birthday were meant to be celebrated. I usually just cook up a nice meal and eat on my own," she looked down feeling dejected.
I looked at Rose. She always put up a strong dependable front for me. But I know deep down she is still a lost little girl trying to find her place in this world. Was it fate that brought her to me? Perhaps, there are better people out there that is more suited in taking care of her but she is stuck with me now. I've come to accept that I have to protect her even though she is not blood related to me.
"Rose, let's celebrate your birthday today. Consider it belated alright? I want your eleven birthday to be meaningful before you join a guild," I smiled at her.
"Y.. you don't need to do that. It has already passed. You don't need to trouble yourself over me," she said.
"Rose, you're my one and only family now. There is nothing that is troubling for me in regards to you. So get yourself changed and get ready to head out. Go on young lady, get get," I said to her while pushing her into her room.
"H.. huh? Where are we going?" she asked.
"We're going to eat a feast! So put on your best dress and we'll head out," I said to her and closed her door. I can hear her frantically opening her closet to check for what to wear. I decided to speak with her through the door.
"Rose, next time, let your brother know about any occasions or news no matter it is good or bad. I am here for you, don't forget it," I said to her. After sometime, I heard her reply to me with a "Thank you". I hope she is not crying inside her room.
That night, we celebrated her belated birthday in my favourite tavern. Rick and John happened to be there and I invited them along for a feast. John was surprised when I introduced Rose as my little sister but he understood the situation quickly. John is now at the rank of Great Viking. The bastard overtook me in terms of rank now.
Damn, I need to buckle myself up and become a Dark Knight or I'll be the laughing stock among the group. I bet Lily is also a Blitz Knight now. Geez, it is not like I am not meeting any other females at all. Why am I so hung up on Lily? Just because she is the first female I ever met? Or my fetish for female elves runs deep in my veins now? I am sure she is over me or completely forgotten about both John and me by now.
***
Hachiu!
Damn, someone must be talking about me. Must be John probably. I rubbed my nose to clean off any residual. I hope it is not a sign of bad luck before an important meeting. I walked into the throne room to meet with the guildmaster. I bowed to the Elementalist.
"You summoned me, my Lord?" I asked.
"Indeed. I have an important task for you. What say you in serving the Viking Lord?".
I began my day trying to learn how to cook breakfast. Rose tutored me on how to cook. With a book I borrowed from the library on one hand and tongs in my other, I felt like a MasterChef. Sadly the same cannot be said for the taste. But according to Rose, it is still edible compared to what she had before. That does not sound very assuring to me.
After breakfast, it was my turn to tutor Rose in training. I brought Rose to the blacksmith to find a weapon suitable for her. He recommended her to use a rapier due as the weight is more suitable for her body size. However, she will need to be much older until she have enough strength to wield it one handed. Until then, wooden sword it is. I am not familiar in using a thrusting weapon but I trained her all the same. Swing a set amount of times a day, have a short sparring with me and then continue swinging until your body is exhausted.
Although I suspected that Rose's parent did trained her before. Her stats are not low to be honest. She is an all rounder in the stats department which I will be curious to see what guild they will recommend her. She also told me that she perhaps did some basic training when she was around five. Her memories were overwritten with all the other horrible things that happened to her after that.
I have faith in Rose that she will succeed in the guild's initiation test despite only a few months of training. I wonder if she will be stronger than me in the future as her stats are so well balanced. As for me, my skill training is going... horribly. Cooking alone barely increased my skill stats. I went fishing to try to further increase my skill stats. But seeing as my fishing skills was so horrible, only managing to catch at most one or two fishes, I turned down the idea of continuing that path. So what's next? Time for baking. I almost destroyed our kitchen with my horrible baking skills. Rose patted me on the shoulder and told me to never ever do any sort of baking in my life ever again. I thought of depending on cooking alone but after about three months, my skill stat only increased by one. I need to find something else quickly.
All I have left are construction or doing medicine. Construction is out of the picture as it takes a lot of time. The guild will fire me if I don't do at least one quest per week. All that's left is medicine. I have to try it out as cooking alone is way too slow. But where do I even begin? Is there someone in the city that practice medicine? I am certain there is some that do. Otherwise where do we get our few potions from?
I sought out to find Miss Angelica, wondering on whether she knows anyone that practice medicine. To my surprise, she does. One of her close relative practice medicine, although it is mostly for curing sickness. He does not create potions or medicine for combat purposes. I'll take all the help I can get. Better to start somewhere than nothing. Curing sickness or diseases is useful when travelling to another city or continent. It will be good knowledge for me even if I sucked at it. I pleaded for her approval to have her relative teach me in medicine and she said that she needed to ask for permission first. Thankfully her relative agreed to help train me and I can go very the next day.
I headed to the clinic in question. It was a small clinic but I was not picky. I headed in and was greeted by a male that look like he is in his forties.
"Ah, you must be Zen, come in, come in," he said.
"Yes sir I am, I am here to learn about medicine if possible," I said while standing straight.
"May I ask why? Just for curiosity," he asked.
Should I tell him the truth? Will he be asking why I am trying to increase my skill stats when other people in turn do not bother about it?
"I.. am actually trying to increase my skill stats for a purpose," I said to him.
He looked at me stumped. Then he chuckled and laugh. Did I said something embarrassing?
"Since you're a relative of my niece, let me give you a hint. Come closer," he gestured me to come closer until my ear is directly next to his mouth.
"If you wish to increase your skill stats quickly, you will need to practice Alchemy," he whispered to me.
Huh? Am I going to be a wizard or something now? Is medicinal practice the same as alchemy?
"What do you mean, good sir?" I asked him.
"All you need to do is to purchase as many ingredients as you can from the medicinal shop and start combining together. If the end product tastes good, chances are you found something that benefits you. Bad taste end product de-buffs you while no taste end product might give both benefits and de-buffs. I've made a short list on what I have tried before. It is not much as ingredients are quite expensive to purchase in the first place so I was not able to dive into it more. You will also need a lot of stat scrolls as you will never know what each potion does to you. So, unless you're not loaded, don't even think about starting this hobby," said the man.
"I guess I do have some spare change to try out. But if it really is the best way for me to increase my skill stats then I must try it," I said to him with conviction.
"You remind me of when I was younger. So eager to try out the unknown. Alright, I'll give you another hint seeing that you are so eager to try it out. Head to this shop and tell her I sent you. She'll probably give you some discount but do expect the price to remain steep," he said.
I bowed to the man giving him plenty of thanks before heading out. The shop name is 'Pink Carnation'. I believe I saw it somewhere not too far from the library before. Time to head there then. I have a few gold coins in my pocket which I assumed was enough. Otherwise I still have grandfather's 150 gold coins hidden in the forbidden forest. I hope I don't run myself dry before achieving at least thirty-five skill stats.
Time to find this shop in question. It did not take me too long this find the shop. I knocked before heading in. An old lady was busy sorting out items on a shelf behind the counter. She wished me "Welcome" without even looking at me. Guess she is busy. I just waited at the counter until she decided to serve me.
"Sorry about that kid. Thank you for waiting. What can I help you with?" she said.
"Someone recommended me this place for purchasing ingredients. I would like to purchase some," I said while pushing the recommendation letter to her.
She took a read and smirked. They must have known each other well to get a reaction like that. She proceeded to take something from behind the counter which I couldn't see. After a short while, she placed a decent sized box on the table with some wrappings.
"This is my starter pack for Alchemy, kid. I got no recipes that can help in creating potions or medicine for you. You got to figure that out on your own. Not many people make it far because ingredients are expensive," she said.
"Then how much are you charging me for these?" I asked her.
"Two gold coins. I would have sold it for three gold coins if it wasn't for your recommendation. Be glad for that, kid," said the lady.
Huh, two gold coins for a starter pack. Let's not get ahead of myself and purchase additional items. What did she even provided me with?
I opened the box. Inside was a mortar and pester, some glass containers and candles. Oh, there is a leather gloves too along with some other things that would make you look like a mad scientist. Seems alright for two gold coins. Got to start somewhere eventually.
"I'll take it. Here are the coins," I said and passed it to her.
I left the shop and hurried home with the items. It was early evening when I reached home. Rose was preparing dinner when she saw me carrying the items. She was surprised by the large box and curiously followed me into my room to see what it was. The table in my room was quite long in length but I never had a use for it. But now, I will probably turn it into an alchemy table or something. Let's check on the doctor's list and see what he researched before. Let's see..
Fortify Constitution + 1
Grounded jikentette bone + honey + red berries. Boil the bones in 30ml of water and add in honey. Add red berries after honey is melted.
Fortify Strength + 1
Pounded goblin bone + strong berries. Boil the bones in 20ml of water. Add berries in after 30 seconds of boiling.
Yikes, seems like there is a lot to study here. Do I even have anything to check the time with? Oh, there are hourglasses in the box. Labelled according to specific time too. This is indeed a good starter pack. Alchemy is getting me pumped now. I'll probably need a notebook to keep track on all the methods I have tested. But for now, let's test out on some of the existing recipes in the list first.
***
Rose's Perspective
Onii-chan came home with a large box and some wrappings. I was worried that he might have killed someone and hid the body in the box. Thank God it was only some glass equipment and some other things that which I don't recognise. He then eagerly proceeded to decorate his table with the equipment. I thought that I'll be bothering him so I decided to continue in getting dinner ready. Roast jikentette for dinner~ How long have I've not eaten this. Mushroom soup is boiled properly too. Oh, I missed out in adding some salt. Hmm, alright. Tastes good now. Everything is almost done. I should call Onii-chan.
"Onii-chan, dinner is almost ready," I called out to him.
Hmm? Strange. Usually he makes a response to my call. Did he fainted or went to sleep? Let me check on him. Oh, his door is closed.
Better knock before I enter. I called out to him once more after opening the door. Still no response. Why is his room so darkly lit? Is that him at the table?
"Onii-chan? Why are you in the dark?" I asked him.
Hie! Who is this person with bloodshot eyes wearing a goggle? Is this even Onii-chan? I'm scared right now. What do I have with me? I only have a mitten. Better than nothing! Just throw at him and run!
"Rose, what are you doing?! I need to concentrate right now. Give me a moment, please. And stop throwing stuffs at me," he said.
Oh, that is definitely Zen Onii-chan. Geez, why do you have to scare me like that? Not to mention he covered his hair with some netting too. This brother of mine needs to be more aware that I am living here. Good thing he keeps his room clean though. I should light up some candles for him.
"Done. Bottom's up I guess. Ugh, doesn't taste good. I followed the exact same recipe. What did I do wrong? Hmm," said Onii-chan.
"What are you doing Onii-chan? Are you making drinks?" I asked him.
"Hmm? Oh no, I am making potions. According to the doctor, it seems like this is the best way to increase my skill stats. But I need to improve more as I couldn't even prepare a potion properly even with written recipe," he sighed at the end.
Maybe I'll help him out later. Sounds like fun. I can use some of my cooking skills to see whether he followed the recipe properly.
"Oh, is dinner ready? Let me check out my stats first," he said and went looking for the scroll. He blew on to it and cheered out loudly. What a noisy brother I have.
"Look Rose, Look! My skill stats increased by one even though I failed at making the potion! But it seems as though the potion I made earlier de-buff my agility stats. No wonder it tasted so bad," he put on a thinking face.
"I'll help you out later, Onii-chan. Come eat before dinner gets cold," I said and headed out.
Dinner was excellent. I'm impressed by my cooking skills so far. I usually cook dinner and lunch once a while. Onii-chan said he will be handling breakfast most of the time. His food leaves a lot to be desired but it is at least better than what was served in the horrible caretaker's house. I hope he can improve his cooking skill soon before I give up in teaching him. Oh onii-chan, you are hopeless in so many things that requires you to use your hand with precision. Now I need to quickly join a guild so I can support him.
"Rose, dinner was excellent. Thanks for cooking. I'll head back to my room now," he said.
"Onii-chan, you forgot the rules. Whoever cooks will not be doing the dishes," I said to him with a smug face.
It is his rule that he created so I just reminded him. I don't really mind doing it as I am living in his home. I should be doing things for him as thanks for feeding me. But I do want to be spoilt once a while. Heh heh.
"Ha.. ha.. well, I made the rules. No arguing there," he said and proceeded to do the dishes.
I headed into his room to see what recipe he was doing. Hm, a paper? Oh, so these are the ingredients needed for the recipe. Let's see what he did so far. Huh? It's said grounded bones here. But the bones are still in chunks. Is this supposed to be the pounded bones? But it is still too large to be considered pounded. Is that why he failed? Geez. He really is hopeless without me.
"Rose, what are you doing? You shouldn't play with onii-chan's equipment. These are very expensive," he said.
"Here, taste this," I passed him my version of the potion.
"T... this.. tastes good. What did you do?" he asked me. I sighed at his remark.
"Come here onii-chan and sit down. You don't seem to know the difference between pounded and grounded. Let me show you how," I told him.
We proceeded with alchemy until it was late night. My eyes were feeling droopy now. How is Onii-chan still so excited? His eyes are practically sparkling.
"Onii-chan, I'll head to bed. Good night," I said and yawned.
"Thanks for teaching me, Rose. I really appreciate it. You can sleep on my bed if you want" he said and petted my head.
Geez, he really knows how to make me feel glad that I met him. He also knows that I love getting petted by him.
"I'll take you up on that," I said and jumped on his bed. Ah, so comfy~
***
Three months passed. I can officially wear the gauntlets now but I held back. Wearing the gauntlets alone won't be me any good. It is the hidden spell that intrigues me the most. I initially thought that I will be increasing my skill stats per potion created but I was wrong. It turns out that I need to do more each time to increase it. But at least I managed to increase my skill stats by four points in just three months. This is the best method for me so far. And I have gotten the hang of doing alchemy. It is certainly very tricky. Everything should be recorded right from the boiling time to how much ingredients is needed and how long to prepare it. A slight mistake will cause the whole potion to change its properties for better or worse.
Not to mention it is really expensive. Buying just the ingredients alone can burn up a single gold coin each time. No doubt I purchase in bulk quantities but still, even my quest does not reward me with a gold coin per quest. I've already retrieved all the gold coins from the hidden stash in the forbidden forest. I have not touched the 150 gold coins yet but I'll probably be starting soon. Just another ten more skill stats to go. I can do it!
"Onii-chan, I think I might be...." said Rose.
Huh? Might be what? Why is she starting to count with her fingers? Don't tell me she is late. Wait, does she even have it yet? Please don't say you're P, don't say you are P!
"Eleven by now," she said.
I put on a blank face. Huh? Eleven? When exactly?
"Um, Rose? When exactly is your birthday? Do you recall?" I asked her.
"O.. Of course I do, it was yesterday I think" she said while feeling unsure.
"Rose, did you ever celebrated your birthday before?" I asked her.
"I didn't know birthday were meant to be celebrated. I usually just cook up a nice meal and eat on my own," she looked down feeling dejected.
I looked at Rose. She always put up a strong dependable front for me. But I know deep down she is still a lost little girl trying to find her place in this world. Was it fate that brought her to me? Perhaps, there are better people out there that is more suited in taking care of her but she is stuck with me now. I've come to accept that I have to protect her even though she is not blood related to me.
"Rose, let's celebrate your birthday today. Consider it belated alright? I want your eleven birthday to be meaningful before you join a guild," I smiled at her.
"Y.. you don't need to do that. It has already passed. You don't need to trouble yourself over me," she said.
"Rose, you're my one and only family now. There is nothing that is troubling for me in regards to you. So get yourself changed and get ready to head out. Go on young lady, get get," I said to her while pushing her into her room.
"H.. huh? Where are we going?" she asked.
"We're going to eat a feast! So put on your best dress and we'll head out," I said to her and closed her door. I can hear her frantically opening her closet to check for what to wear. I decided to speak with her through the door.
"Rose, next time, let your brother know about any occasions or news no matter it is good or bad. I am here for you, don't forget it," I said to her. After sometime, I heard her reply to me with a "Thank you". I hope she is not crying inside her room.
That night, we celebrated her belated birthday in my favourite tavern. Rick and John happened to be there and I invited them along for a feast. John was surprised when I introduced Rose as my little sister but he understood the situation quickly. John is now at the rank of Great Viking. The bastard overtook me in terms of rank now.
Damn, I need to buckle myself up and become a Dark Knight or I'll be the laughing stock among the group. I bet Lily is also a Blitz Knight now. Geez, it is not like I am not meeting any other females at all. Why am I so hung up on Lily? Just because she is the first female I ever met? Or my fetish for female elves runs deep in my veins now? I am sure she is over me or completely forgotten about both John and me by now.
***
Hachiu!
Damn, someone must be talking about me. Must be John probably. I rubbed my nose to clean off any residual. I hope it is not a sign of bad luck before an important meeting. I walked into the throne room to meet with the guildmaster. I bowed to the Elementalist.
"You summoned me, my Lord?" I asked.
"Indeed. I have an important task for you. What say you in serving the Viking Lord?".
