"Brat, come here for a second."
Hearing the rough voice of the old lady, Yuna got up from her seat and patted Grida's head, telling him to wait for her.
Entering the back door of the apothecary store, Yuna approached the apothecary and asked, "What is it?"
The apothecary took out a thick book and placed it on the table. "Read this and learn it in two weeks."
Looking at the book, Yuna had some faint idea of what was going on.
The book cover read:
• Basic Plants Encyclopaedia
She quickly backed away and said in horror, "No way! I'm not learning shit!"
The apothecary, hearing Yuna's incompetent exclamation, gave her a fierce glare. "I gave you a chance to learn apothecary and you want to refuse?! How can there be such an incompetent person!"
Being an apothecary was like being a chemist nerd in her previous world, and Yuna, who didn't like chemistry, vehemently refused to learn apothecary, where she had to memorize all the components, methods, ingredients, and various steps to make a potion.
Wasn't it enough to just slowly explore her interesting ability? Why should she let herself suffer and face learning pressure once again?
She didn't want to live under a pressure cooker again!
"Who wants to learn? Not me."
Yuna turned around to leave, but the door slammed shut in front of her face and, with a click, it was locked.
'Damn! The old coot is a mage.'
Yuna turned around stiffly.
She should have been more careful, because apothecaries and other scholars tended to be mages.
Yuna looked at the mana surrounding the old lady.
"Children should have an aspiration to learn more things," the apothecary said.
"Don't want to. You can't force me," Yuna persisted.
"Tch… I'll let you read the elementals book."
"…Fine."
Yuna shamefully succumbed to temptation.
"I am your apothecary master," the apothecary stated.
Her real intention—she could already imagine the envious gazes of her peers when she showed off her disciple who could achieve perfect purity.
Yuna was floored by the apothecary's shamelessness. "…You are taking advantage of me."
She was not a naïve kid and already knew her preciousness lay in her ability to achieve perfect purity in potion making.
"Call me master."
Yuna did not want to call her master at all. She didn't want to acknowledge an old lady as her master when she had a dream of having a beautiful and strong male or female as her master.
Yes, Yuna was a visual creature, and there was nothing shameful about that.
Not getting a response, the old lady took out another book. Its cover read:
• Elementals
As soon as the book was taken out, Yuna, with an expression that said she had nothing left to live for, called out, "Sensei."
"Oh… taking the style of the Yamato Kingdom. I'm not against their language."
The apothecary nodded her head in satisfaction.
"Take the book and study well. The book contains all the low-level herbs discovered so far."
Yuna's heart trembled at the thought of having to learn a thousand pages in a week.
The force of temptation, as well as the long-term thought of being able to make her own potions to take care of herself and those close to her without spending a dime, made her want to learn it even though she dreaded studying.
Yuna also knew that this was an opportunity—a chance she would never get again. Something like a golden finger.
'If only this good thing didn't happen…'
Yuna lamented. If she hadn't encountered it, she could stay ignorant and live in bliss.
When buying potions in the future, she could pretentiously say, 'I don't have the luck of a protagonist to learn apothecary from a master, so I can only buy.'
But now…
Yuna looked at the thick book and her lips twitched.
With a complex mood, Yuna left the room. When night arrived, she lit the lamp and opened the book that contained various information about low-level herbs.
"So the apothecary took you in as her disciple?"
Grandpa Orion asked his granddaughter in wonder.
"Yeah."
"That's good. If you can learn apothecary, it will give you more advantage when you apply to enter the academies in the capital."
Grandpa Orion voiced his expectations.
"…En."
Yuna read the thick book with a heavy heart.
"Okay… I know you can do it. I'll go lie in bed and also read some books as a form of accompanying your study," Grandpa Orion said encouragingly, patting Yuna's back before going into his room.
After that, a light snoring sound came.
Yuna, who was left alone with a thick book to study: "…"
'Grandpa, where is your sense of loyalty?'
…
A week passed, and Yuna could not even memorize one-tenth of the book.
Giving up and preparing herself to be scolded, Yuna simply put the book away and decided to read the elemental book instead.
As soon as Yuna read the first sentence, her eyes lit up.
The book talked about the God who used the primordial elements to create the world.
The passage in the book read:
• The Primordial Elements are Water, Earth, Fire, Wood, and Air. The five primordial elements are the foundation and what constitutes the creation of the world.
The passages in the book were not long, and some were merely simple words, but the sentences themselves were thought-provoking and seemed to talk about the truth of everything in the simplest form.
The book also talked about how energy started to fill the world in later stages—energy called mana.
Ten thousand years ago, elementalists flourished. Each person seemed to have the ability to tune in with at least one or two elements, being able to harness formidable power. But as eons passed, the golden era of elementalists began to decline.
Elementalists slowly yet steadily became scarce.
"Every history book always has to state that the cause of decline is unknown," Yuna tutted when she read the line:
• The decline in the appearance of elementalists became a mystery to this day.
The book mentioned the ushering in of a golden era of new energy—mana users called mages—who could replicate elementalists to some extent. They could manipulate and conjure replicated elements through mana using spellcasting, runes, and other methods.
After reading the book, Yuna seemed to gain a better understanding of elements.
• Elements in and of themselves are without form, and it is the wielder who gives them form and meaning.
It was a very simple sentence, but a person's understanding and comprehension would differ from one individual to another.
One epiphany would differ from another.
Yuna looked down at her hand that emitted fire. The fire took different forms—sometimes a bird, other times a butterfly, even an arrow and other shapes.
"I want a fire that takes the form of living things instead of weapons."
Yuna ceased the fire from making any form of weapons or non-living things. Various forms of animals and beasts began to form from the emitted fire.
'Elements in and of themselves are without form…'
Reciting the line, Yuna gave the fire the form of living beings.
The fire took the form of a butterfly. The butterfly combusted and produced a large number of butterflies from the combustion, each carrying the same heat intensity as the original.
'…and meaning to it.'
Therefore, the butterfly held the meaning of multiplication—the more it combusted, the more it multiplied.
"Giving a special meaning to formed fire drains more energy than I expected," Yuna mumbled, exhaustion tinging her voice.
Maybe because her body was still young, or maybe because she wasn't yet proficient, Yuna was only able to give meaning to one formed fire.
"No hurry. I can slowly create another form and give meaning to it."
It was already a qualitative leap to have an epiphany and successfully carry it out.
Yuna looked at the fire butterfly happily. Her first formed fire—and it seemed to have quite a meaningful significance.
"I will call it Nami Fire."
The book mentioned:
• Formed elements become more pronounced when given a name and being called out.
Maybe it was Yuna's misconception, but she felt that Nami Fire seemed quite spiritual as it fluttered around her fingers. Misconception or not, since it took on a living form, Yuna decided to treat it as a spiritual thing.
Even a cold sword could have spiritual awareness.
"Spiritual or not, right now I need to improve my element-holding capacity."
The elemental book mentioned forging a plate, but only in a short, concise sentence:
• By harnessing the power of nature, smelt and forge the plate using the five elements.
Just that single line—no further explanation on how to enhance or forge the plate.
The next day, Yuna approached the apothecary for clarification. In return, she was knocked hard on the head for not finishing the herbal book, but the apothecary still gave her an answer:
"Even I don't know. Go interpret it however you want yourself."
Which was as good as not explaining at all.
Yuna could only rub her forehead, now red from the knock, her lips curling in disdain.
She could only put the plan of forging the plate on hold.
After finishing the elemental book, Yuna could only honestly read the herbal books and diligently learn them.
Anyway, she had accepted becoming an apothecary, so she would responsibly strive to learn it.