Mika 032 (Patreon)

Ami tackled Mika once they had returned home. She hugged him tight, pulling him to her chest. He began to choke when she finally relented. “Miki!” she said, staring down at him. 

Mika looked up into her eyes, understanding that he was going to be in for a rough evening. “I have returned, sister.” Mika looked up at her curiously, and she smiled down at him.

“I knew you’d be able to tell!”

“You’ve already ranked up?”

She nodded. “I’ve already consolidated my strength, but I still want to do more.”

“There’s no need to rush,” Elder Yan said. “Though it’s still best if you continue along your path.” He held out a potion to Ami.

“Oh Elder. Please no. I can’t. Possibly accept.” Ami was eyeing the potion, but she had to pretend to not want it. It appeared that her parents had warned her to be more thoughtful about such things. 

“Don’t take it for me, but for your little brother who worries so much for you.”

Ami turned to look at Mika, smiling down at him. “Worrying for me?” She brushed his hair and then pulled him in for a closer hug. “Then I’ll happily accept it. Thank you, Elder Yan.”

“You can call me uncle if you like.”

“Okay, uncle Yan.”

Yan smiled, brushing his beard gently. There was no need to be distant with the family since they were already building relations with one another. This way, Mika would be far closer with the guild in case anything was to happen to create a rift between them.

“Are you busy, Miki?” 

“We have a few accounts to settle back at the guild,” Yan said. “He’ll return soon after, if not, I’ll give him an extra day off this week.”

“Okay,” Ami said, nodding her head. She let go of Mika, letting the pair of them leave. 

Mika wondered where his parents were, but then turned to look up at Yan as they left. “What do we need to settle?”

“A few minor matters, but I also can’t spoil her. If I let her walk all over me, she won’t respect me. If that happens, she might not listen to what I have to say, and that could be dangerous.”

Mika raised his brows in surprise. He hadn’t expected Yan to be someone who thought that far into the future. “I underestimated you.”

“I will take that as a compliment.”

“It was a compliment.”

Once they arrived at the guild, the Elder called everyone for a meeting. 

“Is young Mika back?” Jon asked, appeared from nowhere right away. “Finally! It was getting boring around here. What did you buy? How many potions do we need to sell to make up for it?”

“Do you believe we’d bleed the guild dry?” Yan grumbled.

“You’re too much of a prude, old man. Young Mika probably has expensive taste, though. Did you bring any cheese?”

“…” Mika hadn’t bought any cheese, but he had brought back plenty of gifts, though the Elder would need to hand them out.

“I’m sorry to inform you, Master Jon, but we cleared out almost half the Auction Hall.”

Jon laughed, and then looked at his father. His face quickly dropped. “What?” 

Yan revealed the Steel Grade blade that he had bought, the same one he had used in order to teleport above the robbers earlier. Then he started to stack various weapons on the table, including the Low Grade, Middle Grade, and even the High Grade gem.

Jon was speechless as he stared at the pile. The other Alchemists stared at the pile with equal parts awe and terror. How many potions would they have to refine in order to pay for all of these?

“This must have cost a fortune…” Jon said, looking at Mika with a curious look.

“It did,” Yan said, brushing his beard sagely. “We showed those damn city slickers that we aren’t to be trifled with.”

“Especially that Tegro family.” Mika smirked.

“Well, some of these items are mine. I hope you’re not mad that I spent so much.” Mika pretended to look apologetic.

“If it’s your own money we can’t really complain, now can we?” Jon looked at all the pile and then the few items Mika pointed to. He had spent so much money, and Jon wondered how he had made so much.

“We made a few potions on the road to pay for most of the items, and Alchemist Mika assisted with some of the formulas. As you know, he has quite the keen eye and a fresh mind for such matters.”

“What kind of potions?” Jon asked, narrowing his eyes, though his lips were widening. If Mika had assisted in making the potions then it must have been something amazing.

“Oh, just a few High Grade potions.”

Someone spat out the tea they were drinking. “What?” 

The other Alchemists began to murmur between one another before surrounding the Elder Alchemist.

“A High Grade potion?”

“Do you have any left?”

“Can I see?”

“Elder! You’re amazing!”

“We’re going to be so rich!”

“We’ll start supplying the city soon if we continue this trajectory!”

Yan glanced at Mika, who merely smiled.

“Shouldn’t you tell them what kind of High Grade potions they were?” Mika asked. “After all, Elder’s genius is unmatched. Elder managed to create not one, not two, but three High Grade potions!”

“Three! Three High Grade potions!” The Alchemists exclaimed.

“They sold for quite a bit too!” Mika said, smirking. ‘Elder, don’t tell them about the Perfect Grade potion just yet. I’ll let Master know later.’

Elder Yan smiled to all of his disciples. “It’s not a big matter. I simply refined three High Grade potions. One of them was fairly decent, almost a Perfect Grade potion.” He shrugged his shoulders. “One day all of you will have this skill. Just make sure to practise.”

“Elder! You’re so amazing!”

“Elder will lead us into a new century!”

“The century of Starr!”

‘Let them share in the riches too. Give them three extra months wage as a bonus.’

“It was only due to your care of the guild that I was able to have the peace of mind to create the potions.” He then summoned a few gold bars. “I’ll see to it that you’re given a day off to spend all your coin. Tomorrow, I’ll get the rest of the bonus.”

“Elder!”

“You’re amazing!”

“We’ll follow you into the depths of hell!”

“Century of Starr!”

With that, Mika was finally allowed to leave. Jon followed behind him, like his trusted shadow. Once they were in his room, Mika began to make some tea for the pair of them. 

“Elder Yan managed to make a Perfect Grade potion.”

Jon nearly choked on air. “Excuse me?”

“It seems the God of Medicine gave him the recipe and the means to create it recently,” Mika said, smirking.

“It usually takes weeks to create a potion like that. The chances to succeed are minimal too!”

“That’s only if one Alchemist works on it,” he said, though that wasn’t entirely true either. “If Elder was assisted by someone, it would be quite easy to refine such a potion within a few hours.” Mika sipped on his tea. “Perhaps even a single hour.”

“One hour?” Jon asked. If it was anyone else, he wouldn’t have believed the person, but this was Mika… 

Mika continued to sip his tea, and Jon picked up his own cup, sipping it slowly as he fell into thought.

“Hypthetically…” He looked into Mika’s eyes. “How long would it take the God of Medicine?”

Mika raised a finger. He quite liked this joke.

“One hours?”

“…”

“One minute?”

Mika raised his brow, barely able to contain his smugness. “He’s not that weak.”

“…”

“Lucky for you, Elder has the formula for that. He also has another formula that you should ask him about.”

“What kind of formula?”

“A Middle Grade potion which costs a tenth of the typical price to make, if you factor in ingredients and the success rate.”

“Is the efficacy harmed?”

“Not at all.”

“This God of Medicine is truly unreal.”

Mika sighed. “Even I don’t think I’ll reach his height.”

“Then you’ll just have to become our God of Medicine.”

Mika laughed.