After walking for several minutes, I finally arrived a 4-way road section. I turned left and began to make my way down the road. I could already see the Alchemy vendor's sign so I hurried my steps to get there faster.

I finally arrived in-front of the vendor, so I entered. The inside was similar to the first Alchemy vendor I visited, though the one I just entered was on a smaller scale. A similar aroma drifted throughout the inside which made me feel relaxed. There were plants and vials filled with liquid situated on different shelves on either side of the interior.

There was a young man sitting at the counter with a bored expression on his face. Standing in-front of the counter was a women with long, red hair. I was only able to see her back but...whew, even then it was an amazing sight. If that McFonald's manager had that body, I wouldn't care if she lowered my pay, I would still fuck her. Well, to be honest, I would probably leave...Money! Ah, money! I needed to fund my video games. Yep.

"I'll be right with you." The man behind the counter said.

I guess I'll just have to wait and observe dat ass from back here. I've never really seen many women with red hair before. This wasn't even ginger hair, it was pure red. It looked like she dyed her hair, but considering these super powers and stuff, I could be wrong. Heck, I bet there's even women with silver hair around here. You never know. Also, I tried not to be distracted by her. I only stared at her for a good several seconds before turning my attention to the items on the shelves. My Gamer ability was able to label the items and, fortunately, they were just normal video game items like health potions and what not.

After a few minutes, the two people's conversation ended. The women turned around and proceeded to walk out. I was stunned at her beauty at first but I was reminded of how attractive the women are in this place. Seriously, it's like a jackpot here. Anyway, that woman looked pretty distressed about something. She was beautiful and all but I was able to tell that she was incredibly stressed. I wonder why.

Anyway, after she left, I walked up to the counter.

"Are you guys hiring for an apprenticeship or something?" I asked.

"Depends. Are you fine with working as an errand boy?"

"Errand boy? What would you need that for? Can't you do that?"

The man sighed before replying:

"Listen, I'm in charge of the store while Master is busy concocting Alchemy stuff. I can't leave it unattended, otherwise this place would be picked clean by the more needy Gifted. We're only in need of an errand boy, but if you show promise in Alchemy, Master may take you in."

"Ok...so, how would your master know if I was skilled or not? Besides, it's not like I can just learn it without any instructions."

"That's the thing. I can sell you a Beginner's Alchemy handbook for about 50 stones; 40 stones if you take the job. You'll have to teach yourself and get your own resources, though."

"Hmm...how much is the pay?"

"I dunno...depending on how many and how quickly you bring in resources, the pay could range from, let's say, 100 to 500 stones per day?"

Personally, I have no idea if that is decent pay or not. I should've researched a bit before coming here. But, this is really the only opportunity I have at the moment. Besides, by becoming an errand boy, I can create relationships with people I interact with. It's always good to build up a network. I can do the same with the Weapon vendor on the other street as well. I don't have other options. Plus, I can start practicing Alchemy which will greatly help me. Also, it'll be easier for me since it's a steady progression and accumulation of XP. It'll still be quite difficult, though. I can't expect everything to be easy, considering this is real life.

"Alright, I'll take the job. And the handbook." I said.

The man lightly smiled as he reached underneath the countertop.

"You can start today or tomorrow, whichever's better for you."

"I'll begin tomorrow. I still have a few things I need to finish."

I took out my card, which is just like credit cards before everything went to shit, and gave it to the man. He swiped it through a small machine that deducted 40 stones from my card before giving it and the handbook to me.

"Thanks, you'll see me tomorrow."

"Take care."

The man sat back down as I turned around and left the store. Now that I have an Alchemy handbook, all I needed were resources. However, before I buy any, I need to find out the prices of the resources in every Alchemy vendor and compare them. That way I'll know which vendor I can buy cheaply from and then give to my Alchemy vendor. For example, if one vendor sells a plant for 50 stones and a different vendor sells the same plant for 45 stones, I'll obviously buy the cheaper one. That way I won't be losing too much money.

I'm assuming we're able to venture out into the surroundings areas to search for plants and other ingredients. I can probably gather some and then sell them to the vendors that buy those certain resources for a higher price. I could buy some of one certain plant at a vendor that sells it cheaper then sell that plant to a vendor that buys it for more. If that's possible. That's what I did one of the video games I played, but instead of a few miles of difference between the stores it was a few cities. Also, in that video game, I was capable of something called Fast Travel which allowed me to teleport between cities. Video games are so much easier.

Anyway, I headed down the street to the Weapon vendor. I quickly entered the building and walked up to the counter once again.

"Oh, you're already back?" The old man asked.

"Yea, it was easier than I thought. I got a job as an errand boy, plus I got a Beginner Alchemy handbook for a discount." I replied.

"Heh, an errand boy. Well, I would've offered you the same job at first."

"Really? I don't want to do the same job at two different vendors though..."

"Don't worry about that, mine is easier than an Alchemy's errand boy. All you have to do is gather some ore. My current apprentice has been doing the errand job on and off for a while now because I have no one else to do it. He can show you where to go and what places are the best. Plus, there's a few monsters in the surrounding plains. GG allows them to populate the areas around Thest City so the weaker Gifted have a chance to improve themselves. Plus, a lot of them are a great source of materials so you could mine some ore or kill monsters, or both."

My eyes suddenly shined with expectation. Holy crap! This job was way better than the Alchemy job! Oh wait, don't some Alchemy mixtures contain items from monsters? That's usually always the case in video games. Hm. I'll have to ask tomorrow. For now, I'll accept the old man's offer. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain XP as well as obtain new abilities from the monsters.

"Old man, I'll happily accept your offer. However, I won't be able to start until tomorrow. I have a few things I need to finish before I begin." I said.

"Good! It's fine if you have some things to complete before you start. Come in tomorrow and I'll introduce you to my apprentice. I'll have him show you the best spots. What time do you think you'll arrive tomorrow?"

"Hm, probably about dusk. Alchemy is my top priority at the moment and I have a vague outline of my schedule so far. However, I'm confident that I'll be able to complete both errand jobs at the same time in the areas outside the city. I have a special way to store items, so storage won't be a problem."

"Just what I wanted to hear. The more you bring back, the better. I've always been running low because just one apprentice can only do so much. Most people don't wanted to be an errand boy or girl so they leave. Even then there's not many that ask for a job. What's your name, kid?"

"My name is Mark Apis. What about you, sir?"

"My name is Datmear Noravroun. Just call me Dat from now on. I'm looking forward to working with you, Mark." Dat stood up and moved his hand forward.

"No, the pleasure is mine." I received his handshake with my own.

With that, I left the small store and ventured out onto the street again. I still had about three hours until the sun set, from my very rough calculation, so I decided to quickly travel back to the first Alchemy vendor. I wanted to write down their prices and then travel to the next Alchemy vendor and note their prices down as well.

And that's exactly what I did. When I re-entered the first Alchemy vendor, the guy asked me if I found what I was looking for. I said yea and that I was only there to do some research. He didn't ask any further, so maybe he's seen a few people like me. Anyway, I quickly wrote down all the prices and names. I also created rough sketches of each item so I also had a visual representation of each ingredient. I asked the guy at the counter for the location of the nearest Alchemy vendor. Again, he smiled knowingly and told me the directions. Fortunately, he wasn't vague in his instructions so I was able to easily discover the next vendor.

That new one was even bigger. It was larger than the other two Alchemy vendors combined. Instead of a guy there was a woman at the counter. She had black hair that reached to her shoulders. I noticed a Silver S badge just above her chest, which caught me by slight surprise. Once again, this random woman's looks did not fail the norm around here. However, I knew I had no chance with an S ranker or whatever so I quickly replied to her greeting with my own.

I told her that I was just looking and I could tell from her slightly arrogant gaze that she probably wanted me to leave immediately. Despite this, I wrote down the prices of everything. There were several new items with weird names which helped me broaden my scale of knowledge. I wonder why people give these thing such weird names. You see, that's why I like scientists. What do you call a hole in spacetime that you can't see? A black hole. What do you call a giant red star? A red giant. What do you a small white star? A white dwarf. See, it's easy! You don't have to create a name like Vruhnylseo for a root you find in the ground. Like, what? Where does that even come from?

Anyway, I quickly left that place. One glance from that woman was able to make me freeze. It wasn't as bad as the feeling I got from asshole but it was still uncomfortable. I should've asked for his name before I left. I can't keep calling someone asshole just because I don't know their name....Oh wait, I can!

I didn't bother asking that woman for the nearest Alchemy vendor so I went back to the one dude to ask him again. I like that guy, he's pretty nice. He's a pretty humble guy, plus he's pretty handsome too. No, I'm not gay. It's fine to call another guy handsome. Sometimes you just have to appreciate someone's attractiveness. Look, I'm trying to make this not sound gay as much as I can but it's impossible. Alright, I was jealous he was hot! You can't blame me, right?

Anyway, he quickly told me directions to another Alchemy vendor. This one would take me about an hour to travel to and back, so I decided to not dilly-dally. Fortunately that new one didn't have some arrogant bitch, though the person behind the counter was another female. Again, the beauty standards here are incredible...

I noted all the prices and noticed a few new ingredients again. Maybe different vendors specialize in different resources? Hm, I'll have to ask about that tomorrow.

Second chapter, as I stated yesterday. Yes, all of this is necessary. It'll be clear in a few chapter.

Remember? A story can't be created in one chapter.