Shunya sprinted to Drusus’s room and flung open the door, panting. I should have put a few multipliers in the stamina department Shunya thought.

Drusus got up from behind his desk. “What happened, Caleb?” He asked, worried. “Room, Fire” Shunya managed to say in between breaths. “Oh, not again” Drusus grabbed a big bucket and started filling it with water. “Lead” he ordered.

Shunya ran to his room,Drusus following him closely. Shunya opened the door, seeing his bed and table engulfed in flames.

Drusus dumped the bucket of water on the flames, extinguishing them. He gave Shunya a confused look “I thought you didn’t know how to use magic?”

Shunya looked to the ground “Uh” Suddenly he got an epiphany “Oh, the lady from the store gave me some mana” he said , lying through his teeth.

Drusus scratched his head “Alice did that? I didn’t know she was a priest.” “She said something about me having too much potential to let it go waste,” Shunya said .

“Well,looks like you don’t need to work here anymore,” Drusus said, trying to force a smile. “Actually, I could help you run this branch better, as long as I get compensated properly of course,” Shunya pitched. “I don’t doubt that you would be of tremendous help, but we use all our surplus funds up in paying the workers.” “We could just get rid of the workers then,” Shunya offered.

Drusus raised his eyebrows. “What are you offering?” he asked.

Shunya gave his trademark evil smile, “Oh, you’ll see”

…………………..

Two days later, the workers were all called into the courtyard. “Why do you think we got a two-day holiday?” Trevor asked. “Beats me,“ shrugged a tall worker “We still got paid so I’m not gonna complain” he chuckled.

They reached the entrance of the courtyard. Trevor noticed a contraption near the stream and several pipes running from the wells. Drusus was standing near a lever with Shunya, who was looking at the workers with an unusual smile.

Drusus clapped his hands together “Now that you’ve all gathered here, its time to break the news”. He grabbed the lever and started pulling the lever repeatedly. Suddenly, water started gushing out of all the pipes at once into the stream. They all gasped. “C-Chief Drusus?” the tall worker asked, “What is the meaning of this?”

Shunya raised an eyebrow “I thought it would have been obvious,” he said “This means that you are all no longer required here, your contracts have been terminated”

An outraged cry rose from the workers “Chief Drusus! You can’t be serious about this.” “I am extremely serious,” Drusus said coldly, “Why is Caleb staying? He’s as useless as the rest of us!” the tall guy from before protested. “Caleb is the one who designed this contraption. Now vacate these premises before I throw you out myself!” Drusus roared, causing everyone to flinch.

The grumbling crowd dispersed. “Hey Trevor!” Shunya called out “Stay here for a second”. Trevor walked up to Shunya and Drusus “Yeah?” he asked, slightly afraid. “I have a proposal for you,” Shunya said “I need you to operate the pump”.

“The.. pump?” Trevor asked, confused. “You need to pull the lever for about an hour a day,” Shunya explained “You will be paid 200 coins every day for this,”. “Why did you choose me for this? I’m not the strongest person in the crew, well former crew,” He said, glancing behind him, seeing a few workers glowering at him.

“I have my reasons, and your strength can easily be supplemented” Shunya tossed him a bag of coins “Get some strength enhancing gear from the shop. You may keep the change” Trevor caught the bag of coins. It was surprisingly heavy. “Thanks Caleb” Trevor left. “Well, he has a point,” Drusus observed “Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just get someone stronger?”

“Trevor was the only worker who was friendly to me, besides Damien. Furthermore, the money I’ve given him will make him feel indebted to me, making him less likely to betray me,” Shunya said. “Are you saying that the others would have betrayed you?” Drusus asked. Shunya looked at the dispersing crowd grimly “They have many reasons to kill me.” he admitted.

“Well,we begin work tomorrow,” Drusus said “I’ve given you rest of the day off to practice magic, have fun.” Shunya nodded and walked out of the courtyard. “Move,” he snapped at two workers who were blocking his path. They begrudgingly made way for him. He continued to walk until he reached the shop.

Alice looked at him pleasantly “And how is my favourite customer doing today?” “I need another teleportation scroll,” Shunya said as he slid 10 gold coins onto the counter. “Ah, we’re fresh out of stock” yawned Alice “You took my last ones yesterday and the re-stockers come next week” Looking at Shunya’s disappointed face she said “Well, you could just walk a little, the field isn’t that far.” “I suppose I could” Shunya sighed “Teleportation is just so much easier though” “If you have nothing to buy, then shoo. I’m reading,” Alice said as she turned the pages of a bird watching magazine. Shunya left the premises, jogging slightly.

After 15 minutes of running, Shunya reached an empty field. Shunya took a deep breath and focused his energy into his hand. Summon Nitrogen he thought to himself. He summoned oxygen into his other hand using the same method. Combine into Nitrogen Dioxide he thought.

He opened his eyes and saw a brown gas escaping from his hands. Mercury he thought, focusing hard. Higher elements naturally took more time to summon. He saw a ball of silver liquid materialize into his hands. He summoned oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon, combining it with the mercury. Shunya watched as he synthesized a white looking , crystalline structure. “Mercury Fulminate,” Shunya remarked aloud ,smiling. He had tried making it before, but expended too much mana and fell unconscious. Alice had to come rescue him. Now that he had synthesized this, however, he only needed to think of the chemical name to summon it. He launched the crystal a hundred metres away from him. The field burst into flames with an earthshaking explosion. This much should be enough to handle a small army he thought as he checked his watch. It was three hours since he had started his training. Huh, it must have taken a while to synthesise that mercury he thought as he walked away from the destruction.

Shunya jogged down the road to the brewery. “Hey kid!” a deep voice called out. Shunya turned around to see three red-haired men holding a sword. “Give us all your money and we might not kill you,” the tallest one replied, pointing his sword at him. Shunya laughed, “Get out of my way before you suffer a fatal wound, fool” He drawled as he walked towards them.

The bandits held up their swords “You don’t want to come near us, boy!” the shortest one said. “We have enough power to take down a fully trained B-rank mage!”. Shunya interrupted him by launching a shard of mercury fulminate towards him, blowing his arm off. He fell to the floor, spitting blood. “H-How?” he said weakly “You aren’t even fully trained,” Shunya smiled and looked towards the other two. “Well?” “We will not stand down! We would rather die!” The medium-sized one shouted, “The honor of o-” he was interrupted by a shard of iron that lodged itself in his brain, instantly killing him. The tallest one closed his eyes, preparing for his death. At least I will be able to tell father in heaven that I died fighting a powerful foe he thought, as he held back his tears.

Shunya grabbed him by the throat “Any last words?” he said, blankly. The bandit looked him in the eye defiantly. Annoyed, Shunya snapped his neck, killing him. Pathetic he spat at them Throwing their life for their petty pride, Bravery is a disease .

Shunya walked away, in a worse mood than before.

…………….

The red-haired bandit woke up in a cold sweat. He looked around and saw that he was in a room. Is this a prison? he thought as he got up from his bed.

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a stunningly beautiful pink-haired woman. “Hello there Davie.” She said in a gentle voice, “Could you tell me what exactly happened before you passed out?”. “How do yo-” the Bandit stopped himself. This was not the time to ask questions. He told her about he died.

“Oh also, could you tell me what happened to my brothers?” he asked carefully. Ignoring him, Estelle thought to himself Wow, mercury fulminate? He’s really progressing fast . she thought. “Excuse me goddess?” Estelle gave the bandit a death stare. “Yes?”. Davie felt a surge of fear course through him. “Do you have an illness, madam? There is an unnerving heat emanating from you.” He managed to say.

Estelle laughed “You’re cute, I might just keep you here. Your intelligence stat isn’t high so Darius wouldn’t object to it.” “I’m sorry what?” Davie asked, confused. “Oh yeah, I may have forgotten to mention this.” Estelle said, “You are dead”.

Davie blinked, "What now?"