“You ftter me. It’s just a half-finished product. But Lucas, having taken Hall Master Kaviz as his mentor, has a bright future ahead.”

  Lucas ranked third in the exam, earning an A-grade rating.

  The second and third pce winners this year both became disciples of Kaviz.

  “It’s an honor to be noticed by Master,” Lucas says with a hint of pride after hearing Aaron praise Kaviz.

  In fact, setting aside the elusive Potion Hall leader, Kaviz firmly holds the top spot in Bert City for potion mastery.

  Being accepted as Kaviz’s disciple speaks volumes about one’s talent.

  Other pharmacist apprentices, seeing Aaron and Lucas chatting easily, realize Aaron isn’t the eccentric loner the rumors suggest.

  Gradually, they approach Aaron to make friends.

  In no time, Aaron becomes the center of attention.

  Bruce watches happily from the side. His usually quiet junior brother worries him, spending all day cooped up in the brewing room. He feared Aaron might get mental illness from it.

  Seeing how things are today, Bruce admits he underestimated him.

  Aaron doesn’t need Bruce’s help to fit into the pharmacist circle, and Bruce himself starts exchanging potion-making tips with familiar faces.

  “By the way, Aaron, if you manage to brew the Calm Potion, could you set aside a few doses for me? I’ll pay full market price,” Lucas asks politely.

  “Huh? What do you need the Calm Potion for?” Aaron asks, surprised. He assumes Lucas might have a superpower seed too.

  “To be honest, Aaron, I can only brew five potions a day. Any more, and I get dizzy and mentally drained,” Lucas says, clearly frustrated.

  The biggest challenge pharmacists face is limited mental energy.

  Each potion requires intense concentration and rapid calcutions for different scenarios.

  After brewing, they must immediately review and brainstorm, which is a huge mental strain.

  “You get dizzy after brewing potions?” Aaron asks, surprised.

  There’s such a thing?

  “Yeah! Haven’t you experienced it, Aaron?” Lucas asks curiously. “How many potions do you brew in a day?”

  Not really.

  Aaron thinks silently to himself: I brew at least twenty potions a day, and even thirty or forty with overtime is no problem.

  Noticing the curious gnces around him, he knows he needs to downpy it, so he smiles and says, “I’m not as hardworking as Lucas. I average four potions a day, so I haven’t encountered that issue yet.”

  After Aaron speaks, others quickly join in.

  “No wonder they’re the top two potion prodigies in Bert City. We max out at three potions a day.”

  “Aaron brews four Calm Potions daily, which are much more complex than typical Level 1 potions. Four of his are worth six or seven of ours. That’s impressive!”

  “Right, truly deserving of his S-grade rating.”

  “Aaron, could you save me a few half-finished Calm Potions? I’ll pay extra.”

  “Buddy, if you have extras, could you spare one for me?”

  ...

  The conversation shifts to mental stamina, with many expressing how tough it is to keep up.

  That’s when Aaron realizes his mental endurance might be different from others.

  Could it be because of the superpower seed?

  He wonders quietly.

  Seeing the requests to buy Calm Potions, Aaron promises to do his best and exchanges contacts with everyone.

  Soon, the group dives into discussions about potion brewing.

  Through these talks, Aaron notices many differences between himself and other pharmacist apprentices.

  He’s never struggled with mental fatigue.

  Applying basic potion formus comes naturally to him.

  Difficult potion concepts reveal their essence at a gnce, never troubling him.

  Aaron gains a clear understanding of his own talent.

  He is truly talented.

  Time passes, and a crescent moon hangs in the sky.

  From a distance, the sound of girls ughing reaches the crowd.

  Everyone perks up and turns their heads in unison.

  Aaron sets down his wine gss, curious, following their gaze.

  Ava walks toward them, accompanied by a group of girls.

  A cluster of vibrant young women walking together creates a striking scene, adding extra sparkle to the party.

  “Aaron, you don’t have a girlfriend yet, right?” Lucas winks at Aaron.

  Aaron shakes his head. “What do you mean, Lucas?”

  “These girls are daughters of various hunter group leaders, plus some children of wild herb merchants. You might want to get to know a few of them.”

  Aaron looks puzzled.

  Lucas continues, “This is your first time at a party like this, isn’t it?”

  “That’s right.”

  “No wonder,” Lucas smiles. “For us pharmacist apprentices to advance to Level 1 pharmacists, we need huge herb resources. Relying only on hunter groups isn’t enough. That’s why many powerful factions like to arrange marriages with pharmacist apprentices.”

  Aaron suddenly understands, this is basically the big powers choosing their sons-in-w.

  Nearby, some pharmacist apprentices in their twenties can’t resist and head over to talk to the women at the party.

  Both sides have their own intentions, and soon several young people are deep in conversation.

  “Aaron, aren’t you going to find your match?”

  Lucas had hoped to bring Aaron along to build some camaraderie among men.

  But seeing Aaron hesitate, a hint of impatience fshes across Lucas’s face.

  Though Lucas isn’t short on money or interested in becoming a son-in-w, he can’t help but be drawn by the enchanting women at the party.

  He wants to “test” his heart in the midst of worldly temptation……

  “Don’t wait for me, Lucas. I’ll look around some more,” Aaron says, uninterested.

  Hearing this, Lucas stops urging. After all, Aaron is currently Bert City’s most renowned potion prodigy, so holding out for the right girls makes sense.

  As Lucas leaves, a seat opens up beside Aaron. Before long, a rather pretty girl, about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, takes the spot and strikes up a conversation.

  Aaron, thinking maybe he can find a wealthy benefactor, chats with her for a bit. But the girl is more pragmatic. She gets straight to the point: if he wants access to herb resources, marriage is a must.

  Aaron feels speechless.

  He’s no ascetic and has no qualms about retionships, but this kind of blunt business negotiation makes him uncomfortable deep down.

  Three or four girls in a row approach him with the same deal, and Aaron’s patience runs thin. He moves to a quiet corner away from the crowd.

  “Looks like I was hoping for too much,” he sighs, watching the flirtatious young people at the party.

  He had thought his talent alone would attract some investment.

  But the powers behind these girls clearly aren’t interested in just investing, they want to tie him down with marriage.

  In their eyes, investing in him for a few years would only get them a Level 1 pharmacist at best.

  But the powers behind girls don’t ck pharmacists to colborate with.

  What they want is a pharmacist who belongs entirely to their family.

  ……

  Emily sits down, setting her gss of orange juice on the table. “Didn’t expect you to turn into a matchmaker.”

  Ava takes a sip of red wine, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

  “Damn it, I really miscalcuted. I wanted to throw a party to celebrate your brief freedom and let you experience the vibe of young people. But these folks turned it into a matchmaking event.”

  She downs her gss and pours herself another, clearly annoyed.

  At first, she invited twenty or thirty good-looking young people.

  But friends brought friends, and soon there were sixty or seventy.

  What surprised her even more was that these pharmacist apprentice parties were basically understood to be matchmaking gatherings.

  Unintentionally, she had become a matchmaker.

  Emily watches under the lights as the girls, wearing delicate makeup and bright clothes, pretend to be modest, while the pharmacist apprentices try hard to show off their gentlemanly charm, all acting as if they’re having a great time.

  For a moment, she feels a bit dazed.

  “Hey, what are you thinking about?” Ava waves at Emily.

  Emily snaps back to reality and smiles. “I just had a sudden thought.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I want to become a pharmacist.”

  “Whoa, your childhood dream is attacking you?” Ava looks surprised.

  Emily has loved potion studies since she was little and studied it for a long time. But ter, she discovered her talent for force adept was higher, so a certain elder in her family took her away for intense training.

  “Yeah, it’s sudden,” Emily says, looking back at the crowd—the girls trapped by circumstances, and then turns to Ava. “While I’m still retively free, I want to give it a try.”

  “Don’t look to me for help. I’m just an average pharmacist, can’t teach you much,” Ava pouts. “I’m just a zy fish drifting along.”

  “Recommend a good pharmacist then.”

  Ava thinks for a moment. “Pharmacists are easy to find in the capital, but in Bert City, there aren’t many suitable ones. The old guys at Potion Hall are all grumpy and full of themselves, with tons of rules. The few female pharmacists left were taken away by my aunt.”

  “You don’t need a high level, just someone decent.”

  “There is actually one suitable person. Come on, he is right here.”

  Ava pictures someone in her mind, then scans the room until she spots that figure in a corner.

  Aaron sits in the corner, scrolling through videos on his phone about brewing the force potion.

  Two graceful figures step in front of him, blocking the light.

  He looks up to see Ava smiling warmly at him.

  “Got something you need?” he asks.

  “Have you found the rich dy you’re looking for?”

  “Guess why I’m sitting here.”

  “No worries, I’m bringing you a rich dy,” Ava says, pulling Emily over and introducing her. “This is my best friend Emily, a well-known wealthy woman.”

  Aaron looks at Emily with curiosity. He met her earlier that day. Those stunning eyes left a deep impression on him.

  Emily gnces at Ava, blinking as if to ask, “Is this guy reliable?”

  Ava gives her a confident nod.

  Aaron managed to brew a half-finished Calm Potion, which definitely puts him among the top in the advanced apprentice ranks. Teaching Emily should be no problem.

  “So, how about teaching my best friend potion studies for a while?” Ava suggests.

  “No way, I’m busy,” Aaron replies firmly.

  “It’s a paid gig.”

  “How much?”

  “As long as you teach well, no upper limit.”

  Aaron looks skeptical. Does a wealthy benefactor really come this suddenly?

  At that moment, Emily furrows her brow slightly and interrupts, “Have you been training about the force?”

  She senses a faint force energy from Aaron.

  “You’re a force adept?” Aaron looks surprised at Emily.

  “Yeah.”

  “Why would a force adept study potion making? It’s like crossing mountains and rivers, totally different fields. Don’t you know that?” Aaron teases.

  Emily freezes for a moment, feeling both annoyed and amused. “Then why would you, a pharmacist, train about the force?”

  “Friend, can you really compare to me? I am truly talented about the potion studies.”

  Aaron casually puts on a confident front.

  Emily sits down on the nearby chair, a sly smile curling at the corner of her lips.

  Talent? This is the first time in her life someone brags about talent in front of her.

  “Sorry, I’m already a somewhat accomplished force adept,” she says coolly.

  Aaron and Emily exchange gnces, each sizing the other up like two sharp needles meeting on wheat stalks.

  “So, how far have you gotten in potion studies?” Aaron asks.

  “I’ve finished the basic formus.”

  “Have you successfully brewed any potions?”

  “If I had, would I need you to teach me?” Emily shoots him a sideways look, as if he’s a fool.

  “Alright, alright,” Aaron says, turning to Ava. “I will teach your friend. I’m good at dealing with stubborn types.”

  “You two can talk it out. I’m out,” Ava says, then turns and leaves.

  Emily’s eyes sparkle. “Funny enough, I’m good at dealing with stubborn people too. If you have any questions about the force, I can guide you.”

  Aaron thinks it over. He does have a few doubts about force training.

  After a brief silence, the tension between them eases a bit.

  Aaron can’t help but ask, “When you take the force potion, how long does it usually st?”

  “The force potion? What’s the point of that?” Emily asks curiously. Then, as if remembering something, she smirks. “Oh, sorry, I can’t answer that. I’ve never taken the force potion. The force usually just comes to me on its own.”

  Aaron is momentarily stunned but quickly pys it cool. “Oh, me neither. Just asking for a friend...”

  Emily grins. “By the way, I’ve heard that people who can’t sense the force can use the force potion to feel it. But one dose doesn’t st hours—it sts days. Usually three to five days. So, tell your friend not to push too hard. He should keep the option to quit open.”

  Aaron freezes. Three to five days?

  What’s with my two hours then?

  Am I useless?

  As Aaron doubts himself, Emily gives him a knowing look, as if to say, yes, exactly.

  “See you at Potion Hall at eight tomorrow,” she says.

  Without looking back, Aaron leaves.

  Night falls.

  Aaron wakes up from his sleep.

  "Damn!"

  Damn it, my resolve is shattered.

  No wonder training the force burns through potions so fast.

  He used three bottles of force potion in one night. At market price, that’s thirty thousand gold coins gone overnight.

  Even if my family owns a gold mine, I can’t just throw money away like that!

  The next morning.

  Eight thirty.

  Yawning, Aaron arrives at Potion Hall.

  Outside the hall, a graceful figure has already been standing in the cold wind for half an hour.