Void arrived at the training hall and saw that it was crowded. He blamed this on a certain Sculptor. Maybe they thought they would get a hidden class if they trained long enough or if they got close enough to the instructors to share a meal.

  Players were hitting wooden dummies bare handed, or swinging swords. Some were even throwing knives at targets.

  He walked towards the area where players were training with swords.

  An intimidating man was walking around, analysing every movement the players were making and correcting them every once in a while. Void knew immediately that he was the instructor and walked up to him.

  "Excuse me can I learn how to fight with a sword?"

  "Yes. Come here." The instructor said without hesitation, as if he had repeated it countless times.

  Void was directed to the side and the instructor showed him a few basic moves. He taught Void how to hold a sword properly, how to swing and thrust and also how to defend against different types of attacks.

  He told Void to repeat everything he was shown until he was satisfied with Void's ability.

  A training montage begins, filled with determination, tears and heartwarming moments. By the end, Void had gained the Sword Mastery skill, which was a sub-skill of Weapon Mastery. He had gotten it up to Basic Lv5, increasing his attack by 5% if he was using a sword.

  "Thank you instructor! I will never forget you!" Void said, wiping tears from his eyes.

  The instructor out his hand on Void's shoulder and pumps his fist in pride and encouragement.

  "Good luck kid! I expect much from you."

  With that Void left. Void knew he would leave the town soon. If he wanted to be Demon Lord, he couldn't waste too much time in this beginner city. He had to venture out and get stronger.

  He was unsure of how long it would be before he would be able to buy potions, but he remembered the atrocious cost of potions. He thought it would be better if he could make his own potions, he could make more if he ever ran out.

  ~

  He found his way to a small potion shop in one of the more secluded spots in the city. Out here Void didn't have to wait too long to get his class.

  Void went in and saw a small dusty room. He wasn't surprised since it matched its outer appearance.

  Void thought no one was around, until he heard the clanking of glass. It came from behind a door at the back of the room.

  "Hello? Anyone here?" He called out.

  "Just a minute!" A feminine voice shouted in response. More clanking of glass followed.

  A few moments later, a young woman emerged from the door. She looked very messy, with many different stains on her apron. She was wearing gloves and had her hair tied up in a bun.

  "Yes?" She asked with a rather annoyed look on her face, not liking being interrupted from whatever she was doing.

  "Erm... I want to be an Alchemist." Void answered.

  "Oh. That will be 20 copper."

  "Eh, there's a fee?" Void asked completely shocked. He had no idea he had to pay to learn Alchemy, especially since he got to be a Mage and Warrior for free.

  "Of course. Did you think I was going to teach you for free? Pay up or leave!" She reprimanded.

  Void thought that Alchemy was worth the 20 copper, he could just earn back the money by selling potions he made. He reluctantly took 20 copper out of his inventory and passed it over to the woman.

  "Good choice. What's your name? I'm Valerie, you can call me Val. Follow me."

  She said all at once. Not even waiting for my reply she turned and walked through the door.

  "I'm Void."

  He quickly said and followed after her.

  Behind the door was what Void assumed to be her Alchemy lab. There were long tables that extended along the 4 walls of the room and a single long table in the middle of the room.

  On the tables along the wall were various different types of equipment, some Void had never seen before. There were also containers full of different herbs and flowers. As well as containers full of weird items, such as one which seemed to have animal teeth. There were also jugs full of different colored liquids.

  The middle table was extremely messy. Pieces of paper were scattered all over and there were many flasks held by retort stands.

  Valerie walked to the table and pushed aside all the mess. She grabbed a container filled with a certain type of greenish-brown herb, jug of water, 2 empty flasks and a mortar and pestle.

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  "Watch carefully. I'm not going to repeat this again."

  She took out 3 of herbs and placed them in the mortar. She started grinding them up until they were a thick paste. She scoops it into the empty flask and pours some water in. She started swirling the flask, mixing the contents. As she swirled it, the water glowed a slight green. When the light completely disappeared, the paste and water had mixed completely, leaving green liquid in the flask. She got a cork and capped the potion.

  "Got it? This is a basic health potion, it can heal 50 points of health. Give it a try."

  Void picked up the herb.

  Void repeated the process in the exact same way Valerie did, though he was a lot slower than her.

  After he was done, he lifted his first potion like it was a priceless treasure and examined it with sparkles in his eyes.

  The sparkles faded.

  "35? Didn't you say 50?"

  "I'm a Master Alchemist! Don't compare your lowly self to me! Anyway, this is only one way to make a potion. There are many different methods! As an Alchemist, we aim to discover the best way to make potions as potent as possible. You can use different types of liquids as the solvent in a potion, you can use heat to integrate ingredients better. The possibilities are endless!"

  Valerie started to ramble on about different ways to make potions, getting more passionate as time went on. Void figured that if he didn't stop her now, she would never stop.

  "Valerie?"

  He was left unheard.

  "Valerie!"

  Valerie finally heard him and was shocked into stopping her personal discussion.

  "What? You're still here?"

  "Sorry, I'll leave now."

  Void started walking away dejected.

  "Wait! Take this."

  Valerie passed Void a small wooden case.

  "What's this?"

  "All new Alchemists get this. Take this and get lost."

  Void thanked her and left promply.

  "Open Status."

  1% was pitiful. Void decided to make potions whenever he had free time to increase Skill Proficiency so that the skill wouldn't stay complete useless.

  Void was finally ready to leave Hyka and start exploring. He was looking forward to facing the unknown. This was a game and he was going to have fun playing it.

  *****

  Thank you for reading! :) By the way, is the chapter length okay? Tell me if you want it to be longer or shorter.