Entering the Alchemy room, Kai began making plans for earning Honey points.
It was easy to make pills; however, they took a lot of time. On the other hand, potions took less time but were physically demanding.
"Let's finish this first. After that, with whatever time I have left, I'll make whatever seems easiest," Kai decided. He planned to complete the tasks on the brewing list first and then decide whether to refine pills or make potions.
[Brewing List]
Name: Kai
Date: Year 0, Month 4, Day 10
Task: 8 Essence Boost Potions
Seeing the brewing list, Kai started working. The first thing he did was grind the herbs. After grinding seven Dragon Roots, five Whispering Ferns, and a few stems of Sunlit Blossoms, he put the pot on the Firestones and poured 16 liters of Moonwater into it.
After the Moonwater thickened a little, he tossed in just over three ground Dragon Roots and started stirring.
After stirring for a while, his hand began to feel sore, so he mobilized his Ki and directed it toward his hands, enhancing his strength and relieving the soreness.
After stirring a while longer, he added powdered Whispering Fern, and a while later, the ground stems of Sunlit Blossom.
Then the stirring continued, and half an hour later, the Essence Boost Potion was ready. From this one pot, Kai made three Essence Boost Potions.
However, his Ki reserve was nearly depleted, and now he needed to rest to recover his Ki.
"After adding 8 more liters of Moonwater and almost double the ingredients, I only made one extra potion. I should just stick to the usual way."
After carefully checking each potion, Kai found that although increasing the ingredients didn't yield more potions, it did improve their grade.
[Essence Boost Potion]
Grade: Low
Effects: +100 Ki (Temporary)
Description: Upon drinking, increases a person's Ki by 100. This effect lasts for an hour and has no side effects.]
[Essence Boost Potion]
Grade: Mid
Effects: +100 Ki (Temporary)
Description: Upon drinking, increases a person's Ki by 100. This effect lasts for three hours and has no side effects.]
He had made two low-grade potions and one mid-grade potion.
After putting the potions away, Kai rested for a while and then began drawing in the surrounding Ki to accelerate his recovery. Within a few minutes, he had recovered his lost Ki.
Then Kai washed the pot and placed it back on the Firestones. He increased the Firestones' output to the maximum.
This time, Kai didn't add any additional ingredients in hopes of making more potions and instead used the standard portions.
In just under an hour, Kai made two potions. However, this time he wasn't as physically exhausted as before. Since there were fewer ingredients in the pot, he had to use less strength.
"Two potions per pot really is the golden ratio. It seems Master Stardrew was right—adding more ingredients is just a waste," Kai remembered, thinking back to his early days of learning alchemy.
Following the same process twice, Kai made a total of nine potions in just over four hours. Aside from the one mid-grade Essence Boost Potion he made in the first batch, all the rest were low-grade.
After finishing the brewing list, Kai rested for a while, then cleaned the pot and set it aside. He brought out his furnace and placed it on the Firestones.
Since he had just finished refining potions, he decided to refine pills to earn more Honey points.
In just under two hours, Kai completed the refining process and produced 16 pills from his first batch.
After cleaning the furnace, he started refining the second batch, from which he made 18 pills.
Counting the 34 Basic Vitality Pills and the extra Essence Boost Potion he had made, Kai earned a total of 39 Honey points.
"Should I continue?" Kai asked himself as he tallied his gains. Today, he had worked for over eight hours—more than he ever had since becoming an Alchemist.
"It won't be long before my brewing list increases again. I should earn as many Honey points as I can while I still have the time."
After thinking things over, Kai decided to continue working.
Five hours later, Kai was both mentally and physically exhausted. During that time, he had made three batches of Essence Boost Potions and one batch of Basic Vitality Pills containing 15 pills.
"Counting these pills, I've gathered 84 Honey points." Placing the 15 pills into a pill jar, Kai looked around his Alchemy room, which was quite a mess.
After spending some time cleaning the place, he made a list of the herbs he had used and then tiredly dragged himself out.
At the front desk, Kai handed over everything he had refined.
"Finally! I thought you died in there. Did the owner increase the tasks on the brewing list again? Didn't she just increase them a few days ago?" Miya asked, seeing Kai's tired expression and feeling a little sorry for the human.
"It's nothing like that," Kai replied, handing over the brewing list.
"The task was only 8 Essence Boost Potions. Why did you make so many more? You even refined these Basic Vitality Pills. Are you planning to take a few days off?"
Miya asked, eyeing the extra potions and pills.
Apprentice alchemists at the Honey Pill Shop don't get any days off aside from Sunday. However, even if they take a day off for some reason, they are still required to complete the tasks assigned for the day they missed.
So, upon seeing so many extra pills and potions, Miya assumed Kai was planning to take a few days off.
"Not taking any days off. These are for the Honey points," Kai explained tiredly.
"For Honey points...? Are you seriously trying to buy the broken Knowledge Sea?"
Honey points weren't something most people tried hard to accumulate. So when Miya heard that the extra pills and potions were for Honey points, she was confused—until she remembered their earlier conversation.
"Didn't I tell you? Using a broken Knowledge Sea is like cutting off your future progress," Miya warned once more, trying again to dissuade Kai.
"Just register my points," Kai said, already exhausted and now annoyed by Miya's repeated warnings. He handed over his employee card without saying anything further.