Chapter 154

Chapter 154: Rare Herbs Growing Like Weeds

We rested for a day at our hotel.

Then, once again riding in a government-provided security vehicle, we traveled to Bekele's residence and laboratory at the foot of a mountain on the outskirts of the city.

The residence and lab were quite large, with heavy security.

'Providing a sixteen-year-old high school student with a residence like this, a laboratory, and security personnel. You can really feel how much the Ethiopian government has invested in Bekele.'

According to President Meles, many powerful nations and guilds had attempted to contact Bekele.

However, the Ethiopian government had blocked every attempt to prevent brain drain.

'With this level of support, the overprotectiveness makes sense.'

They had reportedly planned to keep the still-young Bekele under government protection until he became an adult, worried he might be exploited by adults if he joined a guild.

Then the Wind Forest Guild had reached out requesting a meeting, and since our guild had a good reputation from resolving the Guatemala cartel incident, the president and officials had deliberated before finally agreeing to meet us in person.

'If we had lied during the audience with President Meles, we never would have met Bekele.'

We sat at an outdoor garden table and waited. Before long, a boy walked over alongside Director Zerdi.

'That must be Bekele.'

He was shorter than I expected, with an earnest look about him.

He was wearing a white lab coat, like a research assistant.

The boy approached and bowed to us.

"H-hello...... Hunter An Seon-u, Hunter Emeria, Hunter Hwang Myeong-u! It is an honor to meet you......!"

Was he nervous about meeting us?

Was he naturally shy?

Either way, his eyes were brimming with excitement.

We greeted him and Director Zerdi, then sat down together at the outdoor table.

"You wanted to meet me......?"

Bekele asked cautiously.

I nodded slightly.

"Yes, that is right."

"But why......?"

"To offer you a spot in the Wind Forest Guild."

"Me......? I am just a B-Rank Awakened."

"Your stats may be low, but you possess a Unique-Grade alchemist skill."

"That is true, but...... three world-renowned Hunters came all this way just to recruit me......?"

"That is correct. We waited a year to meet you, Bekele. We have only just managed it."

"......"

Bekele stared at us open-mouthed, as if he could not believe it.

Then something seemed to occur to him.

"If...... I join the Wind Forest Guild, would I be able to see the Fourth Floor Rift Outpost......?"

"Of course. Not only that, you would enjoy numerous benefits within the Outpost. We would provide lodging inside the Fourth Floor. If you need materials for your alchemy research, we can procure them. And we can also raise your stats."

"......"

At the mention of stat increases, Bekele swallowed hard.

As expected, no Awakened could resist the promise of stat growth.

"Your Mana stat, in particular, would increase significantly."

"......Mana stat."

If he joined the guild, I would form a Sovereign's Bond with him.

That alone would boost his stats by at least 1.5 times.

Not just Bekele, but I planned to form the Sovereign's Bond with Bard Damon as well.

That would bring the total number of Sovereign's Bond holders to nine.

The Sword Saint, Eriksson, Santos, Han Se-a, Ji-young, Yeona, Instructor Park, Damon, and Bekele.

'Later, when all ten slots are filled and a new Hunter needs to be added, Ji-young will have to be removed.'

Ji-young was not a combat member.

'Sorry in advance, Ji-young.'

Bekele then looked at Director Zerdi.

"Director Zerdi, may I really join the Wind Forest Guild......?"

"His Excellency the President has given his permission. Follow your heart. However, there are three things you must promise if you join. First, under no circumstances may you naturalize."

"Naturalize? My family is here...... I swear I will never naturalize."

"Good spirit. Second, you must exchange your Magic Stones at a domestic bank. This rule applies equally to all Hunters in the country."

"Understood."

"Third, you are a Hunter directly under the Rift Management Bureau. Therefore, when a national emergency is declared, you must answer the nation's call and serve your country. Those are the only three things you need to uphold."

"I will remember."

Nothing unreasonable.

Director Zerdi had only asked Bekele to uphold perfectly appropriate obligations.

Affection for Bekele was evident in Zerdi's gaze.

A look reminiscent of how Director Jeong Jae-yong looked at me.

Bekele then stood and bowed to us.

"I would be grateful if you would accept me into the Wind Forest Guild......!"

I also stood and extended my hand.

"We look forward to working together as guild family."

He grasped my offered hand and beamed.

"Thank you so much, Guild Master......!"

Ria clapped for him.

And the Sword Saint elder patted the shoulder of the tearful Bekele.

***

We flew back to Korea with Bekele.

We headed straight to guild headquarters and showed him around.

"Wow, this is impressive."

He marveled at everything.

When we reached the fifth floor, used as guild member lodging.

POP POP!

Hidden guild members emerged and set off party poppers. Bekele jumped.

"Welcome to our guild!"

"Hunter Bekele, welcome!"

"Our guild has the best benefits! You made a great choice!"

"That is right, our guild has a legendary zero-percent turnover rate."

"The guild members are friendly, and the guild master is delicious!"

Hmm? I think someone forgot the word "food" in there.

All guild members wore Magical Bracelets engraved with the Sigil of Wisdom, enabling communication with Bekele.

With everyone welcoming him so enthusiastically, Bekele bowed repeatedly in gratitude.

"Thank you for the welcome, thank you!"

The guild members whisked him away to a large table that could seat at least fifteen, laden with food and cake.

Just then, Ruina brought Rin and Yeona down from upstairs.

"Mommy, Daddy! I missed you!"

"Mommy, Daddy! Waaah!"

Rin and Yeona came running and hugged Ria and me.

Having been away overseas for days, they had clearly missed their parents.

The feeling was mutual.

"Rin, Yeona. Were you good while Daddy and Mommy were away?"

"Mommy missed you girls too. Come here, Yeona, no more tears."

Bekele watched our family scene.

I pointed to Bekele and introduced him to Rin and Yeona.

"Rin, Yeona. This is a new member of our guild family. He came from a country called Ethiopia. This is Uncle Bekele...... actually, he is more like Bekele oppa."

At sixteen, calling him "uncle" felt awkward, so I introduced him as "oppa."

He was six years older than Rin.

And eleven years older than Yeona.

Rin and Yeona greeted him.

"Hello, I am Rin. Nice to meet you, Bekele oppa."

"Hello, I am Yeona, Win's little sister."

At their greeting, a word slipped out of Bekele's mouth unbidden.

"Cute......"

He had said it without thinking and quickly covered his mouth.

My daughters were indeed cute.

Bekele then greeted them awkwardly.

"Hello...... nice to meet you. I am Bekele."

"Nice to meet you, Bekele oppa."

"Nice to meetcha!"

After the slightly awkward introductions, the welcome party continued.

Bekele blew out the candles on the cake.

Then everyone dug into the spread.

Guild members were a bit disappointed by the food.

"It is not our guild master's cooking, so it is kind of meh."

"Half the food was ordered from a catering service, so it cannot be helped. The guild members each pitched in to make the rest."

As they said, the food was not particularly amazing.

But it was edible.

Jeong Yeon-su, the Hunter who mainly handled guild administrative duties, asked Bekele.

"Hunter Bekele, have you tried our guild master's cooking?"

"No, not yet."

"Our guild master's cooking is absolutely the best! When you go to the Outpost tomorrow, visit An-Restaurant."

"I will. Tasting the guild master's food has been on my bucket list."

"Oh, were you already a fan?"

"Yes. I doubt there are many Awakened who are not fans of the guild master. The same goes for Hunter Emeria."

"Ha ha! That is true. And when addressing Hunter Emeria, you can call her Guild Master or Ma'am."

"Thank you for telling me."

Jeong Yeon-su was warm-natured and loved conversation.

She chatted endlessly with Bekele, filling him in on everything about our guild.

***

The next day.

I took Bekele to the Rift Outpost through the Gate portal installed on the fourth floor of guild headquarters.

We climbed to the top of the Mage Tower together.

Looking down at the Rift township from atop the tower, Bekele was culture-shocked.

He had never imagined the Outpost could be this developed.

"This is truly incredible...... I had no idea it was this advanced......"

"Right? Everyone is amazed on their first visit."

Starting last evening, I had been speaking casually to Bekele.

"Jeong Yeon-su told you last night, right? Our guild has many secrets."

"Yes, I heard. I will never leak any guild secrets to the outside."

"I trust you. That said, let us form a contract."

"A contract......?"

"It is something good for you, so just say yes."

"Oh, understood."

I immediately formed the Sovereign's Bond with Bekele.

Bekele trusted me and accepted the contract on the spot.

As the contract was established, muscles began pumping up on Bekele's thin frame.

"What on earth......!"

"This is one of those secrets. It is not a skill I give to just anyone, so keep it confidential."

"I absolutely will!"

I checked Bekele's stats.

[STATUS: Strength 55(+31) / Agility 54(+35) / Dexterity 82(+46) / Mana 43(+72) / Stamina 37(+41)]

His base stats were typical of a B-Rank Hunter.

But his Dexterity was disproportionately high.

'As expected of an Awakened with a Unique-Grade alchemist skill.'

And with the Sovereign's Bond, all his stats had risen dramatically.

Mana in particular had increased significantly.

'Roughly A-Rank level.'

However, with the international Hunter rank threshold about to be lowered, he was more accurately a B+-Rank Hunter.

I then checked his skills.

[(U) Ancient Alchemy Codex LV 3]
[Ancient Alchemy LV 3]

[Potion Pitcher]

Ancient Alchemy allowed the creation of various potions and compounds.

Potion Pitcher was a skill that threw potions directly at targets to enhance the potion's effects.

[Potion Pitcher Effect: All potion effects increase by 50%.]

A whopping 50% increase.

An excellent skill.

"Do you happen to have any potions you have already made?"

"Yes, of course."

He pulled several potion bottles from a sling bag at his side and held them out.

I took them and examined them.

[(U) Strength Increase Potion]

[Effect: Strength stat increases by 20% for 15 minutes.]

[(U) Agility Increase Potion]

[Effect: Agility stat increases by 20% for 15 minutes.]

The duration was a bit short, but reapplying every fifteen minutes was manageable.

"So if a potion is administered through Potion Pitcher, the effect increases by 50% to become 30%?"

"Yes, that is correct."

A 30% stat increase was insane.

More than enough to offset the short duration.

Truly befitting a Unique-Grade skill.

"Do you have any other potions?"

"I have only been able to make these two types so far......"

"I see. What kinds of alchemy ingredients do you need to make potions?"

"The basic ingredients are various herbs and Magic Stones. According to the Codex, materials like monster blood and special minerals are needed too. But at my current level, I only need herbs and Magic Stones."

"So you need higher skill levels to produce more variety."

"That is right."

"How do you raise your skill level?"

"Repeatedly making the same thing works, but creating new potions I have not made before levels me up much faster."

"New ones, huh. Then would you like to try these ingredients?"

I opened Acresia and produced Mandragora, Arcana Mana Herb, and various herbs I had recently obtained through Golden Goblin trades.

Bekele's eyes went wide.

"Are those...... Mandragora and Arcana Mana Herb......?!"

I had not even told him the names, yet he recognized them.

The Ancient Alchemy Codex must have contained ingredient descriptions.

"That is right. Mandragora, Arcana Mana Herb."

"Where did you find something this rare......?"

"Are they that rare?"

"Extremely......! They are among the rarest herbs in existence."

The Mandragora had come from a floating island I had stumbled upon.

And the Arcana Mana Herb had been obtained through Golden Goblin trades.

They were certainly not easy to obtain through normal means.

"Can you make new potions with these ingredients?"

"I am one level short to use Mandragora, but there is something I can make with Arcana Mana Herb at my current level!"

Bekele looked thrilled.

But he quickly deflated.

"Something this rare must cost a fortune...... I do not have much money or Magic Stones. Could I possibly trade the stat potions I have already made......?"

Rare? Hardly.

They grew like weeds outside our Rift house.

And the Farm Dungeon was overflowing with Arcana Mana Herb.

I opened Acresia again and produced a large basket.

A basket brimming with Arcana Mana Herb.

I handed it to the slack-jawed Bekele.

"We are in the same guild. No need for transactions. Arcana Mana Herb is plentiful, so use as much as you need for making potions and leveling up your skill."

"......"

"Bekele, you leveling up your skill is what helps our guild. So if you need anything else, tell me anytime. Whatever I can get you, I will."

Moved, Bekele bowed his head.

"Thank you......! I will repay your support by leveling up fast and making great potions!"

"That would be wonderful. I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise-!"