"So… let me get this straight. You want to do the work on your own, but still need my help to…"
"I want your help in directions and stuff. I want you to tell me what I'm doig wrong, when I'm doing and no other time," Nilo said.
"Hmm, that's not a very hard thing for me to do. You just want my validation on whether you are on your right path or not," Ning said. "Why not ask the other teachers? I'm sure they would help you too in this. Why did you wait until a new teacher came to ask for this?"
"I've tried all the teachers except the two grade 9 teachers. They all hear about my illness and don't even know what it is, let alone the cure, so they can't help at all," Nilo said.
"Your illness? What exactly is it again? Explain to me," Ning said.
Nilo agreed and explained exactly what was wrong with him. Ning took the doctor's approach and asked as many questions as he could.
"So… constant need for sleep, kills any qi you use to awaken your mind, can't cultivate at all during night— I see. I know what your problem is," Ning said.
"Y-You do?" Nilo's face got wide as he looked at Ning. Finally, a teacher who didn't tell him that he had no idea.
"Yes, I do. It's called the Im—"
"Stop! Stop! I don't want to know," Nilo said.
"Oh, not even the name?" Ning was surprised.
"Yes, I want to find it all on my own, from beginning to end. I just want you to keep me from going in the wrong direction, is that okay teacher?" Nilo asked.
"Uh, sure. I'm okay with that. There are like 30 different pills that can cure you, so it should be easy," Ning said.
"T-Thirty? Wow, so many. The other teachers don't even know a single one. Teacher, what grade of Alchemist are you?" Nilo asked.
"Uh, I don't have a grade. I just came to this academy on a whim," Ning said.
"Huh?" Nilo said. He started to get a little suspicious about whether to believe Ning or not. "Um, what's the highest grade pill that you have made yet?"
"Pills… uh, I haven't made a pill in ages actually. I think the one I made randomly at that time was a 3rd grade pill," Ning said.
Nilo hesitated a little. "Uhh, teacher… are you sure you know what you are talking about? Do you really know my disease?" he asked.
Ning looked at Nilo and said, "Of course I do, why would you— Oh, I see. I guess I should go check my grade at the guild today. I wonder where I am at."
"Um, I am going to the guild right now. Do you want to come with me?" Nilo asked.
"Alright," Ning said. "Teacher Ryuger, I will be going to the Alchemy guild for a little while, take care."
"Alright, have fun, teacher Ning," Ryuger replied.
Nilo took Ning down the stairs to the are with the guilds just at foot of the mountain. There were hundreds upon hundreds of people here. Since there were so many guilds, it would just be natural for this place to be crowded.
Nilo quickly took Ning to the Alchemy guild and entered.
"So… what do we do here?" Ning asked.
"Well, there are a few things you can do," Nilo said. "You can rent rooms to make pills, you can take your grade test, you can sit down in a lecture done by a high grade alchemist, you can take up tasks, etc."
"Oh, that's quite a few things you can do," Ning said.
"Yeah, it's all written there," Nilo pointed towards the board hanging at the side of the guild hall. Ning looked at it for a few moments and remembered it all.
"Alright, I should first make some pills to make sure that I know everything," Ning said. "I should go register right?"
"Yes, teacher. I will register for the library too," Nilo said.
"Okay," Ning said and got in queue to get himself a room. He and Nilo had to wait for a while due to the sheer number of people, but after a few minutes, Ning finally got his chance.
"Hello, can I have a furnace room?" Ning asked.
"Sure, do you have a guild Id?" the registrar asked.
"Uh, no. Do I need one?" Ning asked.
"No, but you will have to pay the full price on everything," the registrar said.
"Um, how do I join the guild?" Ning asked.
"You have to pay 200 spirit stones to take a test. If you pass it, we will accept you into the guild," the registrar said.
"200? Wow, that's expensive," Ning said. "I'll think about it later then, for now just I will just take the room."
"Haha, sure." The registrar simply took out a badge and handed it to Ning. "Here, this is your room. Please pay 10 spirit stones per hour you wish to spend in the furnace room."
'Damn, why is everything in central continent so expensive? Do they have more spirit stone caves or what?' Ning wondered. He quickly looked through the map in his head and realized that he was right.
'Damn, so many,' he thought. 'No wonder.'
He took out 50 spirit stones and handed it over to the registrar. "5 hours, please."
"Sure," the registrar marked it.
"By the way, what would it have cost the guild members?" Ning asked.
"Well, there are 6 different grades that the guild members would have had. The first 5 guild members would have gotten from 20% to 80% discount, with 15% increase in discount between each grade for everything in the guild. And the highest grade would get it all for free," the registrar said.
"Uh, I see. I should look into becoming a member later then. Thank you," Ning said and walked away after taking the badge. He went to the room he was given and entered.
He would finally make some pills for the first time in centuries.
