Working day

It was Saturday when Aryn had gone to the orphanage for Atlas, so the shop was closed for another day before opening. Now it was Monday and the shop opened promptly at 8am.

Atlas was a little confused as to how Aryn could make potions while serving customers but was surprised to learn that she had hired a young woman to sell while she was busy creating potions.

But Atlas didn't meet her that day because he had been in the workshop creating potions with Aryn since the morning. 

Just like on Saturday, Atlas ground the materials, then heated them, and finally divided the liquid into ten bottles, which Aryn then enchanted to complete the potions.

[You have successfully created a lower health potion]

[You have leveled up]

Atlas smiled again as he heard the system speak in his head telling him that he had leveled up. But he had no time to worry about his level and continued with potion creation.

The rest of the day he continued to make potions failing a few times without Aryn's guidance. But the elf did not reproach him and instead praised him because she expected him to fail more times.

Atlas was basically still in training, and it was normal for him to fail a few times. But with trial and error he was slowly getting a better understanding of potion making.

Then finally the afternoon came, and the day was over. Aryn was closing the potion shop relatively early, so by the time Atlas left the workshop the young woman who was tending the shop had already left.

Aryn led him into the flat and sat down in a chair she always kept free. Atlas instead made his way to the couch and sat there in silence.

"Ugh... we're running out of materials" Aryn whispered and then looked at Atlas. "You were very helpful today, thank you"

Atlas just shrugged slightly and nodded. Suddenly, out of all the rubbish a cat head peeked out and yawned.

"Thyme? I thought you had died" Aryn looked at the cat with some surprise.

Thyme just continued yawning and looked at Aryn with his green eyes.

"I'm hungry"

Aryn sighed and got up heading for the room that served as a makeshift kitchen. Atlas realized that the room wasn't originally the kitchen, but that it was so full of rubbish that it was difficult to cook in there.

Soon after, Aryn came out of the room with two large plates and a smaller one. She went to the table and placed them.

Atlas got up and walked over to the table with his stomach growling. After working all day he was tired and hungry.

Thyme also went to the table and began to eat without looking at the others. 

Atlas looked somewhat surprised at the cat and then looked at Aryn who began to eat in silence.

"The cat... speaks"

Aryn looked back at him and nodded.

"Yeah... well... it was an accident"

Atlas tilted his head to one side looking at her curiously. 

"I created an intelligence potion... which I thought was no good and went to throw it away. Who would have thought a cat would have been in the dumpster and drank it"

Atlas looked at Thyme with surprise.

"A stray cat"

Thyme stopped eating and looked at him with a frown. An expression that looked funny on a cat.

"What are you implying, malnourished kid?"

Atlas just snorted quietly and began to eat.

When night fell, Aryn went to sleep and Atlas lay down on the couch, which was his bed for now. He looked up at the ceiling wearily and sighed.

'I'm so tired...'

His body wasn't ready for a full day's work, which while not overly demanding his arms still ached from grinding plants all day.

Still, a small smile revealed itself on his face. Atlas summoned the system, and his smile grew bigger.

Name: [Atlas] [Level: 7] [Exp: 40/100] 

[Race: Human]

Stats: [HP: 7/7] [Mana: 0/0] [Magic Power: 0/0] [Strength: 3/3] [Agility: 2/2] [Dexterity: 2/2] [Intelligence: 5/5] 

His level had reached 7 and he had accumulated some Exp. Every time he made more potions, the experience he gained was less, so Atlas knew that at some point it would not be feasible to continue creating lower potions. 

But before that experience limit came, Atlas would make the most of it. Aside from his level, some of his stats had also increased.

His health had increased to 7, this was because Aryn had given him another purple health potion to fully recover. In addition, he had also increased his dexterity and intelligence by one point respectively.

If he understood dexterity as his ability to do a job, then making potions was what led to the one-point increase. Also intelligence, since creating potions required some precision in materials and exact timing.

Apart from his stats, Atlas looked at his skill.

[Minor Potion Creation] Mastery: [18/100]

Mastery had increased considerably in a single day's work. While it was the skill with the lowest mastery, that was taking into account that at the time he got it his mastery was only at 1, while when he got [Valer Human Language] and [Minor Poison Resistance] his mastery was already at 20.

Either way Atlas was quite satisfied and hoped that everything would continue to go smoothly so that he could continue to level up.

He was close to reaching level 10 and unlocking the reward promised by the system, so he closed his eyes and soon fell asleep dreaming of what the reward could be.