Earth's Greatest Magus

Realizing that Master Dulin was finally not occupied, Emery quickly entered the workshop and walked over to the man. The dwarf master seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he didn't even turn his head when Emery's steps drew near.

"Excuse me, Master Dulin."

Hearing someone calling his name, the dwarf master turned his head around. A surprise look appeared on his face when he saw Emery.

"You… you… I know you…"

Emery inwardly let out a wry smile. Apparently, this dwarf master did not remember his name.

"I am Emery Ambrose."

"AH! Yes.. that dead kid…You are still alive.. That's good…" Heaving a sigh, the man added, "What do you want?"

Understanding that the dwarf master was busy, Emery didn't waste time on pleasantries and immediately went straight to the point.

"I came here for what I owe, Master."

Hearing such words, the dwarf instantly became shocked. "What owe? I never owe anything in my life! You… Did you get a side effect? No no, you have signed a clause that we are not responsible for anything that happened to you after the procedure. So you don't have any business here–"

Emery watched the man blurting out words rapidly. It seemed the man was so busy with his work and so deep in thought that he misunderstood his words completely. Waving his hand, he tried to get his intention across to the other party.

"No, Master. You misunderstand. What I mean is that I owe you. I have come to pay back my debt."

Hearing that it wasn't actually him but Emery who owed, the dwarf master's face swiftly changed. "Ahh yes.. I apologize for my earlier unsightly behavior. It seems that I have overworked myself too much, plus that Cross family.." The man muttered the last part under his breath.

Hearing the dwarf master talk about the one spoken with Emery before, made him curious and ask "Who is that man actually master?"

Master Dulin looked surprised and said, "You are a privileged acolyte aren't you? That young man is in top rank last i heard"

Emery just realized the family name "Cross, Shatter Cross, Rank 5" Emery heaved a sigh wondering if he just made another trouble.

The dwarf master's expressions changed again as quickly as before he said, "So how much did you owe me again?"

Once again, it was clear that the dwarf master had completely forgotten about this matter. If he wants, he actually could just escape from his debt, but that is not him. Feeling responsible for owing the money, he clearly remembered the amount he owed.

"It's 882,000 contribution points."

The dwarf's face was adorned by a smile once again, but then he suddenly said something confusing. "No no, my brother said that I shouldn't… although, why should I listen to that liar..? After all, he's the one who makes me into such a mess now."

Seeing that the dwarf started to talk to himself, Emery quickly opened his mouth.

"Yes, Master. I know that I promised I will pay the debt with assisting your work here, but to be honest, I currently do not have much time to spend on apothecary. I need to focus on my training. So… I wonder if I can just pay with contribution points..?"

The dwarf master seemed to be in thought when he heard Emery's words. Then suddenly, Emery noticed the master glanced behind him, where Magus Shena was, before saying, "No. No… actually… I can't actually let you do that."

Emery was so surprised by the fact his offer got rejected that it showed on his face.

Seeing the expression, the dwarf master quickly opened his mouth. "Spirit stones, I have in abundance right now. But on the other hand, as you can see yourself, I'm really busy and do need an extra hand to take some of this load off." Staring at Emery, he added, "You are an Apothecary Apprentice, aren't you?, you are my brother's disciple.. You should be able to do this…"

"Yes, Master. I am, but–"

The dwarf interrupted. "No but, a promise is a promise. Or.. do you intend to break one you made yourself?"

Emery was momentarily silenced by the dwarf master's words. He was not one who randomly broke promises, but knowing the other promise with his friends and the safety of Earth was at stake, he steeled his resolve and voiced his rejection in a sincere tone.

"I truly, very sorry, Master. Please take the contribution points, I really need to focus on my training."

"No.. no.. you are mistaken. I actually have a job perfect for you, one which will allow you to keep your promise of helping me and also train you at the same time." The dwarf boasted an expression as if he had just found the best idea in the world as he said, "I need you to be my harvester."

Harvester. Emery had heard of this job during his study of apothecary. Harvester's job was to find and collect herbs as well as other materials which were required in the apothecary. It was also done by hiring protectors, as many places with rare precious materials were those of most danger.

"Dangerous place! It means training for you, isn't?" the dwarf master exclaimed. "Yes, I truly am a genius!"

The other party's antics did amuse Emery a little, but he really had no time to spend on going to some secluded corner of the world and risking his life. He would probably consider it if he didn't have the contribution points, but right now he did. So he expressed his rejection again.

"No no.. you are mistaken again.." the dwarf's voice changed, transitioning into a lower tone as he said, "Do you know the reason why I agreed to take care of business in this godforsaken planet and forced myself through the agony of tolerating all arrogant elites in this place?"

"Hm…" A pondering look appeared on Emery's face. "I guess the payment..?"

"..."

"...Yes that too, but that's not the point."

The dwarf master then explained about the access he got to certain special islands which were the habitat of extremely rare plants on the Hyperion planet. After explaining the countless precious herbs that Emery could obtain if he accepted the job, the dwarf heaved a sigh before continuing to speak.

"Alright.. If I have to be honest with you, my harvester just quit his job along with his team of protectors, and during months like this where all elites need tempering services, having no flow of ingredients coming in is a big problem.." Sighing heavily, he continued, "Worst, my asshole brother couldn't help either…"

Emery could clearly hear the exhaustion within the dwarf master's voice.

"So what do you think? Could you please me out here?"

Seeing Emery's hesitation, the dwarf said, "There are indeed many powerful magical and legendary beast in those islands, but I see you have a magus protector with you.." He turned to smile at Magus Shena before adding, "I will still pay you full price for each herb you collected, and as long as you can fill in the monthly quota for…three months, I won't bother you again. What do you think?"

Emery was actually about to agree on the offer when he heard there were powerful beasts. After all, he still needed to fix his [undefine] pillar by devouring beasts, and now knowing that it would also involve an opportunity to obtain numerous rare herbs, he was very much interested.

Casting his eyes at the dwarf master, Emery nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright, I will do it. When and where do I need to start?"

"That's great!" A look of happiness flashed across the dwarf master's face when he heard Emery's reply. He was extremely elated. "Wait a minute, I'll give you a map and the list."

The dwarf master shot off towards a corner of the workshop, scouring through the drawers, before running back to Emery with a parchment scroll. Pointing a spot within the parchment, it was the first place Emery needed to go to. Apparently, it was a certain cave within a jungle-filled island.

"In order to increase your chance of success in harvesting these ingredients, you need to be able to analyze up to Rank 5 plants. Can you do that?"

Emery heaved a sigh. When he passed the rank 3 Apothecary Apprentice, he only had the necessary skills for up to Rank 4. It seemed that he should drop by the apothecary center for a while later.

"Remember, Emery, I need the items on the list at the end of the month. So that's 3 weeks at the latest."

Nodding his head, Emery left the dwarf master's workshop with Magus Shena following right behind. Their next destination, Golden City.

In addition, knowing that he would be leaving longer than he initially thought, Emery was reminded of the girl who was still training in his spirit cave. Well, at least Twik and the others were there to accompany her in his absence.