NOVEL FROG Chapter 1: Pill Container
The First Day of the Eleventh Month of the Year 989951
Luther Robles was an apprentice mage at the Blue Light Academy.
He had nothing remarkable about him, except for his second-grade talent and a faint hope of becoming a full-fledged mage.
With his second-grade talent, he could only achieve his dream by using rare resources like the rank zero 'root mana' pills.
Luther was determined to follow his mage path, so he begged his father, a duke of the Robles Kingdom, to send him some money to buy the resources.
His father obliged and sent him some gold coins, but they were not very valuable in the mage world.
He saved up everything he had and finally managed to buy a bottle of rank zero 'root mana' pills!
He had heard that consuming the pills under the full moon would increase their efficiency. He wanted to make the best use of these precious resources, so he waited for the full moon.
The moon was a source of pure energy, and meditating under its light was very beneficial.
A few days later, the full moon came.
He waited patiently in his assigned room, and when the clock struck midnight, he headed to the meditation room.
There was a small energy-gathering formation in the room, which slightly enhanced the concentration of pure energy.
He felt a pleasant sensation as the moonlight bathed his body in the open-roofed meditation room.
Luther opened the bottle, took out one of the three pills inside, gently placed it in his mouth, and swallowed it.
He closed his eyes tightly and focused on his stomach.
A warm energy started to spread, and he guided it into his meridians.
After a while, he opened his eyes; his face lit up with a wide smile.
"Pills are amazing! I wish I had been born into a mage family like Chris Barry. It's no wonder he reached the first-grade mage apprentice level in three years! His father's wealth must have allowed him to access these pills every night!"
Chris Barry was widely regarded as a genius, achieving the first-grade mage apprentice level in three years.
But now, Luther realized that it was not surprising for him to advance so fast; after all, Chris' father was a rank two mage, and he must have supplied his son with plenty of pills.
The mage apprentice stage had three sub-levels.
Third-grade mage apprentices were the most common. They only had a little bit of root mana stored in their mana pool.
Second-grade mage apprentices were the ones who could use some simple spells, and the amount of root mana they had was much higher than the third-grade ones.
First-grade mage apprentices were the ones who had a chance to break through to the official mage level!
The title of rank one mage, also known as an official mage, was considered very prestigious.
Official mages could live up to 500 years. They also possessed the ability to cast a rank one spell.
All in all, official mages were completely different from ordinary people and respected wherever they went.
Even nobles in mortal kingdoms had to bow their heads when they met an official mage!
Becoming an official mage was Luther's dream! He wanted to return to his father's territory and take revenge on that woman who was his father's wife.
He imagined what he would do after becoming an official mage, and often struggled over whether he should forgive his father or not.
Then reality hit him, and he looked at the two remaining pills in the bottle and sighed deeply.
"With the help of these three pills, I might save a few months on my path to the second-grade mage apprentice level! But still, it will take decades if I meditate without pills! No, I can't wait that long! I have to find a way to get more pills! My father probably won't send more money with that woman whispering in his ears."
After thinking for a while, he calmed down and decided to use the remaining two pills first, then worry about other things.
Soon, it was the next night, and the full moon was still in the sky.
The moon was a mystery; no one could predict when it would appear or how long it would last.
There were many theories about the moon and its workings, but as far as Luther knew, none of them had been confirmed.
He sat in the meditation room, holding the pill container and opening it at the right time.
He reached inside and took out one of the three pills.
"Wait, what?" he gasped!
"I used one pill last night, and only two were left! How can there be three pills inside?" his heart raced as he thought of various possibilities.
"It can't be wrong! I only bought three pills and received three, so one must have appeared out of thin air!"
His eyes sparkled, and he thought of everything but couldn't find any explanation! No one would be so kind as to put a pill in his container, and even if such a person existed, he would be scared because he didn't notice anything!
"Maybe the pills split up, and two pills became three? Let me take them out of the container and put them in a transparent bottle. I'm going to observe them for a while." he thought.
He was cautious, so he decided to test them before using them.
He meditated without using the pills and occasionally checked on them but found nothing unusual.
Soon, it was morning, so he got up and left.
He went to the library to do some research.
He thought of asking higher-ranking mages but quickly shook his head and dismissed this idea!
If, by any chance, the pills he bought were treasures or something valuable, those official mages and higher-grade apprentice mages would snatch them from him, and he would have no one to rely on.
Then, he would lose the pills, and even his life might be in danger!
The Blue Light Academy was righteous, but that was only the academy's policy and stance.
Luther knew for a fact that many people in the academy would do anything if it could help them advance on their mage path!
After finding nothing in the books, he returned to his room and took out the three pills, examining them for any flaws.
…
Soon, it was night again.
Luther went to the meditation room he had rented and looked at the sky.
It was a full moon.
Then he looked at the transparent bottle.
The three pills were at the bottom, with nothing abnormal happening.
"Then where did that third pill come from?"
He subconsciously took out the original pill container and looked inside, and his heart skipped a beat!
Inside the pill container, there was another pill!
He was so shocked that he almost screamed!
"Impossible! I checked it many times last night! There was absolutely nothing in it! Unless….”
He was so excited that his heart was about to burst out of his chest.
"This container is a treasure that produces pills! It has to be!"
Luther wanted to scream and jump up and down, but he suppressed it with difficulty and thought," I can't let anyone know! This is my chance! This is my luck! With this pill container, I can reach the official mage level someday!"
His eyes shone with determination when he thought about becoming an official mage.
Unknown to him, the pill container was also very determined now!
"I have to get rid of this guy as soon as possible!"
She was Rachel, a poor soul from Earth who was struck by lightning and transmigrated into this mage world.
Her transmigration was unlike anyone else's!
She became a pill container that could produce one pill a day!
Rachel was extremely frustrated in the first few months as she was trapped and could neither move nor talk.
She was terrified of everything!
The system in her mind explained this world to her, which made her more scared!
She feared being discovered by a powerful mage and getting dissected, so she used her 'essential skills' to stop the pill production.
The system would give her a new skill with each rank, and the skill for rank zero was called 'essential skills.'
Producing pills, storing pills up to 1000, improving pill quality slightly, and a few other skills were all grouped together as rank zero 'essential skills.'
The bottle was on the ground in a forest when she first transmigrated.
Then, she was found by an apprentice mage.
That guy was working for an official mage who made pills, and he used her to store a few pills that he sold to this guy, Luther.
Since the previous guy was working for an official mage, Rachel didn't dare to produce any pills.
But after observing Luther for a few weeks, she made sure he was alone and weak, a poor mage who would keep her a secret.
But even then, Rachel was extremely dissatisfied with him!
His talent was dismal, and his progress also slowed down her progress.
She could progress like everyone else, but the conditions were different.
She was a rank zero magic treasure and could produce rank zero pills.
The requirement for advancing to rank one was that 100 of her pills had to be used by her host.
Then, the host had to be promoted to rank one.
After those conditions were met, she would be promoted to rank one.
But as she saw it, this guy would need thousands of pills before he could reach rank one!
"If someone talented took these pills, they would be promoted with just a few hundred!" she sighed deeply and cursed at Luther.
"But at least he is cautious and keeps the secret; anyway, he is my only choice at the moment, and I can't risk giving him the poison pill." she thought.
The poison pill was another one of the 'essential skills' that allowed her to produce a pill that killed her host.
However, using it in this academy was extremely risky as every death would be investigated.
She might be found out by official mages.
Other risks included a terrible reputation.
No one would use her pills if she became known as a cursed object that killed people!
Also, she disliked killing her host.
"I'm stuck with him for now, so let's help him reach rank one as soon as possible."
She could produce one pill daily and only knew how to make a rank zero 'root mana' pill.
She could not produce any other pills.
The condition of learning to produce other pills was to have that pill inside the pill container for a moment.
If the pill in question were of the same or lower rank, she would automatically learn how to make them.
The quality and properties of the produced pills would be a copy of the pill placed inside unless she improved them with her skills.
"But I can't tell this Luther to get other pills and put them inside! That damn skill 'communicating with the host' wouldn't activate until rank one!" she was frustrated.
There were other pills than the rank zero 'root mana' pill, but she didn't have them.
She knew this thanks to 'prescribing,' which was also part of 'essential skills.'
'Prescribing' would give a list of useful pills for the host and how and in what order to use them, but she couldn't produce them.
She put these thoughts aside and looked at Luther.
Luther was usually very cautious, but he was bursting with excitement right now.
"This has to be true. It might be dangerous, and I might die if I consume this pill, but this is my chance! Without it, I might never be able to reach the official mage level in my lifetime!"
He struggled but finally decided to take the pill and try his luck.
He took the pill, put it in his mouth, and swallowed.
Then she focused and carefully checked for any changes in his stomach.
Everything went smoothly; after a while, he absorbed the pill without any problem!
"It's a rank zero root mana pill without any flaw! With this, I will be able to become an official mage within a few years!" he was crying with joy.
"I must not let anyone notice it! Even my speed of progress might make everyone suspicious, so I have to take missions outside the academy and go to mortal lands where no one will notice. Anyway, with this container, I don't need the energy-rich environment of the academy." he thought deeply.
He sat there for an hour and thought about many plans before leaving and returning to his room.