The day after receiving his Alchemist Badge, Jade walked through the inner city streets, hand in hand with Niamh. His blindfold was in place, wearing high collared T-shirt , hair tied in a neat bun.
Ahead, a modest building caught his eye—its structure worn but sturdy, not far from Gorvoth's weapons shop. It had once been a small general store, the sign faded and the windows streaked with dust. But Jade could see the potential.
"This will do," he said softly, voice calm. Niamh smiled, sensing his certainty.
With the gold he had earned from selling dungeon monsters and from his alchemist examination rewards rewards, Jade purchased the building. The front would become the shop: shelves for potions, counter for customers, displays for crafted elixirs. The back, he decided, would be his workspace: a lab with tables, burners, herbs, and vials organized meticulously, a place where his instincts could guide him in alchemical experimentation.
Niamh assisted, carrying crates of basic supplies and herbs. She helped clear the space, reinforcing walls where needed, and even helped Jade arrange high shelves so that his delicate fingers could reach without strain.
Jade's eyes, even blindfolded, scanned the back room, already mapping the placement of ingredients, equipment, and workspace flow. "Everything must be efficient," he murmured. "We can't waste space."
By afternoon three days later, the renovation was complete: the front displayed neatly arranged shelves for potions. Behind the counter, Jade's new workspace gleamed with carefully arranged tools, herb racks, and a small cauldron station ready for potioneering.
Gorvoth stopped by in the late afternoon, curiosity lighting his eyes. "So, you've set up shop, huh? Not far from me," he said with a faint grin. "Guess we'll be neighbors now. Don't get into trouble with the guild."
Jade tilted his head slightly, still calm. "I intend to follow the rules, Gorvoth. But I also intend to surpass expectations."
Gorvoth chuckled. "That's what I like to hear. Don't be shy about asking for help. You'll be doing more than just selling potions soon enough."
Niamh looked around the shop with satisfaction. "It's perfect. Your first real step, Jade. A place that's yours, where no one can interfere—at least not without you noticing."
Jade's fingers brushed over a row of freshly polished vials. "This is just the beginning," he said quietly. "Soon, I'll make potions no one else can."
The shop was small, humble, yet it held infinite potential—just like its owner.
....
The entry scanner chimed as Jade unlocked the doors to his shop. The floating shelves hummed softly as they adjusted to display neat rows of vials, each tagged with glowing nano-labels. Behind the counter, holo-screens projected brewing instructions—standard storefront protocol, but upgraded with Jade's personal touch.
"Cute setup," a voice sneered.
Three alchemists stepped inside, their coats stitched with the Central Guild's insignia. Their scanners blinked once as the system charged them a single stellar-credit for entry rights, but their eyes never left Jade.
The tallest leaned across the counter, smirking. "Running a shop at your age? Brave. But those shelves…" He gestured to a row of glimmering potions. "Tier 1 trash herbs. At best, you're brewing apprentice-level mixes."
His companion laughed. "Maybe he's trying to pass off Tier 1 stimulants as Tier 3 Rares. Clever scam, kid. Almost believable."
Jade raised his head slightly , his voice calm. Almost amused.
"You think so?" He reached behind the counter and lifted a vial filled with liquid that pulsed faintly with crystalline frost. "Go ahead. Test it. If it doesn't outperform your Guild's Tier 2 restoratives, I'll shut the shop down myself."
The man snatched it, running his wrist scanner across the glass. The holo-display flashed: Tier 3 Rare – Verified.
The Guild alchemists froze. Their mocking grins faltered. One hissed under his breath, "Impossible… a brat brewing Rare potions from Tier 1 stock?"
Jade's smile didn't waver. "Credits only. Or," he tilted his head, "you can keep doubting me until someone else buys them first."
The scanner at the counter beeped as a figure behind the Guild men stepped forward—a young Beta woman in simple clothes. She tapped her wristband against the reader, transferring 2000 stellar-credits.
"I'll take it," she said firmly.
The Guild alchemists stiffened, glaring. But they had no choice. To cause a scene here would invite sanctions. With muttered curses, they stormed out, leaving the Beta woman examining the vial with shining eyes.
Jade leaned forward. "You'll find it works twice as fast as what the Guild sells. Spread the word if you're satisfied."
She smiled shyly. "I think you'll be very busy soon, shopkeeper."
Jade only chuckled softly. 'Trouble is coming'. He thought to himself
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The young Beta woman lingered at the counter, cradling the potion as though it were a rare jewel.
She wasn't striking in the Alpha way—broad-shouldered or commanding—but there was a fragile prettiness to her. A narrow face framed by cropped black hair streaked with neon blue dye, the kind common among the lower sectors where fashion came cheap but bold. Her skin carried the faint pallor of someone raised under the smog domes rather than natural sunlight, and her amber eyes were wide, filled with both caution and hope.
"You… brewed this yourself?" she asked, voice hushed as though afraid the walls might mock her.
"Yes," Jade replied simply, tucking another vial onto the shelf. His delicate fingers contrasted the utilitarian design of the shop—smooth metal counters, glowing scanners, racks of herbs preserved in grav-containers. "Do you doubt it?"
She shook her head quickly, cheeks warming. "No—it's just… Tier 3 Rares aren't something most people ever touch. Let alone brewed from low-tier herbs. If this works as your scanner claims, you could change the lives of people in the lower sectors."
Jade tilted his head, studying her. "You're not buying this for yourself, are you?"
Her lips curved into a small, tired smile. "My little brother's lungs are collapsing. He's only twelve. The medics said a Tier 3 restorative might stabilize him until we can afford proper gene therapy."
Her voice trembled, but her gaze held firm. Despite her Beta frame—lithe, unassuming—there was a steel in her that Jade recognized. The kind born from enduring too much and breaking too little.
Something inside him softened. He didn't show it, but the ache in her words resonated with his own past—loneliness, weakness, fighting for survival in silence.
"Bring him by," Jade said at last. "If the potion isn't enough, I'll prepare something stronger. No charge."
Her eyes widened, amber irises shimmering like liquid gold. "You would…? But you don't even know me."
"I don't need to," Jade answered. His silvery-blue hair caught the shop's glow, cascading like liquid frost as he leaned forward. His dual irises—one silvery-grey, one golden-purple in each eye—flashed beneath the fabric . "If I can help, I will. Just bring him."
The woman's shoulders trembled, as though the weight she carried had suddenly grown lighter. She bowed her head deeply, murmuring thanks before hurrying out with the vial clutched to her chest.
The bell above the door chimed faintly, leaving Jade alone again. He exhaled softly and leaned against the counter. Through his Void Sense, faint ripples danced at the edge of perception—whispers threading through the city's local network. Word of his shop, his defiance against the Guild's alchemists, would not stay quiet for long.
And he was right.
...
The bell chimed again not long after dusk.
Jade looked up from grinding a crystalline stalk when the young Beta woman entered, half-dragging a boy no older than twelve. He was painfully thin, ribs visible beneath his threadbare synth-cloth shirt. A sputtering breather-mask clung to his face, the tubing patched with electrical tape. Each wheezing cough rattled like glass shards in his chest.
The woman's amber eyes darted around the shop anxiously before landing on Jade. "Please… this is my brother, Kael."
Kael lifted his head. Even through the mask, his storm-grey eyes—dulled by sickness—studied Jade curiously.
Jade stood waiting, lean frame draped in a high-collared black turtleneck that clung to him like woven shadow. His silvery-blue hair spilled over the blindfold that covered his eyes, the simple silk strip glowing faintly in the shop's neon light. The blindfold and collar together gave him an air of aloof elegance, as though the world could never quite reach him.
"Sit him on the chair," Jade instructed, gesturing toward a reclined diagnostic seat he had salvaged and repaired. His voice, steady and strangely soothing, contrasted with his youthful frame.
Kael coughed again, the sound wet, each breath shallow. His vitals flickered across the scanner as Tier-1 med-readouts lit up the wall: Oxygen Saturation 54%. Cell Decay Accelerating.
"Not good," Jade murmured beneath his breath.
The sister's voice trembled. "The Guild hospitals turned us away. Said a Tier-3 restorative wasn't worth the cost on a child who wouldn't live another cycle."
Jade's jaw tightened. "Heartless."
Placing a hand on Kael's chest, Jade closed his eyes. Frost-blue light seeped from his palm, threads of ice weaving with faint motes of healing green. His Intermediate Healing merged with Cryokinesis, freezing the runaway cellular collapse long enough for healthy tissue to reform.
Kael gasped, his breathing suddenly clearer. The boy's eyes widened as strength surged back into his limbs.
The woman clapped her hand over her mouth. "It… it worked?!"
Jade withdrew his hand, his blindfold hiding any flicker of exhaustion. "The restorative potion will finish what I started. He'll recover fully in a week if he drinks one dose daily."
Kael tore off the faulty mask, voice cracking with wonder. "I can breathe…"
His sister broke into tears, pulling him into a fierce embrace. "Thank you… thank you!"
Jade turned away quietly, brushing a lock of silvery-blue hair behind his ear. Coughing slightly, but unable mask the faint warmth softening his features.
Inside, though, he was already sharpening his awareness. Acts of kindness in a city like this always drew eyes—some grateful, others jealous.
And already, faint ripples of hostile intent brushed against his Void Sense.
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Author here ☺️
So, someone brought to my notice that I wasn't writing the interstellar world well and I agree, it's not my fault though I have never been in one ( regrettably).
So I began to work harder by searching for interstellar terminologies and stuff
( Google almost banned me for the stress though 🤭).
Anyways I settled on 30th century stuff, whatever Google thought it was , and I've began incorporating it into the chapters.
Sorry for the earlier chapters but I'm not going back to change stuff. Please bear with me
I know ,I know , I'm sorry ... I'll do better from now on.
Thank you for reading 😌