Proofreader: M_W Miss Fierce

It didn't take that long for Leo and the others to find the branch headquarters of the Alchemist Association in the Emerald Tree Kingdom. It was located in the far southwest area of the Emerald City, specifically at the corner beside the city wall.

Along the way, they passed by a lot of Alchemist stores, selling potions, medicines, elixirs, supplements, and many more other items that Alchemist can create.

They have also found a lot of people wearing robes of various different colors. The majority of them were wearing white and yellow, while the minority others were wearing green and blue.

It was very easy to guess from this sight alone that those colors represent different levels for Alchemist.

"The white represents a Novice Alchemist, the yellow for Elite Alchemist, green for Professional Alchemist, and blue for Master Alchemist," Ash explained. She continued, "There also exist three more other colors, specifically red, purple, and gold, which respectively means, Lord Alchemist, Grandmaster Alchemist, and Arch Alchemist. These three levels of Alchemist directly represent the most powerful people, or otherwise called as pillars, of the Alchemist Association, so it's really hard to see them. But according to what I've heard in the past, every branch headquarters of Alchemist Association of Kingdom territory will have a Lord Alchemist in the position of the President."

Leo immediately understood the reason why Emperor Yuta wanted to make Ash, who has the potential to become a Grandmaster Alchemist, one of his concubines.

A Grandmaster Alchemist is basically second only in level in the entire Alchemist Association. Meaning to say, she would be able to hold a lot of power in the Alchemist Association once she becomes a Grandmaster Alchemist, which will also make the Dragon Horn Empire more powerful.

Now he realized just how correct his decision was to register Ash to officially become an Alchemist. Through the help of the Alchemist Association, she would be able to develop fast. And once she finally proves her potential and officially becomes a Grandmaster Alchemist, then he would be the one to benefit out from it. But of course, he won't be using it purely for his own self-interest, but mostly to fight against the Gods.

"Each color also has three different levels, which is being represented by the symbol of lotus on their Alchemist robes, specifically its located on their sleeves. It shows the difference in the strength of each Alchemist despite being of the same level. This also allows the people to identify what level of Alchemist they needed whenever they want to hire one."

"You've seen small, medium, and large potions being sold in Alchemist stores, right?" Ash paused and asked.

"Yes!" Leo and the others nodded their head in acknowledgment.

"You see, the small potions are actually the work of an Alchemist with one lotus, medium potions are the work of an Alchemist with two lotuses, and large potions are likewise the work of an Alchemist with three lotuses." Ash explained.

"But how can an Alchemist be promoted to the next level?" Cassandra can't help herself from asking. She was really curious about it. Despite being a princess of the Crimson Rose Kingdom in the past, she was mostly focused on learning how to manage a territory, not on the different Associations like Alchemist Association and others.

"Hmm," Ash nodded her head before explaining, "What I know is, an Alchemist should complete two things to be promoted to the next level. First, an Alchemist should have three lotuses in their current level before they can try to ask for a challenge for promotion. For an Alchemist to do this, they should be able to improve one of their products from small to large. Like, for example, from being able to simply concoct a small Healing Potion to being able to concoct a medium Healing Potion and then to a large Healing Potion. And they should also be able to sell a required quota of their product. Like, for example, selling one hundred vials of potions. And second, an Alchemist should be able to concoct a potion, medicine, Elixir, supplement, or other products of Alchemist that are of the next level. For example, a Novice Alchemist being able to make a product of an Elite Alchemist.

"Only through this could an Alchemist be promoted to the next level." Ash finished explaining.

"But how would they determine how many products an Alchemist was able to sell?" Elizabeth quickly raised another question. With how many Alchemists are registered to an Alchemist Association, even if they have a lot of people working for them, it should still be extremely difficult to investigate the truth behind how many products exactly an Alchemist was able to sell. Not to mention, because of that, it would also be possible for an Alchemist to lie about their required quota.

"To be honest, the Alchemist Association had actually already developed a perfect method to determine whether an Alchemist was able to reach their quota or not." Ash replied with a smile on her face, seemingly expecting already this question. She soon continued, "The Alchemist Association would personally give the needed container, like for example glass vials for potions, to the Alchemist. And then, the Alchemist would put their products inside those containers and deliver them to Alchemist Association. After that, the Alchemist Association would then personally sell those products, and once it is sold out, the Alchemist would have then reached their required quota."

"In this way, no one would be able to cheat and likewise it wouldn't be hard to determine whether they have indeed reached their required quota or not." Ash finished explaining.

"Ohhh..." Elizabeth and everyone nodded their heads in understanding.

"Actually, this method applies to all Craftsman as well, not only to the Alchemist Association." Ash added.

"Doesn't this also mean that the competition for promotion is extremely intense and follows the first come first serve rule to complete? After all, there should most likely be a lot of Alchemists registered in a branch of Alchemist Association that are also making the same products, right?" Leo asked.

What he meant about the extremely intense and follows the first come first serve rule is the fact that with so many Alchemists, it means that there would also be plenty of them wanting for promotion. Hence, it wouldn't be strange for a few Alchemists to make the same products. Because of this, they would need to complete their own products first before the others with the same products could complete, so that their products would be the first ones to be displayed on the counter and be sold to the buyers. And then only after all of the products of the first Alchemist are completely sold out could the product of the second Alchemist be displayed.

"It's hard to explain, so how about I'll show it to you?" Ash said as she turned to look at the huge building in front of them right now.

Turning to look in front, everyone immediately realized that they have unconsciously already arrived at the Alchemist Association.

The Alchemist Association is a very huge building with over 30 floors in total. At both sides of its door, there exist two stone statues of a handsome man raising their right hand, which holds a potion while facing each other.

The stairs and floor were made of stone bricks. But, unlike the normal stone bricks, Magic is clearly used to strengthen and to also smoothen its surface.

Walking in and out from the Alchemist Association were tens of Alchemists wearing different colors of Alchemist robes. Even more than what they have seen along the way.

After observing, Leo and the others didn't waste any more time as they quickly made their way inside.

As soon as they entered the place, they immediately saw a lot of counters selling different Alchemist products, and lining in front of them were people that want to buy them. Though some only had a few people lining while the others have a lot.

"See those," Ash pointed her hand at those counters. She explained, "Those counters are where each Alchemist that wants to be promoted to the next level are selling their potions. Of course, the one selling is not the Alchemist personally, but rather it's one of the people that work for the Alchemist Association."

"As you all can see, all the Alchemist has different levels of fame, which you can easily see from those people lining in front of their counters. It's through that how an Alchemist is able to sell their products quicker than the others, and that there is no need for any first come first serve rule. If an Alchemist doesn't have that much fame, then they will naturally have difficulty reaching their required quota. But if one does, then it would be very easy for them to complete it." Ash explained.

Leo and the others didn't need to ask any more questions after hearing Ash's explanation. They were all smart enough to quickly understand it. It's simply the same as how a powerful group can easily recruit more people compared to weaker groups. Or that people would preferably choose prosperous and powerful territories compared to those poor and weak territories.