"Eri dear, how are you feeling?"

The old lady placed her wrinkled palm on Eri's head. Eri smiled gently and saw concern expressed in her teacher's eyes.

"Thank you, teacher. I'm very good."

Rei tilted his head. Eri seemed more mature? This was the first time he saw her smile like that. Could it be related to her memory seal?

"Teacher, I found some rare compounding ingredients with Rei in the forest. Can we drop by your place?"

"Oh! Oh, that would be very nice! I have some new tea that I'd like you to try! And I almost forgot, Rei, I am Gwendoline the pharmacist."

Rei nodded at her politely in return. Gwendoline supported herself with her walking stick, and the three left the main square for the pharmacy.

... ...

Behind the pharmacy, there was a quiet garden with neatly arranged medicinal plants. Lush creeping plants packed the wall, and the place seemed full of life. Gwendoline unlocked the small door for Eri and Rei and went to the open-kitchen space to prepare tea and biscuits.

Eri sat down and prepared the medicinal materials. Rei helped Gwendoline take down the cups and plates and watched her prepare her newly developed magic tea.

"Do you know anything about compounding, boy?"

Rei shook his head and smiled. This was the first time he had seen these mysterious potions and pills that lined the wall. He picked up a translucent blue potion with a piece of curled bark floating in it, and watched the sunlight pass through liquid. Subconsciously, he gathered power in his eyes and began to see spots of blue and green lights sloshing in the bottle. Could these lights be water and wood elements?

[Appraisal]

Anti-inflammatory potion

E Rank (Compounding level: 2 stars)

A liquid that can be taken orally to reduce fevers and heat strokes. External use can heal burns and can give a cooling effect to the applied site.

Can be made with any E ranked aquatic plants and the bark of a weeping tree.

... ...

That simple? Rei blinked at the substance he appraised and put the bottle back on the shelf. Then he picked up an empty bottle and pulled out the cork. Three balls of liquid rippled out of his palm and fell into the glass bottle. The yellow, green and blue liquids fused together and formed a deep green potion with small crystals suspended in it. The bottle went hot for a moment and slowly cooled down.

Ding! Ding!

[Compounding Success!]

Level-up potion

B Rank (Compounding Level: 5 stars)

Ingestion of the liquid will aid the user in levelling up rapidly while the user practices power skills.

... ...

"Oh my! Where did that come from?"

The old lady widened her eyes and adjusted her reading glasses. She had just finished brewing the magic tea and was surprised to see the rank B potion in Rei's hand. She was sure all the potions on her shelves were of C rank and below. Even she herself was only capable of producing C rank medicine!

"I made it, Miss Gwendoline."

"You made it! Oh dear, don't joke with this old lady. B rank potions can only be found in big cities. Moreover...the uniform crystals suspended in this liquid...the clean fragrance...and the purity of it is all top quality! Is it from a famous compounder?"

Rei smiled at Gwendoline and shook his head.

"No madam, I made it just now."

Several balls of medicinal liquids rippled out of Rei's hand, and he repeated the same procedure in another clean bottle. Gwendoline's eyes went even wider than before and she gaped at the liquid fusing in his hands.

"Boy, didn't you say you don't compound? You're a genius to be a 5 star compounder at this age! Don't be so modest! I've never seen anyone compound so quickly!"

Rei smiled wryly. It seemed to be difficult to explain to Gwendoline that he really only played around with some plant substances he stored in his body.

Eri came over after hearing Gwendoline's surprise. Upon seeing the Level-up potion in Rei's hand, her surprise turned into a chuckle.

"Ah...mhhehe."

She was used to Rei making unexpected things happen by now. This must have to do with him being a slime? Unlike Rei and her teacher, she couldn't manipulate the water element very well. She was a fire-user and most of her compounds were in the form of dry pills. But she was excited to try using the water element again. There was that power sharing skill from the marriage blessing wasn't there?

"You're simply born to compound, Rei."

Rei looked at Eri in surprise.

Again, it happened again! Eri is happy for him? This really is very different from before...but he liked it.