The boy looked up, squinting his eyes "Dhruv? He's been gone for quite a while now. He headed out toward the market with the others few hours ago."
"Did he say anything before he left?" Rudra pressed, trying to keep his voice calm.
"Not really," the boy replied with a shrug, turning back to his patterns in the dirt. "He just looked like he was in a big hurry. Usually, the group is back by this time."
Rudra stood still for a moment, looking toward the main gate. The garden felt emptier than usual, and a nagging worry began to grow in his mind.
Nearby, a frail girl sat cross-legged on the dry earth, staring intensely at her hands. Thin, erratic strands of mana flickered between her fingers for a brief second before collapsing entirely into nothingness.
The sight instantly rooted him to the spot.
He recognized that look instantly. It was a potent mixture of deep frustration, crippling self-doubt, and despair. These were the children the world casually labeled as weak and discarded without a second thought.
[Do you see them?] Genesis asked softly, her voice cutting through the silence of Rudra's mind. [They are not lacking talent. Their path is simply wrong.]
Rudra clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. He looked at the children around the garden, seeing the sadness in their eyes as they struggled with a world they had no control over.
'I will make sure to solve this,' he promised himself. 'I won't let anyone else end up in a situation like ours ever again.'
His chest felt unbearably heavy as he watched them, but his mind was made up. He wouldn't just be another victim of fate; he was going to be the one to change it.
[You are seeing the look in the eyes of the children right? They had not gotten the chance but you are fortunate enough to have it you can make use of knowledge that you will gain from me to convert it into something valuable.]
Then—
"Rudra!"
He turned toward the sound. Dhruv came jogging from the far end of the garden, carrying a large, heavy bag over his shoulder. He was breathing hard, and sweat showed on his forehead in the fading evening light.
"There you are! I've been searching everywhere for the order that you mentioned, I had to search multiple store to procure all the bottle for proper price," Dhruv panted, coming to a halt.
Rudra let out a long, shuddering breath of relief. "The bottles?"
Dhruv patted the bulging bag proudly, the glass clinking softly inside. "All one thousand. The market took forever, but I got them."
A small, genuine smile finally broke through the tension on Rudra's face. "Thank you, Dhruv. Really."
Dhruv studied his friend closely, his eyes narrowing as he took in Rudra's exhausted complexion. "You look completely exhausted. Is everything okay?"
Rudra chuckled lightly, expertly masking the lingering fatigue of his near-death experience with the Cauldron. "Yeah… just worked a little too hard today."
'If only I could tell you the truth,' Rudra thought, swallowing the heavy words.
[That was the right decision,] Genesis noted approvingly. [The truth of Serums would only put him in danger.]
Rudra reached out and took the heavy bag, the heaviness of it grounding him back in reality. "I need to go. We'll talk later."
"Ooh… wait, first of all, tell me something," Rudra said, pausing and narrowing his eyes slightly in suspicion. "Was the money I gave you enough, or did those bottles cost more than two hundred Vells?"
Dhruv straightened up immediately, a sheepish grin appearing. "The total was actually two hundred and forty Vells. But I told the shopkeeper I only had two hundred. After thinking for a moment, he agreed and gave me the thousand bottles anyway. So technically… you could say two hundred Vells was the final cost."
Rudra stared at him for a long second, processing the impressive haggling, before letting out a slow breath and nodding. "Alright. Thank you once again."
As Rudra walked away, the glass clinking rhythmically against his back, he glanced over his shoulder one last time at the garden. The children were still there in the fading light. Some failing. Some giving up.
'If… If this serum truly works…' His steps slowed momentarily on the dirt path. [Am I really doing this just for money?]
[You already know the answer,] Genesis said, the entity's tone carrying a weight. [What you are creating is not merely serum. It is a choice.]
Rudra inhaled deeply, steeling his resolve. 'I'll decide. Who receives it… and how.' He tightened his grip on the heavy bag and kept moving forward. The Surya Cauldron was waiting, and somewhere, a girl was running out of time. He wouldn't waste another second. This was no longer just about becoming a rich chemist; it was about having the power to save a life.
The Brewing Room's Logistics
Rudra stood in the exact center of his room, his chest heaving as if he had just run a grueling marathon. The silence of the enclosed space was oppressively heavy, pressing painfully against his eardrums after the explosive chaos of the mana backlash earlier.
His eyes swept across the room in a single, overwhelmed glance.
There was the Surya Cauldron, still radiating a faint, residual heat. And then, there were the crates. He pulled the empty glass bottles from the bag, stacking them hastily.
The hundreds of tiny, empty bottles were ready to fill. There were just too many.
Rudra ran his shaking hand through his hair and let out a long, frustrated breath. The massive amount of work ahead hit him much harder than the alchemy itself had.
He stared at the endless crates of glass. "How am I supposed to fill a sea of these alone?" he muttered aloud. 'It will take all night just to uncap them.'
The sudden realization struck him like a physical blow to the stomach.
"Wait."
His eyes widened as a desperate solution formed.
"Oh."
Without wasting another precious second, Rudra spun on his heel, yanked door open, and bolted back directly toward the training grounds.
The Training Ground
The training ground was full of noise and movement. Dust kicked up from the feet of the children's, filling the air as they worked under the evening sun. Wooden practice swords hit leather shields with loud thuds. Some of the older children stood with their eyes shut, struggling to keep a steady flow of mana between their shaking hands. Others sat on the hard dirt, looking tired and frustrated.
In the middle of the crowd was Aarav. Sweat moved down his arms as he led a small group of younger children through their basic fighting moves. He moved with perfect balance, his strikes careful and strong. Even while teaching the beginners, he remained completely focused on the task.
Then, a desperate, familiar voice violently cut through the background noise of clashing wood and heavy breathing.
"AARAV!"
Aarav pivoted instantly, his sharpened combat instincts flaring to life.
"Rudra?" he called back, already stepping away from the cluster of younger trainees. "What are you doing here?"
The moment he closed the distance and reached Rudra, genuine concern flickered across Aarav's usually stoic face. He quickly scanned Rudra's heavily disheveled appearance, noting the pale skin and erratic breathing. "Did something happen? Are you okay?"
Rudra didn't even bother to slow down and catch his breath. "Come with me," he demanded quickly, tightly gripping Aarav's forearm with trembling fingers. "I need help."
Aarav blinked in confusion. "Help with what?"
Rudra didn't bother explaining the impossible logistics of filling a thousand glass bottles alone. "The serum," he hissed urgently. "We have to deliver it to Aunty Naina. Don't tell me that you forgot."
Aarav's expression instantly froze. The color drained slightly from his face.
"…Oh." His eyes widened in sudden realization. "Oh no. I completely forgot," he admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck as the adrenaline of training faded. "Training got a bit too intense."
Before Aarav could say another word in his own defense, Rudra turned on his heel and started running back toward the dormitories. Aarav cursed under his breath, completely abandoning his confused students, and chased after him.
Then-
"Rudra…?"
The voice was quiet and sweet. It was soft, yet it cut through the noisy training ground better than any loud shout.
Rudra turned around slowly. He stopped so suddenly that Aarav almost crashed straight into his back.
Standing a few steps away was Jennifer.
Everyone at the Ashfall Orphanage knew her, not because she was loud or had scary power, but because of how she acted. She was always quiet, gentle, and truly kind. There was something naturally warm about her—a calm feeling that made people feel at peace without her even trying.
Today, standing under the fading golden light of the afternoon sun, she looked even more beautiful than usual.
Rudra stared. And stared. He completely forgot how to make his own body work.
'Breathe in, breathe out,' his mind screamed at him, but his lungs refused to listen.
A sharp, stinging smack landed right between his shoulder blades.
"Are you out of your mind?" Aarav hissed into his ear. "She's talking to you!"
Rudra jumped as if waking from a deep dream. "Oh—!"
Jennifer stepped closer, her eyebrows pulled together with worry. "Rudra," she said softly. "Are you alright? I heard you weren't feeling well yesterday."
Before he could think of an answer, she reached out and gently placed her cool palm against his forehead to check his temperature.
In that exact moment, Rudra's brain completely shut down.
His thoughts scattered like frightened birds. His heart beat so hard against his ribs that he was sure everyone in the village could hear it.
'Why is my heart racing like this? Why is it so hard to breathe?' he panicked, frozen because she was so close.
Aarav watched the messy display from the side, his arms crossed over his chest, clearly not impressed. "He's fine, Jennifer," Aarav sighed. "I think his brain just caught fire."
'Incredible,' Aarav muttered to himself, shaking his head. 'I just dragged him out of shock, and he's already back in it.'
But even Aarav had to admit the truth. Jennifer wasn't just kind and beautiful; she was genuinely strong. She was a Fighter at Stage 6, a high level of power that most of the children in the orphanage could only dream of reaching. She was calm, disciplined, and had a quiet, steady strength.
"Rudra?" Jennifer asked again, her voice full of real worry. "Are you really okay? I heard those six boys attacked you in the forest. I was planning to visit you in the medical ward after training. I'm just glad I found you here."
Her concern was honest and clear.
"Please be careful," she continued, looking straight into his eyes. "When you go out alone like that… do you have any idea how scared I was when I heard you were hurt?"
[Oh, look at you,] Genesis's voice suddenly rang inside Rudra's head, dripping with sarcasm. [The great Chemist who can handle boiling mana is currently being defeated by a girl's eye contact. Truly pathetic.]
Rudra's face turned bright red. 'Shut up, Genesis! Not now!'
[Your heart rate is climbing faster than when the Blueleaf Grass exploded,] Genesis continued, sounding entirely too amused. [Should I initiate an emergency cooling sequence, or are you going to stand there looking like a fish out of water for the next ten minutes?]
"Rudra?" Jennifer tilted her head, her worry deepening as his face changed colors.
[Say something,] Genesis prodded. [Unless your plan for 'ruling the world' involves turning into a human tomato and passing out.]
Rudra opened his mouth to reply, desperately trying to say something cool or at least something that made sense.
Rudra opened his mouth to reply, desperately trying to say something cool or at least something that made sense.
But Aarav, seeing that his friend was a lost case, stepped in to save him from the awkwardness.
"Jennifer," Aarav interrupted quickly, keeping his tone polite but rushed. "Aunty Naina called both of us to the hospital for an urgent task. We're actually in a bit of a hurry right now."
Then, a mischievous, playful grin spread across Aarav's face. "Or, we could do this... I'll go to the hospital alone to deliver the items. You take Rudra to the market tonight. He still needs to pick up a few things."
Jennifer blinked in surprise at the sudden idea. Then, she laughed softly—a bright, sweet sound that reminded Rudra of silver wind chimes.
"Alright," she agreed with a warm smile. "I'll see you tonight, Rudra."
With that, she turned and walked away with a graceful, practiced stride.
Rudra didn't move a single muscle. He just stood there, frozen to the spot, watching her until she disappeared around the corner of the armory.
"Hey!" Aarav snapped his fingers loudly right in front of Rudra's glazed eyes. "She's gone. Now move."
Without waiting for an answer, Aarav grabbed Rudra's sleeve in a tight grip and forced him to walk toward the brewing room.