Early TBAGM Vol. 1 Chapter 5 Part 2

Full title: The Banished Advisor’s Guild Management

Note: If you found any typos/mistakes, pls write them in the comment. Thanks.

Translator: Canon

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“All right. I’ll do everything I can to help.”

“Thank you, Rena!”

“…Ugh—how can anyone say no when such a cute girl bows her head like that?”

Watching Elna smile shyly as she expressed her thanks, Rena couldn’t help but soften her expression.

“Well then, we should start by gathering ingredients.”

Now fully motivated, Rena turned to leave the workshop in search of Caene leaves—

But I gently stopped her.

“No need. That part’s Elna’s job.”

“Leave it to me. I’ll do my best!”

Elna thumped her chest with determination.

I quickly fetched a pot of water and placed it in front of her.

Seeing this, Rena looked at me in confusion.

“M-Mr. Lloyd, are you helping too?!”

“Huh? Is there some rule that says outsiders aren’t allowed?”

“No, it’s just… I never imagined someone as important as a guildmaster would handle such menial tasks.”

“I’m not important, and I don’t wield any real power. I’m just one of the team.”

With that, I got to work without hesitation.

Rena, listening to my words, gave a small smile.

I had no intention of becoming like Kyros—arrogant and aloof.

I never wanted to create hierarchy or distance between myself and the guild members.

“Elna, give it everything you’ve got, pour your mana into the water!”

“Okay!”

We were about to attempt potion-making without even using Caene leaves.

Rena stared at us, dumbfounded.

“W-What are you trying to do…?”

Her expression clearly read: Did you not just hear everything I explained earlier?

Even so, we ignored her and turned our attention to the task at hand.

“Elna, just like always, gather the mana and mix it into the water.”

“Got it! 【Magic Manipulation】!”

Elna raised both hands.

She moved as if stirring the air, gathering the mana drifting throughout the room into a single point.

“Wh-What in the world is this?!”

“If it’s too much, I’d recommend stepping outside. It’s only going to get denser.”

Rena must have sensed it too—

The magic in the air had suddenly grown much thicker.

“Don’t tell me… she’s the one doing this?!”

“She is. This is Elna’s ability.”

Elna gleefully concentrated the mana into one spot.

She looked like a child playing with a toy, and for a moment, it was easy to forget that we were witnessing a miracle.

“Here I go!”

With a cheerful shout, Elna drove the dense ball of mana gathered above her head into the pot of water with force.

The water slowly began to take on a pale green hue—

The unmistakable color of a healing potion.

“What do you think? Is it turning into a potion?”

I poured a sample into a small vial and handed it to Rena.

But her eyes didn’t even focus on the vial—

She stared wide-eyed in disbelief before suddenly screaming.

“E-EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!”

Elna and I flinched at the volume, but Rena paid no mind.

She grabbed my shoulders and began shaking me wildly.

“H-How did you get your hands on a technique this broken?!”

“Broken…?”

“This potion! Its concentration is off the charts! If we put this on the market, it would be worth several times more than anything currently being sold!”

Her eyes were bloodshot. The intensity of her reaction nearly overwhelmed us.

“Well, it’s still unfinished and might be a little rough, but if we polish it…”

“—We could change the world?”

“Exactly. Everything that just happened feels like a miracle. I wouldn’t doubt you if you told me it was divine intervention.”

Rena’s breath was ragged as she spoke.

She probably didn’t understand everything just yet, but Elna smiled contentedly just from hearing that.

“Wait… controlling raw mana like that—what is she, licking Caene leaves or something?! No—she is! Yes!”

And with that, Rena spiraled into her own bizarre conclusion.

What happened to the quiet, reserved woman from earlier? She seemed like a completely different person.

“But… maybe we really can make it in time…”

Regaining her composure, Rena began calculating something in her head with a hand on her temple.

As expected of someone handpicked by Orgus, her adaptability was impressive.

She quickly began drafting a new potion-making workflow that incorporated Elna’s ability.

After scribbling furiously for a few minutes, she handed me a single sheet of paper.

“Heh heh heh, Mr. Lloyd… we’re about to make a miracle happen!”

Her challenging grin seemed to declare war on the very laws that governed this world.

†

Nick stood before a table lined with various metals and slapped his cheeks sharply to steel his resolve.

“All right! Let’s do this!”

He would no longer belittle himself. No more self-blame.

To remain by Lloyd’s side, he would give everything he had.

Whether he was average or exceptional, he would meet expectations. That was his decision.

“First, I need to make the mold for the container.”

Without delay, Nick selected a few metals from the pile and began crafting the mold for the potion containers.

He couldn’t work with anything other than metal.

Even if he tried, the results would only be shoddy products.

So instead of using the more common materials like glass or wood, he chose to forge the containers from metal.

“All right, this shape should do.”

Nick drew fully upon his C-rank 【Metal Shaping】 and quickly completed the molds.

The real challenge began here.

“Now I need to find the perfect metal for storing potions…”

He set aside the successfully formed pieces and gathered the scrap from failed attempts, then activated his skill: 【Scrap Reforging】.

Standard metals couldn’t meet the demands of this task.

Since it would be a metal container, he had to bring out the full potential of the material itself.

“Okay, time to push through!”

Nick began his tireless trial-and-error process, even sacrificing sleep to continue his work.

—

“Whew. That should do it.”

After roughly four hours, Nick succeeded in crafting a metal suitable for potion containers.

The hunk of alloy in his hands was the culmination of everything he had to give at that moment.

Reflecting his growth, his skill proficiency had also increased:

.

【Scrap Reforging】 D → C

.

“All right, now I’ve fulfilled Mr. Lloyd’s request.”

By casting this refined metal into the molds he had crafted earlier, he could complete the containers.

He needed ten in total, and he still had a bit of time to spare.

(But… is this really enough to be satisfied?)

The thought crossed Nick’s mind, unprompted.

If he completed them now and turned them in, he wouldn’t be scolded.

In fact, Lloyd would likely praise him for using his skills well.

If he were working at an average blacksmith guild, he might even be rewarded with a bonus.

But that kind of complacency wouldn’t fly here.

Even as he stood there, satisfied, Elna was probably still growing at a rapid pace.

“I’ve got nothing left but effort…!”

Clutching the metal, Nick dove back into improving the mold design.

What could he tweak to make the container even better?

He refined, revised, and refined again.

Every time sleep threatened to overtake him, he struck his own arm with a hammer, forcing himself awake through pain.

He hadn’t been sleeping much lately, having spent recent nights training both his 【Metal Shaping】 and 【Scrap Reforging】.

Still, he refused to rest. He couldn’t rest.

Because someone was waiting for the containers he would forge.

Because someone believed in his potential.

Driven by that faith, Nick continued his grueling efforts.

And then—

†

At that very moment, Elna and Rena were locked in a fierce struggle.

Because Elna’s 【Magic Manipulation】 was still somewhat imprecise, even slight misalignments in mana flow could destabilize the potion’s composition.

Even so, neither of them gave up.

“Rena, bring a fresh batch. This time, let’s reduce the water a little.”

“Understood. I’ll get it right away.”

Even if what they were attempting defied common sense.

Even if it was a fantasy detached from reality.

As long as even the faintest sliver of possibility remained, they refused to back down.

Because curiosity—the desire to see the unknown that lay beyond what was possible—was now something they couldn’t suppress.

“Ah… this light…”

Elna’s perception of mana, once vague and undefined, now came into sharper clarity.

Yes—her skill had just advanced.

.

【Magic Manipulation】 C → B

.

From that moment on, their progress accelerated dramatically.

“It’s done! Lord Lloyd, it’s done!”

“I can’t believe it actually worked…”

With her improved 【Magic Manipulation】, Elna was now able to perfectly balance the potion’s components.

According to her, she could now channel mana through the tip of a needle if she wanted.

Rena could only gasp in awe at the surreal display unfolding before her.

“And this potion, this is a high-grade potion!”

Rena, clearly thrilled, brought the potion over to show me.

It seemed Elna had extracted more mana than what typically clung to Caene leaves.

She had succeeded in creating a high-grade potion, one of the most expensive tiers available.

“Well done! Both of you!”

This was exactly the kind of miracle I had been hoping for.

As I suspected, Elna truly had talent for potion-making. And Rena had played her part perfectly as a support alchemist.

With further refinement, Elna would no doubt be able to craft even more potent potions in the future.

“Hey now, don’t go forgetting about me.”

“Nick? What happened to you?! You’re covered in bruises!”

While we were celebrating the potion’s success, Nick stumbled in with a battered and exhausted body.

Blue bruises covered his limbs, and both his stamina and energy were clearly depleted. He looked ready to collapse.

“I may have pushed a bit too hard… Ah, here’s the finished product.”

Even while swaying on his feet, Nick handed me a single metal flask.

The container had noticeable weight to it.

As always, I used 【Appraisal】 to examine its properties.

“…What?!”

And what I saw stunned me.

Seeing my expression, Nick let out a proud smile.

“Heh… Glad to hear it turned out well… I managed to—”

“You okay?!”

“Are you all right?!”

Before he could finish his sentence, Nick lost consciousness, and Rena and Elna quickly caught him.

Looking at his condition, I could tell everything I needed to know.

.

[Name] Nick (17)

[Stats] Vitality C → B

[Skills] Mana Infusion E → C

[Profession] Blacksmith

[Attributes]

Metal Shaping C → B

Ornamentation E → D

Design D → C

[Unique Skill] 【Scrap Reforging】 D → C

.

I had trained dozens—hundreds—of adventurers in my past.

But not a single one had ever achieved growth like this.

Just how much effort did it take to reach this point?

The kind of effort so grueling that even I couldn’t fathom it.

And without it, there’s no way this container could’ve been completed.

.

[Name] Container (1)

[Affiliation] Veiled Moonrise – Crafted by Nick

[Stats] Shape B / Weight D / Durability B

[Skill] Effect Amplification C

.

A container not only boasting impressive stats, but also possessing the skill 【Effect Amplification】.

Normally, a container’s skill wouldn’t activate unless mana was infused into it.

However, because Nick had embedded mana into the container itself through 【Mana Infusion】, the skill remained permanently active.

It was a masterwork, nothing short of breathtaking.

As the appraisal confirmed, Nick had awakened the 【Mana Infusion】 skill.

I hadn’t even taught it to him, assuming it was too soon.

And yet, Nick had not only awakened it on his own—he had refined it.

This was no longer the work of an ordinary craftsman.

Nick possessed undeniable talent.

The rarest kind, the ability to work harder than anyone else.

“…This is going to result in one hell of a potion.”

I gazed at the nearly completed high-grade potion and felt a smile spread across my face.

†

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