When Raminus returned, Selena looked at him hopefully.

"So. There is one request from the mages guild in Bruma," he said, "A large batch of simple ingredients, like various mushrooms and herbs, were brought there. And there magicians need extra hands to sort them and make inexpensive magic and health potions. For two days of hard work, they are willing to pay 300 gold."

"Sounds good," Selena replied, but then she thought about it, "Only I have a couple of questions..."

"What's the matter?"

"How will I get to Bruma? Are you sure that with my goblin staff I can easily get to Bruma in one piece?"

"It's solvable. I'll tell you now. But what is the second question?" asked Raminus.

"As I told you, I have a room...and if I'm going to be away for a long time...", Selena began to say, but then changed her mind, "I'm sorry, but anyway, let's first listen to your answer to my first question..."

"Good. I understand your difficult situation, and I promised your mother to help you somehow. That's why I can teleport you directly to Bruma, to the Mages guild for free."

"Really? That would be wonderful!" exclaimed Selena.

"But keep in mind, you will be able to teleport back to the imperial city only if you pay Jeanne Frasorik, the head of the branch of the Bruma Mages Guild, the required amount."

"And what amount can we talk about, at least approximately?", Selena asked, a little wary.

"About 150 gold."

"Half the earnings," she sighed.

"I can give you one piece of advice, Selena. Traveling can be a very profitable business. In the vicinity of Bruma, especially in the Jerol Mountains, an ingredient characteristic of these places grows - thistle seeds. Knowing what they look like, you can collect a good amount there and sell it, for example, here at the University. You can get two gold pieces for one seed, and 200-300 gold pieces for a whole bag."

"Yes, yes, I know, it's a plant with a purple flower. It sounds tempting."

"You will spend two days working at Jeanne Frasorik, then you can devote a couple of days to collecting ingredients, and returning back through teleportation, you can eventually earn about 400 gold in less than a week. Of course, it is dangerous to collect thistles alone! I recommend that you ask one of the magicians to come with you. Or maybe you can join some kind of search group."

"I like it. My mother also told me about one woman, her former combat friend. I could visit her, since this mountain is not far from Bruma. Dolada may also have been cursed, and maybe she somehow managed to cope with it and knows the recipe for a cure..." - Selena reflected.

"If you're ready, we can go to the Midas store. It is located next to the archmage tower. I'll teleport from there. Teleportation can also be carried out from the University, but you are not a member of the Guild, so you are not allowed to enter there," said Raminus.

"It’s ok. I could have packed up for the road somehow, but I realized that I had nothing to take in my room in the Temple district," Selena said and grinned sadly, "All my stuff is already with me."

"If you need some armor-leather, for example, before you go out to collect ingredients, then you can buy them in Broome," Raminus said.

"I see."

"By the way, what are your indicators of INTELLIGENCE and WILLPOWER parameters?" asked Raminus.

 "My intelligence is 45, and my Willpower is 65. Willpower is my greatest parameter."

"Hmm, this is quite a high indicator for a very young girl!", the magician said approvingly, "Perhaps you will succeed in the magic art someday."

Raminus Polus left the table, walked to the exit and turned to Selena.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes!" she replied, although inwardly she understood that she was not ready at all.

Everything was changing so dramatically. She could not believe that now she would go to another city, to another county that borders Skyrim, and which she had only seen on maps.

 

…

 

"Oh, looks like I'm already in Bruma. This is probably some kind of basement," Selena thought, looking around.

There was a teleport under her feet, which was a glowing circle on the floor, and in front of her were cupboards with dishes, chests and bags.

She stepped out of the circle and onto the stone floor. After walking a couple of steps, Selena suddenly heard a hoarse meowing voice next to her:

"Oh, someone has arrived. Who is this person?"

She turned sharply in the direction of the sound, but saw no one.

"Who's here?" Selena asked warily.

"Should I get a goblin staff and threaten?!"

"My name is Jaskar," the voice continued, "I'm usually invisible, as I constantly use chameleon or invisibility spells".

Judging by the voice and by the name, the talking creature is a Kajiit (a race of humanoid cats).

"I was sent from the Arcane University," Selena said, "To fulfill an order for processing ingredients."

"Hmm, it hasn't even been six months! Well, come on up. Talk to Jeanne or Volanaro."

"Thank you, Ja...," Selena began to say, but suddenly realized that she had already forgotten the name of this Khajiit.

"Jinkar? Jakarta? Damn it."

She didn't force her memory and just moved on. After a few steps, she saw a step ladder and climbed it until she came out of the basement.

After closing the door behind her, Selena was now caught off guard by the fact that she suddenly almost buried her nose in the face of a woman who suddenly appeared in front of her.

She was a relatively young woman with very light, almost white hair, combed back and large gray-blue eyes. Selena could not immediately determine whether she was a Nord, Breton or Imperial.

This woman looked so intently and directly at Selena that she was distracted for a moment.

"Who is this here with us?", - the woman said in a cheerful voice, - "An Imperial girl. And why are you wearing a Mythical Dawn robe?”

"This robe has a soft lining. It's comfortable in it. Does not prick the skin," Selena replied, looking away, unable to withstand the gaze of this lady.

"So. What's your name, young lady?"

"Selena...Selena Erana".

"And I'm Jeanne Frasorik! The head of this department. Nice to meet you. You came through the teleport. Are you from the University?"

"Y-yes...But I'm not a guild member. I just recently graduated from alchemy school."

"Go on!" - Jeanne sang, as if pushing her to continue the story.

"And ...the master wizard Raminus Polus sent me here to fulfill an order," Selena said, but she was embarrassed. It seemed to her that this woman was simply devouring her with her eyes.

"Ingredients...Sort...To do...potions...", Selena squeezed out with difficulty.

"Ingredients. Sort. To do. Potions," the woman suddenly repeated, "Weren't you raised by orcs? This is how they sometimes talk in separate words - I, kill, Yours, Head, Chop."

"N-no. I was just confused."

"Hmm, and you're a sweet child," Jeanne said to Selena's surprise and unexpectedly lightly patted her cheek.

"My level is an Apprentice," Selena admitted right away.

"Yeah. Well, let's not delay. Follow me, darling."

The woman turned around and Selena followed her. On the way, they met a tall elf in a green doublet. He was sitting on a chair near a bookcase full of books and looking at a scroll. They walked past him, after which Jeanne opened a bulky wooden door and they found themselves in a small room.

There were a lot of bags full of ingredients on the floor. There were also two empty barrels, a table with alchemical equipment-with a mortar, retort, pestle and alembic, as well as an ordinary brown chest that stood in almost every room in Tamriel. 

"So, Selena. You know how to determine two alchemical properties of each ingredient. Right?", - Jeanne clarified.

"Yes," she nodded her head.

"You need to sort out all the ingredients in the bags. If you see that there is one thing in common among the two properties, for example, "restoring health", then you put these ingredients in the right barrel. And if there are no such coincidences, then you put them in the left barrel. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Magician."

"When you've sorted through these bags, you can start making potions. They won't be very strong, since you're just an Apprentice, but weak and cheap potions are also in demand. You can start now."

"Good."

"It's a long job. If you need to rest, go down to the basement. There are always beds available there. If you need a snack, here in the locker...", - Jeanne pointed to the locker at the entrance, - "... there is bread, cheese, and beer here."

"Thanks a lot", Selena said sincerely. She was pleasantly surprised that this woman deigned to bother about such things.

"You will get 100 gold for sorting. Potions will be paid separately. It depends on how many there will be. Good luck. I'll keep an eye on you, Selena."

"Thanks again!" she said and turned to the pile of bags lying on top of each other.

Suddenly, she felt as if someone had lightly touched her ass. Selena started in surprise and turned around. She saw Jeanne already leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

"Did she touch me? Or is it a breeze?", Selena asked herself, "Hmm...she's weird. She was staring at me so intently. Here she definitely has a dwemer strap-on, which Vesta told me about! I need to be more careful!"