"I put the Cairn Bolete Caps and the aloe leaves in the right barrel. I can make a potion out of them," Selena said, sorting the ingredients.

"Fennel seeds are also in the right barrel. They are combined with aloe leaves. And primrose leaves...we put it in the left barrel. It seems that they are not combined with anything here within the framework of two properties."

It took about two hours of work and Selena went through about two bags. There was about the same amount left, but with each passing minute her attention was becoming more and more blunted and the speed of her work was gradually falling.

"So. Beer is not a hindrance to the alchemist," she said, and again took a few sips from the bottle, after which she returned to work.

When two more hours had passed, the High elf in green clothes, whom he and Jean had passed earlier, came into the room.

"Hello, hello! Someone is finally sorting out these rubble," he said, smiling and sticking his head in the door.

"Greetings. I am Selena."

"And I am Volanaro, at your service. Need a spell? Need to recharge something? Need to play a witty joke with someone? It's all for me."

Selena looked at him and didn't know what to say and just smiled.

"How much will they pay you?" The elf asked.

"Jeanne said she would pay 100 gold for sorting, and then more depending on the number of potions," she replied.

"Well, good luck to you, intern," Volanaro said and closed the door.

"I'm not even an intern. Although, perhaps, I can ask to be an intern. It seems that trainees can spend the night in the Guild. It wouldn't hurt me if my room in the imperial city was taken away from me for non-payment."

Selena fiddled with the ingredients for about three more hours. In the end, both barrels were filled according to Jeanne Frasorik's clear instructions. After finishing her beer and finishing her cheese, Selena went to the basement and just collapsed on a free bed, instantly falling asleep, not even having time to think about the drinking of her fate...

 

In the morning, she was woken up by a conversation between Jaskar and Volanaro. They were standing a few meters away from her bed. But Jaskar was still not visible, and it looked as if Volanaro was talking to himself, imitating someone else's voice.

"Listen, I'm an uneducated Khajiit and I don't really understand racial characteristics, so tell me, Volanaro, as an Altmer (high elf), why are there so many Altmers among necromancers according to statistics? Because the main necromancer, Mannimarko, was an Altmer?"

"Well...he was n't, he's still an altmer," Volanaro replied.

"He's a Top Lich, it seems. Do the Liches still have racial traits?"

"I don't know, friend. I've never met anyone like that. But you're right, you can often find Altmers among necromancers. And you will almost never meet Khajiit, Argonian" (reptilian humanoids - approx.author) "as well as orcs". All other elven and human races join the ranks of necromancers sometimes," Volanaro replied.

"But at the same time, there are many Khajiit among various bandits- in the guild of robbers or slavers," Jaskar sighed.

"Well, everyone has their own inclinations. Altmer tend to magic, so those of them who gravitate to dark deeds go to necromancers, and Khajiit tend to dexterity and combat with weapons in their hands... Therefore, those of them who gravitate to dark deeds go to robbers."

"That sounds reasonable, brother! And tell me, the girl who came from the imperial city, what kind of human race does she belong to?" asked Jaskar.

"She's an Imperial. And to be quite precise, the Nibenayan," Volanaro replied knowledgeably, " But we also have an imperial Orania working in our department...For example, it refers to the Colovians."

"Yes...Her skin is a little dark...I thought she was a redguard at all... But this new one, the Nibenayan-girl, has such white skin... It's just amazing. Probably very gentle to the touch," said Kajit with lust.

Probably, if he had been visible at this moment, then most likely this Khajiit would have licked his lips with his rough tongue.

"You'd better hold your tongue, friend. Our guest is sleeping nearby and probably hears everything," Volanaro warned, looking around.

"Yes, I hear you!" Selena suddenly said and sat down on the bed.

Jaskar was still nowhere to be seen, but if he had been, he would probably have flattened his ears in embarrassment.

"Good morning!" said Volanaro cheerfully, "Forgive us for our conversations!"

"Yes, everything is fine," Selena smiled and headed for the exit.

Now she was going to start the second part of her assignment and start making potions.

 

 

Selena started making potions by standing at a table with alchemical equipment. She could create more than a hundred potions from those herbs and mushrooms that she put in one of the barrels yesterday.

"Well, okay. I can create about ten potions in an hour. In ten hours of work, I can get close to a hundred potions. Moreover, in the process of such diligent manufacturing, my alchemy skill should improve, and I will be able to make potions faster and faster," Selena thought.

Then she went to the locker and took out yesterday's half-eaten bread. There was still some beer left at the bottom of the bottle, which would have been enough for a couple of sips. She fortified herself with a stale loaf and washed it down with exhausted beer. Then she went to the table with the alchemical tools and firmly decided not to leave the place until she had made fifty potions.

The process has started. She had to create only potions of "restoring health" and "restoring reserve strength" from the ingredients selected yesterday. For other potions, these ingredients were not suitable. More precisely, they could have been suitable if she had seen more alchemical properties in them, but at the Apprentice level she could only recognize two characteristics.

When about three hours of work had passed, she had created about thirty-five potions. Selena put them in a chest nearby, because she was afraid that if she put them in her inventory, then she might confuse them with those potions that she already has.

After a while, there was a knock on the door of this workroom, and then Jeanne Frasorik came inside. It seemed that her white hair literally glowed, and her big eyes again looked at Selena intently and without blinking. Holding a dark bottle in her hands, she approached it.

"Good afternoon," Selena greeted, "The process is underway. I'll finish everything today."

"Very well, dear," Jeanne said softly, and, coming closer, put her hand on Selena's shoulder, "Here, I brought you a honey drink."

"Oh, thank you," she replied with sincere joy.

Jeanne carefully placed the bottle on the table next to the alchemical distiller and for some reason touched her hair, as if checking what material they were made of.

"Let me know when you're done," Jeanne said and went to the exit.

Selena decided not to turn her back to her to avoid questionable touches from behind, and waited until the woman left the room, and only then started working again.

"Is Jeanne really acting weird with me? Or is it just the peculiarities of her personality, and she behaves the same with everyone? Anyway, she's showing some kind of concern for me. It's nice," Selena thought after taking a few sips of the honey drink, "Maybe in the future she will somehow help me with an internship at the guild?"

As Selena continued her work, she began to feel that the process was going more and more easily and automatically. Obviously, her alchemical skills were growing during such a "marathon".

In the next three hours, she made not thirty-five, but fifty potions! When she decided to test her alchemy skill with her System, she was simply amazed to see a numerical indicator:

 

ALCHEMY - 47

 

"What? Forty-seven?! I have increased my alchemical skills by 15 units?!", Selena exclaimed in a full voice, not believing her own System, "Just a little more and I will raise my skill to the level of "Journeyman!" Oh, damn! It's unbelievable!"

There was another knock on the door, and Jeanne came in again.

"What's the noise?" she asked calmly.

"I have increased my alchemy skill by fifteen units! In one day!", Selena exclaimed, almost jumping with joy.

"Oh...darling...Honey drink," Jeanne said.

"Very tasty. I drank. What about it?" she asked, not understanding what Jeanne was talking about.

"This is my special drink. It increases alchemy skills by twelve units for about half an hour after each sip."

"Really?"

"I gave it to you on purpose so that you wouldn't overwork yourself. But it means that you actually raised your alchemy skill by three units. This is also a good result," Jeanne explained.

"Oh...", - Selena sighed, - "Now it's clear..."

"Well, well," said Jean, opening the chest, "How many potions have you got?"

"Eighty-five. Forty health-restoring potions and forty strength-restoring potions."

"Good. If you bring their number to a hundred, then I will pay you another 200 gold, in addition to yesterday's hundred gold."

"Great. This is exactly how much I planned to earn!", - Selena exclaimed.

"You don't have much left. When you're done, go out into the hall. I'll be there," Jeanne said and left.