The First Cultivator - Changing Existence

The Imperial Scholar pushed the poison recipe forward and spoke. "This is a very temporary paralyzation poison. It will last around ten seconds on most targets, though some will be able to move after seven or so seconds."

Skymender took a look at the poison recipe and began to memorize it. He would have to look up some of the plants in the library, as it was naturally impossible for him to have memorized every single plant in the world at his age.

"One of these plants is considered classified. You will not be able to find information on it nor purchase it anywhere with the permission of someone with access to classified things. That is where I can help you. In order to assist you in furthering your studies, it is necessary that I give you access to this classified plant. Go to the clothing shop that you got your current clothes from and tell the woman that the Imperial Scholar has given you access to the Yellow Lightning Thorn plant." The Imperial Scholar explained.

Skymender thanked him and put the recipe in his pocket.

"You still have plenty of time left. I can't give you anything else today, but I can still teach you." The Imperial Scholar said.

Skymender thought for a moment before speaking. "Can you speak on the process of curing a disease, in your experience?" 

The Imperial Scholar nodded.

"There haven't been any extremely dangerous disease outbreaks in my time, but there have been a few that could have blown up to that level if not handled properly. One of them was a disease that was not fatal to anyone except old people and newborn children. Still, being sick with it was painful and inconveniencing. In order to cure that disease, we had to find those infected with it and study them, especially their symptoms. We could match their symptoms with the symptoms of other diseases. By finding similarities, we can narrow down the methods of curing we try. Sometimes we take blood, sometimes we take skin or bones. It is a very complex process."

The Imperial Scholar spoke in great detail of his experiences in dealing with diseases. Eventually, the hour passed.

"That's it for today. I recommend you get at least four hours of sleep a night."

Skymender thanked him for his teachings and left the office.

He then headed back to the library. 

He continued to read. He spent another day like this. Eventually, he figured he should get some sleep. He walked back, stopping by a board and noting the next time he would meet with the Imperial Scholar. It was exactly 48 hours from the last time. 

In other words, in tomorrow at noon.

Skymender fell asleep in his room for a total of 5 hours before heading back to the library. 

Eventually, he had his next meeting with the Imperial Scholar. He spoke in detail about poison and curing poisons. After this meeting, Skymender finally headed to the clothing shop where he would be able to get the Yellow Lightning Thorn plant.

Stepping inside the store, the receptionist barely glanced at him before focusing on something else. After all, people usually just came inside and took what they wanted. However, Skymender walked up to the desk and got her attention.

"I apologize, sir. Do you need my assistance?" She asked.

Skymender nodded. "The Imperial Scholar sent me to tell you that I have access to the Yellow Lightning Thorn plant."

The girl nodded and stepped away, going into a door behind the desk.

A few minutes later, she came out with a wooden box. "According to the rules, do not open this anywhere besides a certified poison room."

Skymender nodded. "And where are the poison rooms?"

"There is one under the restaurant of Master Chef Garb, as well as another under the shoe store."

Skymender thanked her and left. He headed to Chef Master Garbs restaurant. Seeing it made him remember that Miria existed. He had completely forgotten about her after the Imperial Scholar declared what the last month would look like.

To say that he cared about her existence would be a lie, but he had not gotten all of the information he could have out of her. What he had learned could be summed up pretty simply. 

The true winner is not based on total points alone. Luke is a hidden danger not to be underestimated. There is an Imperial Scholar Camp every ten years. There will not necessarily be a winner, as the true winner would be someone accepted as the next Imperial Scholar. Only a few would be invited once again next year. You only get two chances to participate in the Imperial Scholar Camp. Everything is different after a new year. Finally, the Imperial Scholar had said last year that the conditions for becoming the true winner were ridiculous, almost impossible. 

This was all the information he had been given. It was useful, especially so for anticipating the next time he came.

Skymender did not expect to become the true winner. If the conditions were truly ridiculous, as described so by even the Imperial Scholar, then the fact that he was not even currently in first place meant that he had a low chance of succeeding.

Besides, Miria had also said that the only chance one truly had of being a true winner was in the second year.

As he entered Master Chef Garb's restaurant, he also thought of the only current way to gain intelligence points. Every week, the Imperial Scholar would test what you had learned and give you points based off of that. 

It was completely up to his discretion. This had been information given during his first one on one teaching.

Skymender snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Master Chef Garb sitting in the middle of a ring of fire.

There were no customers as of now. Skymender walked up to him, and Master Chef Garb opened his eyes.

"Hello. I need to use the poison room. How does that work?" Skymender asked.