After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 1248

Chapter 1248: Apprenticeship Ceremony (Part 2)
“I want everyone to know you are my apprentice, not only for you but also for me.

“Your letter struck my passion in ways that had been growing stagnant for so many years. Alchemy is my life, and that is akin to igniting it on fire again. I am thankful for that.”

He said this with a somber tone that made everyone stare at him, realizing how serious he was.

“Then I found out more about you as a person and I thought how interesting it would be to meet your acquaintance,” he said. “And then I saw your potential, and I wanted to be there to see when you grow—which you inevitably will.”

There was resounding applause from the audience, while Althea’s heart felt extremely touched. It was customary for the Master to have a short speech, but no one really expected him to say anything beyond a sentence—let alone so much.

“Thank you, Master,” she said, bowing respectfully, finally using the term used by apprentices to call on their masters. “I will do my best not to disappoint you.”

“I doubt you will,” he said, hands hovering over the large cauldron. “In any case: I’m glad to finally have someone so bright as my first—and only—apprentice.”

Together, they added symbolic ingredients to the pot and let them mix.

The potion changed colors, adding more luminescence. There was even a slight reflection above, akin to the Terran aurora borealis, fascinating those who saw.

Even Althea couldn’t help but stare, and her attention was only pulled back to the present when a scroll appeared in front of her.

She blinked and lifted her head, looking at the Master.

By tradition, a Master shall give his new apprentice a guide to a new skill.

As for what the skill was and how important it was would be up to the master. On the other hand, whether or not the skill would even be triggered was up to the apprentice.

She was quite curious to look at it, but she also knew it was too risky. If it was too common, then she might show her disappointment in front of everyone, but if it was good, then she’d be so immersed and waste everyone’s time.

So, instead of opening it, she just gracefully took it with both hands, bowing respectfully at the old man. “Thank you, Master.”

The ceremony ended with the two of them making the Salute, with Althea bowing 90 degrees.

Thus was also the beginning of Althea’s rapid growth in this field—and it was absolutely unprecedented.

…

____

In classic Alterran fashion, there must be food after the ceremony, so in a flash, the organizers arranged the buffet table as well as the dining tables.

As expected, the aborigines absolutely loved the offerings, and were especially amazed as they had never had them before.

“Delicious!”

“This is so lovely.”

“What is this?!”

And so on…

Meanwhile, Althea enjoyed her food with her family, also watching the others experience the same.

At some point, Oslo approached them with a handsome smile, pulling a chair as he sat next to Althea. Garan gave him a look, though he was currently busy feeding the two babies to glare at him.

“How is it, Miss Althea?” he asked, leaning a bit of his weight on the table as he sat next to her. “How does it feel to become the only apprentice of one of the two surviving Class A Alchemists in the World?”

Althea chuckled. “Very honored,” she said. “I’m looking forward to what I will learn.”

As she said this, her eyes gravitated to the stage which they didn’t clear up yet. She couldn’t help but remember the process and wondered: “I’ve been wondering this for a while. Don’t professions have Guilds?” she asked, and the others also stared, similarly curious now that she brought it up.

In her mind, wouldn’t such a profession-based ceremony be held in guilds? Maybe ceremonies could have been cooler if there were official guild emblems, ceremonial robes, and the like.

It had to be said: Althea still liked to experience some things…

However, as far as she could remember, there was no such thing there—at least not with the function that she knew.

They named some groups and teams as guilds, but it wasn’t in the sense of what it was historically used for.

Oslo looked at her curiously. “What are guilds?”

This confirmed that, even in cities, there was no such thing. It seemed like the culture here didn’t welcome such a concept.

She pouted a bit, thinking those things would be cool, and Garan wanted o pinch her nose. He didn’t though, because Meatball made a mess again. (He forbade Althea from handling the babies while eating precisely because it could ruin her dress as the star of this ceremony).

Anyway, Althea just answered his question. “Guilds are organizations of professionals, where people of the same profession would come to learn more from each other, to communicate, make connections, trade, and the like.”

Guilds in Terrans functioned a bit differently, of course, and those focused more on trade and monopoly. Alterra’s current market condition had no need for that at all. What they did need was the effective handling of professionals to handle various problems too difficult for an individual to handle.

“This was a place where professionals can cut a lot of corners in their own growth, and it can also be a regulating body for the entire profession in general. For example, it can ban a person who is threatening the greater good with whatever they created.

“For instance, an alchemist who creates harmful poisons that could affect a massive amount of people. Or perhaps a tool maker that would make a weapon that’d cause too much damage.

“While Guilds are not the systems who could activate a profession for a person, they can cut off resources as needed—or even blacklist them in certain ways—in order to control them from causing further harm.”

“The Guilds could also be a way to gather people of the same professions to be able to handle a worldwide problem. For example, the Extreme Weather. What if all alchemists joined forces and created a potion that could help people survive that?”

“That sounds like a nice idea,” Oslo mumbled after a while. “But it’s a bit counterintuitive for a lot of people.”

Indeed. If master and apprentice were already rare and people could inherit skills from a ubiquitous World Knowledge, many of the traditional functions of Guilds in Terran were naught.

However, in Terran, there was a wider practice of sharing of knowledge in hopes for development and improvement. The Research Center was great, but it couldn’t (and shouldn’t) be accessible to just anyone—that was too dangerous.

This was the same case with the library, which required contribution points.

If one wanted to learn among other professionals and have discussions with them, it was too difficult—at least in this continent.

“I don’t think it’s a bad concept,” Eugene said, naturally one of the people who’d be most excited for the concept. He had yet to encounter another Creator and, to be honest, he really wanted to. “I think we’d be surprised at the effects—and not necessarily in a bad way.

“Should we create some here, then?” Oslo asked. He said this very casually, particularly because he hadn’t entirely absorbed the concept yet.

“Then Alterra will be a hub of Guilds.”

“…”