After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World-Chapter 1247: Apprenticeship Ceremony (Part 1)

"Should I call you master, too?"

Althea flinched and everyone else gaped.

"Er, No, please, no need," she answered almost as soon as he asked.

"Besides, what I can share with you is just knowledge passed down amongst my people, further built up by generations of scholars," she told him. "Most of it is not mine."

"Okay, then," Hoffen said, looking at her with a brighter light. The question could've been a test, and her answer was apparently to his liking.

Seeing as that aspect had been settled, Gaia cleared her throat and continued with the orientation.

"An apprentice ceremony can be seen as an adoption ceremony, in a sense, albeit much more formal and heavy because it involved inheritances from the World Knowledge," Gaia began, recalling the things she had been taught growing up.

"The ceremony itself could vary depending on the profession.

"For fighting types, it would have opening speeches from the masters while they were in a small sparring area. They would then do a friendly spar where the apprentice would show off his skills."

Obi and Gregor nodded at this. Obi had a master and this was what they did for his ceremony. He was very young at the time— probably fifteen years old—and had that arrogance of a teenager born under nobility.

That master of his humbled him during the ceremony, not leaving him with a face at all.

It terrified Obi that he'd be dropped from apprenticeship but, fortunately, that wasn't the case.

It was just that the man only taught him for about a year or so before leaving for adventures. Obi was still bitter about that—for not taking him with him.

Gregor also had one, and he was an old friend of Hoffen and was even older than he was. Sadly, the man died about a few decades ago, primarily due to weakness caused by age.

"For Apprenticeships between Alchemists, I am not entirely clear," she said. "But I was taught some of the basics, but I think we are free to modify it as we deem fit."

No one in their family had entered that field, so she hadn't been invited into one yet. Most of what she knew was that it had something to do with colorful potions.

Anyway, they discussed the program for a while. Following this was a discussion about the schedule and venue.

"The venue is no problem," Althea said, "But the schedule may have to wait a bit. We're going into another war, you see."

Bam!

They flinched, turning to the grumpy old man.

"Nonsense! It will take an hour at most!" Hoffen said, frowning at her. "We do it tomorrow morning!"

"..."

…

The plans were finalized, and Oslo took the lead with his mother to help set up the area. He asked Ansel for help, and the redhead definitely jumped at the opportunity.

Before leaving, Althea couldn't help but look at Hoffen, who was about to head up his room for rest.

The old man paused his movements, looking back at her with a blank facial expression. "You want to ask something?"

Althea nodded. She took a few moments to word her question, though what came out of her mouth was a simple "Why me?" instead.

He looked at her, before breaking into a small chuckle.

"Who knows…"

…

The next day, the Apprentice Ceremony was held. It was a private affair, and they didn't announce it. Even the Golds had dyed their hair in order to blend in a bit more. They didn't do anything too much like wearing masks, but they definitely did not announce their presence in the territory.

Of course, even so, Orion and Zaol had formulated a number of plans to defer their detection.

It wasn't that they were terrified of Bleulle now that they had settled down in a protected area—the various rules of the system limited Cities, too—they simply wanted to delay the inevitable trouble they could bring.

Anyway, the ceremony took place in a small events place in Alterra Gardens. It was adorned with a few chairs and a stage. In the center of the stage was a cauldron emitting a special aura about it.

It was fairly simple because there wasn't much time with the war coming up. Not to mention, the person who should know most about these ceremonies didn't know of it.

This caused the sense of tradition to be a little discounted but, at the same time, it felt even more special. It felt like they created their own event, rather than simply going through of motions.

The added themed displays were drawn by their painters as well. This included some symbols typically associated with the Pharmacist Profession like mixed plants and the like, adding some atmosphere to the ceremony.

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The audience was the Golds, Althea's family and friends, as well as the entire pharmacy team and those aiming to become one.

The Golds were shocked to see so many System Pharmacists in a new town, and they were even more surprised to know there were plenty of others preparing to awaken as well.

Hoffen was also very impressed. He found out that his apprentice was behind the growth and awakening of others, and he felt proud already.

Anyway, the two headed up separate stairs up the platform. They faced each other as they stood, with Althea adopting a humble body language to show her lower position.

Hoffen looked at her and a small smile graced his generally-grumpy face. "I never did have an interest in finding an apprentice, and it was the reason why I didn't know much about this ceremony," he said. "Now, I feel a bit regretful.

"However, I'd like this to still be memorable, and despite our lack of knowledge I hope that someday—when you meet other pharmacists—you would be able to brag about this experience."

He looked at her. "Yesterday, you asked why I chose you… and the answer is actually quite simple.

"It's because, my child," he paused. "There is no one like you."