I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism!

Diana rubbed her temples. She hadn’t slept much the night before. It had been a cram session where she tried to recall every mythic plant species in Arber’s Guide to Medicinal and Mythic Plant Species. She had even skipped out on spectating the tournament the week prior just so she could continue to study. She had heard there was a lot of drama revolving around the tournament, but she had only been able to hear tidbits as she continued to work on studying.

This was all necessary for her to pass the exam and officially be recognized as a level one alchemist. This exam was also somewhat special because it would be proctored by a grandmaster who was visiting the town. Usually, there was no grandmaster present, so the test was given by intermediate alchemists, who then needed to send the results to the capital before a grandmaster could officially bestow a title. Yet, with the grandmaster in the city, such results could be obtained instantly.

This wasn’t the only reason that this was a special exam. If Diana performed impressive enough, Grandmaster Bai may be willing to take her under his wing as he did countless other fledging alchemists. She had heard that Lady Penelope of the Capala family was already one of his disciples, sparking a burning jealousy. Grandmaster Bai had also given private lessons to her older cousin Jordan, although this was more of a contractile agreement between him and the Stride family.

Jordan Stride was the genius protégé and the pride and joy of the Strides. It was only right that he be trained by the best available, and that was Grandmaster Bai. Thus, the Stride family provided Bai with all of his accommodations while staying in Stormberg, and he would give Jordan lessons. By all accounts, Diana thought that Jordan would win the alchemy tournament, so she was shocked when she learned otherwise. She knew he didn’t just dabble in alchemy, but also had martial talent, yet he didn’t seem to win first there either.

Diana wanted to know what had happened, but she didn’t have any authority in the Stride family and didn’t dare to stir up trouble by asking. She wasn’t like Cousin Tiffany who was respected and had authority nearly at the level of an elder. She was just the young miss. Eventually, she’d be married off to another family to settle some political negotiation. The only way she’d be able to change her fate was to become an alchemist.

Thus, instead of getting wrapped up in the drama, she studied nonstop. Not willing to waste any time and too nervous to sleep, she had stayed up the entire night. She could only let out a long yawn as she arrived outside of the alchemy academy. She was still early, but she had nothing else on her mind at the moment, so she headed right in.

As soon as she stepped into the guild, the familiar smell of countless ingredients struck her nose. This all came from refining and processing mythic plants. When a normal plant evolved, it became a mythic plant. While normal plants used sexual reproduction, producing seeds by combining the genetic DNA of two plants often delivered by insects or the environment, mythic plants tended to reproduce asexually. This was likely because there was only one mythic plant, causing it to be its unique species.

People tried to breed mythic plants with their nonmythic source plant, but it always ended up in nonmythic offspring. Thus, the only way to breed mythic plants was to depend on vegetative propagation or fragmentation. Simply put, pieces of the plant were extracted and then encouraged to grow into a new plant. This worked for some mythic plants, but there were still countless plants that could only be found randomly in the wild. It was considered impossible to cultivate them.

Of course, there were also instances where paragon families would discover the secret to growing certain plants and then keep the knowledge hidden. An entire family could thrive by being the only one capable of propagating a desired mythic plant. Suffice it to say, that the breeding and propagation game was a complex and lucrative field that sustained countless families. Although the Stride family was known as an alchemy family, they still had countless fields to produce their ingredients.

The Capala family branch had suppressed the Stride family for decades. They were an older family with roots deep in the capital, and that meant they had countless secrets that allowed them to grow countless ingredients, but over the years their supply both decreased in size and variety. Diana wasn’t qualified to know the details of it, but she did know that her family was on the rise, and with her cousin, Tiffany, at the head, they could even become the strongest family in Stormberg.

It was naturally a prosperous period for her family, so Diana had to do her part in making sure that they continued to progress. She entered the building, making sure to keep her head held high and her nervousness in check. Yet, when she entered the receiving room, there was no one there to greet her. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she lowered her head and then quickly found a seat in the back to wait for the announcement. She spent her time trying to recall information, her lips continuously moving as she thought through her studies.

“The ideal means of plant propagation is apomixis. It’s a type of asexual reproduction where plants can produce a seed. All mystic plants are clones of their parent. The parental plant is known as the parietal generation. They give rise to the filial generation. A filial generation cannot propagate by apomixis.” Diana was muttering in a low voice as if she could see the books still in front of her.

The door to the front opened, and her words caught in her throat.

“He will be arriving soon,” a woman’s voice stated. “Master, I have him being fitted for some outfits now. You’ll be proctoring his exam, right?”

“This is… that fiancé of your cousin’s, right?” a voice Diana recognized as Grandmaster Bai replied.

“Yes, that commoner had already started to act like he owned the place. He just lazes around all day and eats the Capala food and squanders Capala joules!”

“Hehe… he is an interesting kid. He’s the one who used those poisons during the tournament. I’m curious about his recipes. They were shockingly efficient. Of course, nothing that a grandmaster like me can’t handle. That said, I could always be more familiar with poisons. Even a future chemist like me dabbles in toxicology from time to time. It’s the only way to progress the science. Someone who spends too much time on a single brushstroke fails to see the whole painting.”

“What? No! Master, he must fail today. He will probably fail anyway.”

“Hehe, here I was thinking you wanted your family to succeed.”

“He is not my family! Plus, he wants to work in the mystic plant shop!”

“That graveyard? Even a monkey could get a job there. The old herbalist currently working there can’t tell a fire lilac from an ice lily. Why, just the other day, some commoner came in with a bag filled with rare ingredients. The shopkeeper passed on them! Of course, I immediately convinced him to sell, and at a good rate too! If I hadn’t suffered some bad luck and been robbed by bandits a short time later…” His expression turned dark.

“Master, please, can you do anything?”

The old man let out a sigh and then glanced around the room. Diana was sitting in a place just outside of his sight, and when he glanced, she ducked her head down so she wouldn’t be seen. She felt a strange feeling like she was hearing things she shouldn’t. This was a private conversation between a disciple and her master.

“Alright, how can I say no to my precious disciple? I’ll tell you what I’ll do. He’s just taking the basic herbologist test. I’ll swap it out for the advanced botanist exam. Hehe, even I might not be able to pass one of those without proper preparation.”

“That would be perfect! Thank you, Master!”

“Shh… shh… this is just between us. Go get your… ahem… bring him here. We’ll begin the exams shortly.”

She nodded excitedly and then left, while Grandmaster Bai headed to the second level of the guild. Diana could only gulp. She had heard something she wasn’t supposed to hear. She debated endlessly about what she should do with the information. Should she tell the head of the guild? They were a rank lower than Grandmaster Bai, so they wouldn’t be able to do anything. Maybe she could leverage it somehow?

Before she could come to a solution, the girl returned with a guy. He looked surprisingly handsome and sophisticated. She had called him a commoner, but Diana never would have thought this based on how he held himself. He seemed strong but had an almost bored expression on his face. He didn’t look anxious at all, despite the upcoming exam.

“Wait here. The exam will start soon,” Penelope told the man.

He nodded. “Thank you… for everything.”

He touched his outfit, a complicated expression on his face.

“Don’t mention it.” She shrugged. “I’m just doing this for my cousin’s future. We’re family, after all.”

“Then, I won’t disappoint you.”

A vicious grin appeared on her face. “You better not.”

She turned and headed for the exit. Just as she reached it, he spoke again.

“When I pass the exam, I’ll also do what is necessary for my fiancée’s future.”

“You do that.” She responded and then left.

Except… Diana knew that there was no way this man would pass the exam!