I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism!

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,” I muttered as I looked out over the so-called mythic labs.

Although it had a name that suggested some kind of high-tech research center, the lab was just a series of greenhouses. Each one seemed to have its own self-contained environment. The standard hot and humid ones were expected, but some greenhouses replicated desert environments and tundra environments. There were various students present, most of which were merely walking through, examining plants and taking notes. Many of them had horticulture books in their arms that I recalled reading in the Capala library.

“You said that there was money to be made.” I glanced back at Penny.

“Yes,” Penny nodded. “Since martial combat is a more popular field, to encourage more people to become chemists, they set awards for passing the written exams. There are three exams in all. Each one replicates the official exam you could take at the alchemy guild. However, you can only take the exams above your current rank. Since you’ve already passed as a herbalist, you won’t be able to take that exam. Your aim will be the botanist exam if you can pass it…”

Those last words came off more of a challenge. It seemed like she still hadn’t accept the results. Was she doing this to help me, or was she trying to challenge me in some way? I didn’t care. I did need the money.

“I wish I had known about this before taking the alchemy guild exam,” I admitted.

She shrugged. “The reward increases exponentially. The alchemy exam is only worth ten kilojoules. If you can pass the botany exam again, you will get one hundred kilojoules.”

“Only one hundred…” I muttered.

It was probably a good amount of money, even for paragons. It likely served both as a motivator to memorize plants and also as a means of helping them pay for ingredients so they could practice their alchemy. Considering the cost of training an alchemist, those awards were a drop in the ocean.

“He passed the botanist exam?” Destiny asked with a wide-eyed look.

“Even with the rewards, few students succeed. Of the hundred or so who take the exam every day, only one or two make it through. Passing doesn’t even guarantee you’d complete the guild exam since the questions would be different and there would be a luck component,” Ronald added.

“Hmph, what luck? If you learn all the material, you’ll be able to answer any questions.” Penny was looking down on Ronald, who could only put on a helpless expression.

It was clear that he wasn’t capable of doing such a level of memorization. I wasn’t paying attention to their banter. Rather, I was thinking about the money.

“You said there were three exams. What’s the third one?’

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Penny laughed, waving her hand. “It’s the alchemy exam. Even I’m still trying to pass it.”

“I thought the alchemy exam was a physical exam?”

She rolled her eyes. “The alchemy guild’s final exam for alchemy certification requires both a written and practical portion. However, the academy doesn’t conduct the practical portion. There are occasionally competitions, but the written exam is still offered.”

“And the written portion pays out more than botany?” I asked.

“It pays a thousand kilowatts.” She frowned. “However, at that point, you’d contain the knowledge and experience of an alchemist. I’ve already explained that even I can’t do it. The information goes far beyond identifying and understanding plants, but also how they combine. The distance between a botanist and an alchemist is the distance from here to the moon.”

“Got it, where can we take these exams?” I was eager.

A thousand kilowatts wasn’t enough to get rid of my debt, but I wasn’t in the same headspace I was when I dumped my entire reward into paying my debt. At the time, it had seemed like the wisest move. However, after clearing out the Capala library, I encountered other books not related to mere alchemy. Among them were several books on business and money handling. I wasn’t above self-improvement, and after transcribing the books and processing them, I realized that perhaps my lifestyle from before I died wasn’t the healthiest.

I had lived from paycheck to paycheck, and the only reason I had such a comfortable life was because I was racking up tons of student debt while I was in school earning my degree. Had I not died, I would have left the university only to realize I was going to be paying off student loans until I was fifty. As I gained a better understanding of such things, I realized that while the warden’s debt was high, there was no interest demanded, which meant that there was no benefit to paying it quickly.

I could have used that money and invested it to make more money. I could have probably reached a hundred thousand kilojoules within the one-year timespan just with a few safe investments, but since I threw all the money away, I had to start over. One needed to spend money to make money, and with the Capala household being poor, I didn’t even have a startup fund to test out some of my profit-making ideas. However, a thousand kilowatts sounded like it’d be enough to get something going.

“Fine… I’ll show you.” She gave me a suspicious look, but she still brought me into a building near the greenhouses that looked a bit like the alchemy guild.

This was probably the part where the labwork was done. I did benefit from seeing those greenhouses though. I had done something similar but on an individual plant level. Seeing how they were able to tame plants indoors gave me some ideas on how I could do the same. Although I had read about requirements, reading and seeing were two different things. I had not considered the alchemy certification because I had no practical experience, but if it was just a written portion, I should be able to handle things.

A young woman was sitting behind the counter when we entered. She looked to be a student and was even reading from one of the alchemy books I recognized until she saw us enter. It seemed like the academy hired their students, but it made sense. She put the book away and politely looked up.

“How can I help you?”

“I’d like to take two of the exams, please.” I smiled, taking the initiative.

“Two?” She blinked in surprise.

“He’s just joking.” Penny cut in. “He wants to take the botany exam.”

I shook my head. “I’ll take the alchemy exam too.”

The woman wore an awkward expression. “Sir, you can only take one exam at a time.”

“Are you trying to embarrass me?” Penny hissed at me. “You can only complete the botany exam.”

“How can I know I can’t do the other exam unless I try?” I laughed casually. “Besides, this is free to take, right?”

“It is free…” the receptionist agreed, wincing at Penny’s glare.

“Okay, well, if I take and pass the alchemy exam, can I still go back and take the botany exam.”

“You idiot,” Penny growled although Destiny seemed to think it was funny and covered her mouth to muffle a snicker. “The botany exam may proceed to the alchemy exam, but they do not contain any of the same information.”

“That’s fine,” I responded, looking at the receptionist expectantly.

Fate and Ronald had followed us too, although they were mostly staying back and watching. Ronald looked slightly amused, while Fate was aloof and expressionless, taking it all as a mere observer.

The receptionist glanced between the pair of us. “You may retake any exam below the certification you possess, however, you can only be awarded once per exam.”

I nodded. “Alright, in that case, I’ll start with the alchemy exam.”

“In that case, I might as well retake the exam as well!” Penny cut in, but when I raised an eyebrow, she sneered. “I’ll show you just how far behind you are!”

I shrugged, and the woman had us fill out some paperwork and then went to the back room. A few minutes later, she came back with two exams. She directed us to a seat. It wasn’t as secure as the previous one I’d taken. Penny gave me one more look before she sniffed, took her exam, and found a seat. I found a seat a distance away and then began to fill out the answers.

As Penny had suggested, the exam had a completely different set of questions from the botany test. I was curious if Penny’s exam had the same questions as mine, or if even that was different. I went through the questions quickly, but I found some that were somewhat difficult. They involved some critical thinking and inferences I previously hadn’t made. If it was this tricky at the alchemy exam, I wondered how complicated it’d be to become a biochemist. By all accounts, I should already be one, but that was only in my world.

In this world, I wondered how far I could get.