"Ouuuuh! An alchemist willing to let a worthy adventurer sip on an empowering magican concoction? How could I refuse!" Setesh thought to himself somewhat pompously. Indeed, even the flier mentioned the word "slightly", so there was perhaps nothing to be getting excited about. Still, any little bit helps, especially when you're trying to get stronger in an environment as competetive as Fairy Tail. The fire mage's age wasn't helping things either, at least in terms of his self-confidence. Having gotten stronger only recently, he was still a whelp, at the same level as some of the kids running around. Oh, for heaven's sake, that is a depressing thought, isn't it? There were people out there his age wielding unfathomable power, capable of laughing in the face of the laws of reality.
It must have been so surreal to be one of them, he thought, and lead their lives. It was difficult to even imagine. What kind of enemies would they be fighting? Do they even have enemies? Sure enough, the world's plagued by a constant string of nightmares, but the legends say that those wizards on top of the world wield nearly supreme power.
One of them was even right there in Fairy Tail, the Wizard Saint and former Guild Master Kazimir.
"And I am here, running around and chasing after plants. Goddamn it."
The task seemed easy enough on paper. Gather three herbs, take them back to the old hermit. "What is it with these old hermits living everywhere? It's hard to turn over a rock and not see one."
The curly fern was simple to find and required little to no actual searching. The next item was a blue lichen found on old, rotten logs, which would require a bit more looking around.
"Yuck. I guess the path to greatness leads through rotten wood." Setesh thought to himself, while looking out for any fallen tress that might have already rotted. After several minutes of what seemed like a pointless endeavor, he found a log with the requested lichen growing underneath, He took all the could gather and put it in his pouch.
The last herb could only be found growing on the biggest, tallest trees in the heart of the forest, which in and of itself was already a drag, but Setesh knew that it would be getting dark soon and it would be best for him to be wandering around the woods alone at night. Therefore, he hurried to a place he knew the tall trees grew. Several minutes later he had the last ingredient in hand and made his way back to the old shop owner, who ended up brewing the concoction advertised on the job offer. It look unimpressive, surely, but his last task already taught Setesh the lesson of underestimating things based on their appearance.
-  "Well, go on now, have a sip." The potioneer urged Setesh and so the boy took a sip of the potion from one of the clay cups. Surely enough, he felt his magic power rise slightly, just like after the time he ate the licorice root. Old people sure know their stuff.
- "Thank you for this. I definitely felt myself grow stronger."
- "Oh, don't mention it. Actually, now that you're here, I may need some help with a different task. But you can come tomorrow for that. Oh, and here's your payment."
The old man somewhat brazenly pushed Setesh out of his shop after handing him the payment for the contract, leaving the fire mage somewhat confused. But still, a job's a job.

600 words.