Chapter 23: Kael's Unconventional Method in Concocting Potion
Since they had completed half of their goal for coming to the Sylvaris Kingdom, it was time to complete the other half.
"I'll give the two of you five gold coins and five silver coins," Kael handed the exact amount to Lawrence. "You both remember the stores I've specifically mentioned to take note of along the way?"
"Yes!"
Lawrence and Jayem nodded.
"Take these coins and use them to buy all the meat, produce, and other edible goods you think are worth getting in Rustfall!"
"Got that!"
Without wasting any time, the duo left Kael.
"As for me, I'll spend the rest of the money at the Herbal Store to buy some ingredients," Kael muttered to himself as he followed the directions to the Herbal Store where they sold the flora they bought with them just now.
Along the way, he keeps on tossing the five remaining gold coins while making sure of certain things in his mind.
People might think that he's crazy right now because why would he sell all those materials if he needed them anyway? The answer to that question is quite simple because those weren't the ingredients he needed for what he wanted to make.
In Avalon, there exist different categories that separate each material from the other. This category ranks the usefulness, practicality, applicability, and rarity of each material and is separated into six different levels: common, uncommon, rare, legendary, mythic, and divine.
Take for example, a weed. A weed in Avalon is categorized as a common rank material. That's because, although it's still applicable in making medical potions and medicine with the right application and technique, its usefulness and practicality are frowned upon because it can be substituted with other materials that possess fewer impurities and have more benefits. Plus, it can be found anywhere. That's why its rank is common.
On the other hand, there's a flower in Avalon that only grows near a volcano, which is called the Burning Magma Flower. This flower only grows in a specific environment, takes a long time to reach maturity, has barely any impurities, needs experience and skill to harvest, and lastly, it has a lot of benefits for people who focus their studies on manipulating the fire element mana. That's why its rank is rare.
Such ranking also applies to weapons, armor, other types of tools and gear, consumables like food and potions, Magical Beasts, and many more.
Those flora they've just sold might be considered expensive in Noverra, but they're pretty common in Avalon. That was why there were a lot of them, and they were easy to find. If they were considered valuable, then those flora would have long disappeared in that area, since scavengers would have highly likely sought them.
*Ting!
The bell hanging on top of the door of the Herbal Store rang as soon as Kael stepped inside.
"Welcom… You again?" A male elf clerk showed a surprised look as he spotted Kael walk inside his store. "If I'm not mistaken, your name is Kael, right?"
"Yes!" Kael nodded.
"So, how may I serve you, Kael?" The male elf clerk smiled. "Before you ask for a refund, I regret to inform you, but we don't have such a service. Once you receive our money, there's no return."
"I'm not here for a refund," Kael narrowed his eyes on the male elf's nametag.
"It's Elowen," The male elf clerk introduced himself.
"Okay, Elowen," Kael felt slightly embarrassed. The nametag was small, which is why he couldn't read it that quickly.
"In that case, how may I be of service to you?" Elowen asked.
"I want to buy these materials," Kael gave Elowen a piece of tissue that he got from one of the foods they had just now. On the tissue were three names for plants he required as ingredients.
"These are…" Elowed started reading the list. After reading, he looked at Kael and, out of concern, he asked. "Are you sure you want to buy these?"
"Yes!" Kael was certain.
"Morning Flower Dew, Wall Vine Sap, and Miracle Leaves?" Elowed read out loud. "Not to offend you, but these are all considered common materials. In fact, they're more or less useless. Those materials you've brought with you are even better than these."
"Is that so?" Kael chooses to act ignorant as he doesn't want his secret to be revealed. Also, he knew those materials they've bought with them held some value, that's why he never stopped Lawrence and Jayem from gathering them.
"They might be useful if combined with other materials to concoct a potion or medicine, but they're not useful when combined at all," Elowed explained.
"It's not forbidden to buy them, right?" Kael didn't want to correct Elowed and tell the latter his mistake.
"Well, if you insist," Elowed hesitated. "Just give me one gold coin and I'll give you all our supply of these materials." In his opinion, these were all considered trash because there exists a single material that possesses all their properties and is popular.
"Alright!" Kael beamed in delight as he didn't hesitate to hand Elowed a single gold coin. He has three gold coins with him, so he still has enough to buy the rest of the materials and equipment he needs.
After a brief moment of waiting, Elowed got out from the back along with six sacks of Morning Flower Dew, Wall Vine Sap, and Miracle Leaves.
"These are all we have in our inventory at the moment." Elowed put the six sacks on top of the counter.
"Thank you!" Kael quickly stored the sacks inside the luggage he was carrying with him.
After he was done with his transaction with Elowed, Kael went to other Herbal Stores to buy the rest of the ingredients.
Naturally, he wasn't a fool to buy every single ingredient in a single Herbal Store, especially if what he was about to make was something that hadn't been invented yet, but once it appeared, it would turn the market upside down with its effect and benefit.
The last store he went last was an Alchemy store, where he will buy the tools needed to make the product.
In the end, he spent all five gold coins to buy everything he required.
As soon as he was done with everything, Kael went to the agreed-upon meet-up location to find Lawrence and Jayem. It was at the entrance gate that they came from.
Just like their arrangement, the duo was already waiting close to the gate.
At the moment, Lawrence and Jayem were talking to the male elf guard that stopped them earlier. It seems like they were now getting along with the latter and are having a friendly conversation.
Kael didn't want to interrupt, but he also didn't want to waste his time, so he skillfully got between their conversation to signal the duo that they needed to leave.
The trio bid farewell to the male elf guard, whose name was Elandor, and made their way back to Manager Drex's cabin.
Fortunately, Manager Drex still didn't return to Avalon. Probably because the latter sleeps in the evening, and in the morning, he has to take care of matters of business with the Nexus outpost back at Noverra.
This was perfect for them because they didn't want Manager Drex to discover what they were up to.
"Remind me again how exactly you knew of this formula?" Lawrence was curious, just like how exactly Kael knew how to read the alphabet of Avalon.
"Lawrence!" Jayem narrowed his eyes. They already made an agreement with Kael before that the latter would only tell them when he is ready. If he didn't want to, then they should just shut up and keep the secret within themselves.
"Alright, alright!" Lawrence raised his arms in surrender.
"I already told you just now. Just think of me as someone who came from the future to save you two from poverty," Kael chuckled.
"Yeah, right!" Lawrence rolled his eyes. "Then, mister poverty savior, tell us what to do so that we can help you save ourselves!"
"First…"
Kael began instructing Lawrence and Jayem on how they can assist him. Meanwhile, he personally prepared the major and important ingredients to prevent things from going wrong.
In the process, he skillfully extracted the properties from every single ingredient and mixed them with familiarity.
He performed everything with full concentration, as he doesn't want to make a mistake because one mistake and the effect and benefit one would receive from the final product would significantly decrease.
For the finale, Kael grabbed the pot they used to cook the soup in the past and added every extracted property of the first batch of ingredients inside.
He covered the pot with its lid and turned his focus on manipulating the fire.
Ignorant people would think that as long as everything is cooking inside, it would be fine. But that is a mistake. The goal here is to not overcook it, which will end up burning the product, while at the same time not treating it as if he is cooking a meal. Because he is not cooking a meal, he is making a potion.
Needless to say, professional Alchemists in Avalon would also mock him if they saw what he is doing right now. Honestly, nobody concocts a potion using a pot that one uses to cook soup. That's why there exist specific and different tools for making potions.
However, Kael doesn't care about that. At the end of the day, in Alchemy, what matters is the final product.
If a person performs unconventional means yet produces a laughable result, then everybody would think that he is a fool and doesn't possess any talent in making potions.
But what if that person who is performing the unconventional method produces an excellent product? Naturally, they'll start praising him and call him a genius.
That's exactly what his aiming for right now!