I woke up to the sound of children playing in the streets outside once again. It was a blessing and a curse to rent a property in a residential area in the city, but I suppose it could be a much worse things to wake up to.
Cleaning up quickly, I went downstairs and into the kitchen, which was filled with the smell of a meaty boiling broth. I checked on the stock and could tell that it was probably finished, so I separated the liquid from the chunks inside. I then placed a cloth cover over the top of the stock and left it to cool.
With that done, I prepared myself a big breakfast, as skipping dinner last night made me all the hungrier. However, it was only some rye bread, cheese, dried meat and fruit, but it was enough to fill my stomach.
Squireling away the potions I created, I left my house and headed over to the familiar alchemist. Hopefully, she'll be willing to buy these potions of me. Though, I'll settle for being pointed in the right direction of magical supplies.
This time, when I opened the door to the store, it wasn't as empty as I remembered it. Inside was a group of three people, two young women and a young man. By their attire, I could comfortably guess that they were NPC adventurers stocking up before they go hunting.
When I first played this game, I was surprised by how lively it felt. The NPCs felt like real people and actually had lives to live. I often felt that if players weren't a thing, then these people wouldn't even notice and continue to go about their lives.
"Excuse me, sir." A young woman's voice snapped me back to myself. I was blocking the entrance, so I quickly apologized and stepped out of the way.
With a quick nod of their heads, they left having concluded their business.
"Hello again, sir. Can I help you?" The familiar voice of Sue spoke from behind the counter. She didn't have her book with her, instead, she looked a little sleep deprived.
"Just call me Cain, as your teacher said, I feel that we will be seeing a lot of each other." I replied, as I approached.
"Ok, you can call me Sue then." She replied with a smile, and I offered a nod in response. "So, what brings you here today?" She asked again, with a business mind that would bring a tear to any alchemist's eye.
"Well, I was wondering if you'll be willing to purchase some of the potions I created?" I asked, as I produced a potion of minor healing and put it on the counter.
To the sudden appearance of a potion, or to my question, Sue's eyes opened in surprise. "Um, I'll have to go ask my teacher. Would you mind if I took this to show her?" She asked and I nodded.
In a blink of an eye, she and the potion had disappeared into the back room and like the first time I visited, I stood waiting in the empty shop front.
However, this time, it didn't take as long for Jenna to make her appearance.
"It's only been a little over a day, yet you've come back and with potions to sell. Stein was a fool to let you leave." Jenna said with a boisterous smile on her face. Her hair was the usual mess and the apron she wore was even more stained than usual.
"Well, I prefer my freedom, so I was glad that he did." I countered, not fazed by the greed in her eyes.
A small chuckle left her lips as she approached the counter and placed the potion back onto it.
"Don't take this the wrong way but, you were the one to craft this potion, right?" She asked, changing the look in her eyes from greed to an intense look.
"Yes, I found some ingredients yesterday and spent most of the evening creating them," I answered honestly, letting her piercing gaze roll off my back.
"Oh? What ingredients did you use?" She pressed.
"I used hanal flowers and spiky grass." I rebutted.
"What technique did you use?" I started to think this was more of a test a teacher gives their student than a merchant verifying the authenticity of a product.
"I gently crushed the hanal flowers, just enough to activate its restoring properties. Then, I cut the spiky grass scooped the gel out and placed it into the alchemical furnace with the crushed flowers. And then boiled them with water at the temperature just above boiling, all the while infusing a steady flow of mana into the furnace." I decided to recount the whole process so that she wouldn't keep throwing questions at me.
"…" She eyed me for a moment before sighing. "Perfect, a perfect application of alchemy," Jenna mumbled. I will admit that I felt happy to be complimented.
She then pulled out another potion and placed it next to mine. Only, the potion she produced had a slight discolouration to it.
"This is your standard minor healing potion that most alchemists sell. As you've probably spotted, it is slightly discoloured. That is caused by impurity, while it doesn't lower the potency of the potion, it increases the toxicity." She explained slowly, and it was a lesson that I eagerly listened to.
All potions have a small amount of toxicity to them, however, not enough to poison you, unless you consume a gross amount of them. The more you increase your alchemy skill, the less toxicity the potions have.
"Obviously, this isn't because those alchemists are not talented. Sometimes, it's better to produce and sell lower-quality items. That way, you can bring in more customers that may not be able to afford the more expensive potions." She rambled on.
"But yours, yours doesn't have any impurities. Not only is that good for the consumer, but it's also even better for your coin purse." Her usual greedy smile stretched across her face. But seeing that I didn't react, she sighed.
"Usually, you can sell minor healing potions for thirty coppers each, but for those who know its value, you can easily sell yours for fifty coppers." Only then, did I realise how great the potion was.
"So, are you willing to buy them?" I asked, filling my coin purse quiver in anticipation.
"T-Them?" She stammered. Instead of replying, I simply placed the healing potions and the antidotes that I spent the night creating, on the counter.
Her eyes widened so much that I thought that they would pop out of their sockets. But for some reason, I noticed that she eyed the antidotes more.
"…Work for me," she whispered, seemingly finding it hard to talk.
"What do you mean?" It was the only thing I could ask as I was too shocked by her reply.
"Work for me. I'll give you thirty coppers per minor healing potions you bring, and forty-five per antidote." She spoke fast and I half expected her eye to become bloodshot.
"Why so much?" I asked, confused the sudden amount of coin she offered.
"Because I have the reputation to sell them for enough to make a profit after paying that much. Plus, having a talented alchemist who can supply me with top-notch potions, would take a little pressure off me." Jenna said honestly, I could tell that this woman was the type to say it how it was. And, judging by the dark rings under her eyes, she was overworked.
"Well, I don't mind selling them to you, it'll be easier on me. But I am an adventurer so I can't promise a steady supply of potions." I offered her honesty with honesty in kind.
"That's fine. Potions produced with magic last for decades. So, as long as you promise to sell your potions here, then I'll keep giving you those prices." She replied, completely unfazed and seemed to guess that I was going to argue that.
"If that is the case, I have no reason to refuse," I replied and offered my hand, which she took, and she shook on the deal.
"Give me a minute and I'll get your money." She said, turning around and signalling to Sue. Sue then quickly scurried away into the backroom, probably going to fetch some money. But I then soon thought of something.
"While we wait, would you mind giving me your opinion on this?" I asked as I pulled out the tonic of stamina.
She raised an eyebrow but took it and gave it a once over. It didn't take long before she was done and placed it back on the counter.
"It's a well-made stamina tonic, if you were to sell this, you'd get fifteen coppers. Tonics tend to be cheaper than potions, but I would recommend keeping them for yourself. Life as an alchemist is difficult, you should always keep a supply for yourself." She said as she handed the tonic back to me.
I thanked her for her advice and as soon as the words left my mouth, Sue appeared once again and handed me a small bag of coins. Inside was a total of 375 coppers.
"Good doing business with you." Jenna smiled.
Just before she turned to leave, I quickly asked her a question. "I don't suppose you know where I can buy some magical supplies?"
She eyed me for a second. "What kind of supplies?"
"I need it for a protection ritual," I answered, and she raised an eyebrow once more.
"You are full of surprises. There isn't a magic store in town and no magic tower. So, we must make do with what we can jury rig together. I can sell you some of the herbs you need, but you'll have to go to the general store or other shops for the other ingredients." She explained. But I didn't mind, it'll be helpful to not have everything handed to me.
With that, I bought an assortment of herbs for 20 coppers and left. I needed to go on a scavenger hunt and needed to make the most of the time when most adventurers were out working.