Eric, Lyria, and Livy sat on the grassy field near the cooks; opposite them sat Caius, Garrick, and Eilif.
Caius asked with concern to Garrick and Eilif, "How are you both holding up? If you are lacking health potions, don't hesitate to ask us."
Garrick laughed, then started coughing, "…It's fine; we are still Rank 2. We can easily handle this much." He then offhandedly remarked, "If only we had enough Tier 2 potions, we would probably heal within a few days."
Eilif agreed from beside him, pulled out a bottle of water, and started drinking.
Caius was about to pull out his Tier 2 potion when Garrick stopped him.
"Don't take out your Tier 2 health potions. Those are for emergencies and are your life-saving resources. Plus, two or four Tier 2s won't be enough, and we are already taking all of your Tier 1s. We are more than grateful and don't know when we can repay you."
Eilif nodded again in agreement. They didn't carry many health potions as no one thought they would get so seriously injured; not to mention, they weren't wealthy enough to carry that many anyway. Their current injuries were very rare. Normally, people might die during missions, but they wouldn't receive such a degree of injury. The Night Hag Arachnid had intentionally crippled them instead of killing them. Thus, both of them were out of health potions and had to borrow from others to heal rapidly.
"Don't worry about Caius and me; we don't lack money for Tier 1s. Just return the payment to Elianor and Thorne," Brunhild said while chopping ingredients.
"Don't worry about me either." Thorne, who was preparing utensils, also refused to take any payment. Although he was not wealthy, he lived alone, while Garrick and Eilif had families. Also, as a team, he felt he shouldn't bother with health potions; other things could be discussed.
Elianor, who was handling the fire, was the only one hesitating.
She was the poorest on their team; she barely managed to take care of herself. She had an elder brother who also worked, so she wasn't poor enough to starve, but a Tier 1 health potion cost 2 Mana Stones. She didn't have enough money to spend lavishly. But since others had already donated, she would sound too cruel if she asked for repayment—not to mention that both Garrick and Eilif got injured protecting her.
While Elianor was hesitating, Eric suddenly said, "Here, take this." He then threw two Tier 2 health potions each to Garrick and Eilif.
Garrick and Eilif caught the bottles with blank expressions. After studying the deep red potions, they were startled. They quickly shook their heads, wanting to return them.
Eric waved his hand dismissively, "I am an Alchemist. As long as I have ingredients, I can make any number of Tier 2 potions. And I have plenty prepared with me as well."
He truly was not lacking in any Tier 1 or Tier 2 alchemy products. Even after all the potions and pills the three of them took to increase their stats, they still had at least triple the amount of Tier 1s. Similarly, the number of Tier 2s they had was also massive.
He exposed this fact because he wanted to see the others' reactions and make various guesses from their expressions.
As Eric expected, everyone stopped whatever they were doing and looked at him with wide eyes.
Elianor's eyes were blazing like fire. Not only had Eric saved her from spending more of her Tier 1 health potions, which Garrick and Eilif hadn't taken yet, but he was also an alchemist! Truly her dream prince!
None of them uttered a word, just gawking at Eric with wide eyes.
They weren't too surprised that Eric had the resources, as he had a powerful teacher to provide for him. The real reason for their shock was that Eric was already abnormally strong for his age and rank, yet he was also an alchemist!
It takes a huge amount of time and effort to learn and practice any profession. How could he have so much time to study alchemy and also train to have such a high strength stat? Not to mention, it was a Tier 2 potion! In other words, he had already mastered Tier 1 too!
Seeing their reactions, Eric snorted with disdain in his mind. That's the difference between villains and heroes! Evil people like him were born different. He had everything provided to him on a silver platter since birth and faced no struggle in life! Only good people, protagonists, and heroes struggle in their lives! Mahaha.
"Ha-haha-ha." Caius laughed to break the awkward silence, but his laughter sounded even more awkward. So, he coughed and then smiled, "Little brother Eric, thank you. We shall take your kindness with utmost gratitude."
He turned toward Garrick and Eilif and reprimanded them, "Both of you, say your thanks!"
Garrick and Eilif came to their senses and stood up painfully, then bowed sincerely to Eric. "Thank you, little brother. We shall remember this kindness forever. We apologize that we don't have the money to pay you back."
Eric waved his hand off again, "Don't worry about payment. As I said, I am wealthy in terms of potions and can make more if I have the ingredients. I will later give you both three more each, and that should be enough to heal you so you are not in so much pain by tomorrow."
He then turned to Caius and asked curiously, "How much does a Tier 2 health potion cost normally?"
Caius' tone carried his deep gratitude as he answered, "Tier 2 health potions are usually sold for around 12 Mana Stones. It is fairly expensive. But if you are a member of the Adventurers or Mercenary Guild and have a grade E or above, you can pick up a few potions with a slight discount each month—of course, only Tier 1. Grade D can also get a little discount on Tier 2, but they are rarely in stock."
Caius really wanted to purchase some Tier 2s from Eric, but asking right now would be rude as he didn't have enough money on hand. He decided to request them later after returning to Batley City.
At this moment, Livy asked curiously, "Can you tell us about Guilds and these 'Grades'?"
Caius nodded and explained, "There are many small and big guilds; most of them are just organizations, companies, or businesses, but they are still seen as guilds by the locals. The most recognized guilds in the world are the Adventurers Guild and the Mercenary Guild. Both these guilds largely do the same thing, and many missions and tasks are sometimes identical as well."
"Then what is the difference?" Livy tilted her head in confusion. "Also, if two guilds do the same mission, wouldn't that complicate things?" She could imagine the mess if two different groups from two different guilds accepted the same mission at the same time.
"Not all missions are exactly the same." Caius shook his head. "It's the guilds' customers, or rather employers, who decide which guild they want help from."
"Most wealthy people will post the same mission to both guilds, and over time this has become normal, so both guilds eventually decided to cooperate with each other. After all, if Adventure Guild members accepted the same mission as the Mercenary Guild's, they might even kill each other to finish the mission by themselves. And so, they have ways to be immediately updated if the same mission is taken by another."
"Employers don't care who completes their request; they just need to pay the guild, and the guild will pay the group who completes it, of course, after reducing the service charges. All this doesn't matter to us, as the exact rewards mentioned in the mission request will be received by the party who completes it."
"Now for the differences between both guilds." Caius paused a little and then began, "The differences are many. The most noticeable difference is that the Adventure Guild doesn't accept random, untrustworthy people as members. They do a background check. If that is not possible, they will closely monitor their members' character, reputation, and various actions. Only then can that group or individual grade up; otherwise, they will remain at Grade F, which is the lowest grade."
"Whereas the Mercenary Guild accepts everyone as members, even people who might be suspicious. They only care if their members can complete their missions successfully. They don't care about the members' characters. This is the same for missions, too. They accept all missions from all employers, unlike the Adventure Guild—of course, the Mercenary Guild still follows rules and doesn't outright take crime-based missions."
"There are other reasons for both guilds' existence. For one, it gives employers more options. Then there is the need to create competition so one guild doesn't slack off. Finally, there are some very dangerous missions with a lack of information or low rewards that the Adventurers Guild doesn't want to pass to their members for fear of them losing their lives meaninglessly—they take good care of their members. But the Mercenary Guild, on the other hand, is willing to accept those missions. Of course, they still try to protect their members, they just provide them with the choice of accepting those dangerous and uncertain missions or not."
Eric, Lyria, and Livy understood quite a bit. Basically, one was lower-class and the other had a little better hospitality, doing things in a righteous and civilized manner.
Caius continued, "To make sure everyone takes their tasks seriously, there is something called 'Reputation Points' in both guilds. Although the Adventure Guild has decent people, there are crooks everywhere."
"These Reputation Points are provided when an individual or a team completes their mission successfully, and they are deducted if the mission fails. How much is added or lost depends, but everything is recorded on our Guild Identity Cards. Another reason for these points is that some missions lack resource rewards, so they are compensated with higher 'points.' These points are required for various purposes. One is to climb higher in guild grades; for example, to grade up from F to E, 100 Reputation Points are required. Another benefit of these points is receiving discounts in Guild Stores; similarly, there are other facilities for which one can use these points."
"What is the benefit of higher grades? Also, what if a Master Rank joins a guild for the first time—will he also start from Grade F?" Eric asked with intrigue.
"Grade also indicates one's strength and ability to complete a mission or task successfully," Caius answered. "A Master Rank probably starts directly at D or C Grade. There are records of how many missions one has completed or how long they have been in the guilds; these things can be investigated easily. Just because one is a Rank 4 Mana Wielder doesn't mean they are omnipotent in solving all missions, so they can be easily checked by anyone. This record also comes in handy because if a team has a good reputation, an employer might want to hire them specifically for a certain mission."
"There are some benefits provided to each grade. For example, at Grade F, you automatically get to open an account in the Celestial World Bank for free."