Chapter 106 Friend of My Friend?
Entering the tent and seeing the crowd dwindle nearby, Vicente and Rory soon heard a few words from Ava and the alchemist.
"Are you friends of the Oak family? Tell me about yourselves." The alchemist said as he was one of the Oak patriarch students teaching Lukas' sister.
As someone connected to the Oak family, he naturally wanted the best for the family and young talents like Ava and Lukas.
Vicente then said. "I don't think I can say that right now. I met Lukas while my friend Rory and Miss Ava were awakening their magical powers. After that, we met by chance and talked about the future.
Lukas and I have an aptitude for forging, but we are not backed by the traditional powers of our craft. We may become friends, but we are not yet."
This man liked sincerity and appreciated the words of this black-haired young man.
"But senior Dylan, Vicente is being too modest. My brother told me that he has plans for these two and that I should help them if I have the chance." Ava said in a low voice so that her temporary teacher could hear her.
'Is that so?'
Dylan said then. "Well, you two will certainly have a good relationship in the future. I can feel that. So tell me what you need. I'll see how I can help you. A friend of Lukas is a friend of mine."
Good connections made all the difference. There was no need to ask for favors. By being connected to the right people, such a person would benefit without even knowing it.
Being a friend of the Viscount, one would get discounts in almost every store they went to and access to events that few knew existed.
As the saying goes, there was nothing better than being a friend of the king!
For example, Lukas was not tall enough to give Vice and Rory access to many opportunities. But as the eldest son of the Oak patriarch, he could help his contacts with alchemist items through his family.
Vicente knew he didn't have enough to refuse certain favors and agreed to owe one to Lukas. "I need items to help my men level up. They are not talented, so I feel I need strong pills with good purity."
"Hmm, Intermediate and Senior Apprentices, right?" Dylan remembered Vicente's words from a few moments ago. "Well, right now, I only have one pill that can help the orange talented Senior Apprentices. But I do have several options for Intermediate Apprentices."
Dylan showed some pill bottles on the table, showing Rory and Vicente 8 options for their men at their magic level.
"The only pill I have for Senior Apprentices is a Glory Night, 80% pure. It should be enough to help one of your men if someone is brave enough to take it."
Glory Night was the most powerful type of pill for magicians who wanted to advance with the support of a pill. Compared to Spirit Bone Marrow Pill, it was 50 times stronger!
As a result, the dangers of this pill were much greater for those who took it, and it was usually only suitable for people of very low talent who were facing a cultivation bottleneck.
Already knowing about this pill, Vicente could not agree to buy such a thing. His men were not very talented, but if they were given time, they could naturally become Acolytes.
There was no reason for him to use such a resource now, an item that normally could not be found in the 1st grade because it was compelling and usually had a starting level of 2nd grade.
The level of pills mainly depended on the mana level of their creator.
However, depending on the resources used to create the pill, some could even affect stronger ones. In other words, there were items of the 1st grade that could affect 2nd-stage magicians.
"It's not worth the risk," Rory muttered.
The alchemist agreed and said. "It depends on the age of the one who wants to advance and become an Acolyte. But indeed, I would avoid giving this pill to a young or even middle-aged person. If I gave it to someone like that, not only would the risk of death be great, but it would also destroy the possibility of that person reaching level 5 of the 2nd stage.
But it depends on you. It is your choice and such a person's intention. If you want the pill, I can sell it to you for 11,000 bronze coins."
That was a good price!
Liam had sold each Spirit Bone Marrow Pill for 10,000 bronze coins, so paying only 11,000 for this other was a bargain.
Dylan really did give Lukas' friends a nice discount!
Unfortunately for Rory and Vicente, they didn't have the coins to take advantage of such chance.
"The price is perfect, but we do not have enough to buy this just to save for the future," Vicente said.
The alchemist then spoke about the 8 pills for the Intermediate Apprentices. "As for the other pills, I have here 3 types of pills for your weaker men. They are..."
He quickly presented each of them, giving a price for each.
One of the three types costs 6,000, another 5,000, and the last 7,000 bronze coins.
After hearing the prices and names of the pills, as well as a basic explanation of the effects of the one he had never heard of, Vicente decided to buy 6 of the 8 pills for 36,000 bronze coins.
This left him with the equivalent of 24,000 bronze coins, enough to search for more resources for his men, who were about to become Acolytes.
"Alright, here they are," Ava said as she handed Rory a box with their pills.
Unfortunately, they had no place to store them, so they would have to carry them to their estate carefully.
After receiving the coins from Vicente, Dylan asked. "Is there anything else you need, young man? Enjoy it now. I won't make such good prices when you come to me in the future."
"How long and how much would it cost for you to make Spirit Bone Marrow Pills with at least 80% purity?" Vicente asked.
Liam had already made it clear to him and Rory that he made pills to order, but from what they understood, it would not only be more expensive to order pills by the hour from this alchemist, but it would also take longer.
At the same time, they could not wait too long. The Scarlet Syndicate would not support them 100% of the time, and there were certainly ways for Defiant Tyranny to make things difficult for their group, even with their recent affiliation with that other group.
As such, Vicente and Rory needed to purchase resources that were already available and were only interested in gathering information on reliable alchemists who could serve them for future orders.
Dylan thought for a moment and answered. "It would take me 3 days if I did have the ingredients and no orders in front. But I already have two orders for the next few days, so I advise you to find another alchemist".
That was Botanica Magica. The professionals there were not just competitors trying to steal customers from other alchemists.
Every deal that was made in the shop benefited all the other alchemists there because they were all, to some degree, disciples of its owner. When one sold something, part of the sale stayed with Botanica Magica and was used for the benefit of all the shop members.
Instead of letting this young man go looking for other shops in town, Dylan pointed out an acquaintance of his. "Go to the black-haired man across the area. He should have what you're looking for."
Seeing where Dylan was pointing, Rory immediately noticed a black-haired man standing beside a round red cauldron.
Vicente also looked toward this alchemist, who seemed to cook pills while serving his customers.
Dylan laughed and said. "This is your first time here, right? Don't be surprised. Some alchemists make pills in public. Not all of them are distracted by conversations and people watching them.
The one you see is a great 1st stage alchemist who should soon advance and become an Acolyte. Enjoy it. He won't be selling 1st-grade pills for long.
A higher-level practitioner could produce items of a lower grade than their level if they wanted to. Of course, they would produce lower-grade items of higher quality than they could at lower levels, but few did that. Even if they could produce lower-grade items of higher quality, the cost of those items would still be much lower than the price of items of the same grade as the practitioner's stage.
For example, a 2nd-grade pill might cost between 20 and 50 thousand bronze coins!
Thus, more skilled practitioners rarely waste their time making items of lower grades.
Vicente and Rory listened to Dylan and said goodbye, saying they hoped to see them in the future and then going to the alchemist.
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