Volume 3, Chapter 28 – The Magic Potion and an Unexpected Encounter

While her companions were choosing their desired weapons, Fia quietly changed into her Thanatos disguise and re-entered the Mage Association. She was going to sell the magic potions she had made last night under the identity of Thanatos.

Since she had bought the materials as Thanatos, it was only logical to sell the finished product as Thanatos. The materials for making a Mana Recovery Potion were specific; anyone with a little knowledge of alchemy could tell what kind of potion she was going to make from the materials she had bought yesterday. If she were to sell the potions as Dofilia now, it might arouse suspicion.

Fia deliberately lowered her hood and crossed the lobby of the Mage Association. As she was completely shrouded in a black robe and wearing a white mask, she quickly attracted the attention of the adventurers in the hall. Some nobles also glanced at her from time to time, whispering among themselves.

Ignoring their gazes, Fia walked straight to the front desk. The Mage Association in Byrne City was quite large, and there was more than one receptionist at the front desk. Fia chose a counter far from her companions.

“Hello, may I help you—Ugh.”

The male clerk’s words were only half-spoken before they got stuck in his throat. Although Fia had not identified herself as Thanatos when she visited the Mage Association last night, Baron Khesa had rushed to the association overnight to confirm Thanatos’s identity. As a result, the staff of the Mage Association had memorized that the black magic robe and white mask symbolized Thanatos.

The thousands of Fire-striped Frog magic cores were enough to prove that Thanatos was the mysterious person who had eliminated the Flame King.

Visibly, the male clerk became nervous, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

“Th-that is, may I ask how I can help you?”

“I want to sell magic potions. You buy them, right?”

“Of course. As long as it’s related to magic, the association buys it.”

“That’s good.”

Noticing the troubled look on the male clerk’s face, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t dare, Fia took the initiative to ask.

“Are there any requirements?”

“Yes… before purchasing a magic item, it must be appraised by the association’s specialized appraiser. Although I’m sure you wouldn’t deceive us, this is the procedure, s-so…”

The excessive nervousness made the clerk’s speech stutter, and he wrung his hands together.

Although she had indeed molded Thanatos into an unapproachable, taciturn character, she hadn’t expected it to put so much pressure on the staff. Fia couldn’t help but stick out her tongue in her heart. She waved her hand magnanimously.

“No matter. Appraise it.”

The clerk was instantly relieved.

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“May I ask what quality of magic potion you are selling, and how many bottles in total?”

“The lowest-grade Mana Recovery Potion. As for the quantity… one barrel.”

As she spoke, Fia took a half-man-high wooden barrel out of her spatial backpack. The heavy weight made the floor give a dull “thud.”

Making a low-grade Mana Recovery Potion generally required only two steps. The first was to prepare the mana liquid, and the second was to prepare the potion liquid. The former was the carrier for the potion, giving it its magical effect, while the latter was the agent that gave the mana liquid its unique properties. After making the first bottle of the lowest-grade Mana Recovery Potion, Fia had discovered that she had several times more potion liquid than mana liquid.

For example, preparing the potion liquid required boiling it in a large cauldron, and the one in the alchemy workshop could hold at least three or four people. With so much potion liquid, Fia, out of the principle of not being wasteful, had prepared an equal amount of mana liquid—lacking a container, she had used [Telekinesis] to create a huge barrel to hold it, and then mixed the two liquids in the proper ratio.

And thus, she now had a half-man-high barrel of magic potion.

What Fia didn’t know was that the cauldron was not used for boiling potion liquid, but for extracting the essence of large materials. A normal alchemist would use an apparatus the size of a frying pan at most when boiling potion liquid.

This was because if the vessel was too large, it was easy to lose control of the heat, and it was also very easy to misjudge the proportion of the materials. Either too much of a certain material was added, or too little. With such a huge vessel, if even a small mistake was made, the entire pot of materials would be wasted. Not to mention that no one could use [Slow Catalysis] on such a huge vessel; the mana consumption would be a terrifying number.

The only reason Fia could do this was because her control over various standards was incredibly precise, to an inhuman level. To be specific, it was as precise as a machine.

“Uh, did you say one barrel? C-can a magic potion be stored in a wooden barrel?”

With a look of disbelief, the clerk’s gaze shifted back and forth between Fia and the barrel. If the person standing in front of him wasn’t Thanatos, this clerk would have surely thought Fia was here to deliberately cause trouble.

Who would put a magic potion in a barrel? They were usually stored in thumb-sized glass vials, and one bottle cost a gold coin. Even an experienced alchemist could only make a dozen or so bottles at most at one time, and the process from preparing the materials to finishing the concoction took several days. To store a magic potion in a wooden barrel, especially one that looked to be completely full, was simply unheard of.

If they bought this barrel, the Mage Association wouldn’t need to purchase any more of the lowest-grade Mana Recovery Potion for the next few months.

Just how much is this worth… the male clerk couldn’t help but swallow. If this was indeed the lowest-grade Mana Recovery Potion, after this deal, he might be able to resign and go home, not having to work for several years.

And not just the male clerk, the adventurers nearby were also looking at each other as if they had seen a ghost.

Of course, Fia was unaware of their thoughts. She answered seriously.

“That’s right. How do you appraise it? It’s best to be quick. Storing a magic potion in a wooden barrel will cause the mana to evaporate quickly. If it’s ruined, you’ll have to compensate for the loss.”

However, when stored in a storage item, the rate of evaporation would slow to a crawl, which was why Fia hadn’t been in a hurry on the way here.

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“Please follow me to the second floor!”

Not daring to be slow, the clerk immediately called over several young magic casters. They worked together to lift the barrel with [Telekinesis]. As the magic casters looked to be struggling, and the barrel was swaying precariously, Fia secretly gave them a hand with her Spatial Hand halfway up.

I hope this doesn’t get them a pay cut.

Fia prayed in her heart.

◇

“It’s of the highest-grade quality! By the Goddess Yuna, an entire barrel! All of it!”

When the staff member brought Fia to a small private room and handed the barrel to three appraisers in deep blue magic robes, they exclaimed in amazement.

One of them, an elderly man, quickly stood up and said hastily, as if he were on fire.

“Quick, put the lid back on! Don’t let the potion degrade! And bring the largest potion bottles from the warehouse! No, bring them all!”

The elderly appraiser’s words jolted the other two young appraisers. They hurriedly put the lid back on and ran out of the room together, while the old man in the room chanted loudly, covering the barrel with a completely transparent, square shield.

It seemed to be a spell that could prevent mana from dissipating.

Although Fia felt their reaction was a bit exaggerated, she couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. As expected of professional appraisers, they knew at a glance that the mana would evaporate.

After applying three layers of the same shield, the old man finally let out a sigh of relief and slumped into his chair as if his whole body had gone limp.

“Now the association won’t need to purchase any more of the lowest-grade Mana Recovery Potion for the next few months. But this barrel… Can the association really buy it all? The highest-grade quality of the lowest-grade Mana Recovery Potion, to think such a thing actually exists…”

Has he forgotten that I’m still here?

Fia, sitting opposite him, couldn’t help but ask.

“Can’t the Mage Association buy all of these potions?”

“Uh, I’m sorry, I forgot you were still here.”

Fia’s words made the old man sit up straight. He awkwardly stroked his beard and patiently explained to Fia.

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The reason he had said “can the association really buy it all” was because the Mage Association was also a profit-making organization, not a charity. It was in the business of buying and selling, purchasing magic potions at a low price and then selling them at a suitable price to earn the difference.

Although there were other individuals and organizations selling magic potions on the market, they were riddled with scammers. The better ones would pass off low-quality goods as high-quality, selling the lowest-grade potions as low-grade. The worse ones would sell fake potions from the very beginning.

Magic potions were extremely expensive, and buyers often only bought one or two bottles, so few would open the cork to try it themselves to verify its authenticity. After all, if it was a real potion, the experimenter would have wasted two or three gold coins, which was a huge sum.

The Mage Association could make money because of the reputation it had accumulated over the years. Any item had to be appraised by multiple appraisers to ensure that the association had not received a fake. For professions like adventurers, who were both short on money and could lose their lives at any moment, the slightly higher price of the Mage Association’s goods was acceptable.

No one wanted to drink a fake potion when they needed to replenish their mana in a critical moment.

On the premise of buying and selling, and with the fluctuations of the market, the Mage Association rarely purchased a large quantity of magic potions at once. In addition, unless stored in a special, expensive container, a potion would always slowly lose its effect over time. The association could not bear the risk of loss, which was why the old man felt that it might not be able to take in so much at once.

As for “the highest-grade quality of the lowest-grade Mana Recovery Potion actually exists,” according to the old man, it was because novices couldn’t make it, and experts wouldn’t bother. He had lived for decades and had never seen such a potion, so he couldn’t help but exclaim.

The old man’s lengthy explanation made Fia, who was sitting in her chair, notice something.

“So, the normal selling price of these potions is more than one gold coin per bottle?”

“Yes, even the lowest-grade Mana Recovery Potion is divided into high, medium, and low quality. Only the medium-quality ones sell for one gold coin per bottle. The highest-quality ones surpass the medium-quality ones in both recovery amount and speed, and can save a life at a critical moment.

Considering that the highest-quality potions can be diluted into lower-quality ones, I would estimate the price at one gold coin and three silver coins… Are you selling a magic potion for the first time? You don’t even know these things?”

“A friend of mine asked me to sell this barrel of potions.”

Fia made up a random excuse. From the looks of it, the old man probably didn’t know yet that she was Thanatos.

“No wonder you’re dressed so strangely and have to wear a mask. Your friend must have a very good relationship with you… no, this must be the work of a major workshop. I really don’t know why a workshop of this level would think of making the lowest-grade Mana Recovery Potion. This barrel alone is probably worth a dozen or even dozens of Gem Coins.”

Dozens of Gem Coins.

Fia couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. Alchemy was truly a profession of immense profit. After all, the monthly allowance of Liti, the third princess of the empire, was only a few Gem Coins.

Her mood brightened at once. Fia suppressed the joy in her heart and asked.

“May I ask what you meant by ‘the highest-quality potions can be diluted into lower-quality ones’?”

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Like a teacher instructing a junior, the old man answered generously.

“It’s no secret. You just need to add a potion with ‘Dragon Bone Powder’ to a high-quality magic potion. Two bottles of the highest-quality potion can be diluted into three bottles of medium-quality. It’s difficult for people with less strength to appraise a potion with Dragon Bone Powder added. The scammers on the market use this method to deceive novices.”

“I see, thank you.”

“Don’t you go using this method to deceive others. If you’re caught by the guards, a prison sentence is the least of your worries. A dozen lashes is not something an ordinary person can endure.”

While the old man was saying these things, the young appraisers who had gone to the warehouse finally arrived. And with them were many well-dressed, serious-looking men. From their low-voiced conversation, Fia could tell that they were the leaders of the Mage Association. Because the amount of the potion was too large, these people had to come forward to discuss the subsequent matters.

If I lower the price a little, they should buy it all. I can make another batch of this potion at any time. What I need now is money. Fia didn’t want to use the allowance given to her by the Elf Kingdom if she could help it.

With this thought, Fia watched as the old man’s gaze towards her changed from initially amiable to incredulous. Fia knew without thinking that the old man had learned from these people that she was Thanatos.

They’ve really gone and done something unnecessary.

Fia couldn’t help but sigh quietly in her heart.

◇

To Fia’s surprise, she quickly settled on a selling price for the magic potion with the Mage Association. At first, Fia had thought that they would use the excuse of not being able to take in so much at once to implicitly ask her to lower the price. But the person in charge had directly calculated the weight of the potion by weighing it and then handed her the corresponding number of Gem Coins.

The whole process was neat and efficient, so fast that it was dizzying for Fia.

A total of twenty-one Gem Coins, and some scattered gold and silver coins. It was a great harvest. The reason it was so fast was probably because the Mage Association wanted to get closer to her, or that it was on Baron Khesa’s orders, for example, that any request from Thanatos should be approved, and he would cover the cost. In any case, it saved a lot of trouble.

Changing out of her Thanatos appearance in an alley outside the street, Fia returned to the Mage Association as the black-haired, red-eyed elf princess. At this time, Liti and the others had already chosen their desired weapons. But to Fia’s surprise, she saw a familiar person in the lobby.

Friede.

Besides Friede, there were also some very young-looking witches nearby. Compared to Friede’s calm demeanor, the young witches seemed restless, as if they were waiting for something.

“Why have they stopped buying magic potions? We made them overnight.”

“Lady Friede, what should we do…” ¹ smh