It had all been about trial and error in the end.
Leon had purchased a small set of scales in order to measure out the amount of herbs he was using, in order to create more uniform pills for the experiments; his first Burning Blood Pill even took a step increase in quality, considered good, rather than average. This additional fortune was duly noted with each measurement and tested to see if this more precise recipe continued to produce good quality pills. Six out of ten were of good quality, leading Leon to believe that something was not so good with some of the ingredients he'd used.
Regardless, this happy coincidence gave him a good base to work with as he tried to create his first variant. However, after producing five marbled orange pills when trying to produce the first Smouldering Blood Pills, he came to realise that he was still missing some point. Each of these five pills had differing amounts of the Cloud Fern herb, so perhaps it was not dimming the effect of the green Mothtail leaves like he'd previously thought.
He'd felt a bit depressed after that and in some desperate measure, tried to compare again the marbled orange variant attempt with one of the marbled orange Burning Blood Pills from earlier and found no difference in the look of them... however there was a slight difference in how they'd smelled. With a bit of hope, he'd once more descended the mountain, this time rushing straight to Ursam's shop, where he'd explained his difficulties and his suspicions.
Ursam had then brought out the small golden evaluation device to help him test the pills he'd made so far. They had been astonished to find that there were differences amongst the five pills, that the three with the lowest amount of Cloud Fern herb were not so good as the after effects were just too strong, but the fifth pill had the worst effect in terms of improving ability. After that, while his beloved Wife prepared the guest room and cooked a delicious meal to help sustain them, the pair had worked together to create a pill with the best ability with the least after effects, however it was still a marbled orange pill.
Ursam had looked at the vivid colour of the pill and off handedly mentioned that it was the same colour as the Salamander's breath poppy petals.
"They c-come in d-different c-colours you know," Leon had mentioned, before the epiphany hit and the men had rushed out to try and purchase some. After a little testing, Leon managed to produce a good quality, burgundy-marbled pill that was of course named the Smouldering Blood Pill.
Having already taken three days to finally create this pill, they only had one left in order to produce a Bursting Blood Pill that could be a worthy counterpart to the other. They used vivid red poppy petals to complete the product and allow it to look a little different to the principal product. For the auction, Ursam had decided that it was best to just sell one of each pill, to spark interest.
"20 silver!" Before the auctioneer could even suggest a price, a bid was put forward. This was already way above the value of an average Burning Blood Pill, which usually sold for 3 silver, thus 6 silver for two.
"30 silver!" Leon's eyes widened. The enthusiasm for these two final products was obviously much greater than their weaker versions.
"45 silver!"
"Excellent, excellent!" Ursam rubbed his hands together. Leon and he had agreed to split the money earned by these two pills and despite the amount of purchased ingredients they had used, their costs already were more than covered.
"You made these?" Jin Li's eyes widened in realisation, whispering these words to his small lover. Leon gave a slight nod, his eyes curved like half-moons as he smiled and leaned closer to reply in soft murmur;
"I saved a c-c-couple of each p-pill for you." He watched as the martial artist's expression became proud and smug. Ursam noticed their interactions from the corner of his eye, quietly amused.
While they were talking, the price of the two small pills had sky-rocketed to 70 silver, Leon's heart beat rapidly and loudly in his chest as he heard the price. That was probably more than he'd made on all of the sales of his Improved Blood Pills to Pharmacist Clawse. It seemed like an impossible amount and still the price was rising.
"80 silver!"
"85 silver!"
"100 silver!" Even Ursam's jaw dropped at this point. Naturally, he was assuming these pills would bring in a higher return than the ten lesser pills, but still, there was only two of them. He rubbed his jaw thinking that it would likely be best to sell the next batch of these new pills at auction as well, although the variant Energy Pills would be best sold from his shop. Hee hee hee, he'd like to see how the Heavenly Pill Pavilion could compete with him on that score.
Just to mention; Ursam had already memorised the recipe of the Varient Blood Pills and could easily work out from them how to create the lesser pills, but he would be the first to admit that he was far too lazy to bother making them. The lesser pills were too much of a hassle for the price they would eventually command and the better pills required a meticulous nature in order to produce them, like Leon's. So while he would be happy to sell these variant pills, he'd rather rely on Leon to resupply them.
As for getting them from others, well, he believed strongly that the alchemists who tried reverse engineer the pills would struggle to figure out just exactly how they were made. After all, it was not as if the herbs within each pill were any different from the principal versions. So unless Leon was willing to sell or share his secrets, the boy would be his only supplier of the new pills. Ursam wouldn't sell out this immense potential source of profit... but he would purchase a bottle of quality Medicinal Wine to share with old Clawse once this auction was done and dusted.
"110 silver!"
"Any more bids?" The auctioneer finally yelled. "Then going once..."
"150 silver!" That voice belonged to the same individual as who had purchased the Smouldering and Bursting Energy Pills. And again, no one dared raise the bid... though this time it may have been the rather large jump in price that caused the silence.
"Sold! For 150 silver, to the gentleman in Box 1! Congratulations!" Indeed, Congratulations, but that was less for the savvy purchaser and more reserved for the clever little alchemist who had the audacity to create new pills.
In his past life, Leon experienced only two types of restaurant dining; fast food and places with generous portions of reasonable food with low prices. Nothing fancy or expensive. Ah but the cheap restaurants would share similarities to fine dining establishments in which there was a menu, waiter and chefs in the kitchen.
When he and Jin Li went on their first date, the place they visited was a quaint tavern that was tucked away in the streets of the old town, but due to its bear-like owner, usually frequented only by old men, who'd been regulars for years and their sons, who'd be the same in the future. The fair had been a bit coarse, mutton stew and bread and a boiled egg. Just enough to sate Jin Li's monstrous appetite. It had only cost a few handful of brass with weak mead included.
The place that Ursam dragged them and poor Mr Clawse too (the latter had been carried over the formers' shoulder, so not to keep the youths waiting) was not like that small tavern. Leon felt that this place would likely be more in keeping with those fine dining restaurant's he'd never visited. It was a building of three floors. Upon the ground floor were a smattering of round tables and chairs as well as a small stage area to one side. The second floor was home to a balcony which happened to be shaped in a squared 'u' that diners could see down to the stage below from all seats. And the highest floor had private rooms where the elite often partook of food and beverages while discussing business. These rooms had paper windows that could be opened should these guests wish to witness plays on stage or amuse themselves by looking down on those who could not afford a private room.
Seats upon the balcony and the private rooms incurred an additional fee for the privilege of usage, to be paid prior. This restaurant had been bitten before by Second generation nobles who happened to speak big, but lacked the silver to back up their claims. A noble household was not necessarily a wealthy one, and even were it, doesn't mean that noble fathers would had out silver unchecked to their spendthrift children.
In all honesty, although a private room commanded a fair sum of silver, a balcony seat was just ten silver. Otherwise this restaurant, which was located in a town with a good amount of money, but not a city with a lot, would always have empty spaces upon it. Ursam coughed up the ten silver on hearing that there was still a table available up there. The middle-aged waiter took the coin and lead them up the first flight of stairs onto the balcony which used tall pillars of wood to create some divide between the tables between guests along with a few folding embroidered screens here and there. The balcony was not wide, just enough space for a line of tables that bent around with the shape of the area and a walkway along its length. The stairs came out in the middle of the shaped 'u'.
The table that the waiter lead them to was close to the left corner and partially hidden by a screen decorated with bamboo shapes and a pagoda. Unlike the tavern in which the policy was 'this is what there is to eat, take it or leave it', there was a menu, which was printed upon slates of bamboo. Upon it were listed the restaurant's specialities, other meat dishes, vegetable dishes and rice and noodle dishes and lastly soup dishes. Ursam rattled off a few requests to which Jin Li added to, these being mostly meat dishes, while Leon's eyes widened and thoughts of the cost of this meal caused him a bit of panic. But before he could protest, the waiter had already disappeared with their order.
"So just for what reason," Clawse finally said at that moment, "have I been brought here without notice?"
"We are celebrating!" Ursam replied in a booming voice. Leon felt rather than saw the eyes of numerous guests glancing their way with high pointed noses and sneers. Ursam did not seem to care, however, pouring the jug of wine brought by another server, into the bowls upon the table.
"Yes, that you did say before unceremoniously dragged me here," Clawse added. "But why? What are you celebrating?"
"Did I not mention it?" Ursam asked, looking suddenly bewildered, before his expression resumed its bright, happy go lucky usualness with a shrug. "We are celebrating the day that you were smart enough to introduce me to this young alchemist of course!"
Clawse turned to Leon and said earnestly; "I am so sorry."
Jin Li smirked before picking up the small bowl of wine and sniffing it. It was fragrant and aromatic, a fruit wine meant to stimulate appetite. His small alchemist should not feel the ill effects too soon, but just in case; "Don't drink it on an empty stomach. Wait until you eat."
"Alright," Leon agreed and placed the bowl back onto the table.
In the meantime, Ursam decided to use his quota of discretion for the month and quietly informed Clawse just what the youth had accomplished of late. However, he was disappointed by the fact that Clawse remained stoic. "You are not surprised?" Ursam pouted, poking the prominent cheekbones of his friend.
Clawse slapped his hand away before lifting his bowl to sip from it. "No, I am not," the pharmacist admitted. How could he be when that same small alchemist had once brought him one heart Pills and Blood Pills that were a vast improvement on that which had been around for centuries. Creating such might satisfy a different alchemist that sought money and fame, but Leon was definitely not like that. Clawse had been certain of this fact ever since he came to trade the clear spiritual pills with reduced impurities; that boy was still seeking to improve the pills he knew.
Leon may have worried about the cost, but he came to realise that all of the dishes were in bowls no bigger than a western soup bowl, which were placed in the centre of the table for them to help themselves to. He felt the heat in his cheeks increase as Jin Li deftly filled his bowl with less greasy foods as he usually favoured, while he more clumsily tried to return the favour with meat, carefully picking up each piece with his chopsticks. Jin Li smiled happily at first, that his small lover sought to serve him, but his mood fell slight as Leon was so slow about it! Thus he still filled his own plate in the end.
Just wanted to clarify a couple of things in monetary terms. Easiest way to look at it is via a pair of shoes. A pair of geta clogs would be about 20 brass, a pair of simple leather shoes would be 2 silver and a pair of unadorned, plain silk shoes would be 20 silver. For the last, the price would rise for patterned silk and embroidered shoes. So while Leon’s earnings seem a lot, Jin Li could easily bankrupt him if he wanted to live by the style in which he was once accustomed too!
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GOT IT