Capítulo 88: Chapter 88: The Mystic Cauldron
Chapter 88: The Mystic Cauldron
"Where are we going next?" Selene asked as they walked out of the Wizards' Guild.
"Guide me to the best potion shop. I want to buy some potion materials and equipment." He suddenly thought of something and asked.
"Will the potion shop buy magical beast corpses?"
"Most shops buy and sell magical beasts and materials, My Lord. Do you want to sell any?" Selene asked in confusion.
"I got quite a precious magical beast corpse at the Bloodstone City's auction house. I'm planning on selling it and making some profit." Raven said while looking at Jacob and Toby, standing beside the carriage and talking.
Upon noticing their arrival, Jacob raised his hand and waved at them.
"Did you finish your business, My Lord?" Jacob asked while opening the carriage door for him.
"Sort of." Raven nodded.
Meanwhile, Selene thought deeply for a moment and answered his question.
"The best potion shop nearby should be 'The Mystic Cauldron,' My Lord. But that shop is quite expensive compared to the other potion shops."
"Potion shop? Are we going to buy potions?" Jacob blinked his eyes.
"Yes. Is it also one of the shops I can enter only with the 'Black' ring?" Raven asked while walking in.
"Even Walkers, nobles, and wealthy people can visit there. But we can use this ring to buy even the rare items at a discount." Selene responded and turned her gaze towards the coachman before ordering.
"Go to the Baker Street."
After that, Selene, Jacob, and Toby entered the carriage and sat comfortably on the seats.
Meanwhile, the young coachman pulled the horse reins and whipped the horses before driving.
The carriage rattled through the bustling streets of the West Borough, its rhythmic motion accompanied by the chatter of merchants, the distant noise of factories, and the occasional neigh of passing horses.
As the carriage passed through the main road, Raven leaned back in his seat, thinking deeply.
'I currently have over 6,500 gold coins. But if I want to buy potion materials for all elemental affinities, I need more than that.' A frown appeared on his forehead.
To concoct a Low-Rank' Life Affinity' potion, Raven spent 700 gold coins!
He failed many times and only succeeded on the ninth try.
'Life potion concoction rate was only 10% at that time. Even though my spirit power increased, I still needed ten badges of potion materials.'
Selene sat across from him while he was in deep thought, her posture upright as she recounted details about The Mystic Cauldron.
"My Lord, The Mystic Cauldron isn't just a potion shop; it's said to be the premier supplier of rare materials and Rune artifacts in the entire Royal City. Many advanced potion masters and Rune Masters are rumored to frequent it…"
As Selene continued to explain, the carriage entered Baker Street and slowed to a halt in front of a modest-looking three-storied building. A swinging wooden sign bearing the image of a cauldron surrounded by glowing runes appeared at the entrance.
"This is it, My Lord," Selene said, stepping out of the carriage and gesturing for Raven to follow.
"I'll take your weapon this time, Mr. Jacob," Raven said as he took the rifle from Jacob's hand and stored it in the inventory.
"Please let Selene handle the rifle, My Lord. I taught her how to wield it." Jacob said while remaining seated.
"Okay." Nodding, Raven quietly stepped out of the carriage and joined Selene.
"Once we enter the shop, always remain alert. I'll be counting on you if something happens to me." Raven whispered only enough for Selene to hear.
"I'll not disappoint you, My Lord," Selene answered firmly.
After that, Raven and Selene walked ahead and entered the potion house.
A bell chimed as they approached the door, signaling their entry. Inside, the air was thick with the scent of lavender and a strange, peculiar energy, refreshing Raven's mind.
After taking a deep breath, Raven looked ahead at the potion shop and was surprised.
The main entrance hall was crowded with hundreds of people. Women in red uniforms carefully assisted the guests, explaining the products they were purchasing. Meanwhile, customers wandered around, examining items displayed in sealed glasses.
"This place looks more like a big jewelry shop," Raven commented.
At that moment, he noticed more ladies in the hall than men. What surprised him most was that most of them were mortals!
"This shop also sells the best beauty products, My Lord. That's why it attracts a lot of wealthy ladies. This shop is more trustworthy and reliable because the Ravenshield Family owns it." While explaining, Selene guided him to the other side of the main hall and arrived before a wooden gate.
Then, she grabbed the doorknob, tilted it to the left, and walked in after opening the door. Unlike the main hall, the air inside smelled of herbs and pungent.
Shelves lined the walls, stacked with glass jars containing colorful powders, glowing vials, and dried plants. The center of the room was dominated by a circular counter, where a silver-haired young lady in her long blue gown was wiping a set of vials with care.
"Welcome to The Mystic Cauldron," she said without looking up. "How may I assist you?"
Raven quietly raised his left hand, touched his monocle, and inspected her.
…
[Name: Anastasia Ravenshield
Age: 143
Nationality: Zenith Empire
Affiliation: Manager of the Mystic Cauldron
Title: None
Class: Expert Wizard (4th Circle)
Health: Normal
Attributes:
Strength: 454.5
Agility: 433.00
Vitality: 496.5
Luck: ??
Spirit: ????
Spells:
?????, ?????, ??????, ???????
Additional Skills:
??????. ???????.]
...
'Question marks? What happened?' Raven asked in a startled tone.
[Your spirit power is too weak to pry more information about her. If you try to probe further, there is a high chance that she might notice someone is probing her.] Zera warned him in his mind.
'I understand. This is the first time I'm meeting a Rank-3 Expert.' Raven calmly looked at Anastasia and spoke.
"I'm searching for some potion materials, equipment, and magical beast corpses, ma'am."
Anastasia raised her eyebrows and spoke.
"You can find all the Common and Uncommon rank potion materials here. Can you tell me the list of items you need?"
Raven nodded his head and spoke.
"Ten petals of Temporal Lotus, 50 ml of Crystalinewine resin, Bluefire Ash, Powdered bone of Stardew Lizard, 500 ml of ethereal water, and 20 ml of dark root oil."
"The temporal lotus petals are rare, but we got a few badges just a few weeks ago. Crystalinewine resin, ethereal water, and Darkroot Oil are easy to get in any potion shop. But the problem is Bluefire Ash and the powdered bone of Stardew Lizard." She frowned a bit and hurriedly added.
"Wait here for a while, customer. I'll go and check in the storage." Saying so, she hurriedly walked away from the counter while keeping the cleaned vials and left the room.
A few minutes later, she returned with two sets of glass boxes. One contained a small amount of greyish ash, while the other contained white powder.
After placing the items on the table, she gathered and placed the remaining materials individually. Then, she took the ledger from the nearby shelf and wrote it down.
Anastasia finished writing in the ledger and looked up at Raven with a polite smile. "All the items you've requested are here, customer. However, I must warn you that the powdered bone of the Stardew Lizard is exceptionally rare. The cost for the entire set will be 1,280 gold coins."
At that moment, Raven took out the Wizards Guild badge and showed it to her.
"Shall we get some discount?"
"Oh, of course. If you are a member of a Wizard Guild, you will get a 10% discount in all potion shops." Saying so, she did a quick math and added.
"Then, the final amount will be 1152 gold coins."
"I also want some more materials." He took a deep breath and started listing the potion materials for poison affinity, blood affinity, and even dozens of materials for strength and agility potions. Then he also brought lots of equipment, vials, burners, and many things useful for potion-making. However, unlike the time affinity potion materials, the others were cheap.
Alas, he still spent most of his savings in the potion shop.
He had only 1,800 gold coins when he finished purchasing all the necessary items!
After that, Raven touched the spatial ring and asked.
"Can I also sell the magical beast corpses here? I've two of them in my spatial ring." That was the main reason he came to this big shop.
"Oh? We buy the magical beast corpses if they are in good condition, sir. Please come this way." Anastasia guided them out of the potion materials room, let them through a long corridor, and soon arrived in front of a tall wooden door. Two men in blue uniforms held unique rifles at the entrance.
'Radiant Rank Walkers!'
"This is the storehouse of magical beast corpses and materials. But we never let outsiders in easily unless there is a special circumstance." While speaking, Anastasia walked past the guards, opened the tall wooden gate with a slight push, and walked in.
'They never let outsiders in easily? But we are outsiders, though.'
As if she had seen through his thoughts, she chuckled and spoke.
"I don't know why, but I don't feel any ill intentions from you. And I have a strange feeling that you are not simple." She favored him mainly because he carefully inspected and handled the potion materials like a veteran Alchemist!
'His potion knowledge is exceptionally higher than that of a Beginner Alchemist. He is most probably an Adept rank Alchemist.'
"How old are you, sir? You look so young to buy alchemy materials." Anastasia asked in curiosity.
"I'm 17 this year. And these potion materials are for someone else." Raven answered stiffly.
"Even for doing an errant job, you know a lot about alchemy and materials." She commented casually and walked in.
The storehouse was vast, with rows of metal shelves holding neatly labeled containers, preserved beast parts, and glowing glass jars containing preserved organs.
"We also have corpses ranging from mutant monsters to Rank-2 magical beasts." Saying so, she pointed her finger at the left side.
Raven followed her finger and soon saw many glass containers arranged one after one in line. Within the transparent glasses, he saw magical beasts like moon jackal, Lavahorn Stag, Skyshadow Roc, Bloodeye orc, Twin Shadow Viper, Three-eyed cyclops, and so on.
"Three-Eyed Cyclops? Isn't this monster a descendant of Three-Eyed Titan?" Raven couldn't help but ask. Unlike other magical beasts, its enormous size occupied a large space.
It was the monster that he had his eyes on for a long time.
"It's a mutant monster we recently got from a mercenary squad that went to participate in the Meadows Family Subjugation Squad. Due to its third Eye ability, quite a large number of Walkers and mortal soldiers died. I heard that there are lots of mutant Cyclops, Giants, and even a Rank-2 Three-Eyed Giant spotted near the Southern Wild Fortress, raising concerns recently. Many suspect there might be a large Giant settlement deep in the woods and fear another invasion like the one that happened 80 years ago." Anastasia paused for a moment and soon added.
"Anyway, this Cyclops' liver and heart have medicinal effects and are used to make life potions. That's why demand for it is high in the market. And the meat of a cyclops also attracts lots of attention from nobles."
'She is trying to raise its value.' Raven easily guessed what she was planning and sighed.
'Unfortunately, I need this corpse at all costs.'
"How much does it cost?"
A surprised expression appeared on Anastasia's face.
"Even though it's only a mutant one, its worth shouldn't be less than 2,000 gold coins."
At that moment, Zera said something in his mind about the Cyclops' meat, causing his lips to twitch.
"That's too much. Cyclops' meat is tasteless and has little nutrition and magical energy. The worst part is that consuming the Cyclops meat has side effects like bad breath for weeks. And you must have already taken the mutant magic crystal. 1,200 Gold coins are more than enough." Raven said firmly.
"But magical beast meat is still a precious meat, sir. And its liver and heart are still valuable items. Asking for a near Rank-1 Magical beast corpse for 1,200 gold coins is no good. My final price is 1,500 gold coins." Anastasia said while writing down something on the ledger.
Although Raven wanted to reduce the price more, he decided to stop the bargain.
"Deal." He nodded in agreement.
"Anything more?" Anastasia asked.
Raven pondered for a moment and nodded.
"I also need the corpse of the Twin Shadow Viper, but I don't have enough money right now."
…
[Author's Note: Merry Christmas Guys!]
…
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