Just as when he was about to say yes, it was Lanzo's turn to cut him off. "Hey, are you sure about this? Why don't we check out other places? We both know this healing paste and stamina potion should be worth at least three times."
"I got this, Lanzo," said Emery when the alchemy expert snorted.
The owner said, "Kids, my shop is the best there is in this city and in our kingdom! Even the royal physician often comes here for supplies."
"I believe you," answered Emery and that was no lie. The moment they stepped in here, the countless shelves were stocked with various potions, paste, herbs, powders, some of which were things he had never seen before in Granny's storeroom. He then said, "Let's make a deal."
The alchemist then took out ten coins from underneath his counter and placed them on the table. Emery, however, didn't touch nor look at them. Instead, he stared at the alchemist and said, "Actually, I wonder if I can trade these ten coins with you for just an hour to check out your various herbs and maybe get some handful of them that you have in stock."
The old man certainly didn't expect this answer from Emery, causing him to frown. He answered, "Are you thinking of stealing from me, boy? I have guards here who can throw you into the dungeon with just one order from me."
Emery stood unshaken before shaking his head. "Please be assured that I am an honest person and would not dare to steal from you nor from anyone. It's just that I have been in awe the moment I stepped in here, your wonderful collection of multitude of plants, potions, salves, is just so rich that I couldn't help my curiosity. Please think of it as giving a lesson for a disciple in the art of alchemy. I will very much be grateful for your generosity."
Lanzo, standing next to Emery, had his mouth agape as if words in his throat were lost in a thousand languages. He was probably thinking his friend, Emery, might be the stupidest person he had ever met. While, on the other hand, the old fat man coughed, slightly appearing a little red.
The alchemist once more cleared his throat before picking up the coins, putting it back underneath the counter, and saying, "Is that so? Hmm, okay… I'll let you check out my stock but only for a short while. I'll be closing up the shop soon and I still need to finish this concoction I'm brewing."
Lanzo pulled Emery to the side and whispered, "What the hell are you doing! At least you'll be getting ten coins instead of none, what benefit will you have by just taking a look at these herbs and potions!"
"Alistair! Come in here and watch this kid for a while," shouted the alchemist before heading into a different room with Emery.
One of the guards outside entered the shop and said, "Understood."
As Emery entered the back room where there were more exotic looking ingredients than the one in the main hall were stored, he tried his best to keep a straight face because inside him, his heart was actually jumping in joy at the prospect of getting more contribution points.
"Go ahead, take a look, but again, don't you dare steal anything especially right under my nose," said the alchemist.
Emery nodded and proceeded to only touch the plant and activate his analyze spell on the plants he hadn't seen before. He made sure he used it only with either his back facing the expert or at least his palm couldn't be seen because it still glowed whenever he used it.
He touched one of the plants that had pale green leaves and bright orange flowers. It looked more like a pretty flower in hindsight, but when Emery used his analyze spell on it, the following was listed:
[Universal Flora Level 1 - activated - analyzing flora...]
[Analyzation complete]
[Unidentified medicinal herb]
[Register to database for one contribution point?]
Only a few moments had passed but Emery had already found dozens of plants that weren't located in the Magus Academy's database. He asked if he could get some of them, especially the ones that he could feel some sort of energy flow with his plant affinity, and fortunately, the old man only allowed him to do so but only a few of them.
Emery plucked a stalk from each of the plants the analyze skill had registered for more than one contribution because he would be using fragmentation later for additional points. He looked around further and seemed to have finished looking at all the plants but not one of them was a rank two plant. For such a huge building and well-stocked shelves, he couldn't help but wonder but ask, "Respected expert, is this all the plants you have?"
"Of course not. And before you ask further, no you are not allowed to pluck the more valuable ones nor see them," answered the alchemist sternly.
This apothecary was located in the Lioness Kingdom's main city, which had dealings with other nations outside the continent of Britannia. Therefore, Emery was sure that there were more herbs than the current stock he had seen so far.
Still, Emery knew he shouldn't push it because he still didn't have the full trust of this alchemist. Satisfaction came with patience, and in due time, he would be allowed to check those out or maybe find some in the woods. For now though, he was satisfied with what he had earned and grew more determined to explore that forbidden forest where to find which plant the blue powder originated from.
Speaking of the blue powder, just as Emery was about to leave this stockroom, an idea came into his mind.
He went back to the old man and the old man said, "What is it now, kid?"
Emery reached his hand into his patchwork bag and fished out a blue colored potion. The cleanse potion, it was a potion that could cure several diseases and his analyzation skill deemed to have been safe for consumption. The moment Emery took it, for the first time, the alchemist appeared to be a bit surprised.
"Give me that, kid," said the alchemist, grabbing the potion. He popped open the potion and gave it a smell. "It's a medicine that could treat poison, isn't it? But"—giving it another sniff—"this is much stronger! Where did you get this, kid?"
"I also concocted that. I deem it the name cleanse potion. It should be able to cure many types of diseases as well as fever in just a few days," answered Emery, recalling the description from the analyze spell.
The alchemist stared at Emery in disbelief, since he had proudly claimed himself being the best in the kingdom and based on how seemed to stumble on his words, it looked like the description from the analyze spell was accurate. The alchemist asked, "How much do you want for this?"
Emery thought for a moment and said, "How I give you it for free?"
Even though he would take a loss for giving this cleanse potion for free and only had enough blue powder for about two more bottles of cleanse potion and two salves of strength paste, Emery thought this was a good investment. After all, Emery was sure he would return to this place some time again in the future, so he needed to create a bond and trust with this old man, hence the gift.
The old man covered the lid of the potion and gave it back to Emery. "No. I refuse to accept anything for free. Tell me, what do you really want in exchange?"
Emery smiled because his bait succeeded. "I understand. Then why don't we make another deal? As you have said, the price of a potion is decided upon the reputation of its maker. Honestly, I believe my healing paste and stamina potion is better than the one you have on the selves, and I am sure you will find that to be true after you have tested it yourself and the people whom you will sell it to. With that in mind, I am hoping that you remember me once it sells with wonderful results. So, once I am back here, I am hoping to sell more for you in the future with higher prices of course."
The alchemist laughed hard. "You are hilarious, kid! Alright, alright. Let's make that deal. I am accepting this potion. Now, tell me, what's your name?"
Not wanting people to know his name, Emery decided to make up a name similar to his, "You can call me.. Merlin"