"Please pack up all these Deep Sleep Flower and Graveyard Grass powders. I'll take them all."
Pointing at the bottles of powdered herbs on the shelf, Angel spoke to the young man following beside her.
She had come to the plump Apothecary Darkwill's Folk Herbal Medicine Shop early that morning to buy the materials needed to make Communication Potion. Though the apothecary had a sharp tongue and sounded punchable whenever he opened his mouth, the quality of his wares was genuinely good.
Unfortunately, according to his apprentice, Darkwill had left before dawn. Supposedly, he had gone outside the city to catch some creature he had been eyeing for a long time. Angel guessed that he was still thinking of catching a Beyonder Creature to raise. She only hoped that this apothecary, who had little combat ability, would not end up dying in a wild wolf's jaws.
Angel's premonition was soon partially fulfilled. Just as she finished paying and was about to leave, the Herbal Shop's front door was pushed open from outside. The plump apothecary staggered in miserably, several bloody scratches on his face and a limp in his step. He collapsed into his recliner and called for his apprentice to bring him some Healing Potion.
"Don't tell me you really ran into some... creature like that and got your face clawed up?"
She happily leaned closer to kick him while he was down, letting Darkwill have a taste of being attacked by a poisonous tongue.
"It's fine. He knows a little about mysticism too. In fact, cough, before long I'll be able to tell him the Apothecary formula," Darkwill said softly after glancing at the young man entering the back room to fetch the medicine. He seemed rather badly hurt. "But you guessed wrong. These injuries were caused by