Potion Bag

"Overdrawing mana will damage the fundamental essence of your spirit and life, leading to many severe consequences.

This kind of medicine should be kept on hand..."

Roy bought a few bottles to keep.

But this presented a problem for carrying them around.

Milina, reading his expression, asked, "Need a second-hand portable potion bag? I can sell it to you cheap."

"Portable potion bag?"

Roy's eyes lit up.

He had asked about such items at the shop before, but they weren't cheap.

Seeing his interest, Milina quickly explained, "I bought this on impulse when I was learning to make potions.

But you can rest assured.

I guarantee it's brand new; I haven't even used it much myself."

Her words contradicted each other. If she hadn't used it much, she had still used it!

However, a potion bag is a substitute for storage Arcane Artifacts. It's made of special materials and can hold various test tubes and potion bottles.

Items placed inside have no weight, won't spoil, and are unaffected by external factors like vibrations, impacts, cold, or heat.

This is very useful for tasks like leaving the tower and other occasions.

Roy was quite interested, so Milina quickly packed up her stall and led Roy back to her residence to retrieve a finely crafted leather belt.

"This is a potion bag with 12 standard slots. I paid 3600 Magic Stones for it, but I'll sell it to you for 1800..."

Roy took it and looked, but quickly noticed something amiss and smiled, "800!"

"Huh?" Milina was clearly taken aback.

Roy repeated, "I said, 800!"

Milina's expression turned a bit sour, "You're driving too hard a bargain."

Roy retorted, "You were the one being ruthless first, trying to sell me a broken potion bag as if it were good!"

"How is it broken?" Milina stubbornly argued.

"You think I can't tell?"

Roy said calmly. His Black Iron Rank Talent, Skilled Worker, was a foundational ability that even covered appraisal.

"Several of its 12 slots are damaged and have a chance of leaking items. It needs to be repaired using Aether Stones or other Space-elemental Materials."

"Ah!" Milina, caught in her lie, visibly deflated.

The truth was, the item had been damaged by a monster's attack during an adventure.

She had tried her best to repair it, but her limited skills led to failure.

"Fine, 800 it is. But since you know it's broken and you're still buying it, I'm not responsible for any future problems."

Roy agreed, "Okay. I'm mainly buying this for the cheap price, and I'll bear all consequences."

This was the unwritten rule of buying outside of official stores. Apprentices often sold items privately, and buyers generally bore the risks themselves.

But sometimes, you could indeed get a good deal, like this used belt from the female apprentice.

After Roy and Milina completed the transaction, he pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you have any leftover repair materials? If so, I'll take them all."

A strange look appeared on Milina's face, "Are you sure? I'll give you a discount then, 80 Magic Stones for the lot..."

"Can't you just throw them in as a bonus?"

"Dream on!"

After some haggling, Roy bought several portions of materials containing Space Force for 50 Magic Stones and immediately returned to his residence to start the repairs.

"Success! Now it's a functional belt worth over 3000!"

After a full night of work, Roy, with the help of his Black Iron Rank Talents, Skilled Worker and Alchemy Machine, finally managed to repair the belt.

Filled with immense satisfaction, he stretched languidly and put it on to test it.

"The success rate bonus from Skilled Worker is really useful. If I could do this a few more times, wouldn't I make a huge profit?

But such opportunities are rare. Unless I gain significant fame, people won't actively seek me out.

And even then, it might lead to dangerous life-or-death struggles.

The business dealings among Wizard apprentices are truly that straightforward and unadorned."

After his musings, Roy tried putting various potions into the bag and promptly fell asleep.

Unconsciously, time passed until the next day.

Roy woke up around noon and headed to the mess hall for a meal.

As a result, some discussions among the advanced apprentices caught his attention.

"Did you hear? Something happened in the Great Wind Land Hills!"

"Those monsters actually started fighting!"

"I've only ever read about it in books. I never thought I'd get to witness a war between monsters with my own eyes!"

"You see all sorts of things when you live long enough! Those mermen and giants, they shouldn't have any overlap..."

Roy looked confused, then he found a low-level apprentice working as a handyman on the third floor and had him fetch Renion and the others.

"Senior Roy, have you heard? There's big news from the Great Wind Land Hills!" Tigro blurted out as soon as he arrived, eager to tell Roy.

Roy asked, "What exactly happened?"

Tigro replied, "I happened to inquire. Starting yesterday, a large group of mermen have been besieging a giant tribe..."

Although he spoke vividly, he was vague when it came to specific details.

It was Nia who gave Roy something and explained, "An apprentice was doing a mission there and took pictures with an alchemy camera!"

She had recently spent a lot of money to secure the position of a minor supervisor at the mission center, gaining some authority.

As for news, she was quite well-informed.

Roy looked at the pictures she handed him. They seemed to be taken from a high vantage point, looking down. The distance was too great, and the pictures weren't very clear.

However, the scene of thousands of monsters gathered for war was unmistakable.

"They are indeed attacking a giant tribe!" Renion said in a low voice.

"The leader is the merman lord we encountered before. Some say they are fighting over a treasure that flowed out of the Chalk Country!"

Roy mused, "So, that thing must have fallen into the river? The witchcraft energy spread downstream along the river, reached the sea, and then a large group of mermen went upstream to find it."

"That's what people are saying outside, and it seems like the most reasonable guess," everyone chimed in.

Renion added, "Now, the question is whether the item is in the giants' hands or further upstream."

Roy said, "Regardless, this is our opportunity. Even if those monsters have developed some intelligence, they won't think too far ahead. Their rash decision to fight the giants directly is a gift to the apprentices in the Wizard Tower, isn't it?"

Tigro agreed, "Indeed. Everyone is busy. Many people are planning to follow behind and pick up the scraps, trying to make a fortune!"

Roy declared, "We're going too!"

They had previously spoken of seeking revenge and finding an opportunity to hunt down that powerful monster. Now that the chance had arrived, they all agreed and began their preparations.

The next day, the team reassembled at the entrance of the Wizard Tower and set off on time.

Their destination: the Great Wind Land Hills!

This time, however, Tigro replaced Nia and joined their adventure squad.