After waiting another half day, Kael finally returned to the cave.
The cloak he wore was wrinkled and filthy, and his face was covered in travel dust, enough to show that this trip had taken him beyond the bounds of Sandworm Market.
"My lord, sorry to have kept you waiting." Kael respectfully bowed before recounting his experience gathering the materials.
"I made the rounds of several nearby Wizard Markets, but I was still missing a few materials—especially Nightmarelight Crystal. None of the shops in the major markets had any. This material usually appeared only at Wizard Markets, and only at their auctions. I had no choice but to make a trip to Sinking Sand City. This time, I got lucky and met a friend of Mentor Isos. He happened to have a piece of Nightmarelight Crystal and sold it to me."
After speaking, Kael took out the various materials from his spatial storage, one item after another.
Very quickly, they formed a small mountain.
Angel gave them a glance and roughly confirmed that nothing was amiss.
Still, he reached out to inspect them, checking whether there were any substandard materials. After a while, Angel withdrew his hand. Every material met the standard, but...
"I listed them for you by the gram, and you really bought them by the gram." Angel raised an eyebrow. "Were you not worried at all that I might fail the refinement?"
Kael froze for a moment. Right—what if the refinement failed?
After pondering for a while, Kael cautiously said, "My lord probably won't fail, right?"
As he waited for Angel's answer, Kael's eyes held both anticipation and a trace of worry, as though he feared the worst outcome would come to pass.
Angel glanced at Kael, rose to his feet, and began putting away the materials