Gagnor pointed at several bottles of blue potion and asked, "What are these?"
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"Troll Rage Potion, twenty silver coins a bottle." The stall owner explained, "It can stimulate strength and the will to fight for a short time, but its effects are much more intense than those of Rage Potion. At a critical moment, it can help you turn defeat into victory."
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"What about the side effects?"
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"They're more intense than Rage Potion's as well."
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"Is it a restricted potion?"
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"It's an uncategorized potion, improved from a recipe created by voodoo trolls."
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The Potent Potions Expert's stall was mostly stocked with various enhanced combat potions. Gagnor asked a few more questions, then changed the subject. "Did you acquire all these potions from elsewhere?"
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The Potent Potions Expert did not answer. Instead, she asked, "Are you thinking of becoming one of my suppliers?"
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"Perhaps." Gagnor neither confirmed nor denied it.
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The Potent Potions Expert glanced at his potion-maker's robe before saying, "The rules are simple. If you supply me under your real name, you can receive two-thirds of the final sale price. If you supply me anonymously, you can receive at most half."
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"The difference between the two lies in how the risks are shared," she added. "Also, if a potion is addictive, I may refuse to buy it."
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"Are you here often?"
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The Potent Potions Expert said, "Usually, I set up my stall for two days in a row, then take two days off. While I'm resting—for example, tomorrow—a General Goods Merchant will use this stall. We share the annual rent."
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Gagnor liked her way of speaking. With only a few words, she had given him all the information that mattered.
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He nodded, said nothing more, and turned toward the other stalls.
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He came to a stall called the "Forbidden Books Collection."
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Gagnor had no interest in religious forbidden books. In his view, whether it was Mosaism or Yemenism, their scriptures were nothing more than vulgar sermons and dogma dressed up in different rhetoric.
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What interested him was that, besides religious forbidden books, the stall also sold forbidden magic books and spell scrolls.
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He could not afford the forbidden magic books. They were even more expensive than legitimate magic books.
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The forbidden spell scrolls, however, were worth considering.
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A forbidden spell scroll was a scroll containing a spell banned by the church. Most were Black Magic, along with divine spells from religions other than Mosaism, especially Yemen's divine magic.
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Yemen had priests as well.
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Moreover, Mosaism and Yemen had highly overlapping domains, such as light and mercy. As a result, the spells used by their priests were also extremely similar. They frequently accused one another of theft, fraud, and blasphemy, so it was only natural for them to designate each other's spells as forbidden scrolls.
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Unlike other forbidden scrolls, these were often cheaper than those obtained through legitimate channels.
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That was because they were often taken from the bodies of enemies. If the person who acquired one did not dare or did not want to use it, they could only sell it through the Black Market, so the price was naturally somewhat lower than through legitimate channels.
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There was actually another option: hand the forbidden scroll over to the church for destruction in exchange for fifty copper coins and a written commendation. But aside from a few fanatics, nobody did that.
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Gagnor examined the Forbidden Books Collection stall for a while and was rather tempted, but ultimately decided not to buy anything.
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On one hand, his finances were still tight. On the other, he felt that this sort of transaction was best conducted anonymously.
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If he bought a forbidden scroll under his real name and someone reported him, the church might come knocking. If the forbidden scroll, along with the "Blood Magic Notes," were found during a search, wouldn't he be finished?
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He would buy one next time.
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Gagnor said goodbye to Ryan, then prepared to leave the Thieves' Guild.
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Of course, before leaving, he still had one thing to do—exchange his proof of transaction for a black-gold certificate.
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He handed the proof of transaction to a guild clerk, along with the five-silver-coin service fee. Gagnor immediately received an anonymous black-gold certificate resembling a Thieves' Guild badge, as well as a copy of the "Thieves' Guild Handbook."
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"There will be an auction here the day after tomorrow. Is there anything you'd like to sell or buy?" the clerk asked at the same time.
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Gagnor thought for a moment. "What is the auction commission here?"
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"Thirty percent."
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Hearing that commission, Gagnor secretly shook his head. "Not for now."
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With that, he left the Thieves' Guild and made his way to The Eagle and Whistle Inn, where he ordered a feast to reward himself.
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Recently, because money had been tight, Gagnor had barely eaten any meat for several days. For someone in the "Return to Youth" state, this was no different from wasting away.
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Although the natural laws of Falaro's world differed from Earth's in many ways, some basic principles remained the same—someone who did not eat meat could not possibly become strong and sturdy.
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Gagnor had barely eaten meat in the countryside or at the church. Even though he had done his best to improve his diet, he had ultimately managed to grow only to an average build.
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Judging by the attributes on his panel, his physical condition seemed slightly below average as well.
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Now that he had another chance to grow, Gagnor would never again let himself live on coarse grain and vegetables.
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At least for the next year, he had to eat well at every meal!
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Good food alone was not enough. To make full use of the blessing of "Return to Youth," he also needed to keep up with all kinds of study and practice.
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The spells in the "Blood Magic Notes," Blood Elf script, Arcane Wisdom, swordsmanship, Archery, Feign Death, Herbalism... He had to schedule all of them.
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Three months later.
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After three months of study, Gagnor successfully mastered the three cantrips Gather Blood, Dismemberment, and Pseudo-Cooking, as well as the two first-circle spells Simple Activation and Blood Disguise.
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At the same time, he decided to try making some Pseudo-Elixirs.
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He decided to make four Pseudo-Elixirs for enhancing basic attributes. Their ingredients were easy to find, and the risks were relatively less frightening—there was only one: a shortened lifespan.
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In fact, not only the more radical adventurers but Gagnor himself felt that shortening one's lifespan was not a particularly serious consequence.
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After all, in Falaro's world, dying peacefully of old age was an ending enjoyed only by a lucky few. For most people, losing a few years of life made little difference.
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The four attributes enhanced by the Pseudo-Elixirs were Constitution, Strength, Intelligence, and Dexterity. The corresponding monster blood belonged to the earth, fire, water, and wind elements.
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Besides monster blood, two herbs were also required: silverleaf and Whisperwood.
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During the Blood Elf era, Whisperwood had been a common and widely used herb, while silverleaf had been relatively scarce.
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Now, the situation was exactly reversed. Silverleaf had become extremely common, nearly as common as weeds. Whisperwood, meanwhile, had become relatively scarce and was rarely used. As a result, its price fluctuated wildly. Sometimes it could not be bought, and sometimes it could not be sold. Its usual price was around two silver coins.
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Fortunately, the Pseudo-Elixirs did not require many ingredients. Including the monster blood, Gagnor's first batch of materials cost a little over ten silver coins in total.
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In a room suffused with a faint herbal scent,
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Gagnor began his attempt to make the Pseudo-Elixirs.
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In a sense, this also counted as an attempt to make an elixir.
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After all, according to some alchemists, there was only one criterion for determining whether something was an elixir: "The production process must include a magical synthesis step." Pseudo-potions might be low-grade, but since their production process included magical synthesis, it was only natural to classify them as elixirs.
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Gagnor processed the silverleaf and Whisperwood into powders one after the other, adjusted the proportions, and mixed them with the monster blood.
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Then he placed the thin glass bottle containing the mixed liquid between his hands and began reciting the incantation for the first-circle spell Simple Activation...
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