Sith Dragon Potions

The first attempt ended in failure.

The liquid in the thin glass bottle was still cloudy, only faintly tinged with blue.

According to the Blood Magic Notes, this failed product still had a slight strengthening effect, but its side effects were far more severe. Even the most reckless adventurer would refuse to use it.

After reflecting on the matter, Gagnor poured the failed product into the waste-liquid barrel and continued trying.

After several attempts.

Gagnor recited the incantation for Simple Activation once more.

A burst of multicolored light appeared between his hands. The cloudy liquid in the thin glass bottle trembled slightly before turning a pure blue.

It worked!

Gagnor's eyes lit up as he raised the thin glass bottle to examine it.

This was a Pseudo-Elixir used to enhance intelligence.

By his estimate, one bottle of the Pseudo-Elixir could increase intelligence by roughly 1 point while shortening one's lifespan by 5%.

Was it worth it? That depended on the individual.

For someone foolish and young, converting part of their lifespan into intelligence was clearly worthwhile. But for a wise elder, such a deal would be an enormous loss.

Gagnor took out a small amount of the Pseudo-Elixir and touched it with his finger.

Item: Intelligence Enhancement Pseudo-Elixir

Level: Level 2

An ordinary potion. Although it appears to be a single whole, the panel's display generally still treats it as a series of independently existing materials.

Elixirs were different. After the effects of the first-circle spell "Simple Activation," the several materials no longer existed independently but fused into an entirely new substance. Thus, the panel displayed "Intelligence Enhancement Pseudo-Elixir" instead of magic beast blood, silverleaf grass, and Whisperwood.

Satisfied, Gagnor put away the bottle of Pseudo-Elixir and continued working while he was on a roll.

After several days of production, all the materials he had bought had been turned into Pseudo-Elixirs: sixteen bottles in total, with four bottles of each type.

The four types of Pseudo-Elixir were all different colors. Constitution, strength, intelligence, and agility corresponded to yellow, red, blue, and pale cyan, respectively.

With the sixteen bottles of Pseudo-Elixir in hand, Gagnor headed to the slums.

When he reached an empty street corner, he took a loose gray robe from his Storage Ring and put it on. He then took out a small bottle of Magic Beast Bull Blood.

He dipped his finger into some of the bull's blood and drew several symbols on his face before beginning to recite the incantation for the first-circle spell Blood Disguise.

Blood Disguise was the blood-magic upgrade of the Disguise Skill. Using blood as its casting material, its disguising effect was far stronger than that of an ordinary Disguise Skill, approaching that of a second-circle spell.

Several seconds later, the spell was complete.

Gagnor's appearance had changed completely. His body had expanded by half, and his facial features were entirely different.

He took out a mirror and looked at himself, unable to keep from frowning slightly.

He looked a little like a Minotaur...

There was nothing he could do. He had been unable to find suitable human blood, so he had to use magic beast blood as the casting material. In any case, he was only concealing his identity; his appearance's beauty or ugliness did not matter.

Gagnor put on another mask to cover his strange features. This made him look like nothing more than a burly, anonymous man rather than a Minotaur.

Wearing this appearance, he arrived at the Raven Inn and, just as Ryan had done last time, showed the black-gold token to the inn attendant in the corner.

The attendant glanced at the black-gold token and let him through without asking anything.

Before long, Gagnor arrived at the Thieves' Guild and went straight to the Black Gold Corridor, stopping before the Potent Potions Expert's stall.

"Buying or selling?" the Potent Potions Expert asked. Several months had passed, and with the effects of Blood Disguise, she clearly had no impression of Gagnor.

This time, Gagnor's answer was crisp. He took out sixteen bottles of Pseudo-Elixir. "Selling!"

Looking at the four different-colored Pseudo-Elixirs, the Potent Potions Expert sounded slightly surprised. "What kind of potions are these?"

Gagnor explained, "They're unclassified potions originating from an ancient foreign race. They can permanently enhance the person who takes them. Of course, they aren't elixirs, so their enhancement comes at a price—specifically, a shortened lifespan."

He thought for a moment. "They're somewhat like Lion King's Strength Potion and Essence Potion, except their effects are stronger."

The Potent Potions Expert took out a little doll, opened a bottle of Strength Pseudo-Elixir, and dripped a drop onto the doll's head.

She then performed a trick, and a faint light flashed across the doll's body.

"They do indeed have the effects you described. However, we'll only know exactly how powerful they are after someone actually tries them." She thought for a moment before continuing, "For these sixteen potions, I can give you an advance price of two silver coins per bottle. If they sell well, I'll make up the difference, and we can establish a long-term partnership. What do you think?"

Gagnor asked, "Roughly how long will it take you to sell all sixteen bottles?"

"If everything goes smoothly, a few days. At the latest, it shouldn't take more than half a month," the Potent Potions Expert said.

"All right." Gagnor agreed. Her stall had expensive, long-term rent, so she was unlikely to run off over such a small sum of money.

The Potent Potions Expert suddenly remembered something. "By the way, what are these potions called?"

Gagnor paused. After a brief moment of thought, he said, "Cislon Potions!"

"Cislon?" The Potent Potions Expert had clearly never heard the name before, and her voice was filled with confusion.

"It's a language of a foreign race. It means 'the finest medicine.'" Gagnor explained it with a solemn expression. "Yellow Cislon makes the body tough and resilient, red Cislon grants tremendous strength, blue Cislon makes people wise, and cyan Cislon makes people swift."

The Potent Potions Expert nodded thoughtfully.

The two of them exchanged a few more words. Gagnor collected thirty-two silver coins and then left.

He then went to the stall of the Forbidden Books Collection and pointed at several scrolls. "How much are the Yemen divine spell scrolls for Healing Spell?"

"Twenty silver coins."

"I'll take two."

After buying two Healing Spell scrolls, Gagnor went to Ryan's stall—mainly to test the effects of Blood Disguise.

Ryan clearly did not recognize him. Leaning against the wall, he asked in the indifferent tone of a wage worker, "What information do you want to sell?"

Gagnor thought for a moment. "Which country's intelligence is worth more, Dibuto's or County of Presto's?"

"Recently, County of Presto's," Ryan said.

"Then I'll come back later." After saying that, Gagnor slipped away, making Ryan frown deeply.

As it turned out, Blood Disguise was indeed quite powerful. His appearance and voice had changed flawlessly, and because his physique had changed, details such as his walking posture had changed accordingly. Even acquaintances could not recognize him.

Half a month later, Gagnor once again came to the Black Gold Corridor in the same appearance and found the Potent Potions Expert.

The moment she saw him, the Potent Potions Expert said excitedly, "Your potions sold incredibly well, especially the yellow Cislon and red Cislon!"

As she spoke, she took out a heavy little money pouch and handed it to Gagnor. "This is the rest of your payment. Count it and see."