The Most Profitable Profession

The earning power of Extraordinary professions was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine, yet most Extraordinary practitioners were dirt poor.

Awakening Potions, Sequence Potions, Clarity Potions, Magic Weapons, Spiritual Equipment, Extraordinary knowledge, recovery potions, Magic Stones, Enchanted Weapon Oil, and more—there were simply too many places to spend money.

Among all Extraordinary professions, the Alchemist Sequence could be considered one of the most profitable.

In the previous era, awakening spirituality and advancing in an Extraordinary profession had been extremely dangerous. Mutation and madness had always lurked close behind.

It was not until Awakening Potions and Sequence Potions were created by alchemists that the dangers of becoming Extraordinary were greatly reduced.

Potions and Magic Equipment were not exclusive to alchemists, but spirituality determined their properties. Potions and equipment crafted by other professions more or less came with side effects.

The greatest qualities of potions and Magic Equipment created by alchemists were their potency and stability. Take an Awakening Potion, for example: even if one failed to awaken their spirituality after taking it for the first time, it would not cause irreversible damage to the soul, and they could try again.

Magic Equipment followed the same principle. Equipment made by alchemists could even be used by ordinary people without corrupting their souls.

The properties of inferior Magic Equipment were unstable, and most came with severe side effects. Long-term use could lead to mental confusion, neurosis, or even the awakening of bizarre compulsions.

The Alchemist Fellowship had been founded by alchemists joining together to protect their own interests and avoid being exploited by the powerful.

The Fellowship was free-spirited and undisciplined, doing whatever it pleased and never taking sides. Ian's father had offered an enormous fortune in exchange for an Extraordinary Sequence, only to be rejected outright.

Ian had joined without spending a single coin, and he could even freely choose among several factions. It was truly unpredictable.

Ian's plan to make money began with the abilities of an alchemist. He did not possess many Magic Equipment blueprints, and he had not yet finished learning the complete principles of crafting, so Magic Equipment was out of consideration for the time being.

His first target was Enchanted Weapon Oil, the Alchemist Fellowship's newest achievement in recent years and the only alchemical product he had mastered proficiently.

[Enchanted Weapon Oil]: Enhances a weapon's sharpness and toughness without damaging its durability, while providing a slight anti-magic effect.

Formula II materials: medium-quality or better protein oil, Fragrant Mold Mushroom, unaligned Magic Stone powder, Coordination Crystal, Fiber Stone, and Low-Carbon Stone.

There were several formulas for Enchanted Weapon Oil, each producing weapon oil with slightly different properties. After investigating, Ian chose the most cost-effective one.

These materials were easy to buy in Paradise Port. Aside from Magic Stone powder and Coordination Crystals, they were all ordinary materials and did not cost much.

The Bounty Hunter Guild's permanent material shops were located along the inner side of the second floor. The spots near the entrance had been reserved by the guild for independent Bounty Hunters, which counted as a form of consideration for them.

Ian did not want to waste time carefully inspecting goods or haggling, so he headed straight for the shops on the inner side of the second floor.

Magician's General Store.

"Please prepare these materials for me."

Ian entered the store. Rather than picking out the materials himself, he handed a list to a clerk behind the counter.

"Hello, sir. Welcome to Magician's General Store. Please wait a moment."

The young clerk with a face full of freckles took the list with a bow and quickly scanned it. His eyes lit up with delight—it was a large order.

With a respectful expression, he said, "Sir, there are only three Coordination Crystals left. We have all the other materials in stock."

"Three will do. Prepare the rest as well."

The materials for a basic Alchemy Array, along with all the required ingredients, cost a total of forty-two gold coins—nearly all of Ian's savings.

The sixth floor of Breath of the Ocean.

"Seventy percent? We can accept that."

"What the hell are you talking about? That seventy percent belongs to them!"

"What?"

"Are they treating our Whaling Group like fools?!"

"Captain, we lost two ships and hundreds of brothers! And we only get thirty percent?!"

"Let's fight them..."

"..."

The room was in an uproar, with seven or eight people talking over one another in indignation.

"Shut up, all of you—"

A stout middle-aged man with a face full of thick gray-white beard and a pipe clenched between his teeth slammed it onto the long table with a smack.

"Lia, you explain."

A woman in tight black leather clothing that accentuated her particularly voluptuous figure stood up.

She looked to be in her twenties. Her skin was a cool pale shade, and her wine-red hair fell in waves. Her features were not especially delicate, but their lines were smooth and harmonious, giving her a languid air.

Unfortunately, a gray-black scar ran from her right ear to her chin. Its twisted, jagged shape was exceptionally vicious, utterly ruining that hint of beauty.

"Thirty percent has been valued at sixty-three thousand gold coins. Divine Grace Gold Coins! Of course, the exact amount will not be known until next month's auction ends, but it will only be more, not less."

The room instantly fell silent.

"Why has everyone stopped talking?!"

The woman crossed her arms, the corners of her lips curling slightly as she looked at the people before her with a trace of mockery.

"Is that true?! Boss, this isn't something to joke about!" A young man dressed in blue-black captain's attire, with his hair braided, looked utterly incredulous.

"Who said I was joking?"

"Boss, I was wrong. I wasn't questioning you just now..."

"Our Whaling Group really is only this smart because of you, Boss. Your head is full of wisdom—"

"Boss, working with the Alchemist Fellowship really was a wise choice..."

"..."

Captain Abigail was so angered by his subordinates that he laughed. They truly embodied the phrase "eyes only for money."

Although the Whaling Group had hunted a Sequence 5 Extraordinary creature, the Terror Blind Whale, how to handle it was no small problem.

If they sold it whole to the Extraordinary Association, they would receive no more than fifty thousand Divine Grace Gold Coins. But if they divided it up and sold it separately, it would take far too long. Besides, they had never handled materials of such a high level before, making waste and damage likely.

And the longer they waited, the more the spirituality in many of the materials would fade, lowering their value.

If they delivered it whole to the Alchemist Fellowship and merely cooperated in processing the materials, they could share thirty percent of the total proceeds. Judging by the results, it was an absolute windfall.

"Quiet—"

Captain Abigail suddenly grew solemn and raised a hand. The room immediately fell silent.

A vigorous wave of spirituality came from a corner downstairs.

In a guest room on the fifth floor of Breath of the Ocean, a simple Alchemy Array floated in the air. Complex array patterns had been etched into a low-purity silver plate with red lines. The nodes were so crude that Magic Stones had not even been set into them, with Magic Stone powder used in their place.

Ian was activating the array, preparing to refine Enchanted Weapon Oil.

Breath of the Ocean might not have been safe, but he had no other choice. He had not even set up a protective array, only applying an Emergency Guard—and that was mainly because he did not know how to make one!

But he did not care too much. With the Fate Card, his safety was guaranteed.

Besides, he had wandered around the chaotic Paradise Port for several days with a money pouch hanging from his waist, yet not a single fool had come looking for trouble.

You never knew what strange forbidden knowledge the Extraordinary profession across from you might possess. Unless there was an enormous benefit to be gained, rashly attacking another Extraordinary was practically asking to die.

At the low-level stages of Sequence 7 through 9, there was not much difference in combat strength between people.

Besides, ordinary people could not identify Extraordinary practitioners, but their bosses could.

That made Ian feel that Paradise Port's "residents" were especially "well-behaved."