Shadow Potion

Business was good after the shop opened. Because of the steady supply of antidote potions, more people ventured into the forest to gather herbs, and every one of them made sure to stock up on a bottle before leaving.

The antidote potions were especially affordable, with Excellent grade potions at 10 silver coins and Superior grade potions at 15 silver coins.

What? You say that's too expensive, and the cost is less than 3 silver coins?

Well, running a shop is about making a profit. Not only does Drew need to earn money, but the mayor needs his cut as well.

Besides, in the big cities, even ordinary antidote potions cost 10 silver coins. By the time a merchant caravan hauls them back to this small town, the price would certainly be higher than that.

Drew selling high-quality Excellent potions for only 10 silver coins is an absolute bargain.

You ask why he doesn't sell ordinary potions? Well, the lowest grade Drew can brew is Excellent. His skill level simply doesn't allow for ordinary potions; he doesn't have any in stock.

Furthermore, this price point was carefully considered. If you set the price too low, the townspeople would start to suspect the quality of your potions.

The current price is just right.

A few days later, someone arrived at Drew's doorstep.

The man seemed quite restrained. He stood at the door for a long while, constantly adjusting his clothes, hat, and shoes. His face was full of nervousness and apprehension.

Finally, he gathered his courage and knocked on Drew's door. A moment later, Drew came out to open the Space Gate. He didn't invite the guest inside, merely standing at the threshold to look at the visitor.

"My... my... my lord, greetings. I am Deke, the mayor's nephew. I am here to collect the potions." Deke took off his hat and clutched it nervously against his chest with both hands as he spoke.

"I know who you are. Here." Drew took a bag filled with antidote potions from behind him, handed it to Deke, and turned back into the house.

"My... my lord, please wait a moment."

"Is there something else?"

"The mayor says the stockpile of antidote potions is more than enough. He says you can stop brewing them until he contacts the merchants in the big cities. The market is saturated. Could you perhaps brew a new type of potion?"

Drew paused and looked at him, which immediately made the honest Deke nervous. He quickly lowered his head, not daring to meet Drew's gaze.

Drew pondered for a moment before saying, "Very well. Tell the mayor to come and collect the new potions in three days."

"Yes, my lord. I shall take my leave." Deke bowed and backed away slowly, only turning to leave once Drew had closed the door.

In truth, Drew knew the market for antidote potions was still vast, as all the ones he produced were of Excellent grade or higher.

The potions on the market were mostly ordinary or inferior, with a small amount of Excellent grade. Superior grade potions were nowhere to be seen, as they were all hoarded by those in the know.

After all, a good antidote potion can save a life.

Different grades of antidote potions have different ranges of efficacy. Sometimes you might be poisoned, but the potion you have on hand has a limited range and cannot neutralize that specific toxin.

In that case, having a potion is useless. It's not like a healing potion, where any grade will have some effect, just varying in strength. With an antidote, it can be a matter of life and death.

Therefore, there is a huge market for high-quality antidote potions. Otherwise, why do you think the townspeople were buying the Superior grade ones?

One must realize that most of what Drew produced were Superior grade antidote potions, but the ones left in the shop were only the Excellent ones.

Even ordinary people know that higher-quality potions are better. If the wealthy in the big cities found out about the Superior grade antidote potions here, they would scramble to buy them, hoarding them if they had to. The sales channel just hadn't been opened yet.

The mayor was definitely underestimating the market for antidote potions. In reality, he could have produced more, and they would have certainly sold out.

However, antidote potions are simple concoctions, and constantly brewing them no longer helped him understand alchemy. It was time to switch to a different potion for study.

What would be a good choice?

Drew began searching through Karen's memories again. Huh, it seems the original host spoke highly of a potion called the Shadow Potion.

Let's give this Shadow Potion a try.

The Shadow Potion is a concoction frequently used by thieves. It enhances the user's sensitivity when moving through shadows.

Once you drink this potion, as you walk through the shadows, it causes you to blend in with the surrounding darkness.

In this merged state, the user gains a hazy quality, making it easy for others to overlook them and difficult to be detected.

It was exactly this potion that Karen used when he went to capture the Stone-skinned Boar. By the time Karen got close, the Stone-skinned Boar hadn't even noticed him.

It's not that this potion can only be sold to thieves; it's just that it became famous due to the outstanding performance of thieves who used it, making it easy to associate the two.

In fact, the townspeople also have a great need for this potion.

It is extremely practical in the forest. The forest is filled with towering trees, and shadows are everywhere. If you use this potion within those shadows, most ordinary beasts will be unable to detect you.

In the forest, the most common cause of injury isn't poison, but beasts. When hunters are tracking beasts in the woods, they often need to hide in the bushes around their traps, waiting for the prey to fall in so they can capture it.

But the prey often spots the hunter and escapes, causing a whole day of waiting to go to waste.

With this potion, there is no fear of being discovered by prey. Moreover, while having prey escape in the forest is one thing, the truly terrifying part is that while you are stalking your prey, a predator might be stalking you.

It is not uncommon for hunters to be injured by wild beasts.

However, after drinking this Shadow Potion, even if a predator is within a meter of you, it may not be able to detect you in the shadows.

This greatly guarantees one's personal safety.

Therefore, this potion is quite good for those who make a living in the forest.

Alright, it is decided: the next research project will be the Shadow Potion.

The recipe for the Shadow Potion is the same as the Antidote, consisting of five non-magical ingredients.

The main ingredient, Shadow Herb, is produced in the forest. This herb grows in the shade of large trees and is often found alongside mushrooms.

It is a very common herb, abundant in quantity, and therefore very cheap—you can buy a portion for ten copper coins. Of the remaining four ingredients in the recipe, two are the same 'B' and 'D' materials used for the Antidote, and there is still plenty in the warehouse.

As for the other two remaining ingredients, some were also purchased previously.

After all, there are not many types of these non-magical herbs, and during the previous bulk purchase, Drew had people buy some of every variety.

Thus, the warehouse is fully stocked with materials for making the Shadow Potion.

The cost is less than 2 silver coins. Following the same process as making the Antidote, first extract, then activate the scan during blending for microscopic observation. Observation reveals the optimal blending ratio.

As expected, the Shadow Potion recipe also has slight differences in the composition of two ingredients.

After production, continue with grouped cross-comparison tests to determine the optimal formula.

Using the optimal formula to produce the Shadow Potion, the majority are still of Excellent quality, with the rest being Fine quality.

Drew takes out a bottle of Excellent quality Shadow Potion and goes to the small grove beside the house to conduct a test.

The test results show that after using the Excellent quality Shadow Potion, it is quite difficult to spot the user with the naked eye.

Unless you know someone is there from the start, if you don't, you won't be able to discover the user even if your eyes sweep over them.

Of course, someone with high mental power can still detect them if they focus.

The effect of this Excellent quality potion is quite heaven-defying; I wonder if a Perfect quality potion could achieve complete invisibility.

It is better to restrict the sale of high-quality potions; what if someone uses them for evil deeds?

Of course, this isn't out of a sense of justice, but rather the fear that someone might investigate and cause trouble, or that I might be exposed. It is better to avoid it if possible, so I will only sell the Common and Fine quality ones.

Someone might ask, where would the Common quality potions come from, since the lowest is supposed to be Fine quality?

I can only say your thinking is a bit narrow; can't one simply choose not to follow the optimal formula when making the potion?

If you don't follow the optimal formula, won't you get Common quality?

Alright, I will produce them for three days, and then have Deke come to pick up the goods.