"A promise?"
Mage Samir was slightly taken aback. Then, as if remembering something, he lightly slapped his forehead and said, "I was so excited to see the Edulo Potion successfully prepared that I nearly forgot... I spent almost half a month wearing that old fellow down, and I even gave him the method for refining Mithril into an Alchemical Monster. Only then did I get this piece of Centuries-Old Cold Marrow in exchange."
"Whoosh."
As Mage Samir spoke, he took a huge sealed glass vat from his ring. The enormous vat was the size of a washbasin and completely airtight. Within its thick glass walls lay a crystal-clear, pale-white chunk of ice.
Merlin's gaze sharpened slightly. He had seen such glass vats in the Tower of Myriad Phenomena. Such exquisitely made, thick glass containers were rare alchemical products; they required at least a hundred Contribution Points to obtain. A glass vat alone was nearly comparable to an ordinary casting tool.
Yet now, this glass vat was used merely to hold a chunk of ice crystal. Without question, this was the Centuries-Old Cold Marrow Merlin had dreamed of obtaining.
Mage Samir said with a smile, "This is the Centuries-Old Cold Marrow. That old fellow treasured this piece and hid it away for more than ten years. If he had not coveted my Mithril alchemy methods for so long, he probably would not have so readily traded this Centuries-Old Cold Marrow to me."
"Mage Samir, you may examine it and see whether this is the Edulo Potion."
After seeing the Centuries-Old Cold Marrow in Mage Samir's hands, Merlin directly handed over the prepared Edulo Potion. Mage Samir then likewise gave the Centuries-Old Cold Marrow to Merlin.
Even through the thick glass vat, the Centuries-Old Cold Marrow still gave off a bone-piercing chill.