Alchemist Rex

"Allen, where have you been all these days? You haven't even come to give me any business." Allen smiled at him. "I only just got back from Silverpine Forest. I couldn't help it." "Ah." He sighed, then told Allen, "Allen, I might not be running a stall here anymore. My family found out about you. They think I can win you over, so my standing in the family has risen again." Allen looked at him in surprise. "Isn't that a good thing? Why are you sighing?"

"No, Allen, you don't understand what it feels like to be a tool, taken out when you're useful and put away when you aren't. Ah, I should have known. That's how families are." Allen also knew that these small families would do anything to grow and expand. Family honor was more than just talk. But there was nothing he could do to help George. Only George could make his own choice, and he had already made it.

"All right, enough of that. Here, take this. I'll be working here from now on. You're welcome to come find me. Of course, I'll still supply you with alchemy materials. Our friendship won't change because of this." Smiling, he pressed a business card into Allen's hand, then left.

Afterward, Allen still did not return outside the city. Instead, he wandered around the bustling marketplace. Before long, afternoon arrived, and he headed to Chris's Tavern at the right time.

The tavern was always lively, no matter the hour. He began looking around and soon noticed a mage sitting by a window. The man looked no different from other mages, but the Alchemist's uniform he wore caught Allen's attention. His instincts told him that this mage was Rex.

He walked straight over and said, "Hello, Master Rex. I'm Allen." The mage responded, "Oh, hello. I received word that you completed my task. Incredible. You look so young." Allen smiled at him. "Never mind what I'm like. What matters is that I brought you this." He placed the Winter Mushroom directly on the table.

Rex carefully turned it over and inspected it. Only after confirming that everything was in order did he speak. "You're right. Then let's get straight to the point. First, tell me how much you intend to give me." Allen thought for a moment and answered, "About three portions."

Rex was a clever man. He could tell from Allen's words that he must have more than that. So he said, "Mage Allen, you know there aren't actually many uses for a material like Winter Mushroom. If you plan to sell it elsewhere, I doubt you'll get a good price. Why not sell it to me? How about 250 gold coins per portion?"

Allen began calculating rapidly in his head. Each portion was a little over an ounce, and an ounce here was roughly twelve grams in his previous life. If he sold everything, he could sell thirteen portions at most, for 3,250 gold coins. That sounded like a lot, but he was not satisfied. Besides, what he wanted now was the finished product. He very much doubted whether what Rex called one portion could really produce only one dose. Who knew whether he was being deceived?

He then told Rex his requirements outright. "I want the finished product. Forget the gold." Rex was not surprised and offered new terms. "Then how about one finished dose for every three portions? It has to be refined, after all, and I'll have to put in plenty of other materials myself." Allen shook his head. "At that rate, I could only get three doses."

Rex was unimpressed and tried to persuade him further. "Mage Allen, I'm already being very generous. Three portions of materials for one finished dose is an excellent deal."

But Allen called him out without hesitation. "You're the one who decided how much counts as a portion. Who knows whether it's enough for two doses or three? I don't have the formula, so naturally you can say whatever you like."

Rex began to realize that Allen was not easy to fool. Finally, he asked, "Mage Allen, let's hear your terms." Allen told him, "Three portions of materials for two finished doses." Rex immediately rejected Allen's terms and even cursed him as a "shameless profiteer" engaging in "despicable aristocratic behavior." The two began arguing.

Thirty minutes later, neither had managed to persuade the other, so Rex proposed a compromise. "Mage Allen, this is pointless. How about this? Give me twelve portions of materials, and I'll give you two finished doses plus an alchemy formula. How about the formula for a Purification Potion?"

Allen immediately objected. "Impossible. That's only a Purification Potion. Unless it's a mana potion, you'll have to provide two other formulas." They began haggling again. In the end, Allen and Rex reached a final agreement: twelve portions of Winter Mushroom in exchange for three finished doses and two formulas.

After reaching an agreement, Allen and Rex signed a contract and submitted it to the Association as proof. Allen received the two formulas on the very day they struck the deal: one for a Purification Potion and the other for a Lesser Speed Enhancement Potion. The Purification Potion was considered the best-known mana-restoring potion in Dalaran, a potion frequently used by low-rank mages. It was only slightly less famous than the Healing Potion, but it sold extremely well in Dalaran. After all, mages were more numerous than anyone else there.

The Lesser Speed Enhancement Potion was also quite practical. Similar potions included strength, mana, and stamina varieties, among others. He had chosen the speed variety not only because he was not a mage and could not use mana-enhancing potions, but also because a speed potion could save his life at a critical moment.

After obtaining the two potion formulas, he began buying the necessary materials wherever he could while immediately setting to work studying the formulas. A week later, Rex handed him the finished products: three sticks that looked like incense used in Buddhist worship, except that they were white, which looked a little strange. According to Rex, this medicine was used by lighting it, and it only worked on mages below rank three. Above rank three, the accumulation of mana would be too great for it to have any effect.

Allen, however, had no such concern. He tried it that very night. The strange incense had an extremely pronounced effect on him, producing even faster growth than he had experienced during the savages' ritual in Silverpine Forest. Based on that brief test, he estimated that the three sticks would last six hours at most, roughly equivalent to seven years of his cultivation. That was already an astonishing result.

He hid the three sticks of incense away with great care. He did not intend to use them all immediately. Continuous use would not only waste some of their effects but also make his Mental Power unstable. After each use, he would therefore have to cultivate for several days to adjust to the increase in his Mental Power. At that pace, he would need at least a month. After all, he had other things to do and could not spend all his time cultivating.

The next day, Allen emerged from practicing his cultivation mantra. The incense seemed to have some kind of stimulating effect on the mantra he practiced. When he had used the incense the day before, he had felt that practicing the mantra was faster and smoother than before, and his Mental Power had increased a little faster as well.

After waking, he put cultivation out of his mind. He now had to master these two alchemy formulas as soon as possible, especially the Purification Potion. This potion was far more profitable than the Healing Potion. After all, mages were the truly wealthy people in this world.

Of course, the Purification Potion was harder to refine than the Healing Potion. It had two more main ingredients than the Healing Potion, so preserving its medicinal properties and maintaining balance were more than a notch harder.

Of course, he was no longer the person he had been as an apprentice, and he had some confidence in handling these two alchemy formulas. A month later, he successfully produced a finished potion: an inferior Purification Potion. The amount of mana it could restore to a mage was pitifully small, but regardless, it was indeed a finished product.

After that, he went to inquire about the market price of Purification Potions. In Dalaran, they generally sold for around two to three gold coins, a full three to four times the price of a Healing Potion. Of course, if he sold them in bulk, the price would certainly be somewhat lower. After deducting the cost of raw materials, at his current success rate of forty percent, he would earn about one gold coin per vial. That was a little less than he had expected, but certainly more profitable than Healing Potions.

After successfully refining the potion, his next task was to raise his success rate. It eventually settled at around fifty percent, about the same as an ordinary Alchemist's, and he could no longer improve it. During that month, he had also been studying the other potion formula and had produced a finished product, but its success rate had never improved.

The enhancement potions he refined generally only increased his speed by ten percent. However, he did not intend to make many of them, because this type of potion was not particularly expensive and would not sell for much. He would be better off spending that time making Purification Potions, so he paid little attention to it.

Over a little more than a month, he had used up almost all the incense that increased his Mental Power, and his Mental Power had risen considerably. He now had less than one portion of Winter Mushroom left, nowhere near enough to exchange for a finished dose, so he kept it. He had originally planned to return to Silverpine Forest, but the weather was now growing warmer, and the forest no longer provided the conditions it needed to grow. He would therefore have to wait another year.

During that year, he attended mage gatherings, but most of the mages there were low-rank mages. Their research into magic was not even as advanced as his. Most relied on learning Runes to cast spells, and Runes were also what they discussed most. Many mages had only a partial understanding of magical theory.

Some even believed that none of this mattered, as long as they could cast powerful spells. After attending a few times, he no longer wanted to go. These mages struck him as having been corrupted by power, knowing only how to pursue greater power without even understanding its nature. This ran counter to the spirit of the earliest mages.