Chapter 10. How to Make Money Quickly
Fulan arrived at the Alchemists’ Association and directly handed over her recomndation letter.
The receptionist took it and slowly read the contents written on it.
“Recomnded by mber Lita… Fulan as a new mber. So you are Fulan.”
Fulan nodded. She then filled out a form. After the receptionist collected it, she said,
“Welco to the Alchemists’ Association. Would you like to introduce the Association to you?”
“Yes, please.”
“The Alchemists’ Association is responsible for managing all registered alchemists. All mbers who join must observe the following rules:
First: You must not disclose potion-making thods to non-mbers.
Second: You must not sell potions privately. Violators will be held accountable by the Association.
Third: Any potion you produce will be purchased by us.
…”
“All potions will be purchased? If soone keeps brewing the sa potion repeatedly, would that not cause you to lose money?”
The receptionist patiently explained.
“The prices of raw materials are not fixed. If a material sells in large quantities, its price naturally rises, and the purchase price of the potion will decrease accordingly. The difference will not be too large.”
“I see!”
Fulan morized this crucial piece of information.
It seed that she could not simply brew a single type of potion. She would need to produce several varieties if she wanted to earn more money.
She looked at the material price list handed to her by the receptionist. The first things she noticed were the three ingredients for the Strength Potion: Blood-Feed Flower, animal at, and Weathered Crystal.
The prices here were much lower than outside.
On average, the cost of the three materials was nearly one-third cheaper than market prices. Fulan could not help but click her tongue in amazent.
Joining the Association certainly had its advantages.
Normally, she would choose a potion, purchase the materials, brew it, sell the result, and then use the profit to purchase more materials—a complete cycle.
However, the only thing she currently held was the list of material prices. Potion formulas required additional paynt.
She saw many inexpensive materials but had no idea what potions they could produce.
If she randomly bought a formula and discovered that the potion had the lowest profit margin, she would be trapped in an unprofitable cycle.
She quickly found herself hesitating.
When faced with a problem, Fulan had a good habit: she asked directly.
“Which potion here makes the most money?”
The receptionist nearly choked on the question.
It was the first ti she had encountered soone asking sothing so bluntly. After pausing for a mont, she answered tactfully.
“Well… as long as a potion is successfully brewed, it will generate profit.”
Not every set of materials produced a successful potion.
Even experienced alchemists with years of experience could not guarantee a perfect success rate.
Only alchemists who had brewed hundreds or even thousands of a particular potion could approach a near-perfect success rate.
In most cases, the cost of materials was directly tied to the potion’s selling price.
Generally speaking, the price of a potion equaled the cost of several sets of materials.
However, newcors could not easily profit from this system.
Without experience, beginners rarely earned money from alchemy.
New alchemists needed to accumulate several potion formulas, understand their own success rates, and constantly monitor the fluctuating prices of materials.
If the receptionist recomnded a potion and Fulan failed repeatedly to produce even a single bottle, what if she ca back to complain?
So the receptionist could only answer in this vague manner.
Fulan quickly realized that this question would not produce a useful answer, so she changed her approach.
“Then which potion currently sells the most?”
“Energy Potion.”
This question was easy to answer, since the potion had extrely high demand and a very stable supply of materials.
As the na suggested, an Energy Potion restored energy when consud.
It was extrely popular in the City of Apprentices.
After all, when soone beca exhausted from practicing spells, drinking one could instantly restore their vigor.
Unlike coffee or energy drinks on Earth, this potion possessed genuine magical effects. Even if soone was truly exhausted, the potion’s effect would keep them energized for its duration.
Of course, drinking too many would certainly cause problems.
“Give the formula and twenty sets of materials.”
---
Fulan returned to the Alchemists’ Association again.
This ti, however, the receptionist had changed.
Fulan removed all the potions from her large backpack and placed them on the counter.
“Fifteen bottles. I am selling them all.”
In truth, she had produced eighteen bottles.
Only two had failed during the process—one at the beginning and one in the middle due to mistakes.
She did not sell all eighteen.
Based on the potion prices and material costs she had previously observed, and rembering how the previous receptionist had repeatedly hinted that success rates were usually low, she had kept three bottles for herself.
She considered them personal use.
Energy Potions were actually quite useful.
If people discovered that her success rate in potion-making was unusually high, she suspected it might cause trouble.
However, despite all her careful planning, Fulan had not anticipated one thing.
The price of Energy Potions had increased.
And not by a small margin.
“According to the Association’s current purchase price, these fifteen bottles are worth a total of one hundred thirty-two silver coins and seventy-eight copper coins.”
One silver coin was equal to one hundred copper coins.
The price had risen that much?
According to the purchase price she had seen earlier, fifteen Energy Potions should have been worth around ninety silver coins.
This increase was enormous.
“So the price of Energy Potions is this high now? I might start brewing them as well.”
Several alchemists nearby had been chatting while Fulan conducted her transaction. One of them spoke with interest after seeing the situation.
“You have never brewed Energy Potions before, have you? If you start learning now, it would be impressive if you manage to produce even one successful potion out of five attempts before this price surge ends.”
“Only that many? I produce one Concentration Potion every three attempts. Would that success rate be enough?”
“Probably not.”
“Do not be fooled by how many Energy Potions sell every day. There are many masters who have brewed them for years. Their proficiency is extrely high, yet even they only succeed once every three attempts. That should tell you how difficult this potion is.”
Listening to the surrounding conversations, Fulan realized that selling so many potions at once had drawn so attention.
If things went poorly, people might even realize that her success rate was unusually high.
Fortunately, the receptionists worked in shifts.
And now that she had already co this far, backing out without selling would only attract even more suspicion.
She would simply have to be more careful in the future.
The reason her success rate was so high was because when she successfully brewed an Energy Potion for the first ti, she gained two hundred proficiency points.
Each additional bottle granted fifty more proficiency.
This allowed her Pharmacology skill to quickly reach the Proficient level.
She had also unlocked a new trait.
[Experienced Alchemist: When brewing potions you have previously crafted, your speed and precision increase. The more tis you brew the potion, the greater the improvent.]
She believed that before reaching the Proficient level, her success had mostly been luck. She had simply happened not to fail.
But when brewing the final few bottles, this trait had made the difference.
By that point she could barely maintain concentration, yet she could still complete the process almost instinctively.
Only one bottle had failed.
“Give the formula for Healing Potion and ten sets of materials.”
She had discovered that successfully brewing a potion for the first ti granted a large amount of proficiency.
From now on, her plan was simple.
She would buy ten sets of materials for every new potion.
And farm proficiency until it was maxed out.
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