"Ding-ding-ding—"
A crisp bell rang at the entrance as the silver-haired elderly lady looked up, gazing at the guest who had just entered the shop.
"Hello, how may I assist you today?"
"Good day, Ms. Julian."
Lin Mo observed the elderly lady before him—her attire refined yet not overly extravagant, her deanor elegant yet gentle. Compared to those arrogant brats strutting about the streets, soone like Ms. Julian clearly aligned much better with his ntal image of what "nobility" should represent.
"I'd like to purchase one primary health potion... and also, there's a small matter I'd like to request your assistance with."
"Certainly."
The elegant elderly lady spoke while retrieving a primary health potion from the nearby shelf, wrapping it carefully in soft cloth before handing it to Lin Mo.
"Although the potion bottles are made of relatively sturdy material, they still can't compare to tal. Please handle it with care."
"Understood."
Lin Mo nodded. Since his leather armor was currently being repaired at Edgar's forge, he carefully placed the potion in the inner compartnt of his backpack for now.
Speaking of which, this backpack needed replacing too. Earlier, while trying to carry those two pairs of bull horns, several holes had been punched through it. Fortunately, these holes didn't affect the inner layers, so he didn't need to worry about the potion falling out.
"So, what matter did you need help with, dear custor?"
Ms. Julian asked curiously.
Lin Mo took the opportunity to retrieve the fiery red potion and a small bead about the size of a fingernail from his bag.
"Oh?"
Ms. Julian's expression imdiately changed as she took these two items from his hand with keen interest.
"I wanted to ask about the effects of these two items."
Ms. Julian gently swirled the liquid in the bottle, carefully placed it on the reagent stand before her, then turned and entered the inner room. She erged about ten seconds later holding another fiery red potion.
These two potions... were identical!
To Lin Mo's eyes they appeared the sa, but to Ms. Julian's discerning gaze, they were worlds apart.
Picking up the potion Lin Mo had brought, she carefully compared them before sighing softly, "Indeed, there's quite a difference."
"This fla reagent must have co from the hands of an alchemy master at the very least. Its effectiveness surpasses my own potion by a full 30%!"
After collecting herself, she turned her attention back to her custor.
"My apologies for that display... This is a fla reagent that can slightly enhance a mage's affinity with fire-elental energies, increasing resonance efficiency with fire elents. Specifically, it moderately improves both casting speed and power of fire-elent spells."
Even without further explanation, just hearing the description made it clear how extraordinary this item was.
Ms. Julian examined Lin Mo's attire: "Were you planning to sell this potion, custor? Normally, such a primary fla potion would be worth around 600 gold coins, but given this specin's purity and craftsmanship level, I could offer 800 gold coins for it."
How much?
Lin Mo was completely stunned.
800 gold coins!
Even asured against the health potions he already considered quite valuable, this was enough to buy a full 53 bottles!
But even so...
"My apologies, Ms. Julian, I don't plan to sell it for now."
Although he currently had no clear path forward, he still wasn't ready to abandon the mage route. While this item was indeed incredibly valuable—and selling it now would make his upcoming adventures much smoother—such magical items were easy to sell but would be nearly impossible to repurchase later.
As Ms. Julian had said, this potion ca from an alchemy master's hands at minimum. Once he let go of such high-quality rchandise, it would be almost impossible for him to obtain anything similar in the foreseeable future.
Therefore, no matter what, Lin Mo couldn't bring himself to sell this potion.
"Very well..."
Ms. Julian nodded with so regret, then pointed at the fiery red bead on the table: "This is a fire-attributed magic stone, equally well-crafted and already tuned to frequency, ready for imdiate use. Its value is approximately 300 gold coins."
"And its function?"
"Similar to this potion."
Their effects were comparable, yet the price difference was more than double, which puzzled Lin Mo.
Ms. Julian patiently explained the reasoning behind this, making him imdiately understand the principle.
Simply put, the fla reagent provided permanent effects once consud, while the magic stone only worked when held or embedded in a staff.
The forr had no restrictions and didn't conflict with other elental reagents, but the latter couldn't be used multiple simultaneously without risking magical disruption.
"Thank you for your assistance, Ms. Julian."
Lin Mo stored the two magical items, hesitated for a mont, then finally asked: "I have one more question—do you know how one might obtain magical power?"
Ms. Julian didn't seem surprised by this question. His decision not to sell these items undoubtedly ant he cherished dreams of becoming a mage.
The vast majority of people on this continent wanted to beco mages, yet their numbers remained extrely scarce.
This profession demanded too much innate talent and too privileged a background.
She shook her head gently and said, "I'm sorry, but perceiving and mastering magical power requires prolonged practice and guidance. Moreover, there are certain differences in how alchemists and mages understand magical energy. I'm afraid I cannot help you in this regard."
Alright.
The expected outco. Lin Mo smiled with so disappointnt: "Thank you again for your help. I'll definitely return here for my next potion purchase."
Ms. Julian responded with a gentle smile: "I look forward to your next visit."
Exiting the alchemy workshop, Lin Mo stretched and glanced at the sky.
Still early. Ti to return to the inn for so rest.
He could co out again around evening for dinner, maybe get a massage while he was at it...
The mission wouldn't start until at least the day after tomorrow anyway. Might as well properly experience this different world's lifestyle during this day and a half.
Returning to his rented room, the accumulated fatigue from several days of travel imdiately pulled Lin Mo into deep sleep the mont he touched the bed, not waking until evening.
After rising, taking a bath, and changing into clean clothes, Lin Mo retrieved the "travel guide" he'd made during his leisure ti and headed to another popular local restaurant—the Silver Spoon.
Like the Hot Hearth Grill, this was also a relatively down-to-earth establishnt. However, unlike the forr's focus on grilled ats, the Silver Spoon's dishes were sowhat more refined and complex, though overall still maintained a holy level rather than reaching particularly fancy standards.
Lin Mo ordered several signature dishes that proved quite tasty, while incidentally eavesdropping on recent town gossip.
Such as that arrogant young lady Yunis who wouldn't hesitate to take lives at the slightest provocation.
It did sound rather excessive, but soone of that status likely wouldn't have any intersection with a re adventurer like himself.
While sipping his cream of mushroom soup, Lin Mo contemplated the matter of finding party mbers.
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