As soon as he stepped in, Mike was overwhelmed by the smell of the place. The store was filled with the riotous and choking scent of hundreds of different chemicals all rolled into one. Combined with the omnipresent dust, it would take someone with a decent Endurance to even enter through the front door, let alone peruse the shop's wares. He surprised that such a place could stay in business.
He glanced around the dimly lit chamber, examining the menagerie of unusual sights. It reminded him of an old antique store, filled with unusual treasure, but suffering from years of neglect. Bits and pieces of occult paraphernalia were scattered around the room. Shelves lined the walls, and tables covered the majority of the floor, both of which were covered in an odd assortment of vials, jars, boxes, and other miscellaneous alchemical accoutrements.
As far as Mike could tell, the proprietor wasn't present, so he spent some time wandering the floor, randomly appraising the things he found. The majority of it was composed of Tier 1 materials, some of which had the 'spoiled' condition listed in their description.
Spotting a pull cord hanging from the ceiling near something that looked like a sales counter, Mike gave it a tug, assuming it was some kind of signaling device. However, the cord refused to move, so he gave it a slightly harder pull. Still no luck. Finally, he jerked it hard, putting some of his enhanced strength to the task.
With an audible snap the cord broke.
[Whoops.]
Looking around for a place to put the now useless length of rope, he was startled by a wheezing cough from the depths of a nearby display. He quickly shoved the cord into the mouth of a stuffed bear head, before turning to face the person making the noise.
An ancient looking woman emerged from a pile of dusty furs, having blended in so thoroughly that if she hadn't moved, he wouldn't have noticed her at all. Dressed in a dirty gray dress, and stooped from age, she glared blearily around the store, before finally settling a pair of watery eyes on Mike.
"Don't recognize ye, boy. What are ye doing here?" The woman croaked grumpily.
Mike took a moment to use Appraise, before answering.
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Gail Ignathian
Age: 96
Race: Human
Class: Grand Alchemist
Title: Mistress of Mixtures
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[Well, at least I know I'm in the right place.]
"My apologies ma'am, I didn't mean to...wake you?" He shook his head before continuing. "I had hoped to buy a few alchemical goods."
"A customer then. I hate customers." The woman replied while shuffling over to stand in front of him. Mike didn't have any time to work his head around that paradox, before Gail spoke again impatiently. "Well, out with it. What do ye want? If ye can't tell, I don't exactly have a lot of time to waste."
[Weren't you just sleeping in a pile of old furs?] Mike kept the impolite thought to himself.
"I'd like to pick up a number of items." He said while fetching the list he'd built over the course of the last few hours.
Gail accepted it skeptically, while pulling a massive set of spectacles from the one of the many pockets of her apron. She squinted at it for a few minutes, before handing it back to him. "Hmph, what are ye, a novice? This is all basic stuff ye could get at any crafting supplies store."
[Good to know, I guess.]
"That's correct. I'm actually a student at the University, and I recently started practicing Alchemy. I had hoped to acquire the tools necessary to start working on it while at home." He replied in as ingratiating a voice as possible.
Taking off her glasses, Gail squinted up at him. "Ye'd best go find a supply store. I only sell to serious alchemists." Giving a dismissive wave, she turned and started walking back over to the fur pile, grumbling about 'interrupting her nap for such a thing.'
[Oh no, I'm not hunting for some other alchemy store in the midst of this confusing district. I refuse to give up.]
"Who said I wasn't a serious alchemist?" He asked sharply.
Gail gave him a cold glare over her shoulder. "Yer a beginner, plain and simple. Ye don't even really know what kind of tools ye need to ask for. Instead yer blindly trusting the guidance of some book, am I right?"
He had to give her that one. "Although that might be the case, it doesn't mean I am not seriously pursuing the path of alchemy. I have every intention of mastering this profession. In the short period of time that I've practiced it, the things I've seen and created have shown me that it's a course worth following."
"Ha, easy enough to say. Ye are still a novice. What could ye have made that was so impressive?"
Figuring that he would need to double down in the figurative sense, he wordlessly pulled a vial of coppery liquid out, and placed it on the counter. The sight of it caused Gail to freeze for a second, before she hurried over to inspect the item in question. Removing the stopper, she took a whiff.
"This is Panacea, although it's a low grade one. Where'd ye get this?" She asked in a slightly confused voice.
"I made it."
"Ha! Do ye have any idea how much effort is required to make this kind of potion? If any novice could do it, it wouldn't be such a rare item."
Frowning, Mike replied sternly. "I can prove it. Let me use your materials and equipment, and I'll make it in front of you."
The old woman grimaced while giving Mike a speculative look. "Yer asking a lot. When ye fail, I'll be the one to suffer a loss, while ye'll walk out of this store no poorer than when you entered it. Hardly fair."
"Then, why don't we make it a wager. If I can't make the panacea, I'll pay you for the materials and another 50 gold on top. However, if I can make it, I get to keep the product and you give me everything on this list, free of charge."
"Yer trying to rob an old woman! If ye win, I'll let you take half of the product, and I'll give you a 25% discount on the items you are looking for."
"I'll give you one quarter of the finished product, if you give me a 75% discount. Since you'll probably benefit from the recipe, it should be a small price to pay." He said, as he felt the familiar click of one his skills leveling up.
After a little grumbling, Gail reluctantly agreed, offering her hand to shake on the wager. "Alright, what do ye need for this little failure of yers?"
"A covered pot, a furnace box, and a mortar and pestle for the base equipment. As far as ingredients, I need a flask of Evernight Swamp Water, a Desiccated Basilisk Liver, and a red mana core."
"That'll get ye a powerful poison, but little else. Ye better have the money for all this." Gail commented, while hunting for the things he'd asked for in various places throughout the store.
Once everything was gathered, Mike started following the process he first used in class. All throughout, Gail was smirking arrogantly, as if completely certain of the outcome. However, we got to the point of adding mana infused water, her expression changed.
A look of sudden realization crossed her face, before it lapsed into deep concentration. Mike did his best to ignore the old woman while making the final adjustments. After a few minutes of waiting, the pot shook violently, before resting once again.
[That was a lot more violent than last time. I don't think I did anything differently, though. Hopefully, it turned out alright.]
Turning off the furnace box, he opened up the lid to reveal a simmering pool of coppery liquid.
[Whew. Looks like it worked.]
He was just about to turn to the old woman, smugly, when he caught a flash of a lighter color out of the corner of his eye. Welling up from the center of the pot, was a small stream of silver liquid that formed a film over the top of the concoction.
Gail sucked in her breath at the sight of it, and almost pushed Mike over in her rush to examine the product. In hushed tones, she muttered, "This is mid-grade. Boy, do ye have any idea what ye just did?"
"Won a bet, from the looks of it."
"Now's not the time to be cute, boy! Ye've just overturned centuries of alchemical research! If it's possible to make mid-grade panacea with such inexpensive ingredients…." She trailed off, as if trying to imagine the outcome, before snapping her gaze back at him. "Who else knows this recipe?"
"A couple companions of mine, but no one else." He said with more confidence than he felt. There wasn't anyone paying attention to him when he made the first batch in class, was there?
"That's good. If this had gotten out, there would be riots." With nimble and experienced fingers she removed the top layer of mid-grade panacea and poured it into a glass vial. There was barely enough of the silver fluid to fill it. Suspecting that the woman was planning on hiding the vial away, he took a moment to use Appraise on it.
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{Mid-Grade Panacea}
Alchemical Potion (Tier 3, Rank 5)
Said to have been first refined by the Star Elves, panaceas are the most well-known and well respected type of alchemical remedies. Depending on the grade, they can treat virtually any illness or cure almost any poison.
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[About what I expected.]
Mike held his hand out, urging Gail to return the vial. She clutched at it protectively for a moment, before reluctantly handing it to him. Although, her gaze remained fixed to it as he moved to set it down next to the low-grade panaceas he'd been filling absentmindedly.
"Alright, ye won. I'm a lady of my word, so I won't be trying to cheat. How about I take that vial over there, and in exchange, ye can have the rest. I'll even throw in a selection of equipment and starter ingredients. I promise it'll work out better for you than your list." Gail could barely conceal the greed in her eyes. Evidently, she really desired this Mid-Grade Panacea for some reason.
Although, he still didn't really need the potion, thanks to his skills, he suspected that it would be quite valuable based on the price commanded by its lower grade equivalents.
"How about this? I'll let you have it, but in exchange I'll take the set of equipment and ingredients, the rest of the panacea, AND," He emphasized this word for effect, "I want your assistance in future alchemical endeavors. Ingredients, equipment, and guidance, all for a discounted price."
"You're asking too much. Valuable though that vial may be, it is not worth obligating myself to you in such an open-ended way."
"Then, how about this?" Mike replied with a smile, "Help me with my work, and I'll make sure to provide you with some of the more valuable products at a steep discount."
Gail looked indecisive, gaze wandering back to the vial of silver fluid.
[All I need is another push.]
"Look, I've been practicing Alchemy for less than a week, and I've already discovered a recipe capable of revolutionizing the field. Just think about what I can accomplish with the assistance of a skilled mentor."
"Fine. You win. I can't pass that up, even if you are robbing me in the process." Gail sighed, and offered her hand to shake on it.
"It's a deal, then."