In a building filled with instruments, books, potions and herbs is Mr. Navarro.
'I can't believe they gave me ten gold to make this, but considering that I've failed seven times already, it's understandable'
*Plop*Plop*Plop*
Navarro thought as he stirred the boiling green liquid in his cauldron.
'But this potion...are they planning to kill a high-ranking mage?'
Navarro couldn't think of any other reason as to why they would want a mana freezing potion.
But…
'Oh well, minding my own business seems to be the best course of action. To die because of poke nosing, that would be a very bad joke'
He then took a flower similar to a rose with green roots, but with a head like a dandelion and dark purple leaves.
It was the main ingredient to finish the concoction, the amethyst plant. It was held in a jar, a magical item that retains the mana of any object put in it.
The amethyst plant was a tricky one. It was a relatively harmless plant, but was instead very fragile. The moment it is uprooted from the soil, the essence condensed in it would disperse, which causes it to die in a matter of seconds.
Those who would uproot it had to be lightning fast in freezing it or containing it in a place that would stop mana dispersion, like the magic jar.
This was why it was sold for 100 gold per piece.
Seven hundred gold had already been wasted on the last seven failed attempts, and a hundred more on the other ingredients.
That was Alchemy for you. A real money burner.
Navarro had been staring at the small cauldron while closely observing the reaction of the new batch of ingredients.
The other thing an Alchemist needed to have was a clear sense of time and boundless patience.
A second could be the decisive factor of whether a concoction became defective or not.
Navarro, who stared at the concoction closely, found what he was looking for. A part of the green liquid had become black.
No time could be wasted as Navarro moved his body and opened the jar to let the plant fall in.
It was actually the leaves that were needed, but Navarro didn't have the expertise to remove it without all its essence dispersing.
With that out of the way came the next step. The boiling temperature had to be just right, and Navarro used his mana to keep the flames at a constant intensity, not going higher or lower.
A minute passed and the concoction became smaller but grew more and more volatile, and at this point, had fully turned a dark blue color.
Then…
*BOOM!*
An explosion occurred as Navarro rapidly backed away. His cauldron, like the other times, was charred black and had bent.
But that didn't stop him from hastily moving to check the contents of the smoking cauldron.
But…
'It's dried up'
It was empty…or so he thought, because he saw a blob of purple blue liquid.
With haste, he lifted the hot cauldron and grabbed a nearby vial, before hurriedly using mana to take out the liquid that was rapidly evaporating, dumping it into the vial and closing it shut.
*Deep Breath*Deep Breath*
Navarro fell on his butt, exhausted mentally and physically from the stress. He nevertheless used sheer willpower to stop himself from taking a quick nap as he got up to see if he was a little more lucky than last time.
And when he starred as the vial…he couldn't help but shout!
"YES!"
Yes, he had done it, and with that, he quickly changed his working clothes and found his way to the hotel Cabrera was staying in.
—---------
*Click*
"Where's Cabrera?" Navarro asked Ruby while panting heavily. He had run all the way here.
"He's at the training grounds, and you don't look so we'll, please sit here" Ruby said as she led the panting Navarro to a seat.
"Is there something you wish to give him?" Ruby asked.
"This" Navarro said, giving her the potion, before continuing…
"He said to get it done as soon as possible. Please give it to him for me" Navarro said before falling asleep.
A sleep he was definitely needing.
"I will do so. You should just sleep" Ruby said, before putting the vial somewhere safe and going back to work.
'I'll give it to him once he arrives' she thought, going back to her reading.
She was also taking classes, but that was at dusk. She would work in the morning by strolling through some alleyways dressed like a beggar to collect information, before coming to work in this place in the afternoon.
A silver internal cultivation mana technique was taught to all of the kids doing classes, and it turns out that ruby was one of the most talented, along with James, Simon, and a few others.
The other children were being taught to collect information and Fredrick had recently hinted that they might learn combat techniques soon enough.
Enough food was given to them, but the game big brother (Ezra) had made since the first day was now routine, only with slight differences.
Half of the children would share a plate while the other half would eat two plates each.
It was sometimes decided by answering a question, fulfilling a mission within a limited time frame, or a competition for who could do the best exercises or who would last longest.
Mr. Fredrick had also said that there would be actual fighting after they learnt mana techniques and chose their path.
As for when that would be? They weren't told.
As the children got better and learned faster, the competition got fiercer and tougher each passing day as they were now split into two groups.
Meanwhile, Nathan had set up a branch in Kingsmere.
He was going to set up another merchant organization after the biggest parts of the scheme were over.
One would be filled with the talented, and the other would be filled with the average person.
Having geniuses compete with you and win every time can be a big blow to self-esteem and confidence.
Ezra didn't want to see that as he knew from experience how it felt, and knew that even mediocre people had their strong points.
It wasn't known to many, but the guild members were also taking classes to learn how to read and write.
Of course, they did it in the same building where they slept.
They couldn't go back to the bar, as that would cause too many eyes to focus on the bar, which is completely counterproductive to the plan.
Many eyes were already watching them carefully ever since they came out of their inactive state and started training.
The three mid gangs especially. They were only waiting for Cabrera to make a move.
Other guilds had tossed such information aside.
All the guilds centered in the cities around the capital were at least C-rank, and the Clans didn't even spare them a glance.
A G-rank guild with the leader at the intermediate rank, what sort of joke was that?
And with thoughts like these, Black Jaws was cast aside, which unknowingly had helped them very much.
The other reason while Black Jaws was still left alone was because no guild had its headquarters in the capital, only a few informants and scouts for possible prospects.
Why was it so? Well, while guilds would like to expand their influence into the capital, it was the home ground of the royals.
Trying to expand within someone's house was something they had to do with extreme care.
And the capital housed the abode of the emperor.
There was once a guild war that caused him to break out from seclusion, and that day…both guilds were wiped out with most of the members killed.
Only dregs of the guilds remained after he was done.
Other guilds immediately went packing and departed for the other nearby cities.
It was also why Ezra made sure to be in the palace before anything happened.
The gangs already knew about the kid that robbed more than half of the chance stores in Kingsmere.
Assassins had been sent to kill Ezra, but those who died in their hands were unknowing kids.
—----------------
*Click*
The door was unlocked.
*Crunch*Snap*Snap*
"Aw, broke like seven bones today…it's a new record"
"Really, got eleven fractures over here though"
"I can feel it, I'm stepping on the path to the next level" another exclaimed.
The gang members had arrived after knight training and the last to enter was Cabrera, who shouted…
"Alright boys, stop whining and move your cheap asses. You have classes after this, remember?"
The moment they heard the last part…
"No!!"
"Not that"
"This is torture"
"Shouldn't we get a break or something?" another said.
"Well, if you want to die on the expedition, then you're free to do so" the boss said.
"Where are we going anyway?" another asked as this wasn't the first time they've heard that statement.
"You'll know when you need to know, and that'll be in two weeks. Now, get moving to class!" Cabrera shouted.
"Whew, let's hope they all survive the coming storm" he muttered, but even he knew it was almost impossible.
At this moment…
"Mr. Cabrera" Ruby called, before moving toward him and handing him the vial.
"What's this?" he asked.
Ruby raised an eyebrow before saying…
"It's the potion that you asked Mr. Navarro to make"
"Ohh, then I have somewhere to go" Cabrera said as took the vial, put it away somewhere in his clothes and said…
"Thank you"
…before bolting off.
—---------------
*Slow knock*Slow knock*.
"Who's there?" a voice said from the other side.
"It's Cabrera" Cabrera answered.
"You will die…
A short code, which Cabrera completed with…
…only when I am to die"
A crazy password for sure.
*Click*
The door opened and Cabrera, who was now disguised, went in.
Five minutes passed before Cabrera came out.
Since a lot of pieces were moving, Fredrick couldn't be frequenting the bar like he used to and would only arrive after dusk these days.
Cabrera gave James the potion vial and left.
He visited the chance stores whose owners were Ezra's slaves to pick up a few items before heading back.