Looking at the time, there was less than an hour left to arrive at the time agreed with the client, Franz began to speed up his pace to arrive as soon as possible.
Creating the potion had actually taken much longer than estimated, causing Franz to have to hurry if he didn't want to look bad in front of the customer.
No matter where, punctuality will always be something that should be respected as much as possible.
Fortunately, Franz's speed was quite good and the Chimera partnership was not far from where Franz was today. Although he would have preferred to take a taxi, the reality is that he no longer had money with him, he could have asked his parents for money, but Franz was a little embarrassed to do so after having boasted that he would soon become rich.
Nepheli was also out of the question, right now she was going through her advancement to the second grade, so she couldn't be interrupted in any way and the reason why she didn't ask Ron for money was rather because she forgot and since she had reached halfway through, it was a bit silly to borrow money at this point.
. . . . . .
Luckily it didn't take Franz more than 40 minutes to get to the Chimera association, leaving him enough time to take a breather, he took out a storage watch that Ron had lent him to keep the two samples of the potion safe.
As his consciousness entered the clock, his eyes clouded and darkened a bit.
In his hand was now a note that he took out of the storage clock along with a few bills that added up to 1,200 credits.
The note read as follows; I know you have a bit tight pockets, use this money in case you need to take a taxi or other transportation.
Franz crumpled the note with his hand that was now a fist, with a sulky voice he muttered – Because waiting for me to check the clock, I had to take shortcuts and use my maximum speed hoping that the law would not fine me for exceeding the speed limit allowed to practitioners of mana-
Sighing, Franz couldn't regret not checking the watch beforehand, he was already on the spot either way and if things went well, then he could scold Ron later.
- Excuse me, are you Franz? A soft, warm voice asked that surprised Franz and pulled him out of his thoughts.
The person was actually a fairly well-dressed man, you could think that he was about to go to a gala party or an important event because of how he was dressed.
But the most surprising thing was his appearance, a jovial and soft appearance, anyone would feel safe by his side if one could say so.
Pulling those strange thoughts out of his head, Franz held out his hand to the person as he replied – That would be me, it's a pleasure, you should be Alan Solitas, right? –
- You're right, I'm glad you remember me, it's usually reception who contacts customers, but I was able to recognize you because you're already somewhat famous within the Chimera association – said the man named Alan Solitas.
Feeling flattered, Franz decided to invite Alan first to speak privately in a private room, in order to speak more calmly, because it was actually the first time they had spoken, as Alan mentioned that the reception was the one who was in charge of carrying out an agreement between the two parties at least for the first meeting.
Speaking of which, Franz wanted to slap himself in the face, without Ron's money he didn't know how he could rent a room without money, nor could he ask for an advance or for the client to pay, since there was supposed to be trust between the two parties to carry out the deal, plus no association would allow its own members to do dirty things so as not to tarnish the name of their own association.
- Does it say that you are able to cure mana deficit for sure? Isn't it? – Alan asked who sounded a little tired, but hopeful at the same time.
- Of course, from what I could hear, one of your beasts suffers from a very serious case of mana deficiency, right? –
Alan nodded and Franz asked him to show his beast so that he could get an idea of the seriousness of the matter.
Alan did as Franz asked him and from a beast storage clock he took out a Red salamander, a bronze beast that could easily turn into a silver beast if he had the right environment and evolve into a fire salamander.
"This is..." Carefully touching the Red salamander, Franz's look serious as he looked at Alan for an explanation.
- His name is Red Scale, he was born with a mana deficit, at first I tried to cure him with various treasures that could alleviate or cure the mana deficit, however, over time his illness not only did not get alleviated, but worsened, as you can see, now the mana in his body is not even enough to keep his fire core working, I'm afraid that if I don't manage to cure him, he could die due to lack of heat and mana – Alan replied very distressed as he looked at the sad gray scales of his beast that should actually be a deep red.
Franz looked at the salamander called the red scale, feeling sorry for the little boy, as he must have been suffering a lot, although mana was not essential for common life forms, beings such as the Golem, fairies or red or fire salamanders were different, because not having a constant supply of mana would make them die over time, just what was happening to the poor man in Franz's arms.
"Could you leave us alone Alan, maybe I can cure him, but I'm not 100 percent sure either due to his current condition" Franz said, he wasn't sure of the effectiveness of the potion, although the mysterious screen had shown him some things hard to believe possible, it was still uncertain how reliable he really was and Franz of course wasn't arrogant enough or heartless enough to assure someone that he could save him. His beast with all confidence, in the trade of dealing with beasts, you always had to expect the worst to be prepared.
And although he seemed confident before, it was actually because he didn't expect little Red Scale to be so weak.
- Sure, just let me reassure you - Alan approached Red Scale for a few seconds and muttered a few words while stroking her head, after that, he looked at Franz and nodded as he left the private room.
Franz again approached Red Scale and touched him with his hand, he wanted to know if the little guy's condition was still treatable through the mysterious screen.
Red Salamander (Bronze): Red scale.
Current Kingdom: Second Grade Beast.
Status: Mana Deficit (Treatable) +
Skills:
Fire Corps (C) (Beginner)
Gift of Fire (D) (Mastered)
Flaming Shot (D+) (Illuminated)
-+
Letting out a sigh of relief, little Redscale's condition was still treatable, so without hesitation I talk to the little guy.
- Little one, I need you to drink what I'm going to give you, I promise you'll be fine once you drink it, so could you drink it for me? Franz said in the most reassuring voice he could make.
The little boy looked at him for a long time before nodding and making a few small sounds of consent, also indicating his great intelligence as a beast.
With the consent of little Red Scale, Franz no longer hesitated and poured the potion made by Ron over the little guy's mouth, he showed an expression of displeasure once the liquid of the potion touched his jaws, however, knowing in advance that it was something that could help him he swallowed the liquid, although with a lot of disgust because it had a bitter taste typical of many liquid medicines.
After Red Scale finished swallowing the potion, all that was left was to wait, so he asked Alan to come back inside to take care of Red Scale while the potion worked.
- Hey Alan, can I ask you why you resorted to the Chimera association?, I mean, we do not specialize as doctors of beasts despite the fact that some of us are capable of healing certain diseases and wounds with the help of some innate skills or talents - Franz asked somewhat confused.
- About that... - Alan hesitated a little before saying - It's just that... in my desperation I went to talk to a fortune teller magician hoping to find some miracle that would help me heal Red Scale and she told me that I could find help here, then I heard from you by chance and here we are – said Alan who was dying of shame inside.
Franz was speechless by the answer, but he didn't say anything, in fact, he admired Alan for not giving up on helping his beast, as cruel as it sounds, many tamers used to discard or sell their beasts once they became useless to them.
In fact, Franz was worried about Pom Pom who could only ascend to the second degree because that is the limit for iron beasts, but he would fix that later, his talent only limited him to one beast at a time, but he had decided that he would go all the way with him.
- At first I had my doubts, but I see that the old woman was right, I was really able to find a miracle here - Alan said who looked at the scales of his beast that had now turned red again.
Franz was also happy for Alan and relieved at the same time, because the potion had really worked.
Red Salamander (Bronze): Red scale.
Current Kingdom: Second Grade Beast.
Status: Recovering.
Skills:
Fire Corps (C) (Beginner)
Gift of Fire (D) (Mastered)
Flaming Shot (D+) (Illuminated)
-+
Once he talked to Ron, he could rub his wisdom and make him angry, although he still had to try the second potion with someone else just in case.