Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Alright, I’ll be there soon.” Lin Li applied more Recovery Potion on his face before opening the door and heading down with Gavin.
As the pair walked, Gavin gave him a brief update on the Guild of Magic. Seven mages had just joined, but they were mediocre in terms of abilities. Hence, Gavin prepared their level certifications and gave out robes and magic staves to them before he had them train under an Archmage for the past few days.
“Nothing is easy from the start…” Lin Li was frustrated at the current situation too. It had been about 10 days since the inauguration ceremony, but the Tower of Dusk remained empty. Only seven mages who were not even Magic Shooters arrived—this was worlds apart from the Guild of Magic of his dreams…
Of course, Lin Li knew that this was inevitable.
There were quite a few mages in the Breezy Plains, and many of them were powerful Magic Shooters and Archmages. However, most of them have already been bought over by powerful forces, and it would not be easy to have them join the Tower of Dusk.
That aside, Lin Li believed that even the seven new mages with their mediocre abilities would not have joined the Tower of Dusk if they had had another choice.
Well, such was the profession of a mage. Everything they needed—like magical equipment, spells, potions, magical gemstones, and crystals—cost dearly, and without a powerful force supporting them, it would be difficult even for the most talented of them to improve. After all, not every mage could be like Lin Li and turn the cheapest of ingredients into a treasure—there could only be one versatile crafting master, after all…
An offer of joining a new Guild of Magic and a young President in his twenties? Most mages would brush it off the minute they heard it. Who would dare gamble their future the way Gavin had?
Lin Li knew that if everything went normally, the situation would continue until the Tower of Dusk became influential and attractive enough to the mages who were more shrewd than businessmen. Only then would they come to the Tower of Dusk to get their level certifications. This was a gradual process, and something that every new Guild of Magic had to face. Even if he held resources that other Guilds of Magic coveted, he was not spared from this, either.
When Lin Li walked into the meeting room, Hoffman had already been waiting for a long time, but there was not a trace of annoyance on his chubby face. On the contrary, he was smiling gleefully as though something great had happened.
“Mr Hoffman, you seem to be in a pleasant mood?”
“I just clinched a deal. If I’m lucky, I can earn some money from it…” Hoffman said casually as though he had just sold some cabbage, but anyone who knew him would not dare think so. He was one of the bosses of the Glittergold Trade Union; “some money” to him would mean at least a million gold coins…
“Right, President Felic, what happened to your face?” Hoffman asked curiously after he sat down.
“This… I got this after I accidentally hit my face while coming down the stairs…” Lin Li said simply, and hurriedly changed the topic lest Hoffman pressed any further. “Mr Hoffman, you came at the right time. I was planning to look for you in Doland. I wonder if you recall that I told you I had a deal to discuss with you during my inauguration ceremony? Well, do you have time today? If you do, how about we take this opportunity to talk about it?”
“Heheh, I’m here because of that. I was going to head back to Breezy City after discussing the other deal, but I recalled what you said, and decided to come here instead. After all, I believe President won’t disappoint me…” Hoffman finished with a smile after casually showering Lin Li with some flattery.
“Hehe, Mr Hoffman, you’re too kind…” Frankly speaking, it felt good to be flattered by someone like Hoffman, and Lin Li was grinning widely for a while before he lowered his voice. “I wonder if the Glittergold Trade Union is interested in pharmaceutics?”
“Pharmaceutics?” Hoffman’s eyes lit up at that. He was speaking to a true genius pharmacist who was way above him in terms of skills or knowledge even though Hoffman himself was a Master Pharmacist. If they worked together to sell potions, it’d be like hitting the jackpot. However, Hoffman was someone who had seen it all; while he was beyond elated, he did a good job schooling his expression. “President Felic, could you fill me in on the details?”
“Oh, it’s simple…” Lin Li smiled, and retrieved a red potion bottle from his pocket before placing it on the table. “This is a new potion I learned that is very suitable for mages below level-10. I can make about 30 bottles a month, but as you know, potions can cause harm to the body when taken in excess. I’ve only got so many mages below level-10, and can’t possibly use that much of it. I have no idea what to do with the leftovers… hence I thought, why not exchange it for some gold coins? But since I can’t spare that much time, I wonder if you have any ideas, Mr Hoffman…”
“Huh, what kind of potion is this, how come I haven’t seen it before…?” Hoffman opened the bottle and took a whiff before a look of surprise could be seen on his face.
He was after all a Master Pharmacist. With the financial backing of the Glittergold Trade Union, he had gathered countless potion recipes, be it the common ones, or the ones used by the High Elves royalty. Hoffman dared say that he might even have more potion recipes than the Pharmacists Guild itself.
“This is called the Arcana Potion, and can be used to stimulate growth in mana, helping mages who have reached a bottleneck in their growth.”
“Isn’t that the Arcane Magic Potion?” Hoffman sounded doubting. As a Master Pharmacist himself, he knew that there was indeed a potion that could be used to stimulate mana growth. It was used by mage apprentices below level-5 who could not break through, becoming a true mage. Wasn’t that called the Arcane Magic Potion? How come it’s called the Arcana Potion now? Moreover, this Arcana Potion he held in his hand was blood-red, and didn’t seem to be the Arcane Magic Potion, either…
“Yeah, it is like the Arcane Magic Potion, but there is a small difference. The Arcane Magic Potion is targeted at mage apprentices below level-5, but the Arcana Potion targets mages below level-10…”
“You’re saying that this Arcana Potion can turn a mage into a Magic Shooter?” Hoffman’s eyes grew as wide as saucers as his hands holding the bottle of Arcana Potion trembled. He could not believe his ears; a potion capable of turning a mage into a Magic Shooter? Was there something scarier that this?!
In the vast Breezy Plains, there were tons of mages at the peak of level-9 dreaming to surpass it and become a true Magic Shooter, but even they knew that most of them would not be able to accomplish that in their lives. It was much harder for one to go from a mage to a Magic Shooter—more so than transitioning from a mage apprentice to a mage. Out of 10 mage apprentices, perhaps one of them would become a mage, but even amongst 100 mages, perhaps not one of them would become a Magic Shooter. No matter how well-equipped or talented they were, they dared not say that they would be able to reach the realm of Magic Shooter.
But now…
This young President took out a potion bottle and told everyone that if they drank it, they could go from being a peak level-9 mage to a true Magic Shooter.
What would happen then? Hoffman did not even need to think to know that the mages of the Breezy Plains would go crazy over the potion. None of them would be able to resist it, and they would spare no cost to get their hands on the Arcana Potion.
“Well, Mr Hoffman, are you interested?”
“What?” Hoffman was lost in thoughts about the Arcana Potion, and could not comprehend the meaning behind the sentence, only suddenly coming back to his senses when Lin Li repeated himself. Good heavens, this young president was handing the rights to the Arcana Potion to him!
“Of course… Of course… Of course I’m interested!” Hoffman repeated himself thrice before finally getting his meaning across. He was too excited indeed, and had even forgotten the usual negotiating when it came to discussing deals. Truth be told, he was not planning on negotiating, either—this was a nearly miraculous potion, and no matter what kind of terms were offered, he was sure he could earn them back by selling it to the other mages.
“Very well.” Lin Li nodded his head, and took out another dozen bottles of Arcana Potion, placing them on the table. “I don’t have much time recently; hence, I’ve only got a dozen bottles. Why don’t you sell these first? I’ll let you decide how to go about doing it since you’re the expert here. I only have one request: I want 70% of the earnings, and if possible, I hope the Glittergold Trade Union can provide me with some herbs…”
Lin Li paused here. “Don’t worry, it’s not some rare herbs. They’re just hard to find in Doland, and I don’t have time to visit other cities. If the Glittergold Trade Union has connections, I hope you can help me buy more. I’ll pay you according to the market price.”
“It’s a deal, President Felic. Give me a list of the herbs you want later, and I’ll have them sent to the Tower of Dusk within a week,” Hoffman agreed without thinking, because he knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that he did not want to miss due to a moment’s hesitation.
Lin Li busied himself after sending Hoffman off. The Arcana Potion was way more complicated than the Arcane Magic Potion, and even with his abilities, he could only make at most a few bottles a day. If he did not hurry and make more while he had time in the next several days, he would not have the time to do it once he really started becoming busy.
For the next few days, Lin Li cooped himself in the pharmaceutical lab. Besides receiving his daily “teaching” from Apophis, he spent all his time working on the Arcana Potion. The potion was critical to the Guild of Magic: besides bringing them great wealth, it would also attract troops of mages to join them. By then, it would be the mages begging the Tower of Dusk to accept them instead.
Besides that, Lin Li sent Norfeller to Doland to pass a message onto Kaman.
Of course Kaman would listen to what the God of Fortune had to say. The next morning, Kaman had sent over a few dozen miners to start working on a spot less than a kilometer from the Tower of Dusk. This was a spot that Kaman originally had his eye on, but he had been too late—when he’d brought his men over, Lin Li had already bought the title deed. They even got into a scuffle over it, which almost cost Kaman his life.
Now that so much time had passed, Kaman no longer thought of revenge. Actually, if anyone wanted to take revenge on Lin Li now, he’d probably be the first to jump at the person. Seriously? I’ve lived for so long and only met one God of Fortune. If you kill him, who else is going to give me wealth?
When he thought of this, Kaman could not help but congratulate himself for his luck. Ever since he’d got to know this young mage, his business became better each day. Now, every Adventurer in Doland City knew that if they wanted to buy the best magical equipment, they should go to Kaman’s weapon shop. The earnings from his weapon shop in the past two months had even surpassed those of his mining business!
Ever since he got a taste of the benefits, Kaman became more diligent in his work, and when Lin Li asked him to send people to mine refined iron from mineral veins nearby, Kaman sent over 40 miners when a dozen would have been enough. Even then, he came from Doland to inspect the mining personally from time to time.
That evening, Lin Li had just finished a bottle of Arcana Potion before a knock sounded on his door.
“Damn it, these two old fellows really have nothing better to do. Why do they keep coming to mess around in my pharmaceutical lab? Tsk, I’ll put laxatives in their food soon…” Only Apophis and Gerian would knock at this time. They seemed possessed, acting like curious kids at their old age and always coming to watch Lin Li in the pharmaceutical lab, annoying him to no end…
Lin Li set down a beaker while cursing angrily before swinging open the door to the pharmaceutical lab, only to realize that it was not the two old fellows knocking on the door, but Gavin and Kaman.
“How come you’re here?”
“Mr Kaman said he had something urgent he needed to talk to you about…” Gavin glanced at Kaman who stood next to him. Frankly speaking, he did not think much about this corrupted businessman who re-sold quarry stones. He had lived in Doland for so many years, after all, so how could he not know what kind of person Kaman was? But President Felic seemed to think highly of this man; hence, Gavin did not say more, but instead decided to find an opportunity to tell President Felic that Kaman was not a good man and to caution him against being cheated by him…
“Alright, you can go, Gavin. I’ll talk to Mr Kaman.” Lin Li knew that Kaman would not come find him if there was nothing important. He was unlike the two crazy old men, and would never dare do this.
“Noted.”
After sending Gavin off, Lin Li brought Kaman to the meeting room.
“What’s the matter?”
“You see, Mage Felic…” Kaman gulped; he looked nervous. “My men have been mining for the past few days, and I’ve been there a few times… Things have been going well, but when I went there earlier, I heard they ran into some problems…”
“What problems?”
“After digging six meters deep, they couldn’t dig any deeper, as though something was in their way. I heard them say it was a mineral vein, but much harder than refined iron. They’ve already gone through a few dozen shovels…”
“Let them rest for a while, then. The refined iron they got is enough to last some time anyway…” Lin Li did not think much of it, as refined iron mineral veins usually came with other mineral veins as well—they were usually magical metals. Truth be told, this was why Lin Li wanted to mine for refined iron as he actually wanted the magical metals that came along with it. Otherwise, it was too little refined iron for him to personally get Kaman to send miners to work on it.
However, he could not let miners mine for magical metal, or it would be disastrous if they damaged it…
“That’s what I thought too…” Kaman nodded his head, but fear was still evident in his eyes. “I heard them say that the mineral vein is strange indeed. It feels like a furnace when they stand on it…”
“Wait…” Lin Li’s expression changed when he heard that. “You’re saying that the temperature is high around the mineral veins?”
“Very high. I haven’t been there personally, but I could feel the heat standing outside the cave. It was as though something there is burning…”
“Let’s go, bring me there!” Lin Li stood up suddenly, pushed open the door, and left the room without waiting for the confused Kaman.
Existing alongside refined iron mineral veins and incredibly hard, also scalding hot at the same time… what else could it be besides Lava adamantine? To think that he would find it in Doland when he could not find it in the Fire Plume Ridge, and at such an obscure place too…
