The shop was brightly lit, with wooden shelves reaching all the way to the ceiling along the walls, neatly categorized with various materials.
Dried herbs, powders in transparent jars, minerals of various colors, animal organs soaking in liquid...
On the other side was the finished products section, where bottles and jars of all sizes were labeled with simple tags.
Behind the counter, a figure stood with his back to the door, head down as he wiped a glass flask with a piece of velvet.
He had pointed ears, a healthy wheat-colored complexion, and his teal hair was loosely tied behind his head, revealing a sharp jawline.
Hearing the door, he turned around.
He looked like a young man, possessing the unique handsomeness of a half-elf.
However, his eyes were calm, reflecting a quiet composure tempered by the passage of time. He wore a gray robe stained with a few potion marks.
This was Lorrain, the simple and silent shopkeeper Aunt Martha had mentioned.
“Welcome,” Lorrain’s voice was steady, without much fluctuation.
His gaze swept quickly over Bai Xuan, lingering for a moment on the staff in his hand and his newly changed, simple white robe. “What do you need?”
“I want to sell some materials and buy some potions.” Bai Xuan stepped forward and placed the coarse cloth bag he was carrying on the counter.
As he turned his attention toward Lorrain, habitually intending to probe this seemingly unusual shopkeeper, he focused his mind.
However, unlike the smooth sensation he felt when probing ordinary people or low-tier monsters in the past...
This time, when his vision focused on Lorrain, he felt a heavy sense of resistance and pressure. The mental energy consumption was significantly higher than his usual probes.
Bai Xuan felt a slight chill in his heart, but his expression remained unchanged.
When the panel information finally surfaced with difficulty in his field of vision, his pupils contracted imperceptibly.
【Lorrain】
【Race: Half-elf】
【Class: Forbidden Alchemist Lv.9 (Transcendent)】
【Status: Cursed, Weakened】
【Health: 800/1600】
【Mana: 640/1400】
【Potential: 3-Star (Monarch)】
【Trait: Product Solidification (The shelf life of crafted alchemy products is extended by 2x, with a small probability of increasing product quality)】
Level 9! A “Transcendent” rank! And that “Forbidden” prefix, which oozed ominous mystery!
But his status was all wrong—was he cursed?
Bai Xuan instantly suppressed the turbulent waves and instinctive curiosity rising in his heart.
This was definitely not a domain he could casually investigate.
The man’s simplicity and silence might very well be a highly sophisticated disguise.
Or perhaps it was a reclusive posture, completely distancing himself from conflict.
In any case, the best strategy was to play the role of a pure passing customer, complete the transaction, gather information, and then leave.
“Please take a look at these.” Bai Xuan cleared his mind and opened the cloth bag.
Lorrain’s gaze fell upon the materials. He picked up a goblin Magic Core, held it against the light, and then brought it closer to smell it.
“The preservation method is crude; there’s a slight dissipation of energy.”
He commented, his voice still flat. “A common Magic Core of this quality is sixty copper coins each.”
He proceeded to check the other Magic Cores and herbs. When he picked up the Emerald Grass, his brow twitched slightly.
“Emerald Grass? Although the harvesting and preservation were improper—moisture loss in the roots and damage to the leaf veins—its rarity remains. I’ll give you one gold coin for it.”
His quotes were fast, almost without hesitation, yet they gave off a strange sense of fairness, as if the prices were naturally meant to be that way.
Bai Xuan did a quick calculation in his head. The total came to about one gold and fifty silver.
This was slightly higher than he had expected, especially the price for the Emerald Grass.
It seemed Aunt Martha was right about his fair pricing.
“That works,” Bai Xuan nodded in agreement.
Clearing out his miscellaneous inventory at this price was quite good, equivalent to the income from laboriously treating several seriously injured patients.
The transaction was completed quickly. Lorrain took a coin pouch from under the counter, counted out the corresponding gold and silver coins, and pushed them over.
One shiny gold coin and fifty heavy silver coins.
After putting the money away, Bai Xuan recalled the battle at the post house, which gave him the idea to restock some supplies.
He wasn't familiar with the specific names of alchemy products in this world, but based on common knowledge from games and stories in his previous life, basic functional potions should exist.
Bai Xuan tried using names from those works. “I need some common potions. Basic Antidote, Basic Mana Recovery Potion, Purification Potion, and...”
He paused slightly. “Basic Life Potion. Two bottles of each.”
Lorrain’s hand, which was wiping the flask, paused for a moment.
He raised his eyes and looked at Bai Xuan again, saying slowly, “Antidote, Purification, and Mana potions are staples for adventurers.”
“A Life Potion... For a Healer, is it because you don’t trust your own magic, or do you plan to use it for... other purposes?”
His tone was flat, but it grazed the edge of Bai Xuan’s disguise.
Bai Xuan’s heart tightened, but he immediately put on a slightly embarrassed smile. “My abilities are still shallow, and there are times when my strength falls short. Besides, being alone outside, I always want an extra layer of security.”
“Furthermore... I’ve also heard that for certain special injuries or toxins, blindly using healing magic might actually worsen the problem?”
He added the last sentence with an inquiring tone.
Lorrain watched him quietly for two seconds, his gaze seemingly able to pierce through appearances.
Ultimately, he didn't press further and simply turned around.
He then took several glass bottles of varying sizes from the finished product shelf. The bottles had simple labels and corresponding sketches drawn on them.
“Basic Antidote, effective against common animal and plant toxins, sixty silver coins per bottle.”
“Basic Mana Recovery Potion, slowly restores a small amount of mana, eighty silver coins per bottle.”
“Purification Potion, effective against mild curses and corruptive energy, seventy silver coins and fifty copper per bottle.”
“Basic Life Potion, not for emergency use, mainly used to stabilize injuries and promote natural healing, eighty silver coins per bottle.”
“How many do you need?”
Bai Xuan’s eye twitched slightly. Although he knew they would be expensive, he didn't expect them to be this pricey. Nothing related to magic was cheap.
He quickly calculated the cost-effectiveness and the necessary amount in his head.
“Two bottles of each.” This would ensure he had a certain reserve without being completely caught short in the face of real danger.
“That will be five gold, eighty silver, and fifty copper coins,” Lorrain quoted the price.
The money he had just received and hadn't even warmed up yet was about to be spent in a large chunk.
He counted out the coins with a heavy heart, handed them to Lorrain, and carefully tucked the eight small bottles into his inner pocket.
Now, his remaining assets were eight gold, sixteen silver, and twenty-five copper coins.
After the transaction, the atmosphere in the shop seemed to soften a bit.
Bai Xuan weighed his words and asked seemingly casually, “Mr. Lorrain, I’ve just arrived in this town.”
“I’d like to ask... if I want to obtain an official professional certification in this town, where should I go?”
Lorrain was in the middle of transferring the Emerald Grass Bai Xuan had sold him into a specialized crystal preservation box. Hearing this, his movements stopped.
He looked up, his gaze carrying a new level of scrutiny. “Professional certification? You don’t have...”
He stopped mid-sentence, seemingly understanding something from Bai Xuan’s question and demeanor.
“You want to obtain a Professional Inscription?” Lorrain confirmed, his tone a bit more serious than when they were discussing potions.
Rate on N.U.
