New Usage Method (1)
“Shabel Tiger subjugation reward: fifteen silver. They say you earned a hefty payout for landing the first valid hit.”
“Huh? A hefty payout, and that’s it? Fifteen gold, not fifteen silver? Are you sure?”
The guild clerk slid the documents across the counter for me to see. “Yes, fifteen silver is correct. Adding the base subjugation fee brings it to seventeen silver. The knight listed with the second valid hit has already collected his share.”
The knight with the second hit was probably Sir Johnson.
“Then, does it say who received the largest payout?”
“The most lethal attack is credited to the mercenary captain. I can’t disclose the details, but it appears he hasn’t collected it yet.”
That would be the share assigned to the dead Falchion.
“Captain of the Golden Dawn Mercenary Company. Name’s Falchion. Since he’s dead, I’ll be collecting it.”
“Ah, one moment, please.”
The clerk took the captain’s badge inside, then returned after confirming the details. “The badge checks out. Three gold have been allocated to the deceased captain Falchion.”
More than thirty people had died, yet the reward felt insultingly small compared to the danger. It was almost pitiful how little the fallen mercenaries had risked their lives for.
“The Shabel Tiger is a powerful monster, but its hide isn’t particularly valuable, so the payout ended up this modest.”
If I, who had landed a valid hit, only received fifteen silver, the amounts given to the other mercenaries were obvious.
“Also, a mercenary came by this morning looking to place a request for you, Mage Jinwoo.”
“Someone wants to commission me?”
“Yes. It’s from the mercenary guild in Durendal Territory. I don’t know the details. Would you like to wait, or shall I send them to your lodging?”
“Call him over. I’m curious what he wants from me.”
***
“The Alchemist Guild of Durendal Territory asked me to deliver this high-grade potion and pass along a message.”
The burly, experienced-looking mercenary carefully took a box from his coat and handed it over. Inside was a ornate glass bottle filled with crimson liquid. I recognized it as an HP-restoring potion from watching Hergo the priest drink one.
“I don’t see why the Alchemist Guild would send this to me.”
“They say this potion was made from the Blue Moonlight Grass you supplied during the previous request. The quality of the grass you gathered was exceptional, so this is a token of their gratitude. They also mentioned that if you have any more of that grass, they’re willing to buy it at ten gold per stalk.”
“Ah, so that’s what this is about.”
“Yes. If you don’t have any left, they’re offering five gold through the guild just for the location where you harvested it.”
“They’re willing to pay a premium for Blue Moonlight Grass. Must have been quite effective.”
“Indeed. The grass you delivered produced high-grade potions, so the Alchemist Guild is actively seeking more.”
The burly mercenary answered honestly, doing his best to stay on my good side as instructed.
“Hmm. I see.”
I had over ten stalks left from that harvest. I’d been considering selling them for a good price, but ten gold per stalk—four million won—seemed like an absurd markup. If they were paying that much, it meant they could refine multiple high-grade potions from a single stalk and still turn a profit.
Curious about the value of the potion I’d received, I headed to the guild counter.
“I heard the guild sells recovery potions. How much would a potion like this fetch?”
“Hmm. Deep crimson with a faint golden sheen. Looks like a high-grade potion.”
The clerk compared it to one of their own high-grade potions; the colors matched.
“High-grade potions like this sell for five gold. Unless there’s a war or major incident, the market rate is one gold for low-grade, three for mid-grade, and five for high-grade.”
He added that the top-grade potions sold exclusively by the magic towers required reservations and traded for at least ten gold each.
From what he said, the price of mid-grade potions seemed aligned with what mages charged for healing spells. Regardless of how many high-grade potions could be made from one stalk of Blue Moonlight Grass, alchemists wouldn’t operate at a loss.
‘Wait a second. If the grass grown with buffs produced better potions, what if I buffed the other ingredients too? No—better yet, what if I buffed the potion itself?’
The idea struck me out of nowhere, and I wanted to test it immediately. First, I told the mercenary who had come with the request to meet me tomorrow; I’d give him one stalk of Blue Moonlight Grass then. After all, his visit had sparked this new idea.
I bought three low-grade potions from the guild and returned straight to the inn. Low-grade potions healed surface wounds like scrapes and cuts. I wondered if I could improve their performance by applying buffs.
I cupped one in both hands and cast the Healing buff on the bottle. The glowing aura of the buff formed in midair and was drawn into my palms.
“Oh! The color got darker!”
The potion’s hue had deepened compared to an ordinary low-grade one, proving the buff had taken effect. Still, it was paler than the high-grade potion I’d received and lacked the faint golden sheen. It looked like a mid-grade potion now.
I picked up another low-grade potion and cast both the Activation buff and the Healing buff together.
“Oh! It’s glowing gold!”
The potion now matched the color of the high-grade one the mercenary had delivered—rich crimson with a subtle golden luster. It was clearly a high-grade potion.
“So one Healing buff makes a mid-grade potion, and adding Activation makes it high-grade. If I use all four buffs, will I get a top-grade one?”
I took the last low-grade potion, cast the Luck buff first—hoping it would help produce a top-grade result—then followed with Growth, Activation, and Healing in order. A golden light rippled through my hand.
When I opened my palm, the potion had turned a reddish-gold, closer to gold than red. I hadn’t seen a top-grade potion before, but I had a feeling this was exactly what the magic towers reserved and sold for ten gold or more.
I wanted to have Sezanne, who came from a magic tower, verify it right away, but I had to wait three hours. Since the potion had been created with buffs, I worried it might revert once the buff duration ended.
Once the buff time passed and the potion remained unchanged, I showed it to Sezanne.
“This is definitely a top-grade potion. It also seems to contain more goldstone than usual. If I had to rank it, it’s among the very best of the top-grade potions.”
Receiving confirmation from Sezanne lifted my mood. One top-grade potion was worth at least ten gold—four million won. That alone could keep me in a comfortable high-end inn for a while. No, if I kept producing top-grade potions, I could become wealthy rather than merely comfortable. At least, in-game wealth.
“The bottle is just a low-grade one, though. You should probably transfer it into something more elegant.”
Sezanne was right. High-grade and top-grade potions would fetch more if presented in proper containers. For now, I bought oil bottles from the market and decanted the potions into them.
***
“So this is the Blue Moonlight Grass you harvested back then.”
“It’s been nearly a month since you gathered it. How is it still this fresh?”
The burly mercenary eyed the vibrant stalks suspiciously.
“I applied a magical treatment. It’ll probably start drying out while you’re carrying it. And this transaction is guaranteed through the guild.”
Invoking the guild’s name left him no choice but to accept it.
“Also, they said they’d pay an extra five gold if you reveal where you found it.”
“Even if I told you, it wouldn’t be easy to locate. Just tell them to search on their own.”
“Understood. I’ll pass that along.”
The mercenary carefully tucked the ten-gold stalks into his coat and left the guild.
“I spoke with that mercenary. He said the Blue Moonlight Grass from Hool Lake is being bought for three gold per stalk now. Originally it was one gold, so I don’t understand the sudden jump. You mentioned harvesting it directly from Hool Lake—does it have some special property?”
The guild clerk beside me seemed curious as well.
“I wouldn’t know either.”
“Is that so? Well, with the price raised that high, people will flock there. Swindlers and gatherers alike. This is exactly the kind of moment when someone could make a fortune.”
The clerk looked like he believed a big opportunity had arrived. If even the guild staff were talking like this, then people would soon encounter Tinkerbell fairies and unicorns. I considered warning them, but since I hadn’t mentioned it during the original request, it seemed best to feign ignorance.
The guild was happy to let me receive the ten-gold payment for the grass in the form of low-grade potions. The next day, during a shift when that particular clerk wasn’t around, I returned with the buff-enhanced potions.
“I have three top-grade recovery potions, three high-grade, and four mid-grade. Does the guild buy potions as well?”
I placed the color-coded bottles on the counter.
“Ah, this is beyond my authority. Please wait a moment.”
The clerk could have handled up to high-grade potions, but the reddish-gold top-grade ones looked extraordinary, so he had no choice but to call the guild master.
“I’m Herio, guild master of Booktoria’s mercenary guild.”
The man who appeared was a bald, bespectacled man in his fifties with a hooked nose. The robe he wore made him look more like a mage. After hearing the clerk’s report, he examined the potions closely.
“They look high quality, but there’s no mark on the bottles. Did you make these yourself?”
“That’s right. I crafted them personally.”
“Hmm. Then, may I ask which magic tower you’re from?”
“Changing Tower.”
Guild Master Herio tried to recall the name but drew a blank. Any tower capable of producing top-grade potions should have been memorable, yet nothing came to mind.
“It’s located on the Arean Continent. I’m the only mage registered here from that tower.”
Only then did Herio check my guild records.
“We can purchase them, but since the source can’t be verified, mercenaries may hesitate to buy. We’ll have to set a lower price.”
I hadn’t expected that. Even recovery potions had branding concerns. On second thought, it made sense. When spending hundreds of thousands or millions of won on potions, I’d rather buy from a famous tower with a trusted brand than an unmarked bottle.
“Of course, if you can supply them regularly, we can factor that into the price somewhat.”
“Hmm. In that case, I’ll give you two bottles of each as a test. Since there’s no established trust yet, it would be best to set the price after mercenaries have tried them and can vouch for the quality.”
“If you’re willing to let us test the performance, that will certainly help build credibility.”
By giving the potions away for free, the guild would sell them to mercenaries, and once word of their effectiveness spread, buyers would come looking for my potions on their own. And, as Sezanne had advised, I needed to commission proper high-quality bottles with my own brand engraved on them.
***
“Three different elongated potion bottles, fifty of each. Are you from a magic tower, or perhaps a religious order?”
The glass artisan was curious about his client’s affiliation; it would determine how much to charge.
“Do the bottles differ depending on whether they’re from a tower or an order? I’d like to see some samples.”
The artisan showed me the samples lining the walls. Among them were far more bottles bearing the names of gods from religious orders than those from magic towers, just as Sezanne had described.
“Does this workshop specialize in orders?”
“We don’t specialize. There are simply more bottles with divine names because there are so many gods, aren’t there? Hahaha.”
The artisan’s words sparked an idea. People cared about which magic tower produced a potion, but when it came to potions from religious orders, they bought them regardless of whether they recognized the god. There were simply too many gods, like in Greek or Roman mythology, so buyers trusted the divine name even if they’d never heard of it.
In that case, borrowing a god’s name would be useful.
“Engrave ‘Sadalla, God of Magic’ on the bottles.”