The smell was the first thing that hit him; it was a pleasant aroma that instantly made his stomach rumble a little. The second noticeable thing was the liquid in the pot. While Ryan's potions ended up looking a pale red, the liquid in the pot almost glowed a deep blood red.

Ryan gasped at the sight; it was beautiful. Looking back, he could hardly miss the smug smirk that played across Leo's face. The big man wasn't shying away from taking pride in his work, something that Ryan couldn't find fault with anyway.

"T-this is amazing," Ryan said as he gazed at the still liquid in the pot, the blood-red glow reflecting off his face.

"Of course," Leo said. "While you are a certified minimalist, I, on the other hand, will not stop until I get the best out of things."

Ryan highly doubted that this potion was the best of the best, considering the fact that they only added two ingredients to the pot and nothing more.

"So this is your best?" Ryan said, trying not to let the disbelief seep into his tone.

"Of course not," Leo said, rubbing a hand over his hair. "This is the best that you can afford at this point. The ingredients I normally use might just bankrupt you."

Ryan almost let out a gasp at what Leo had just said. He was sure that the big man wasn't just blustering when he said that the ingredients he used in making his own potions were something that Ryan would struggle to purchase. After all, the target market was vastly different.

Ryan was targeting deadbeat adventurers looking for a discount, while Leo was probably brewing for adventurers that didn't even care about the coin... Speaking of which.

"Seriously, Leo," Ryan said as he tore his gaze from the potion in the pot. "Who do you even work for?"

With what he'd just seen and what he'd also heard, he'd be a fool not to ask questions about anything like that. After all, he'd realized that he couldn't get to the top on his own; sometimes it was best to ask for help from people that had crossed that path. People like Jenora, Carl... Leo—his little brother, or friend, as the former title didn't quite suit the man standing in front of him who had gone a long way with his craft.

"Like I told you before," Leo said, "I can't reveal information like that. Even to you, I'm sorry."

Ryan wished he wasn't so disappointed with the words that had left the big man's mouth, but he'd gotten the same answer time and time before. He honestly didn't even have any idea why he had been holding out for a different outcome.

"Yeah... still, can't you like recommend me to them?" Ryan asked hopefully.

Leo's shoulders seemed to sag at the weight of what he was about to say. Ryan also noticed a change in his overall demeanor and the look in his eyes.

"Listen, Ryan, everything I have now I built off of my master's reputation," Leo said gently. "If I could just teach you how to make a single potion and it would magically change your life, trust me, I would. A single person that had entered my life changed it entirely, and I don't even know any single master alchemist here in Denair that could pass on such a good reputation to you."

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Ah, well, that actually checked out. Leo was operating under the name of his mentor... or master. It wasn't a new concept to Ryan; although he'd never experienced such a thing as he was self-taught, he would have to be entirely detached from his craft not to know the benefits of training under a master.

Not only did the apprentice gain valuable skills at the end of the training period, but if the master considered the alchemist one of note, they often sent them on their way to begin their own journey with a few commissions from customers of their own. They'd inform their customers that they had an apprentice who had finished training under them that could brew the potions for a fraction of the cost.

One of the few things that Ryan was unable to benefit from due to his incident at the orphanage. A childish mistake that still lived on with him.

Ryan ran a hand through his hair to calm himself down, multiple thoughts threatening to overwhelm him.

"Veron's beard, that merchant-to-apprentice system really does help," Ryan said with a sigh.

"Yeah, it does, but it could be a blessing in disguise for you," Leo replied.

Now Ryan's attention had fully been captured, something that had previously been split between organizing his thoughts and giving a listening ear to Leo.

"How?" Ryan asked eagerly.

"Well, the people who know me by my mentor often make sure to remind me at every chance they get, something that pissed me off to no end. I can't complain because... that'll be disrespectful—" Leo began.

"How? How would that be disrespectful? You just want them to show you some respect; it isn't as though you're asking for anything extreme," Ryan interrupted.

"Well, it sounds like that, but it really isn't that simple. They wouldn't see it like that, and my mentor certainly wouldn't, and I'd rather soak in the disrespect than seem ungrateful to someone that changed my life," Leo explained. "But what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to go through all of this. You have the opportunity to be your own man. Make everyone know that you rose by yourself."

"But I didn't," Ryan said quietly.

"Yes, but no one needs to know about unofficial help from various people. Unless you decide to tell them," Leo pointed out.

"True," Ryan agreed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "So what do you mean by I can get a reputation by myself?"

Leo put his palms together and rubbed them eagerly; he seemed to genuinely love the question that Ryan had just asked. In fact, the big man seemed to have lit up as the words left Ryan's lips.

"All you have to do is something big," Leo said.

Really, that was it. Do something big? What a fat load of crap. Ryan was struggling to make ends meet at this point, and here was Leo telling him to do something big. Pfft, he would've thought that the big man was teasing him if not for the intense look that Leo was currently giving him.

"What do you mean 'something big'?" Ryan asked incredulously.

"Exactly what I just said: something big," Leo replied. Seeing that Ryan hadn't clocked what he was saying, he continued, "Like discovering a new formula, potion. Becoming the best alchemist in Denair... something like that."

Pfft, discovering a new formula. Pfft, discovering a new potion. Pfft, becoming the be— huh? Ryan rolled the idea over in his head a couple of times. Becoming the best alchemist in Denair... something like that would certainly catapult him into the upper echelon of their little town and maybe even beyond if he was lucky enough.

"Ah, I see you've seemed to grasp something that interests you a lot," Leo said, his eyes gleaming with barely withheld joy.

"Of course, I'm going to become the best Alchemist in the entire realm, not just Denair," Ryan said with so much conviction.

Yes, that would be Ryan's next goal immediately after he cleared the traders guild. He wouldn't fail there; he'd grovel on his feet if that meant that they'd give him more time to clear the tax.

"Pfft, best alchemist in the realm. Hah, just put the potions in the bag, boy."