Built from white stone, the Alchemist Thai’s shop stood higher than any building near it, decorated with a simple yet expensive-looking sign. The sign was made of gold.

It read: THAI’S MASTERFUL ELIXIRS AND PILL CONCOCTIONS.

The walk to the entrance was flanked by a collection of rare flowers surrounded by runes engraved into the walkway and stone slabs demarcating the flower bed from the walkway, leaving almost no room for customers to make it to the entrance.

At the start of the footwalk, a sign stood—battered by the elements— with a few words of warning crudely scribbled onto it, “Touch the flowers at your own risk”

Alaric shuddered at the sight of the place. Each plant looked like something ripped out of a fantasy novel: Otherworldly.

‘What am I walking into?’ he thought to himself.

“Neat… Doesn’t scream expensive at all,” Alaric muttered under his breath.

Scarlett laughed, “Of course, it’s expensive. That’s how it goes with Alchemists.”

Alaric swallowed.

What was the meaning of expensive really? Alaric had got the chance to spend lavishly in Jack’s Fall and even then, he’d barely made it through two gold coins… and yet he had many of those lying around in his Storage Bracelet.

He wouldn’t consider himself rich but he was fairly loaded. What was the most an Alchemist could ask for, really?

‘He’ll probably bow to me when I flash a gold coin or two,’ he thought to himself.

“Let’s go take a look,” he stood tall and pushed the lavish door. A bell tinkled as the two walked in. Alaric’s paranoid eyes were already scanning through the shelves searching for some form of a price tag curiosity fuelling him.

It was important that he gauged the price range of this alchemist before he made his choice. ‘Alright! First item.’

Item: SpyGlass Pearl

Type: Pill

Enchantment: This pill gives the user the ability to see anything clearly for ten kilometres.

Price: 10 Gold.

Alaric’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, “10 GOLD!” he nearly yelled. Scarlett jumped a bit at his sudden outburst.

Item: Body of Steel.

Type: Pill

Enchantment: This pill will grant the user a body as hard as steel as long as they don’t touch water. It lasts one to ten years depending on the user’s metabolism.

Price: 25 gold.

Alaric lost his breath, “Who the hell has 25 gold just lying around?”

Lining shelves as far as the eye could see, Alaric saw multi-coloured pills on display with gold-plated engravings describing what they were capable of. On other shelves, he saw elixirs. Liquids packed in a variety of dainty glassware made to look just as expensive as the item contained within them.

Item: Death Sting

Type: Elixir

Enchantment: This elixir is a venom designed to kill its victim within minutes of consumption by clotting the blood in their vessels. Can be paired with ‘Odourless’ to obscure its smell or ‘Pungent’ to neutralize the target’s sense of smell.

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Price: 75 gold

Alaric’s heart sank. ‘What’s wrong with all these prices? How is anyone supposed to afford these?’

These items weren’t just expensive. They were outright luxury class items that no one in their right mind could buy. It made no sense to Alaric, whatsoever.

“Told you they were expensive,” Scarlett shrugged.

“I’ve heard the word ‘expensive’ used many times. This is ten times my definition of expensive,” Alaric’s shoulder’s dropped. He had expected this setback but these prices hadn’t crossed his radar.

[ Perhaps this is why the Tower sees no problem giving you all those gold coins. Information is quite expensive as well so they probably make a lot more money than this alchemist ] Alia tried.

Before Alaric could answer, however, a cough roused him from his thoughts. A man dressed in luxurious robes with a gold-rimmed monocle on his left eye stared at him with a flat expression.

His hair was well-kempt and he held his head high despite his short stature. The air around him seemed to curve inward just a bit as though his very presence was a lot heavier than the average human.

“Normally I’d introduce my customers to my wares but the look on your face tells me I’d be wasting my time. So, what do you want?” the man asked. His rude tone didn’t match his luxurious gentle appearance.

Then again, Alaric would rather be caught dead than wear the items this man was sporting out of his free will.

It was just… too much. Who needed a gold-rimmed monocle? Did the man even have a problem with his eyesight or was he just showing off how much money he had?

Alaric smiled, his mind buzzing with ideas, “I was looking for an alchemist named Kai… would you happen to be…”

“The name is Thai,” the man scrunched his eyebrows, and the air in the room heated up.

“Right, Thai. I’ve been told you’re one of the best and brightest in the business and that’s exactly what I’m looking for,” Alaric responded, lacing his voice with as much confidence as he could muster.

Being taller than the man, it wasn’t hard to feign confidence. He was practically looking down on him as he spoke.

“Really now?! Who -pray tell- told you this? I should reward them for having a good eye,” Thai responded, straightening out his clothes, “I must ask. What’s your name, lad? You don’t look like a noble.”

“Oh, I’m no noble, sir. I’m an adventurer. Only recently, I broke through to the Wood Temper Rank and have been looking for someone that might have the skills to help me advance even faster. You see, I’m not comfortable with progressing slowly and I need someone who can match my speed,” Alaric continued.

“Right… That sounds ambitious of you. Before you proceed though, I’d like to talk money. How much money are we talking… that is if I choose to work for you?” the man’s eyes gleamed at the mention of income. It was a gleam Alaric found practically appalling, but he wasn’t about to let that emotion show on his face.

On the bright side, he’d just gotten another idea, “I’m a very careful man, Thai. I don’t spend my money lavishly and I’m very interested in buying value… rather than a product. You see, the only way you can guarantee that you’ll make good money with me is if you have the value I seek.”

Thai furrowed his eyebrows, then sighed, “You’re a man of many words, I see. Is there a point somewhere in all that rabble?”

“Of course. See, to assess your value, I’d like to take a look at your wares. That’s what you found me doing before you decided to call me a peasant, of all things,” Alaric responded with a wrinkle in his nose.

“Right… I apologise. That was unprofessional of me. As you can tell, I am a busy man. I do, however, have an apprentice who can give you a tour of my inventory. Rest assured, all items are tested and vouched for by the Pill Society. I wouldn’t be a professional if that wasn’t the case,” Thai said with that umph that made his eyes beam with pride.

A few moments later, a boy appeared from the other end of the aisle. Unlike the lavishly dressed man, the boy was dressed in a simple uniform: trousers that reached his ankles, a pair of black formal shoes and a shirt that screamed ‘I’m a scholar’ just by looking at it—frills here and there. All he was missing was a book in hand. From the way he stood though, Alaric could tell he held one often.

“This is Troy, my apprentice. Up until a few months ago, he was a damn prodigy… but oh well, that story is not mine to share,” Thai’s expression dimmed. He turned to Troy and beckoned, “Hey, get over here and show these customers around.”

The boy replied with a bow and approached them. His face never once lit up… If anything, he looked like someone who would never smile again. There were bags under his eyes and his skin was paler than it should have been. His lips were torn and if it wasn’t for the well-kempt hair and oily sheen of the perfumed lotions he was using, he would have passed for a beggar.

‘That look on his face…’

[ It’s the look of a person who has lost what was most precious to them ] Alia confirmed. Even as Troy approached them and placed a plastic smile on his face, Alaric could not find it in him to return it.

He’d rambled on and on about value and spewed a whole bunch of nonsense just to irritate the man into sending out his apprentice to take over and now here they were, face-to-face with a shell of what was.

[ He’s practically dead inside. ]