'Festival is well and good, but life must go on.' He thought as he looked at the various shopkeepers who seemed reluctant to go to work on such a day.

Passing by the alchemy shop, 'Gerrald And Sons', he swiftly stole a glance, but he found that it was still closed. He steadily continued past it and stopped before a shop quite close.

This shop had a big wide entrance adorned with colorful tapestries and intricate mosaics, which left Melvin awed by its beauty and novelty for a second.

Stepping inside, he was greeted by a rich range of colors and aromas. The air was alive with the earthy scent of freshly ground cumin and coriander, their warm, golden hues shimmering in the soft light. Rows of crimson chili peppers and deep emerald herbs added splashes of vibrant color to the scene.

In the center of the shop, towering mountains of spices rose above a wooden platform, each pile carefully arranged to showcase the vibrant hues and textures. To the sides, shelves, and cabinets overflowed with an array of goods, from dried fruits and nuts to aromatic teas and handmade pottery.

Behind the wooden platform at the center where most spices were, a woman was sitting in a wooden chair busy reading a book. Her gaze reluctantly split from the book in her hand and raised her head to take a look. Registering that this was a customer, she smiled in greeting, stood up, put the book in her chair, and approached him with graceful steps. "How can I help you, young man?"

Nodding back in greeting, Melvin walked a few steps forward as his eyes roamed around the beautiful shop before he asked, "Do you have candles?"

The shopkeeper had a faint smile tugging at her lips as she explained, "I do have candles, do you have anything specific in mind?"

Melvin who understood that the higher quality the better the ink would be, and thus the better the rune, immediately asked, "What are the highest quality candles that you have?"

A flash of surprise went through the woman's eyes before she earnestly said, "The highest quality candles are very expensive because they are made from the beeswax of the Luminescent Opalwing bee, infused with rare oils, and high-quality cotton wicks. They are worth four gold coins a candle."

Melvin's legs, which had been steadily carrying him through the shop as he surveyed its contents for intriguing items, abruptly halted. He turned back with a look of shock and exclaimed, "That much?!"

"Well, you did indeed ask for the highest quality." The shopkeeper laughed after seeing his reaction.

Awkwardly scratching his head, Melvin apologized, "Yeah sorry, I thought they were cheap."

"The starting price for candles is 20 copper coins, but they're made from questionable materials, so I avoid them," the shopkeeper explained. She then gestured towards a bundle wrapped in coarse purple paper and tied with a white string on a nearby shelf. "These candles here," she continued, "come as a bundle of six, priced at 10 silver coins. They boast excellent quality, crafted from palm oil sourced from the trees abundant in Eldoria and infused with various intriguing essential oils. Their fragrance is delightful and even enhances mana generation, making them ideal for late-night magic studies."

Melvin gently approached the shopkeeper to see it from up close, and though he couldn't see anything, the shopkeeper's explanation was satisfactory and painted quite the picture.

"Alright, I'll take them!" He agreed, and so the woman brought down the candles and started stuffing them in a sturdy, square-shaped burlap dark brown bag.

'Now that I have a bit of money I won't have to use egg whites so I'll just get gum which is much better instead,' He thought after remembering his next item on the menu, he turned around and asked the shopkeeper whether she had any.

"Which gum?" The shopkeeper asked puzzled, "The edible one that helps with digestive issues, or the other gum from trees?"

"The second one!" He replied, happy that she indeed had it.

Then she started showing him different types of gums that came from different trees, and they were also separated into different qualities.

Feeling slightly intrigued about its origins and because he wanted to know if he could get them on his own, he asked, "Where do these gums come from?"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

The shopkeeper's eyes flashed with a bit of surprise as she assumed that he must know, but then hurriedly explained in brief details, "This gum is something that gets extracted when the bark of certain species of trees gets cut. The sap oozes out of the tree and it becomes hard upon contact with air, forming a solid matter they call tears. Then these tears are collected and cleaned to remove any impurities or debris. Finally, the purified gum is dried, graded, and sorted for various applications, including use in food, pharmaceuticals, and other things."

After listening to several origin stories about gum, in the end, he went with one that cost around 18 silver coins and was the size of a fist.

He then immediately remembered something and asked, "Do you have something that will help me light a small fire? A device or something like that?"

The shopkeeper shook her head saying, "There is a device called Flamecaster Ring for those who don't have fire magic, and you'll find it in the enchanters' stores north of the city."

'Fuck!' Melvin cursed, he knew that the north of the city would take him another half an hour of walking to get there, so he hopefully asked "Is there a method of transportation?"

Smiling the shopkeeper faintly smiled and said, "You're not from this country are you?"

When Melvin heard the question, his expression stiffened. From the quarrel he heard from those two groups of people in front of the sculpture of the general, he understood that this country was very hostile to those outside its borders because of some terrible past. Thus, didn't want to be seen as such, 'You never know how unpredictable people could be', he thought with some apprehension.

He quickly composed himself and waved his hand in disagreement, "Eh me? Noo", he said, "It's just I don't go out often, so I don't know much about these parts of the city. I gave my servants some days to spend with their families in the festival, that is why I have to do all of these things on my own."

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up in agreement, feeling like his words had indeed made sense. She could tell from his high-end clothes that he was a bit wealthy.

She slowly walked towards the entrance of the shop and gestured for him to follow, as she explained while pointing towards some carriages with an open roof that was red and explained, "These carriages are used for transport inside the city. The price is 20 copper coins, or if you don't want to be bothered by other people you can buy all of the seats for 1 silver and 50 copper coins."

'So that's what those red carriages were for...' His eyes lit up as he felt finally enlightened about their purpose as he had been seeing them all day.

With an understanding look on his face, as he kept nodding, Melvin thanked her, "I see. Alright, I appreciate the help."

He took one last look at the shop, and he started going through everything that he needed, afraid he might forget something, 'Hmm... I do need something to mix the soot with water, but maybe those boys will at least have a simple mortar in their home?'

After he thought about it some more, he decided it was better to not risk it. There was a very high chance that a shoddy shack where five teenagers lived won't have a mortar so he asked for a very simple one.

The shopkeeper showed him a small wooden mortar that cost 35 copper coins and seeing him nod, she put it in his bag as well.

"The total is 28 silver and 35 copper coins." Said the shopkeeper with a faint smile, handing him the bag after he asked for the total.

'Money does indeed fly.' Melvin ruminated with a sigh, he then loosened the tie on his small pouch and gave the gold coin to her.

She went back to a small desk by the chair she was sitting on, opened a drawer, and began making some calculations. In but a few moments, she walked back with a handful of coins, "Here is your change, 71 silver coins and 65 copper coins."

'It sounds about right?' Melvin lazy to even do basic calculations, just smiled back and took all of it, "Thank you, may you have feathery blessings!"

"To you as well!" Waved the shopkeeper with a smile, but her expression soon changed. The customer who was already on his way out, paused his steps and turned back to ask once again, "Sorry, I forgot something else. By any chance, you don't have a simple quill and parchments right?"

Still smiling, she shook her head and said, "No, you'll find those in a literary store. There is one in this district as well.", she advanced to the entrance of the shop once again, and pointed to the upper right of the street, "When you pass by the first turn to the left, the shop at the very corner of that street has those materials."

Understanding that he had already said, 'Thank you', and, 'Goodbye', plenty of times now which made him feel rather strange. He only nodded back with a smile and followed her direction.

Quickly arriving there after crossing the road, he assessed the shop in front of him.

Unlike most shops he had encountered so far that offered a wide path inside, this one had a chest-high wooden counter with a glassy upper area that showed some books inside, effectively blocking the entrance.

Behind it stood an elderly gentleman with a weathered face, his short grey hair peeking out from beneath a well-worn cotton hat. His stubbled chin added to his rugged appearance, and he was clad in a comfortable black sweatshirt. His eyes, though tired, held a spark of wisdom. Perched upon his long nose bridge, a pair of glasses rested low.

The older man was already tending to a customer who stood in front of the counter listing her needs, so Melvin merely stood behind her and listened to what she was getting.

When he noticed a very short and wide glass bottle of ink, he sighed in relief because he was certain this shop would have what he needed. In the meantime, his mind wandered, 'How easy it would have been if I didn't need to personally make the ink...'

When he previously focused on the explanation of the skill, he felt some knowledge exploding inside his mind. It included a very basic way to prepare ink, and it also emphasized another step that should be taken in that process. All so that it would become eligible for rune crafting. Thus, although he could buy the other materials such as quill and beast skin, he needed to make the ink from scratch, much to his chagrin.