Chapter 36: Taking a Gamble

Chapter 36

Following Reishi as he led the way to the cargo hold, Kai soon noticed the higher mana density on board, similar to that of Viryas estate. Activating Mana Sense he tried to take a peek at the Fortuna. Maybe get a glimpse of the enchantments.

The boards of the ship lit up like a Christmas tree. Intricate runes and mana channels all around him. Astonished by the intricate design, Kai tried to take a closer look. A frown formed on his face. No matter how much he focused, his mana senses only showed him a blurry image.

You know its considered rude to try and take a peek at the runework of someone else's property without permission, Reishi said, glancing at him.

Even Moui was looking at him with reproachful eyes as if saying Here we go again.

Kai turned off the skill blushing, he had been found in the act. Sorry, I didnt know.

Its fine, it must not be something you are familiar with. The array of the ship is cloaked anyway. Reishi didnt say it with contempt or malice, but Kai was once again reminded of his own ignorance of the wider world.

I always took for granted the existence of schools on Earth. Who would have thought I would long for that?

The archipelago didnt have any formal education system. Sometimes the Elder of a town could organize basic classes. In Greenside there was not even that. Children were left free to scurry around and expected to learn the skill they need by observing adults working.

No wonder his home remained so backward. Kai promised he would do something about this if he had the power one day. For now, he could only focus on getting stronger, without power and resources he could only silently complain.

After a short walk through the ship, the group arrived in front of a door guarded by another merfolk. Contrary to the two merchants, this one didnt have a scholarly and cunning aura, his talents clearly lay in a different area. He was lazily leaning on a spear, but his movements were too calculated, as if his body was ready to jump into action at any moment.

Looking beyond his hunched posture, the mermans arms had well-defined muscles. He might look as impressive as Moui if he stood up straight.

Reishi greeted the fellow merman with a cheerful tone, How's it going, old Yun? Im gonna show these two some of our goods.

Old Yunwhich didnt look old at all in Kais eyesbriefly scanned the two of them and responded with a lazy wave, opening the door for them to go in.

A quick peek from Kai revealed Yun had a similar level to Sehn, which was to say, higher than he could understand. The difference between the old merchant and the guard could be huge or small, he had no way of knowing.

Even if Yun didnt look intimidating, the message was clear, neither he nor the hunter stood any chance against him. So they better behave.

Stepping inside, Kai eagerly looked around to find well a bunch of wooden crates. How else would people store their goods? He had certainly not imagined finding rows of rare treasures sitting on display on marble altars. Not at all.

Admittedly it was a bit disappointing after all the hype. But Reishi lost no time to tickle his interest again.

Just give me a moment, Ill take some items Im sure you'll find interesting.

With a sly smile and surprising agility, the merfolk dragged an unassuming table in front of them, before moving between the crates like he was dancing. One object after the other was put on display on the table.

Beautifully crafted knives and swords. A bow with a collection of different arrows. Several pieces of leather armor. A few colorful vials with powerful mana presence and more blades of curious shapes.

As Kai's excitement started rising again, he noticed most of the items seemed targeted for a specific job: hunting.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at N??v€l?1n.

Uncle Moui is the one with the big money. Im just tagging along.

Trying not to pout, Kai examined the weapons on display. Under his skills, they all revealed runes and clear traces of mana. A day earlier he could count on his hands all the enchanted items he had seen in his life, now they appeared to be everywhere.

The potions were in neatly labeled vials, all pretty and colorful. The opposite of the brown sludges Dora fed him. He was very interested in them, but he didnt want to start analyzing them without permission after the earlier blunder.

Standing on the other side of the table and making wide grandiose gestures, Reishi began to explain why he chose these items and why it was in Mouis best interest to buy them.

You may not find anything similar in the whole archipelago. Fundamentals of Alchemy - volume 1 is a must-have.

Still no. Kai was sure Dora would have plenty of books on the subject. He trusted his teacher more than some Xolovert De who cares. He was not gonna get fooled by FOMO.

The young merchant finally accepted that was not gonna happen and stopped insisting.

It sucked getting out of here with nothing to show. But its not like he saw something he desperately needed right now. Still He counted the coins in his satchel, all the savings he had amounted to exactly 31 mesars and 40 chips. Not a lot after the numbers he heard today, but still a considerable sum. What if he could increase that? Maybe it was worth a try.

When do you sail? Kai asked.

Reishi stopped his distraught act and said, We are gonna stay for a couple of days if you change your mind. Then we set sail for the next island. We need to wait for the next high tide to not risk damaging the keel of the ship.

Kai smiled, What about low-level herbs? What do you have in stock? Level one and below.

Reishi looked at him. Kai could see the wheels start turning in the merchants brain.

We bought a few low-grade materials in the villages before yours. Let me see what we have. What kind of materials are you looking to buy?

Instead of answering, Kai replied with a question. What kind of potions would you be most interested in buying?

The merman perfectly understood what he was getting at. Kai planned on spending all his money to buy ingredients, go on a mad brewing spree and sell his creations to him before they set sail.

Now they only needed to iron out the details. Kai reassured the merchant of his ability to craft low tier-one potions, those were the ones that sold the most in the archipelago anyway.

To be honest, the only true tier-one potion he had ever brewed was the energizing tonic, but that was more for lack of tier-one ingredients than skill. He was confident he could do it.

They were in the middle of discussing which potion had the highest price compared to ingredient cost when Reishi said he had an idea and disappeared amidst the crates.

Rummaging around, the merfolk surprised him by bringing out a new leather-bound volume. This book contained actual alchemy recipes, but the merchant was careful not to let him peek inside. After browsing through the pages for a while, Reishi proposed to him six recipes he could provide the ingredients of and would be interested in acquiring.

The merman only gave him a few seconds to skim through the chosen pages. The potions all seemed quite basic. Since he would have little more than two days, Kai chose three of them. A simple easy-to-craft healing potion, an energizing one, that instead of a short burst like his tonic provided smaller long-lasting benefits.

The final oneand the hardest to brewwas actually a poison. A nifty concoction just called bait poison. Its main boon was that it was harmless to humans. People could use it freely to get rid of critters or hunt without the risk of poisoning themselves.

Reishi would provide the ingredients, full recipes and the promise of buying them for a set price. They decided the exact terms through fierce haggling, agreeing on a price range for the potions based on their quality. Depending on how many he could make and how well, Kai could make quite the sum.

Naturally, the young merchant wanted to be paid upfront and graciously offered him a loan for a small adjustment in the prices they just agreed on. Truly shameless.

Kai had a different idea. He turned towards his dear uncle with a smile and a silent question.

Are you sure you can do this? Moui asked, watching him seriously.

Kai looked at him with determination. Yes.

The hunter kept his gaze for a few seconds, before agreeing, Fine, but if you fail to pay me back. Ill come for you. The burly man said in a menacing tone.

Kai was half sure he was joking, but the other half was enough to make him swear not to fuck this up.

Just like this Kai found himself back on shore with a huge backpack full of herbs and jiggling glass containers for the finished products. Kai had made sure to include the bag and the vials in the deal.

He tried to lift the backpack with a theatrical effort, downplaying his strength a bit and looking at his uncle with pleading eyes. The hunter watched him struggle for a few seconds before he sighed and easily picked it up.

Now I just have to learn how to brew those potions. And then produce a fuckton of themall of high quality.