66 The Alchemist Headquarters

"Why do these fish strengthen me?" Emile asked.

"It's my cooking. Not the fish," The man said while laughing.

"So, you're saying that if I take up cooking, I can become stronger just by eating food," Emile said with excitement.

"No, I'm a Rank 6 Chef. My cooking skills are so high that common food such as these fish give bonuses. I'm a good cook," The man said with pride.

"How long did it take you to reach the sixth rank?" Emile asked.

"I took 48 years to reach this far," he said. The man had finished eating all his fish.

"You spent 48 years learning how to cook!?!" Emile exclaimed with shock.

"Not learning. Improving is what most of the time took." The man said.

"All right, let me take you to the Headquarters," the man said.

The man stood up and cleaned his arms and hands. Emile followed his actions. Emile wanted to get rid of the grease that came from the fish.

Afterward, the man walked around the edge of the pond. Emile followed from behind. This walking lasted for 10 minutes. Emile continued to examine the pond as they walked. He could see the variety of fish in this pond.

The man stopped walking at the edge of the pond. He walked towards a small stone cliff. The wall had vines hanging from the side. It looked like no one had been there for a long time. Emile saw that the man had stopped walking.

The man took out a small item from his pocket. He crushed this object.

Emile watched for any change in the surroundings. They covered the wall with vines. A misty air flowed out from the gaps.

The vine-covered wall looked the same even when it was up in the air. They connected the back of the wall to the top of the cliff. It wouldn't fall down anytime soon.

Emile looked at the gap the wall created. It was a hole that was 3 meters by 3 meters.

The headquarters made the floor out of steel. The man walked into the gap and Emile followed. The wall closed behind them after they entered. Emile heard the rumbling as the rock moved down.

Emile thought it would become dark after the rock closed. It didn't become dark. There seemed to be holes in the ceiling that gave light to this place.

The man led him deeper into the grotto. At some point, the light switched to lanterns instead of natural light.

At the end of the corridor, it revealed a large open space with many people. The people were conversing and walking in and out of the chambers.

"Hey, Sir Nolan is here," someone shouted when he saw the old man.

"I haven't seen you in a while," someone else shouted.

Emile realized that the old man was popular in this crowd.

"Is this the Headquarters?" Emile asked.

"Yeah, everyone here is an alchemist. To join the headquarters, you need to be a rank 2 alchemist. This means everyone in front of you is at least a rank 2 Alchemist." The old man said.

"What's the highest rank in here?" Emile asked.

"Rank 5. You need to head to a higher kingdom to find any better alchemists. This kingdom is a low tier, so you won't find many experts," the man said.

"Oh... Where can I go to purchase a pill?" Emile asked.

"You can go to that counter and add your request for someone to create the pill. Or if there is stock in the warehouse, then you can buy the pill straight away." The man said. He pointed to a location where a lady was concocting a medicine.

She must be one of the staff members.

"Okay," Emile walked up to her and waited. He knew if he disturbed her, she would dislike Emile.

Emile was about to continue his conversation with the old man but when he turned around, he saw that the old man had disappeared. The old man abandoned him.

Emile continued waiting. He checked the time left for the water nutrients to enter his body.

It stated 1 hour and 52 minutes.

The lady finished concocting a potion and turned to Emile. She took out a chair and sat down on it.

"What would you like," she asked.

"I want to buy a clear potion," Emile said.

"We have none in stock. We have most of the ingredients to craft it now. We're missing one ingredient which you can look for it yourself," she said.

"Aren't you going to check your stock to make sure you have the item," Emile asked.

"I have a photographic memory. I memorized all the ingredients and potions we have in stock," she said.

"We're missing a Silver Root." She continued after telling Emile about her condition.

"Are you sure you don't have a Silver Root," Emile asked one more time.

"Yes. I am sure. You can hope for someone to find a Silver Root or post a mission to seek for a Silver Root. Also, you can even ask the people here and try to purchase a Silver Root. You can pick a method to get the roots," The lady said as she looked at her fingernails.

"How much do Silver Roots sell for," Emile asked.

"You can buy one for 280 silver coins." She said as she cleaned the grime under her fingernails.

"That's expensive," Emile said as his eyes widened.

"It's rarity causes the price to increase. The average price is around 280 silvers. If there are multiple in stock, then you can buy one for less. But if there are only or two it could cost up to 300 silver coins." She said.

"What do they look like?" Emile asked.

"It's a small bud with four roots attached to it. Each root is silver colored. The bud is dark green when it is ripe. If it isn't ripe, then the potion won't work. The name comes from the roots." She said.

Emile thanked her before walking away. He thought of his options.

Emile had a headache. He needed to figure out how to find the Silver Root. If he wanted to find the item quickly, he would have to offer a generous price. Emile had around 600 silver coins on him.

He used most of his coins to increase his strength and his parties strength. Emile could use his coins to set up a bounty for the silver root.

Emile understood why the game made this into a B-rank difficulty quest. It wasn't challenging for people with money. If a player had enough money, then this wouldn't be a problem. If the mayor hadn't given Emile 100 gold coins to buy the clear potion, then this quest would have been much more challenging.

Emile set up a quest to get the item.

Seeking Silver Roots

Mission Giver: Mystical Flame

Mission Rank: D

Aim: Find the Silver Roots.

Comment: It's a small bud with four silver colored roots. I need this item to save someone's life. You have one week to get this item.

Reward: 350 silver coins. 10AP.

His ID had a menu where he could to create a quest. If someone wanted to request help, then they had to have an ID to give out quests.

Emile couldn't set up the AP. The adventure guild decided how much AP a quest would give. The Adventure Guild rated his quest as a D-rank quest.