Final Preparations

"Professor Harosi has already cleared out the area around the school of Beastmen, as well any additional creatures that could pose a problem. They have been reduced to mere skeletons, and their souls have been trapped in their bodies to suffer for all eternity..." -Neela finished her report on what she had heard of Harosi's battle.

Leylin gave a slight nod of his head. It seemed like the vicinity of the academy was safe for the moment.

"How about the other rising talents in the academy?" -Leylin raised a brow.

"According to what my sisters have gathered, many of the acolytes with high aptitudes including Chester and Sherpa have all left the academy for various reasons. I'm afraid that it won't be much longer before this news reaches every corner of the Abyssal Bone Forest..."

Leylin went over what he knew of the situation quietly.

"I plan to return to my family until this all blows off... You know, although my Welter family is not very famous, we are still able to take care of ourselves... Say, do you want to come with me? I assure you that we Welters know how to protect our own." -Neela clearly wanted Leylin to be a part of her family. She wanted to marry him, in fact.

"Regrettably, that will not happen. I have many businesses to attend to elsewhere." -Leylin turned her down with a gentle tone.

'I will not be subjected to the contracts and restrictions of joining a family as an outsider. I will make my own House, with my own rules. If I ever was to join another's House, it would only be with the intention of taking it over or annihilating its components at some point. Maybe both.'

The light in Neela's eyes dimmed at his words. She knew that their relationship had come to an end. After all, she had been the only one to take the relationship seriously, and going their separate ways in a time of crisis would not be out of the ordinary for them.

"There is still something else that I have to ask of you, though." -Leylin took out a black-colored wooden box and placed it on the dining table.

"What is it?" -Neela smiled, but it seemed rather forced.

He opened the black box. Many potions in test tubes were neatly arranged inside, and the sight dazzled Neela's eyes.

"This..." -Neela's mesmerizing eyes let off an astonished look.

"Indeed. These are the potions that I have accumulated until now. I need you to help me sell them all." -As he issued the order, Leylin's expression remained calm.

Of course, this was only a small fraction of the potions that he had secretly brewed. Saying that it was his accumulation after a year was reasonable nonetheless. Anyone would believe it. Their total value was several hundred magic crystals.

Getting Neela to sell them for him was because Leylin knew how his reputation as a hard bargain sometimes could drive off potential buyers, especially in these troubled times. But if he used a pretty face like Neela as his agent, then his product would sell almost immediately.

"No problem! Right now, the prices of the various ingredients and spell models have fallen sharply, whilst potions and low-grade magic artifacts have drastically risen in demand." -Neela's eyes recovered their liveliness.

'This is a normal occurrence. Spell models and other materials will definitely decrease in price whenever war is imminent, as they cannot be used to improve one's practical strength immediately. As for the other items that are able to raise one's battle strength, they will obviously be sought after a lot more.' -Leylin concluded.

"You can keep 10% of the profits for yourself, but only if you sell the whole batch within a day. Your commission will drop by 1% for each day you spend making deals. Should be possible for someone of your characteristics." -Leylin spoke decisively.

Neela's expression was a little complicated: "Of course it is possible! In fact, my family could just buy them all. Do you have more? I can let my family know and give you a fair deal..."

[There it is again. She sooo wants you to be in relations with her family.] -Aralis pointed out.

'Whatever. She's been a good pet, so I will not end her existence just yet. Who knows, perhaps I never will. So long as she stays usable to me, of course.'

"Just take care of what I requested. You do not need to be creative in this matter. Simply negotiate my product as a high-standard batch of potions, and make sure to count every crystal. Don't accept anything less than 400 for them. Also, do not mention their procedence, and under no circumstance is my name to come out of your mouth. Deliver the profits to my room and I'll give you your cut." -Leylin's expression looked extremely serious.

"Alright! I will do my best to help you, dear Leylin!" -Neela understood. In her eyes, Leylin brewing these potions nonstop and having such a collection was already the limit with his current ability.

Once it was settled, Leylin separated himself from Neela and left the Dining Hall, but not before kissing the redhead passionately. He couldn't have her betraying him just because she felt abandoned.

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Neela was extremely fast to deliver, and she handed Leylin a fat pouch of magic crystals the very next day.

Once he gave it some thought, Leylin decided it was best to spend his magic crystals while he was still at the academy. After all, he might not be able to find a trading center right away when he leaves, and even if he did, the resources there may not be as consummate as what the school had to offer.

This departure would probably last for an extended period of time. Leylin had already made most of his preparations, and only the finishing touches were left on the checklist.

Presently, he intended to buy ingredients to brew Reactive Elixirs and whatever spell model was available. As for any knowledge that a level 3 acolyte might require, it had been stored in Aralis' database since long ago.

However, his knowledge range stopped there. As for what concerned the advancement to an official Magus and the basic information for a Level 1 Magus, that information was heavily guarded by the academy. Only level 3 acolytes who had signed a contract with them would have the right to access those secrets.

Once inside the Senior Market, Leylin headed to the spell models' stall first. It was that stand where the old lady had slapped him.

"You again! What do you want?!" -The attitude of the old lady behind the counter was even more vehement now.

Nevertheless, Leylin's good mood didn't waver. He already knew that those level 3 acolytes had failed in advancing to an official Magus, and they had signed a contract with the school to stay behind and provide basic services. Due to the restrictions in the contract, they could not run from the academy even if they wanted to. With the impending crisis and the collateral damage that would be inflicted upon them, it would be weird if they had the guts to reject any customer.

"Apart from Umbra's Hand, I want all of the basic spell models for the Dark element. Also, give me the Basic Transfiguration spell tome." -Leylin put on a very magnanimous air.

The old lady behind the counter looked at Leylin in surprise. After all, such a wealthy level 2 acolyte like him was rarely seen.

"For 140 magic crystals, they're yours." -The voice of the old lady sounded from behind the counter.

Leylin nodded his head and poured a bag of magic crystals out onto the counter.

"I'll pay you 120 for everything. I'll consider those 20 crystals as your apology for last time." -Leylin threw the old lady a wry smile, and she could only sigh in defeat. She did need the money desperately, given how most people were only buying essentials as of late, not spell models.

The lady swiftly went over the number of crystals and put them away, after which she carried 14 spell books over to the counter. Each of them was as heavy as a brick, and they stacked up to almost Leylin's height.

Not batting an eye, Leylin hired a few shadow slaves and got them to bring the spell model books back into his room, and then he went for the Trading Post.

At this moment, this was one of the few places that were still bustling with people.

The number of acolytes who came here had also increased. Many premium goods had been put up for sale, drawing the attention of numerous acolytes.

[It seems that even these kids have taken notice. They are not so lost after all.] -Aralis mused.

'It is similar to how in the forest, a small number of animals will sense danger and flee before a huge disaster befalls them. Then, many other animals will naturally follow suit when they see the smarter animals leaving, even if they did not sense any danger themselves.' -Leylin analyzed.

Strolling through row after row of stands, each aisle was filled to the brim with artifacts and items of all kinds and colors. None of them managed to attract Leylin in the slightest. However, this did not bring him down as it did before.

'Things have changed. Now, I already have 'that' in my possession...' -Leylin smirked under his mask. He was eager to gather the necessary ingredients to power a certain object.

Soon enough he walked to Woox's store, one with which he was pretty familiar.

Right now, it was crowded with acolytes and they bought any potions they saw in a very forthright manner.

The potions were selling extremely quickly, with manifold empty shelves labeled as sold out. This made Leylin produce a half-smile, since most of Woox's product was manufactured by him.

Woox was so busy with his clientele that he was sweating profusely, and had even employed a few acolytes to help him. Such a scene was definitely not common in the past.

Leylin looked around with a tranquil demeanor that did not fit the tense ambient of not only the Trading Post, but the whole Abyssal Bone Forest.

Woox's eyes shone when he saw Leylin. He called an acolyte to fill in his position and consequently went to personally welcome his best business partner.

"Hello, brother Leylin! I heard the cries of a skylark today, and I know you will definitely bring good news. So? How many potions did you bring? I can give you 10% more than usual!" -Woox greeted Leylin cordially and looked at Leylin as if he was looking at a living magic crystal.

"My apologies. I've been busy with helping my professor, so I haven't been brewing much of anything recently." -Leylin bowed in fake shame.

"This is indeed a tragic piece of news! You don't know how good the market is these days! Ah, but don't worry, I still have many of your potions stored in the back... I'll take them out... when the time is right, if you catch my drift." -Woox said with a cunning grin.

"Alright, alright. I came here to purchase ingredients, dear Woox." -Leylin said and handed a list of items over to his associate.

After the skinny acolyte received the slip and looked at the scribbles and quantities required, his face changed and bean-sized sweat droplets begun trickling down his forehead.

"So many raw materials? Let me see... White Crystals, Purple Vine Radish Roots, claws of a Ghost Goblin... Wait, are you trying to brew a Reactive Elixir?" -Woox queried straightforwardly.

The formulas for the Reactive Elixirs could be found in the library and many people had seen them before. The skinny acolyte being able to recognize the ingredients was nothing amazing.

"Precisely. I want to make preparations for my advancement." -Leylin spoke casually as if he wasn't about to spend hundreds of crystals.

Underneath the ingredients for the Elixirs, Leylin had also added the many common ingredients needed for the Azure Potion and Tears of Mary; the Ancient Potion formulas he had obtained from Kroft. As for those rare ingredients, they have already been extinct in the Magus World for several hundreds of years, so Leylin did not even bother to write them down.

"At least you Potioneering Masters are better off than us plebs. You can brew whatever potions you need by yourself. I remember that when I was still a level 2 acolyte, I committed so many crimes just for a bottle of Reactive Elixir!" -Woox muttered to Leylin.

'I don't care about your life regrets, scum. Just do what you are good for and then be out of my sight.' -Leylin inwardly said.