Arbo-rubru

Selduralto looked at Sheyken who was deep in thought and then looked at Falgur who seemed to have mastered the look of puppy eyes with a tear running down his cheek and hoping Sheyken could notice his act of desperation. He saw him move into view so that Sheyken could see him and she praised him for his acting skills and trying to get his brother to come up with something.

"Do not be disheartened."

She said as Sheyken finally saw Falgur's desperate act. He laughed in his head as he remembered the puppy he almost jumped onto his death to save when he almost got hit by the white truck. It had the same look when he took out a hotdog and pretended not to want to give it after the incident.

"You kids right now have already got so many items with Sheyken's armor, his Camorphiare and now Falgur, who can use the Tempesta-aves's core as his base such that you making a third-tier mage ask herself what she has been doing in her life. You can save the material from the Storm bringer for when you have grown and managed to save up the mana crystals."

She said as she went by their side. Falgur was furious since he thought his acting was on an Oscar nominee level and he could make Sheyken come up with something if he persisted. Sheyken who now knew that the Storm bringer's true name was Tempesta-aves after hearing the name from Seduralto had other thoughts in his mind.

"It is true that many nobles pay a fortune so their children can have all the material and items they need but that is a rare monster for even them to get their hands on. I would die in less than 5 minutes if I went up against it. You should take this as a victory as Falgur would no doubt be ranked high if he uses it with the Blessing he already has. I will process it and you just have to make sure no one knows you have it until you are ready to give it to a smith or craftsman to make the armor and weapon for you."

She was making sense but Sheyken was not about to let Falgur go through the years they will grow up in with no proper armor and weapon, but with him having Shadow and Plot Armor.

"How much does this cost?"

He showed them the red leaf from the tree Zararloch would make him run and get from the peak of the mountain.

Salina gasped.

"Where did you find that?"

She asked as she took it from Sheyken's hands like it was something special.

"I once got lost in the Benevolent woods and found a tree with red leaves. So, I took some."

He said as he looked at Salina looking at the leaf with greedy eyes. Seduralto was speechless.

"I think we should change your name to Surprise from now on. Young man, this is getting ridiculous."

Selduralto said as she thought Sheyken would make her get hysterical for what he had shown her in just a day. She did not know that him killing Initiates and coming to her quarters wearing Shadow was just the starter before the main dish.

"Boys, did your masters tell you what that is?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"They did not show interest in it."

Sheyken said, which was true since Zararloch did not mind him taking as much as he wanted.

'They must be the kind that bought potions rather than making them then.'

Seduralto thought. Salina was now stroking the leaf like it was a delicate thing that deserved to be shown love.

"That leaf is another thing I thought I would never see in my life, an Arbo-rubru leaf"

'Do I even need to go to school when I am already learning so much?'

He thought as he looked at Falgur smiling from ear to ear like he knew that Sheyken had something up his sleeve.

"A leaf from the Devil tree."

"Devil tree?"

Sheyken asked.

"Yes. It is said that it grows not far from where a high raking demon lays."

Sheyken and Falgur quickly thought about their own masters. Sheyken also thought of the other five.

'Are they all demons?'

The thought sent shivers through his spine. He had a bone to pick with demons since one of them killed his best friend, but if they were as strong as any of the 6 he spent two years with, he thought to reevaluate his strategy. He was also confused because Zararloch always referred to them and himself as undead. He was confused as that meant demons were also called undead in Uros or just one of them was a demon with the others being undead and Zararloch was just generalizing. Falgur just thought of Sanguis and thinking he was a demon was making his heart race.

"You are lucky to have not been taken or attacked. Few people have seen that tree and managed to live and tell the tale. They describe it as being as tall as you and having 5 to 6 leaves. How many did you manage to take."

Sheyken thought she was joking.

"The one I saw was a large tree and had many leaves growing on it."

Seduralto took the leaf from Salina and looked at it. She was sure it was the Arbo-rubru as described in the books she read while in the academy she went to. With its red bloody color and having its vascular-like veins that were distinctive, with them being nine and looking like they had blood going through them. Its texture being like that of a human's skin.

"Are you sure it was a large tree and not just a bit taller than you?"

"Yes, but I am interested to know how much one of those would cost."

Sheyken said, trying to avoid telling her how many he had.

'He must have seen wrong. The tree represents how strong the demon living not far from the area it grows is. It is said it survives by absorbing the demonic energy the demon releases as it breathes. It can also be used as a measure of their power, but it also depends on how long it had stayed in that one place. I cannot imagine how strong a demon that has a large Arbo-rubru growing around where it stays would be.'

Seduralto thought as she concluded that Sheyken would surely be dead if he came across such a thing.

"That is an ingredient used in almost all high-level portions. Haven it allows you to cut almost half if not more of the ingredient you would use and it not only increases the chances of you successfully finishing the potion but increases its effectiveness as well. So, you can guess how much potion masters and witches of the craft would pay for just one of those."

Sheyken's mouth was getting watery.

"Since it is a rare ingredient used in high-level potions, I would think it will go for no less than 500 mana crystals, but I am not a potions master. There is no way of finding out unless we auction it so to get the best price."

Sheyken took 8 out of Ruby and gave one to Salina.

"Those two are for the two of you and the rest we can put them up for auction and then use the money from them to pay for the crafting of the armor and weapon."

Falgur wanted to hug Sheyken but as fast as he was, he was beaten by Salina.

"Thank you. You do not know how much this means to me. With this, I can buy the items I need to advance to the next stage."

Sheyken just hugged her back as he knew in the novels that he read how much it took for mages to advance. He thought it would be the same in this world too. Helping one that a guild master trusted would surely put him in her good graces for the longest time.

Seduralto was shocked by his actions and quickly put the leaf in her storage ring before he changed his mind. Salina took the rest of the leaves from him and turned to Seduralto.

"Guild master, please let me be the one to take this request."

Seduralto could not agree more and infect she was going to ask her since no one in their right minds would mess with the boys after her kindly reminding them of her savagery and that they were under her protection. She agreed and thanked Sheyken for his kindness. Her having one also meant she would have no trouble reaching the next stage of her tier as she told them she was in the liquid stage with the gas stage being the first of every stage in each tier.

Sheyken had read about the stages of mages from his light novels and thought the Guardian of literature had done a good job on that part. Falgur had been told what his father knew about them which was not that much but he was too happy to ask about it.

They wrapped things up and she told the boys since they would have to auction the leaves it might take weeks for Salina to come back so they must be patient. She was going to use the teleportation station since even though it was expensive, she wanted to return Sheykens kindness. They had no problem with that since they were going nowhere. They went up and Seduralto told them they could use the first hall for training whenever they wanted.

They reached the guild floor and fewer people were around than usual. The adventurers watched as the two women's eyes looked to be overwhelmed by happiness. Seduralto already wanted to tell Salina that she had told her that by helping the boys they would be helping themselves as her hunch was already bearing fruit.

They watched Falgur passing them, walking like a millionaire as he could not stop smiling and had a spring in his step. Only Sheyken looked the same but they were amazed as his wrist looked to be already healed. Selduralto and Salina had noticed it as well.