Chapter 88: Discount

Chapter 88: Discount

It didn’t take long for Cal to find what he was looking for. All the potions were behind lock and key, so he waited for an attendant to get to him.

In the meantime, he observed the others around him. He found it curious that most of them were mortals, yet they were splurging on potions that cost several silver at the minimum. After eavesdropping, he discovered that many of them traveled to Silverpine.

Apparently, it was cheaper to buy potions here than any other place, including Lumina. Most of these mortals were traders who bought low and sold higher wherever they did business. Even though it was guaranteed profit, it was low enough per potion that guild members didn’t bother to take over.

“I apologize for the wait. What can I get for you?”

Like all the others, the attendant who spoke to him was a guild member. It wasn’t hard to figure out that they were beginner alchemists.

Cal was direct. He knew what he wanted. “A healing potion. A mana restoration potion. And a calming potion,” he thought about another situation that might come up and added, “give me a rage potion too. Make it a few of each.”

The attendant gave him a short nod and quickly moved to gather what was requested.

Cal decided to get the rage potion at the last second in an attempt to forcibly put himself in that state where he was hyper-focused. While it wasn’t ideal, if he ever got himself into a situation where he had exhausted all his options, taking the rage potion would be the last resort.

It likely wouldn’t end well, but that was the least of his worries as long as he was alive.

“Here you are,” the attendant had the potions arranged neatly in a box. “Two of each. It’ll be eight gold and sixty silver.”

Cal reached into his pocket and pulled the necessary coin from the storage pouch. He handed it over and took the box before leaving the shop without dawdling.

He would return later when he had more time to look around. Some potions looked promising to use on the farm, but he would need to read more into them before making a decision.

Cal had hoped to use [Master Negotiator] to try to get a discount, but when he observed the other customers, he noticed that they always paid the sticker price without fail. It wasn’t odd for that to be the case in some shops, though rare.

Since that was the case, he figured it would be better to save up his three tries on the weapon he needed to buy.

Cal made his way towards the west side of the town, where Mel said plenty of shops sold weapons. When the foot traffic reduced drastically, and no eyes could catch his move, he quickly put the box in his storage pouch.

He checked the interface to see how it was stored.

Basic Storage Pouch: 15/20

Inventory:

8 Unknown Gems

127 Copper, 107 Silver, 4 Gold, 2 Guildmarks

1 Rake (Rare)

1 Map (Trade Routes of the Celestial Order)

2 Healing Potion (Minor)

2 Mana Restoration Potion (Minor)

2 Calming Potion

2 Rage Potion

Cal had wondered if that was what would happen. While a different type of potion took up one of the limited allocations in the storage pouch, duplicates did not. He found it curious that this was the case when the unknown gems all took up a separate allocation, although they were the same type.

I need to find out how the storage pouch decides the allocation use.

He didn’t have a search hard for the weapon stores. Most of the alleys and streets he passed were for residential buildings, and the single street containing shops had far too many weapon stores. Almost everyone on the street was either in a weapon store or about to head to one.

Cal wasn’t looking for any bladed weapon because he simply didn’t have the skill for it, nor did he intend to try and learn. He needed a simple weapon that any fool could use with some effectiveness. He was looking for a hammer.

He checked the weapon stores from outside to see if any of those were in stock. They were not a popular choice, so every shop he checked simply didn’t have them. However, his window shopping came with the unexpected benefit of eavesdropping.

The guild was subsidizing the purchase of weapons. It started a month ago, and apparently, there didn’t seem to be an end in sight.

Cal had been confused about why alchemists were so happy to spend their limited funds on weapons when they rarely fought, but this certainly explained it. The problem now was why.

It can be discounted by five silver.

Two uses left for the day.

Cal frowned at the number the interface gave him. That was only five percent off the price, but that was only a random number that could be anywhere between zero and a hundred percent of what Vern would take off the price.

“I’ll give you eighty silver,” Cal offered what he considered was a lowball and expected pushback.

“Done!” Vern accepted the offer immediately as if he were scared it would be withdrawn.

Cal felt like he got swindled, and when the interface appeared, he felt even worse.

Since you used [Master Negotiator]’s ability, you will not receive a contribution to the skill on this trade.

Cal swallowed his irritation and handed over the silver before asking, “How much for four of those daggers?” He was pointing at the daggers that interested them at the start.

“Oh, these don’t fit someone like you. They're far too basic for any real use. Might I suggest these instead?” Vern was pointing at something that exuded money.

Cal refused. “I think those basic daggers are perfect for what I want to use them for.”

“I see,” Vern was visibly disappointed. “They are twenty copper each. A silver in total for all five.”

“Forty copper,” Cal countered with a straight face. It was no longer about the money but to recover his pride.

It looked like Vern understood, so he held himself back from haggling and reluctantly agreed.

Cal left Vern’s shop with his damaged pride slightly recovered and returned to the town center. He stored his newly bought weapons in his storage pouch when there wasn’t anyone looking in the less traveled streets on the way back.

He checked his inventory out of curiosity.

Basic Storage Pouch: 17/20

Inventory:

8 Unknown Gems

137 Copper, 27 Silver, 4 Gold, 2 Guildmarks

1 Rake (Rare)

1 Map (Trade Routes of the Celestial Order)

2 Healing Potion (Minor)

2 Mana Restoration Potion (Minor)

2 Calming Potion

2 Rage Potion

4 Daggers (Common)

1 War Hammer (Uncommon)

Cal had bought four daggers with the assumption that they would take up the rest of the storage pouch's allocation. For some reason, all five only took up one allocation.

I have to set aside the unknown gems as unique. There is a point where the storage pouch refuses to take up only one allocation for the same item. If it didn’t, I would’ve been able to store the barrel of Sunfire Grain seeds.

He shelved the mystery of the storage bag for now and put all his effort into finding Tavia.

Complete stat sheet in author note (under spoiler tag)

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