Chapter 4

In the early morning, sunlight shone into the Friendly Arm. The quiet market began to bustle with activity. Merchants started organizing their goods, and residents began preparing for a day of labor. The noisy sounds woke Henry up. He opened his eyes, looked out the window at the busy crowd, and stretched. "A new day has begun," Henry muttered to himself.

He pushed open the dwarf's door and saw that Kegan was still sound asleep, showing no sign of waking up. "Sigh." He sighed and returned to his room. Using the "Create Water" spell, Henry made two gallons of clear water to wash up, then went downstairs to have breakfast.

Seeing the busy gnome owner, he hurried to greet him. "Good morning, Mr. Bentley."

"Good morning, Henry. Is Kegan, that drunk, still not up?" The gnome looked up and asked.

Henry shook his head. "No, he's still sleeping. It's been 14 hours, and I don't know how he can sleep so much."

Bentley laughed loudly. "Ha, you should know dwarves have three faults: drinking, forging, and sleeping. I wouldn't be surprised if he slept for a whole day. How about some oatmeal for breakfast?"

Henry nodded helplessly. He had originally planned to have Kegan take him to the market, but it seemed unlikely now. After a quick breakfast, he returned to his room, took his money pouch with the remaining two gold coins, and the magic scroll and three divine scrolls he had made the day before, then headed straight for the market.

When he arrived at the market, he saw that Moriyan had already started business. Many adventurers were buying second-hand weapons and armor from her, as new items were generally one-third more expensive here. The female merchant smiled when she saw Henry and asked, "Hi, Henry, what do you need? Why isn't Kegan with you?"

"Kegan got drunk yesterday and is still sleeping. I heard you have some alchemical ingredients for sale, so I came to check."

Moriyan was taken aback. "Alchemical ingredients? Oh, there are some in the guild's warehouse. They are mostly to be shipped to Baldur's Gate. You know, there are no great mages here in Friendly Arm to make magic items or potions. I didn't expect you to know alchemy; it's a golden goose. Show me the list of what you want to buy." Henry handed her a small piece of paper with the materials listed. Moriyan looked it over and saw that it was mostly herbal powders and some potion bottles. As a merchant, she quickly understood that Henry was going to make potions.

After a moment of calculation, she gave him the price: "One potion bottle for one gold coin, and 200 grams of herbal powder for 10 gold coins." Hearing this, Henry frowned. He only had two gold coins left. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Do you buy books and scrolls?" He then took out the book on common alchemical potions he had bought from the temple the day before and the four scrolls he had made.

"Common Alchemical Potions, 20 gold coins." The female merchant quickly flipped through the book and calculated the price. She then carefully opened the scrolls and said, "Hypnotism, Cure Light Wounds, Stone Power Entanglement, and each 1st-level divine spell scroll is 50 gold coins."

Henry thought that the book he had just bought yesterday was now being sold at half price. Indeed, merchants were ruthless. However, he had already memorized the few formulas, so the book was no longer useful. As for the scrolls, they were bought at a standard price. The selling price of a 1st-level scroll was 64 gold coins, not much different.

After some thought, he said to the merchant, "I'll sell everything. Also, give me 200 grams of each of the four powders and 10 empty potion bottles."

"Sure, no problem. Just wait a moment." Moriyan called over a helper and instructed him to fetch the items from the warehouse. "Are you interested in being my direct supplier?" The female merchant asked, her eyes gleaming as if she wanted to devour him. "No, not for now. You know, I was only taught the basics of magic and alchemy and then learned on my own. I don't have the ability to be a supplier yet." Henry firmly refused. He needed systematic relearning, not to become a small merchant.

The female merchant raised an eyebrow. "Self-taught? That's impressive. Have you thought about going to the Mage Tower in Baldur's Gate for further training?"

Henry was surprised. "Further training? That's a great idea. But the tuition must be high." His interest was piqued.

Moriyan said proudly, "Our guild has trade relations with Master Telanthis in High Hedge. He is not only a great mage but also an excellent alchemist. I can give you a letter of recommendation, but the condition is that you must provide me with your alchemical items first."

Henry thought that having a 17th-level spell master as a mentor was the best thing possible. There seemed to be no more powerful mage near Baldur's Gate than Telanthis. "No problem, deal." He agreed readily.

"Then let's sign a contract. I'll help you get the letter of recommendation. You must give me the first right to buy all the alchemical items you make. You can only sell to others if I don't want them." Moriyan quickly took out paper and a pen from her pocket and started drafting the contract. After writing it, Henry read it over and found no issues. There were no patterns or special thicknesses or textures on the paper. He then signed his name.

"You're really cautious, I'm not a devil," the female merchant pouted.

Henry smiled. "Cautiousness helps you live longer. After all, devils can transform into anything."

Moriyan carefully packed the contract. "I can only get the letter of recommendation next month when I return to Baldur's Gate. You'll have to wait a bit."

"No problem, I still have to complete the commission for the Thunder God's Forge with Kegan."

The female merchant nodded. "I'll have the letter of recommendation sent to Kegan by the caravan."

After signing the contract, both were in a good mood and started chatting casually. Soon, the helper brought Henry the items he wanted: 10 empty potion bottles in a wooden box and the powders in cloth bags. "Here are the items you wanted. The remaining 170 gold coins are for you." Moriyan said, settling the remaining gold coins.

After settling, Henry took the items and went directly to the workshop on the third floor of the inn. He started making potions in order. First, he mixed the powders in water in a certain ratio, heated it to boiling, and cast Cure Light Wounds on the potion bottle. Then he sealed the bottle with a wooden stopper and let it cool naturally. This made a bottle of Cure Light Wounds potion, which had a shelf life of one year. After a year, the divine power in the potion would gradually dissipate, and the longer it was stored, the less effective it would become. Eventually, it would turn into a bottle of water. He made three bottles, using up all his divine spells for the day, and then stopped to rest. Seeing the light green liquid in the bottles, he felt much better. After the potions cooled, he carefully placed them in the wooden box to avoid collisions. After resting, he realized it was already noon, so he decided to have lunch first and make the Hypnotism potion in the afternoon.

When he came to the second floor, he passed by Kegan's room and found the dwarf was no longer there. At the bar, he saw Kegan eating smoked fish and bread, with a large mug of ale, of course.

Henry looked at the dwarf. "Kegan, you're finally up. I thought you'd sleep for seven days and then set off."

Kegan laughed loudly. "Ha, a strong dwarf can't be defeated by a little alcohol. I can drink a whole barrel of ale and then face a giant without flinching."

"Sure, you'd probably see a stool as a giant after half a barrel," the old gnome said, exposing the dwarf's bluff.

"Cough, Henry, I heard you went to Moriyan this morning to buy something?" Seeing his bluff exposed, Kegan quickly changed the subject.

"Yes, I bought some alchemical materials and made a few Cure Light Wounds potions this morning. After all, earthworms aren't easy to deal with. I also made a deal with her. After this adventure, she will recommend me to High Hedge as an apprentice under the name of the Seven Suns Guild." Henry reported to Kegan.

"High Hedge? That's a great place. I've been there once. The magic items are ridiculously expensive. A magic warhammer costs 4100 gold coins, and a magic chainmail costs 18000 gold coins. It's more profitable than robbery. We dwarves can only sell a good weapon for 100 gold coins," Kegan said, envious and resentful.

Henry seriously told the dwarf, "You know, I learned my magic and alchemy on my own. I don't know much about making magic items. I want to learn systematically. While I'm away, please take care of my mother and sister."

"No problem, I've known your mother Lily since she was a little girl. I watched her grow up, get married, and have children. Lina is a cute child, though I don't like her pulling my beard," the dwarf patted his chest and promised Henry.

After lunch, they returned to their room. Kegan took out a whetstone from his luggage and started sharpening his axe, cleaning his armor and helmet, and carefully polishing them to remove dirt and smooth out scratches, then carefully oiled them. Henry also started organizing his luggage. Since he was injured, the dwarf had been helping him with it. Now that his arm was almost fine, he decided to do it himself.

Opening his backpack, he found a regular light crossbow with a black hardwood frame, not yet strung. The quiver next to it contained two bowstrings made from the tendons of an unknown animal, with a draw strength that wouldn't exceed 100 meters. Next to the bowstrings was a wooden short spear about 1.3 meters long, very hard with a flat and sharp tip. Below were some clothes and a quiver of 40 crossbow bolts, a small bag of salt, and a dagger for skinning, cutting meat, and eating. That was all he had.

After a simple organization, Henry returned to the third floor to finish the last Hypnotism potion. Making a Hypnotism potion was a bit more complex. First, he heated the water to a certain temperature, then added a certain amount of powder. After cooling, he cast Hypnotism, then reheated it to boiling. While boiling, he added some alcohol and quickly sealed the bottle. After cooling, he placed it with the Cure Light Wounds potions. The bright red liquid in the bottle wouldn't be confused with other potions.

After all, the Hypnotism potion was used by throwing it directly at the enemy. When the crystal bottle broke, the liquid inside would quickly evaporate into a gas. Anyone who inhaled this gas would fall asleep as if under a Hypnotism spell.