Day 86
In the past few days, thanks to his hard work killing Dumas, concocting, and selling the acid potions he made, Emery had earned enough spirit stones to obtain everything he needed to take back to Earth.
There was just one thing that was still attainable; The recipes for his gene bloodline, which according to what Bob the frog said to him before, the potion recipe he would help him increase the purity of his fey wolf genes.
[Bloodline Gene – Fey Wolf]
[Gene Classification – Legendary Bloodline]
[Bloodline Limit : Rank 6]
[Current Rank]
[Rank 3 -The Fey Warden]
[21% fey wolf essence found]
From what he knew so far, Emery believed that, if he was able to purify his gene essence to 30%, he would be able to upgrade his fey wolf rank. This was the path that even the headmaster himself thought would be the best for him.
If he managed to obtain the recipe, he could try to create the serum himself. Emery remembered the patriarch's words – when he managed to reach rank 4, he could become an alpha wolf and help the other fey wolves. This path of progression would be nothing but beneficial to him.
Unfortunately, even with all his efforts, the matter of spirit stones still troubled him. He didn't have enough spirit stones to purchase the recipe and, even if he traded all his contribution points into spirit stones, he would only have 107.165.
The day of his return to earth ticked even closer, and Emery was left with three choices.
One, he could forget about the research for recipes, save up his money and contribution points for later, then he could resume the research 3 years later, when he would probably have more spirit stones to comfortably do so.
Two, he could join the Wellenstein faction and get 100.000 spirit stones right away. However, joining would render his objective moot, as he would not be able to come back to Earth to experiment with the serum to his brethren.
Three, he had the choice to beg for some kind of deal with Bob the Frog and get parts of the recipes or more spirit stones out of the deal.
The more Emery thought about it, the more he realized his only choice would be the latter one.
"Maybe this can work." Emery muttered, trying to be optimistic about his own half-baked plan.
He woke up early in the morning, got dressed and went to Zodiac City without wasting as much as a second. Upon reaching the city, Emery went directly to the alley with the familiar building he had visited before.
Right as he was about to open the door, Emery heard a massive ruckus going on inside. The sounds of something being thrown around were clear, even from there.
"Kkrrr… Why is this happening! This is a disaster!"
Bob's enraged cursing could be heard even from outside, probably even across the street.
Emery's expression turned full of concern and he quickly walked into the shop. A lot of potion bottles were scattered on the ground and the previously well-stocked shelves were much more empty than usual. Colorful stains from various potions covered the floor, some even hissing and smoking against the ground.
Clink! Clink!
The bell resounded as soon as Emery came in and not long after, Bob cursed again.
"GET OUT!! You are not welkom! The shop is klosed now!"
Emery was a little bit afraid of disturbing him, but there was no time left and with each second, he grew more desperate. Only 4 days were left before he would need to return to Earth and he needed to get all his affairs in this world in order before then.
"I am sorry, Mr. Bob. It's me, Emery Ambrose… I came to ask about the wolf gene recipes."
Bob the Frog stopped throwing the things around in anger and actually looked up, to see Emery's concerned face staring at him. "This time you came at the right time!" Bob looked at the back room and shouted. "The boy is here, niece!"
After shouting, he turned back to look at Emery and whispered. "My niece has been waiting for you for quite a while… you…" Bob shook his head. "Argh, forget it, just be quick. We are in a hurry, okay?"
Emery stared at Bob in confusion. What does he mean by waiting? However, he had no time to ask Bob that, as he was quickly shoved to the back room by the frog-man. Inside the back room, he saw a white-haired girl standing right in the middle, her gaze drilling into his soul.
"Ah, it's you, Silva! You… Niece… Uncle… Frog?" Emery was so surprised, he was not even able to form a coherent question and had to resort to mumbling under his breath.
"Emery, come closer!" Silva said, her tone serious.
One question answered, two thousand more new questions popped up. Silva outstretched her hand and pulled Emery closer while confusion was still evident on his face. Though he had always known Silva was a serious, no-nonsense smart acolyte, Emery could feel from her gaze she had something important weighing on her mind.
Emery decided to walk a few steps closer to her. "What is it, Silva?"
Silva kept staring at him and it took minutes for her to answer the question.
"Emery, this place is run by the Oroboros clan. My clan. And Bob is… My distant uncle."
"Ah, I see…" Emery was relieved, delighted to hear that, even. He knew Silva to some extent and, by knowing her, perhaps the negotiation he needed to do today would be easier. They could be referred to as friends or sorts, their complicated relationship making categorizations confusing.
Emery did not expect her expression to become more grave, but Silva did just that and took out a parchment from her ring before showing the parchment to him.
"Emery, you came here for this gene recipe, right?"
Even from a glance, Emery was able to discern the paper contained the recipe he was looking for.
"Then, tell me, do you have the 200.000 spirit stones I asked for?" Silva asked directly, cutting into the heart of the matter. Unused to such a direct confrontation when it comes to trading, Emery stuttered.
"No… No, I can only provide half of it… By tomorrow, I will… Wait, I thought-"
"No deal, then." Silva cut him off before he was able to say anything.
Emery stared at the girl. From back when they first met to now, Emery was always confused about her behavior. Why did she act so mean towards him only to treat him better later?
Before Emery could ask, Silva handed a piece of parchment to him.
"Here, you can keep it, free of charge!" Silva looked away, making sure Emery did not see her reddened cheeks.
"Why are you-" Emery asked, but Silva cut in before he managed to finish.
"I don't have much time to explain, just… Just keep it, it's yours!"
On one hand, Emery was glad for the gift, but on the other hand he remembered the three-year contract that was offered to him before in order to let him pay for the recipe indirectly.
"No, Silva… Tell me, what should I do in return for this gift?"
"Emery, you truly are… The biggest moron, ever." Silva breathed out on him. "You know, if someone offers you something for free, you should just take it as asked!"
Yet again, Silva handed the parchment to Emery, however, Emery kept on refusing, not wanting to accept such a valuable gift without giving her something in return. Emery was about to offer something again, but Silva screamed in irritation.
"Arrrggghhh!"
The sudden outburst shocked Emery. The scream was followed with the voice of panting breath. Instantly, Emery's expression turned worried.
"Silva… are you okay? What is it? You can tell me."
"Urghh why are you such a guy Emery! Why did you worry about me? You know nothing about me! Just take the recipe and go!"
"No Silva, tell me... "
Before Silva could answer, a voice could be heard from outside the room.
"Niece… Niece!! kkrr… All is ready, let's go!"
Silva snapped out from her previously emotional expression. With the straightest face she could manage, she said to Emery.
"Emery, trust me, you will really need this. No one else is as good as uncle Bob, let alone better than him when it comes to gene sequencing… Actually, this recipe was only half-complete, but it should be enough for you… If you end up being able to master this, you can find the frog people later on."
Silva placed the parchment on the table and said.
"You can take it, you can throw it away, the decision is in your hands. Think of it as a farewell gift from me…"
"Farewell? ...What do you mean?"
Silva looked down, an awkward silence settled between them. From her expression, it was clear she was feeling emotional. The force swirling behind her gaze was much more powerful than her usual playful anger at Emery, a gaze of worry and sadness. Silva took one deep breath and slowly said.
"I… I really can't say anything… Good bye, Emery."
Silva turned around and started walking away, only for Emery to grab her hand.
"Calm down, Silva. Tell-"
To his surprise, Silva turned around, but she threw a handful of powder to his face, causing Emery to cough and slowly lose his consciousness.
Emery could roughly tell Silva didn't leave right away. She helped him to take a seat on the chair, stared at him and moved her face closer. She whispered in a careful manner. "Emery, please… I hope you won't believe what they said about us."
The last thing Emery could remember was a soft, loving touch on his lips right before everything turned dark.
Emery had no idea for how long he was unconscious, but when he managed to regain clarity of mind, he saw that the room had already been emptied. He could feel a pit forming in his stomach.
He had nothing but a bad feeling about this.
He walked towards the table and saw that the parchment containing the recipe part was still there.
Right as Emery tried to read it, a notification came into his mind.
[Fey wolf gene enhancer recipes acquired.]
[You have learned a new recipe!]
Emery felt a rush of new information and with them came knowledge he previously lacked. Most of what he received was too advanced and Emery was unable to make heads or tails of it beyond the fact that they were some sort of apothecary related technique.
Though Emery had received such a good boon on this unusual day, he was still worried about Silva. But there was no way to find any more information about her. All he could do was hope nothing bad ever came to her.
Emery went back to his residence and woke up the next day to see Magus Xion at the appointed time. The magus did not recommend everyone to come to the meetings and thus only Emery and Julian came to join the Magus
The two walked past the portal and into the headquarters for the alliance of men.