Aeon grunted and let the adept alchemist speak. He fished out a ledger from beneath his counter and started writing some stuff, seemingly not acknowledging Cedric's presence.
"Since that is out of the way and since he looks busy again, I guess it's my turn to speak." Cedric looked at Emery with a wide smile, and said, "I have a proposal for you, Emery."
"And may I know what's on your mind, senior?" Emery asked, facing Cedric now after removing the status screen from his view.
"Ok, I know today's your last day and I'm guessing you would like to acquire some spells before returning to your world, right?" said Cedric as if he knew everything going on in Emery's mind.
Emery confirmed Cedric's deduction with a nod.
Cedric kept his wide smile before turning to Aeon once more, who was busy writing some stuff in the ledger. He said with a teasing look, "Oh my wonderful friend, may I use the magus crystal... please?"
"Whatever…" replied Aeon, not looking up.
Emery realized that even though Aeon treated Cedric harshly, Cedric didn't seem to mind it as if they were good friends. These two people might be closer than he thought.
Cedric then proceeded to touch the crystal ball and information appeared similar to the one in the Apothecary store.
[Magus Guild Crystal]
[Mission] [Store] [Network]
The mission tab, as the name implied, was a list of missions where an acolyte or a magus would be able to take once they were eligible and receive contribution points or other compensations after turning over a completed mission. Network was similar to a facility where people could communicate over long distances while the store was a tab to buy magus equipment.
"Look at this," said Cedric, clicking the store menu. "This is the list for the hundreds of spells that's available to buy for all acolytes and magus to buy under the ten elements. All of them are basic spells, but this should be more than enough for you. The guild doesn't have the higher or much more powerful spells because those are exclusively retrieved from the institutions."
Emery began to browse the list Cedric had pulled up all to his heart's content.
[Stone Skin - rank 1 earth spell - 100 spirit stone]
[Mud Wall - rank 1 earth spell - 100 spirit stone]
[Glow Stone - rank 1 earth spell - 100 spirit stone]
[Spiritual Seed - rank 1 plant spell - 100 spirit stone]
[Nature Sense - rank 1 plant spell - 100 spirit stone]
[Entangle - rank 1 plant spell - 100 spirit stone]
[Cloud Mist - rank 1 water spell - 100 spirit stone]
[Hydraulic Push - rank 1 water spell - 100 spirit stone]
[Water Whip - rank 1 water spell - 100 spirit stone]
Looking through the rank 1 list of spells, Emery already found some spells that caught his eyes. He collected and prepared himself for what Cedric might ask in return. "So, what is the deal?"
Cedric's eyes beamed and said, "It's simple as a matter of fact. I'll buy it for you."
Emery expected that Cedric would want something in return. After all, nothing was free in this world. He cleared his throat and asked, "What do you want for in exchange?"
The adept alchemist smiled broadly, apparently waiting for this question. "Every year, Master Grom always gives the same mission to all acolytes in the plant institute who are not part of the path of crafting. And seeing how you felt your pouch after taking one, I know for sure that you have more than one of those potions. I'll trade you one Green Essence potion for one spell, so what say you?"
Emery then realized why Cedric had bothered to go out of his way to accompany him here. If he knew any better, Emery would think this was Cedric's goal from the moment Cedric had witnessed him drink the green essence potion.
"As my junior from the Apothecary Institute, I am willing to help you and trade that low quality green essence potion with a spell that could be useful for you back in your own world, what do you think? Let's seal the deal, shall we?"
It had been a few days since Emery had been thinking about what to do once he returned to Britain. He didn't have a home to call anymore and only seven days had passed after he had been transported to this magical place. It still was highly possible those marauders who had burned his house and murdered his father might get wind of his return and that'd mean he'd be in danger once again; even though it was true he had better physique than before, he knew he didn't have the capability to fight or maybe outrun them again.
Now that a few days had passed, he had a much clearer view of that event and could somewhat figure there was a stronger power behind that attack since the marauder's specifically attacked them while shouting 'kill the chrutin lovers!'. He had never heard of that term, much less about hearing how his father's estate, the home of the renowned knight with the title of the Lion's Fang, had been attacked with such reasoning behind it.
Emery determinedly opened his small pouch from his waist and took out the eight small green containers. He had received nine bottles, and if he shared the remaining with Mags or Cole, whose status was still unknown, at the very least he felt entitled to three of these bottles. One of them had already been consumed, so he could only exchange at least two bottles at most.
His eyes switched between the bottles and the list of spells. Believing that his needs for the spells were more urgent, Emery decided to hand over two bottles. As he kept two of them and put the rest back in the bag, he stretched out his hand to Cedric when Aeon shut his ledger loudly, startling Emery.
"Hold it right there!" exclaimed Aeon, taking a look at the potions. "Don't be stupid, kid! That potion is worth at least five times of a single basic spell!"