In truth, Aeon was just pretending to be busy when he was in fact listening in on Emery and Cedric's conversation. When he had seen the potions and heard Cedric's audacious claims on how the potion was worth only a single spell, he could no longer keep quiet how his friend/enemy would be close to scamming a colleague in his own institute.
"Hold it right there!" exclaimed Aeon, glancing at the potions Emery had withdrawn. "Don't be stupid, kid! That potion is worth at least five times of a single basic spell!"
Emery stopped midway and noticed how Cedric clicked his tongue on the corner of his eye.
Cedric immediately tried to defend himself and said, "Oh, no, no, no. If it was a normal potion perhaps, but these are low quality green essence potions, they're worth at most two spells."
Aeon ignored Cedric and asked Emery to hand over the potion to him instead. "Kid, let me see those potions."
Emery did as Aeon had requested; Cedric, on the other hand, appeared to have furrowed his brows. Cedric said, "Okay, okay, I'm willing to exchange you two spells for one potion. That should be a fair deal."
Aeon closely examined the green essence potions. He gave it a twirl and a sniff after opening one of them before striking a sharp stare at Cedric. He said, "You are really shameless, aren't you?"
Emery thought it'd be better to stay silent as two people argued with each other. He hadn't spent enough time in this academy and knew too little to make a well-informed decision. If he were to study in this place for a longer time in the future, he would need to be careful from being taken advantage of easily as well as people whom he could trust and rely on. He wouldn't get far if he only had himself to rely on.
Emery received the potions back from Aeon and laid it down on the table, prompting the adept alchemist and the red-skinned, half-human, from bickering. "Respected senior, I have these two potions to spare, could you please help me choose a few spells you think that'll be suitable for me. I think two or three spells will be sufficient without having to incur too many losses for my senior alchemist here."
Aeon gave his first smile since the time Emery and Cedric had walked in here a few minutes ago. He smirked at Cedric once more and said, "Don't worry, kid. Cedric here is a successful craftsman and a shrewd businessman. Like I said, even with just one of these potions, he wouldn't lose anything since he has so many spirit stones."
He opened the spell list and began to give suggestions to Emery. "For rank 1 spells, I recommend [Stone Skin] for your earth affinity. It boasts the most physical and magical defense amongst all other defensive types of spell. Not only it gives you protection, but it also increases your physical strength.
Emery indeed agreed that increasing a person's survival in dire situations was first and foremost. This was also the same spell Julian had received from the stone institute after he had broken through in the understanding of the earth elemental spirit.
"No questions about the defensive spell because it's the best that you can have. Next thing you need are offensive spells; I recommend [Leaves of Steel] or [Whip Splash], which are both rank 1 spells for your plant or water affinities. It costs a bit more than the basic skill since they're a bit more complicated but more powerful."
Cedric was about to say something when Aeon gave him a deadly look, making him hold his tongue, so Cedric had to make do with a sigh instead.
Aeon returned speaking to Emery giving his last bits of suggestions. "Lastly, since you have the three spirit manuals from the institutes, except for the [Darkness Spirit Manual - Initial Stage], I'd highly recommend getting it since it's inexpensive. Not to mention, you'll need this to start connecting with the element of the dark all around us. On top of this, better also get a utility spell like [Dark Smoke], which will be useful for running away from undefeatable opponents. The smoke not only disturbs your opponent's sight but it can also confuse their mind for a brief moment."
He clapped and started to select each of the spells in the list he had advised for Emery to get. "One spirit manual [Darkness Spirit manual - Initial Stage], one utility spell [Dark Smoke], one defensive spell [Stone Skill], and two offensive spells [Leaves of Steel] and [Whip Splash], all of them should amount to…650 spirit stones. What do you think?"
Cedric mumbled as he checked his palm, probably checking the stones he had on him. He gave an annoyed nod, indicating he was somewhat fine with this transaction when Aeon remembered something and asked them to wait a second.
Aeon went inside the door behind his counter and returned with a box with intricate greenish carvings on the edges. He said, "Actually, I think you'll like this better than the offensive plant spell."
[Fragmentation - rank 1 plant spell]
After Aeon had opened the box and the name of the scroll came into view, Cedric slammed the counter and said, "Hey, hey, if you include that then, the total amount should be a thousand spirit stones! I'll basically not get a profit for bringing him here! I won't do it!"
Aeon smirked wider than he had earlier at Cedric and said, "Oho, two can play this game, pretty boy. If you don't want it, then I'll buy these spells for him. What do you think, kid?"
"What does the spell do?" Emery asked.
"It's a rare basic spell for plant magi. Since you're an apothecary apprentice, this would help you tremendously since the spell will help you dissect a plant and separate their components. Of course, you'll still have to practice the actual deed but having a guideline where to separate parts of plants will make your apprentice work much easier."
Emery indeed was grateful to Cedric for bringing him here. However, since Cedric was no longer to pay for his spells and Aeon was offering, he better grab this opportunity for himself. He only gave two words to Aeon, "Thank you."
Even though he no longer had two bottles of green essence potions, which he could confidently claim as his own, Emery was quite satisfied to get four spells out of it as a replacement. Emery took scrolls, used them on the spot, Emery thanked both Aeon and Cedric, who was still brooding about Aeon stealing his client, and decided to return to his resting place.
The sun had started to set as he stepped out of the magus guild building.