The Moon Thief

"Excuse me, I overheard unintentionally. Are you a Potions Master?"

When Heinald looked in the direction of the voice, he realized that the first step of his plan had succeeded and grinned inside. This voice belonged to that man!

"The first phase of the plan is complete! I've managed to get that man's attention." Heinald muttered inwardly.

"Yes, I am a Potions Master." Heinald replied quite firmly of himself.

"If it's not rude, may I ask what potions you can brew?" The man asked with a polite smile."I don't understand why this concerns you." Heinald spoke flatly.

"My name is Erald. I'm a member of an organization operating in this kingdom. Frankly, we don't want to miss a young potions master. I thought that if I found out what potions you knew, I could set the terms of the deal I would offer you."

Heinald saw the man fill with anticipation. But he wasn't going to jump right away, he wanted to show some resistance first.

"What kind of activities does your organization carry out?" asked Heinald.

"I'm sorry but I don't have the authority to disclose our activities, at least in a place like this" Erald looked around and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to be associated with an organization I know nothing about." said Heinald.

"Oh! I can understand you too. We can talk about our mutual interests in a more private place if you want." Erald said hastily.

Erald gave Heinald a card with the address to meet him two days later and left. The address was a place called Linadres Mansion in Jusen City. He didn't know where this mansion was or who it belonged to.

Heinald and Morena, thinking that there might be people watching, continued their roles and left after spending time there for a while. They both went to different places and visited a few shops to risk being tracked. Later, they both returned to their inn at different times.

"It's really great news that your plan is working flawlessly!"

When Dane heard what had happened, he was quite pleased. They had successfully connected with a member of the organization. Moreover, since this person was able to invite Heinald directly to the organization, he must have been a high-ranking person.

Two days passed quickly.

After a short investigation, Heinald learned where the Linadres Mansion was. This pavilion belonged to a trading group called Eternity Hill. He didn't understand how the Awakened Nightmare organization was related to this trade group. But even indirectly, there seemed to be a connection between them.

When Heinald showed the card to the guards at the entrance of the mansion, one of the guards led him directly into the mansion.

"Heinald! I'm glad you're here."

While Erald was talking to someone in the garden of the mansion, he saw Heinald coming and immediately walked over to him.

"Greetings." Heinald gave a light nod.

"Welcome! Follow me and we can talk freely in the next lounge."

Erald took him to a place to the north of the mansion, where the huge mountains were visible in all their glory. The mansion had a very nice view as it was on a high part of the city. Almost the entire city could be seen from here.

"First of all, let me introduce our organization to you. Our organization is called Awakened Nightmare. Our purpose is to do research on Magical Beasts and study their biology. Since we do research on Magical Beasts, we have to fight them very often. So a potion master would be very useful to us, especially if it's a young person like you."

Heinald pretended to be impressed by what he heard, but was actually grinning contemptuously inside.

"Your job is really tough! Magical Beasts are pretty dangerous." said Heinald.

"It is! We are also conducting research on many other dangerous animals." said Erald.

There was not only Magical Beasts in the world of Ainsar. There were also many animals and creatures that could not use elemental energy but had very strong bodies. These animals could be much more powerful and dangerous than Magical Beasts according to their evolution process.

"Coming to the main point, I hope we can cooperate with a mutual interest agreement. If you can tell me the potions you can brew, we can adjust the conditions accordingly." Erald sat up straight and put on a serious expression.

His amazement grew as Heinald listed the various potions he could brew for him. He looked confused, but at the same time, he didn't seem to believe it. This could be taken for granted because Heinald was more familiar with potion formulas than most old Ainsars who were into potions. The success rate through eyes of the Moon Thief was also quite high, but he didn't tell him about it. It would be best not to go too far, though.

"You can test me whenever you want. And if I support you with these potions, what benefits will you give me?" Heinald also had a serious expression on his face.

"I'd better discuss this with my father, our organization leader. I'm sure he'll make a very generous offer." Erald was looking into the eyes of Heinald in front of him. He was obviously trying to figure out if he was lying.

He had noticed the endless confidence in Heinald's eyes, but it was hard to believe that he had become such an expert in potions at such a young age. Still, even though he knew he would find out the actual result after testing him, something inside him told him that he wasn't lying.

Heinald received an invitation to come back to the mansion the next day. Erald did not give any information about the leader of the organization and kept his identity secret. He was going to talk to him about their offer to Heinald.

Heinald came back to the mansion the next day. Erald greeted him like last time and took him to a place where they could talk undisturbed.

"I spoke to my father last night. Assuming your potion brewing skills were correct, he made a very generous offer to you." said Erald.

"Oh? I'm listening." Heinald's eyebrows rose.

"When you join our organization and fulfill your obligations, you will receive 300,000 Arkana Stones each year." said Erald.

"Move 300,000 Arkana a year? A much better offer than I expected." Heinald muttered inwardly allowed an impressed expression on his face.

Erald smiled confidently when he saw Heinald's expression.

"Move 300,000 Arcana a Year...You'd have to be an idiot to say no to this offer!" said Heinald.

"HAHA! Indeed!" Erald burst out laughing and added, "I'll take you to Old Man Rolls now. You'll work together often in the future because he's also a potions master. He'll test you, and if he approves, we'll officially start the collaboration by making a Blood Agreement!"

Erald and Heinald came to a great hall on the third floor of the mansion. This entire hall was filled with various alchemical tools. In the middle of the hall was an old man of short stature and sparse hair, almost invisible among the books. He lifted his head when he heard footsteps approaching.

"Erald! Have you brought new blood?" The old man closed the book in front of him and started walking towards the two of them.

"Yes! And a Potions Master despite his age!" Erald answered enthusiastically.

"Oh?" The old man began to stare at Heinald.

Likewise, Heinald was looking at him. The energy emanating from this old man showed that he was a Level 1 Ainsar. However, he was weaker than himself in terms of Spiritual Power.

"Hi, my name is Heinald. I think you're going to test me."

"Yes son. Show me your skills!" The old man nodded.

******

After a few hours.

"It's really hard to believe!" The old man was quite confused. This young man in front of him was the greatest talent he had ever seen. He didn't believe it at first when he told him the list of potions he could brew, but later he asked him various questions and asked him to brew potions according to some potion formulas he had given him.

The result was truly incredible!

This young man had both fully answered the questions and brewed a potion perfectly.He had never met a young man who could answer his questions so calmly and quickly before. He wouldn't be surprised if this young man in front of him was a member of a famous and powerful Ainsar family, but if he was, it would be absurd to be in this organization.

Finally, he would brew the potions he had declared he could brew before. Of course, he would do it privately because if someone was with him, he would learn the formula content of the potion for free.

Heinald was provided with the ingredients he requested, and indeed he managed to brew all the potions he declared in full. Old Rolls himself confirmed that the potions were made from ingredients that were supplied by checking the ingredients themselves.

Thus, Heinald's testing process was over.