End of the Magic Era
chapter-50

In fact, not even three minutes after the end of the alchemy exhibition, the bottle of Hope Potion already had a new owner.

The lucky guy was a 3rd Rank Magic Apprentice called Cruise. Cruise was 28 years old and had neither an illustrious background nor an outstanding gift. This in itself made it very difficult for him to become a Mage. His only fortune was that he was also a pretty decent Apprentice Alchemist.

Ever since he became an Apprentice Alchemist, Cruise had been working with major alchemy shops as a part-timer for various Alchemists. He had saved a lot in the past ten years, yet he hadn't saved too much, only around two hundred thousand gold.

Originally, Cruise had come to the Gilded Rose today in order to buy a few magic scrolls, but he hadn't expected that he would chance upon the Gilded Rose's alchemy exhibition and get one of the first seats.

Thus, that Hope Potion fell into Cruise's hands...

That lucky 3rd Rank Magic Apprentice used his shivering hands to open the Hope Potion and slowly drink it before countless eyes...

Then, the miracle happened!

The mana within Cruise instantly began to grow at a crazy pace. 4th Rank, 5th Rank, 6th Rank... all the way until he had the power of a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice. In a matter of about half an hour, Cruise attained the power of a peak 9th Rank Magic Apprentice from the early 3rd Rank. He almost reached the level of Mana Whirlpool condensation.

This all happened under countless staring gazes. Over a hundred onlookers saw this scene with their own eyes, and the instant Cruise reached the 9th Rank, the entire Gilded Rose shook. The Magic Apprentices that had still doubted the offerings of the alchemy exhibition were now striving to be first to ask questions about the Hope Potion.

Among them were those who were born with illustrious backgrounds who were offering twice or thrice the asking price to obtain a bottle of Hope Potion now. To them, there was no problem that couldn't be solved with gold.

Unfortunately, gold couldn't settle their problem right now...

Because the old butler was very clear, the Hope Potion was out of stock this month, and if they wanted to buy one, they would have to come early the next month.

Thus, a group of Magic Apprentices who were yearning for the potion left the Gilded Rose with regrets and a bit of hope.

Naturally, there were also those who didn't agree to leave.

Most of these people were children of people with influence, scions of various forces' leaders. They were accustomed to using their parents' reputations to settle their problems. Since they couldn't buy the potion with money, they would naturally try to use their parents' names as usual, and among them, there were a few who were quite impatient and tried this immediately. They tried to get the Gilded Rose to supply Hope Potion to them first, or else...

If Lin Yun was there, he would have played with the guests a bit. Although the Hope Potion wasn't there, the glass bottle would definitely be enough, as it still had magical properties...

Naturally the old butler wouldn't be this cruel. After following Locke Merlin for so many years, how could he not know how to handle this matter.

"There are so many of you here, so who should be served first? How about you discuss it amongst yourselves?"

After saying such words, the old butler just walked away and left behind the eight Magic Apprentices with outstanding backgrounds. A staring contest ensued, and no one was willing to give way for any of the others. Thus, they were in a deadlock for the whole afternoon.

Nothing could be done about it. Who would give up on such an opportunity?

Getting the bottle of Hope Potion that would be available one month later... Even just a month's difference in the time it took to become a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice would be enough for the rest to fall behind. The few Magic Apprentices left were all born in major forces. Who would be willing to fall behind?

As for the conclusion of this conflict, the old butler definitely didn't care about it. One bottle of Hope Potion a month was the sale schedule that he decided on after consulting Lin Yun.

Because the two of them felt that even compared to earning several million gold, the reputation of the Gilded Rose was more important. Selling all the Hope Potions at once could indeed let the Gilded Rose earn a few million gold in an instant, but the sensational effect wouldn't last long. After three months at most, the people would gradually forget about the Hope Potion, and even gradually forget about the Gilded Rose if they had no further accomplishments.

After all, the foundation of the Gilded Rose was too shallow. Compared to those alchemy shops that had operated for decades, whether it was its reputation or public opinion, they were both far inferior. The only advantage at the moment was the Hope Potion they possessed. Since this was the case, they would naturally promote the Hope Potion to its limit.

One Hope Potion a month… at first glance, it seemed that it would only bring in two hundred thousand gold each month, but the craze it would create would put the Gilded Rose at the center of discussions. Every time a Hope Potion was sold, it would lead to people chatting about it during their leisure time. When the craze about the potion started to cool down, the next Hope Potion would appear, and along with it, new stories and new topics to gossip about. And with the miraculous effect of the Hope Potion, how long would it take for the Gilded Rose to establish a good reputation in Thousand Sails City?

To the Gilded Rose, this was worth a lot more than a few hundred thousand gold.

Along with the sale of the first bottle of Hope Potion and the rise of the 3rd Rank Magic Apprentice Cruise to 9th Rank, the Gilded Rose caught the attention of the entire Thousand Sails City.

Including that of the Monchi family.

The analysis of the Volcano potion and the Ghost potion was reaching its end. The two Great Alchemists from the Black Tower reported that the more technical problems had more or less been solved. Only a few issues were left, but they could be figured out given enough time.

At that time, Monchi spent four million gold to purchase the two potions so that he could obtain alchemy support from the Black Tower. Now that the study of the two potions was reaching its end, it would be their turn to help the Monchi family.

The two Great Alchemists had already freed themselves from their analytic work and begun fully helping with nurturing the Monchi family's Alchemists. At the same time, the Monchi family's alchemy shops were making all kinds of preparations for their official openings.

But at this time, the Gilded Rose suddenly had an alchemy exhibition and announced the Hope Potion that shocked the entire Thousand Sails City.

To the numerous Magic Apprentices, this was a huge boon, but to the Monchi Family, this was grievous news.

After the contents of the alchemy exhibition spread out, Monchi had been restless. After thinking about it, he invited the two Great Alchemists from the Black Tower.

"This is impossible!"

The two Great Alchemists instantly cut Monchi off and denied the possibility of the existence of the Hope Potion.

But as they saw Monchi's confused expression, the two Great Alchemists reined in their tempers and added a few explanatory sentences. According to them, a potion that could easily let a Magic Apprentice reach the 9th Rank would need materials that could strengthen mana, because only such materials would be able to replace the normally required meditation and achieve the effect of completing the mana gathering in a short time.

In the field of Potioneering, a material that could strengthen mana wasn't something that one or two hundred thousand gold would be enough to make up for. A conservative estimate would be a production cost of a clean million. And the Gilded Rose was only selling it for two hundred thousand gold. How could it not be impossible?

"A scam, this is definitely a scam!"

Ultimately, the two Great Mages used a tone full of certainty to issue their verdict.

Right then, just behind them, the Monchi family's butler, Jonathan, ran over while gasping.

"Ma… Master, Master, the 9th Rank Magic Apprentice is really at the 9th Rank!"

"Why are you panicking!" After Monchi berated Jonathan, he smiled at the two Great Alchemists and sent them off.

He then waited until the silhouettes of the two alchemists were far in the distance before his face turned completely dark.

"A manufacturing cost of 1 000 000 gold? Haha, how could the Gilded Rose come out with that?"

"Master…"

"It's okay, I already understood." Monchi interrupted Jonathan and directly ordered him, "Go find me that Magic Apprentice."

"Ah?" Jonathan froze. His first thought was that his master didn't believe him, so he hastily reasserted, "Master, that Magic Apprentice truly reached the 9th Rank!"

"I said I understood!" Monchi's heart was already restless enough. He looked at Jonathan impatiently, feeling irritated as he raised his voice. "So what if he's a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice, could it be that you can't turn him back into a 3rd Rank Magic Apprentice?"

"Yes yes, I understand…" With this prompt from Monchi, Jonathan repeatedly nodded and awkwardly ran out of the study.

After Jonathan was driven away, Monchi sat alone in the study for a while. Half an hour later, he had someone call Ryan.

"Ryan, please go to the Alchemist Guild on my behalf and seek Granger. Tell him that our Chambers of Commerce Union found out that the sale of the Hope Potion of the Gilded Rose is a very serious fraudulent action and already caused a very nasty influence. Our Chambers of Commerce Union hopes that the Alchemist Guild will hold a hearing to find out the problem behind it. Also, conveniently tell him that our Twin Moons chamber of commerce has a batch of rare magic materials that will be shipped. If Great Alchemist Granger is interested, he can get a decent discount."

"Yes, Father."