Chapter 173 Trust Is Something Earned, Not Given Freely
Mariposa, Valkyria, and He Huian were all at a lost for words after Izroth removed that item from his inventory. To be honest, even Zi Yi was dumbfounded when Izroth first informed her. But, Even looking at it now it was still something that was difficult to accept.
'Although I have no plans on selling it right this moment, it can still work in my favor.'
When Izroth removed that item from his inventory, a strong medicinal scent washed over the entire room. Just by breathing in, one would feel themselves feeling unusually energized and full of life. If the smell alone was enough to cause this sensation, then how powerful would the actual item be?
Izroth held within his hand a crimson red pill that had a faint yellow aura encompassing it. Just by simply looking at it, one could tell that it was definitely not a mere grade one or grade two pill.
The crimson red pill in Izroth's hand was called the Two Solar Extremities Pill. It was the pill Izroth created back during his time in the Apothecary building while he was experimenting with the new ingredients he had obtained.
'It's a shame that I was unable to find a stronger replacement for one of the core ingredients. Otherwise, I may have been able to craft a Three Solar Extremities Pill.'
There was a huge fundamental flaw in the Two Solar Extremities Pill that was only corrected in the version of the There Solar Extremities Pill. This was the main reason Izroth would not use it unless he absolutely had no other choice.
However, Izroth knew that even if he had the correct ingredients, he would have been unable to craft the Three Solar Extremities Pills due to the weak fire core in his possession.
'I have to find a suitable fire core for my Dark Abyssal Cauldron if I want to advance any further down the path of an Apothecary.'
Name: Two Solar Extremities Pill(III)
Rank: Grade-Three
Usage: The user who consumes this pill temporarily gains the passive skill «Solar Extremity» for 1 minute. This pill will not grant any effect(s) if taken again within a 1 hour time period.
«Solar Extremity»: Gain +100% to all offensive stats. All defensive stats are reduced by 100% and all damage received from all sources is increased by +100%. All stats are reduced by 50% for 30 seconds after the effect(s) wears off.
Special Note: Consuming this pill more than once will not grant any additional effect(s) while its effect is active.
What a truly powerful pill! Even though the side effects were a bit unnerving, if used correctly it could change the entire outcome of a battle! Not to mention the other various possibilities of the pill.
"If we had that pill, then no other guild could dream about competing with us for the dungeon first clear and clear times." Valkyria said in a low voice.
One of the main ways top guilds showed their dominance, caught the attention of new players and attracted more sponsors this early within RML was how well they performed in dungeons and events. This would be unavoidable, at least until they reached the PVP stage of the game. At that point, the skill gap between the top guilds and other guilds would be clearly defined.
He Huian appeared to be in deep thought as she examined the Two Solar Extremities Pill within Izroth's hands. At the moment, Sleeping Gardenia's Apothecary branch members were still sitting at the grade one rank. So far, only one member had managed to reach the grade two rank which was a cause for a great celebration.
However, even though they were at the grade two Apothecary rank, they had invested countless hours into discovering a single grade two pill recipe. But, it would probably several days or even weeks until they came up with yet another grade two recipe.
Other top guilds should be in similar situations as their own. In fact, the number of known grade two Apothecaries within RML at the moment could be counted with one's fingers alone. Now, Izroth had come before them with not one, but two grade three pills!
One pill could be written off as luck. However, the chances of Izroth crafting two grade three pills with only luck as the foundation was highly improbable.
Mariposa had an endless stream of thoughts racing through her mind at the moment. When she first discovered Izroth placed first in the event while he was supposed to be in the Chaotic Dogma Realm, she was already amazed.
But, how could someone take first place in a major event, finish an SS-ranked quest, and still somehow managed to find the time to be the best Apothecary within RML?
Mariposa was confident that Izroth was a top tier player when after their brief interaction inside of the Chaotic Dogma Realm with one another. However, she did not know at the time just how much she had underestimated Izroth. He was not a simple monster, he was a monster amongst monsters.
She decided right then and there that no matter what happened in the future, she had to find a way to maintain a friendly relationship with Izroth. Mariposa believed that there would only be benefits, not losses, to doing so.
Izroth returned the Two Solar Extremities Pill to his inventory as the strong medicinal scent in the atmosphere vanished. There was nothing but silence in the room until Zi Yi broke it with her next words which seemed to snap everyone out of their state of deep thought.
"At the moment, the Two Solar Extremities Pill is not for sale. However, it should be enough to show how serious we are about this deal. As a show of good faith, we have decided to sell you all 600 Five Cycles Pills at a fixed rate of 25 gold coins per pill as you have previously requested. Of course, our`aforementioned terms still stands." Zi Yi said calmly.
"He Huian?" Mariposa glanced over towards He Huian who currently had her thumb and index finger rested on her chin. As the guild leader, Mariposa would obviously have the final say on things, however, a good leader did not ignore those they trusted. If Mariposa did not believe He Huian was competent and skilled enough to handle the position of a financial advisor, she would have never assigned her.
He Huian stayed silent a few seconds longer before she finally releasing a long sigh. She shook her head helplessly as she said, "Truthfully, we should be grateful that we are the first guild they decided to meet with. I'll be perfectly honest, we cannot afford to let this opportunity pass us by. If we do not claim it, another top guild will not hesitate to do so."
Mariposa came to the same conclusion as He Huian. If they allowed another top guild to have priority access to Izroth's pill supply, then she was sure that there would come a day when she regretted doing so.
Mariposa smiled helplessly as she said in a playful manner, "Who would have thought that I would be the reason my Sleeping Gardenia got bullied?" She looked over towards Zi Yi who sat across the table from her.
"He Huian, how long would it take for you to pull together the funds?" Mariposa asked.
"If I start right away, it should take me around three days to make the proper adjustments. However, it will be difficult to spare funds in the near future for any unforeseen purchases." He Huian responded.
"We accept your terms. However, 95,000 gold coins is a large amount to come up with on such short notice. Therefore, we will pay the full 15,000 gold coins for the 600 pills right now along with an additional 10,000 gold coins as a small advance payment for the 80,000 gold coins. Is this acceptable?" Mariposa said.
Zi Yi glanced over towards Izroth who gave a small nod to show his agreement.
"It is acceptable." Zi Yi replied.
"Get started at once, He Huian. If you need some additional funds, inform me and I will add on the amount from my personal account. Meanwhile, I will work on and outline an official contract to present." Mariposa said.
"Yes, I will take care of it at once. Excuse me." He Huian said as she stood to her feet and politely bowed to everyone before logging off.
Zi Yi released a long sigh as she finally relaxed. She was still a bit shaken up on the inside, despite her outward calm appearance. However, Zi Yi knew that she could not show any signs of weakness or else she would have been overrun by her elder sister and He Huian before she could even get a word out.
Zi Yi had the advantage since she was familiar with both her elder sister and He Huian's style of negotiating and how they usually managed their finance. On the other hand, Zi Yi was like a blank sheet of paper in comparison. Although she had the skillset and knowledge to do so previously, this was her first time negotiating like this.
Mariposa stood up from her seat and went over to embrace Zi Yi. "My adorable little sister, you've gone and made your big sis mad so you have to take on the responsibility of cheering me up." she said as she playfully whined.
"You- Aren't you supposed to be working on a contract?!" Zi Yi said as she tried to push Mariposa away, but decided to give up after a few failed attempts and accept her fate.
"Fine, we can go out for dinner tonight as long as you release me right now!" Zi Yi said.
"Then, I will hold you to it." Mariposa responded as she released Zi Yi and softly giggled. She then turned her attention towards Izroth as she opened up her system interface and opened up the trading window.
A few moments later, Izroth received an alert from the system at the same time he traded the 600 Five Cycles Pills within his inventory over to Mariposa.
〈System Alert: You have received 25,000 gold coins from Player Mariposa〉
25,000 gold coins! With the current 1:842 gold to RMB exchange rate, that was over 18,00,000 RMB after the conversion fee was removed! Added to the RMB already in his bank account, Izroth now had over 20,000,000 RMB to his name!
In just one day, Izroth went to have a few thousand RMB to millions! The best part was that this was only the beginning of what he had planned.
'It will be three days until I'm able to purchase the property near the auction house. Until then, I should set aside some time to come up with a few more pills and create a proper stockpile.'
After ironing out a few more minor details and verifying everything, Izroth signed the contract created by Mariposa with Zi Yi overlooking it.
The contracts signed within RML was processed by the system into the real world and was just as legally binding as any other official contract. Of course, just like real contracts, those that were complete nonsense or could not be legally enforced was rendered void.
"I look forward to working together, Izroth. It will be a little hectic for the next three days, but I shall inform you once the remaining amount of your payment has been sorted out." Mariposa said.
"I am also looking forward to our partnership. I will be awaiting your message three days from now. Until then, I will make sure that the terms of our contract is kept." Izroth said with a carefree smile on his face as he stood to his feet.
After exchanging some goodbyes, Izroth and Zi Yi left the building together.
"You know, a heads up would have been nice." Zi Yi said as she shook her head helplessly.
"I had a feeling that you would be able to handle it." Izroth responded.
"Still, weren't you afraid that I would secretly side with my own sister and give her some extra benefits?" Zi Yi said with a grin on her face.
"If you did, I would only have myself to blame for being a bad judge of character. However, I am confident in my ability to see one's true colors. You are not such a person, Zi Yi. I do not give out my trust easily, but it is safe to say that you have earned it." Izroth said in a calm and steady voice.
"Then, I'll try my best not to betray that trust." Zi Yi said as she turned to face away from Izroth.