Chapter 219: Spellcasting Commission and Material Processing

"Mr. Xia Nan, I... I am very sorry!"

In the open conference room, Moli said panting.

Just three seconds ago, Xia Nan heard a rush of footsteps outside the door, which suddenly slowed down when reaching the door, as if worried about disturbing him, the girl pushed the door open gently.

Because of the fine sweat oozing from the surface of her fair cheeks, the golden short hair stuck to her cheeks and bridge of her nose, Moli's head was slightly lowered, and her face was filled with apology.

"The alchemist's shop on the second floor does not have purification potions in stock. I asked the gentleman in charge of sales, and he said that our Hegu Town Adventurer Association is relatively remote, making restocking difficult, while the sales volume of potions related to purification potions is relatively poor, far less popular than products like healing potions and resistance potions."

"Coupled with the fact that there are no beast-kin groups near the Mist Forest, and there may not even be one case of beast-transformation disease infection in many years, the corresponding purification potions were removed from the restocking list many years ago."

Hearing this, Xia Nan felt disappointed, but his emotions did not have much fluctuation.

After all, ever since he set the beast-kin investigation mission as his goal, he had already used his spare time to look for it in the shop himself, but found nothing.

Now he just thought that Moli, as an association staff member, might master some channels he didn't know.

Now it seemed that the other party was also powerless.

"What about scrolls? Does the association provide the exchange of corresponding spell scrolls?"

"Yes, sir, yes."

Hearing Xia Nan ask this, Moli raised her head instantly, but there was a hint of hesitation in her reply.

"Mr. Xia Nan, I have checked them all for you."

"For spell scrolls that can completely and safely clear the beast-transformation curse without leaving any hidden dangers, the most suitable price in the association is the 3rd-ring 'Remove Curse'."

"What is the specific price?" Although he could already see from Moli's expression that this number might be a bit exaggerated, Xia Nan still asked the other party with a fluke mentality.

"Uh... 500 gold, sir."

"A scroll containing the 'Remove Curse' spell requires 500 gold coins or corresponding points to be exchanged."

It was not much, just his entire savings.

Oh, maybe he still had to owe more than ten gold.

When he returned from Niumu City, because of the final payment for 【Bone-Binding Iron Shins】 and a series of equipment supply expenses such as plate-chain composite armor, Xia Nan's small treasury had bottomed out.

Later, following the Sea Thorn Squad to do missions for a month and a half, he finally managed to pull his savings to the level of nearly five hundred gold.

Now, if just one scroll was going to clear out his savings, to be honest, Xia Nan was a bit reluctant.

Before this, he naturally understood the high price of special consumables like magic scrolls, and he once fantasized about buying a few to keep on his body as trump cards after he had money.

But now, to really let him spend several hundred gold coins to buy a consumable prop that would be gone after one use, it was really too heartbreaking.

Not noticing the thoughts in Xia Nan's heart, Moli just explained to him the reason why she seemed a bit hesitant.

"Mr. Xia Nan, no offense, but I still want to remind you." The golden-haired girl raised her head slightly and looked at Xia Nan cautiously.

"Using a 'Remove Curse' magic scroll to purify 'beast-transformation disease'... might not be very worth it."

Moli's reminder was very appropriate.

Although beast-transformation disease was considered one of the most terrifying curses in the world because of its long history and super-strong transmissibility.

But it must be admitted that its onset time was very long, even for ordinary people who had never received training, if their will was firm, they could hold on for a long time before finally transforming into a beast.

And "Remove Curse" scrolls were often used in intense battles where the situation was urgent, to offset and counter the curses imposed by enemies to control themselves.

It could be said to be a key prop that could turn the situation around.

Just using it to treat beast-transformation disease was indeed a bit wasteful.

And on the other hand, in the Aifala Continent, although because of production materials, spell model complexity, magic knowledge reserves, and many other factors, those mid-to-high-ring spell scrolls could often only be used by spellcasters themselves.

But for scrolls recording 1st to 3rd-ring spells, other professionals who did not have spellcasting abilities could mostly trigger and release them.

Also because of its convenience and excellent efficacy in battle, magic scrolls and similar props were far more expensive than consumables like potions.

Among them, the 3rd-ring spell "Remove Curse" was the highest-priced batch in the same grade of scrolls because of its own particularity.

500 gold, even for those senior adventurers who had been in the industry for many years, was not something they could easily take out.

Although according to Xia Nan's understanding, if he really wanted to exchange for this scroll, he should be able to choose a ratio of "1 point = 30 gold coins" and use points plus gold coins to retain a part of his savings, so as not to be bankrupted.

But points were currently only obtained by completing association commissions, and they could exchange for various items and props that could not be bought on the market, such as professional combat techniques, secret intelligence, and rare materials, so their gold content was much higher.

Xia Nan also wanted to save more points to exchange for combat techniques needed for future promotion and job transfer.

Therefore, unless it was a last resort, he didn't want to use the few points he had in his association account.

In this regard, Moli also proposed several other solutions:

The first was to wait for the alchemist's shop to restock from their headquarters.

In fact, because of the traces of beast-kin appearing near the forest recently, as early as a few days ago, the person in charge of the alchemist shop stationed at the Hegu Town Association branch had already added purification potions to the next restocking list.

After the goods arrived, relying on Xia Nan's professional status discount, the price should not be too expensive, estimated to be less than half of the selling price of the Remove Curse scroll, and ordinary adventurers could barely afford it.

But the disadvantage was that it required a long waiting time, and it might not arrive before the Midsummer Festival.

The second was to order directly from the Alchemist Association.

High efficiency, fast speed.

Of course, the premise was that the gold coins were in place.

And the vast majority of alchemists would not accept orders for one or two bottles of this level of potion, basically all were produced in batches.

Calculated, the price was even more expensive than magic scrolls.

As for the last one...

It was to post a commission on the second floor to hire a spellcaster who had mastered relevant spells to remove the curse for Xia Nan.

This method was the cheapest and most effective.

The premise was that a little luck was needed to meet a mage who was suitable and short of money, or had leisure.

And outside of this, if there was really no way, go to Niumu to seek help from the priests of the Moon God Church there.

According to the doctrine of the "Moon Maiden," it might not be impossible to clear the curse for Xia Nan for free without spending money.

It was just that the journey would take more than half a month, the time was too long, and if it was different from what was expected, coming back would take ten or twenty days, and there was a risk of beast-transformation disease breaking out.

It could only be regarded as the last plan.

To sum up, for Xia Nan, there were actually only two choices.

Spend money, or spend time.

"Let's do this, you help me post the commission for finding a spellcaster who has mastered 'Remove Curse' type spells, duration... seven days."

Pondering for a moment in his heart, Xia Nan instructed Moli in front of him.

If after seven days, he still hadn't found an affordable way to clear the curse, he would just be straightforward, stop pulling, and buy the scroll directly at the price of five hundred gold coins.

This money, it looked like a lot, but if he was a little lucky, he would earn it back in a few months, and he wouldn't need to be in debt. And considering that Ba Ke was infected with beast-transformation disease during the Hunting Day, and it took a period of time after returning to Niumu for the curse to finally break out.

There must have been dozens of days between this.

And the onset of beast-transformation disease itself was a continuous process; he hadn't even felt the desire for whispers or inexplicable beastly nature, clearly still in the primary stage.

With his professional physical fitness and mental toughness, he would only be stronger than Ba Ke, not weaker; seven days, he could completely afford to wait.

"Sigh, gold coins..."

Saying goodbye to Moli and walking on the crowded street, Xia Nan sighed in his heart.

Jet-black eyes swept over several adventurers on the roadside.

Seeming to have just returned from an adventure, every member of this four-person squad was injured, with blood-soaked bandages wrapped around all parts of their bodies.

At this moment, they were carefully dividing a bottle of newly bought healing potion, one sip per person, passing the medicine bottle to each other.

Seeing this, Xia Nan couldn't help but have some thoughts.

If he really wanted to make money, the 【Tears of Spring Breath】 he just obtained might be a way.

The "Lesser Healing" used three times a day was definitely not as good as a healing potion, but for some relatively ordinary injuries, the effect was quite good.

Estimated to open a price of 20... 15 gold coins/time, there must be adventurers willing to pay.

In this way, he could earn forty-five gold in just one day.

In half a month, the gold coins for a magic scroll would be back.

The more he pondered, the brighter his eyes became.

Xia Nan even felt eager to try, as if a path to fortune was right in front of him.

Suddenly thinking of something, his thoughts paused.

He shook his head imperceptibly.

"No, the risk is too great."

He also had some fame in Hegu Town, and a little inquiry could find out that "Grey Sword" was a swordsman who fought in close quarters, and he had never shown any healing ability before.

Suddenly doing this, it was inevitably a bit abrupt, and it was easy to be discovered that he was using equipment effects to treat others.

【Tears of Spring Breath】 was definitely the top-tier one among blue equipment, and if sold on the market, let alone four digits, five digits might not be impossible to sell.

The 4th-ring spell "Spring Pulse Cleansing" that could be used once a week, even for transcendent-level powerhouses, would not be without a little attraction.

If he was discovered by someone with a heart for this mere five hundred gold coins and caused trouble, that would be picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons, which was not worth the loss.

It was better to keep it close to his body and use it as a trump card.

Pondering ways to make money.

Unknowingly, Xia Nan's body was already standing in front of an exquisite small wooden house with a large number of vines and green plants decorated on the outer wall and eaves, looking like a giant shrub from a distance.

The sign on the roadside clearly engraved the characters "Green Grass Crucible".

Pushing the door and entering, the unique fragrance of herbs rushed into his nasal cavity with his breathing, making Xia Nan's spirit feel refreshed.

Behind the brown-brown counter filled with colorful bottles and jars, a gentle woman with rimless glasses, long curly hair, and a slightly rich figure looked at him with a smile.

"Xia Nan?" The shop owner, Ms. Edwinna, her gaze swept over the claw marks on the surface of Xia Nan's plate armor chest, and her tone carried a bit of surprise, "It seems that your mission was not very easy?"

Since crossing over, he had stayed in Hegu Town for nearly a year. For the owners of the shops he often visited, not to mention how much friendship they had, Xia Nan could be considered to be familiar with them and could call each other's names.

After exchanging greetings with Edwinna, Xia Nan took out a few small jars from his waist bag and handed them to the other party.

These were the items he found on Weiruisi's corpse that were suspected to be poison.

"Hmm... a small jar of bat blood, seems to have been eroded by negative energy, and added some corrosion steel debris unique to the Underdark."

"These two bottles should be a mixture of phosphorescent mushroom spores and grey dwarf furnace cinders, mixed with a few drops of phase spider venom."

The lenses reflected slightly under the warm light of the wooden house, and Edwinna carefully sized up the small jars in her hands.

"How do you want to handle it?"

"If you have the idea of selling, I can give you a price that is a bit more favorable than the market price."

"You can also use it yourself; we are all acquaintances, so I won't charge you any appraisal fees. Just apply the poison in the jar to the sword blade, but remember to clean it in time. Long-term use, the negative energy in the poison might affect the sharpness of the weapon."

"How much?" Hearing that it might have a negative impact on the weapon after use, Xia Nan asked for the price decisively.

"21 gold, how about it?"

"Deal."

He had done a lot of business with this gentle lady who was addicted to strong alcohol, and he knew that the quote given by the other party was relatively practical, and there was not much room for bargaining, so Xia Nan didn't waste his tongue.

Instead, he took out an oval-shaped item suspected to be an eyeball from his waist bag.

It was also from the Drow half-breed Weiruisi, and it was exactly the mental control prop that the opponent used as a trump card to launch a sudden attack on him, but accidentally triggered the 【Staring into the Abyss】 counter-effect.

It could be clearly seen that the moment Xia Nan took the eye out of the bag, Edwinna's face clearly showed a look of surprise.

After getting his consent, she took the eye and turned it over carefully.

Then, the surprised expression gradually cooled, and a look of regret appeared in the eyes behind the lenses.

"This should be a special prop made by processing the tentacle compound eye of the dangerous monster 【Beholder】 in the Underdark."

"Under normal circumstances, there should be enough control sight to be used three or four times."

"It's a pity that the sight stored in this eye you brought has been used up. It's a one-time consumable prop, and there is no possibility of recharging."

"And after processing, the value as a monster material has also dropped significantly."

"If you intend to sell it... I can only give up to 32 gold."

"Green Grass Crucible" was a shop that also appeared in the 【Adventurer's Handbook】 and had a very good reputation in town, trusted by countless adventurers.

She wouldn't smash her own signboard for such a little money.

Now, this prop made of Beholder eye had lost its value for reuse, and it was useless to keep it on his body, so selling it for gold coins was naturally the best.

Nodded and closed the deal.

Another thirty-two gold coins were in hand.

Adding up to a total of 53 gold, plus his savings in the bank, exchanging for a magic scroll recording "Remove Curse" was just right.

And besides this, he still had three pieces of equipment including 【Tidal Lure Rod】 that had not been processed.

He hoped to have some gains.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 220 =====