Leon narrowed his eyes, not reacting to the rude manager's outburst.
Looking at the quiet boy in front of him, Manager Ezelor's piggy eyes bulged with indignation. "Did you not hear me, boy? I said get out!"
Leon simply smiled, a calm, unnerving expression that seemed to get under Ezelor's skin. "And I heard you," he replied, his voice level. "But you seem to be mistaken. I am not here to buy common reagents for school projects. I am here for items of actual worth. If you are incapable of recognizing them, perhaps you should fetch someone who can."
"He's so mean, Leon!" Kira's voice piped up in his head, full of anger. "Do that thing you did to the guards at the gate! Hit him right on his big, fat nose!"
"Patience, Kira," Leon replied mentally. "There's a time for shows of force, and there's a time for talking. This oaf isn't worth the effort."
"Incapable?!" Ezelor sputtered, his face turning a shade of purple. "I am the manager of the finest alchemical emporium in this city! How dare you! Guards! GUARDS! Remove this delusional street urchin at once!"
Before any guards could arrive, a raspy, irritated voice echoed from a dark doorway behind the counter. "Ezelor, you buffoon! Your shouting is curdling my Silver-Serpent venom! What is all this commotion about?"
An old man emerged from the workshop, wiping his stained hands on an equally stained apron. He had a wild mane of white hair that stuck out in all directions, and his eyes, magnified by a pair of thick spectacles, gleamed with an intense, almost manic curiosity. It was Master Elias Thorne, the Guild Master himself.
"Master Thorne!" Ezelor exclaimed, his tone immediately shifting from arrogant to fawning. "My apologies, master. This boy is wasting our time, asking for fairytale ingredients. I was just having him removed."
"Your employee is very rude," Leon commented. " I would remove such a person from the shop immediately."
"Silence," Ezelor roared. "You think Master Thorne has time for your nonsense? He is a rank two alchemist, and his name is famous far and wide across the kingdom. Apologize right now!"
Master Elias ignored his manager completely, his magnified eyes locking onto Leon. "Young man, are you looking for some ingredients? What were the names again?"
"A Heart of a Sunwood Treant, Tears of a Moonlight Pixie, and a Core of a Golem," Leon replied
"Huh? Come again?"
"A Heart of a Sunwood Treant, Tears of a Moonlight Pixie, and a Core of a Golem," Leon repeated calmly.
Elias's eyes widened, and a slow, greedy smile spread across his face. He shuffled closer, sniffing the air around Leon as if trying to identify a rare herb. "Hah! Fairytales, Ezelor? You ignorant donkey! These are a master alchemist's dream! The boy knows his reagents!" He cuffed his manager on the back of the head. "Go make yourself useful and polish some beakers."
"Ehhh.. at once, master."
Ezelor scurried away, his face burning with humiliation.
"You," Elias said, pointing a grimy finger at Leon. "In my workshop. Now."
Leon followed him into a room that looked as if a tornado had collided with a library and a garden. Books were piled to the ceiling, beakers bubbled with liquids of every color, and strange plants grew in haphazard pots.
"The items you seek are real," Elias said, his voice dropping to a serious tone. "However, they fall under the guild's highest classification: Mythical Ingredients. Our laws are very strict. I am forbidden from sharing any information about such materials with non-members."
"So I need to join the guild?" Leon asked, already seeing the complication.
"Precisely!" Elias confirmed. "There are two paths to membership for someone like you. The first, and most direct, is to pass the alchemy exam. Show us you have the skill to handle such potent knowledge."
Leon thought for a moment. His control was immense, but his actual dark magic was still pathetically weak. He knew nothing about modern alchemy. He would fail the exam spectacularly. "That's not an option," he concluded internally.
"And the second path?" Leon asked aloud.
Elias squinted at him, his brow furrowed in suspicion. "The second path? Wait a moment. You know of ingredients that even seasoned alchemists only whisper about, yet you refuse to even consider the basic entrance exam? It's the easiest way in! All we require for an Apprentice certification is the successful brewing of a simple Healing Draught. Surely a boy with your knowledge can manage that?"
"I am... not a traditional alchemist," Leon said carefully, offering no further explanation. "My talents lie elsewhere."
The old man stared suspiciously, unable to figure out the young boy in front of him. This boy was an enigma. He possessed forbidden knowledge but lacked the most basic skills of the trade.
Could it be he was working for someone?
"Fine! Be mysterious!" Elias huffed, throwing his hands up. "If you want to do things the hard way, then so be it. The second path is for those whose talents lie outside the laboratory. The Alchemist's Guild often posts missions at the Adventurer's Guild—requests for rare herbs, monster parts, that sort of thing. If an adventurer completes enough of our missions and proves themselves reliable and trustworthy, we can grant them the status of 'Trusted Associate.' An honorary membership, if you will. It would grant you access to the information you seek."
Leon frowned. "Why can't I just post a mission at the Adventurer's Guild to find these items myself?"
Elias let out a loud, wheezing laugh. "Boy, do you have any idea what you're asking? A single one of those ingredients is a national treasure! The bounty required to even tempt an A-Rank adventurer to search for one would be in the tens of thousands of gold coins! You'd have better luck buying a kingdom!"
Tens of thousands of gold. Leon's heart sank. He had been so proud of his fifteen gold coins, but that was nothing more than pocket change in the face of this.
He saw the path forward, but it was long and arduous. He had to become an adventurer, complete mission after mission, just for a chance to get the information he needed to start his real quest.
"I see," Leon said, his voice flat. He gave the old alchemist a respectful nod. "Thank you for your time, Master Thorne."
"Good luck, young lad." Elias waved him goodbye and returned back to his work.
Leon turned and left the workshop, his mind racing. The initial confidence he'd felt upon entering Iridis had long gone, replaced by a slight headache at the situation. This was going to be much harder than he thought.