After finding a potter at the market who sold the style of jars I wanted, along with vials of varying sizes, I placed an order for three hundred vials, a hundred medium-sized storage jars, and twenty bowls of varying size. The potter only had the bowls, jars and fifty vials with him at the stall, but he assured me he would deliver the rest of the vials within two days.

The potter also directed me to a stall on the next street over which sold wax candles and pure beeswax that I could use to form an air-tight seal on the clay lids of the jars. Next to the stall selling wax, I found a weaver who sold baskets and ordered a dozen of them to be delivered to the guild hall the following morning.

“Kadia, over here,” Noctus called, waving me over to a stall farther down the street.

Leaving the weaver’s stall, I moved through the crowd, hissing in annoyance as yet another person accidentally touched my tail.

Reaching the stall Noctus stood at, I saw a variety of items laid out in a disorganized fashion.

Glowing stones, scraps of paper and cloth, chunks of metal, a rusted sword, tattered books, and more. It was the definition of a junk stall.

Flicking my eyes to the vampire, I saw him staring down at the stall with interest and followed his gaze to a basket that was filled with small, blue glowing stones that looked like the one he’d shown me.

“Mana crystals?” I queried, not sure why the vampire wanted me to see them.

“Next to them,” he hissed in my ear, glancing at the stall’s owner, who was bartering over the price of a silver dagger with a rather large chip in the blade.

Next to the basket was a pair of dented, round copper pots and a ladle that was also made from copper. It looked like a normal set of cooking pots for me, and I didn’t need some dented pots when I could have new ones made.

“Hello, hello,” The short scruffy looking man in dirty leather armor said, moving to stand behind the basket of mana crystals. “I see you’ve noticed my Mana crystals, these were mined from a cluster in the Almer mountains and are fifteen gold pieces.”

“How much for the copper scrap?” Noctus drawled, looking at all the items sold at the stall.

“The copper cooking utensils are twenty silver.” The stall holder said with a smile.

Twenty silver? Isn’t that just two golds? Why not just say it is two gold?

“Twenty silver for some scrap? Bah, it isn’t worth that. Three silver per kilo is the current price of copper, and that’s already melted into ingots. I’ll give you eight for the lot,” Noctus spat, scowling at the man who smiled wider.

“Ah, my good friend, these items need not be melted down. A smith can bang out these dents for a few copper, and then you will have a usable set of cookery. Eighteen silver.” He countered.

“Ten silver, for the copper scrap.”

“My dear vampire, you seem to be a pleasant fellow, so for you I shall sell these for thirteen silver.”

“Twelve,” Noctus said, tossing a gold and two silver coins onto the counter.

In a flash the coins were swept off the table with a swipe of the scruffy man's hand. Noctus picked up the pots, handing them to me.

“Here, let me take those. They won’t fit in your bag,” Darius said, appearing from within the crowd and taking the pots.

“Where’d you disappear to?” I asked, not having seen him leave.

“I was talking to David the potter. I’ve offered him an employment contract and membership in the guild. David and his wife recently retired, they’re in medi-pods at an age facility. I suspect you will need a steady supply of vials and other ceramics. I felt it would be in our best interest to gain the services of a potter.” David’s smile widened as he looked down at me.

“Not common to see oldies in a fantasy-based world,” Noctus commented, glancing over at Darius.

“He said they wanted to see what all their grandkids’ were raving about, apparently they are players here. Being in Kaledon lets them spend time with them I suppose.” Darius replied with a shrug.

“That’s nice,” I murmured. My own grandparents died before I was born, so I’d never gotten the chance to meet them.

“David’s wife is an avid gardener who has been growing herbs and other plants, which she sells to a herbalist store in the city. David said he’ll bring her up to the guild hall when he delivers your order to meet you, and to talk about the plants she grows. They have a little cottage in Hilea, a farming village about twenty minutes west of the city by horse, or an hour by foot. It’s the same village as our guild farm.” Darius added.

“That sounds great. If she can grow them, I won’t need to buy them from the herbalist stores.” I exclaimed, the tiredness I’d been feeling washing away under a wave of excitement.

I’d been mulling over the idea of using my land token to build my workshop and building a garden to grow the plants I would need, but I’d never been good at gardening. The few plants I’d attempted to grow in the past would die slow, horrible deaths, as I often forgot to water them.

“I was going to ask Calidus to grow some of the more common plants and herbs, but if we can work out an agreement with Mary, it will be better since her garden is already established.” Darius said, the pots in his arms clanging against each other as he shifted them under one arm.

“It would likely be safer as well. The farm has animals that may damage the plants.” Noctus commented, arms folded behind his head as he strolled along in front of me.

“I thought you were going to ask Markion to make you pots, and why didn’t you just buy new ones if you needed a set?” Darius asked, raising a brow in question.

In response, I shrugged, waving a hand at Noctus. “Ask him, he is the one who bought them.”

“Can’t you see the magic imbued into the metal? They’re enchanted,” Noctus retorted, giving us an irritated look.

“We aren’t enchanters, we can’t see enchantments like you can.” Darius defended, as I quickened my steps to match his stride in order to peer more closely at the dented copper pots.

“What enchantments are on them?” I wondered aloud as Darius moved the pots to allow me to see them better.

“I suspect it will be the same heat control enchantment Cook has on his caldron.” Noctus explained. “Those kinds of enchantments require a decent bit of mana to empower, at least a mid-grade mana crystal for each pot. I used three mid-grade stones on Cook’s cauldron, and that was ten times the size of those pots.”

“So, they heat on their own without a fire?” I asked, and Noctus laughed, shaking his head.

“No, you still need a heat source. The enchantment just allows you to control how hot the contents get. You could have it over a raging fire and it wouldn’t get any hotter than what you’ve set it at.” The vampire explained, pointing to the pots Darius carried.

“Banging out those dents will be easy for Markion, so for the mere price of one gold and two silver, I’ve saved myself hours of inscribing.” Noctus concluded, brushing a speck of invisible dirt off his shoulder.

“That will be useful,” I mused, staring at the pots. Very useful. “Keeping an open fire at a steady temperature is quite difficult and time consuming.”

I should get Marcus to create a tight-fitting lid for the pots. If he can make one with a copper tube curving down from the lid at an angle, I can use the pots as a modified still to distill larger amounts. Using the retort in the kit would take weeks to distill all the mushrooms. Thankfully, the guild has a contract with a brewery for alcohol, and Darius will order me some barrels of Vodka.

“That's why a fire stone is used. From what I recall, the alchemy case Sara bought came with one, as it is a high-grade set. A fire stone burns without needing wood and is sought after by most professions that use fire,” Darius said.

Fire stone? Didn’t Marcus say something about that? Right, he said the alchemy kit was missing the fire stone. Just as those thoughts crossed my mind, Noctus spoke, his voice sounding weary.

“Unless Markion got a new one, there won’t be a fire stone in the kit he gave her. The smiths who moved into the alchemy workspace were whining about Markion not allowing them to take any of the fire stones in the main forge, so the guild purchased the fire stone from Sara’s kit for the new forge and Markion bought the rest.”

“It doesn’t have one,” I confirmed. “Markion said he would hunt a fire drake to get one and have someone enchant it.”

“Right, of course, he’ll hunt one, hah, I’d pay money to see that,” Noctus snickered.

“What do you mean?” I frowned at the vampire, feeling I was missing something.

“It takes a full team to bring down a drake. Even then, it isn’t easy. Then again, we were already planning a trip to Valonia through the portal in two weeks, and it's only two days from there to reach the volcano where the drakes nest. We planned to ride back to Caruan after we spent a week running the new dungeon, but if we stayed the extra few weeks until the portal reopens, we can stockpile fire stones.'' Darius said, looking thoughtful as he glanced at me. “You should come as well. I know for a fact that there is an alchemist in Valonia who buys fire drake corpses.”

I hesitated, memories of a massive black dragon tearing me in two, playing out in my mind.

“Last time you and Marcus took me dragon hunting, I got eaten.” I said, biting my lip as I mulled over how to voice one of the many concerns I’d had since arriving. “Does, um, does Kaledon have pain limiting features?”

“No, it doesn’t. We can take more damage before dying than a normal human would on Earth and, as you grow stronger, you get hurt less easily.” Darius said, a grimace curling over his lips. “Death is not something we take lightly, it is painful, and something we try to avoid where we can. Ah, Noctus, while I think of it, see about collecting any potions and alchemic creations that are for sale. Pay a visit to the Whispers guild if need be.”

“Already planned on it. I will compile what we already know and provide Kadia with anything we can find.” Noctus replied and as we reached the guild hall, he turned towards me with a smile.

“I will collect the Muroosa wood and look through my bags for anything I think you might find useful,” he said, before he sunk into his own shadow and disappeared from sight.

Staring at the spot where Noctus had been only seconds ago, I had the strangest urge to fling salt on the ground. It’s too bad my salt won’t be arriving until tomorrow. Hmm, then again, isn’t salt for demons, and not vampires? I need to work out if there is a way to guard my workspace against thieving vampires.

“Are you tired? We can wait until tomorrow to set up the workshop if you prefer.” Darius said as we walked past the guards, the goatman and his friend having been replaced by a red-haired dwarf and a blond elf.

“I’m not tired, but I can just read in my room if you want to go to bed,” I told him, feeling a little guilty about keeping him up.

“Nah, I slept last night. You’ll notice you don’t need as much sleep anymore. We only need to sleep for a few hours every two to three days. Though, some choose to sleep every night for the sake of normalcy. Sleeping is also a way to allow your body to heal itself from minor injuries. Not everything can heal on its own though,” he explained, then gestured towards the stairs.

“Go grab your alchemy kit while I get a bag from my room. Noctus had the right idea to go through our old bags. I’ve got some potions and I think some herbs. They’ve been there since Sara was trying to learn alchemy about two months ago, so they might be rotten or beyond use. Meet back here in a few minutes?” Darius suggested, putting the pots he was carrying down on a nearby table.

Nodding in agreement, I headed upstairs while he walked down the hallway that was next to the stairs towards Marcus’s room, I guessed his room must be down there as well. Reaching my room, I pulled the alchemy kit out of the wardrobe and let out an annoyed sigh when the hardened leather case wouldn’t fit into the satchel because of its width. Leaving the room, I headed back towards the main hall while mentally cataloging all the information I’d learned over the last few hours.