The shop’s ground floor was one large hall where people could browse basic products and then order them at the counter. The 1st floor held ‘the good stuff,’ and only nobles could usually afford it.

To enter the 2nd floor, one needed a written invitation and had to be swimming in gold. Fortunately, being friends with the owners worked just as well.

“Feel free to browse around, and if you have any questions, ask the attendant at the counter.”

Olivia gestured something to a 50 year old man who flinched and nodded in response. After she left towards the upper floor, Oliver started his presentation.

“These are rank 2 and 3 cultivation pills. These are vitality pills, scent hiding pills, bone strengthening pills, diarrhea pills, …”

“Dia what?” asked Ethan.

“Sister’s creation. Supposedly, they’re for customers we plan on banning from the store.”

‘Alchemy has evolved in weird ways.’ thought Ethan. Leaving aside the poop pills, none of the so called cultivation pills seemed to be made out of mana cores.

“Anyway, for future endeavours, I suggest you get some bolster pills. They’ll push your body’s capabilities to the limit, though only for about 5 minutes and you’ll be drained afterwards.”

“No thanks.” Ethan rejected him easily. He could already bring out his body’s full potential, so such tricks were beneath him.

“I’ll buy some.” said Ana.

As soon as these words left her mouth, the middle aged man from the counter appeared behind the group.

“May I help you, Miss?” In his best customer voice and behavior, he began helping Ana with her purchase.

The boys moved on to the scrolls display. Numerous parchments were neatly placed on a shelf with various names for each.

“If you rip apart this one, it will cause a tornado. This one will summon a pillar of flames 3 story high below your opponent. This one…”

“Are these all made with alchemy?” asked Ethan somewhat confused. This was an Alchemy shop, but only a third of the products on this floor were pills.

“Technically no, though the process is similar to making cultivation pills.” explained Oliver. “You inscribe a spell’s specific circuit into an object, fill it with mana, and voila: you get a capsule that summons rain or a barrage of energy swords upon breaking. Most people use scrolls, but you could store spells into just about anything.”

‘Like that lady’s skin…’ Though Ethan considered himself an expert in magical formations, in his past life, he mostly focused on modifying or breaking them apart. Pill and scroll making were well guarded secrets that few had knowledge of.

“Do you still have the herbs from our first few trips in the forest?” asked Ethan.

“Of course. And the mana cores too. I got some people to make cultivation pills out of them.”

Just as he was saying this, his tiny sister came down the stairs carrying 3 large chests.

“Let me help you.” Oliver tried to pick one up, but his knees started to bend under its weight.

“You should leave the heavy lifting to your elder sister.” smirked Olivia.

“I was born first!”

While the siblings bickered, Ethan took one of the boxes and checked out its contents. It was full of rank 0 and rank 1 cultivation pills. Instead of refined mana cores, they seemed to be dough of some kind imbued with mana.

“Hey!” he drew their attention. “If making cultivation pills is similar to making scrolls, then why settle for rank one pills? Couldn’t you use mana from several rank 1 cores to make rank 2 cultivation pills?”

“Unfortunately, no.” explained Olivia while thumping her chest. “The quality of mana within cores and bodies changes from level to level. If you use level 1 mana to make a level 2 scroll, the spell will either be super weak or simply not activate. If you add more mana to compensate for the level difference, the scroll will break apart while making it.”

‘That’s unfortunate…’

“Cultivation pills work similarly. The same mana patterns or circuits are imprinted in all cultivation pills with a few more channels being added at higher levels. However, if you try to make a level 3 cultivation pill using level 1 mana, then you’ll only get a level 1 pill with a faster absorption rate. It’s just not worth the trouble.”

“Damn…” Ethan lamented his ruined plans. Laying waste to his enemies with rank 9 scrolls would have to wait.

‘I need to check the limits of alchemy and formations.’ Though he hadn’t given much thought to these subjects as of late, it was definitely time to resume his study.

“Anyway…” said Olivia trying to grab his attention. She and her brother had been watching him mutter gibberish to himself for quite some time now. “Let’s find Miss Ana, shall we? I need to hand over her chest.”

This woke Ethan out his train of thought, and he began looking around the room. In a corner, near a display full of weapons, Ana was awkwardly gesturing at a girl who was bowing to her deeply.