"It can't be…" Just the faint glow of the stone was sufficient to shut all voices of the opposition that clearly raged in Zen's soul. For a moment, the entire room turned silent, as all three of those who saw it for the first time, couldn't tear their eyes away from this light shine.

"Grade four stone. According to my estimates, I could buy ten or more shops like yours for half of it." Raising the right corner of his lips in a cheeky smile, Sebian looked at the alchemist duo before spreading out his arms. "Obviously, if you are not interested, then I won't seek any trouble with you either. I won't be preposterous!"

Loudly exclaiming, Sebian still held on to the lingering atmosphere of a shock to add just a few more words. "Just don't call yourself an alche… pardon, apothecary ever again."

For Sebian, this stone was nothing much. In terms of furthering his cultivation, it was pretty convenient… That is if he could afford to stay at the bottom of the world for several more centuries! With his curses, only stones of seventh and higher grade would catch his eyes, as obtaining them was just a matter of living through one hell of a pain.

But for the others, it had to be a pinnacle of wealth. Judging from how the grade one stones were the general commodity while grade two ones already reached the level of considerable treasure, then there was no denying it, grade three and higher would mostly rest in the hands of the most powerful entities in the entire location!

Just like with everything, the growth of the value of the stone deepened on its worth for a cultivator. And with the quadratic growth of the energy and its increased purity for every grade, how could its cost remain linear?

"That's…" Sebian didn't ignore Aina's actions from before. While there was something puzzling about her sudden headaches, Sebian was sadly too weak to discern the state of her body with his eyes alone. As pitiful as this problem was, his magical eyes would regain their powers only when supplied with a sufficient amount of magic energy!

And for that, he had to raise his cultivation not by a single stage, but all the way to the border of the first dimension!

'It's not like it should pose any problem at all, just… I really need to make some pills. Judging from how refined my first dimension is right now…' Lost in his thoughts for a moment, Sebian suddenly shook his head. Taken off-guard by this action, Zen jumped two steps away, once again placing his hand on the handle of his weapon.

"So? What…" Finally, the owner of the place spoke up, interrupting Sebian before he could pose his question again. "We will have a duel. Are you, maybe, familiar with Osmon Pill?"

With the near future decided, the elder brought up some foreign name. But just like with all the other names for things ranging from professions through places and herbs, Sebian never heard of it before.

"I never did. But that shouldn't be a problem." Catching the old man's drift, Sebian looked around the shop. "As long as you can provide one, I will be able to concoct one of better quality."

Coming out with the proposition, Sebian quickly noticed a small hint of distraught on both of the men's faces.

"Sir, with all due respect, but our grade two pills… We are in short supply of them. A pill like an Osmon pill doesn't really have any use. But due to the complicated nature of its recepture, it's often used for trials like that."

Shaking his head, the elder scrambled to the side for a moment, before coming back with a small scroll covered with tiny letters.

"This is the process of making the pill. Sadly, I do not have one on hand either." Looking at the elder, Sebian gently lowered his eyelids. Taking a moment to think about the situation, he then glanced at the girl behind him.

Petrified by the situation, she didn't dare to speak out even a word. But just like before she played along with his act, she refused to allow any signs of her fear to her face or aura.

'This lass… She might be hell more interesting than I thought!' Happy with the sudden development, Sebian looked at the duo of the men.

"It won't be a problem. I will read the recipe, and you can start preparing your pill." Sending his opponent a smile, Sebian quickly focused on the content of the scroll. Sadly, while he was somehow capable of speaking the local language, the same didn't apply to reading it. For him, the set of marks densely covering the sheet of paper was no different from some modernist drawing exploding in popularity ever since a certain painter in his homeworld invented it.

But rather than despairing, Sebian simply smiled when the duo finally ended up following through with his suggestion. In just a few moments, a huge cauldron appeared in the middle of the rundown shop. Before long, Zen came back from the workshop part of the building, carrying two pails of water. Then, the elder finally returned as well, carrying a huge basket filled with various herbs.

Without any spare words, the duel began. After setting up the fire below the huge chunk of decorated metal, the elder started a weird dance around the item. Moving in some kind of elaborate order around the utensil, he carefully picked different herbs before placing each of them into the boiling water. Each of his moves was different from the one before, turning this simple act of crafting into nearly a mystical experience. But only when nearly half of the ingredients entered the cauldron, did the true magic start to happen.

Mixed into the water, herbs quickly turned into a medicinal oil, permeating the water within the huge pot. Soon, those different-coloured streaks of oil started to converge in the middle of the pot, slowly building up. With more and more herbs added to the mix, with the pressure from the constantly revolving water, the oils soon condensed, leaving a small round of a sticky mass in the middle of the metal piece. Even though it was made up of various oils, it didn't diffuse back into the water when the process finally concluded and the elder stopped stirring his pot.

Dressing up a strange glove, Sheeren then struck forward, grasping the pill before pulling it out of the still steaming-hot insides of the pot. Not waiting even for a moment, he then placed the thick and gluey oil onto a special membrane, before carefully wrapping it all up.

"Here, done with the utmost of my abilities, Osmon Pill." Presenting the product on his open palm, Sheeren looked up at Sebian's face.

"Great. Now then, would you mind if I borrow your cauldron?"