Chapter 4. Old William, making money for the first time
Six o'clock in the evening.
A small market of the Guton Academy of Wizards.
As night approached, street lights lit on both sides of the street.
Many students came and went, making the situation quite lively.
This small market was a shopping street of the Guton Academy of Wizards, which housed many stores created by the academy.
Thanks to the aggregation effect, high school students who did not have enough gold beads to set up their tents came here.
Over time, the place became more and more busy, gradually turning from a street into a small market.
Brok looked at the counters on both sides of the street with interest.
Zels, magic drugs, witchcraft, scrolls, and various materials collected in the wild were available to everyone.
Looking around, Brock stopped in front of a small counter.
The boss was wearing a wizard's robe, had white hair and a beard, but he was strong and full of energy, and it seemed that he had a lot of vitality.
You could tell from his clothes that he was an old man.
Students in the first and third year of the Guton Academy of Wizards studied basic knowledge.
After the third year of school, they either dropped out to go their own way,
or they continued to stay, deciding to follow the mentor and strive to become a formal wizard.
Only by becoming a first-level wizard could you get a diploma from the Guton Academy of Wizards.
Having a diploma gave certain advantages when applying to other wizard organizations, starting your own business or communicating.
After all, not all wizards were good people; there were quite a few black wizards among them.
Having a diploma from the Guton Academy of Wizards at least ensured that the resume was okay.
But becoming a wizard wasn't easy; it was one in a thousand.
Many people spent decades studying to get a degree.
This old man was a living example in front of him.
When Brock approached the counter, the old man glanced at Brock and teased:
Baby Brock, has Blue Star Grass grown?
Thanks to Grandpa William's guidance, they matured and were collected without any problems yesterday, Brock said with a smile, thanking him.
Old William was stunned, his face was surprised, 'Really? Is that true?
He remembered that this little boy was looking for seeds of magical medicinal plants at the market three months ago.
But magic medicine seeds on the market were selling for at least one kilogram, and no one paid attention to Brock's unreasonable request to buy just a few seeds.
At that time, Old William sold Brock because he was young and spoke nicely.
Later, Brock came back a few more times and asked a lot of questions.
Old William felt Brock's success and figured if he tried for another six months, he'd be successful.
He didn't expect Brock to succeed so early.
Is this the blue star herb fruit in your hand? Old William spotted the fried bird that Brock was carrying.
Brock nodded without denying it.
Old William was interested, 'Let me help you check.'
Thank you, Grandpa William, Brock handed him the Blue Star herb fruit.
Taking the bag, Old William opened it, took out the Blue Star grass fruit, and held it up to the light to see it.
Then he took out a glass tube the length of a palm and the thickness of a chopstick, with markings on the surface and silvery liquid inside; at the end of the glass tube there was a groove encrusted with reddish metal.
Brock recognized the subject; he was called a magic tester or just a magic meter.
Its tail part was made of a special metal called red iron, which heated up when in contact with magic: the more magic there is, the stronger the heat.
Then, using the property of mercury to expand and contract under heat and by calculating, noting the scale, it was possible to roughly know the magical content contained in each drop of liquid.
It was usually used to make potions or test the quality of some magical drugs.
Old William crushed the soybean-sized blue star herb fruit and its juice dripped into a groove at the end of the magic check.
Mercury inside the magic score, under the influence of irritants, slowly rose and eventually stopped at 0.3.
'Not bad, both the appearance and magical content meet the standards.'
Old William smashed a magic scorer with a rag and looked at Brock with a smile:
Baby Brock, you're very capable; you managed to raise them in just a few months. It took me six months to mess with them back then.'
Artificially growing magic drugs was not easy.
It was like growing flowers and plants: in the wild, they were doing great, but after a few days at home they began to rot or get sick.
The conditions for growing magic drugs were more demanding than for conventional plants; if proper care is not provided, even if they grow, their medicinal properties will not meet standards and cannot be used.
When Old William said six months, he was actually referring to the full eleven months.
And that was when he was a student of the wizard and mastered many planting spells.
Thank you Grandpa William for your help, Brock thanked him sincerely.
If it weren't for Old William, Brock's cost of creating magic drugs would have been much higher.
After all, one kilogram of Blue Star herb seeds is worth as much as 1.2 gold nara.
In the entire market, only Old William, after Brock's insistence, agreed to sell them a few at a time.
'You're a scoundrel,' Old William laughed heartily and emotionally.
The older a person gets, the more his mindset changes.
Looking back, Old William realized that this face was worthless.
If he had been as diligent and eager to learn as Brock was at the time, and not shy or afraid to ask simple questions, he would have avoided many circuitous paths, and his life might even have turned out differently.
But it was too late.
Old William suppressed his emotions, looked at the Blue Star grass in the package, and, thinking about something, teased:
You didn't bring this pack of Blue Star herb fruit to sell at the market, did you?
Yeah, I was just about to ask you where to sell them.
'You can't sell them.'
Old William shook his head and weighed it.
'You've got a maximum of four kilograms here; the amount is too small. Stores have stable supply channels, and they won't mess with your small number, and if you set up a tent, you won't even pay the cost of the tent with that much.'
Recalling his past difficulties, Old William felt pity and said with a smile:
'How do you like that? The quality of this batch of Blue Star herb fruits is decent. I'll buy them from you.'
Thank you, Grandpa William, Brock's face was filled with joy, and he immediately dutifully thanked him.
Old William's smile grew wider as he weighed this batch of Blue Star herb fruit.
'It's only 4.2 kilograms. The current crop price is 3 silver nara per kilogram, a total of 12 silver nara and 60 kinnars. What do you think?
'Okay, no problem,' Brock nodded.
After growing magical medicinal plants for almost six months, Brock knew that there was a huge price difference between seeds and fresh fruits.
It wasn't just that fresh fruits contained water and were heavier.
It also happened because breeding magic drugs and growing magic drugs are two completely different methods.
For example, a batch of fresh Brok fruit could also be turned into seeds, but germination would definitely not exceed 10%, and even if it sprouted, the probability of success would be alarmingly low.
Only by using a specialized growing method for breeding can seeds with a germination of at least 60% and a normal fruit yield of at least 90% be obtained.
However, this method of growing was more complex and expensive.
That's why the seeds of the Blue Star herb fruit could be sold at a high price of 1.2 gold nara, which was 40 times the price of fresh fruit!
Old William was very quick: he took out 12 silver beads and 60 kinnars and handed them over to Brock.
Taking the money, Brock's eyes glittered.
It was his first experience of making money growing magic drugs.
Even though he didn't even cover his expenses.
But Brock was still pretty happy.
In the end, it was a good start.
Do you need to buy anything else?
Old William saw Brock looking at the counter and asked with a smile.
Brock already had a goal in mind, pointing to a bottle of gunpowder and asking:
Grandpa William, how much does Blood Mushroom Spore cost?