Chapter 68: Ch 68: Customers Swarm
Naida stepped out from behind Raidan, her eyes narrowing as she studied the dark figure standing near the balcony doors.
"Soul Burn," Naida said quietly, her voice carrying a tone of absolute professional certainty. "That is a very nasty hex. It attaches directly to your magical core and slowly eats away at your life force. You have maybe three days left before your heart stops completely."
Vex nodded slowly, her confident posture dropping slightly as true exhaustion leaked into her movements. "I have visited every illegal shadow doctor in the capital. None of them could even slow it down. Then I heard a rumor that a new girl in the plaza cured young master Elian of a Blood Poison hex in five seconds."
"That rumor is entirely factual," Raidan smiled, keeping his stance defensive. "But curing a noble heir comes with a heavy price tag. The Thorne family pays us in prime real estate and political protection. What exactly can a shadow assassin offer us that we do not already have?"
Vex reached into a hidden pouch on her leather belt and pulled out a small, heavy iron lockbox. She tossed it through the air with practiced precision.
Raidan caught the box effortlessly in one hand. He popped the latch open with his thumb.
Inside the box sat a massive, glowing red gem that pulsed with a terrifying, rhythmic heat. It felt like holding a miniature volcano inside a metal cage.
"A Wyvern King core," Vex stated proudly, keeping her hands visible. "Freshly harvested from the southern mountain peaks. The Alchemist Guild would pay a hundred thousand gold coins for that single stone. It is entirely flawless."
Raidan looked at the glowing red gem, tapping his finger in the air to bring up his hidden system interface.
[ Item Name: Wyvern King Core ]
[ Rarity: Legendary Grade ]
[ Market Value: Incalculable. Perfect catalyst for fire attribute elixirs. ]
Raidan closed the iron box with a loud snap. He looked back at Vex and broke into a wide grin.
"You know," Raidan said happily. "I truly appreciate customers who understand the value of a premium service. Naida, do we have anything in stock for a Soul Burn curse?"
Naida smiled, walking over to her personal travel trunk sitting at the foot of the bed. She opened the lid and rummaged through a collection of tiny, heavily enchanted crystal bottles.
"Soul Burn requires a conceptual remedy," Naida explained loudly as she searched through her supplies. "You cannot heal the soul with physical herbs. You need something that repairs the spiritual anchor directly."
She pulled out a tiny vial filled with a glowing, milky white liquid that looked like captured starlight.
"Tears of the Silver Willow," Naida announced, holding the vial up to the warm room light. "Brewed with pure moonlight and crushed pearl dust. It will sever the curse from your core and repair the spiritual damage. But it will hurt immensely when you drink it."
Vex stared at the glowing white vial, her hands shaking slightly for the first time. "I can handle pain. I just want to live."
Raidan walked over to Vex, handing her the tiny vial while taking the heavy iron box containing the Wyvern core.
"A pleasure doing business with you, Vex," Raidan said politely. "Drink that in a safe place. And please, use the front door next time. If you break in again, I will not be so accommodating."
Vex bowed her head deeply, mimicking the exact same respect the Grand Inspector had shown earlier that day.
"The underworld will hear of this," Vex promised softly. "Nobody in the shadows will ever dare to touch your shop. You have my absolute word."
She stepped backward into the darkness of the open balcony. In a single, fluid motion, she vaulted over the wooden railing and vanished completely into the night sky.
Raidan walked over to the balcony doors and locked them tight, drawing the heavy velvet curtains shut to block out the noise of the massive crowd camping in the plaza below.
He turned around and held up the iron box, letting the red light from the Wyvern core spill through the cracks to illuminate the room.
"A legendary fire core," Raidan laughed softly. "We have the absolute best customers in the world."
Naida walked over to her bed and climbed under the heavy silk blankets, patting the empty space next to her.
"Put the shiny rock away, Raidan," Naida ordered playfully. "We have to wake up in six hours to sell potions to the entire kingdom. The future can wait until tomorrow."
The sun rose over the Central District the next morning, painting the spires of the city in brilliant shades of gold and amber.
The massive encampment in Silver Fountain Plaza was already fully awake. Hundreds of people were stretching, eating breakfast rations, and eagerly eyeing the front doors of Tomorrow’s Apothecary.
True to his word, the captain of the Thorne family guard arrived promptly at dawn with three large wagons packed to the brim with raw alchemical ingredients. Behind them marched a dozen local teenagers hired to handle the basic sorting and washing duties.
Raidan stood outside on the wooden porch, overseeing the delivery while sipping a hot cup of black tea.
"Set the monster bones in the left shed," Raidan instructed the guards, pointing toward the side alley. "Keep the medicinal herbs in the main warehouse. And someone please tell those merchants to stop trying to bribe our guards with diamonds. It is getting repetitive."
The captain of the guard chuckled, leaning on his heavy polearm. "Diamonds are standard currency for nobility, Mr. Raidan. They just want to make sure they are first in line for the morning batch of strength elixirs."
"Tell them money does not buy a place in line," Raidan replied smoothly. "Our queue operates strictly on a first come, first served basis. Even if you are a duke, you wait your turn."
From inside the open shop windows, the sweet, calming scent of brewing herbs began to drift out across the plaza.
Naida stood behind the immaculate wooden counter. She wore her crisp white alchemist apron over her simple tunic. Her hands moved with effortless, hypnotic grace as she finished the final refinement phase for a fresh batch of crimson healing elixirs.
The blue system screens hovered quietly in the air around her, tracking the purity levels of every single bottle.
[ Batch Refinement: 100% Purity Achieved. ]
[ Item: Ascendant Flesh Elixir (Superior Grade). ]
[ Quantity Ready: Fifty Units. ]
Naida smiled to herself, placing the final crystal stopper into a ruby red bottle. She looked toward the front entrance where Raidan was walking back inside, sliding the heavy wooden bolt off the door.
"Is the line ready?" Naida asked, her voice echoing clearly through the pristine shop.
Raidan unlocked the front door and pushed it wide open. The little silver bell chimed merrily in the morning breeze.
Outside, a collective gasp of pure excitement rippled through the hundreds of waiting people.
"The shop is open!" someone shouted from the front of the queue.
Raidan turned back to Naida with a brilliant grin, stepping aside to let the first wave of eager customers flood into the store.
"Tomorrow’s Apothecary is officially open for business," Raidan announced.
---
After helping Naida throughout the day, Neo logged out to Earth for the night.
He hadn’t forget his Quest Creation system after all.
He teleported back directly on Detroit camp, where the cultists and his uncle stayed.
Upon enter specific tent, the cultists scrambled out of their chairs, immediately dropping to one knee in unison.
"Lord Verde," the leader, a jittery programmer named Marcus, whispered in absolute awe. "You have returned to us."
"Yes. Rise," Raidan commanded. "You have prayed for guidance, and it has been answered. I am here to issue five foundational quests to my most dedicated disciples. Your loyalty will soon be measured not in faith, but in absolute execution."
Marcus swallowed hard, clutching a digital notepad to his chest. "We are ready, Lord. Name our trials."
Raidan raised his hand, flashing five holographic system cards into the air above the table, assigning a glowing directive to each devotee.
"Marcus, your task is infiltration. You will breach the secure server cluster of the rival tech conglomerate in Sector Four and harvest their proprietary quantum encryption keys. Fail, and your access privileges are revoked permanently."
Marcus nodded frantically, grabbing his designated floating card. "Done. The servers will be ours by midnight."
"Sarah, you will secure the physical logistics hub downtown. We need thirty tons of high-grade chemical precursors delivered to the rift coordinate without drawing local police attention."
Sarah smirked, her fingers cracking as she absorbed her quest parameters. "Consider it handled. I know every back alley in the district."
"Leo, Aaron, and Chloe," Raidan continued, looking down at the remaining three cultists with a sharp, calculating gaze. "Your task is expansion. You will fan out across the city sectors and recruit twenty new loyalists before the next lunar cycle. Use whatever leverage is necessary, but bring them into the fold."
The three disciples bowed deeper, their faces locked in grim determination as the system markers branded the quests directly onto their neural interfaces.
"We will not fail you, Lord Raidan," Leo vowed on behalf of the trio.