The Trial of Agni. Lucas had shown it off on ‘Late Night Show with Falcone’ because the Association president had requested it. The trial helped Lucas identify whether the other person told the truth or not.

  The episode went viral, and Lucas gained a lot of fame and an equal amount of fear from awakened criminals.

  It is a total hoax. Adrian’s eyes swept over the flashy setup, but he couldn’t deny the intimidation factor it provided, especially the signature blue flame.

  However, Lucas could tell if a person lied or not from the shift in their body temperature. He could predict someone’s fever in advance with a narrow margin for error, but he never went into detail.

  Adrian had talked with Lucas over what question he’d ask Johan last night, but the stubborn man only smirked while drinking. Now that the hour had come, he couldn’t help but wonder why Johan looked horrified.

  As if responding to his wish, Johan read the question, bewildered and worried.

  “Can you provide a steady supply of the healing potion? P.S.: I don’t mind if it is illegally made, wink wink.” He even winked while showing them the note.

  Adrian looked at Lucas, grinning, his stomach ache rising.

  “I really don’t mind.” He said, pleased with himself.

  Johan, however, sighed and fed the parchment to the flame. He looked Lucas dead in the eye and gave his answer.

  “I can make five of them a week. Also, there is nothing illegal about the production method; it is in line with the Alchemist Associations' rules.”

  The statement was like a bomb. Adrian’s eyes widened; he could scarcely believe his ears.

  Five potions of that level a week? Even the Mage Tower only made one a month because of the material costs and labour-intensive process. The claim was as ridiculous as the last conman, but his eyes went to Lucas.

  “Cash or card, my friend?” Lucas already had his card in hand, banging it on the table.

  That reaction told Adrian everything.

  “How many are you buying? They are made to order, but I have some inventory. It still might take a day or two to acquire them.” Johan said. Most likely an attempt to calm down Lucas, who had almost leaped over the table, but it only intensified the situation.

  For a day or two, there wasn’t a Hunter on Earth who wouldn’t go red-eyed when hearing about this deal.

  “I’ll take ten, I’ll make half the payment now and half at delivery after two weeks. How about it?” Lucas had never been this accommodating with anyone, aside from the Mage Tower. But even they rarely saw this level of enthusiasm from the man.

  Lucas wrote an amount on the paper, and looking over his shoulder, Adrian nodded. The payment was fair, no cutting corners, no haggling. He liked it when Lucas was like this, which was never.

  “How about this much?”

  Lucas handed the paper to Johan. The latter’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

  “T…This is the full payment?” He tried to cover up the crack, but it was clear as day to them.

  “That’s only half. I can transfer it to you right now.” Lucas looked back at Adrian, but he had already sent a message.

  “Already done.” Adrian showed the picture of the transaction that went into motion while Lucas handed the quote over. “We’ve already notified the bank and government authorities, so you won’t have to worry about any legal problems with the transfer.” He added the last part out of consideration for Johan’s shock.

  “How did you know my bank details? No… never mind.” Johan looked at the notification on his phone. “…Ten million… just like that? Crazy.”

  It was only him muttering, but Adrian and Lucas heard him loud and clear. Adrian had many questions, but it wasn’t his place to ask them, and Lucas wasn’t one to bother with such details.

  “Don’t worry about the chump change, you are in the big leagues now.” Lucas gaffed; he probably found Johan’s reactions a breath of fresh air.

  “Man… I only came out on a whim and to thank you for the potion you gave to Cara, but it seems like I’ve hit the jackpot.”

  Adrian thought so too. Since Lucas acted this fast, no doubt remained in his head that Johan was the real deal. Most importantly, they were the ones to make the first deal with him; that’s all he could infer from the young man’s reaction to money.

  “Looking forward to a pleasant business with you, partner.” Lucas extended his hand over the table.

  “…Me too.” Johan took the hand, sealing the deal. But before they could leave, this mysterious alchemist wanted to show them another potion.

  “What do you think about this one?” He handed Lucas an aquamarine potion with a giant ice crystal inside. An Ice resistance potion.

  The effects on the tag had Adrian worried if he should get his eyes checked, but the healing potion deal wasn’t ordinary either.

  “Are these effects true?” Lucas’ tone dropped. A level of seriousness he only showed inside rifts.

  “You can have it appraised if you don’t believe me,” Johan said, almost too innocently, but there was a calculated calm behind his clear eyes.

  Lucas sighed, but that soon turned into a cackle. A cackle that sent shivers down Adrian and Cara’s spines.

  “Dude, you wanna get kidnapped or something?” He said as Johan retreated. “'Cause I am super tempted right now.”

  “I’d rather not,” Johan said, rightfully terrified.

  “Don’t worry, man, my basement is super comfortable, it’s my gaming space, you see. I’ll get you a five-star chef and the works. What do you say?”

  “Please don’t take the joke too far, sir.” Adrian stepped in before Johan got the wrong idea. But Lucas only tilted his head.

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  “What joke?”

  Before he could scare Johan into hiding, Adrian pulled Lucas out of the Mart and stowed him in the car outside. He bowed to Johan and handed him his card.

  “Our Clan Master tends to get carried away often; he won’t kidnap you,” Adrian said, but Johan only pointed at the car.

  “Are you sure?” Lucas looked at him, face pressed against the window, like a lion stalking a grazing gazelle.

  “I’ll try to convince him.” Adrian felt a headache rising.

  “Please try hard.” Johan ran back into the store like a mouse.

  Adrian sat in the passenger seat, and the driver stepped on the accelerator.

  “You spooked him too much.” He said.

  “He’s just that desirable.” Lucas shrugged.

  Adrian couldn’t refute. Johan’s value had risen too much in their books, and others would soon come to know of that value too. In a way, Lucas wanted to protect the golden goose before someone sliced it open.

  “Do you really think he is unprotected?” Adrian expected Johan to have strong backing that would protect him. Although on paper, he looked like a small fry. A high school graduate who worked in a Hunter Mart, a run-of-the-mill guy with nothing special.

  “You’ve put together the report on him; your guess is as good as mine.” The ice resistance potion in Lucas’ hand stole his attention, his right hand touching his left shoulder in a trance.

  “I didn’t expect him to have a potion like this ready,” Adrian admitted. Even he couldn’t hide his surprise back then and considered Lucas’ proposal to kidnap Johan. Though he wouldn’t say that out loud.

  “I planned to ask him for something similar after checking the delivery of the healing potions, but to think he had one in advance. And here I thought I had the drop on him.” Lucas chuckled, but the amusement soon wore off. “After the effects of this potion are confirmed, we have to rethink this partnership.”

  Adrian nodded. Since his debut seven years ago, Lucas had cleared over three hundred rifts while leading the Agni Clan, and he had only failed once.

  Mahapadma, The Eighth Hell.

  “A revenge match is in order.” Lucas grinned, grasping his shoulder, rubbing the injury carved into him by the SS-Rank rift.

  If this potion helps Lucas clear that rift. Johan will become more than a business partner. Adrian touched the raised scar, akin to flower petals made of sandpaper, running along his bicep. He’d become blood.

  And it was the Agni Clan’s creed to protect their own, even if it meant death.

  ***

  After Adrian and Lucas left, Cara also said goodbye and took off.

  Now, left alone in the convenience store, Johan stared at his banking app in a daze, “Hehehehehe!” the maniac-like laughter echoing in the store.

  Although he felt alarmed by Lucas’s suspicious actions and words, the money made him forget it all. The money he’d never scrape together, even if he worked several lifetimes, now sat in his bank. And this was half.

  “How much will I get after they order the Ice Resistance potions?” Johan danced on the counter, uncaring of the people who saw him through the glass door. But he had to stop for one reason only.

  “I better get to work and make the potions before the deadline.” He rushed to the basement, fearing what Lucas might do if he failed.

  But the bigger issue at hand was the number he mentioned. Although he overshot compared to his biggest competitor, Mage Tower, he had to do that much since Lucas White showed up.

  Johan had to make himself worth investing in as a man with no background or backing. If he had Lucas’ protection, the biggest troublemaker in the Hunter industry, no one would dare pick on him.

  “One golden pear yields four potions; the tree grows a fruit every 24 hours. And the number of golden pears I have at hand is…” Johan counted the fruits on the tree, a slack smile on his lips. “Thirty. 150 potions… 200 million outright and then 8 million a day.” Money had become his bonus, definitely not his main motivation.

  His cheeks hurt from smiling so much. But he didn’t want to flood the market like that. The news had covered Mage Tower’s potion capacity a dozen times, which was why he settled on five a week. His plan wasn’t to just supply the potions to the Agni clan alone; he had another idea.

  “High-quality potions help Hunters clear dangerous rifts; the more rifts cleared, the safer it is for me. Plus, I get to make sweet profit, hehehe!” Johan’s hands were itching. “It is only a matter of time before I take over the world with my potions!” He coughed, ending his embarrassing display.

  That confidence came from the sapling he just watered. Its pure white stalk swayed in the gentle breeze along with the verdant leaves. After seven tries, he found success with the Golden Pear tree’s seed.

  “Grow big, my money tree. Make Papa richer.” Johan hugged the pot, a malicious smile on his face.

  That same night, Lucas placed an order for thirty Ice Resistance potions, each valued at 2 million, and the total of sixty million paid in full.

  Johan's laughter echoed in the neighbourhood, but he got a sore throat the next day from laughing too much. But his plotting didn’t stop.

  Yes, the healing potions were enough for the big clans. But a majority of the Hunter population consisted of the mid to low Hunters that barely scraped by diving into the rifts every week. They didn’t have the big bucks, but they made up 70% of the sales in the potion market.

  No way Johan would leave such a large herd of shee—potential customers unattended.

  After finishing Lucas’ order in ten hours, he began experimenting with a single bottle of D-rank healing potion. Simply put, he watered it down.

  Why? Because his ingredients were too high-quality to make low-level potions. If he used too little fruit, the brewing skill won’t trigger. That’s why he took a completed potion and watered it down by 100ml at a time, noting the change in properties.

  Through Furber’s method, from Advanced Alchemy Vol. 1, he ended up with two lower-quality versions of the Basic healing potion that he could use.

  The first one was for the mid-level hunter from C-Rank and B-Rank. Costing only 80,000 a pop, fifty times his salary. But these Hunters had a lot of leeway to spend on potions and gear.

  Name: Watered-down Basic Healing potion.

  Rank: E

  Effects: 20% HP recovered over 10 minutes, best used for deep lacerations and stabs. It will leave scars.

  Note: This potion cannot regrow limbs or replenish lost blood. The effect is not stackable.

  The second one was for the low-level hunters from F-Rank to D-Rank, costing only 10,000 for one. Johan had priced this one lower than the ones sold by Mage Tower, so the penny pinchers wouldn't want to miss out on the sweet deal.

  Name: Super Watered-down Basic Healing Potion

  Rank: F

  Effects: 10% of total HP recovered over 10 minutes, best used for minor injuries and shallow cuts. It will leave scars.

  Note: This potion cannot help with severe injuries. The effect is not stackable.

  Now, someone might question why he went through the trouble of doing this instead of making it like any other alchemist.

  There were two reasons.

  First, he had to find a supplier for the ingredients needed for said potions, who would then take a cut for their services. Reducing his profits.

  And second, it was the look. Yes, the potion’s color.

  If two potions sat on the shelf, one a murky brown and the other a glimmering gold. Both are priced the same, but the latter was 20% more effective and didn’t taste like muddy water. Which one would the Hunters pick?

  “Can I get three of these, please?” Miss Kim, a regular of the store and a D-Rank hunter, confirmed his guess.

  “Absolutely. Here you go.” Johan’s radiant smile matched the potion.

  “Did you get a new supplier? The effects are stated very clearly.” Miss Kim asked, paying with her card.

  “Yes, we just got a chance to collaborate with a hidden genius alchemist who made potions easier on the stomach. If the effect is even 1% below the stated or it tastes bad, you can get a cashback.” Johan grinned; of course, that was sophistry, but he knew his product.

  “That’s some confidence. I guess we’ll see.” Miss Kim, in her full leather gear and warbow, stepped out of the shop full of smiles.

  Johan only had a few customers that day, but his aggressive sales pitch didn’t stop. The second day went by in peace, and so did the third. He saw an increase in customers by the fourth day, but nothing too crazy.

  It wasn’t until the fifth day that Johan realized his mistake. A long line, reaching the end of the block, awaited him when he opened the Mart’s door to flip the sign.

  The dozen or so hunters locked onto him with their predatory eyes, breathing heavy like some starved beasts.

  What the hell is this?! Goosebumps covered Johan as he pinched himself, wondering if he was still in a dream.

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