Chapter 171: Alchemy Creations

"Customer, do you need anything else? Our shop has recently received a new batch of items."

"Yes. Yes. They are right there. You can see them behind the glass display."

"That will be twenty coins."

The conversations inside the Alchemy Shop were endless.

Whenever a customer walked out, a new one would immediately walk in to replace them.

Those who walked in had expressions full of expectation, while those leaving were filled with joy, clearly satisfied with their purchases.

Although the queue was long when Aurelius arrived, with nearly a dozen people waiting to enter, it didn’t take long before it was his turn.

"Hello, customer, what may I help you with?" a sweet voice echoed in his ears as soon as he stepped inside.

A woman was seated behind a wooden counter. She was noting something down seriously, completely absorbed in her own thoughts.

Yet when several seconds passed without receiving a response, she seemed to sense that something was wrong.

"Customer...?" She slowly raised her head.

Then, she froze.

A familiar face entered her sight.

The moment she saw the "customer", the woman’s eyes lit up.

"So it’s Sir Aurelius!"

"Please wait for a few seconds! I will be right back."

Before Aurelius could react, the red-haired woman had already jumped to her feet and walked toward the entrance.

"Everyone! We will be closed for the next few hours! We’ll open again in the afternoon!"

"Please come back then!"

The clerk said this before quickly shutting the door.

There were a few complaints from outside, but she ignored them.

She quickly ran back with a smile on her face.

Seeing Aurelius standing there and waiting for her, the woman’s eyes narrowed into two crescent moons.

"Sir Aurelius, it’s been a while. Lady Mia has been waiting eagerly for your visit."

"If she had known that you would come today, she would surely have been here to see you."

The woman paused briefly and motioned toward the back of the shop.

"Do you want to have a cup of coffee?"

--

[TheoryMaster69—Level 8 Sun Knight]

Staring at the interface hovering above TheoryMaster69’s head, Aurelius couldn’t help but sigh.

It had not been long since TheoryMaster69 became a Sun Knight. Yet during this time, she had already reached Level 8.

Her progress was even faster than Aurelius’ back then.

Of course, he knew this was not actually the case.

Although TheoryMaster69 had only just become an Awakener, she had been preparing for this day for a long time.

Although purchasing the Sun Knight Class had previously depleted her Experience, this didn’t mean that she didn’t have other ways to obtain more.

For example, this Alchemy Shop.

Recalling the number of customers waiting outside, Aurelius knew full well that it was TheoryMaster69’s doing.

After all, Mia did not seem shrewd enough to achieve something like that. If she could, she would have done it long ago based on her personality.

As for Homer?

Aurelius believed he could do so.

However, his personality and strength meant he had no reason to try and make the shop popular. If anything, he wanted the opposite.

Clearly, the person responsible for this sudden change had been TheoryMaster69.

As for the reason, the EXP she could obtain was one part.

The secondary reason was perhaps to get closer to Mia and him.

Aurelius took a sip of his coffee as such thoughts flashed through his mind, and he roughly guessed her motives.

Yet on the surface, he remained calm, drinking the hot coffee TheoryMaster69 had just brewed for him.

Under her expectant gaze, he nodded with a smile.

"I didn’t expect that Miss Emma was multi-talented. I’m afraid that this Alchemy Shop will not have you for long."

"It’s only a matter of time before you start your own Coffee Shop." Aurelius praised her and shook his head with a smile on his face.

In response, TheoryMaster69 chuckled.

"Sir Aurelius is joking. I have no plans of leaving the shop any time soon."

"Whether it is because of Lady Mia’s favor or because of the shop itself, I’d rather stay here."

Aurelius remained noncommittal to this response.

Other people might have believed TheoryMaster69’s words based on her previous actions and sincere expression.

However, Aurelius knew her identity very well.

She was an Awakener. More importantly, she was a Player.

Even if she didn’t seem like a battle maniac and had no intention of battling monsters to grind Experience like World_Builder, it was only a matter of time before the shop became unable to keep up with her own growth.

Then, she would have to leave whether she wanted to or not.

’Of course, that is not an absolute certainty.’

Aurelius’ eyes flashed.

He didn’t forget that the Alchemy Shop’s owner was not Mia, but Homer.

Although Aurelius hadn’t met this Alchemist since their first meeting, Homer remained a mysterious figure in his mind.

Even with his current strength, Aurelius doubted he would be able to see through his true identity.

Since that was the case, the Alchemy Shop might be able to provide TheoryMaster69 with far more than anyone would expect—as long as Homer wanted to.

Thinking of this, Aurelius shook his head inwardly.

’There are Homer and Professor Anna in Blood Sun City. Before them was the Sunless Sect and the Lost Sun’s descent."

"Outside, there is the Sea God’s Trident in the Goblin Mountains and a talented Goblin Warlock far more intelligent than ordinary monsters.’

’The unassuming Dryad Forest was home to countless Undead Evil Spirits, a Corrupted Dryad, and a reborn Undead Knight...’

’Just how many secrets does this place have?’ Aurelius wondered.

The more he learned about Blood Sun City and its surroundings, the stranger the place became.

Originally, he had thought that it was simply a small city in a remote region, serving as a "Novice Village" for him.

Yet now, powerful figures and extraordinary items seemed to appear one after another. To this day, Aurelius believed he had not uncovered everything.

TheoryMaster69 misunderstood his silence.

Seemingly feeling that he was disappointed to have missed Mia, she changed the topic of conversation.

"Sir, if there is anything you need from Lady Mia, you can tell me, and I will relay it to her."

"If it’s a secret, you can wait until the afternoon, when she will most likely come back to the shop."

"If it’s a love confession, however..."

TheoryMaster69 did not finish that sentence, but the teasing smile on her lips betrayed her intentions.

Especially when she saw Aurelius nearly choke, her smile grew even wider.

Obviously, she was "mad" to see Aurelius think of another woman while he was with her. This was her opportunity to tease him.

Unfortunately for her, Aurelius quickly regained his composure.

He completely ignored her final sentence, choosing to focus on the former two.

"I indeed wanted to see Mia..."

"I’ve been experimenting with some Alchemy techniques and recipes lately, and had certain achievements a few days ago."

"However, since she is not here at the moment, I will leave and come back later."

He shook his head.

But just as he finished his cup of coffee and was about to rise to his feet, TheoryMaster69’s eyes flashed.

Alchemy experiments.

Had it been anyone else, they would not have thought much of Aurelius’ words.

But TheoryMaster69, as a Player, had a completely different opinion.

Her intuition told her that this might be another opportunity.

If she missed it, it was likely that she would come to regret it greatly in the future!

After all, what kind of Alchemy creations could an "Epic" NPC have developed?

Even if these creations were nothing to him, to the "ordinary" Rank 1 her, they would be extremely precious.

With that in mind, seeing Aurelius get ready to leave, TheoryMaster69 nearly jumped out of her seat to stop him.

She hurriedly spoke.

"Sir Aurelius, I’ve been responsible for the Alchemy Shop recently. I’ve been appraising the treasures coming in and out of the shop."

"Lady Mia has given me permission to purchase things as I want."

"If you’re willing, how about you let me look through them?" She spoke, her expression stern.

However, the flash of expectation in her eyes, eerily similar to that of the customers who had previously walked in, betrayed her inner emotions.

Seeing this, Aurelius seemed to hesitate.

He weighed his options, as though he truly wondered whether he should let her inspect the items.

After a brief silence, he softly exhaled.

"Since that’s the case, I’ll let you take a look."

"Since Mia trusts you so much, I believe you will not make any errors." He spoke calmly.

Then, he pretended to reach into his pockets and retrieved several items from the System Inventory.

As he placed them on the table, TheoryMaster69’s eyes flashed.

Not only with excitement, but also because the many flashing descriptions nearly blinded her.

[...]

As she slowly read through them, her heart began to beat faster.

She suddenly had a feeling that she might have underestimated the value of this opportunity.