Chapter 18: Ch 18: A strange elf

After telling Azur my story, I remember that while I was exploring the labyrinth, two notifications about newly acquired abilities came up. When I open the skills section, I see their names "dimensional storage" and "bounty hunter". The first seems to be the ability that Ragnar told me about, it adds 10 inventory slots, since it seems to combine with my interface, while the second is a passive ability that grants 10% probability of obtaining extra loot. These two abilities are tied to the level of the adventurer class, according to its description, and the fact that this class rose to level 10 seems to have been the trigger for its unlocking.

Communicating with Azur and reviewing the new abilities has finished calming me down. Using the interface map I head in the direction of Ragnar's house. After walking a few streets, I perceive a smell that distracts me and reminds me of my childhood. I follow it in a daze until I come to a table where there is an elf drinking tea. I see that the herbal tea gives off the smell that attracts me. The elf is the weirdest I have ever seen, while elves always have long straight hair, this one seems not to have a single hair on his head and he has no eyebrows.

"hmm... Hello, could you tell me where I can buy that tea?" I say awkwardly, trying not to look at where his eyebrows are supposed to be.

In response, the elf points up to a sign above us that says 'Alchemist: sale of potions, elixirs and other preparations'

"Ahh, so... Do you produce the tea that you are drinking? Could you sell me some?" I ask, marveling at the scent.

"I don't sell tea. This is just something I produce for my own consumption, why are you interested?" He responds in a calm voice.

"My mother made that kind of tea... And for various reasons I have nothing that reminds me of her... Could you tell me a place where I can buy it?" I say reticent. I don't want to talk about my past, but at the same time I need him to tell me where I can get that infusion.

"Hmm, your mother... It's rare that other people know the properties of lavender. And you speak in the past tense, so your mother must have died..." the elf mutters to himself, ignoring my question and, after thinking about it for a moment, he asks me "could you tell me what your mother used this drink for?"

"She used it to calm the headache and also when we had sleep problems... But she not only made tea, she also made perfume. She grew the plant, as well as many others that she used as spices… but I never asked her their names" I say sadly. Adding one more thing, to everything that I can never ask her.

"It's a shame..." he says sighing "it's unfortunate that there is one less botanical enthusiast in the world. We are not so many, most of the alchemists only follow the old recipes from years ago and do not know even half of the properties possessed by the plants they use, or how they are grown. "

"My mother was not an alchemist, we had a tavern..." I say in a low voice.

"How strange. Well, it doesn't matter that much. My name is Ozymandias and I'm sorry to make you talk about your mother, since I see that it is a subject that is difficult for you to talk about. Love is like a drug... we get used to it and it gives us strength, but when we lose it, it hurts us... " he says rubbing his chin with a finger and getting up to enter the store "look, I'll tell you what we'll do. You seem like an adventurer from what you're wearing, since I don't think you're in the military academy being that young. So, I'll give you lavender tea in exchange for regularly buying potions and elixirs here, what do you think? "

"Sounds good to me! How much money would I have to spend to obtain some now?" I say, enthusiastically, following him. The store's walls are lined with shelves filled with bottles of different colored liquids.

"Wait, wait" he says raising the palms of his hands with a frown "no one spoke of 'spending'. This is an exchange for the benefit of both. If I discover that you are not going to use what you buy and that you are only doing it to get the tea, the deal is over. I love my job!!. I would hate to know that what I do is wasted or misused, do you understand? "

"Yes, sorry, that's just a way of saying." I say hastily "Could I buy you some mana potions? And... how many would I have to buy to get some tea?"

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"Hmm, it depends ... for each gold coin I will give you 10 tea bags. There are 4 levels of recovery for potions, even if the guild only sells one." He says taking out four bottles of different sizes and placing them on the counter "The type that the guild sells regenerates almost all of the user's capacities and is worth 1 gold coin each" he explains while pointing to the bottle that is the same size as the ones I already knew "but there are 2 not so powerful levels that are cheaper." He continues, pointing to two smaller ones "In many circumstances it is not worth using a potion that the guild sells since it expensive, but the ones I mention are much cheaper and although they regenerate less user's capacities, many times it will be more than enough"

I use identification to verify that he is not trying to deceive me and I see that they are really mana potions. The smallest is a 'lower mana potion' and the next in size is a 'minor mana potion'

"How much does the minor potion regenerate?" I ask.

"it regenerates half the capacity of the one who drinks it and is worth 5 silver coins" says Ozymandias "the adventurers could save a lot of money and time if they use this type of potions, since, as you know, potions heal or regenerate by overstressing the body's capacities , so using a potion that has the potential to regenerate your mana completely, when you only need a bit of mana, would only exhaust your body for no reason... " he says with a sigh and continue speaking" but the alchemists only make what the guild asks them to do, and it is convenient for the guild to have only one type of potion that is effective in any situation "

"So... Can these potions fail?" I say looking at the bottles suspiciously.

"That's not what I mean..." he says in a grumpy voice "Imagine that you need to recharge your mana completely and you don't have much time, what would be more efficient? Having to drink a single big potion or several smaller ones?"

"yeah, I get it..." I say "hmm, I'm going to buy 2 minor and 3 lower potions"

"Well, that will be 2 gold and I will give you 20 tea bags. The lower potions recharge approximately 30% of the capacity of the drinker. But going back to the subject of tea… it is probably not necessary to warn you, since your mother has prepared it too, but I will tell you anyway. Do not take more than three teas in the same day, since it is harmful to your health" and he passes the potions and the tea bags to me through the counter, while I give him the money.

After that, I say goodbye to him and go home, where I find Ragnar waiting for me at the entrance.

"Are you okay? It seemed very strange to me that you left the labyrinth like that" he asks worriedly.

"Yes, it's just that today's combat reminded me of my past" I say ashamed "but I'll get over it, you don't have to worry"

"Good! Keep that attitude and everything will be fine" he says, slapping me on the back.

I go into the house and go up to my room where I make myself a lavender tea. While I do it, I see that the tears in my boot have been repaired. I guess my equipment slowly self-repairs being in the interface... Hmm, I don't know how this deal benefits Ozymandias, since from my point of view it is only giving me extra products in addition to what I buy, but it does not matter to me.

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