Seeing Angor approaching the fence, Dave revealed his puppy eyes again.
Angor sneered silently. Acting cute would not work here.
“I can agree, on three conditions. Either accept them or give up,” said Angor as he crossed his arms and displayed a professional negotiator temperament.
Dave gulped. He got the feeling that Angor was going to ask a lot. Dave was planning to catch an ordinary rabbit to test his flying machine. However, rabbits were too dumb to know how to control the machine. He spent two months trying to add a directional control function to his creation. It was not something a common beast could use. Only an intelligent monster like Toby could handle the job.
Frankly speaking, it was the first time Dave saw such a small and weak monster with adult-level intelligence.
“What three conditions?” Dave asked in a weak voice as if he would faint on the spot if Angor asked too much.
“First, I need information on the Sky Tower.” Angor started from a relatively easy condition. He needed the information because he was aiming for the Sorcerer’s Garden in Floating Mech City. Angor wondered if he could find an easier way to reach the top level of Sky Tower with Dave’s help.
“Information on Sky Tower? That’s no problem. To enter the batt—Ahem! I mean, to help my friend enter the battle, I helped him gather some information before. I promise I can tell you anything!” Dave relaxed a little upon hearing the first condition. Seemed like Angor’s heart was just as innocent as his outside looks.
“Second, Toby is the one taking your test, so you must give Toby something in return,” said Angor. With that, Toby came as well and landed on Angor’s hair, chest puffed up.
“Of course!” Dave hoped that Toby’s heart was as pure as Angor.
Angor pretended to be discussing the rewards with Toby, then he turned back to Dave again.
“Toby said you must give it some Echo Flowers,” said Angor. He used the word “some” and observed Dave’s expression, trying to figure out his baseline.
One Echo Flower cost 128 merit points, which was a little more than one magic crystal. Dave earned five magic crystals every month by working at Prome’s Alchemy Shop. One flower meant one-fifth of his monthly gain.
Dave revealed a hesitant look. He could accept the price of one Echo Flower or two, but beyond that…
“Three. Toby said it wants three.” After checking Dave’s expression, Angor determined a price.
“Too many! I only have two magic crystals each month!” Dave put on a sad look. Three Echo Flowers was an acceptable limit, but he would still try to bargain and pretending to be poor was a good way.
However, Angor did not mind his attempt at all. He simply watched Dave’s display silently.
In the end, Dave clenched his teeth and agreed upon the price while complaining about Toby’s greed in his mind.
Damn bird! Why didn’t it inherit any of Angor’s good virtue?
Toby had no idea that someone was cursing it. The bird was now quite joyful about how its master managed to earn three Echo Flowers instead of one. Toby was imagining itself singing a quartet already.
“The third condition…”
Before Angor could finish, Dave tried to surrender first.
He literally had tears around the corners of his eyes. “Just so you know, I already gave you all my money for this month!”
Angor smiled at him gently. “Don’t worry. I don’t need money.”
Dave felt cured by his bright smile. He removed his tears and waited for an answer with a passionate look.
“I’m planning to make my breakthrough into an apprentice in the coming days.”
“Congratulations! But, I heard that most talents in your term received posters and found professors. Aren’t you a bit slow?”
Angor did not seem offended. “Can’t be helped. My talent is weak.”
Hearing these, Dave regarded Angor as a diligent young man who compensated his lacking talent with a strong mind. Dave quickly thought about himself. He also possessed an average talent. He was not at the last of the line yet, but it was still hard for him to make any progress.
Angor’s image in Dave’s mind soon became favorable.
“Angor, you need anything, just tell me. I’ll help you as best as can!” Dave said in excitement.
Angor was puzzled at how Dave suddenly changed his attitude. But it seemed they did not stray away from the topic, so it was fine.
Angor cleared his throat and said, “I found a basic alchemy manual by chance, so I’m planning to study alchemy once I become an apprentice. My third condition is that you’ll let me buy alchemy materials from you. Of course, I’ll pay for them. But I hope you can give me average market prices.”
Angor never intended to ask big money. He only wanted a stable source of getting materials. As an assistant working at Prome’s Alchemy Shop, Dave should have enough experience in such business. Compared with wandering around in the market as a newb, buying materials from Dave was definitely a better choice.
Dave was not surprised at the third condition. Basic alchemy books were sold in many places. A good number of new apprentices wished to try out this rewarding subject and earn a fortune. But most of them would give up slowly because alchemy required too much talent.
Dave looked at Angor and saw his own image. Back at the beginning, Dave also dived into alchemy with great passion. Now he only earned himself an average position. He was not powerful since he spent most of his time studying alchemy. And due to his moderate talent, he did not do a good job at alchemy either. Without anything to inherit, he only managed to create his first product—the propeller flyer—after spending five years on the subject.
And it was flawed too. Every time he thought about this, Dave only felt more weight added onto his heart.
“That’s no problem. I can even resell some materials that the master doesn’t need at their original prices,” said Dave. He paused and revealed a worried look before he said, “Um, I should tell you that… alchemy isn’t easy.”
Angor smiled. “It’s okay. Just a small attempt will do. If I’m not talented, I’ll just learn something else.”