However, as a newbie, Angor could do none of that. After making sure the crescent part was correctly-shaped, he quickly canceled Thaw and used Condense to finalize its shape.
Once this was done, Angor held the crescent part in his hand and inspected it. It was poorly made, but it was still easy to recognize that this thing belonged to some kind of weapon.
It felt like metal. With no particular tool to smoothen it, its edge was all jagged.
To test its hardness, Angor gave the metal part a mighty squeeze.
It gave out a “click!” noise. Angor opened his hand and saw no change in its overall shape. However, some small cracks showed up on its edges.
“Weird. Earth Fiend Bronze is used to improve hardness. How did I break it with my hand?” Angor wondered.
He decided to snap it in half and see what happened.
To break something made from Earth Fiend Bronze apart proved to be quite difficult. Angor used up all his strength to break his creation from a small, existing crack.
He finally realized what was going on when looking at the interior of the material. When kneading the metal with Hand of Spell, he did not pay attention to its density distribution. There was too much metal in some locations and too little in other parts. It was easy to crack up when external force was applied to the metal unevenly.
However, being able to create a finished part, even a flawed one, was still an amazing feat for a new alchemist.
…
Since the problem was found, Angor had to solve it. He already had something on his mind.
Alchemy was not all about thawing stuff and shaping it with Hand of Spell. He needed to use various tools.
For example, he could use a flat scraper to remove jagged edges and barbs on the metal. There was an engraving pen, designed for drawing runes. To achieve perfect density distribution, he could use specialized pressurize equipment. There were also paint brushes to make the product look better… Universal measuring glasses, suction pipes, air tanks, balance plugs… There were a huge number of different alchemy tools ready to be used.
With enough effort, skilled alchemists could do everything without using these tools. However, that would take too long. Proper tools could save them a lot of time.
Basically, every alchemist had his or her own laboratory.
Angor wanted to build his own alchemy lab as well. Combined with all the alchemy tools, he could quickly gain experience.
When thinking about this, Angor could barely hold it back. He took his bone card and rushed to the underground market immediately.
Of course, Angor went to Dave again. After resting for a day, Dave looked a lot better. He was unsurprised when he heard Angor’s request to buy more alchemy tools. He simply took Angor into the shop storage.
The storage was full of various products. Most things were contained inside sealed boxes. A corner of the storage was occupied by some strange or really dangerous-looking plants.
“Master Prome studied Apothecary before. He said that real alchemists do not find metals, stones or vegetations different. The only thing that matters is how you convert them. But still, Master Prome is really good at Tooling. As for his potions…”
He muttered a “so-so” in the end. It seemed Dave did not really want to comment on Prome’s Apothecary skills.
He brought Angor to one of the outermost shelves where several long desks were placed together. It had various alchemy tools displayed on them, and most tools were covered in thick dust. They looked really aged.
“You already know how there are many people who want to study alchemy, but most of them gave up in the middle of it. There are very few alchemists in Brute Cavern, so these alchemy tools are really hard to sell. I’m positive this shop has the richest collection in the entire underground market,” said Dave. He shrugged and continued, “Well, I think you can see how this stuff doesn’t sell well. They’re left here for decades. Even the dust-removal spell arrays already lost their effect.
“If you want them, I can give you 50% off. Master will agree.”
Dave lowered his voice as he said, “If Master Prome knows that someone actually came to buy them, he might even give you better prices.”
“Of course I want them. But are you sure they work fine? They won’t rust or cause explosions or something?” asked Angor as he looked at all the dust-covered tools and felt a little worried.
“Won’t happen. They’re all made of special materials. They don’t catch rust like iron. I borrowed these when making my propeller flyer, so I can guarantee their reliability for ya,” said Dave as he thumped his chest.
Angor did not say anything. He walked to the desks and carefully picked up a bottle for keeping waste gas. Next, he cleaned the outside of the bottle with a handkerchief and saw the crystal-clear inner tank of the bottle. The mechanism on the bottle cap was also in perfect condition.
“Without the dust, they look pretty good,” Angor thought to himself.
He looked through several tools he might use. They were all fine. Almost no traces of damage were seen on them.
“You sure I can have 50% off?”
“Master Prome said that when clearing the storage two years ago. He said if someone wants them, 50% is the lowest we should offer.”
Half price compared to average market price… that sounded pretty good. Angor considered a little and decided not to check out the other shops. He quickly picked a dozen tools in various sizes, plus a giant blower box which looked like a fireplace.
Dave glanced at Angor’s selection and using the sharp mind of a wizard, he immediately worked out the final price.
“19,744 merit points in total. After discount… I’ll take 9,850 points.”
Angor checked the balance on his card. A little more than 9,200.
“That’s so expensive!”
Dave spoke in an as-a-matter-of-fact manner, “They won’t be waiting for a buyer down here for several decades if they’re cheap. These tools are only mid-tier ones considering their quality. Real superior tools will cost at least ten thousand magic crystals, each. Master Prome has a magic carving pen that cost him thousands of crystals. You already found a bargain here, so just consider yourself lucky.”