When they pulled up to an alchemy shop in the center of Millfall, Vicente, and Rory were dressed as they usually were when they weren't running their criminal organization.

They entered the largest alchemy shop in town with no masks on their faces and their Magic Gems on display.

Millfall had many small professional shops of all kinds. There was even a 'shopping mall' in the town center where various small merchants and professionals could rent space for their businesses.

But these locations in the local 'mall,' unlike some places on Earth, were where less prestigious shops set up their sites.

A good shop of a renowned specialist would not have to pay rent for a small space in such a place! They would have their own shop in one of the city's main avenues, a big place with many possibilities.

This place's 'shopping malls' were for beginners and lower-level professionals, such as 1st stage experts, to display their shops and services.

It would be difficult to find large establishments run by 3rd stage or higher alchemists in such places in cities like this.

Knowing this and looking for good quality items, Vicente and Rory chose the best place in town to buy or trade alchemical items.

The most famous store in Millfall, Botanica Magica, had everything from ingredients, techniques, and spells for alchemists, recipes, and even pills for sale.

Botanica Magica was the closest thing you could get to what alchemists had in their association, but without having to be an alchemist or a member of the organization.

If you had coins and patience, you could easily do business there!

As people who knew they had no time to waste, Vicente and Rory would not look for foolish savings by looking for the cheapest place.

Sure, if they looked elsewhere, they could pay less than they would have to for the items in this store. But they understood that their focus was on their business, not on getting discounts from professionals and stores they would have to waste their time getting to know.

In their minds, getting more guaranteed products faster was worth paying a little more!

As they entered a large building with a design that made Vicente remember some historical buildings in Asia, he immediately sensed an intense medicinal fragrance.

As they entered this fragrant environment, they came across a large area without walls where there was a huge hall of more than 400 square meters filled with people.

In this area's center was a large circular counter where several attendants could be seen guiding customers.

Around this place, there were signs on the ceiling here and there giving directions, but several small places, like monuments, were available for people to look at.

But these were not monuments. Here and there were plants and ancient artifacts, damaged but valuable for their history and classification.

In certain corners were small shelves and tables with items for sale.

'This is like a fair.' Vice thought to himself as he looked around the already noisy area at the beginning of the day.

In the magic world, people woke up very early. Shops like this one would be open at 8 a.m. with many people coming and going.

Rory saw some of the 3rd or 4th generation disciples of the owner of this shop selling things in the area and asked Vicente. "What exactly are we going to buy today? All of our men are Apprentices, so everything we need should be available in this area."

The Botanica Magica building had three levels. Each one represented a magical stage, where resources and services were for sale to people of equivalent magic power.

On the sides of this large hall were stairs that led to the upper levels, but mere apprentices like them wouldn't need nor have the means to buy 2nd-grade resources.

But Rory was curious about what his friend wanted to buy there. He knew how many coins they had to spend, but Vicente had the final say, not him.

Vicente answered his friend as he watched and walked around the area. "I want to spend at most half of our savings. I will buy something to heal our wounds and resources to strengthen our weaknesses. However, I want to help at least five of our men advance with what we buy here."

Pills, potions, and 1st-grade resources cost between 2,000 and 15,000 bronze coins on average, depending on the drug type, purity, and delivery.

Vicente had the equivalent of 100,000 bronze coins to spend this morning, so he could not help all of his men.

If he wanted to increase the strength of his group, he would have to focus on a few of his men. He could not help them all at the same time!

He still needed coins to keep his operation running, buy food, and pay his workers.

Vicente knew he could get between 6 and 30 magic items from this shop, not enough to help everyone in his group.

He spotted the place where a young alchemist had several vials on a table and was sitting reading a book.

Rory also looked at the young alchemist, who was dressed in one of the association's robes.

He smelled a medicinal scent that caught his attention. 'This looks like a good alchemist...'

Vice asked as they approached the brown-haired man. "What do you have here, friend? I see there are fewer people in the area interested in your resources."

The man continued to read his book but replied to Vicente. "That's natural. Not everyone is willing to pay the price for good resources."

"Oh? And what do those good resources do?" Rory asked with a smile, seeing that this alchemist was quite confident.

An alchemist's level did not determine everything. Just as there were Acolyte warriors who were weaker than Apprentices, there were 1st-stage alchemists who were more talented than some 2nd-stage alchemists.

A 1st-stage alchemist would never be able to produce a 2nd-grade pill because of the lack of mana in their body. But if a talented 1st-stage alchemist competed with a not-so-talented Acolyte alchemist to produce a 1st-grade pill, the low-level person could produce a purer and more efficient pill!

The purity of a pill did not reflect the mana used in its production but the intelligence in mixing the ingredients and bringing them to their full potential in the mixture. It was not enough to have a lot of mana or just an extra Magic Pentagram to achieve this. One would have to have a deep understanding of alchemy!

This understanding could be achieved even at a low level.

The alchemist took his eyes off the book and looked at Rory, especially at the green gem on the redhead's forehead. "I have pills and potions of various kinds. But they are all high in their purity, close to 90%."

The purer a pill or potion was, the better its effects would be, and the fewer impurities would accumulate in the body of the one who ingested it.

Pills and potions could easily raise the magic level of living beings. But this did not come without a price. By accepting this "easy" power, one would have to deal with the consequences of accumulating impurities in one's body, which could range from reducing one's life expectancy to limiting one's future progress.

Such impurities could be eliminated somehow, but these were not easy or cheap processes. As a result, most people had to be careful about the number of magical resources they consumed during their journeys.

This was not so important in the early levels because the amount of power needed to advance was small, and the impurities were not many. But as one progressed through the magical ranks, it could easily get one into trouble. Therefore, purer pills and potions had a higher value.

However, in addition to the weaker damage, the main effect of this type of resource would be stronger if it were purer.

Depending on their talent, magicians could absorb more or less of the same resource. But resources could provide more or less benefit depending on their purity.

The pill Rory had taken earlier was an example of this. It had not been able to give him a breakthrough, but if it had been purer than it was, it might have been different!

Listening to this alchemist, Vicente became more serious. 'Junior Apprentices or Senior Apprentices can only consume 1st-grade pills and potions. But one has an entirely different need than the other. So those who are closer to the Acolyte level need more pure 1st-grade resources if they want to advance.'

His eyes narrowed, aware of what he needed to solve his problems. 'I need such resources to help the Senior Apprentices in my group become Acolytes!'

He said to the alchemist. 'Very well. I need resources to help less talented Senior Apprentices advance to the 2nd magic stage. What do you have here that can do that?"