"Considering how important Liam is to my group, I can't accept such a deal. Even if you were willing to become my exclusive alchemist, I would not accept such an offer." Vicente seriously said as he looked into Abel's eyes.

Liam's value lies in his current characteristics. He was talented and young, which meant that he had a more interesting growth curve to explore than someone of Abel's age.

In the early stages, the growth of a magician basically depended on talent and resources. As long as one has both, it won't be a problem to grow and even reach the peak of the 3rd stage.

After that, things became more complicated, and factors such as perseverance and luck began to play a more important role, reaching a level of importance similar to that of a given magician's talent, magical form, and resources.

Thus, by the end of 3rd stage, Liam could grow relatively easily with Vicente's support. On the other hand, someone like Abel had already lost his best growth moment, and any growth would require much more resources, time, luck, and talent.

Comparing them regarding their future prospects, Liam was worth more in Vice's eyes!

Not only that, while Abel could create resources with more purity and in greater quantities at the present time, Vicente's group didn't need someone as qualified as that man.

With only Bart at the 3rd stage in his group, it would be a while before Vice needed a 3rd-stage alchemist.

But that time would be enough for Liam to advance to 3rd stage. So, in a way, the young 2nd-stage alchemist could serve the Mazzanti family group longer without being overly expensive, but also without failing to provide quality service.

Vicente understood all this very well and would not accept a deal like the one Abel had just suggested.

"Really?" Abel realized that Cesar wasn't easy to deal with. "Then maybe we can't do business..."

"Abel Thomas, think about it. You don't want to do business with me in your student's name? Think again. If you do business with me, I can strengthen my group faster, reducing the risks for Liam." Vicente smiled under his mask as he pointed to the brown-haired young man.

He looked at Liam and said. "You will need some time to improve your strength and the quality of your products so you can stay at your master's side for the next few days. I'll leave some resources with you now, and you can use them for training and eventually producing your first 2nd-grade pills.

When you're ready, use the rest of the resources in this ring to prepare as many potions and 2nd-grade pills as you can. But don't worry about handing them over to me until the auction in the city in a few days." He said as he tossed Liam a ring containing over 2,000 gold coins.

Abel saw that Cesar would leave Liam alone for at least a couple of weeks and thought better of the young newcomer's words.

'The auction will take place in about two weeks. That's enough time for a lot of things to happen.' Abel thought to himself, considering that in a few days, he might know more about the position of the army and the Viscount concerning what had happened that afternoon.

At the same time, Cesar could really strengthen his group in the coming days if he had resources at his disposal, something that could increase the chances of peace in the city.

One of the things that could make a place like Millfall peaceful was not the absence of powerful people but the presence of people with more or less similar powers.

Only when the strongest had people to worry about would they think more carefully about their actions and avoid conflict as much as possible!

As impressive as Cesar's progress was, it couldn't go on for long. Besides, the Viscount was ridiculously powerful, and having someone with Don Mazzanti's powers in the city for any length of time would be a good way to make the Viscount cautious in his actions.

As someone who had personally challenged the Viscount that day, Abel also had himself to worry about!

'Cesar can reach level 5 through the auction, and he could also increase the strength of each of his family members with my help. That might draw the Viscount's attention away from Liam and me.

Meanwhile, if Cesar agrees with the Viscount, the local dangers for all of us could be greatly reduced after the auction.'

Feeling that it would be easier for him to assess the dangers for his student after the upcoming auction in Millfall, Abel agreed with Vicente.

"All right, I'll help you, but it won't be for free. I want you to assure me that when you make a deal with the Viscount, you'll include us in the clauses of that deal. Also, I won't give you any discounts on the price of the pills and potions I have to sell you."

"We can do that." Vice agreed immediately, seeing no problem with Abel's terms.

At the same time, he couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. Abel was the owner of the Botanica Magica. That meant he had a lot of resources to bargain with!

As he shook hands with this great local alchemist, Abel asked him. "What kind of resources do you need?"

"Mainly restorative potions, but also potions capable of temporarily increasing the magical attributes of my men's base at no great cost. As for pills, I mainly want those that can provide breakthroughs to low-talent men.

I want 70% of these resources to be 2nd grade and the rest to be 1st grade.

Meanwhile, I need a 3rd-grade recovery potion and a pill that can stimulate a breakthrough of my mount".

The first part of Vicente's request wasn't difficult to obtain, nor was it expensive for a person like him. However, the two resources of the 3rd grade were completely different.

"Can you pay for all this?" Abel asked. "This 3rd-grade potion and the pill alone cost 850 gold coins. Isn't that a problem for you?"

Vicente could buy about 10 2nd-grade pills or 10 potions with the same amount of coins!

Considering everything he had asked for, Vicente's spending on resources for his men could easily reach 5,000 gold coins.

That was an amount of coins that even nobles would have trouble collecting in a short time!

"Yes, don't worry," Vicente said as he threw Abel a ring with the coins he would spend on his men today.

Seeing that Vicente was willing to pay in advance, Abel realized how rich this young local mercenary was.

'Tsk! I should have become a bandit too...' He thought to himself as he picked up the coins.

"Very well, I'll deliver your pills and potions to your estate tomorrow morning. Is that okay with you?"

"Perfect."

With that settled, Vicente would soon say goodbye to these two and head off to Benson's estate!