The Moon Thief

When Heinald came to his room, he was mentally quite tired. So he immediately went to bed and fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up the next day, he left the mansion and went to the city's Market Square. The Market Square of Saylam City was the largest he had ever seen. There were no ordinary people around, as in the cities of other kingdoms. The vast majority of common people lived in small villages, and their sole purpose was to grow various crops for the Ainsars. The common people living in the city were also personal servants of the Ainsars.

Heinald walked into a bookstore he saw. This shop was not a big or flashy shop, but it was quite neat and clean. As in most bookshops, the books in the bookcases were representative books and contained only the summary of the book. There was no dust even on these representative books.

Seeing Heinald, a young and good-looking woman approached him. "Welcome, how can I help you?"

Heinald said, "I'm looking for books with information about Magical Beasts."

"Please, wait!" The woman nodded and plunged into the bookcases.

About ten minutes later, the woman arrived with five books in her hand. "These representative books contain detailed information about various types of Magical Beasts, you can check the content.

Heinald opened the books and began to read the titles. Since these books were representative, there was no information; there were only titles. He saw that one of the books contained information about the Serpent of Azarb.

Heinald walked up to the woman and said, "I want the book called Aler's Creature Guide."

"Alright! The original book will be delivered tomorrow. You can come and get it. The cost of the book is 100 Arkana Stones." The woman gave Heinald an order card for 10 Arkana Stones. When he came to take the book tomorrow, he would give back this card and get back his 10 Arkana Stones.

After Heinald left the bookstore, he found a shop selling various herbs and materials, and purchased some herbs and materials for almost half the Arkana Stones he owned. He had long neglected to brew potions and conduct experiments. Now he had to get back to work.

Originally, he had in mind to start experiments to create a new Spirit Potion formula first, but then decided to experiment with modifications on some potions he knew first. If he had an increase in the effect of these potions or an increase in their impurity rate, the potions he brewed would be much more valuable. Of course, he could also sell the formulas of the potions for a very high price, but he would only do so if he was in a very difficult situation. Because the more common a formula was, the lower the value of potions made with that formula.

When Heinald had finished his work in Market Square, he returned to the Redsand Mansion and began brewing the potion in his specially prepared laboratory.

The most valuable potions he had were Distilled Thunder Essence, Shield of Fire Heart, Rhimpous Potion, and Eitrius Potion.

He would concentrate his studies on these potions.

Heinald brewed the potion nonstop until the next day. When he remembered that he had to get the book he had ordered, he left his laboratory and went to get the book. After paying a hundred Arkana Stones and getting the book, he immediately returned to the mansion and continued to brew the potion.

During one of his breaks from brewing potions, he quickly read the book he had just bought.

Serpents were normally considered quite dangerous creatures, thanks to their venom proneness and agility. But Azarb Serpent was beyond that; this creature also had high defense thanks to its innate magic 'Iron Scales'. According to the information in the book, this serpent could expel a cloud of dissolving venom from its mouth. Another frightening feature of it was its ability to throw out his poisoned teeth whenever it wants, and the ability to replace them in seconds. Moreover, like most serpents, it could make quick attacks against its enemies with its poisonous saliva.

Heinald clearly wanted to join Galer's expedition, but didn't know if it was worth the risk. Eating the flesh of a Magical Beast to strengthen his body would be the most natural and quality body strengthening method he could choose. He was aware of this, and even if he searched and found the flesh of another creature, it would probably be very difficult to kill that creature.

At least Heinald would go there with a team.

"I'm a potions master, I can be better prepared than most. If I'm not going to use this advantage against such dangers, when will I." Heinald tried to persuade himself.

Heinald immediately started brewing Posioneater Potion. Moreover, together with Master Kunes, he also started making a gel-like mixture that protects against the poison he prepared. He had been able to handle it with ease, with supplies stored for emergencies in the dimensional pocket of his robe.

"Now I must go and get permission from Master Albin. I hope all goes well." Heinald spoke to himself as he left his lab.

When he arrived in front of his master's room, as usual, one of the priests who stood guard at his door first went in and informed his master.

When allowed, Heinald stepped in.

At that time, Albin was looking at the papers on his desk and sipping his drink.

"Master, I want to join the team of Pastor Aesos' apprentice Galer and go hunting the Azarb Serpent with them. Do you have permission?" Heinald directly asked.

"Azarb Serpent?" Albin lifted his gaze from the papers on his desk and fixed it on his young apprentice, one of his eyebrow raised.

"Yes, master. The entire body of this snake is a treasure. However, I specifically want to hunt this snake for its meat, according to the all sources I have examined, the flesh of this snake is very effective in strengthening an Ainsar's body."

"I don't think I've ever heard of this type of serpent..." Albin scratched his chin, "Are you sure it's not dangerous?"

"This serpent is very dangerous." said Heinald.

"You know this serpent is very dangerous and you still want to go hunting it?" A confused expression appeared on Albin's face.

"We'll go with a team of five. Besides, I can't make progress without taking risks." Heinald shrugged.

Albin stared at his apprentice for a moment without reacting, then burst into laughter that echoed throughout the room, and said, "Sometimes I forget that I'm old and my youthful enthusiasm is gone."

"The area where this snake is is not very far away, so I don't think it will last very long." Heinald's efforts to persuade his master continued unabated.

A thoughtful expression appeared on Albin's face, then he sighed and said, "I'll give you four days. I'll have another task for you when you arrive."

"Understood, master." Heinald nodded.

"You can go now that you've got my permission..." Albin pointed to the papers on his desk, "I'm pretty busy."

Albin chuckled slightly as Heinald left the room and muttered, "Youth..."

Heinald left the mansion and traveled quickly to the Temple of Saint Mevson.

When he reached the temple, he headed inside the temple to find Galer, but saw Galer in front of the temple giving orders to the temple attendants.

Galer was surprised to see Heinald coming towards him. It was clear that he had not expected to see him. "Heinald, its good to see you again!"

Heinald gave a light nod and said, "Greetings Galer. I'm here to say I've decided to join the team."

"Oh, so I've decided to join us. That's good news. Actually, when I saw your indecisiveness, I was almost certain you wouldn't join us." Galer shrugged.

"I decided to take the risk. Master gave me four days, that will be enough, right?" Heinald smiled bitterly.

Galer nodded. "It will be enough."

"This is nice!" Heinald nodded and then asked, "When will we be leaving?"

"I have to contact the other members of the team first, I'll let you know in a letter when I've made the necessary arrangements." Galer said.

When Heinald finished his conversation with Galer, he returned to the mansion and continued his experiments. The four-day period his master had given him would begin when he left the mansion. He would try to spend all his time in his lab until he contact with him again. During this time, he would brew the potion and review his master's experiment in his mind.

Heinald did not know the market price of the potions he was brewing. Before go hunting the Azarb Serpent would sell them to a potion shop in the Market Square and with the Arkana Stones he obtained,he would buy the materials he guessed would be needed for his modification experiments on the potions.

When he came back, he would try to find books that contained the slightest knowledge about the two high concept. If he could gain a certain amount of understanding of these two concepts early on, it would greatly increase his current wisdom and if he could acquire spells related to these concepts in the future, he would be able to directly work on them.