CHAPTER 407: ARC 6, CHAPTER 23: ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES

"That is just the herbs," a figure walked out of the backroom through beaded curtains. Her black cat-like ears cuffed with various silver jewellery. The tall slender cat-woman wearing blacks, greys and lavender for attire got behind the counter.

"Welcommmee," she squinted, eyeing the ones who entered, "-mme adventurers from down south? Yeah, that seems right, welcome adventurers, what brings you into this fine establishment?

Need for potions to heal your ailments and injuries from battle? Antidote for flying spider toxin? Ancient remedies, artefacts in stock, magical items that may be of use?"

"Yeah, none of that, we’re here to ask about the castle and the case that happened there," Jotou cut to the chase as she scanned around the shop.

"N-no, we could also take a look around your inventory and see if anything catches our eye," Hotaru corrected to the shopkeeper.

"Well, good, if you want information, at least buy something first," the cat-girl crossed her arms.

"You’re the witch?" Asobi queried.

"That I am," she raised her chin a little.

Fumeko narrowed her eyes at her.

"So, what will you be purchasing? Healing potions are commonly bought by you adventuring types passing through here."

"We have a healer," Jotou replied, examining a crystalline human skull on a shelf.

"Lore tells of shops such as these littered throughout South End still. One such as I am far beyond this realm and has no familiarity in what to seek," Tiffany got her face close to a large rounded flask.

"There’s a few in Kria too, but," Hotaru had a look around. "Generally for us, we’d be looking for spell scrolls that we can learn from or some magical items."

"Hell knows we’re not as flashy as the other adventurers in the guild by a longshot," Jotou replied. "Not that it really matters."

"Ooo! Do you have wands for sale?" Asobi bounced up and down.

The cat-girl nodded and reached under the counter, pulling out a leather tool roll that she unveiled onto the table. It was arranged with a series of various wands, ranging from colours to sizes to shapes.

The magician leaned over the counter and hummed over all of them. "What’s this one do?" she picked up cherry-hued wand of wood-like make and had a couple of drifting white ribbons.

"If I’m not mistaken," the cat-girl took the wand and shook it a little. Sparkling dust flaked off the ribbons and out of thin air, sprites appeared and started to gravitate towards the wand. "It gives of a magical light, pretty useful."

"That’s amazing! I can do that too!" Asobi looked to her own wand and lit it up brighter than whatever the sprites were doing. She then changed the light to various colours and then made illusions of sprites and butterflies dancing around it holding wings.

"I see..."

"Any other wands?" Asobi looked down.

"What are you, an illusionist? Uh," the shopkeeper began scanning trough the assortment of wands.

"What’s this one do?" Fumeko picked up a glass vial with a whitish chalky liquid.

"Growth potion, it temporarily triples your size. Lasts an hour or two depending on the dosage."

Fumeko looked at the vial again and eyed it carefully, contemplating buying it immediately.

"What concoction lies within this?" Tiffany held up a flask of green and blue liquid that refused to mix together no matter how many swishes.

"That one is to breathe underwater, sixty gold."

Tiffany’s lips quivered as she gingerly placed the flask back in its stand.

"You’re telling me we could’ve had potions this whole time to help us and we’ve not been using them why?" Jotou took a peek at the cauldron without putting her head in the fumes.

"Well potions are illegal," Hotaru replied.

"What?"

"They’re not affinity-based magic, they’re more so mana-dust, herbal ingredients and ritualistic magics—old and traditional dating back millennia. They kind of became obsolete with the rise of enchanters and more practiced casters.

But they’re mainly ’illegal’ cause the side-effects are often, well, just not worth the temporary benefit in most cases? Not to mention, the wrong preparation method could be potentially lethal and a lot of times they’re botched; and add the need for proper storing method to the mix too."

"Hey! Watch your tongue wolf! These potions are made with the finest of ingredients and upmost care, they are not botched alchemy," the cat-girl’s tail lashed back and forth behind her, only for them to notice that her tail was forked and had a split long enough that it might as well be two tails.

"So what happened there?" Fumeko pointed with glazed over eyes.

"Ah..." she grabbed her tail, or tails, and pushed it down, "Absolutely nothing."

"Uh huh. So what’s the side-effect for this one before we report you for illegal alchemy?" Fumeko raised the growth potion.

The shopkeeper’s eyes narrowed and she raised her hands, "Don’t get hasty, this is a legitimate business, alright? That one..." she sighed in defeat. "Upon wearing off it might not assemble the bones in the right place after they shrink back down."

Fumeko slowly placed the vial back.

"Do any of these potions have little to no drawback?" Jotou asked.

"Most of the antidotes and the healing potions, there is not much that can go wrong with those. Unless you are allergic to some ingredient, but even then it will be something mild at worst.

Adventurers have to take risks you know," she scratched her head a smidgen. "Not all of us have affinities."

"At least this one appears not to be a potion," Tiffany said as she picked up a black chalk from a line of them. "Is it for some form of ritual?"

The cat-woman nodded, "A ritual of revival, yes. It comes with a scroll case for instructions."

Jotou knitted her brows, "Surely revival isn’t that easy."

"Trust me it isn’t. I’ve researched it and revival is about as botched as magic can get. If even a necromantic affinity has such difficulty with it, some chalk and a circle won’t do it," the unimpressed Hotaru remarked.

"Well the possibility is certainly there," Jotou raised a brow.

"Doesn’t disprove my point."

"I will have you know it has worked for countless adventurers are folk in the town!" the cat-woman defended. "You all stroll in here, call this entire shop botched magic and still dare to peruse!?"

Hotaru hummed, looking at a tiny lantern that would be worn as earrings, "It’s not that I don’t find all of this charming and impressive, I just know when someone’s trying to push stock rather than honourably selling magical goods," she side-eyed.

The cat-girl scoffed.

"Mariele! Couldn’t sell one thing on your own, could ya?" a scolding tone came from a hunched over old woman who walked out of the backroom as well.

"Granny! I had it covered," her ears fell.

"You’re the actual witch, aren’t you," Fumeko said to the old woman.

"Clever girl," the old human woman cackled as she knocked her walking stick against the floor a few times. She had silver hair in a bun and wore simple robes, her face covered in wrinkles and liver spots. "So, what can I get you lovelies?"

"Any spell scrolls of healing, offensive, mobility, illusion, manifestation or support spells, any magical artefacts you may have and some information regarding the castle on the hill," Hotaru greeted with a curtsy and a smile.

"And any cool potion that has the least negative effects, outside of antidotes and healing potions," Jotou tagged on.

Hotaru turned with her brows pinched.

"What? I was sold."

"Mariele, you heard, go bring the tomes and scrolls," the witch ordered. The cat-girl nodded and ran upstairs. "Still an apprentice that one. Like the magic since she was a babe, still lacks the etiquette for it," she walked towards all the alchemical equipment.

"I assume most of your knowledge on magic are old traditions and word of mouth even now?" Hotaru politely asked.

The witch smiled and hummed, thumbing through a potion rack, "Outside of the tomes that pass through. Even back in my day they didn’t like my kind of magic, called it dark, voodoo, hoodoo, occult and whatnot, but my great pa stood his ground."

The witch brought out a vial that had dark pink liquid, syrupy in texture as she sloshed it around. She handed it to Jotou, "Hoo, last one in stock, better make another batch."

Jotou took it and examined it, "And this is?"

"Sleeping draught."

"I’m not having trouble sleeping." ’Yet.’

The old woman gave a light cackle, "Oh it’s not for insomnia. It puts you unconscious for an hour or two and once you wake up, you will feel fully refreshed, as if you had a full night’s sleep. Handy in a pinch when you need to get extra work done."

"Hm. What’s the negative?"

"Nothing with the first few times. Take it too much though and you might become dependent on it. Or extreme lethargy after taking too many of them."

Jotou swished the vial, "Might come in handy. How much?"

"Thirty-two gold."

Jotou looked at Hotaru.

"Fine," the redhead replied.

"Ooo," Asobi picked up a woody wand that became flaccid and coiled around her finger like a long ring. She whipped her finger in the air and the ring popped back out into a wand. "What’s this one do?"

"That," the old witch walked sluggishly over to the counter.

"Oh."

"You also can’t lose it, it sticks with ya."

Asobi pondered, "Do any of these wands sorta enhance spells? Like this one?" she showed her usual magician’s wand. The witch made a little grumbling noise and took Asobi’s wand.

Down the staircase came the cat-girl, carrying a hefty crate that juggled scrolls within. "These are all the ones I could find," the crate slammed onto the counter.

"Mind examining this for me Mariele?" the witch gave the wand to her granddaughter and shuffled her wrinkled hands in the crate. "Come, come, take your pick of the lot."

All five of them peered into the box while the cat-girl put on a pair of gel-like gloves that had a purple gleam to them before examining the wand.

The pages, notes and scrolls had little marks on them, denoting what variety of spell they were as the witch arranged them out of the crate.

"Aegis-Aura," Jotou read the title of the page. "I can cast that, probably good that I learn it."

Hotaru side-eyed, "Why waste the gold, I can just teach it to you."

"Will you?" Jotou side-eyed back.

The redhead scoffed, "Your spark spell should be better than that at this point."

"Doesn’t hurt to have both."

"Just put it back," Hotaru softly ordered.

"Perceptible glimmer, I already know that... Colour Shift, already have that," Asobi searched through the pile. "Yay, Light! Knew that from a looong time ago," she tossed the scroll back.

"Oh great, Warp," Fumeko picked up one of the pages detailing the spell. "Hm, this one seems useful, but useless to me."

"What is it?" Hotaru peeked over her head.

"Dash. It’s just a crappier version of Blink. I guess it’s made for other less intangible elements, but useless for the shadow element," Fumeko put it back.

"Hey, you might want this," Jotou handed a scroll to Hotaru.

Hotaru raised a brow and looked at the spell, "Calm- Haha. You’re so hilarious," she glared.

"It’s a good spell from what I know," Jotou shrugged and tightened her lips.

"Ugh," Hotaru begrudgingly push the scroll forward on the counter to buy it later.

"Yay, finally one that I don’t have! Muffle Mouth!"

"Hey! Buy the parchment before learning it!" the cat-girl pointed at Asobi with her own wand.

Asobi shrunk, "I wasn’t casting it!"

"Huh. Grandmaster level," Fumeko uttered as she read a thin tome. "I’ll take this, how much is Stasis Hop?"

"Price marked on the bottom corner sweetie," the witch pointed.

"Sixty-five gold? You’re kidding. For a stained yellowed book the size of a slice of bread?"

Hotaru smiled at the woman, "Well if we buy multiple things, can there be a lump sum discount?"

"Depends on how much lovelies buy!"

Hotaru pursed her lips, "Find other things then Meko."

"Was already planning to..."

"There lies none within these manuscripts of old that aligns with mine serenity of voice, hmph," Tiffany pushed all the scrolls away in a pout.

"No lightning ones either," Jotou remarked, having searched through the same pile.

"Flames, water and the earth beneath itself, yet no offensive magic for the truly potent," Tiffany proclaimed with a harrumph.

"That’s the problem with rare elements; they’re rare as much as their users," Hotaru stared at the two.

"Surface Step seems handy," Fumeko added a scroll into their purchases.

"If offensive magic’s what you’re looking for, I presume you already know Wildshot?" the witch assisted them by looking over the pile again.

"No, what’s that?" Jotou crossed her arms.

"It’s a beginner level spell like heat, it’s nothing compared to what you two can do," the wolf-girl remarked.

"Unless you don’t have an affinity like me or my apprentice here, then it comes in handy," the witch relayed and aimed her open palm at the ceiling and closed an eye. "You concentrate the mana and a ball of it shoots forward!"

"I fail to comprehend mine use of it," Tiffany told.

"I can’t cast spells at range anyway," Jotou replied.

"No, you could with this one. Beginner level spells aren’t bound to affinities, so I’d imagine your quirk wouldn’t affect it either," Hotaru counted out the price of the spells.

"Want it? Only five silver!"

"Pass," Jotou sighed. ’I can throw a tennis ball if need be and I bet it’d be more effective.’

"I was looking at this ring earlier, what does it do?" Fumeko warped a ring into her hand from the shelf. The ring was gold in hue and had a glowing inlay of gems flat around it.

"Forgot we had that. That’s a spellsling ring sweetie. It stores a spell and it can cast it at any point by anybody by just thinking it!"

"How do you store a spell?" Fumeko looked the ring over as the gems were glowing slightly orange in shade.

"By someone casting a spell into it intentionally of course."

"More importantly, how much power of a spell can it hold? A ring that small couldn’t possibly hold a master level spell even," Hotaru scrutinized.

The witch shrugged, "I did not make it, just selling it. Twenty-five platinum."

Hotaru choked.

"Thinking about it, if Hotaru puts a healing spell in it and one of us has it, we could probably heal too—at least once," Jotou thought aloud.

"Let’s buy it," Fumeko looked at the ring again. She then whispered very lightly to stay away from the cat-girl and so only the redhead could hear, "I don’t know if she knows a spell’s already in here, cause I feel like I can cast it. It might be pricier if we mention it."

"You act like two and a half armite isn’t a bank breaking price as it is," Hotaru rasped.

"As adventurers, our daily costs of living are much more expensive; your words I believe," Jotou replied. "Are you really gonna be cheap right now?"

Hotaru’s ears and tail pricked, "I’m not cheap..."

Jotou smiled.

"D-don’t smile at me! What are you- Mph," Hotaru groaned and looked to Fumeko, "Fine, let’s get it."

’Still have my charms on her.’ Jotou closed her eyes and smirked brighter.

"Hm, interesting," the cat-girl put Asobi’s wand on the table. "Sorry, anything of this calibre would have already been sold by now. We have a staff that comes close if you would prefer, it has a few spells useful in nature and farming."

"I’m not much of a plant caster," Asobi shook her head. "Besides, a magician uses a wand silly, not a staff."

"What do you mean by of this calibre?" Fumeko queried.

"It’s an excellently made wand," the apprentice’s brows raised. "Makes spells have a longer range and makes them more efficient on mana usage? I will admit, the way its enchanted seems overloaded and a waste of resources.

By that I mean, it’s inefficiently made which is ironic. It appears to be made by a gifted but novice enchanter. From what I sensed, it was made as a first training wand before moving up to better ones.

The elements surrounding it seem to be astral in nature, a rare element. The previous owner must have truly not needed it if you have it."

"It was collecting dust in a shop in Kria," Jotou mentioned.

"What can you tell us about the previous owner if anything?" Fumeko furrowed her brows.

The cat-girl shrugged, "Only that they were someone with a powerful connection to magic, possibly on the level of elves perhaps. Poetic that it ends up in the hands of an elf, but I cannot be sure if the creator was in fact an elf."

"Elven wand!" Asobi pointed it upwards.

"She just said it maybe not be elven..." Fumeko responded.

"Well, that’s all we’re buying I think," Hotaru’s hands trembled as she counted the coins in her palm.

"Did the elf of raven hair not procure something to be identified?" Tiffany reminded.

"Oh no!" Asobi stopped posing. "I left the treasure at the inn! We can go get it though!"

Hotaru sighed, "I thought we’d be reaching Wensteter Village by tonight..."

"Twenty minutes extra to get a small chest isn’t gonna kill us," Jotou replied.