Chapter 439 - Everwinter Potion (1/2)

Chapter 439 - Everwinter Potion

Sensing the Bloodshadow Warriors losing interest and walking away, Nie Yan breathed out a sigh of relief. He dispelled Feign Death, got back on his feet, and entered stealth.

Surveying the surroundings, no Bloodshadow Warriors were coming back around. They had returned to their regular patrol routes.

Nie Yan headed toward the tents up ahead. There were three meter wide paths between the tents. From time to time, a couple of Bloodshadow Warriors would pass by. It would be difficult to stay hidden here. He would very easily be noticed if he relied on his regular stealth. He activated Pygmy Transformation and shrunk down to a third of his original size. Everything around him suddenly appeared much larger, as though he had been transported into a world of giants.

Nie Yan stuck close to the corners of the tents and carefully advanced forward.

Nie Yan crossed paths with many Bloodshadow Warriors, but none of them discovered him. After shuttling between the tents for who knows how long, he arrived at a fork in the path. Two groups of roughly 80 Bloodshadow Warriors each were walking over in his direction. With so many of them passing through, one of them was bound to discover him.

Nie Yan felt his anxiety rising. He had nowhere to hide. Glancing at a nearby tent, he saw the swaying silhouette of a person inside.

Nie Yan ducked into the tent, hiding behind the door flaps. Bloodshadow Warriors normally didn’t enter inside these tents, so he could lay low here for the time being.

Nie Yan glanced around the tent. It was quite spacious, covering an area of ten by ten meters. At the center were many cabinets stocked with all sorts of wonderful oddities—crystal bottles of various sizes filled with different coloured liquids, which were cloudy and hard to make out under the dim lighting. These cabinets were roughly as tall as two people, dividing the tent into several areas. Further in the back stood a table. It was cluttered with beakers. tubes, and other glassware. Most eye-catching was the alchemy stand, which held a flask with a bubbling blue liquid that appeared to be boiling over with white smoke.

This was clearly the workshop of an Alchemist.

At this moment, Nie Yan heard hurried footsteps coming in his direction. He quickly ducked behind a cabinet. Looking toward the source of the sound, he saw someone that was only half as tall as a normal person. He had a scraggly beard, and his face was covered in wrinkles. He wore ragged red robes dotted with holes and scorch marks from botched experiments. This short old man was probably the Bloodshadow Legion’s Alchemist. As he walked past Nie Yan, he was muttering something in Lochi, a minor and uncommon language foreign to Nie Yan.

The old Alchemist walked over to the table. It appeared he was about to concoct something.

Nie Yan inspected the old Alchemist with Transcendent Insight.

Alchemist Affleck (Protected): Level 90

Bloodshadow Legion Member: Special NPC

Health: 500/500

This was a special NPC. The system automatically took measures to protect NPC Alchemists at Master rank or higher. Any player that attacked them would suffer extremely severe penalties.

Nie Yan recalled attacking a protected NPC was a violation of the Atlanta continent’s Scholar Spirit Treaty, and the offender would be barred from using any magic items, potions, and other consumables. The treaty sought to protect any NPC who reached Master rank or higher in their respective profession.

This NPC was a member of the Bloodshadow Legion. Nie Yan didn’t dare to show himself easily. It would be troublesome if Alchemist Affleck became aware of his presence.

Nie Yan scanned his eyes around this messy Alchemist workshop, searching for anything of value.

Decent loot often appeared in these kinds of settings.

Most of the potions in the workshop weren’t labeled, making things difficult for Nie Yan who didn’t know the first thing about alchemy. His movements were very light as he searched around, not daring to make the slightest sound.

At this moment, a Bloodshadow Warrior in gold armour entered the workshop.

“Master Affleck, are the potions I requested ready?” the Bloodshadow Warrior asked. He was speaking in Ancient Common. His words were disjointed and hard to understand.