"Two bottles of blood, eight Galleons, right?" Noticing Adrian's gaze, Walker awkwardly said the words. The bloodstains were clearly visible on his left hand where he'd thrown the bottles.
Adrian wanted to say the previous five bottles of wolf blood were enough.
But seeing Walker's miserable state, Adrian worried that if he really said that, the other might just die of anger.
While Adrian hesitated, Walker became anxious. "These two bottles contain far more than the beakers you used before! If you think it's not enough, I can add some more!"
Adrian shook his head. He could tell, of course, that the two jars the other party had thrown were larger than the beakers he'd been using.
The werewolf blood inside must have exceeded twelve hundred millilitres. Thinking of this, Adrian took out eight Galleons from his robes and threw them over.
Walker deftly caught them one by one. His pale face finally looked a bit better.
"You can still stand, that's impressive!" Adrian looked at the young werewolf wizard before him with admiration. A normal person would have fainted long ago if they'd lost so much blood at once.
"Of course, I'm a werewolf. If you need anything, you can come again tomorrow," Walker said, feeling weak but insisting on it.
"No, I don't need werewolf blood for now," Adrian quickly refused, afraid the lad would draw blood and kill himself.
Walker was somewhat disappointed, but he quickly thought of another way. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke up.
"Weren't you planning to research a potion that would restore sanity to a werewolf's state?"
Adrian nodded, somewhat confused about what he meant.
"I can transform into a werewolf on nights other than full moons, so I can help you test potions." Walker hesitated for a moment, his words sounding a bit awkward, but he still emphasized, "Of course, it's not free!"
"I'll just take three Galleons per potion!" Walker had originally intended to say ten Galleons per potion, but fearing rejection, he kept reducing the amount, finally looking at Adrian nervously.
"Didn't you distrust the potions I brewed and worry there might be problems?" Adrian said with amusement.
"Yes, I don't trust them!" Walker nodded under Adrian's surprised gaze, then continued.
"It's better for me to drink than for them to drink! I can turn into a werewolf at any time to heal my injuries. As long as I don't die on the spot, I can recover quickly."
Walker was fully aware of the consequences of drinking unfinished potions—there was a possibility of death.
Having witnessed the werewolf wizards selling their blood for Galleons, Walker also knew that as long as Adrian could afford the price, there were plenty of people willing to risk their lives to act as test subjects.
Walker's fearless and determined manner made Adrian shake his head helplessly. He didn't need anyone to test the potion, since he had the finished Wolfsbane Potion formula in his hands.
However, thinking he needed a successful example to gain trust, Adrian nodded and agreed.
"Then it's settled!" Seeing Adrian nod in agreement, Walker got up, leaped, used the protruding bricks of the street wall to flip over, and disappeared from Adrian's sight.
Adrian inwardly marvelled at the werewolf's outstanding physical abilities as he spoke to Dougt.
"Dougt, in the past two months, no, since those werewolves came here, have they done anything bad?"
"I'm not too sure, but I haven't heard any rumours. They seem to be behaving themselves," Dougt thought for a moment before answering.
"Let's go back," Adrian nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
Dougt had no objection but looked at Adrian with admiration.
Dougt had witnessed Adrian's actions today and saw how he'd persuaded the wary and hostile werewolf wizards to donate blood.
First, they'd displayed overwhelming strength in the initial battle, establishing dominance and seizing the initiative in the following exchanges.
Then, by exploiting the werewolf wizards' lack of money, they'd gradually used Galleons to break down their psychological defences.
After the blood draw, they'd used heartfelt words of concern to ease their dissatisfaction.
The Wolfsbane Potion they were developing gave them even more leverage over the werewolves.
Even Dougt couldn't quite understand what the lad was trying to do.
Could it be...?
Dougt gasped. He realized he saw that man's shadow in Adrian.
Though Dougt thought Adrian's methods were still a bit immature, considering Adrian was only eleven or twelve years old, he was even smarter, more cunning, and more ambitious than his peers!
After all, at that age, it was absolutely impossible for that person to intimidate a group of werewolves with just his strength.
"I never expected you to have such ambitions," Dougt couldn't help but exclaim. He thought Adrian must have known about that matter, but he hadn't expected the boy to start preparing so early.
He should have known the truth couldn't be hidden forever.
Adrian, who was pondering how many Galleons he should sell the Wolfsbane Potion for, turned his head curiously and looked at Dougt with a puzzled expression, not quite understanding what the other was talking about.
[Ding!]
[Quest generating...]
Just then, a system notification suddenly sounded in Adrian's mind.
Adrian opened the taskbar and began to check it.
[Quest: Become the King of Knockturn Alley!]
[Mission Objective: Subdue the werewolf wizards in Knockturn Alley (Level 1)]
[Mission Duration: Two Years]
[Quest Reward: Advanced Wolfsbane Potion Recipe]
[Quest Description:
Disillusioned by the Ministry's corruption and saddened by the decline of the magical world, you choose to begin shaping your own path.
Before tackling your grander ambitions, you set a modest first goal: unify Knockturn Alley.]
[(Note: Your ambition is painfully obvious. There's no need to pretend otherwise!)]
Adrian stared blankly at the new task appearing in the system panel, then stopped in his tracks.
What? He actually had such ambitions? How come he didn't know that himself?
Adrian glanced at Dougt behind him with a strange expression. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask what exactly Dougt was imagining.
What led him, a first-year wizard, to become so arrogant that he considered unifying Knockturn Alley a small goal?
However, before Adrian could speak, Dougt took the lead and earnestly offered some advice.
"Having lofty goals isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you also need to take things one step at a time. You're only twelve years old, too young, not intimidating enough. Those werewolves won't be willing to follow you."
"You're overthinking it, Dougt," Adrian said, speechless. He almost couldn't resist throwing a Blasting Curse at Dougt's face!
Fortunately, the system's mission didn't come with a penalty for failure. Otherwise, Adrian felt he would definitely have been screwed over by this guy!