Adam was stunned. "A package from the Nightingale Royal Family?"
"Yes, my lord." Barry nodded. "The royal family's envoy arrived earlier this morning. He wanted to give it to you personally, but since you were at the academy he dropped it off here."
"Where is it?" The youth asked as he made his way inside his villa.
"I have kept it inside your study room, my lord."
"Okay, good." Adam nodded. "Did they tell you the reason?"
Barry shook his head. "No, they didn't. But they did mention who it was from."
"Who?" The youth's eyes narrowed and he stopped in his footsteps.
Barry gulped loudly and replied in an incredulous tone, "They said it was from the King!"
…
As Adam entered his study on the second floor of his villa, he saw a large chest studded with all types of gems and ornaments placed on his study table.
"Just this chest alone can sell for a decent amount in the market!" The youth was almost drooling from his mouth.
It couldn't be helped. The chest was very ostentatious, to say the least.
"Haa… as expected from the Royal Family, I guess."
He sat down at his study table and first observed the extravagant chest for a moment. Before he could even open it, a gray light flashed and Valerian suddenly appeared on the table.
"Myuuu!" The young dragon looked at the chest in front of him and started drooling even more intensely than Adam.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Seeing this, the youth rolled his eyes. He wiped the saliva from the little guy's lips while chuckling, "Control yourself, Val."
'Brother! Brother!' Valerian looked at him with shining eyes. 'Could it be… this chest is for me?'
Valerian's adorable face instantly melted Adam's heart. He couldn't help but gently pat the little guy's furry head. "In a manner of speaking, yes."
"Myu~" Valerian stood on his hind legs and started clapping with his front paws. 'Open it! Open it!'
"I will." The youth shook his head with a smile. But at the same time, he couldn't help but begin to grow suspicious.
Why did the King send this? I've never even met the guy. If I accept this gift, will I be obliged to provide something in return?
"Myu! Myu! Myuuu!"
Adam was snapped out of his thoughts by the little guy's impatient calls. "Alright, alright, calm down."
He then opened the grandiose-looking chest with great expectations as well as a hint of nervousness. As soon as he opened it, a medicinal aroma instantly wafted out from it and spread to all corners of the room.
"Myuuu…"
"Whoaaa…"
The chest had three long, horizontal compartments and two small, side compartments. The first two layers consisted of all sorts of herbal ingredients from seeds, leaves, fruits, roots, soil, and even magical beast parts.
Some of these ingredients were so rare in the market that Adam had never even set eyes on them, only read about them. He couldn't find them in the Nightingale Mercantile Guild's flagship store in Moon City and even most herb stores inside Mystic Lane.
To a Herbalist, nothing could make them happier than finding exotic herbal ingredients. Adam was the same. When he laid eyes on these precious resources, he couldn't help but be ecstatic.
"Oh my goodness, are those… are those Lunar Petals?! And these are Viper Fern, Star Thistle, Feather Fern, Sanguine Vine… What's this?! Shadow Moss!!"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})To say that he was shocked would be a major understatement.
Each of the ingredients from the first two compartments was not only rare but also very expensive. Adam being the stingy young man he was, would never even think of buying such ingredients.
But here they were, beautifully laid out inside an extravagant chest, all for his taking.
And that was not all!
The bottom-most compartment was filled with dozens of beast cores of all sizes and colors. Beast cores were an essential ingredient in creating higher-level potions. Needless to say, these potions were extremely potent.
CRUNCH!
Suddenly Adam's eyes narrowed. "Val… what do you think you're doing?"
The young dragon had his mouth full of beast cores. He hadn't even finished munching on one and had already put another one inside.
Valerian briefly glanced at Adam and then looked away, focusing on eating the beast cores.
'Myu, it's mine!'
Adam didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Such expensive and rare beast cores were being used as mere snacks by a young dragon. It pained him to see such precious resources being wasted this way.
But Valerian was his little brother, so he couldn't bring himself to admonish the little guy.
"Little brat, leave some for me." Adam glared at him. "Or I'm going to be very angry."
'Fine, don't disturb me.'
Veins started to throb on the side of Adam's temple. He couldn't help but clench his fist and think to himself, Look at his attitude! This brat needs some serious spanking.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Adam gently picked up Valerian and placed him aside, causing the latter to hiss at him. "Myuuu!!"
He then grabbed a handful of beast cores and gave it to the little guy. "Here, no more for you."
CRUNCH!
Valerian was satisfied with the number of beast cores he had been given. He happily munched away.
Meanwhile, Adam looked at the small side compartments inside the chest. These two sections were filled with crystal vials, each of them containing different colored liquids inside them.
From a single glance, Adam could identify the type of liquids inside some of these vials. These weren't potions but something else entirely. When he recognized these liquids, he was shocked.
"Don't tell me!"
To verify, he carefully grabbed one of the vials, uncorked it, and sniffed the liquid inside. His eyes lit up as he confirmed, "As I thought! This really is Neer Springwater!"
"And this… this is Maxleaf Dew!"
"Purple Mamba's tears!"
"Jojoba extracts!"
By the time he had checked every one of the liquid inside the vials, his breathing had become heavy from sheer excitement.
"With these ingredients, I'll be able to concoct a wide variety of magical potions. The countless recipes in my head have been gathering dust all this while…" Adam's eyes shone with a brilliant light.
"But with these, I'll at least be able to experiment on at least a fraction of those recipes." The youth beamed. "This is fantastic!"
However, the next moment, the smile on his face gradually vanished and was slowly replaced by a contemplative look.
But why would the King send me all these items so suddenly…
What does he want from me?
