At the moment, it was so quiet in the conference room that the sound of a pin drop could be heard. Every player present was sizing up the others at the table. This was not only the first time most of them had seen Izroth in person but also each other as well. Therefore, they would use this chance to acquire as much information as possible about their potential rivals within RML.
However, there were some players who gave death glares to some others sitting at the table. For example, the guild leader of Hyper's Symphony Wang Ping had his cold gaze locked onto Slayer, the guild leader of Sage Falls.
During the event, it was one of the Six Hands of Sage Falls, Virus, who led the assault against Wang Ping's Hyper's Symphony. Therefore, it was only natural that some bad blood had formed between them.
Although Wang Ping was furious and irritated just looking at Slayer, he understood that this was not the time nor place to lash out. In the end, he believed that Sage Falls and Slayer had received proper payback due to the end results of the matter.
Wang Ping was not the only one staring at Slayer. In fact, there were multiple eyes set on Slayer and most of them were filled with disdain and contempt. However, there were even a few filled with a vicious look of greed, as if he was just a big prize that one could reach out and grab with their fingertips.
It was common knowledge at this point that Sage Falls had suffered a devastating blow that shook their position as one of the top ten guilds. The complete wipe of their guild members did not just cause those players to lose precious experience points but also resulted in a huge loss of equipment.
As if those two things were not enough, they were also in a weakened state for several hours after their deaths. Adding everything together, Sage Falls was far from its peak strength and influence within RML. In fact, there even who wanted them to stay weak and slowly reap whatever benefits possible.
"I assume there are multiple reasons for your personal visit to my Mystical Realm Palace, however, I believe the one word to sum it all up is curiosity." Izroth said breaking the silence that previously flooded the room.
Everyone turned their focus towards Izroth as he spoke. Indeed, when it came down to the core of things, all of them were here because they were curious about one thing or another. Be it the pills that were currently up for sale, to see how the inside of a player-owned shop looked, or even to learn about the personality of the shop owner, Izroth.
However, there was one main reason every single person here, excluding one or two people, decided to pay the Mystical Realm Palace a visit; the Five Cycles Pill. To be more precise, it was not the pill itself, but rather the person behind the creation of the pill they were curious about.
Once they found out that there was not one, not two, but three grade three pills contained in a single shop, it left them completely speechless. At the same time, it also made them excited to finally discover some clues about the elusive and mysterious Pill Emperor. It was well known that the creator of the Five Cycles Pill was currently the only grade three Apothecary within RML.
Even though his popularity was so high, no one had any idea as to who he was or where he came from. This made it difficult to track down any information regarding his identity which gave the information sections of each respective guild their fair share of headaches in the process.
"Allow me to be blunt, the one you call Pill Emperor has no interest in meeting with any of you." Izroth said in a nonchalant tone of voice. After thinking about it for a bit, he chose to keep his identity of being the Pill Emperor a secret. He knew that having the "Pill Emperor" maintain his status as an enigma could have great benefits in the long term.
Although there were people such as Mariposa and Metronome who knew his identity as the Pill Emperor, he was willing to bet that neither of them was willing to go against his intentions. After all, they only had something to lose, not gain by doing so.
'An enigma becomes a legend day by day without the need to do anything at a certain point.'
Now, whenever an interesting pill was released, the first thought that crossed everyone's mind would be the Pill Emperor. Having such a powerful hold on things made it so that one's influence snowballed into something vast and boundless over time.
Although it was not a part of Izroth's original plans to do so, he was the type to improvise when the situation called for it.
Everyone was startled by Izroth's words. The Pill Emperor was not interested in meeting with any of them? Did he not know who the people sitting at this table where and what the represented?
One of the people at the table named Seeking Fangs, the guild leader of Hollow Tempo, frowned and said, "Surely you jest. If the Pill Emperor doesn't want to meet with us, then fine. However, he should tell us to our face himself. No offense, but you can understand my concern in taking the word of someone in your lofty position at face value."
Many of the others had similar thoughts to Seeking Fangs. If they were going to be turned away, then it should be by the Pill Emperor himself. After all, they showed him a huge amount of face by showing up in person. The very least he could do was return the favor by doing the same.
"I can understand the Pill Emperor's reluctance to meet with us. After all, being an Apothecary requires a great deal of focus and it's natural that he desires to remain unbothered. If that's the case, then we should respect his wishes." Ewan said calmly.
"Oh? And what does the guild leader of Sleeping Gardenia have to say about this?" A player called Simplicity spoke out.
Simplicity was the guild leader of Mist Paradise. Over 80% of the players within Mist Paradise were female players and so they were similar to Sleeping Gardenia in many ways. This caused a natural competition to form between the two guilds to be the main face of female gamers.
"Does it matter? If the Pill Emperor doesn't want to meet then nothing can be done to change that. We have no choice but to respect his wishes." Mariposa commented.
"Hah, do you take us for fools? Who knows what the three of you discussed before we arrived in this place? It just so happens that you agree with Ewan, can you see where I'm going with this?" Seeking Fangs scoffed.
"Where you're going with it is irrelevant. I can assure you that our conversation has been limited to simple idle chat before your arrival." Ewan said with a slight smile forming on his lips.
Not before long, the once silent conference room was now filled with intense debates taking place all across the table. After several minutes flew by, everyone was able to take a step back from things and look at it from a broader perspective.
"This is getting us nowhere. " Wang Ping said with furrowed brows. One could tell that he was frustrated by his current facial expression.
"I happen to have a reliable source that says the members of Sleeping Gardenia have a large stockpile of more than one hundred Five Cycles Pills. Would you care to explain that, Mariposa?" Simplicity stated.
Everyone's gaze locked onto Mariposa after those words by Simplicity were spoken. Possessing over one hundred Five Cycles Pills should be impossible given the limited amount put up for sale in the auction house. However, it was something that could be possible if Sleeping Gardenia truly did already have a direct connection with the Pill Emperor.
Mariposa scoffed, "Who is your reliable source? Are you sure you don't need your ears checked? Maybe you should have saved those 50 gold coins to visit an otolaryngologist instead of entering this room. Or better yet, I think a neurologist might serve your needs. Of course, I'll take care of the bill for you."
"You dare say that again?!" Simplicity stood up from the table and glared at Mariposa. She was obviously being mocked and ridiculed in front of everyone. She would not tolerate being berated like this!
"I dare!" Mariposa snapped back and returned a glare of her own. If Simplicity wanted to constantly attempt to push her buttons, then she would not just sit back and allow herself to be bullied without retaliating.
Izroth calmly observed the interaction between the various people present. From his brief period of observation, he was able to grasp a decent understanding of everyone.
As for them being at each other's throat, Izroth saw it as something similar to what happened when the great sects back in the Seven Realms used to gather together for a conference or an important event. There would always be large arguments and disagreements amongst them, especially when it came to treasures or blessed lands.
'I've seen more than enough.'
Izroth needed a better understanding of the relationship between the top guilds and he was able to collect all the information he needed for the moment. Now, it was time for him to seize back control of the conversation.
"I have a shop to run. If you all insist on wasting my time, then I'll have to ask you to remove yourselves from my Mystical Realm Palace so that other players can enter inside. I have made the position of the Pill Emperor quite clear." Izroth said in an unhurried manner.
"We didn't pay 50 gold coins just to be told he won't meet with us. This is an insult to my Hollow Tempo. Even if he is a grade three Apothecary, he's just that, an Apothecary. He should still show some face to us top guilds." Seeking Fangs said taking his stance on the situation at hand.
In truth, any of them were more than capable of handling one Apothecary who most likely did nothing but stayed cooped up in a room all day experimenting on various pill recipes.
However, they would much rather have him as a friend than an enemy and potentially push the Pill Emperor into the arms of a specific guild. That would have catastrophic results on the already shaky balance of power between the top guilds of RML. A guild with an endless supply of grade three pills was a terrifying thought at this point in the game.
"No, you paid 50 gold coins to simply walk into the room. That much has already been established. But, it is not completely impossible to grab the attention of the Pill Emperor." Izroth said.
Everyone immediately held their breath at Izroth's words. If there was a way to grab the attention of the Pill Emperor then, of course, they wanted to be informed of how to do so.
"It's quite simple really. The Pill Emperor has a... Unique interest in rare reagents used in the pill crafting process. Therefore, if you had something of interest to present then there's a good chance that the Pill Emperor will take notice of your efforts." Izroth stated.
'It feels strange to talk about one's self as a separate person.'
A fleeting period of deep thought spread throughout the room. It was not hard to read in between the lines of Izroth's words. He was basically saying that if they had nothing of interest to offer the Pill Emperor then he would most likely have nothing to do with them. Also, he was creating an opportunity for them to get on the good side of the Pill Emperor and so, how could they refuse?
"I am willing to give three Wind Tigress Fangs to the Pill Emperor as a token of friendship. I only hope that in the near future my kindness is not forgotten." Wang Ping said. He wanted to be the first to make a good impression with his generosity.
The Wind Tigress Fangs were incredibly difficult to come by since not only was the Wind Tigress difficult to find, but the drop rate of its fangs were less than 1%! He was not only giving one of such an item but rather three! This would force others to either make similar concessions or lose face.
"I'm willing to offer five Blue Grasshopper Stalks!"
"I will gift the Pill Emperor four Roots of Persistence!"
"I..."
Following Wang Ping's offer, the others quickly began to follow up with offerings of their own. In the end, if one combined all the items offered by the players present, they would be able to start their own rare materials shop!
This was a huge gain for Izroth who was currently lacking an abundance of rare materials, even with the addition to what Sleeping Gardenia provided him from their own private storage.