The next few days went by somewhat uneventfully, except for kingdom soldiers taking away everyone in the jail. By this time, everyone had entered the spiritual room for meditation at least once. I trained like crazy as both a magician and a potion maker. However, this just wasn’t enough to satisfy me. You know what did satisfy me? The outstanding progress of my apprentices. Don’t get me wrong, I still felt like a lousy teacher, but I gave my best effort. Milia was far more knowledgeable, as well as Chenzu, but the three teenagers’ eyes only lit when I spoke. I wasn’t sure if it was because I included life lessons every time—trust me, Earth gave me plenty—or my rare displays of power.
I focused far more on crafting potions than magic. Now, some of you may puff up your cheeks in fury. Well, let me ask you something. How many times should you fire your only spell into the abyss before mastering it? Some will say as many times as it takes, some say a million, bolder people may say one thousand.
I say you’re crazy. You could fire the same energy ball I have that I used to defeat each of my enemies and it wouldn’t change in the slightest. Sure, pouring mana into it increased its size, but ultimately, it was nothing more than a tool of violence and destruction. I was from Earth! However… the ‘I was from Earth’ mentality was often placed into the back of my mind more than I would’ve liked. No, I would never forget my birthplace, friends, or few family, but there was a difference between living in the world of Mondra and home. Here, I had greater goals. On Earth, all I had were broken dreams, alcoholic, dickish bosses, a few on and off crappy relationships, the mundane hope that life would suddenly blink out for me, football games, and overall, a blank, terribly boring existence. On Earth, I was like an NPC from a videogame, honestly. While coworkers scored promotions, more exciting job opportunities, the only thing I got was another quest to make ends meet. The overly mundane did seem a little weird, like being in a protective bubble. The guy who tried to sell me electric currency… I couldn’t remember a thing about him, which probably shouldn’t be a surprise. How many people have I glanced at in a crowd without ever recalling them? This guy did infuriate me, as he was very insistent on me buying into what could only be some dumb Ponzi scheme. Promising me wealth and shit of my dreams by being the first in on the magical internet money hoopla.
Why would I go back to that?
One morning in the lab, I checked my stats to confirm that it really wasn’t enough. No gains from what I could see, which prompted me to action.
Nate Sullivan
Class: Potion Maker. Secondary class: **Divine Master Magician** Third class: Unknown.
Magician rank: 12th realm of the Lesser Dragon.
Class rank: Established.
Ability: Can make up to SSS and divine-grade potions.
Power: Crushing Strong.
Defense: Emboldened Steel.
Dao of Creation. Rank: Divine. Stage: Awakened. This is a middle stage.
Physique rank: D.
Primary quest: Purpose. Progression: 2%.
Shop Rank: E.
The only gain that I had was the potion of clarity, which I couldn’t make without looking for the herbs underwater. Judging by the timing and other underwater prompt references, the C-ranked dungeon was my main shot.
I had a feeling the boss would be underwater too. Then again, that wouldn’t make sense for the C-rank, right?
I glanced at the instructions for the water breathing potion.
[1 herb of any kind, 1 mermaid scale, angel-purified water or holy water, 3 fish tails from Lesser Dragon-ranked spirit fish. Do not boil these until a sap, just boil for 2 minutes. Let cool for 1 day. Boil for another 10 minutes, add more angel-purified or holy water. Let sit. Then add a touch of water mana or three handfuls of pure mana.]
Why was this recipe so complicated? Maybe this wasn’t that complex in the grand scheme of things, but the town I lived in… I blinked. Perhaps it was as simple as a not-so-good location. Some of these items did feel quite challenging to get. Milia already told me about how powerful mermaids were. But the others, I had an idea of where I could get them.
It was obvious that the system set the potion I planned to ignore for a while as an obstacle in my journey. The clarity’s description seemed somewhat simple, but insight in this world being so rare meant that the value had to be nuts.
The ingredients, in fact, were impossible for normal people now that I thought about it.
[Underwater Emblem herbs, 1 mix of Blood Lightning potion, 1 bottle of purified water, Underwater Emblem berries, and 10 pieces of random edible herbs. Mix it with pure water then allow to sit for at least a day.]
“Potion creation… is fun as hell, but I seriously need to increase my ability to hunt down these ingredients.”
“That’s what the dungeons are for,” Milia said as she walked into the lab, sitting by my side. “I think I may need a few things too before I can reveal my creation and how I’ll be directly contributing to the shop.”
I looked at her and she probably saw the understanding dawning in my eyes, because right there, I realized that it was possible Milia felt she’d end up as a simple shopkeeper’s wife if she didn’t push to stand out.
Even if that was far from true. Semi-divinity aside, without her, none of this would’ve been possible.
“Well, you are the cofounder of this shop,” I said, smiling. “You’ve kept us waiting for the rest of its products long enough.”
That wasn’t a lie, as Milia had full access to the shop’s safe. How else would she have been able to pay the others?
Now before you give me the side eye, it was a hell of a lot easier to trust a divine being who basically fought an almost-hopeless battle against a fallen angel at your side than normal people. Also, she risked her life to take me to the depths of the forest just to find a cure for Harmony. Saving the poor blue-haired girl from being cultivation-crippled for life when she didn’t have to only revealed a small fraction of her character. Yeah, at first I was suspicious, to the point of denying the invitation to spend at night in the forest at her home, though in my defense, the forest gave me chills.
I was well aware that nothing in the world would be free. But from being just a curious girl as she once told me, to a friend, to courtship, marked just the very beginning of our relationship. Milia had something to tell me, something huge about herself, but she wanted her family around for it.
Fortunately, it wouldn’t be something like, ‘I’m pregnant.’ I wasn’t immune to the allure, but also not a goddamn teenager. A woman like her was worth waiting for, even with the over-the-top tradition of maintaining purity until marriage.
Whatever she revealed was going to change my view of her, I just knew it. I only hoped she’d understand that I wouldn’t treat her any different for it.
Besides, I doubted she’d turn out to be the princess of some super powerful royal family like some goddamn fairy tale. I joked with the idea of her being Wanda’s daughter, due to the number of coincidences, but she didn’t transform into a goddess or angel during the fallen angel fight, so that was out of the window. Really, she didn’t have much to say to Atsuki. One would expect utter disdain or something. I did feel pity from my fiancée, though. But fallen dryads thankfully weren’t a thing, as far as I knew.
Milia’s smile was as bright as ever. “I hope you like it. I know I can do better than that dungeon if I push myself.”
I wasn’t sure what she was referring to specifically, but whatever it was, I looked forward to seeing it as something in our shop. Judging by the magic I felt upstairs from her workshop, this would likely push our shop up an entire rank or at least close to it.
“Let’s wrap up the C-ranked dungeon today,” I said. “If we can’t find anything good, we’ll just wait for Anzu’s response to the letter.”
I needed to acquire a better pigeon messaging system so that I wouldn’t have to rely on Mandi or the mayor actually having them available. They sent letters all the time. Mandi to her eldest siblings, the mayor all over the place. Disrupting the redhead’s connection to her family wasn’t my goal when it came to taking her in as an apprentice. I planned to turn her into the ultimate gadget slinging magician.
I glanced outside the window at the forge. Well, I supposed I gave Lucas plenty of practice time, but now it was time he received the first request to put the heavenly forge hammer to use. Otherwise, what the hell was the point of giving him the S-ranked item in the first place?
When the teenagers arrived, we boarded Beakwing and set off to the dungeon.
A carriage pulled by lightning horses jolted into the town of Kyushu. Alexander sat inside, eyes opening after what was thankfully the last nap of the day. He did not notice the sinister grin on his driver’s face. He didn’t feel the subtle aura of anticipation, nor the barely restrained super mana.
Fortunately for him, the driver seemed content with doing his job, lighting a pipe and puffing out a cloud of forest-scented but untainted smoke. It was impossible for normal people to see the face beneath the cloak unless the driver pulled down the hood.
“So what do you think, young master?” the driver asked. “Could you live in a place that borders on peace and conflict generated by the heavens? How would you react if such a paradise crumbled beneath your feet and was swallowed into an endless abyss?”
“What are you getting at, driver?” Alexander asked, his senses as Yomi stirring awake. “You certainly weren’t talking like this before. I thought the words of a non-questioning agreement was established the moment you received payment.”
“Wanda’s feathers, you’re no fun, kid,” the driver said. “If you want to progress as a magician, other than forming a core, you should consider understanding the concepts of the Dao. Though good luck receiving a blessing from it. You’d have to be a nurturing monster of the universe to be bestowed one of its tattoos.”
“I am familiar with the Dao,” Alexander said, barely holding his childish façade. His body was seriously going to be a pain in the ass for him in the short term. Even if he found a mythical way to transform back into his original body, doing so would be advertising to his old enemies that he still sailed the seas. Alexander didn’t mind a little quiet life for once. He could establish a proper foundation.
Wanda’s flailing ass, he dreaded the idea of being a teenager again, but that was far away. Perhaps he’d find something that would allow him to skip that experience.
“Keep my words in your mind for a while,” the driver continued. “And remember, there are some true monsters out there, the obvious Lord of Darkness aside. Perhaps you may even meet one today.”
The driver parked the carriage in front of the inn. A stable boy hurried to greet them and one silver tip later, he led their horses off toward a holding place in the distance.
Alexander looked at the driver. “If only you knew. But let’s just say, I’ve learned that not everything has to be a constant struggle of blood and betrayal.”
The driver shrugged. “I see. Peace could exist here if the outside stops trying to disturb things. The winds of fate can carry even peepers.”
Alexander frowned when he looked at a farm in a grassland some paces outside of town.
“We’ve travelled together for some time now,” the driver continued. “So let me arrange your living quarters as thanks for this generous amount of gold with treasures thrown in.”
Alexander’s eyes lit up. “Thank you! Uhh, Wanda’s heart, what should I call you? Perhaps an alias. Or Sir Driver?”
“Arrangements first, useless things later,” said the driver. “Today’s going to be an interesting day.”
We had the teenagers take down the first two floor guardians, but the third floor ended up being too much for them. Chenzu gave them an assist with quite the powerful song.
“There once was a goddess who got in trouble, then came the paddle, swat on the bubble—Oh wait, that’s not appropriate. You three haven’t taken your first sip of the hard stuff yet. Let’s see… Oh, it’s down already.”
The giant half-fish, half-gorilla fell to the ground caught in one hell of a stun. Its hairy back legs spasmed.
“Harmony, summon your spell book,” I said, then in a Mortal Kombat voice, I said, “Finish him!”
The determined blue-haired girl’s aura erupted and condensed as she pointed the skeleton king’s wand at it. Mana briefly became liquid at the tip, then shot out at the gorilla with a fish head. Her magic bolt wasn’t a supreme variant like mine, but certainly strong. Unfortunately, the basic spell wasn’t enough. Lucas conjured a fireball and Mandi tossed some electrical marbles.
The gorilla fish bucked until finally giving up the ghost.
I clapped. “Woo! Good work. You earned the respite. Let us deal with the dungeon boss.”
The pathway to the final area emerged as a staircase that led to a pit of darkness. “You know, I’m not keen on leaving anyone behind, so rest now and we’ll head down in fifteen minutes.”
“You’re still a demon,” Mandi said as she collapsed to the lush grassy ground.
Lucas sat and closed his eyes, meditating and restoring his mana just as I taught him. Nodding, I turned to Harmony who did the same.
“Do you think her struggles now will provide one hell of a foundation?” I asked Chenzu while gesturing my head at the tired-out redhead. There would be no taking it easy on her, either. No, I wasn’t an evil bastard, but I also had no intention of babying eighteen-year-olds. They felt so much better by taking down difficult obstacles with their own hands. I resonated with that a lot. Of course, when the danger got too great, Milia, Chenzu, and I swept in and quickly dealt with the issues.
While my little timer was going, I grabbed a few random plants in the area. They weren’t the herbs I needed as they were deep underwater. I sure as shit had no intention of going in there without being sure I wouldn’t regret it.
Just as I prepared to rouse the teenagers from their rest, a prompt flashed into my head.
[You are a potion maker, standing for the desire of a peaceful and quiet life. Yet trouble is drawn to the mighty.]
[But there is a light you discovered. A love for teaching. You believe yourself to not be a good teacher. Perhaps it is humility that the greatest teacher cannot see through his own light. But a great teacher is one who teaches and is still interested in learning even more. Life lessons and stories from your old world are not available here. Continue to bring your vision using your mind as a medium. But the darkness will not wait for anyone.]
[Spiritual Quest: Master and his Apprentices.]
[Your apprentices represent your heart, life force, and the vessels that must acquire your knowledge. If you fail yourself, you fail them. If you fail them, you fail yourself. A bond between a master and his apprentices will be a long journey that could end at any time when they decide to leave, or you send them away. You must teach as much as possible before then. But also, be prepared to nurture them for years. It could be decades before they are ready to set out. For magicians with increased longevity, cultivating mana and discovering one’s purpose is just a small part of what it means to wield the vast power of the universe.]
[With every hero, there is a villain, an antagonist that may manifest to steal your peace. You refused the class. But how long will the peace you forced last? The true question is, how did you force such a thing in the first place? The early stages of something beyond a Universe Roamer, perhaps?]
[Step 1. Create a potion together. Follow the recipe.]
[Potion of Water Spirits. This potion enables you to interact with the spirits and elementals of water itself. What you choose to do with this ability is up to you. Research in this field is very valuable. Use any herb in the area. Create a sap, use the water, and 1 Greater Lurkerman’s fin.]
My eyes widened as I read the prompt again and again, the meanings within blasting into my head at what felt like thousands of miles an hour. I’ll have to say, so far, the quests weren’t that bad. Nothing involving hurting or killing anyone, which was nice, otherwise I’d just ignore them. I’d do what it took to protect my fiancée, friends, and apprentices, but that was it. And that sounded like a friendship speech. At this point, the system’s actions were a mystery to me. Did it push me toward being some kind of hero? Did it find itself some kind of compromise? Or did it finally understood where I was coming from through the perspective of an earthling who never saw anything beyond bar fights?
Well, it was a good thing we encountered more Greater Lurkermen. You bet your ass I kept as much of the material as possible.
