The twerp and I glared at each other and then looked back at the last slice of gregin tail. I had no idea just what the hell a gregin was, but it tasted so good, like a dry-aged steak. Its glaze felt buttery and garlicy, and I would not be losing to the twerp in the battle of the last slice. They ordered a lot of food, but this particular dish only became available once a month, if in season. Unfortunately, Harmony made that choice for us.
“Sure, I’ll give the slice to Woofy,” she told Milia, snatching it a millisecond before the twerp and I could stab our forks into the meat. I watched in horror and longing as Wolverine gobbled it down with glee. Opal snickered, though she tried to pretend her focus was elsewhere when I glared at her.
Ronica deflated. “It’s going to be a forever wait for more.”
I briefly thought about licking the plate, but tossed aside the notion of embarrassing myself and Milia. She appeared to not have a clue about our brief battle.
“You’d better make her training extra difficult,” I told Ronica.
“You bet I will,” she said, her voice filled with both depression and determination.
Later, as I was putting my plate into the sink, searching for the cleaning solution to wash it, Lucas approached with Alexander.
“Sir Nate, how do we earn contribution points?” Lucas asked.
“All of that will be explained shortly,” I said, “so be patient. For now, get ready for some training. I expect to see your A-game.”
“A-game?” Alexander asked. “What’s that?”
I sighed, cursing the system for not translating that for me. “It means to do your best, put in your best effort. I’m not awarding slackers. But you know that.”
The two straightened their backs, though the nervousness still glimmered in their eyes. Alexander especially, due to having no powers. Catching that, I patted his shoulder.
“You’ll be fine, kid,” I said. “You’re not the only one without powers.” I turned to Lucas. “I think I understand why you aren’t S-ranked.”
Harmony just happened to walk in when I said that, gaining the fire in her eyes, setting up the playing field for me. Lucas gave me a helpless expression, but it was too late.
“As his senior and first disciple, I’ll help whip him into shape,” Harmony said. “We can’t have anyone falling behind. It’d be rude if we didn’t offer a hand. If Mandi can do it, so can you.”
Seeing a little sadness form in Lucas’s gaze, probably feeling like the worst apprentice despite being a genius, Harmony quickly said, “I didn’t mean anything bad by that, I just want to help. I started off with a broken core and worked really hard, pushed myself to get this far. This is just the beginning.”
“Also, your situation is likely to change once you finish that order,” I told him. “All of you have S-ranked items of some sort, after all. Even you’re holding things out, Alexander.”
The kid simply shrugged, grinning. “Perhaps.”
After the meal was finished and everything cleaned up, I gave everyone an hour to relax, stretch, and let their food digest. During that time, I entered the lab to begin my first attempt at a complex potion.
I selected the potion instructions on the menu in my head and was immediately blasted with instructions that made me want to give up.
[How to create the Potion of Minor Luck. Potion level: Complex.]
[First, form an alchemist diagram circle, choosing the light element as a base. From there, attune it with the divine and fate attributes. Placing divine- and fate-attuned items on the slots of the circle should do the trick. Here, you will form the first gate. Gate of the Heavens. As only the heavens can provide the seed that forms what you know as luck.]
[Second, with two bottles of purified water, place a representation of a rabbit’s foot in one and a four-leaf clover in the other. You could use a real rabbit’s foot if you wish, but only symbolism is necessary in this step. Unless you enjoy that kind of flavor. No judgement here. From here, direct your mana to create the symbol of the dragon of luck around your circle. This may challenge your mana. Prevail and push forward to complete the symbol, forming the second gate. Gate of Fate.]
[Third, with your knowledge of the alchemist magic-based symbols, summon forms 3 and 6 in the air. Let them rotate around your circle. It will begin to intensify, but the aura shouldn’t bother you. Chant your invitation to the spirit of luck and karma. There you will have the third gate opened. The Gate of Fortune.]
[With the gates opened, place your cauldron on top of the circle. Fill it with purified water and bring that to a simmer. Place in the following ingredients: 1 female elicrone feather—you cannot pluck this feather, you must ask for it—3 cups of magic dust from a pure source, and 1 cup of liquid gold. Let that simmer for 7 hours or overnight. It is recommended to open the Gate of Maintenance to keep everything orderly while you are asleep or away.]
[After the simmering is done, add in any mana source. The purer, the better. Also, you may add in B-ranked or higher herbs, and 2 C-ranked or higher spiritual herbs. Let this simmer for 5 hours.]
[The last step will be to push the symbols into the alchemist circle and form the final gate. The Gate of Mana. When formed, the gate will infuse itself into your ingredients and create the potion. It will also cool it down for you to bottle immediately.]
Yes, I read all of that, not once, but three times and sat back down in my chair, baffled at the ridiculous difficulty increase. Wow, if this was the complex potion, then how tedious would creating an advanced-level potion be?
First of all, what the hell was an alchemist diagram circle or these gates? Symbols and forms, gah!
Complex felt like both the perfect word and an understatement for potion difficulty. Was this potion even worth creating? Too bad I couldn’t get out of it unless I wanted to can the idea of raising my class rank.
Even I wouldn’t bet apples or oranges that the system would allow me to rest or progress any other way. Was it a coincidence that I received a recipe of this level? Fuck, the water breathing potion felt like a walk in the park, a skip and a hop, compared to this. It also proved that potion makers and alchemists were at one point one and the same, before they split into factions. It was funny how the system chose a side for me indirectly by offering this class.
It didn’t introduce me to the conflict until much later. Until I had plenty of people I genuinely cared for. That kind of made me feel a little uneasy. They had families, aspirations, lives, and the system using them as hostages simply wouldn’t cut it.
The only thing that probably saved me from that scenario, however, was the fact that the system didn’t want me to choose this class. Somehow, I could still sense its distaste for it and a secret desire for me to ask for a different one. Unfortunately for it, I had no intention of taking down my flag to replace it with the white flag of surrender. I felt drawn to exploring a class that nobody would normally choose and while I wasn’t perfect at it, the more I learned about it, the more intrigued I became.
Sadly, not even I was ready to get hit with the fucking bombshell that was the Philosopher’s Stone. If the name of it and the stories didn’t spell out obvious trouble, then the people that were after it would do the trick. I recalled the prompt that would change my life.
[Legend of the Philosopher’s Stone Book. Item rank: S. Item quality: Extraordinary. Potion Makers and Alchemists are bitter enemies to the end due to a philosophy war hundreds of years ago. Potion Makers rallied for magic-based drinkable potions and also ways to enhance mana cultivation. Alchemists rallied for science-based solutions and more practical items that didn’t risk customers to the dangers of magic. Potion Makers wanted to perfect magic to make it usable for everyone. Alchemists wanted magic banned. In the end, the groups split ways. However, there was a third, silent faction. Alchemists that wanted to combine magic and science through the use of a forbidden super item known as the Philosopher’s Stone. This group called themselves Red Alchemists or Sons and Daughters of the Philosopher’s Stone. They continue to search for any piece of it in hopes to one day make it whole again, for it may grant their wishes of immortality, ability to transmute any metal into gold, and to burst into a magician rank never before seen.]
[Philosopher’s Stone Fragment. Item rank: SSS. Item quality: Exotic. Fragment of a frighteningly powerful stone.]
[Cannot be removed from inventory. The Philosopher’s Stone Fragment has soldered to your soul space. Collect all fragments to summon it.]
The menu showed that I owned one of six fragments. Maybe other potion makers or alchemists possessed the others or knew where to find them. Then again, the fragment seemed impossibly rare and difficult to locate, meaning that the target on my back would inflate to the size of a planet should the word get out that I owned a fragment.
[Possessing the Philosopher’s Stone will allow you to instantly conjure the gates and symbols with just a thought.]
A carrot I would not fall for! I totally did not want to be mixed up with the evil item, even if it would make my life easier. In fact, if I were going to be a master at this, taking the difficult path was a given. Then I’d teach that to my apprentices.
System, where do I learn any of this? Diagrams and magic circles, magic-based symbols, forms, and gates, I thought, but received no answer whatsoever. Like basically everything in this irritating class, I’d have to stumble on my face with trial and error until constructing something halfway decent.
At least I wished it were that easy, but I hadn’t a clue where to look next. I couldn’t expect the library to have such a book.
“Have I reached the point where I need a master for myself?” I said softly. Maybe Milia or Chenzu knew something. For now, I’d have to put aside complex alchemy. Sure, one would believe that mastering the basics first before considering anything beyond was a good idea. And it was.
But I felt somewhat impatient. Getting dragged to this world without much direction until the system felt like doing something to annoy me took its toll.
I made a few potions, topping off my personal arsenal, before leaving the lab and meeting everyone outside.
“There you are,” Iris said. “What’s your training plan? Besides making the apprentices’ lives a living hell.”
“Military style exercises, magic and techniques, cultivating, potion making, more cultivating, sword training by Milia,” I said, before flinching. “It sounds like a lot, but we mix and match, keeping training around an hour. The shop has to be run and we can’t spend all day training. I leave it to the brats to do as much cultivating and studying on their own as possible before I instruct them.”
Iris nodded.
“Can I join the classes?” Ronica asked, though her playful demeanor already knew my answer.
“Let’s be frank, I’m not the right trainer for you guys,” I said, “but you should already know that. You’re experienced, at least A-ranked, hardened adventurers.”
They stared at me blankly, as if the words I spoke didn’t exist, almost like a kid saying something foreign to someone of an older generation. I wracked my brain for a saying from Pops but could only think of terrible dad jokes and discarded that idea.
“How about this? If you four manage to defeat me, I’ll let you join the morning training session,” I said, earning myself a bonk from Milia.
“Don’t make jokes like that,” she said. “Now come, we have training to do.”
I turned back to the hero’s party members. “Seriously, there’s nothing you can learn from me. But so much you can teach to the younger generation.”
Ronica sighed, then pouted. “Just because you have a point doesn’t mean we’re giving up on you. Is what I’d like to say, but we promised not to bug you. Besides, where else would I go for free food?”
She dodged Iris’s downward rolled-up paper strike, grinning, before hurrying outside.
“She’s supposed to be twenty years old,” Iris said.
“Lost causes aside, I hope you understand,” I said. “Perhaps if I was an old guy with a beard who practiced mana cultivation for years and had the knowledge to spread, then yeah. But I’m not.”
“It just feels impossible… your…” Iris said softly, her eyes downcast as her voice trailed off. Milia gave her a sad smile.
“You should be used to it by now,” Milia told her. “Geniuses are rare, but when you see then, you naturally feel awe, envy, motivation, or sometimes disgust, as you wonder why the universe is so unfair.”
“You see, I could assure you I wasn’t born with these powers, but that would assume I actually know what the hell is going on,” I said.
When I stepped outside, Ronica and Kelvin nodded at each other and then turned to me. Maxus shrugged, tossing a copper repeatedly.
“About your challenge from before,” she said. “We accept. Four on one.”
“Wanda’s bubbly bottom,” Mandi said. Opal landed on her shoulder, eyes full of annoyance.
“You’re taking up our time. We need contribution points,” Opal blurted out shamelessly. “Go away.”
“Four on one? I don’t think so,” Iris said. “I just bought this skirt. I didn’t come all the way here to get it dirty.”
“Then start wearing trousers,” Ronica said. “Skirts are for the weak. Magicians have no time for such things.”
“That coming from someone who wears skirts all the time. But you know, I’m glad to be excluded,” Nuwa said, her voice a mix of sarcasm and deadpan. She was currently wearing a long black skirt. “That’s a roundabout way of calling me weak.”
“Why would I call you weak?” Ronica said. “We’re going to prove that we can beat this guy and without relying on any healing.”
“You do know that I was kidding, right?” I asked her. “Even I would be hard pressed to take on four experienced A-ranked adventurers at once. Have you finally lost it?”
“What’s the matter, scared?” Ronica asked. “That’s not very manly. You’ll start losing points.”
“Good, let them disappear, especially if it means I won’t have to put up with you anymore, twerp,” I said. “Now, let’s get to the—”
My danger senses blasted into oblivion and without any thought, because it felt as if my hand moved on its own, I caught Ronica’s pink lightning bolt with my aura. Closing my hand, I snuffed it out of existence.
She clapped. “See, I told you it was going to happen. You owe me silver, Kelvin.”
“What? I didn’t make any bets with you,” Kelvin said, baffled. “And why in the Wanda’s shimmering ass would I bet against Nate?”
The twerp simply shrugged. “You may be the smart one on the team, but sometimes you make the most questionable decisions.”
And so training began with Ronica tied to a tree, feebly apologizing. After half an hour, we let the pouting woman down.
“You are ruthless, man,” I told Kelvin, grinning. He rubbed his arm a bit, returning the grin, no doubt still feeling Ronica’s lightning bolt.
“You know, I’m kind of curious about the four on one,” Mandi said. “Not about the winner or losers, but a demonstration of what to do against multiple foes.”
“Oh, now someone wants to do Kelvin’s idea,” Ronica said, but grinned at Kelvin’s glare. He did not want her provocations pinned on him whatsoever.
“If you really want to know, I’ll show you,” I said.
I took notice of Iris who was as far away as possible, engaged with Harmony in a conversation, though she did shoot a nervous glance at us. I sighed.
“No one’s going to make you participate in a mock fight against your will,” I told the now-sheepishly smiling elf woman. “Besides, this isn’t going to be a fight. I’m going to do exactly as Mandi requested. Show her what happens in a fight with overwhelming odds. Kelvin, Maxus, Ronica, Nuwa, you four take your places.”
Nuwa flinched but, seeing Ronica’s smug smile, steeled her resolve and took her place a few meters in front of me. We were all unarmed, and I didn’t bother telling them otherwise. There was a lesson I wanted to instill to my apprentices if they found themselves far stronger than their opponents but dealing with numbers.
“Come,” I said, taking a trained stance. We were far enough from the others to not get them caught up in the mess.
“With pleasure,” Ronica said as she engulfed herself in a wave of pink lightning aura. Kelvin covered his fists with icy aura, and Maxus with shadow. They rushed toward me but fanned out with the intention of surrounding and then whittling me down. Unfortunately for them, I unleashed both my aura and layered killing intent with that. The burning fury of being forced to actually kill when I came to this world mixed in, bringing the hero’s party to their knees. Nuwa fell into unconsciousness, blood oozing from her nose.
“The way to deal with overwhelming numbers is to overpower them, Mandi,” I said as I deactivated my aura and killing intent. “This isn’t a game. Blast your aura to ensure an advantage, even if it seems dirty. When they’re pinned, you can decide what to do from there.”
The hero’s party stared at me with terror in their eyes, before many of them sighed and laughed, remembering it was me.
“Sorry about that,” I told them. “I wasn’t expecting it to be that effective on you guys. Are you slacking off? Maybe I really should train you with the basics.”
“Slacking off? Heck no!” Ronica said. “I’d normally call you a cheater, but you make a fair point. For once. If you have the aura advantage, use it. That’s got to be useful when dealing with armies.”
“I doubt one guy’s going to take down an entire army of professional soldiers,” I said, waving off her comment.
“Do you not know about the Lord Ruler?” Ronica asked, eyes skeptical. “You know, the guy who eradicated an entire army by himself? They were getting ready to launch a surprise attack too.”
It was at that moment, I wondered if the alchemy book I received as a reward held instructions on how to form the diagram. Perhaps I could get started on this before we began our trip to the big city. If we decide to go. If we did, perhaps some of the hero’s party could come as backup.
“Wait, the Lord Ruler did what?” I asked, catching her words, realizing the absurdity of his powers. “And… he’s scared of the Peace Spawner?”
Ronica frowned, though her voice remained cheery. “Yep! The world will stay doomed for a while longer.”
