[For creating a complex potion, your class rank has advanced from Established to Inspired. Congratulations!]
[Class upgrades consist of: Initiate, Rookie, Established, Inspired, Seasoned, Veteran, and Master Potion Maker. As you progress, you will unlock new potions and even special methods of brewing.]
[You are Inspired! You will feel less nervous when attempting a complex or higher-level potion. The chances of failure decrease a little, however, you may feel motivated not only to try again, but produce something better.]
[Your Flavors will improve. Blighted potions are now slightly easier to make, and chances of detecting pathways to Royal Grade potions now lay on the horizon.]
[Other potion makers and even alchemists will have respect for your uprising. Although this is nothing compared to Seasoned, Veteran, and especially Master Potion Maker.]
That evening at camp, we sat around the fire, gazing into it and, for some, consolidating any gains. I inspected the five golden apples Nimni gave me again.
[Fruit of Ascension. Item rank: S. Item quality: Extraordinary. A bite of this fruit will contribute greatly to purifying your mana. For some, this could be the push they needed to break into the next layer or realm. Unlike pills, they do not add toxicity to your blood or mana.]
Knowing what I had to do, I selected one of the fruits using the system interface. It didn’t allow me to use my free upgrade point on multiple items at once. It also didn’t work on the Yin Yang pills. I chuckled again at the name of the pills before inquiring the system.
[System notice. It is not recommended to waste the upgrade on this item. Half of its effects will be erased.]
I blinked. There was no way I’d ignore the system’s heads up. Something greater likely awaited and honestly, I just wanted to see the description of the fruit’s evolution. However, the tree, while interesting, wasn’t spectacular.
I felt Milia’s head rest on my shoulder and we all just sat in silence for a while, staring into the radiant fire.
“We’re… such a strange clan,” Mandi said. “I… I can’t believe I get to be a part of one. Hero’s party and a bunch of crafters.”
“Eh… not just any crafters,” Ronica said. “Geniuses. There’s a difference.”
“Speaking of crafting, let’s see what everyone has discovered since the last time I checked on your progress,” I said.
“You mean a few days ago,” Harmony said, her voice a deadpan. “Yesterday for me.”
“Don’t forget the flying he made me practice after the dungeon,” Mandi said, pouting. “I told you I wasn’t scared.”
Chenzu laughed. “That’s what they all say. But just know it is okay to be a little afraid. Just use that fear as fuel.”
“Like what Mas—Sir Nate did earlier,” Nuwa said cheerfully. “I don’t recommend taking explosions head on. You know you had one foot in the grave. If not for your unusual body, we would be mourning, not laughing together.”
I started to say something, but Harmony spoke over me.
“She’s right. You’re usually teaching us not to be reckless, not to take stupid risks for no profit, but you turn around and do that very thing.”
“Don’t worry us like that,” Lucas said, his voice unusually strong, the timidness gone. “We shouldn’t be left… confused. Wondering.”
I stared at them for a long minute, allowing their words to click. Perhaps there were better ways to handle the situation, including just walking away for the safety of my apprentices. System prompts could be a bitch, and I still had no surefire way of explaining them to anyone, especially in the heat of the moment.
I didn’t want to become the guy getting ‘divine missions’ from their goddess. The gifts from Wanda didn’t mean she was directly behind the system. Many special dungeon rewards were classified by this world as gifts from Wanda. Well, I personally believed she had a role in it somehow.
“Being told off by my apprentices,” I said, smiling. “You’re growing up on me. Soon the teenage brats will be ambitious specialists, leaving this old man behind.”
They rolled their eyes.
“Seriously, I’m sorry about that. That whole thing could’ve been handled better,” I said. “Maybe I wouldn’t have ended up nearly killing myself.”
They stared at me for a while, before nodding or muttering some form of acceptance. A few minutes of silence later, I spoke. “Alexander, here you go. You take the first fruit. It will still take a bit for your core to fully reform, but with time and training, you’ll be the most powerful ten-year-old on the planet. I think.”
Alexander stared at the fruit I passed to him, suddenly timid. “Sir Nate… I didn’t earn this.”
I passed the next fruit to Milia, gaining her surprise. She couldn’t influence the growth of a tree like that, as it was somewhat like a fellow dryad in a way. At least, that was what I guessed.
“Just take it,” I said. “Harmony, Nuwa, and Lucas. The last three are yours. Eat them tonight or tomorrow for breakfast, whichever works for you.”
“What about you?” Harmony asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t need it. My mana cultivation is weird enough as it is. I doubt the fruit will do much to help.”
I did my best not to mentally critique the world again, given where I came from. The magicians fucked it up, but it sure as shit wasn’t my job to fix it. But if I spread some common sense and ‘don’t be a dick’ vibes from my corner of Nowhereville, then maybe the selfishness of might is right would slow.
I didn’t have much hope for that, realistically speaking.
“Hey, Alexander. How difficult is it for one’s shop to get into the top five?” I asked.
“If you want a chance, you’ll have to come out of hiding,” Alexander said. “That’s not always a good thing. But your shop, perhaps even a sub-shop in your name, must become the choice of as many people of the kingdom as possible. At least, that’s how it works in my birth kingdom.”
“Establishing a brand,” I said, nearly facepalming. Of course! It worked this way on Earth. Why wouldn’t it be the same in Merridon? “We’ve got a lot of work cut out for us. Not that I plan to go too far overboard just yet. I like the quiet life. But hey, at least this world doesn’t have demon lords for us to waste time with, right?” I frowned at the follow-up awkward silence. “Forget that I said that.”
Chenzu began to play his lute. He didn’t sing, just continued the conversation in a more poetic voice. “There aren’t any demon lords left, if you could call them that. There spoke of a legend of only one hallow that managed to shrink himself and fully manifest on this plane. A young, courageous girl stood up to him armed with just a wand and a magic bow. But to call a fully manifested hallow a demon lord is to downplay just how dangerous they are. It’s why the tale of the girl and the hallow lord has been all but forgotten, sitting in the minds of a few poets and singers, revealing it on slow tavern nights.”
“We aren’t better off these days,” Ramon said, “not when the Peace Spawner’s still alive.”
“You know, I mentally slap myself for forgetting to ask, but why the hell is he called the Peace Spawner?”
The world suddenly froze. No, seriously, everyone froze around me, and the color vanished, leaving behind a gray. An eerie prompt flooded my vision, accompanied by a monotone voice.
[System notice. Information not found…]
I found myself yawning, realizing I… actually dozed off. There was no dramatic scene denying me the information.
“Nobody knows,” Milia said after minutes of silence, also yawning. “Perhaps the Lord Ruler, but I don’t think he’s the type that cares to share any revelations with the public.”
“There is a reason behind it,” Harmony said. “Many. My father believed it to be a message. He doesn’t speak much about the Lord Ruler, or his time in the army. It’s pretty… obvious how he feels about the Lord Ruler now.”
“Well, the guy is kind of a dick,” I said with a chuckle. I yawned again. “I have some chests to open, but it’s getting late. Let’s call it a night.”
“Perhaps we’ll run into more interesting things tomorrow,” Chenzu said. “By the way, the ingredients you fetched are worth a lot on their own. Not many people could brave facing down terrifying cyclopes just to collect them.”
“I believe they typically grow in harsh jungle environments,” Milia said.
“Yeah, keep us on the talk about this mystery potion,” Ramon said.
“Oh, you’ll hear about it alright,” I told them. “That or it blows me up.”
Nuwa frowned. I only shrugged at the healer. Cheetara meowed her opinion, which was probably an opposition over my actions.
In the middle of the night, my eyes shot open to Opal’s voice.
“Intruders at the edge of the camp fighting golems,” she said. “One Rowbear, fifty-six goblin bandits. Uh oh. Hobgoblin magician. This is—” The entire camp suddenly shook. “He’s attempting to fire magic at the camp. The golems have killed fifty of them already. They’re trying to avoid the golems now. Oh, oh! Sir Nate-Nate-Nate-Nate, the golems are chasing them down! The goblins gave up. Ahahahaha, that’ll teach you, you stupid, mean troublemakers! Wanda’s jiggling bum! The hobgoblin’s preparing something nasty. Is that…? Oh no. Grand tier magic! We’re doomed! We’re so… Oh, a golem blasted his head off. Ahaha, wow.”
Milia and I glared at the pixie sitting on my chest. Yes, she narrated all of that, right there in my face.
“Opal, you…” I closed my eyes, too tired to finish that sentence. At least the camp’s defense system worked well.
Fortunately for us, no other attack occurred that night. When we woke up that morning to search for any goblin observers or survivors, we didn’t find any bodies, just abandoned or dropped weapons. Clubs, crappy wooden spears, and half-rotten staves.
“Goblins,” Iris said, her voice filled with distaste. “You’d think they’d all finally be civilized by now, but like any bandits, we’ll get spare tribes like this, led by outcast hobgoblin scum.”
“So of your people’s ancient enemy, which do you hate most? Orcs or goblins?” Ronica asked.
Iris ignored her, returning to her breakfast salad. Or rather, a bunch of vegetables roasted and thrown in a bowl with salt tossed onto it. It was supposed to be the elf’s turn to cook, but in the nick of time, Maxus gave everyone an important warning.
Well… a warning too late since I smelled burned food. The sad part about this was that even Ronica could cook. The twerp! She likely had to use a stepping stool just to see her stovetop properly. Fine, the twerp stood at least four feet nine, if that.
Iris ended up declaring that everyone should make their own quick breakfast so we could take off as quickly as possible. Of course, Maxus sold out Ramon too so that the elf wouldn’t feel alone. She still pouted.
Before we took off, I decided to open the three chests, because why the hell not. Receiving S-ranked chests meant that curing Paul of his illness was treated as somewhat of a boss fight. The hype within could no longer be contained.
The first chest opened and floating out appeared to be a golden pebble. Knowing looks could be deceiving, I analyzed it.
[Seed of Possibilities. Item rank: SS. Item quality: Extraordinary. A seed that’s capable of growing the Tree of Possibilities, a spiritual tree. If it bears even one fruit… well, you may receive a heavenly song. This seed is extremely difficult to grow. You must have a garden and soil of A-rank or above.]
Iris and Milia were going nuts, both having recognized the seed after I read the prompt. By now, everyone was aware of my appraisal ability, though they hadn’t a clue of the skill’s crazy potential.
Soon, the duo stood to the side, having an animated conversation. Wolverine was just yards from them, practicing with his dagger. I realized he wanted to be as confident as possible before charging into battle with it. A good and smart boy. Many should learn from him.
In the meantime, I decided to open the second S-ranked chest. Alexander took that time to devour his fruit of ascension for breakfast. Ronica stared at it longingly, her mouth probably watering.
“That location’s marked on the map, right? Maybe one of you could take a day’s journey to the dungeon to check on it once a year,” I said.
“No way I want to travel so far,” Ronica said. “If you discover a seed in the fruit, make sure to keep it. Milia—”
“You won’t find seeds in them,” Milia said, prompting a frown on the petite woman’s face. Cheetara hopped onto her shoulder and actually… gave the twerp a head pat. It took a few minutes for everyone, including myself, to stop laughing. By then, the kitten was back on my shoulder.
Roars in the distance interrupted me before I could bring out the second chest to open. Rowbear roars.
“Yeah, I don’t have time for that. Everyone, let’s get the hell out of here. We’ll open the two remaining chests later,” I said.
With the camp cleaned up and back to pyramid form, we climbed on our mounts and took off. My mind immediately settled on the opportunities that could come from growing a spiritual tree. Did this mean the garden option was finally going to be available to me? I internally shuddered at the potential cost. Millions of spirit coins, I just knew.
A few hours later, a mid-sized town appeared on the map. Kelvin’s voice emerged from Milia’s ring.
“Hey, Nate. The town of Fire Stone is coming up. Should we stop?”
“Actually, yes, let’s stop,” I said, the hours of flying wearing down on me somehow.
[Your status as friend of the kingdom means you and your party can enter the town without any searches nor restrictions. Guards will detect it. It is embedded in spell form, cast by the Lord Ruler, confirmed by a gift of Wanda. You may also skip the line.]
The line into the town was quite long, with guards all over the place, including one heading right toward us as we landed.
