Li and Iona spent most of the day uneventfully tending to the stall. As the sun began to set and the summery weather gave way to cool night breezes and pale starlight, he figured they had accomplished enough for their first day. He had finished three batches of [Restoration], using all the milk poppy flowers he had grown from the week before.

A few nearby farmers had come by to pickup the [Restoration], and Charles and his crew also took a few elixirs before they left, congratulating Li on the stall's opening and riding away right before sunset. Li had taken the time to also train Iona's personability through example.

The few elixirs of [Restoration] they sold was due to his efforts at the counter, calling out to the occasional limping townsman, making small talk with them, and then recommending his product with a fake but warm enough smile.

Many of them were at awe of Li and his foreignness, but thankfully, it seemed to help him. They believed the elixirs to be of exotic and ancient eastern make, and they were more than willing to pay for a means to cure their ills.

But at the end of the day, the stall hadn't sold as much as he would have hoped.

"Good work," said Li to Iona as he used a wet rag to clean up the work table.

"Thank you, O guardian." Iona also started to close down the stall, putting away their purification equipment after giving it all a thorough scrub in a bucket of cleansing water. "Shall I assist you at the same time tomorrow?"

Li gave her a curt nod.

"Things shall bloom soon enough," said Iona hopefully. "It is as you said – we merely wait for word to spread."

"Still doesn't feel great. I know it's silly, but I imagined a grand opening sort of deal." Li shrugged as he began to put the elixirs on display under the counter, in their storage. "But not everything has to start with a bang, I guess."

Li froze and tilted his head. He could fear footsteps. Not unusual despite the hour, but there were far too many. Iona noticed and came to Li's side, peeking her head out the display window.

"Adventurers?" Her already pale face blanched even more, standing out as a sheet of white in the darkening night. "They have come for me, yes, I am sure."

Sure enough, there was a crowd walking up the main road. There must have been over two dozen people, all adventurers, armed with swords, shields, bows, staves, and garbed in leathers or armors. A few of them carried torches to light the way.

Li stuck his head out the window and narrowed his eyes. Because he was in his human form, he had to consciously activate his superhuman senses, and when he did, he blinked.

"Old man?" he wondered aloud.

Sure enough, Old Thane was there at the front of it all, a wide smile plastered on his faces as his wrinkled creased in laughter.

Li understood what was happening. "Old Thane, you are a blessing." He motioned to Iona. "Quick, light the lanterns and get our products back on display. I'm going to go talk to them."

Iona bowed and knelt down, opening the locks that sealed the elixirs shut in their storage and began to take them out of their cooling racks to place them back on display.

Li tore off his mask and gloves and tossed them on the work table. He left the stall and got on the main road, his arms wide open.

"Old man! What the hell is all of this!?"

They gave each other a brief but solid hug. Old Thane patted Li's back and motioned back to the crowd of adventurers behind him. "Well, lad, I daresay I felt like I was sitting on my arse while you two did all the work, and I thought, 'how can this old man help?' So I went to the Gold Flagon, the adventurer's tavern, and spent the day to tell this lot all about you and your talents. And now look how they flock like sheep!"

The adventurers roared out excited responses.

"Old Bloodfist, we know your word's as true as your demon-killing hands. Course' we would come."

"Oh my, look at him – an easterner! Mayhaps his wares be enchanted with eastern magic? I hear many of them are immortals, too."

"Easterner or not, he's got Aine's recipes and, according to Old Thane, her skill, and that's all I need."

Li panned his gaze across the crowd. It was truly a diverse group of men and women of many different classes, builds, and ages. But what bound them all together was how they stood. They stood tall. Proud. Their eyes were full of life, their mouths smiling with strength and an eagerness to challenge everyday with the entirety of their might – such was the will needed to survive as an adventurer.

One of the adventurers came up and knelt before Li. He had on a green tunic of silk that shone under the firelight.

Li couldn't quite figure it out, but he thought he knew this man. His tall height and built frame weren't out of the ordinary among the adventurers, but when he spied the silver pendant around the man's neck, he realized this was the shield-bearing silver ranked adventurer he had saved from the Myrmeke.

"I thank you, good sir, for saving my life. I regret I could not give you my deepest thanks at the time, but sadly, I was unconscious." The man thumped his chest with his hand and gave Li a resolute look, his chiseled features and blonde locks practically shining in the torchlight. "I, Launcelot of Lakely, swear to give all my patronage unto you."

Li grabbed the man's arm and hoisted him up. "No need to kneel on the dirt. The way you're introducing yourself, you're a noble, right? Then I might as well ask you for a few bags of money, but I've got a suspicion that in a few weeks, you'll have dumped plenty of coin at my place already."

Li took a step back and addressed all the adventurers. "You're all hear to check out what I'm selling, so come by and take a look. I haven't made much yet, but what I do have, I guarantee will keep you coming back for more."

Li stepped back into the stall and manned the counter with Iona at his side. Old Thane watched from a distance; his arms crossed as he nodded at Li with fatherly pride. The adventurers crowded around the counter; their eyes wide as they looked at the rows of elixirs.

"Look at that color! It's so pure. No cloudiness. No sediment. Just…pure," said a mage, her mouth open in awe.

"Bollocks about color, taste's all that matters," said a bear-like brute of a man, his muscles practically bursting under his dark skin. He pawed one of the [Bloodboil] elixirs. In his huge hand, the elixir looked like a little toy. "How much for this, good sir?"

"Fifty coppers or five silvers," said Li as he tapped the counter.

The adventurer grunted as he rummaged through a sack at his waist. He took out a massive handful of silvers and let them sift through his hands until only five were left. With a solid thump, he placed them on the counter and took the elixir, uncorking it and immediately tilting his head to down it in one go.

He exhaled and shook his head rapidly, his eyes blinking. "Gods! Now that's a kick! Nothing like the watered down scum from Black Vine! Feel strong enough to wrestle down an orc!"

With a roar, he slammed his foot on the ground, and the earth cracked a little under the force.

"Watch it," said Li. "You damage the road, and I'm the one that has to pay the fine."

"Mighty apologies, good sir," said the adventurer as he bowed his head, his moment of elixir addled excitement passing.

"Vahid, get some manners before you embarrass us further. [Force Pull]" A mage behind Vahid pointed a staff at him and lifted him in the air before tossing him behind the crowd. She came up to the counter all smiles and cheer, her hands cradling her staff behind her back. "Say, could I get a sample?" She leaned forwards, making the low neckline of her dress very apparent.

Li waved her away. "No samples, and no, you can't 'convince' me otherwise. Now, are you going to buy anything?"

"Oh, you're no fun," she said before she reached into a satchel at her hip and withdrew five silvers. "Here, I'll take a [Bloodboil] too."

Li nodded to her, took her money, and gave her the blood-red elixir. "Next," he said.

Iona came to Li's side, looking down and trying to make herself as small possible, and took the coins on the counter and deposited them into a small chest.

Like this, the many adventurers came around. They were here to see whether Li's wares were the real deal, and they respected each other enough to only buy one elixir so that everyone could get one to try it out.

At the end of it all, Li had run out of every elixir he and Iona had spent two days brewing, but all the adventurers had managed to get a taste of what they had made.

The crowd buzzed with excitement, murmuring nothing but praise.

"Remember Black Vine's [Restoration]? Damn near killed me with the shits it gave me. This, now this is gold," said a young ranger, his bow slung over his bare chest.

An older man, a priest by the looks of his flowing white robes, said, "You young fools don't know what you're enjoying. This is Aine's craft – the best of the best, borne from the forest gods themselves."

The ranger rolled his eyes. "No offense, sir, but you're over fifty and still bronze. You've no right to be adopting a lecturing tone with us."

The crowd laughed in unison before continuing to chatter about Li's works. Already, many of the adventurers wished to offer Li partnerships, setting aside a percentage of their profits to ensure they

could have first pick at his stock. Some wished to commission exotic elixirs that were at the magical tier, fully believing Li had the skills to do so.

Li smiled as he saw how much happiness his work was growing. His elixirs were nurturing these adventurers, becoming their lifeline, becoming their hope for survival. The nature he had tended to – the life he had grown – was nourishing even more life.

He could understand what Iona meant when she said some forest spirits believed that nature was to nurture life whenever it could, for there was no greater treasure than it.

Yet he could remember the eldritch side of his powers, how he felt belonging with them. The alien side of him that took and took and took, never giving, always destroying, and he knew he wasn't meant to purely be a spirit that nurtured.

For once, he could get a glimpse of what it meant to be what he was. It meant to balance life and death, to measure both giving and taking. And yet when he looked at Old Thane again, at the unbridled pride imbued in every inch of his wizened smile, those godly responsibilities felt so very far away.

All of a sudden, the crowd roared. Li shook his head to clear his thoughts and focused his attention back on the crowd. He stepped back from the counter as he saw that all of them were looking eagerly at him.

"What say you, good sir? A toast to your opening? The Gold Flagon is open through the night." It was Launcelot making the suggestion, and the other adventurers flocked around him, nodding at his suggestion.

"Aye, a mighty fine suggestion!" shouted Old Thane as he pushed through the crowd and to the front of the display window. "How about it, lad? A cheer to your hardwork, to all the hours and sweat you poured out. I say you deserve it."

Li nodded, feeling the buzz of excitement and life around him. "Alright, just give me a second to clean the place up."

"Is the young lass coming?" asked Old Thane.

No, I shall not," replied Iona. She hung back in the shadows of the stall, avoiding the lantern lights. "I feel unwell."

Li gave an acknowledging nod to Iona. "Well that's that. Give us a few minutes to clean up and I'll be right out."

As Li snuffed out the lanterns and folded a tarp over the display window, he asked Iona, "Are you still afraid that they might be hunting you?"

"I am, yes," she whispered before she shuddered. "Even should they not be aware of me, it only takes one little mistake for a storm of force to rain down upon my head, and should that happen, I will be endangering the stall as well."

"I understand." Li saw as Iona trembled while packing things away. "Look, you don't have to worry so much. If push comes to shove, I have the power to protect you."

"Yes, but you must use that power sparingly until you fulfill your mortal duties. Do not pity me, O guardian. I will ensure my own safety so that you may never have to resort to baring the full extent of your divine nature before you are ready."

Li made his way to the exit door. He stood still for a few seconds, and when Iona came by to leave, he said, "I know I'm putting you through a lot and I'm being selfish with my mortal duties, but it's that I have to do. I hope you understand."

"My understanding matters not, for your will is mine regardless." Iona bowed her head and opened the door, putting her hood over her head.

Li followed her out, shutting and locking the door behind him. As they made their way out, Iona froze abruptly. He looked at her for a second before tracing the direction she was staring at.

It was Zagan. The crowd of adventurers had started to throng around the demon.

"What a beauty, this hound is. Lord Lys's royal hounds seem like mutts in comparison," said the ranger from before.

"You know the breed, Arthur?" questioned the burly warrior called Vahid.

The ranger took a closer look at Zagan, squatting down and scooching near. "Strange. I'm no houndmaster, but this here's a type that my eyes have never seen before. Black fur like this, darker than even the night, and those red eyes – this here is unlike any regular hound. Perhaps part Barghest? Some Dire wolf in there, maybe?"

He reached a hand out to pet Zagan.

Zagan growled. The earth seemed to tremble as the guttural growl rattled out of his throat, echoing into the hearts of the adventurers, striking them with terror and a fear of impending doom. A piercing silence reigned where before there was the bustle of merrymaking.

Li rushed forwards, ushering the now pale ranger and the crowd back. "He doesn't like to be disturbed, I'm afraid. I'd appreciate if you didn't bother him."

The ranger nodded slowly, his hand gripped around his bow.

"What are we doing wasting time here!" said Old Thane, defusing the situation. "To the Gold Flagon we go!".

The crowd regained its cheer and started to move down the main road as Old Thane directed them.

"I'll be right behind," said Li as he waved the adventurers and Old Thane away.

He turned back to survey the more serious situation. Iona had frozen because she had spotted Zagan, and Zagan now looked at Iona, his eyes blazing with glimpses of hellfire.