– Day 8 –

EXP

After the meeting, I sent Emily to Samuel the alchemist to get the recipe for the EXP tonic and as much of the materials to make it as he had available. We are going to need a lot of this potion if we want to power up quickly. I can’t help but think it’s convenient that Samuel has a tonic I suddenly find myself in desperate need of. I sense divine intervention of green-boxy…

Katharine left saying she was going to visit Marie and would be back later while Bella and a heated Risk went back outside to continue to beat each other up.

While Emily is gone, I want to experiment with the menu system. To be precise, I want to activate it on another person.

For a while now, I’ve been convinced that I should be able to see other peoples levels and stats using this system but for some reason, I can’t. I mentioned before that there are tabs on the left of the menu, but some of them are completely blank and have nothing in them when pressed. After reading Agamenty’s book, I am convinced that one of the tabs is for summoned creatures or the like and once I have one, it will activate, but the remaining 3…I want to believe that one of these is for a party system…

“*Pant* Aburi, can we speak?”

Risk looks to have floored Bella and wandered in.

“Sorry, I was a million miles away. What’s up?”

“Are you really going to do this? You don’t strike me as the type to risk his neck for someone else.”

He’s got me there. I’ll help others in my power if they’re right in front of me but something like this is completely different.

“You’re right; I’m doing this for three reasons. Katharine, My Shop and.. the airship I’ve been promised.”

“A-airship?”

Suddenly, I remember our conversation at the bar…hehe.

“There’s also the matter of the 30% of all profits the dungeon yields if we subjugate it for the kingdom. Of course, this will be shared amongst the party, but I had no plans on using it as an incentive.”

“30!”

“Oh we can also keep anything in the dungeon we find with taxation immunity for life.”

He raises his hand and scratches the back of his head before grunting.

“…I think I spoke too soon.”

“I think you did too heh. Are you saying you want in?”

He seems to contemplate it for a moment.

“You do have a plan right? A proper plan?”

“I do…”

“..Keeping it close to your chest huh…fine, I’ll trust you.”

“But can I trust you not to leave when it gets tough because even with my plan, it will get tough and there will be some things you won’t like.”

“I won’t back suicide calls, but I’ll trust you.”

“Good…by the way, we have 1000 gold budget to prepare with.”

I said that just for the reaction.

“Ha…you’re serious!?–”

“Sir Draconis, I have come with the recipe and ingredients required as requested. Your slave girl told me it was an emergency so I rushed over with what I could carry. My servants will be along with more shortly.”

…Erm, Emily?

“Welcome Samuel, please call me Aburi. Oh and this is Risk.”

Risk nods and leaves the room without a word. History maybe? Or perhaps it’s just a stature thing.

“Have your slaves place the goods over here and pass me the recipe.”

“Certainly. Can I ask why you needed all this so urgently?”

I didn’t… Emily got a little gung-ho.

“Apologies for that, something has come up, so I’m going to have very little time over the next three months so now is probably going to be the only chance I have to do this for you hence the urgency.”

“I see, well not a problem. Do you mind if I watch you work?”

“Not at all. Let me review this and get set up.”

Looking at the recipe, I can see this is a serious degree above any potion I’ve made so far today. It’s a time-consuming process, and dangerous actually, but I can see where he’s likely been going wrong. The tonic isn’t one tonic but a combination of 3 potions you have to make first. I take a look at the ingredients he’s bought with him, more than half of them aren’t fresh enough to be used… Well, there’s still plenty here so let’s get started I guess.

Potion 1: Greass (Magic Resistance, magic damage nullification)

8x [Ginseng Root] chopped and thrown into a large pot with 1 litre of red vinegar. Add two bowls of moon sugar and one bowl of firewater, expect a loud bang and foaming. Once foaming finishes, add 1x [Ash flower] with 6x [Velis flower] crushed with 100mils mixed oils, mix into the large pot until mixture turns violet and leave to air. I made six pots worth (6 litres).

Potion 2: Physia (Reflection, projectiles and magic return to sender)

6x [Purple Flower hestis] crushed with 12x [Orange Flower gretis] and 4x [Teakish Pollen]. Add 600mils of strong alcohol until a thick paste is formed. Put four bowls moon sugar, one bowl fire water and half a bowl of mixed oils with 2 litres of water into a large pot and add the paste in small amounts while stirring. Repeat until all paste is added and then leave to air for 30 minutes. One thing to note about this potion, it smells fantastic. I made six pots worth (12 litres).

Potion 3: Brosia (No purpose, looks to be a potency enhancer..hmm absorption is also attributed?)

6x [Eldis Flower], 6x [Burlap Flower], 6x [Altis Flower] and 4x [Fenir Flower] crushed together with two tablespoons of salt, one tablespoon moon sugar and 600mils of firewater. Throw into a large pot with 3 litres of strong alcohol and 1 litre of water. Stir until brown and seal immediately unless you want to go blind. I made six pots worth (24 litres).

I’ve come to realise that the amount of potion I make from the ingredients used is absurd, I should need a lot more base materials to get these results. The only explanation I can think of is that it must be due to [Master Herbalism], each flower produces 20% more when refined, but that’s also on top of whatever the passive [Potency Enhancement] is doing. Not to mention [Alchemic Creation],[Alchemic Reduction] and [Alchemical Compounding] effects…so many skills that I barely understand are at work here, anyway, enough lamenting, onto the main dish.

This is where EXP tonic gets tricky. The three potions previously created must be added to this base potion at specific intervals as the tonic changes colour. If I add them too late or too soon, the tonic will be a failure, and I’ll have wasted the ingredients. To be safe, I’m going to build a small batch of 8 litres, and they work my way up until all the pots are used up.

First, 4x [Blue Root tealist], 4x [Red Root geltis] and 4x [Green Root letis] chopped finely and placed in a very large pot. Add half a litre of water with half a litre of red vinegar and one bowl moon sugar and stir while foaming. Add crushed Wyvern shells and four heaps of Powdered talon.

*Poof*

Here we go~

Add 1 litre of [Greass] with a crushed [Taproot] and stir until mixture turn black. Quickly add 4 litres of [Brosia] and two more crushed [Taproot], do not stir and wait for the potion to start turning yellow. Finally, add 2 litres of [Physia] before the entire mixture changes colour and stir violently. If the potion turns fluorescent green, success! If not, failure. Fluorescent Green it is~

Confident now, I convert all the previous potions into [EXP tonic] for a total of 48 litres. We’re not going to run out anytime soon, that’s for sure. I take ten tonic vials, fill them and place them on the counter…

This… This is a lot stronger than it should be. According to the recipe, these tonics aid in the absorption of magic essence by increasing the bodies capacity for absorption by 50%. In other words, it's a 1.5x EXP tonic and should last around 20 minutes. The tonic I’ve just placed on the counter…4x EXP tonic and lasts 3 hours. What the hell?

“Incredible, simply incredible Aburi. That tonic is beyond belief, I can tell from here!”

Damn…this might be problematic. I should have remembered he had appraisal..

“Isn’t it just, I’m quite surprised by the result myself… Well, I’ve made 48 litres, 24 of which are rightfully yours.”

Considering one tonic is around 90mils and last 3 hours. I’ve made 533 tonics, meaning at least 266 are mine equating to 798 hours or 33 and something days worth of 4x EXP; giving up half is acceptable.

“That’s much appreciated…May I ask how much you plan to sell these tonics for?”

“Unfortunately I have need of all my share so I won’t be selling this batch. You can set the market price, and if I get around to selling some, I’ll be sure to match it.”

I can already see gold coins in his eyes. Only high ranking nobles will be able to afford what he’s likely going to charge for it, so I don’t think I need to worry about a high demand.

“Then I will do that. Please let me know if you are going to make more; I will supply the ingredients.”

“Will do. Oh, speaking of which, the ingredients over there that I didn’t use. I’m afraid that they weren’t fresh enough for the potions.”

“Ah is that so, perhaps that was where I was going wrong. Sorry Aburi, I will remember to only bring newly collected ingredients next time.”

The slaves Samuel had brought with him collected the stale ingredients and half the tonic pots. They left some of the fresher ingredients that were left over for me. Samuel called it an added thank you for the work; I wasn’t going to say no as they just happen to be all but 1 part of what I’m missing for the winter wolf summoning.

“Master, are ya still busy?”

“Just freed up. What’s up Emily?”

“I told Hannah, Kate and Millie about your condition.”

…Oops. The slave girls; I had completely forgotten about them.

“Are they worried?”

“It should be fine, Kate and Millie don’t seem worried about it but Hannah…”

“Then Hannah doesn’t have to. I won’t force any of them like that again; today was an emergency.”

“I thought ya might say that so I already told.”

“Good, I guess I better meet them properly now I have a moment.”

Emily goes to get them while I continue to tidy up the mess I made during the potion creation. When she returns, all three have bathed and clothed…I didn’t know we had a bathroom? I’ll have to locate it later.

“So, Emily has told me your names, but I don’t know who’s name belongs to whom so let me guess. Hannah right?”

I point to the seventeen-year-old with the black eye.

“Y-yes…”

She’s stiff as a brick. She must be scared to death of me after finding out I’m a vampire, can’t blame her for that.

“Then you are…Kate?”

Pointing to mega boobs. She nods with a smile and a curtsy; maid material….perverse mind, deactivate!

“Then finally Millie, look at that, three for three. So, here’s the deal. Emily has explained my situation and what I require of you. She’s hopefully also explained that I will not force this role on any of you despite you being my slaves. Today was an emergency, and I had no other options at the time, and I’m sorry about that, it will not happen again–”

Kate steps forward and looks at me.

“Master, I will happily accept tending to your needs, whatever they may be”

…Emily, when I said ‘like-minded’, this was not what I meant.

“I-I will also be willing.”

That came from Millie who’s currently not in view. Hannah is looking at the floor however and is visibly scared.

“That’s very kind of you both, and I will be relying on you. Emily, I’m putting you in charge of everyone. Find them daily tasks that suit their skills and make sure they each have a room upstairs.”

“Master, ya know there’s slave quarters downstairs right?”

“Really? Show me”

Emily leads me to them through another staircase in the kitchen. They’re dank and dark. Nope, just nope!

“No one in my employ is living down here. I’ll turn this into a cellar.”

“Master, the rooms upstairs are too big for us–”

“They’re too big for me too, but I’ll not have anyone sleep down here, you’ll all get sick.”

“Give it up Kate; Master is like this”

“Then we should all share a room–”

“Then how will Master sneak in for night visits.”

Damn horny tomboy, karate chop to Emily’s head.

“You do not have to worry; I won’t be doing that”

“Then it’s fine; we’ll share a room upstairs?”

“If you truly do not want your own rooms then I guess I see no reason to say no.”

Thinking about it, this is probably for Hannah’s benefit.

“Oh Master, here’s the remaining money from earlier.”

“How much is left?”

“58 Gold, 22 Silver, 11 copper.”

“I was expecting far less than that. Are you sure you bought enough–”

“Everyone has two pairs of shoes, four daily outfits, nightwear and undergarments.”

“Okay then–”

-- 'AAARGH! When does this blasted tonic wear off?!'

We’re underground and I still heard Risk shout that. I can’t help but laugh; it was a little strong. We’re about to head back upstairs when my stomach grumbles–

“Are you hungry Master? Shall I cook Dinner?”

Seems Millie can cook. I have several crates of vegetables in my inventory and some meat. If it’s still fresh, then I will have confirmed my hypothesis that the inventory stores items in time stasis.

Inventory: 40 / 99

– Uncooked Meat Ration x24 –

– Small crates of Vegetables x 6 –

– Barrel of Ale x 6 –

*blink*

Inventory: 37 / 99

I place all the crates on the ground and place the meat on top on of the crates. The meat is in the same state it was when I placed it into my inventory, so I’m certain my hypothesis is correct. I notice the confused looks.

“Sorry, I have a magic inventory that lets me store items in another space.”

They look even more confused now. Kate is the first one to shrug and talk.

“Millie, can you make something with these?”

“Yes, but we have no herbs, spices or salt.”

“There’s a large amount of salt upstairs in a sack near the counter. Give Emily a list of things you need, and she can take Hannah shopping for them.”

I just realise something–

“Oh, this should be obvious, but we will all be eating together, all of us”

Millie and Kate look a little confused, but it seems I was right. They were planning on cooking but not eating until after me.

I leave four gold with Emily and tell her to try and cheer Hannah up while she’s running the errand. She hands me back 3 of the coins saying I have no idea the value of money. She’s not wrong of course.

Inventory: 37 / 99

– Silver King Coin x29 –

– Copper King Coin x58 –

– Purple Coin Chest (155x Gold King Coins) –

I head back upstairs and refreshingly find myself without anything to do. I was about to sit down in the dining room when I thought I should probably check on Risk and Bella.