We watched their carriage leave for a bit before returning to the shop. They likely had to speak to Mandi privately pertaining to family matters. Customers would be appearing soon, so we got to work. The money called after all. Land taxes didn’t pay themselves.

After finishing the first batch, I hurried to the lab and started experimenting with the Moonbaby leaves. To my relief, following the same brewing process as the health and energy potions yielded me the weak speed variant. An E-ranked ingredient was so damn easy to work with! Okay I failed three times, but those details aren’t needed, am I right or am I right? The stench of the prior failures still rang through my nose like the ghost of burned popcorn. I already managed to get the hang of whipping up a lighting variant. The system confirmed my progress with a notification. It even complimented me, though somewhere deep down, I wondered if it was mocking in some way. The UI changed a bit, which made it much easier to keep track of these things.

[New potion listings added. Good job!]

[Current self-use potions: Health Potion, Energy Potion, General Medicine Potion, Speed booster potion light.]

[Special potions: Night Vision, Mana Core, Water Breathing, Masking, Eagle Sight, Shadow.]

[Utility potions: Lighting.]

Holy shit, when did I learn so many? Then again, I’m still somewhat new at this. I couldn’t help but imagine what a seasoned potion maker documented in their journals or recipe books. Let’s be honest, I wouldn’t be the only one using a special potion. There had to be mad scientists out there whipping up some crazy concoctions.

For the hell of it, mostly since I decided to train in preparation of the S-ranked monstrosity, I checked my stats. The changes really shouldn’t have surprised me, but at least advancement slowed a bit, though I still wasn’t sure if it was because of my request. Maybe constant meditation like almost every goddamn fantasy novel I read would be required eventually.

Nate

Class: Potion Maker. Secondary class: **Divine Master Magician**

Magician rank: 8th realm of the Highcore.

Ability: Can make up to SSS and divine-grade potions.

Power: Crushing Strong.

Defense: Emboldened Steel.

During our lunch break, I proposed a change to the day’s agenda. If one could call it that.

“For a training exercise, let’s finish off the E-ranked dungeon,” I said. “Then as planned, just keep using it as training grounds. We can clear an E-ranked dungeon multiple times a day, right?”

Harmony nodded.

“I’ve been wondering, can you clear it by yourself?” Milia asked, challenge in her eyes. “You know, run through, smash everything to bits and report what happens.”

I wasn’t sure if I either considered the idea hilarious and fun or just didn’t want to look like a little bitch in front of my dryad fiancée. Going inside a dungeon alone carried risks, even for an E-ranker, but something about Milia’s words turned the gears in my head. She didn’t make lame ass pointless comments. There was either hidden meaning behind those words, something she couldn’t quite confirm from a legend, or she just wanted to be entertained. I’d make her do it as payback. Then I understood. This was perfect training. I clapped once.

“You and Lucas will train like crazy, but to be over the beginner phase, you’ll have to clear the dungeon by yourself not once, but twice.”

Milia grinned. “I wasn’t aiming to go that far but making sure there isn’t any flukes is a valid idea.”

“Everyone’s going to be pissed, but let’s close the shop early and get over there,” I said. “Also, instead of throwing ourselves at the mercy of an S-ranked dungeon, let’s clear everything in order.”

Milia nodded and let out a breath of relief. “I was afraid you’d proposed attempting it yourself. I’d give it my all to convince you not to, but…well, stopping you isn’t within my abilities.”

I grinned and kissed my dryad fiancée. “Trust me, when I say going in there is a last resort. Let’s see if Mandi comes back with any helpful and affordable ideas.”

Harmony sighed. “You’re really going to make us beat a dungeon by ourselves.”

“Maybe just up to C,” I told her. “If adventurers struggle with B and A ranks, then going solo would just be a suicide run.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you pulled it off,” Milia said. “You did beat a hallow’s fragment with your bare hands. I still feel the oddness of that day, the details shown to me by the land, but…the rush of panic when you said you were going alone.”

“Yes, most certainly panic,” Harmony said. “I…almost cried.”

“It was a bonehead risky move, but I’m not really a self-sacrificing type of guy,” I said. “I wouldn’t have played the hero if I knew I’d be wasting everyone’s time. Well, honestly.” I shook my head. “The bastard was actually too strong for me.”

Milia and Harmony looked at me, eyes full of concern, curiosity, and questions.

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Just a fragment of itself, but it could speak as if it were fully there. I didn’t tell anyone, but it tried to offer me a shitty pact. You know, one in which I’d get screwed over in the end for its entertainment and the death of everything around me.”

“Accepting such a contract could invite it to destroy you instantly,” Milia said.

“Whether it would give me its powers or not doesn’t matter,” I said. “Every story out there in which the protagonist makes a deal with a devil ends badly. I also couldn’t stand it, looking at me with the level of…cold distain. Like it saw me as talking food and nothing else. Like the meat of its sandwich. I used its talkative nature against it.”

“If only it were possible to do that to its full body,” Milia said. “The less hallows, the better.”

I stood up, chuckling. “Alright, lunch break’s over. Let’s close down the shop and get on Beakwing. Lucas is getting a surprise early visit and some introduction to magic. Then the fun part begins.”

“Fun part?” Harmony said, a little dread in her voice, as she likely had a feeling what was coming.

“Running laps,” I said, which made the blue-haired girl deflate. “Around the first floor. It’d be perfect to get you somewhat used to that dungeon aroma. Oh don’t worry, Milia and I will run with you for a couple of laps.”

I glanced at the dryad. She pouted, which only widened my smile. “We’ll lead by example, but I’m a potion maker, not an adventurer. The dungeons are just ingredient farms.”

After everything was cleaned up, we boarded Beakwing and took off toward the village.

**

Hector nearly flopped into his seat when they made it back to Howie’s rented house of the backwater town. He let out the breath he didn’t realize he held. His hands still trembled, but the man had to see the potion maker himself. Of course that was no ordinary potion maker, no magician with proper experience would be able to miss it. One silent scan revealed the truth and Hector regretted coming.

A rogue master magician was a frightening matter. He wasn’t Ares the Peace Spawner…but, this entire thing could’ve been a front.

No…Ares’s cult moved a lot and not even his lowest ranking members would settle for this backwater bore fest of a town.

Yet the master magician had no sect…

Hector’s eyes widened upon remembering Mandi’s words. That she wanted to become an apprentice. He wanted to adamantly object to that, but crossing that master magician, just making him slightly angry, could result in not just Hector’s death, but potentially his entire family, even city. Few could stop a master magician.

But…he was so young. Strangely enough, Ares the Peace Spawner also held the body of a youth, but his old sect refused to release information on him, even if it strained their relationship with the Kingdom authorities, specifically the Lord Ruler.

Hector saw Ares once and prayed to Wanda he’d never have to see that man…demon again. The absolute embodiment of coldness. But was it fair to compare the potion maker to one of the most notorious killers in the world?

He looked at his younger sister, Rose and then allowed himself to relax just a bit. Despite her unladylike cravings for boytoys, she was still a powerful magician and also wouldn’t speak to anyone she deemed a threat…right? Sadly, that included Gaston of House Astral, Mandi’s betrothed. Despite the boy just being a measly mortal, Rose still fought against the marriage. Hector didn’t blame her, but their mother’s decisions were absolute. None of them could oppose her, not even their father. Sometimes Hector wondered maybe this was why she married a mortal. Her controlling nature seemed to confirm the theory.

Suddenly, Rose shooed away her personal maid and stood up.

Hector gave her a pointed look. “What are you up to?”

“To test him of course,” Rose said. “What else would it be.”

Wanda’s ass, if only Hector could’ve found any other magician to help him stabilize their cousins. Without the watchful gaze of the city, she was free to do whatever she wanted, even ignore his orders. He couldn’t compel his second favorite sibling. He’d never consider such a thing nor forget the two times she saved his life.

Which only made it harder to let her go.

“His friendly attitude is likely fake,” Hector said. “What if this entire town is his cult, like you know who.”

Rose stared at Hector blankly. “Is it really fair to compare anyone to the Peace Spawner?”

“But the hallow—”

Rose shook her head. “Would the Peace Spawner save our sister or summon the hallow fragment.”

“You cannot deny the similarities,” Hector said, his voice carrying with it the weight of an elder brother. “The Peace Spawner once relied heavily on potions. Some say it was an addiction.”

“The Lord Ruler announced that someone laced one of his potions with mana-opium,” Rose said.

Hector shrugged. “That excuse feels…a bit convenient, don’t you think?”

Rose sighed. “Fine, I’ll explore the town, maybe see what the people think of their potion maker. Perhaps he will be courting death.”

Abruptly Mandi appeared from the backroom, cheerful, though she paused upon feeling the tension in the air.

“Is everything well?” she asked.

“Just a minor issue, nothing important,” Hector lied. “Could you show Rose around town. Make sure she stays out of trouble.”

He grinned as Rose sighed.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Mandi said.

As they left, Hector felt a little confused. He’d never seen his little sister this cheerful. Perhaps a week away from their mother, the Red Star, did the trick.

He considered it, but the idea of abandoning his duties and his men back in the city guard would cause more trouble than what was needed.

**

After scooping up a surprised Lucas, we headed to the dungeon. I explained everything and got the reaction I wanted. Dread.

“Give me a sec,” I said after we landed. “I’m going to solo the dungeon, give it a reset. In the meantime, Milia will teach you how to meditate and gather mana. Just make sure you focus on the right element from the environment. For example, if your body can’t handle air mana, don’t pull it inside of you, simple as that. Harmony, you practice more with the wand. Now that no one can see us, it’s time to get a hang of it. Like Potter.”

“Potter?”

“Nothing.”

Once again, I was just talking out of my ass, mostly based off what I read and what Milia informed me about. I didn’t have to meditate. The system didn’t specifically tell me what type of mana it chose, but I was sure it would choose the most suitable one. It may be unfriendly, but it hadn’t overloaded me.

[System notice. All mana types are pulled into you at all times during your automatic—]

I let the thought of the prompt drop, keeping myself composed so that the others wouldn’t pepper me with worry. All elements. That was extremely dangerous, but I felt fine. Hell, the superstrength appeared the moment I transported to this world—so the outrageous mana pull wasn’t the reason for these powers.

“Alright, off I go,” I said. “You help train them too, Wolverine. Practice with your dagger.”

Wolverine barked twice, tail wagging, though he did look as if he wanted to follow me. Cheetara swatted adorably at his tail. Damn, I wanted to take both spirit beasts with me.

“Don’t forget to give us the details,” Milia reminded.

Since we could simply come back on an ingredient-hunting trip, I charged through the grassy cavern until coming across three skeleton wolves guarding the staircase. Two were small, one was what I’d call medium sized. It took less than a minute to punch and kick my way through them. I had some empty vials on me, but they didn’t leave any dust behind. Not that I wanted E-rank monster dust anyway. I didn’t!

The second floor was much of the same with some different plants I forced myself to ignore and kept on charging. More skeleton wolves spawned, along with skeleton boars and a few human-shaped sword-wielders. I easily destroyed them all without stopping, surveyed the area to make sure my apprentices wouldn’t find themselves in a tight spot, then hurried to the third and final floor.

A dozen or so skeletons later, I found myself in front of the boss door.

“Let’s get this out of the way,” I said, though I was disappointed at not finding any other chests. I had to kill the boss each time to open it.

I kicked open the door. There waiting for me was a lone figure. A man in skeletal armor, surrounded with ten skeleton wolves of all shapes and sizes. He was equipped with a wooden battle staff.

“A strong one approaches,” the man said. “Just like any high-ranking adventurer, they believe they can just enter my lair overpowered and wipe me out for easy chest pickings.”

I started toward him. “I used to be a giant wolf, but thanks to a stranger passing by, I have evolved. As long as I stay alive, I will evolve further. And you, you will die here!”

[Enemy analysis.]

[Evolved Skeleton Alpha Wolf. S-ranked demonic monster.]

[Boss fight begin.]

My eyes widened. An S-ranked monster, again. Why can’t I catch a fucking break? Why won’t this world allow me to progress normally like everyone else? And who was this stranger that evolved him?

The Alpha Wolf man bolted toward me with his wolves. Knowing how annoying and tough S-ranked monsters were, even for me, I dodged the Alpha’s staff attacks, then punched through the little bone mutts until they became nothing more than powder.

“Hey, listen buddy,” I said to the Alpha. “Do you know the name of this stranger by any chance.”

“Most certainly, but I’m not stupid enough to say it,” the Alpha said. “Even in death, I wouldn’t be so foolish.”

He leapt toward me, bringing his staff down, but I sidestepped and then kicked him into the far wall. Or so I thought. A skeleton wolf spawned out of the ground and took the blow for the Alpha.

I saw the staff coming for my head and felt its capability of taking it off. I grinned as I slipped into the shadows and popped out behind it.

“At first,” I said as I grabbed the Alpha. “I felt really stupid for taking a sip of this potion for an E-ranked Dungeon. I think I forgot, maybe instinctively thought I was facing the hallow again.”

The Alpha’s eyes widened. “H…You faced a hallow. I do not believe you.” I introduced the skeleton-armored man to a fist to the face, then more, but before I could give it my all, he thrusted both feet out.

Now it was my turn to fly into the wall. Or I would have if I hadn’t slipped back into the shadows.

It felt a lot like being under water except the shadows didn’t hold you down. Also movement was incredibly fast. I could see a little above ground and through it perfectly, like x-ray vision. The Alpha was smart enough to jump into the air.

That turned out to be its mistake.

I took aim with an open palm and unleashed my dragon magic burst. It exploded into pieces.

“A monster that doesn’t evolve naturally will be significantly less powerful,” I said to nothing in particular.

The chest that appeared wasn’t an S-ranked chest, that I could tell immediately. It wasn’t an E rank thankfully. Milia told me they were always junky rusty things.

This was an iron chest, a C-ranker.

“Better than nothing,” I said as I opened it. Let me say, there’s something oddly satisfying about opening a loot chest after beating up a boss monster. I may not be getting into adventuring, but at some point, many of them had to end up as psychotic addicts, getting off to this thrill.

Inside the chest, I found a set of…brass knuckles and a scroll. Go figure. Nothing too exciting in a C-ranked box, but I’d definitely make use of the knuckles. I put them on and admired the perfect fit.

[Iron-Infused Brass Knuckles. Item rank: C. For those who prefer unarmed combat. Increased physical damage to your opponents.]

The scroll turned out to be a potion recipe, which made me nod in acceptance. Not what I was looking for, but I didn’t come to this dungeon for me. Ingredients and training the brats. Maybe some day I’ll feel like a proper master with the appropriate age and all.

[New listing added, Potion of Sleeping.]

[Consuming this will put anyone to sleep within seconds. Use with care.]

“Now that could be dangerous in the wrong hands,” I said softly.

Seeing there was nothing else in the E-ranked boss room, I left. Milia and the others stopped their training to look at me as I emerged from the dungeon entrance.

“Did you change your mind?” Harmony asked.

“Nope, I cleared it,” I said. “But…something weird happened with the guardian.”

Milia grinned. “Please do let us know of the details.”