Master and Apprentices: Rise of the Cheat Potion Maker #2
Master and Apprentices: Chapter 28

I was beyond excited to activate the MMABS, but Milia managed to convince me to delay that until the morning. So that night, I meditated on the Dao of Creation. Suddenly, my eyes widened as the insight struck me like caffeine. A massive amount of energy merged with my aura, increasing my realms and then came the wisdom.

The hands of creation weren’t all about pondering on the downsides. One could be aware of their consequences and understanding the impact one’s creation could have on the world while pushing for greater heights. To incorporate both Dao and potion making into a stable fusion, one must devote themselves on the path of maximum creativity. In other words, someone who just created battle potions all day would never last on the path of this Dao. But the person who experimented carefully, developed a multitude of purposes for the potions, from plant enhancement to entertaining or helping everyday people to aiming for something that could even draw down the gaze of the heavens. The Dao of Creation wasn’t a battle Dao, this Nate already knew, but there was a reason why nothing matched it, even when it came to raw power.

He checked his stat sheet to confirm the changes.

Nate Sullivan

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

Magician rank: 12th realm of the Lesser Dragon.

Class rank: Established.

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

Power: Crushing Strong.

Defense: Emboldened Steel.

Dao of Creation. Rank: Divine. Stage: Awakened. This is a middle stage.

Physique rank: D.

Primary quest: Purpose. Progression: 2%.

Shop Rank: E.

Glancing at my class rank, I figured to go beyond that I’d either have to unlock more potions or manually create them. That or increase my shop’s rank, though I doubted the two were related. My shop’s main item was potions, but I figured we could expand into making additional things such as pills. It honestly would depend on what I could purchase from the MMABS, the progress of my apprentices, and even Milia’s hidden project that I suspected had something to do with sewing.

I opened my eyes, exiting the meditation state, and truly felt more creative. Motivated. However, even I knew avoiding sleep for too long was a bad idea. Meditation could probably replace sleep for warriors, but not easily for a creator.

Milia smiled, her golden eyes almost seeming to light up the dim room for me. I stood up from the floor, stretched, then joined her in bed. Cheetara adorably curled up into my chest. Wolverine took his spot at the foot of the bed. Earlier we had already wished Beakwing a good night. The elicrones, which I couldn’t help but think of as magical turkeys, joined in on the family time. Opal, the gadget pixie, decided to stay with Mandi, making me even more eager to see their first creation.

This reminded me that I truly lived in a magical place. My fiancée was a dryad, I had spirit beasts for pets, and could even summon a dragon.

Spirit beasts were not only highly intelligent, but could also communicate with each other, understand humans, and even were highly clean to the point that it made me question some humans. I enjoyed going to card shops as a teenager, but come on!

The next morning, I made breakfast while Milia meditated. Today, we were going to run a dungeon to stock up on ingredients. Gwendolyn should be arriving later today, and I wanted to be back before then. After some internal debate on dungeon difficulty, I decided to bring along all of the apprentices.

Chenzu said some eye-opening words at the breakfast table that pushed this decision.

“Sir Nate, you’ve gathered three kids with incredible potential, but you must also keep in mind the balance between their crafting and their magical skills,” Chenzu said.

“What do you mean?” I asked as I fed my wolf more meat. Cheetara cheerfully nibbled her special meal mix that Milia made that reminded me of cat food.

“The E-ranked dungeon is okay for light exercise, but will never help push your apprentices,” Chenzu said. “Not when you’re babying them. Not counting the idea of making them fight the boss alone. Eventually that’s going to get too easy, as well.”

“I did plan to gradually raise the difficulty whenever I felt they were ready,” I told the beastkin. “But…” A grin, that was likely evil, emerged on my face. “Throwing a sudden wrench in the mix is perfect. I had some thrown in my path, despite my strength. The fallen angel still kind of haunts me. Don’t get me started with the Black Knight.”

Chenzu chuckled. “The sad truth, my friend, is that the Black Knight was considered a weakling compared to many of the terrifying things out there.”

My eyes widened. “Aside from the three master magicians and the Peace Spawner guy, what possible monster could be out there that would make anyone consider the Black Knight a weakling?”

“Some of the sects house monsters, for starters,” Chenzu said. “Stronger hallow fragments or even the hallows themselves, the wandering druid, the monsters from the Astral Empire. I heard the emperor planned to retire soon. If he does, it will be time to pray.”

I sighed. “Let me guess. His successor’s a—”

“Jackass, yes,” Chenzu said. “He’s quite strong too. I think the only reason why he hasn’t bothered us much is because of Princess Ling. At least that’s according to the rumors.”

“He has a crush on the princess?” I asked.

“No,” Milia said. “He’s scared of her.”

I gaped at my fiancée. She shrugged.

“I haven’t met her personally, thank Wanda, but the numerous rumors about her are no joke,” Chenzu said. “You, especially, should stay clear of her. You too, Milia.”

The dryad nodded. “We’re safe out in the east for now. But even if you meet her by chance, don’t so much as befriend her. She’ll never go away. And we’ll be stuck in fear, knowing that she’ll visit as often as possible.”

“Sounds like you speak from experience,” I said, causing the dryad to sigh.

“Milia’s right, but any rumor will say the same thing,” Chenzu said. “The princess’s conquest of power is too much for us. She’s… a bit out of her mind, if you get what I mean.”

“The only person worse than her is the Peace Spawner, I’m guessing,” Milia said, shaking her head.

“Any more monsters I should be aware of?” I asked.

“I could go into the special beasts, but you’d be better off just enrolling into an academy at this point,” Chenzu said.

“Yeah, no,” I said, not relishing the idea of going back to school and especially with a bunch of bratty nobles. I could send the teenagers there, but that would be a decision for them to come up with on their own. None appeared to want to quit working at the shop, which moved me.

Unfortunately for them, I was about to repay the apprentices with a higher-ranked dungeon.

“So, instead of the E-ranked, we’ll go with a C,” I said.

“Don’t underestimate a C,” Chenzu said. “They’re a far league above that of an E-rank for a reason.”

“Perfect,” Milia said. “Mandi’s getting a little better, but I hope she can replace some new materials in the dungeon to craft with. Even she has a gold limit.”

“God, we’re like a crafting family,” I said. “I fucking love this.”

Chenzu laughed. “Keep an eye out on the progress of your first apprentice. Her talent may start scaring you.”

I shrugged. “I’ll need to triple my rate of improvement so that I’ll stay worth a damn as a teacher.”

“That’s an interesting wave of motivation but try not to burn out, my friend,” Chenzu said. “You too, Milia. You’ll lose your mind trying to catch the illogical power of a master magician.”

Milia pouted, but eventually relented in a sigh. “Perhaps.”

I hurried to the lab, wanting to get some purchases done before the teenagers came in.

[Current options. Buildings. Tools. Garden. Forges. Equipment and Devices. Farm. Shop.]

Knowing exactly what I wanted, I selected Buildings.

From there, I purchased the F-ranked spiritual room for fifteen hundred spirit coins. Before confirming my selection, I bought the F-ranked mana gathering machine, as well as the dungeon detector, for sixty and thirty spirit coins respectively. That left me with three thousand four hundred fifty-one. That may not mean much to assassins that could somehow get their hands on them, but to me, it meant the difference between upgrading and not.

Since the spiritual room was a building, I found a secluded spot outside and confirmed the fifteen hundred spirit coin purchase. As it constructed itself ruby brick by ruby brick, I took a look at my other manifesting goodies.

The dungeon detector appeared first. What I hoped for was the dragon radar from Dragon Ball. Reality presented me with a light blue crystal the size of a baseball.

[Dungeon Detector. Item rank: B. Item quality: Superior. Within ten miles of a dungeon, the crystal’s color will change to yellow. It will turn red when you’re within half a mile of it. The crystal will not react to dungeons you’ve already visited.]

Before I could blow my top off in annoyance, another prompt followed up.

[The dungeon detector will now be added to your menu. You will automatically be notified of a nearby dungeon when the option’s toggled on. Current position: off.]

Much better. While it wasn’t amazing, especially for a whopping thirty spirit coins, having it as a menu option suited me.

I turned to the other goody, which looked like a four-foot-tall, four-legged antenna. It wasn’t made of metal, but of some kind of crystal. The device itself was light, enabling me to move it to wherever I needed it.

[F-ranked Mana Gathering Machine. Item rank: A. Item quality: Superior. This device slowly pulls mana from the atmosphere and stores it for use, whether for gadgets or trinkets or for personal use. Upgrade it for more options and higher gathering speeds. Current: 5% of 100%. Estimated time until full: 5 days. Upgrade for 10,000 spirit coins and one rare potion.]

F-rank’s speed honestly didn’t surprise me, other than the upgrade requirements. I doubted I’d replace a device like this anywhere else, at least not anytime soon. Since I currently had no use for it, I turned my attention back to the newest building, setting the mana gathering machine next to it. It looked like a small house made of ruby-like bricks. By this time, Milia, Chenzu, and the pets were all staring at it. Beakwing had watched the entire time with fascination.

“This is a spiritual room,” I told them. The voices of the teenagers from afar meant perfect timing. Not that I’d use them as guinea pigs. The description of the spiritual room, valued at fifteen hundred, gave me some ideas when it came to boosting their abilities.

[F-ranked Spiritual Room. Item rank: AAA. Item value: Extraordinary. Meditation in this room will greatly boost all Daos, or connect those lacking a Dao. At F-rank, mana cultivation is increased by 5%. Chance for enlightenment at F-rank increases to 1%. Upgrade for increased boosts, enhanced or added features. Upgrade price: 150,000 spirit coins and 1 angel summoning potion. Good luck with that!]

So basically, upgrading was impossible. Great. Well, it didn’t matter since I couldn’t believe just what the hell I read. Excited, I read the description to Chenzu and Milia, gaining awed reactions.

I opened the door and stepped inside. It turned out to be a cool, dim room with soft, padded floors and an incredibly comforting ambient aura. It reminded me of having the fan on at night as I slept.

The room was about the size of a studio apartment, if that, and could fit all of us inside with space to spare.

“This place is amazing,” Milia said as she looked around. “I can see why it cost a small fortune. It could be considered a spiritual treasure.”

“Sects and even academies would kill for this,” Chenzu added. “A child meditating in here could be at a leagues advantage over anyone.”

“It’s probably best to limit use after upgrading it a bit,” Milia said. “Boosts are fine, but relying on this too much could cause complacency, even undo a foundation.” She smiled. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take advantage of this, of course. Everyone should learn their limits, strengths, and weaknesses.”

“We’ll try this out later, but for now, let’s get to that dungeon,” I said. “I want to get back and open up the shop as soon as possible.”

“Perhaps we could add to the shop’s inventory today,” Milia said as she spun, heading to lock up.

“Wolverine, Cheetara, keep an eye on the home fort, okay?” I said. “When I return, I’ll get you meat pies.”

Wolverine dove into my arms, licking my cheek. Cheetara hopped onto my shoulder, rubbing against me. I gave both my pets some head pats, scratches, and even a hug for my overexcited wolf.

“Hi everyone,” Harmony greeted.

“Good morning!” Mandi said cheerily. Opal floated at her side, eyes sparkling.

“Sir Nate-Nate-Nate-Nate-Nate!” She damn near tackled me. “That book has far exceeded my expectations, but not as much as Mandi herself has. She’s an elite talent, a prodigy, almost like that blue-haired girl, whatever her name is.”

“Jesus, calm down,” I said. “Don’t forget to breathe.”

Harmony stared at Opal blankly, shaking her head, likely trying to figure out what to make of the newcomer. She looked around until her eyes fell onto the ruby brick building and the mana gathering device next to it.

“I guess for a small farm, that building shouldn’t gain too much notice, but I’d suggest not going overboard until you’re ready to reveal yourself to the entire world,” Harmony said. Lucas muttered what sounded like a snarky comment, only to gain himself a swat to the back of his head.

He laughed as Harmony glared at him.

Mandi giggled. She turned back to me. “Are we waiting for… Mother and Father or…?” Her voice trailed off. If she had aura, I’d probably feel the poor girl’s nervousness.

“We’re going to a C-ranked dungeon first,” I said, gaining the interested eyes of all the teenagers.

“Wait, you’re not going to make us fight C-ranked monsters alone, are you?” Mandi said.

“No. Unless you think you’re ready for that, of course,” I said. “We’re going to be a party.”

Harmony’s eyes lit up. “We can fight beside you and Milia? That’s excellent!”

Chenzu gave a fake hurt look, which made Harmony quickly speak. “I didn’t know you were coming too.”

“Sure am,” Chenzu said. “A C-ranked dungeon isn’t to be underestimated. You won’t easily charge through it like that of a D or E.”

Milia returned moments later, joining us on the massive griffin’s back. We wouldn’t be able to clear the entire dungeon in a day, especially with time being against us. Help for the town aside, I wanted Gwendolyn’s opinion with regards to the minor nobles currently awaiting their kingdom guard escorts.

I did wonder a bit to why I didn’t consider taking the law into my own hands, despite knowing that they hired an assassin to kill me, but it came down to one thing. I wanted to know if the law was actually reliable. I didn’t come to this world to gain a body count like some psychopath, but every time I reaped a life, it was only because I had no choice. Even as a potion maker, if backed in a corner, then punching off a head or two became an option. It would be me or them meeting the hand of death, and I sure as shit didn’t plan on dying prematurely.

Milia wasn’t one hundred percent certain on the location of a C-ranked dungeon, so I pulled out the dungeon detector, explained how it worked, and within half an hour, we found one. Unfortunately, three fucking Rowbears lounged around the entrance, one even scratching its ass. They were ten to fifteen foot giants, fucking six-armed bears with fiery fur. Their presences were immense, showcasing that running into the aggressive S-ranked beasts was likely a case of being quite unlucky. But I don’t need to tell you that since one opened its maw and unleashed a fast ball of flame at us. Its attack moved so fast, Beakwing just barely dodged it. I felt its heat as it soared over us.

“Sir Nate, have you brought us here to be sacrifices?” Opal whined, eyes teary.

“Why would I sacri…? You know, just wait here,” I said. “I’ll take care of these guys so we can enter the dungeon.”

“I’ll come with you,” Milia said and, together, we hopped off Beakwing, right into the fray.

One Rowbear was too slow to get up, so I wasted no time blasting it into the wall with a Dragon Magic Burst. That did jack diddly squat as it shook the attack off and pulled itself together. Milia fared slightly better, getting some slashes against her opponent. To my surprise, Chenzu had engaged the third Rowbear, reminding us again that he was far from being a weakling or even a pure support type.

Not wanting to be out done, I decided to act like a real magician and summoned my spell book while my Rowbear opened its maw. Knowing what was coming, I got on the move. Three massive fireballs smashed into behind me, one by one, leaving behind large craters upon their collisions with the ground. Fortunately, this area was mostly dirt, or we’d have a forest fire to deal with in addition to bastard bears.

“Collapse. Come forth, Yukihara,” I chanted. A moment later, the massive tome floated at my side with its fairy. “I need you to distract it.”

“Are you out of your mind, Lord Nate!” Yukihara said, shivering, eyes watering. “That thing will eat me!”

“I’m just kidding,” I said. “Make sure the lightning actually kills it.”

“Will do! Fire now. Just looking at that monster is making me reconsider allowing humans to wield me.”

I felt the bizarre energy of the blood lightning course through me as I aimed a palm at the Rowbear. It decided to charge me, pissed that none of its crippling fireballs hit their targets.

I unleashed the attack.

The Rowbear squealed and dropped to the ground as the lightning covered him. Suddenly, its flames snuffed out, leaving behind a lifeless corpse. Not wanting to waste further time, I zapped both Chenzu and Milia’s Rowbears, killing them instantly.

Or so I thought. One of them endured my attack, something glowing on its neck. The bright green stone the size of a grape rose to the air and shattered moments later.

“Where did it replace a defensive mana stone?” Chenzu mused.

The remaining Rowbear stomped its foot on the ground, red liquid dripping from its mouth as it growled at us.

Something felt off about this particular Rowbear.

Abruptly, its eyes turned pitch black, like an endless void and inky blackness began to leak from its mouth.

Its aura quadrupled, pushing all of us back with strong winds. If the teenagers weren’t far enough away with Beakwing, they would’ve been caught and suppressed in the maelstrom of ridiculous power.

It seemed like before we’d get the chance to pick up some crafting ingredients, we’d have to exterminate one stubborn pest.