Chapter 8: Life-Saving Potion

Chapter 8: Life-Saving Potions

The dinner was a joyful affair. Everyone was immersed in the happiness of a bountiful harvest. Even Fals, who was usually stern and humorless, wore a faint smile—cracked like a broken egg. Though the smile was barely there, everyone could feel the joy in his heart.

As usual, Xazo and Snake took the plates to the kitchen and then headed over to the ticket carriage. Audrey passed the ledger around for everyone to review. Once all members confirmed everything was in order, she took the pre-allocated money bags from the cash box.

The Fire-Breather’s act had been the most spectacular, drawing the best ticket sales, so he received nearly 900 copper coins. The clown siblings and Popeye received over 500, which they would further divide among themselves. Snake the snake charmer and the Big Sister both took 200. Out of the remaining 400 coins, over 300 had to be set aside for operating expenses, leaving Xazo with 30.

Although this was a mere fraction of what the others received, he was quite content. The work paid well, was simple, and provided experience. Audrey was kind and willing to mentor new members. He had no reason to be dissatisfied.

"Big Sister, could you keep this for me?" After the others left, Xazo quietly handed his money bag to Audrey.

"Sure~ I'll hold onto it for you." Audrey affectionately pinched the boy’s cheek. "Come with me, let’s go for a walk in town."

"Big Sister, are you going to buy clothes again~"

Audrey put 300 copper coins into a separate pouch. "Oh, of course not. We’re going to purchase supplies. This job will be handed over to you eventually."

After taking inventory in the carriage, they set out onto the streets. The night in the city of Rosak was still bustling, and the arrival of the circus only added to the lively atmosphere. Audrey, accompanied by her young assistant who handled the bookkeeping, pushed through the crowd into shops, leaving deposits and taking pick-up slips. The copper coins in the pouch vanished visibly.

The circus’s expenses were quite high. Those 300 copper coins were just a fraction; they would have to pay double that amount later to collect the goods.

Their final stop was the Starry Night Apothecary. As the only academy for mages in the kingdom, the Starry Night Academy taught alchemy as a core subject, naturally dominating the majority of the potion business across the country.

Audrey negotiated prices with the shopkeeper at the counter. Xazo slowly walked around the store, scanning the beautifully packaged glass bottles. The variety of potions here was extensive, ranging from small painkillers for bruises and blood-clotting agents to potions for repairing internal organ damage—it had everything.

Xazo didn't shy away from using his "Probe" ability. He paused at every display case, examining every potion and noting their names and uses. Beside the bottles were small cards, and with the help of his ability, the descriptions on those cards were converted into detailed data.

"Lesser Recovery Potion: Restores 10 HP over 60 seconds. Grants experience upon effective health restoration. Name and use successfully memorized; information logged into knowledge reserves."

"Universal Antidote: Removes or grants immunity to most poison states for 1 hour after consumption. Grants experience upon successful detoxification or immunity..."

"Weak Recovery Potion: Immediately restores 20 HP upon consumption. Grants experience based on the amount of health restored..."

*Immediately restores 20 HP?*

Xazo squatted down, eyes locked on the hexagonal glass bottle. The potion inside was a vibrant red, like fresh blood flowing through veins. This was good stuff—a single bottle could top off his health.

Xazo looked at the price: 20 silver coins per bottle.

*Good grief. I couldn’t afford that even if I sold myself. It truly is a life-saving treasure.*

Xazo’s eyes gleamed as he set a small goal for himself: save enough money to buy one and keep it on his person for emergencies. His gaze drifted upward, scanning the other potions in the same series.

"Minor Recovery Potion: Instantly restores 30 HP, 30 silver coins per bottle."
"Intermediate Recovery Potion: Instantly restores 50 HP, 50 silver coins per bottle."
"Potent Recovery Potion: Instantly restores 80 HP, 80 silver coins per bottle."

Silver coins came in different denominations. The ones Xazo had found on the Old Scoundrel were worth 1 silver coin each. He had yet to see any silver coin worth more than that.

Xazo’s eyes moved to the luxurious velvet box at the very top.

"Perfect-grade Recovery Potion: Instantly restores 100 HP, 1 gold coin per bottle."

*Hiss... My god, 1 gold coin equals 100 silver coins. This one bottle costs 100,000 copper coins. My teeth are aching just thinking about it.*

Such an expensive potion displayed right in the shop—it seemed the shopkeeper was no ordinary person. Xazo turned his gaze to inspect the man. He looked like a simple, honest middle-aged man. The information from his "Probe" showed nothing special; his attributes were entirely on par with an average commoner.

At that moment, the shopkeeper was taking several potions out of a special display cabinet. The ones Xazo had seen earlier, priced in silver, were safe for ordinary people to drink and had no side effects. The deep red cabinet, however, held potions that only those who had cultivated a breathing technique could consume.

"Lesser Strength Burst Potion: Increases Strength attribute by 1 to 3 points for 30 seconds. Drinking more than 3 bottles within an hour will induce a mild poisoning state. Drinking this without a breathing technique will induce a moderate poisoning state with no other effects. Grants experience upon successful consumption."
Price: 200 copper coins per bottle.

The other potions in the deep red cabinet were similar—ordinary people would be poisoned, and those with breathing techniques could not overindulge without consequence. The only exception was the potion in the shopkeeper’s hand.

"Lesser Physical Repair Potion: Extremely slowly repairs internal bodily injuries. Reduces negative effects caused by breathing techniques. Effects last for 30 days. Repeat consumption within the duration does not increase efficacy. Grants experience upon effective repair of bodily injuries."
Price: 200 copper coins per bottle.

"Does our circus’s fire-breather come here to buy medicine? The big bald guy, no beard, the one with throat burns?" Audrey asked while purchasing five bottles of the physical repair potion with her own money.

"Yes, he has been here. He bought quite a lot of painkiller potions." The shopkeeper paused his calculation, his tone growing heavier. "You should remind him not to drink too much at once. Painkillers are quite addictive."

A flicker of distress crossed Audrey’s face, but she quickly masked it with a smile and took the boy’s hand to leave the shop. Xazo could feel the Big Sister’s worry; he felt the same. If someone used addictive substances alone without supervision, it was easy to increase the dosage under the influence of the drug to seek greater satisfaction.

Thinking of how Fals had once tried to steal three silver coins and was suspected of being expelled from his previous circus, Xazo deeply understood the burden on Audrey’s shoulders.

"Little one, is there anything you want to buy? Snacks? Toys?" Audrey stopped in front of a fairly large and well-decorated general store.

"I don’t need anything. I want to save my money. I’m happy just reading books in my spare time." Xazo looked at the goods in the shop and truly felt no interest. Clay dolls that peed when watered, plush toys that squeaked like ducks when squeezed—these were toys he had long grown tired of. And those cute, brightly colored lollipops... With a combined mental age of over thirty across two lifetimes, how could he be fascinated by things meant to fool children?

"So sensible. Let’s head back to the inn, then." Audrey pulled the boy into her arms, patting his arm in praise. This was what Xazo liked. *Hehehe...*

...

The moon hung high, casting frosted white light onto the floor. Snoring echoed in the three-person room. Xazo shared the room with Snake and the big guy. The other two had worked all day and fallen asleep the moment they hit their beds. Only Xazo, by the bright moonlight, flipped through the books he had just bought.

"Geography of Rosak Province" and "Wilderness Survival Manual" were selected by Audrey. The contents of the two books complemented each other, making them twice as effective to read together.

Xazo let out a silent gasp after reading a certain page. It turned out that running into the circus troupe was purely a case of a blind cat hitting a dead mouse—it was all down to luck and a little bit of logical deduction.

Rosak Province was located in the southernmost part of the Starry Night Kingdom. To its south was a wilderness plagued by outlaws. In the forest, observing the sun to determine directions was unreliable and easily led to getting lost. The best method was to walk in the opposite direction of light-colored or white tree clusters; the more brown trunks there were, the closer one was to human habitation in Rosak Province. If the Old Scoundrel hadn’t buried the boys’ bodies south of the cave... Xazo wouldn’t have headed north.

"That’s enough for tonight. Time to sleep." Xazo stretched, put the books away, and quickly drifted off to sleep.

...

The following days were much the same. Xazo guarded the ticket booth to greet tourists, while the others performed in the high-top tent. Daily wages were settled on the spot after dinner. The Big Sister never used any excuse to withhold the members' pay.

On the noon of the seventh day, the troupe packed up the grounds, returned the high-top tent and carriages to the parking area, and spent the rest of the time at leisure. Xazo read in his room until the caravan set off the next morning.

"Successfully memorized 'Geography of Rosak Province' and 'Wilderness Survival Manual'. Total experience gained: 4.5 points."
"Current upgrade progress: 15/15. Upgrading... Upgrade successful!"

[Level] Lv.3
[Experience] 0/20

This upgrade provided only one free attribute point. Xazo wasn't worried about the rate of gain; after all, times were different now. With a stable path for leveling and no need to worry about survival, getting more attribute points was just a matter of time. He didn't assign the newly acquired point to any attribute yet, preferring to wait until he truly needed it. He now had two free attribute points on hand.

The circus caravan started up and slowly drove out of the city gates alongside the traveling merchants.

"Hey, kid... I’ve got a gift for you." Popeye, his roommate in the carriage, pulled a small rubber ball from his pants pocket.

"Thank you, Popeye." Xazo took the ball and squeezed it hard with both hands. *Pop!* The rubber ball shot out from between his fingers and bounced off the carriage wall.

"Ah!" Xazo raised his arms to protect his face, fearing the ball might hit him.

Popeye caught the ball with a *slap* and chuckled, "Let me teach you how to use it. Cross your fingers and grip the ball—yes, just like that..."

Following the strongman's instructions, Xazo successfully compressed the rubber ball in his palm.

"That's it, that's it! Hehe, keep it held like that. You have to hold it for at least 10 seconds." Popeye took out his own ball to exercise.

Ten seconds later, Xazo released his palm, and a message appeared in his mind: "Completed one micro-elastic ball grip training. Gained 0.0001 experience points, gained 1/100,000th of a Strength point."

*Hehehe.* Xazo chuckled secretly. 100,000 repetitions would grant 1 point of Strength and 10 experience points. How delightful.

The boring journey now had a new pastime.