Master and Apprentices: Rise of the Cheat Potion Maker #2
Master and Apprentices: Chapter 20

Nate

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

Magician rank: 7th 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: Awakening. This is an early stage.

I doublechecked my stat sheet mostly to check if the Dao of Creation improved. Figured it wouldn’t be that easy. Fortunately, it wasn’t impossible either. The sense of spirituality felt beyond something I’d be able to understand, not with decades, but maybe centuries of pondering. The excitement of one hundred thirty-eight spirit coins pointed me toward spending it on a building upgrade, but I held off.

Something had to be done about the F-rank of Kyushu and now. If the rank stayed this low and the scheming nobles in the area continued to have their way, business would eventually destabilize. Or at least I assumed. Listen, I’ve never claimed to be an expert. However, I wasn’t stupid either. What they were currently doing was illegal activity. Seeing how the Black Cross did things, I wouldn’t put it past the Lord Ruler to take out his anger on the entire town if he found out about this.

“Whe—where am I?” Yukihara the fairy asked. “Where’s Andros? Where—”

“I think you failed to understand your situation,” Mandi said, smiling at the terrified fairy. “You’re a D-ranked spell book, right? A tome that once belonged to the mighty Black Knight, now in the hands of the man who defeated him.” She turned to Milia. “I meant to make that sound a bit romantic.”

Harmony shot the redhead a micro-glare before turning back to the floating spell book spirit.

“What normally happens to spell books of your rank after the owner dies?”

Yukihara trembled a bit longer but after seeing there was no active threat to her existence, finally relented.

“We become ownerless books until the next worthy magician comes along to claim the power within,” she said.

“Well then, I claim your power,” I told her. “How do we get started?”

She gaped at me. “How were you able to defeat Andros without a spell book? What kind of freak of nature are you? That should be… It should be impossible, right?”

“Welcome to our world,” Harmony deadpanned. “Nate could toss herbs in a pot, boil it into a sap, add water and mana, and create potions of unmatched qualities. When we do the same thing… well, they’re low grade.”

“You’ll get better over time,” I told my first apprentice. “Besides, you’ve got a spell book now. Make use of it.”

Being reminded of her gift, the teenager smiled.

“If there’s one person that could use a good spell book other than me, it’s you, Milia,” I said turning to her.

She shrugged. “Perhaps I’ll replace some way to purchase an F-ranked book somewhere.”

“Even if you replace such a place outside of the capital, you’ll never be able to afford it,” came an approaching voice from the hall. Chenzu emerged moments later, grinning. “It is about time you woke up, my friend. Milia’s mood is already restored whole again. That woman can worry harder than my mother.”

“Oh, keep a lid on it,” Milia said, pouting. Chenzu laughed.

I gestured for Yukihara to land on my hand. The fairy did so hesitantly. The sensation of warm energy, perhaps mana, coated my hand, but other than that, the book spirit was essentially weightless.

“We won’t harm you,” I told her. “But I’m confident I can be a better matchup than your previous owner. Plus I’ll treat you better. Go ahead and scan me. I can tell you’re dying to do so.”

Yukihara’s eyes glossed over. A second or two later, the tome spirit flinched.

“This Dao,” she whispered, before dramatically falling backward, hand on her forehead. Moments later, she hopped back to her feet. “Very impressive, human, but I’m afraid that it may not be enough. Don’t give me that look, I don’t make the rules. Unlike mortal and F-ranked spell books, the magician must be spiritually compatible with D-ranked or higher spirits.” She folded her arms.

“Then you’d better make us compatible or back into the spirit ring you go,” I said. “I’m sure I’ll make some spirit coins if I sell you off to an adventurer in Wingston.”

“Wait!” the fairy cried. “You didn’t so much as try to fight for me.” She turned to Milia. “How do you put up with this?”

Milia shrugged. “He fights for me.”

Yukihara narrowed her eyes, folded her arms, and just stared at me for about fifteen seconds. Suddenly Cheetara meowed at her, as if saying, “Get on with it already,” or perhaps, “Are you still with us?” I really wished I could do more than guestimate these translations. How the hell did they know what I was saying? Magic.

“Fine, you must form the contract with me with thy lips,” she said.

“I’m not kissing you, if that’s what you mean,” I said. “Amazing spell book or not, I have no plans to spend my life in jail.”

“I mean speak the words of binding, human,” Yukihara said, her voice deadpan. “And are you accusing me of being a child?” She flew up right to my face. “I’ll have you know, I’ve existed for two thousand years. If I kissed you, there would be no consequences.”

“Is that so?” Milia asked and the pressure I felt from her made me wonder if she somehow got ahold of my summoning potion.

The fairy quickly flew over to her, kowtowing on her hand. “I’d never do something so foolish, of course, especially with someone like that, no offense. He keeps making fun of me.”

Milia’s aura vanished, clearly satisfied with messing with the naïve spell book spirit.

“The words you must say, remember what Andros—”

“Are you sure about this, Nate?” Lucas suddenly interrupted. “What if she’s planning to avenge her previous owner?”

“Now that’s romantic,” Mandi said, eyes seemingly full of stars. “Furious that her lover in dark armor was destroyed by the very man holding her in his grasp, she waits for the perfect opportunity to enact her revenge.”

“You humans are the worst,” Yukihara said. “I am a spell book. I do not harbor pathetic emotions and attachments. Now are you going to say the words of binding or not?”

“You’re the most emotional person in here,” I said.

Yukihara tilted her head. “Person? Am I really a person to you?”

“Nope, you’re a tool, forgive my insolence,” I quipped. The little fairy landed on my hand, pouting, though she clearly knew I was kidding.

“I’m still trying to confirm that my eyes do not deceive me,” Chenzu said. “For someone to forcibly take a spell book is unheard of.”

“I’ve been out for six days,” I told the fairy. “I can’t remember Andros’s words.”

“Whenever you must summon me, speak the trigger. ‘Collapse! Come forth, Yukihara,’” she said. “I’ll form at your side.”

“That’s the most edgelord—”

“So cool!” Mandi said, interrupting me. “Aw, I wish I could have my own spell fairy.”

“Not all spell book spirits are fairies,” Yukihara said. “Even C-ranked spirits can grow to be humongous, like dragons.”

Not wanting to waste any further time in bed, I pulled out a general medicine potion and downed it. They were great for normal pain, even colds, and headaches. The Tylenol of my shop. Taking a mental note to myself to tone down the consumption of my product so that I could sell it, I stood.

Thankfully, the pain wasn’t bad, amounting to nothing more than soreness.

“Collapse. Come forth, Yukihara,” I said.

“Good, I was a little worried you were going to send me back into damnation,” the fairy said. “So scary in there. Place some blood on my tome and we’ll be linked. I’ll become part of your essence, ready to appear the moment you call me.”

“Can you… make the tome smaller before it appears?” I asked.

“Of course,” Yukihara said, nodding. “Though, we’re normally incorporeal and capable of shrinking automatically to fit anywhere. Otherwise, it’d be pointless to summon us if we got stuck.”

The tome appeared, its size matching Harmony’s. By this time, the blue-haired girl had already bonded with her spell book, following Chenzu’s instructions. I searched for something to prick my finger.

“Just form a tiny mana edge,” Harmony said. “Like this.”

A light blue triangular shape of mana oozed from her finger, reaching roughly a half-inch long.

Hoping I didn’t mess up, I pushed a drop of mana through a finger, imagining it taking the needle-shape I desired. Yukihara’s book manifested in front of me. With a quick prick, I had the blood on the book, and I became its new owner, just like that.

“It’s strange,” I said. “Shouldn’t the spatial magic of a storage ring block all living things from entering?”

“They do,” Milia replied. “I’m unsure if the tome spirits are considered nonliving, but even they shouldn’t be able to get pulled into a storage ring.”

“What you did was far from natural, my friend,” Chenzu said. “But I am certainly not complaining. You were like the avatar of a legendary dragon god.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said. “It’s kind of a crippling potion, even for something intended as a last resort. I can’t risk being out for six days every time I wanted to use it.”

“Not to mention it being a gamble,” Milia said.

“I knew it’d be enough to surprise Andros, but I hadn’t a clue it’d surpass my expectations ten times over,” I said.

They nodded.

“Now, if you don’t mind,” I continued as I gathered some fresh clothing from a side stand. “I’m showering. Fucking hungry enough to eat a Rowbear.”

After cleaning up, I considered meditating on the Dao, but my appetite wasn’t having it. Chenzu brought in slabs of meat from a food stall, and I chomped away. Milia served me a side of stir-fried vegetables to balance out the meal.

One good chug of water later and I let out a sigh, comfortable. I considered spending the one hundred spirit coins on upgrading the building until remembering that it wouldn’t matter until the town broke away from its F-rank. We had to do something about that now or, at the very least, kickstart the process.

“If we’re going to have Wingston spenders making the journey all the way here just to see us, we’ve got to change a lot of things,” I said. “Starting with doing something about the shitty nobles jacking up the prices. I want the news out in front and spread around. I’ll personally deal with them. No offense, Harmony, but if your father won’t stand up to them, then I will.”

“If you can’t convince them, I’m sure Mother can when she visits,” Mandi said, voice cheery.

I grinned. “Normally I’d sit back and let her handle it, but I don’t want to wait a week. Harmony, see if you can get your father to arrange a meeting between me and these nobles.”

“That… may not be so easy,” Harmony said. “But I’m sure he’ll at least try.”

Chenzu gave her a confused look. “Is your Papa not the leader of your town? I hate to be the dancing flabby guy, but the first mistake when dealing with nobles is taking a too soft approach.”

“Flabby guy?” Lucas said.

“The drunk, shirtless beastkin that nobody wants to drag home,” Chenzu said, chuckling. He seemed to reminisce on what had to be fun times.

[System notice. The option to take the lordship of the town for yourself is there. Gwendolyn is your ally and would submit herself as a reference in recognition of your power.]

I ignored the system, annoyed that it hadn’t given up with trying to push me into politics. There was nothing more fucking annoying than trying to convince rich people that they’re dicks and need to stop squeezing the life of the common people.

Not all of them did so, of course, but in a world where might is right, plenty used money as if it were magic. I was seriously not qualified to deal with that.

A knock on the door interrupted us.

“Shop’s closed,” I said. “We’ll be open tomorrow.”

The door opened and the entirety of the hero’s party surrounded me with embraces, except Ramon, of course. He knew to stay the hell back. It was surprising to see him here, as the man went out of his way to avoid me normally.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

“Okay, dammit, Ronica, let go,” I said, wrestling myself from the twerp’s stranglehold.

“She needs to get married already,” Mandi quipped. “Nate’s my—Milia’s snuggle bear.”

The room silenced, before everyone erupted into laughter at my expense. Even Ramon joined in. Chuckling, I let them have this.

“You’re all right on time to help us out,” I announced.

“But we came over to play,” Ronica said. “It’s rare for all of us to have days off. The mayor’s not making Ramon sweep his building.”

I took the time to smirk at the hero, but his glare was locked on the short, cheery woman.

“I’m fine already,” I told Nuwa, who left a side conversation with Milia to coat me with healing magic.

“Milia’s right, you know,” Nuwa said. “You shouldn’t drink whatever concoction that did this to you again.”

“Not with my current physique,” I said. “But we’ll get into that later. First, let’s force a meeting between the nobles that’re artificially inflating the town’s prices and wrecking the local economy. I want this fixed today.”

“Then become lord of the town,” Kelvin said, though he grinned at my glare.