Chapter 10: Liquid Money

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Liquid Money

"I don’t quite get it," Jared said. "Potions? For mana? Why would anyone make those? I’m thrilled they exist but what brought about those in the first place. "

[Because the rich wanted a way to capitalize on the beast master profession.]

"That’s not really an answer."

[Then let me turn it into a story. A long time ago, wealthy families noticed something. Beast masters were quickly becoming the most respected, powerful profession in this world. Everyone wanted to be one. But mana was slow to earn. It took years of training, years of slaying, years of grinding through levels. The rich don’t like waiting.]

"So they bought their way around it."

[They did. They found a method. Concentrated beast extracts. Distilled essence from beasts, bottled and sold. Drink one, and your mana count jumps. A temporary boost, but a big one.]

"How temporary?"

[That depends. Sometimes the effect lasts once. Sometimes it lasts across multiple refills. It varies from master to master. Nobody’s quite sure why.]

Jared frowned. "I don’t..."

[Let me finish.]

"I wasn’t going to say anything."

[You were going to say you don’t get it. Again. Let me finish explaining, Rex. Try and listen quietly like a good student.]

Jared closed his mouth.

[Thank you.] The panel pulsed, it’s tone,almost smug. [A vial can bring a beast master like you from a mana count of 100 to 100,000. Maybe even a million, if the vial is good enough.]

Jared’s eyes widened.

[But that’s only a temporary boost. Once you deplete it, your cap, when it refills, might be as high as 100,000 again. Or it might be lower. It decreases over time. Every refill, the number shrinks. Eventually, you’re back to just 100.]

"So it wears off."

[It wears off. Yet there’s a catch.]

"There’s always a catch." He rolled his eyes as he said so.

[The drop can happen early. You drink a vial, you burn through all that mana in one go, and the next time you refill, you’re back to being capped at 100. No gradual decline. Just a clean fall off the cliff.]

He smiled.

’This is good news.’

It was the first genuinely good news he’d received since he woke up. A temporary boost wasn’t a permanent fix, but it was something.

"Let me go get it, then," he said.

He turned and ran.

His boots pounded across the packed dirt, and he shoved through the back door and into the kitchen. Zoey was nowhere in sight. The house was quiet, a faint smell of soap and cooking still hanging in the air. He took the stairs two at a time, one hand on the rail, and didn’t slow until he reached his room.

[Did you forget where you left them?]

"Where I left them?"

"Funny "

"But no," he panted. "I’m just not sure where."

[It’s the shelf.]

"You said the drawer."

[Did I?]

"You said the drawer under the desk."

[Close enough. It’s a piece of furniture. I get confused.]

"You shouldn’t get confused. Those are two distinctly different things.

He shook his head and scanned the room. A wooden shelf hung above the desk, crowded with old books. And there, tucked behind the books sat two small glass vials, each the length of his finger. One held a faint golden liquid that shimmered when the light caught it. The other was a deep, murky blue.

He reached up and took the nearest one.

[While you’re up there, I’ll continue the explanation. Mana vials are not all equal. The concentration varies. We call it purity. The purer the extract, the more mana you receive. And, of course, the more expensive the vial.]

"Makes sense."

[It does. Which is why they’re ranked. Let me show you.]

The panel unfolded, and a neat column of text spread across it.

[S Rank Extract: 1,000,000]

[A Rank Extract: 500,000]

[B Rank Extract: 100,000]

[C Rank Extract: 50,000]

[D Rank Extract: 10,000]

[E Rank Extract: 1,000]

Jared read down the list, then read it again. His heart was beating faster.

"A million," he whispered. "For an S rank."

[Yes. Though I wouldn’t expect to find one in a drawer. Or on a shelf. Or anywhere you can reach.]

"So what do most beast masters use?"

[Most go around with a couple of E and D Rank vials in their stash. Cheap, reliable, easy to find. After all, you could run low on mana at any random point. In the middle of a fight. In the middle of a crowd. In the middle of an argument with your sister for example. ]

Jared looked at the system with disappointment.

"That’s a very specific example."

[It’s a common one.]

"Oh really?"

Jared turned the golden vial in his fingers. It was cool against his skin, and the liquid inside moved slowly, like honey. He held it up to the window. Light poured through it and scattered in warm gold across the wall.

"System," he said. "Analyze this one. What’s its rank?"

[Look at you, using commands. Fine. One moment.]

A thin beam of light swept across the vial. The golden liquid trembled, then settled. Several lines of text flickered over the glass.

[Analysis complete.]

"And?"

[It’s a B Rank extract.]

Jared’s mouth curved.

"B Rank," he said. "That’s moderate."

[It’s decent.]

"100,000."

[Exactly.]

"That’s 1,000x what I currently have."

"That’s a huge jump."

[It’s not a small one.]

He stared at the vial. ’B Rank. Not the best. Not the worst. Just enough.’ It sat in his palm like a tiny sun. He glanced at the other vial, the blue one, still on the shelf. He had no idea what rank it was. For now, he decided to leave it where it was.

’One at a time. Don’t be greedy.’

[A rare moment of wisdom. Let’s frame it.]

He tucked the golden vial into his pocket and hurried out of the room. The stairs creaked beneath him, and the kitchen flashed past in a blur. Then the back door banged open, and he was outside again, blinking in the afternoon sun.

The yard was exactly as he’d left it.

He walked back to the center and stopped in the same spot. Same boots, same dirt, same patch of ground where the Ground Dragon had stood only minutes before.

He took the vial out and held it up.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

[No.]

"Trust me. That question wasn’t for you."

" In any case your response was not comforting."

[I wasn’t trying to comfort you .]

Jared looked at the vial for a long moment. The liquid shifted gently, catching the light, as if it were breathing.

’I can’t stay at 100. I can’t be this weak forever. If I want to survive here, I have to take chances. Just like I did in the hospital, when I signed that paper. Just like I did when I spun the wheel.’

He pulled the stopper out with his thumb.

A sweet, strange smell drifted up, something like honey and rain. His stomach twisted.

He tipped his head back and drank.

It slid down his throat, thick and warm. For a second nothing happened. He lowered the empty vial and stared at it.

Then a pulse of heat bloomed in his chest, spreading outward in slow, steady waves.

He took a breath.

"Let’s test it," he said.