Chapter 31 - 13: [Gugu Chicken, Wheat Grain Bag, and Super Painful Magic Potion]

Chapter 31: Chapter 13: [Gugu Chicken, Wheat Grain Bag, and Super Painful Magic Potion]

"Ah... of course it’s a scam! How could it possibly be that expensive?" Roster managed to say, groaning weakly. His face was already deathly pale, and bead-sized drops of cold sweat rolled down from his forehead.

He was quite the tough guy, though. Even with his abdomen sliced open, he grit his teeth and held back his screams.

Samael looked at him, completely exasperated.

He wondered where he was supposed to find medical supplies out in the wilderness. A second later, an unusual weight at his waist brought him back to his senses.

Randall had previously stuffed a leather pouch full of Magic Potions into his hands. Among them was a chain holding over twenty vials of Healing Potions.

"You should thank Randall... If you make it back alive, remember to apologize to Randall Rysk." Samael opened the leather pouch at his waist and pulled out the chain of glass vials filled with a murky, crimson liquid. He popped open a Healing Potion with one hand and poured it down Roster’s throat without a word of warning.

The next second, Roster screamed bloody murder!

"AAAAAAAH! It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts!"

"What’s going on? Is it not working?" Samael asked, inspecting the wound.

At the site of the injury, granulating tissue was writhing and slowly regenerating.

[Biological Structural Integrity: 56% (Rising)]

Clearly, the Magic Potion was highly effective.

"Oh, one vial probably wasn’t enough. I knew it, a bottle the size of a finger is barely enough for a sip!" Realizing his mistake, Samael popped open another vial and forcefully poured it into Roster’s mouth.

"AAAAAAAH! Hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts! Aaaaaah, don’t give me any more of that! It hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, AAAAAAH!" Roster, who had just been toughing it out, was now shrieking like a stuck pig.

[Biological Structural Integrity: 60% (Rapidly Rising)]

"These bottles are so small. The pain must be because the dosage isn’t high enough. This is a Healing Potion, you’ll be fine once you drink another one!" Samael pried Roster’s mouth open by force and poured another vial down his throat.

"Don’t, don’t, stop! No, no, no, no, no, no, no—MMGPH, AAAAAAAAH!" Roster’s plea was cut off halfway as he was force-fed yet another vial.

[Biological Structural Integrity: 68% (Extremely Rapidly Rising)]

[Biological Structural Integrity: 75%... 82%... 91%... 99%... 100%]

[Status: Stable. Comatose.]

"Oh, it should be fine now," Samael said, letting go of him. "Roster, how do you feel?"

"Captain Roster?" the Little Fatty Swordsman and the bespectacled boy called out, shaking him.

Roster’s eyes had rolled back into his head; he had passed out from the excruciating pain.

"He’s fine. His condition has stabilized." Samael scratched his helmet, staring at the empty vials in his hand. "Why would drinking a Healing Potion cause severe pain instead?"

"Novice Alchemists have terrible purification skills," Talia’s voice rang out beside his ear. "The ingredients for Healing Potions include Bloodthorn, which contains a type of thorn poison that induces severe pain. It’s very hard to remove, and beginners usually can’t filter it out completely. It doesn’t affect the healing properties, but it will cause immense agony."

Samael turned his head. Talia’s helmet was just inches from his face, with a few strands of gray hair swaying slightly through the gaps in her visor. With her hands behind her back, she leaned over to examine the vials in Samael’s hand.

"Your Sewage Worker friend probably forgot to tell you that poorly purified, off-brand Healing Potions need to be taken with painkillers. He even packed an equal amount of painkillers in the pouch." She reached out with her clawed fingertips, flicking through the twenty-two tubes of painkillers inside the leather bag. "The Healing Potion’s efficacy is very strong. Even though the recovery speed of a single vial is somewhat slow, it’s enough to stabilize his condition. You accidentally fed him too much, causing him to pass out from the pain."

"...You should have said so earlier," Samael muttered, looking at Roster who had fainted from the pain with his eyes rolled back. He silently tucked the leather pouch away. "It’s about time we headed back."

He bent down, hoisting Roster up and settling the man onto his back.

"T-The loot! We definitely have to take the loot!" the Little Fatty Swordsman added, pointing at the corpses of the Split Claw Birds.

Samael shot Talia a glance.

"Oh, fine, I know," Talia agreed reluctantly, gloomily lifting a heavy Split Claw Bird corpse with one hand.

As the carcass was dragged away, the weed-covered ground beneath it was revealed.

"Wait a minute." Samael suddenly stopped in his tracks. "What’s this...?"

Scattered among the weeds were light brown granules. It was what the flock of Split Claw Birds had just been pecking at.

"...Wheat grains?" Talia said, her tone filled with confusion.

Why would there be wheat grains out in the wild of the Barren Land? Ordinary human crops shouldn’t be able to grow in the demonized soil of the Barren Land, which was saturated with Spiritual Energy.

Following the trail of grains, Samael slowly paced toward the center of the weeds.

A burlap sack, torn open by beaks and claws, lay quietly in the middle of the grass. It still contained half a bag of wheat grains.

"Bring this along too." He looked back at Talia.

Talia nodded, using her free hand to lift the burlap sack.

Partial text was printed on the bag:

[Grain transport to Kana... (torn by bird claws)... City].

Back in Luojie City, on Old Wood Street, sat the public workshop across from the barracks.

There was no shortage of skilled artisans among adventurers. This included Alchemists adept at brewing potions, Hunters skilled at crafting traps and throwing weapons, Mages and Elf Enchanters who specialized in making magical items, and Dwarf Hammer Wielders who excelled in forging and processing. However, the rooms in the adventurer barracks were cramped and lacked equipment, making it difficult to carry out crafting work.

Therefore, the alliance strongholds would establish public workshops near the barracks. These spaces housed a vast array of profession-specific manufacturing equipment, and adventurers could pay to rent both the tools and a private room. Compared to purchasing equipment and a workspace independently, the public workshops were obviously much more convenient and cost-effective.

Inside one of the Alchemist workshops, a short, blonde Alchemist stood on a footstool. She stirred a cauldron full of various raw materials on the broad workbench, fiddling with extractors and droppers.

Randall sat on one side of the workbench. Taking advantage of the spacious tabletop, he was taking the opportunity to bind and organize his study notes.

"Freeloading in my workshop again..." the short, blonde Alchemist muttered.

"I’m just borrowing it for a bit, the table here is huge. I’ll leave as soon as I finish organizing my notes." Randall stacked his notes on flora and fauna habits into a neat pile, tapping the edges against the table to align them.

ACHOO! Randall turned his head, covering his mouth as he sneezed.

"Catch a cold, Captain?" Apprentice Alchemist Ruby asked, continuing to stir the heating cauldron.

"N-No... I’m fine," Randall replied. He fell into thought. "I just get the feeling that I’ve forgotten something."

"You forgot to give me money! Organizing notes in the public workshop that I rented? Hurry up and split half the rent with me! Cough up the cash!" Ruby stretched out a hand.

"Not happening... I’m very sure that’s not what I forgot." Randall dodged her hand with the agility expected of a Hunter.

"By the way, why did you suddenly come to me for Magic Potions again? Did you run out of the batch I prepared for the whole team that quickly?" Ruby asked.

"I gave my share of the Magic Potions to the new teammates joining us tomorrow." Randall stroked his chin. "Weren’t we just talking about it? They’re two very strong Full Armor Knights... Oh!"

He let out a gasp of realization.

"What now? Why so jumpy?" Ruby asked.

"I forgot to tell them that your Healing Potions hurt like crazy! They need to be taken with painkillers!" Randall jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over in the process.

"They should be glad there’s a cure at all! It’s not like it affects the efficacy... It’s not my fault the Bloodthorn Poison can’t be completely filtered out. I already did my best to keep the impurities to an absolute minimum—do you know how much effort it took me to remove even that much? So dramatic!" Ruby grumbled.