Chapter 59: Elixir(4)
Chapter 59: Elixir(4)
Barikmeteo ground his teeth. His mane fluttered in the rising tide of his killing intent.
Nassen and Furuku knelt before him, trembling uncontrollably.
“So those bastards have finally entered the forest?”
“Yes… We’re certain. A pack of kobolds was slaughtered, and the only ones around here capable of such a thing are the hero’s party…”
“These pups charge in, not knowing to fear a tiger.”
There was only one reason for the hero’s party to enter the forest: to hunt down Barikmeteo and his cohorts.
“They think they can hunt me? The insolent fools!”
When Barikmeteo roared, the ground rumbled. Nassen and Furuku could only break out in a cold sweat.
“This forest is our domain. They can’t possibly be unaware of that. And yet they prance in here, claiming they’ll hunt us. They must see us as a complete pushover.”
“Th-that’s right. Even for a hero, they are unbelievably arrogant…”
“And isn’t this all because of you two?!”
“Hiiik!”
“Buhiik… My fault! It’s my fault!”
“The higher-ups have confirmed that the hero’s party destroyed the abandoned mine in the Magic City. If you two hadn’t screwed up from the start and reported things properly, our response would have been much faster.”
“We… we’re sorry… We’re so sorry…”
“Hmph… Prepare yourselves for a severe reprimand. I have to go and personally deliver the report you two failed to submit. Dammit. I’m going to get an earful from them.”
Barikmeteo rose to his feet and unfurled his wings.
“Until I return, you will use any means necessary to kill the hero. If the hero is too much for you, then at least take one or two of her weaker companions down with you. Do you understand, you useless bastards?”
“Y-yes, we understand.”
“If… when I return, those bastards are still unharmed, I will devour you both without fail.”
Barikmeteo’s bloodshot eyes made it clear he was being deadly serious. His expression said his patience had finally run out.
The only reason Nassen and Furuku were still alive was for the sake of recovering the White Witch’s seal. But with their repeated failures, Barikmeteo’s patience was clearly reaching its limit.
“I’m leaving now.”
Barikmeteo spread his massive wings and soared into the sky.
They had just over a week until he returned from delivering his report to his superiors.
This time… if we don’t succeed, he’s really going to eat us.
Nassen was certain of it.
Furuku felt the same. As if recalling some unpleasant memory, his massive frame trembled as he dripped with sweat.
“This is it. There’s no turning back. We have to capture the heroes, no matter what it takes. By any means necessary!”
The one who truly worried him wasn’t the blonde hero, but that annoying man.
It was always that man who interfered with his plans.
“Furuku. Get up. Barikmeteo is gone.”
“…Buhiik… Nassen, I’m scared. So scared… I don’t want to be eaten by Barikmeteo. Being eaten by him is worse than death… Buhiik…”
“I feel the same way. That’s why we have to succeed this time, no matter what. Even if we have to risk our lives. Got it?”
“Got it. Buhiik… What’s the plan?”
“I have a rough idea. I’ll have to work out the details now. The situation isn’t entirely against us.”
“Because this is a forest… Buhiik… Buhiik…”
“Exactly. This is our forest. They’ll regret ever setting foot in here.”
Nassen and Furuku bustled about, preparing their plan to strike the hero’s party.
This time, not even that annoying man would be able to interfere so easily.
*
The very same annoying man who worried Nassen and Furuku was, at that moment, in quite a predicament.
I can’t believe Lina found my elixir first!
In Lina’s hand was a white pill. It had to be the elixir the White Witch had told me about.
“I found it in that… rather shameless room.”
For someone so embarrassed, you sure did a good job finding the elixir! Is this the regressor’s privilege of hogging all the lucky finds?
“Lina… do you have any idea what that is?”
“Yes. It’s likely an elixir. A medicine made from a collection of various rare ingredients.”
“…”
Of course she knows. It would be stranger if she didn’t.
I couldn’t just throw a tantrum and demand she give me something she found.
And of all people, why did it have to be Lina who found it!
If it had been Natasha or Victoria, I might have at least tried asking for it.
Seeing the elixir I’d considered my share in someone else’s hands, I felt like I was being robbed.
But there was nothing I could do. I was just about to resign myself to figuring out how to get it back later when she spoke.
“I would like you to take this elixir, Kerry.”
“Pardon?”
“I said I would like you to take this elixir, Kerry.”
For a moment, I was completely stunned.
Then again, thinking about it, the only reason Lina would present the elixir to me was to give it to me, right?
But… she’s really giving it to me this easily?
“This is just my guess, but this is an elixir that allows the body to absorb mana. It would be best to have the elder, who is a shaman, confirm its specific components before you consume… Kerry?”
Without thinking, I had pulled Lina into a hug. The cold touch of the armor she was wearing suddenly brought me to my senses.
“Ah! I’m so sorry, Lina. I was just so happy that I…”
“…”
I was worried I might have offended her, but Lina was just averting her eyes, her face blushing.
Then, clearing her throat, she said, “It’s alright. H-However… you have Natasha. It would be best to be more careful next time.”
“Yes, Lina.”
I worried that Natasha might see this and go berserk, but she was surprisingly calm. It seemed she understood that it was a hug of gratitude, not a lover’s embrace. She’s grown up so well.
Still, even Natasha couldn’t help but wear a sour expression.
Lina turned to the rest of the party, who were staring intently.
“Does anyone object to Kerry taking the elixir?”
“My husband should definitely have it!”
“I’d like my son-in-law to have it as well. Heh heh.”
“That’s great, Kerry. If you take that, you’ll be able to grow even more as a mage.”
A wave of emotion washed over me.
I’ve done a great job in this party!
All my efforts to feed and take care of my party members hadn’t been in vain.
Fuck. I made the right call pledging my loyalty to the regressor!
A desire to stay with Lina for a long, long time welled up inside me.
“You seem happier than I expected. I understand, knowing your passion for magic, but…”
“I may not be crying on the outside… but inside, a tsunami of emotion is crashing over me, and I feel like I’m about to be swept out into the Pacific Ocean! Lina! Everyone! Thank you for letting me have this!”
“Pacific Ocean…? Tsunami? What do you mean by that?”
“Just know that I’m incredibly happy!”
Kerry accepted the elixir from Lina. The white pill looked particularly tempting now.
So this is the elixir that will upgrade me to the next level!
“Kerry, don’t take it just yet. Some elixirs are of poor quality and could have unknown side effects. In severe cases, it’s not uncommon for them to be fatal.”
Yeah, I know that all too well. But Kerry had the Goddess’s Eye. He used it on the white pill.
[Name - Witch’s White Pill]
[Summary - A pill that allows the user to gain ten years’ worth of mana upon consumption.]
[Grade - Heroic]
Ten years’ worth of mana?
This meant that by eating this, I could get the mana I would have otherwise had to slave away for ten years to accumulate.
This other world is so fucking absurd!
I felt a renewed sense of gratitude toward the White Witch for preparing something so good for me, and to my party for giving it to me.
But there was still an important detail left.
[Side Effects - Enhancement of virility. If consumed by a female, hormonal changes may cause masculinization.]
“…”
“Kerry. What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”
What kind of side effect is this? Still, enhanced virility isn’t a bad thing.
“It’s nothing.”
“Then let’s entrust the elixir to the elder for now, and you can take it later.”
“Understood, Lina.”
Kerry’s thoughts grew complicated. Did the witch know about the side effects?
Enhancement of virility. Just how much more potent could I get?
To be honest, Kerry wasn’t lacking in the stamina department. If I got any stronger, I wasn’t sure I could handle it.
Don’t tell me the White Witch gave this to me knowing about the side effects?
If she did, that’s a little infuriating.
But it wasn’t exactly a bad side effect for Kerry.
He had, after all, recently experienced his limits during a threesome with Victoria and Natasha.
Perhaps by taking this, he could grow not only as a mage but also as a man. Now that was something to look forward to.
Kerry finished his thoughts and spoke to the party.
“Well then… shall we have dinner first? I’ll show you what I can really do.”
“Wow! I always love it when my husband cooks!”
“I was actually getting quite hungry myself.”
“In the meantime, I’ll examine this pill, son-in-law.”
And so, the day at the villa came to a close.
*
It was late in the night. Kerry got out of bed.
The villa had so many rooms that everyone in the party could have their own. Of course, the women had gotten used to sleeping together every night and chose to do so.
“The White Witch definitely said… to come back to her when I was ready to take the elixir.”
If the White Witch knew about the side effects, it looked like she had planned this whole thing to seduce me.
It was a cute plan, in a way, but it was still infuriating.
First, I need to go and confirm it myself.
Kerry teleported to the White Witch’s bedroom. The moment he arrived, she greeted him with a noticeable delight.
“Kerry. You’ve returned. Oho. Judging by that confident look on your face, you must have secured the elixir I told you about, yes?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“That is good… No. I mean, that’s wonderful.”
“…”
Wasn’t that a dead giveaway?
The White Witch assumed Kerry didn’t know about the side effects. That must be why she was being so careless.
“My lady Witch. Is there anything you’d like to confess to me?”
“…Wh-what do you mean? What is there to confess?”
“I’m asking if you’re hiding anything.”
“…”
“I… have no idea what you are talking about.”
She’s a terrible liar. Should I let it slide just this once? I’d have to think about it a bit more.
“Very well. Then let’s get right to taking the elixir. You said you could help me if I took it here, correct?”
“That is so. An elixir is, by its nature, a mass of highly concentrated energy. Normally, even if one consumes it, they cannot absorb it all. At best, they might absorb half, perhaps sixty percent. But with my help, you can absorb close to one hundred percent of the elixir.”
“Ooh. As expected of the legendary archmage.”
“Flattery will get you no further special treatment… but you may do so from time to time.”
Kerry was overcome with emotion. This was the moment he could finally become a proper mage.
Through constant training, Kerry had accumulated a mass of mana larger than his knuckle inside his body. But it was still not enough to cast spells.
The magic he had used so far was thanks to pre-charging mana into the storage orbs; it wasn’t his own power.
But after absorbing the elixir, that would all change.
Even after the Magic Storage Orbs were depleted, he would be able to cast magic again and again, as long as his own mana remained.
He was taking one step closer to becoming a true mage!
“Then let’s begin right away.”
“Very well. First, sit in a meditative posture. That is the basic stance for absorbing an elixir.”
“Yes.”
Kerry sat cross-legged, and the White Witch sat behind him.
“Steel your heart. An elixir is not some convenient item that grants you power just by eating it. If you fail, you could end up ruining your body.”
The White Witch thought Kerry was unaware of the elixir’s side effects, but he already knew.
“I’ve been prepared for a while.”
“Then… eat it.”
Kerry swallowed the white pill. The moment he did, a searing heat began to boil up from within his body.
Kerry let out a groan as the heat spread through him.
He felt something growing larger.
Is this the feeling of getting stronger?
At first, he thought it was just a simple feeling of expansion.
But in fact, that feeling of growth was no illusion.
Kerry lowered his head, sensing an unfamiliar feeling in his lower body.
He saw that his precious member had become so erect that it was about to burst through his pants.