Potion Master

The two of them endured the curious looks of the ordinary people around them as Xin Mu helped Zhang Ruofeng slowly make his way toward the Guild. Both were rather indifferent by nature, though, so they didn't feel particularly uncomfortable. When they reached the entrance, they spotted Heluo chatting with a colleague. He frowned as soon as he saw Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu.

"How did you end up looking so battered?" Heluo asked, eyeing Zhang Ruofeng's shirt. It was not only covered in blood, but also had a long tear in it. "You two didn't go straight to the Dungeon on your first day, did you?"

"Wasn't I supposed to?" Zhang Ruofeng asked.

"I give up." Heluo pressed a hand to his forehead. "So, what brings you here?"

"Ah, we came to sell our Magic Stones to the Guild." Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu each took off their storage pouch and handed it to Heluo. He took them with a start. The weight was far too much for new adventurers' Magic Stones—and this was only their first trip to the Dungeon.

"Wait here a moment." Heluo took the two pouches and headed around the left side of the Guild, apparently to exchange their contents for a reward. With nothing else to do, the two watched the adventurers coming and going. It was already getting late in the afternoon, and adventurers were gradually returning.

"Have you noticed that almost none of these adventurers are wearing any jewelry?" Zhang Ruofeng quietly asked Xin Mu.

"Mm." Xin Mu wasn't too concerned about that. She was more worried about Zhang Ruofeng's injuries, but judging by his expression and movements, he seemed to have mostly recovered. He was no longer limping as much.

"Wait, jewelry should be essential equipment, shouldn't it?" Zhang Ruofeng began muttering to himself again. "Rings, earrings, bracelets—they're all great for boosting your stats. Why is nobody wearing any? Could it be..."

"..." Xin Mu watched Zhang Ruofeng start mumbling to himself again, at a loss for words. She could only stand beside him in silence.

"What kind of monsters are you two?" About fifteen minutes later, Heluo emerged from the Guild. His expression was remarkable as he stared at them as if they were monsters. "When did you join a Familia?"

"Just today," Zhang Ruofeng replied, puzzled by the question. Then he noticed the pouches in Heluo's hands and immediately understood. "What, did we make too much money?"

"You went to the Dungeon for the first time today. How did you manage to hunt three elite monsters?" Heluo raised his eyebrows. "Some experienced adventurers don't worry about Great Barking Dogs, but those things are genuine beginner killers. In the past hundred years, more than a hundred newly inducted Familia members have probably died to them. And you didn't just kill one—you killed three?!"

"Ha ha ha..." Zhang Ruofeng laughed awkwardly, though he was privately perplexed. Heluo was a beautiful white-haired werewolf, but weren't beastfolk supposed to have fiery tempers? Looking at his mature, composed manner, Zhang Ruofeng had taken him for a sophisticated older-sister type. Who could have guessed he had such a short fuse?

"Whatever. Here's your money." Heluo tossed the two pouches to Zhang Ruofeng. "Three thousand one hundred and twenty Faris in total. You're monsters, as far as first-time adventurers go. That kind of income is usually what people on the sixth or seventh floor make in a day. Be careful out there, Flowers Blooming in the Midsummer Night."

After finishing, Heluo turned and headed back into the Guild without another glance. But Zhang Ruofeng caught a fleeting twist in his expression—a pain and loneliness he couldn't hide, an ache that seemed to come from the deepest part of his heart. Zhang Ruofeng frowned but said nothing more. He and Xin Mu headed toward the market they had found that morning. His clothes were completely ruined; it seemed it was time to do as the locals did and start wearing these medieval-style garments, he thought.

Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu walked slowly along. Most of the time, he was looking at all kinds of rare materials, while Xin Mu, being a girl, wanted to pop into almost every clothing store. For some reason, Zhang Ruofeng had never been interested in clothes, while Xin Mu seemed simply curious about the European-style outfits. Usually, he saw her dressed quite casually.

"Is this a potion shop?" Zhang Ruofeng watched Xin Mu enter a clothing store run by Amazons. He didn't think he could bring himself to go inside a shop full of people dressed as if they were wearing nothing but swimsuits. The Amazons with tanned skin kept streaming in and out, dressed so lightly that he thought it best to stay away. Just then, he spotted a small shop at the corner of the street with a potion-shaped sign. Honestly, it was so easy to miss that he would never have noticed it if he hadn't looked closely.

"Welcome..." As soon as he entered, a woman's voice greeted him, sounding a little lazy. Zhang Ruofeng took a closer look and saw a very, very petite girl sitting behind the counter. She looked about ten years old, yet the languid air around her seemed completely at odds with her appearance. It gave him a strange, conflicting impression.

"Staring at people is very rude, you know?" the woman said, picking up the pipe beside her and taking a quiet puff. Zhang Ruofeng was even more surprised. She casually pulled out a cigarette and lit it for herself. Then he remembered that this world had a race called humans. Unlike the Amazons, they weren't all women, but human men and women were both short, apparently stopping their growth at around one meter tall. Their appearance seemed to settle then, too. So he had no idea how old the human before him really was.

"Hey, kid, you've got something strange there." Before Zhang Ruofeng could react, the cigarette in his mouth had vanished. When he looked again, the human was sitting on top of the solid wooden counter, smoking the cigarette he had just lit. "Oh, this smooth taste is completely different from a pipe. It's not as strong, but it's so convenient to carry around." The human examined the cigarette in her hand, seemingly oblivious to Zhang Ruofeng's stunned expression.

"You..." Zhang Ruofeng had always been confident in his reflexes, but he hadn't even noticed when the cigarette left his hand.

"What about me? Newbie, you really have no manners." The human casually blew out a smoke ring. "You're a long way from being able to take on me, a Level—Potion Master." She looked at the cigarette again. "This thing of yours is really nice. What's it called? Where is it made? How many do you have?"

"Who are you?" Zhang Ruofeng eyed the woman warily, his stance turning hostile. If she made a move, he knew he would be subdued instantly. She was clearly a formidable expert.

"Don't be so tense." Zhang Ruofeng saw a dark blur fly toward him. His right hand instinctively caught it, and he found a bottle filled with red liquid. "To make up for taking your cigarette, I'll give you this bottle of intermediate healing potion." While Zhang Ruofeng was still wondering what was going on, the woman sat up straight on the counter, bringing herself to about his height.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the head of the Familia belonging to El, the God of Medicine. My name is Permanselrus, but you can call me Perman." The human held out her hand. Zhang Ruofeng cautiously reached out to shake it. "Hello. I'm Zhang Ruofeng, of the Familia of the Flower Goddess, Flora."

"Zhang Ruofeng? What a strange name." Perman furrowed her brow slightly. "Well, why did you choose that Flower Goddess, of all people? Though she really does get along very well with our Main God. By the way, haven't you seen our Main God? She went to visit your Main God this afternoon, didn't she? But you look so miserable—you just got back from the Dungeon, right? Goodness, I remember the Flower Goddess didn't have a Familia yesterday. Did your new Familia really rush off to the Dungeon right away?" Zhang Ruofeng suddenly felt like he had met an even more extreme version of himself. This human woman spoke loudly, unlike him, who muttered to himself, but she was just as fast as he was when he asked and answered his own questions. He was having a hard time keeping up.

"But your Familia does have a really nice nickname." Perman suddenly smiled mysteriously. "Flowers Blooming in the Midsummer Night."