Chapter 790: Mid-Blue Tier Strengthening Potions

Chapter 790: Mid-Blue Tier Strengthening Potions

Having a close acquaintance with Tarun, a Vice-Principal, meant that Leo and Lily could obtain High-Level Mana Contracts simply by asking.

They had taken full advantage of this and acquired many such contracts. Right now, two of them were now being used on Alena and Jialou.

Lily looked at Alena and Jialou, who were examining the contracts with wide eyes. She let them take their time because signing a High-level Mana Contract wasn’t something one did on a whim. In the worst-case scenario, it could be no better than a slave contract.

However, Lily’s stance was clear. If anyone wasn’t willing to sign the contract, they couldn’t join the territory. After all, what the contract demanded was loyalty. If they couldn’t fulfil that requirement, they had no place here.

After reading the contract, Alena was the first to look up, while Jialou kept rereading it.

"Countess... does this mean...?" Alena asked hesitantly.

"Yes, you are qualified to join the territory. But as you know, we can’t keep and support people who might stab us in the back," Lily said, hinting that signing the contract was necessary.

Alena swallowed nervously.

"If you are joining the territory with the intention of dedicating yourself to it, then I don’t see why anybody would have a problem signing that contract," Lily said calmly.

Alena nodded. That made sense.

"W-We need time to think," Alena said.

"I will give you 24 hours to think it through. I’ll meet you again at this time tomorrow. You may move around the outer area, the commercial area, and outside the boundary. But if you are caught trying to enter the inner region, you will be thrown out without hesitation."

As soon as Lily finished speaking, her figure disappeared from her seat.

Everybody in the room flinched at the sight. Lily had truly vanished without a trace, as if she had never been there at all.

"Alena..." Jialou muttered, clutching the contract paper.

The contract was tricky. It never gave them the option to leave the territory voluntarily. That option would only become available if they were mistreated.

But what if they were neither mistreated nor given any benefits?

They would most likely remain stagnant for nearly 34 years—14 years of the remaining academy session, followed by 20 years of compulsory service.

In other words, it was a huge gamble that would decide their future.

Alena pursed her lips.

"Let’s have a round around the territory first..." she said, getting to her feet.

She was the brains of the team, so her decision would determine the others’ fate.

With that, they headed outside.

Grrrrrrrrr~

"What is that?!" Jialou exclaimed, quickly summoning his greatsword from his spatial ring and taking a fighting stance.

The maid standing behind them was also startled, but she soon received instructions through the mental link.

"Everyone, it’s our guardian beast waking up to continue the journey. Please don’t worry. The tremors will last only a minute."

"Guardian Beast...?" Jialou and his men exchanged confused looks before slowly realising what she meant.

"The Ancient Savage Beast! So it really is tamed!"

As soon as they stepped outside, they felt themselves rise as the surrounding trees in the distance gradually sank from view.

Soon, the tremors gradually subsided. Not even the slightest vibration remained as Howl walked, creating the illusion that everything around them was stationary.

"This... we are really moving!" Jialou exclaimed in shock after reaching the edge and looking at the ground moving beneath him.

In the plateau...

A golden aura crackled in thin streaks around Leo’s body and the surrounding area as he finished absorbing the Mid Yellow (5-Star) Tier [Lightning Lotus], which Tarun had given him after the Tilgarth Demon extermination mission.

He did this to raise his Agility stat to an optimal level so his next level-up wouldn’t waste many stat points.

As the treasure was rapidly absorbed into his body, his Agility stat gradually increased until its effects finally subsided.

Ding!

Agility: 5925 → 6781 + [6500] + {240% boost (Optional)}

It took him two hours, even with the system’s help. Leo could only imagine how long it would take people without a system to absorb such a treasure.

Let’s see... the next level-up will increase it by 50%... 10,171... Alright, not much waste.

Leo closed the interface with a satisfied nod and sat up. After all that work, his stomach growled loudly.

It was also at this moment that Lily appeared.

"Are you hungry? Come, Sister Sera has already prepared breakfast." She took his hand and led him away with a smile.

"You seem very happy. What happened?" Leo asked.

"Nothing much. It’s just that those second-term students have some good abilities. If they join, it will be a tremendous help to the territory."

Leo raised an eyebrow.

After that, Lily recounted everything that had happened, and Leo fell into thought.

"They are good... but we can’t have their subordinates sign such high-level contracts. It would be too wasteful," Leo muttered.

"Well, some normal, low-level contracts will do for them. Even if they join, I won’t allow them to enter the inner region. Only Jialou and Alena might need to come and report things when necessary."

Leo nodded. That was sensible.

"What about the benefits? Have you finished forming the system yet?" Leo asked.

Lily nodded with a smile.

"Yes. Right now, we don’t have many facilities, so the benefits might not be very useful. But here’s the idea: the higher one’s position in the territory, the greater the discounts they receive when purchasing various items produced within the territory," Lily explained.

"Then, we have living spaces in areas with higher mana density. We can also offer monthly magic fruit giveaways. And Veronica has recently created a perfect formula for a Mid Blue (3-Star) Tier Body Strengthening Potion with Titanbreath Lotus leaves and some herbs. People like Jialou are bound to be interested in that."

Leo was pleasantly surprised.

"Mid-Blue (3-Star) Tier strengthening potions?" he repeated.

He noted that it wasn’t a ’strength’ potion that temporarily boosted strength, but a ’strengthening’ potion that provided a permanent boost. It would work best for individuals ranked Mid 3-Star, and even those at Peak 3-Star could benefit if they consumed more.

A single potion with such a permanent effect could fetch as much as 1 million AC, more than triple the standard price of temporary potions.

And monetary gain was only one aspect of it. This achievement also opened a path for the territory to gain at least Mid 3-Star combatants! Even an ordinary man without talent could be force-fed enough potions to reach such heights with sufficient effort.

However, without talent and a high-ranking soul, they would die of old age within their normal human lifespan of 120 years at most. Even 120 years was difficult, since they would force bodies to heights normally unreachable.

But if they could mass-produce this, using it on short-lived people could provide tremendous manpower for any territory.

"What’s the production cost?" Leo immediately asked.

Lily’s smile widened as she raised her hand and formed a circle with her slender fingers.

"Zero!"

"Heheh, yes. No cost. Titanbreath Lotus provides its leaves for free, and the necessary herbs grow in the Fluxsoil Heart’s fertile soil, which some elves tend. The only cost is Veronica’s time and labour."

"In other words, for one portion of the potion, she would need to sell it to us for 150,000 AC. If we resell it for 1 million AC, we earn a net profit of 850,000 AC, or 340 Gold Coins."

Leo frowned. Something didn’t feel right.