Chapter 19: A Tier 5 Already?!

Chapter 19: Chapter 19: A Tier 5 Already?!

Evelyn: Why do you need four Restoration Elixirs? Are you treating someone?

A moment later, the reply came.

Xavier: They’re not for me. If you’re interested in the exchange, just let me know.

Evelyn considered asking again but decided against it. There was no reason to pry into someone else’s affairs.

Evelyn: Deal. Where should we meet?

Xavier: I’m outside Arcadia Academy.

Her eyes widened slightly.

Evelyn: Give me ten minutes.

Evelyn grabbed her things and hurried out of the Whitmore residence. Fortunately, the academy wasn’t far from her home.

About ten minutes later, she arrived at the main entrance. She immediately spotted Xavier standing nearby, looking around.

Evelyn walked toward him.

"Xavier?" she said, pausing awkwardly.

"I’m here," she added.

She realized she had almost forgotten his name and had only remembered his surname.

Xavier didn’t seem bothered.

"Good timing," he said.

He took out a sealed container and handed it to her.

"Everything we discussed is inside. You can check them first," he said.

"Of course," Evelyn said, nodding.

She carefully inspected the elixirs. Xavier, meanwhile, checked the four Restoration Elixirs she had brought. He opened one of the containers and examined the contents. The quality was exactly what he expected.

Evelyn finished her inspection soon afterward. Her expression was one of genuine surprise.

"They’re excellent," she said.

She had examined plenty of Second Tier resources before, but these were noticeably better than most of what she had encountered. The quality was remarkably pure.

"These weren’t made by an ordinary alchemist," she said.

Then she looked at Xavier with renewed interest.

"Do you have any more?" she asked.

"Not at the moment. If I get more later, I’ll let you know," Xavier said, shaking his head.

"I’d appreciate it if you kept today’s exchange private," he added.

He didn’t want unnecessary attention surrounding his resources.

Evelyn immediately understood.

"Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone," she said.

If Xavier could provide resources of this quality again, maintaining his privacy was hardly an unreasonable request.

"Then I suppose we have a deal," she said.

"It’s a pleasure doing business with you," Xavier said, smiling.

They shook hands before preparing to leave.

Just as Evelyn turned away, Xavier remembered something.

"One more thing," he said.

She looked back.

"My name is Xavier Kane, and I’m not a student here. I was hired today as an alchemy apprentice," he said.

Evelyn stared at him.

"An alchemy apprentice?" she asked, her surprise obvious.

Xavier simply nodded.

"I wanted to make that clear from the beginning. So don’t mistake me as a student," he said.

He turned and walked away.

Evelyn remained where she was.

An alchemy apprentice who had access to resources of that quality? She couldn’t help wondering about him.

He only started working today? A faint smile appeared on her lips.

"This is getting interesting," she said.

Meanwhile, Xavier had already made his way home. The moment he opened the door, a familiar voice greeted him.

"Xavier, you’re back!" Mira said.

"I’ve already made dinner. Come eat before it gets cold," she added.

Xavier looked toward the dining table. A warm meal had already been prepared and neatly arranged.

His expression softened. After everything he had experienced in this world, coming home to someone who genuinely cared about him felt surprisingly precious. Mira wasn’t just his wife. She had slowly become the person who made the apartment feel like home.

Xavier sat down and enjoyed dinner with her.

When they finished, he remembered the other reason he had made the exchange with Evelyn. He reached into his storage space and took out four Second Tier Restoration Elixirs.

"Mira, I have something for you," he said.

He placed them in front of her.

Mira looked down at the four elixirs. Her eyes widened. She was completely stunned.

"What are these?" she asked.

She picked one up, but the moment she recognized the markings on the bottle, her expression changed. Instead of excitement, fear filled her eyes.

"Xavier, please tell me you didn’t do anything illegal to get these," she said.

Xavier blinked. Of all the reactions he had expected, that was definitely not one of them.

Mira knew exactly how valuable these elixirs were. Even when she had still been living with the Sinclair family, she had only received one such healing elixir each month.

Over the past two days, Xavier had already produced several valuable resources out of nowhere. Now he had suddenly brought home four more. And considering he had only started working at Arcadia Academy that morning, Mira couldn’t help drawing the worst possible conclusion.

Did he take these from the academy?

Her face grew paler.

"Xavier, you promised me you wouldn’t get yourself into trouble," she said.

Seeing the worry in her eyes, Xavier couldn’t help sighing.

"Mira, you really need to stop letting your imagination run wild," he said.

He reached over and gently tapped her forehead.

"Think about it. I’m not some powerful mage. If I actually stole four high-tier elixirs from Arcadia Academy, do you honestly think I’d still be sitting here having dinner with you?" he said.

Mira fell silent.

Xavier continued before she could start worrying again.

"I told you already. You don’t need to be afraid of where these things come from," he said.

He smiled confidently.

"I’m planning to spend a very long time with you. I still want us to grow old together and fill this house with children. Why would I throw everything away by doing something stupid?" he said.

Mira’s expression softened slightly.

"There are things you still don’t understand about me," Xavier said. "You’ll learn them eventually," he added.

He leaned back with a mysterious smile.

"Even resources far more valuable than these aren’t beyond my reach," he said.

Mira stared at him. She still had no idea what he was talking about.

Before she could question him further, Xavier suddenly remembered something else.

"And another thing," he said.

He pointed at her.

"You called me Xavier again," he said.

Mira froze.

"What?" she asked.

"We need a rule," he said.

Xavier reached toward her with a mischievous expression.

"From now on, whenever you call me by my name instead of endearing names like "sweetheart" or "darling" there will be a penalty," he said.

Mira’s eyes widened.

"Wait—" she started.

A light smack landed against her hand. Her cheeks immediately turned bright red.

"Xavier!" she said.

She quickly covered her hand and glared at him.

"That wasn’t very convincing," Xavier said, laughing.

The tension in the room finally disappeared.

Mira still didn’t understand where Xavier was getting all these valuable resources, but one thing had become clear. He wasn’t stealing them from Arcadia Academy. The academy’s valuable supplies were heavily protected, and its storage facilities were monitored by magical formations. Even a powerful mage would have difficulty taking something without being detected. Xavier had only started working there today. There was no way he could have secretly taken four high-tier healing elixirs.

Mira finally relaxed. Still, she pushed three of the bottles back toward him.

"Then I only need one," she said.

She had already tried this type of healing elixir before. It could help repair ordinary injuries, but her condition was far more complicated. The damage caused by the extraction of her innate magical core had affected the foundation of her body. Ordinary healing resources could not simply restore something that had been damaged at such a fundamental level.

That was why she had spent much of the afternoon practicing the Life Giving Force. Perhaps strengthening her body’s natural recovery ability would eventually allow her to repair some of the damage herself.

As for the remaining elixirs, she couldn’t bring herself to use them.

Xavier immediately rejected the idea.

"If I’m giving them to you, then take them," he said.

"But—" she started.

"No buts," he said.

He pushed the bottles back toward her.

"You’re my wife. If I have something useful, why would I keep it away from you?" he said.

Mira looked at him for several seconds before finally giving in.

"All right, sweetheart," she said.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," she said.

"That’s much better," Xavier said, smiling.

At that exact moment, several familiar notifications appeared inside his mind.

[Congratulations, Host! Your investment in a Tier 3 Vitality Elixir has succeeded. A 2x return has been triggered. You have received one Tier 3 Vitality Elixir and one Tier 3 Foundation Elixir!]

[Congratulations, Host! Your investment in a Tier 3 Vitality Elixir has succeeded. A 1x return has been triggered. You have received one Tier 3 Purification Elixir!]

[Congratulations, Host! Your investment in a Tier 3 Vitality Elixir has succeeded. A 1x return has been triggered. You have received one Tier 3 Bloodfury Elixir!]

[Congratulations, Host! Your investment in a Tier 3 Vitality Elixir has succeeded. A 100x return has been triggered. You have received one Tier 5 Awakening Elixir!]

Xavier’s eyes widened.

A Tier 5 elixir?

He stared in disbelief. The first three returns had already surprised him. Then the fourth notification appeared.

A hundredfold return! His excitement exploded.

Four investments had produced four Tier 3 resources, and one of the returns had jumped all the way to Tier 5.

This is incredible.

The first three were practically investments he could afford to lose. The final return, however, had completely changed the situation.

Xavier immediately examined the information stored in his memory. The Awakening Elixir was made using the core essence of a powerful Tier 3 magical beast known as the Thornwood Ancient. The creature was notoriously difficult to defeat because it lived in groups and possessed extraordinary defensive abilities. Extracting its core essence after killing it was another challenge entirely. And even if someone managed to obtain the necessary material, very few alchemists possessed the knowledge required to refine an Awakening Elixir. That explained its rarity.

The most important effect of the elixir was even more remarkable. It could dramatically improve a person’s magical comprehension for a period of time, allowing them to learn spells and techniques at several times their normal speed. More importantly, it could push their natural magical aptitude to a higher level.

Xavier’s expression became thoughtful.

What should I do with this?