Chapter 132: The Pink Potion

"It is." Elinox followed his gaze toward the weapon. "That design isn’t particularly rare. There are more complicated ones, although weapons with too many moving parts are harder to maintain and usually need a Magic Engineer who understands the original structure."

Zishan kept looking through the shop’s window. "Can they custom-build weapons too? Like, if I walked in there and told them exactly what I wanted, could they make it?"

"If what you want is possible and you have the materials and money, yes. Some engineers specialize in custom work, although the better ones can make you wait months if they already have commissions."

Zishan’s eyes remained on the display. "What if I don’t know what weapon I want?"

"That’s actually more simple," she said and continued, "Just don’t order one."

He looked at her.

Elinox continued, "You don’t need to buy something just because you’re here. Figure out how you fight first, then decide what would actually help you."

Zishan thought about that. He had more Skills than he knew what to do with already, and his fighting style had changed several times just because of how fast he kept gaining new abilities.

Buying some expensive custom weapon now could become pointless after another Quest gave him something completely different.

’She has a point, I guess.’

He moved away from the window.

Ernest glanced at him. "I’m surprised."

"About what?"

"You didn’t go inside."

"I have restraint."

Ollie leaned down. "Big Brother bought food seven times."

Zishan’s head snapped upward. "Why are you counting?!"

Ernest laughed.

Elinox covered part of her mouth with one hand.

Zishan looked at both of them. "Food doesn’t count. Food has an actual purpose."

"But so do weapons," Ernest said. "They have actual purposes."

"Yes, but I can’t eat a sword," he reasoned.

"I would recommend against trying. Besides, only an idiot would eat a sword," Ernest said. "Well, it’s not impossible if you’re a Magic Beast, that is."

"Wow. Thank you, old man. Very useful advice."

They continued walking until the shops gradually changed again.

This time, potion stores started appearing between the Magic Engineer workshops. Zishan entered one without needing anyone to convince him.

The inside reminded him more of a pharmacy than anything else he had seen since arriving in Cyrune.

Shelves covered most of the walls, filled with bottles of different shapes and sizes. Some potions were transparent, while others carried enough color that Zishan wondered what kind of ingredients had been crushed into them.

There were ordinary Healing Potions. Some were labeled as Mana Recovery Potions, probably his all-time favorite. Stamina potions. Even Antidotes!

Mixtures meant to help with pain, blood loss, burns, cold exposure, Mana pathway damage and several conditions Zishan had never heard of because they did not exist on Earth.

He forgot about the others for a while and started reading. His medical background made some of the labels far more interesting than he expected.

A potion could be magical, but if it entered someone’s body, then he wanted to know what exactly it was doing there.

He picked up one Mana Recovery Potion and turned it around. "Does this replace Mana directly, or does it make the body produce Mana faster?"

Elinox had been looking through another shelf and moved closer when she heard him. "Depends on the potion. That one contains Mana stored in the ingredients, and your body absorbs it after you drink it. There are others that stimulate your natural recovery instead."

Zishan continued reading the label. "So you can’t just keep drinking these whenever you run low."

"You can, but eventually your body won’t handle it well. Most soldiers only use them when they need the Mana more than they care about the strain afterward."

"That’s what I was wondering about. You can’t keep forcing something into the body and expect it to accept however much you give it. There has to be a limit somewhere," he replied. "Well, I have used too many Mana Recovery Potions back then, but it didn’t cause so much strain. I might have to try it again to see what my limit is."

Ernest stopped beside them. "I keep forgetting you were studying medicine before you ended up here. I heard you retained most of what you learned."

Zishan glanced at him. "Well, yes..."

"And then you completed your First Ascent while fighting Wyverns."

Zishan lowered the potion. "Those two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other, and I don’t understand why you keep saying that like one somehow makes the other less believable."

Ernest’s mouth moved.

Zishan frowned. "Are you laughing?"

"No," the guy said, coughing lightly. "No, I’m not."

"The sunglasses are making you harder to read."

"That’s another benefit if you think of it," Ernest said, his voice laced with seriousness.

Zishan rolled his eyes and reached for another bottle while continuing to look around. The next one was pink.

He almost put it down just because of that.

Then, he read the label.

His hand stopped. ’Oh.’

Zishan returned it to the shelf.

Ernest noticed. "What was that?"

"Something I’m not buying."

"I didn’t ask whether you were buying it, though..."

Zishan moved toward another section. "Then, don’t worry about it."

Ernest reached past him and picked up the bottle.

Zishan turned around at once. "Put that back."

Ernest ignored him and started reading. His brows rose behind the sunglasses.

Zishan already hated where this was going.

Ernest turned the bottle slightly so he could see the smaller writing near the bottom. "Enhanced physical sensitivity, increased blood circulation, heightened stimulation... interesting. The effects last between two and four hours depending on the user’s Level."

Zishan stared at him. "Why are you reading the whole fucking thing?"

"I’m reading the label."

"You know what it is!"

"I do now."

"You knew after the first line. Don’t pretend like you knew nothing about it!"

Ernest looked over the bottle toward him. "You picked it up, so how come it sounds like it’s my problem now?"

"I picked it up because I was checking everything on the shelf. So, I also picked up an antidote earlier. Do you think I’m poisoned?" Zishan argued.

"No."

"Then, stop acting like me touching this one means anything."

"I haven’t said it means anything."

"Your face is saying it."

Ernest raised one eyebrow.

Zishan pointed at the sunglasses. "Okay, I can’t actually see your eyes, which somehow makes it worse because now I know you’re doing that on purpose."

Ernest looked back at the label. "You’re nineteen. I was only going to say something like this might eventually be useful depending on what you do while you’re in the capital—"

"I don’t need a fucking aphrodisiac!"

His voice carried much farther through the shop than he intended.