Chapter 246: Persistent Brat

Talia’s question was obvious; it was bound to come.

How would a first floor ascender who happened to ascend by chance, thrown into the Normalization Facility, a city-like place hung in the sky.

A place that was impossible to leave or wander beyond for a second floor ascender.

Such a person, how did he come to know a man who worked for the military of the second floor’s fringe kingdom?

That question Moon didn’t answer; he pushed aside his guilty conscience. He didn’t owe anyone an answer.

Not a single person.

Thus, he proceeded with the meeting as if the question had never existed.

He didn’t feel like explaining that Ed had taken him on a day-use vacation to the beach, where he had met the man and happened to befriend his son.

Not all questions were worth answering, and not every circumstance should be explained.

Moon’s thoughts were rather simpler and less sophisticated.

’What a long and troublesome story to tell.’

Thus, he decided to ditch the question, and thankfully, Talia was also considerate and didn’t press the matter with him.

The day ended, and so did the next...

The drills and meetings proceeded without a hitch, yet he didn’t see Joshua again.

The groups were rotational; they needed to cover as many as possible and try to save whatever could be saved before the war came.

At the meeting the next day, Talia brought something up that Moon didn’t expect at this point.

"Lexie had a long conversation with me today," she started.

Moon couldn’t help rolling his eyes. "Persistent brat," he groaned.

Talia brought out a small tube with a yellowish, almost transparent liquid inside.

"She said she would spend whatever is left making potions with whatever the kingdom could bring here for the sake of the war if you let her join the drill," Talia slowly explained.

Gustav’s eyes darted in anticipation. Potions crafted by the princess of one of the very few potionist clans in the entire Tower were valuable... Too valuable even.

They would get her help for a very low price as well...

Bringing whatever herbs they had, even if they ran the kingdom dry for the mass production she was attempting, was a negligible price compared to the worth of these potions and the help they would offer.

Yet, Moon’s lips stretched downwards with a look of both disgust and disinterest.

"Drugs?"

Only one word, before turning his head away in refusal. "Not doing it!" he said flatly.

Talia was stunned at the response for a second, looking troubled. "Can you check the item on your status window, please? You’ll understand it is far from being a drug."

Talia stood from her seat and handed Moon the tube, who reluctantly gave it a side glance at first, before letting out a sigh.

Moon held the tube and summoned his window, bringing it closer.

Instantly, the window showed the information of the item.

Basic Stamina Potion

[Indications]

Restores the user’s stamina instantly.

Compatible with ascenders of the third floor and lower.

Gives the user 3 minutes of infinite stamina.

[Side effects]

None

Creator: Lexie of Thorn

As he started reading, Moon’s eyebrows climbed higher and higher, cutting the gap all the way almost to his hairline.

The ’no side effects’ part was almost too good to be true. Yet, he had once received a potion that gave him an attribute.

It was still dormant, but it was a big fat attribute nonetheless.

The restoration of stamina was already so useful that Moon found it hard to believe.

Still...

As crazy as battle could get, Moon knew too well that 3 minutes of infinite stamina wasn’t a short period of time by any means.

Hundreds of men could die on the battlefield in that time; it was a game changer by all means.

Moon couldn’t help picturing himself sprinting with two blades at his highest speed without the slightest consideration for anything.

"This is too good to be real," he couldn’t help saying. "3 whole minutes of infinite stamina is just insane."

Talia nodded. "I doubt we could get ingredients good enough to get that long, but the restoration effect is still there regardless."

She wasn’t done. "I also made an agreement with Lexie in case you agreed; she won’t step on the battlefield."

"She agreed?" Moon asked.

Talia nodded. "She didn’t mind; making potions en masse is already hard." She added, hinting that Lexie would probably be entirely drained after making potions for days without stopping.

"How did that brat even survive the first trial?" Moon slid into his seat in defeat, feeling like he was finally cornered with no way to refuse again.

"You can never know how much a doting parent would prepare." Talia curtly said, smiling now that Moon had finally agreed.

But right now, Moon was having a different thought.

"Hey, Talia," he said, straightening up violently, forcing his seat to creak.

"Can Lexie make something that would start a fire?" he asked with newfound anticipation.

Thus, a new cycle of responsibilities took place.

Moon started the drills in the morning, where Lexie would join, wearing armor identical to the soldiers’ but holding a blade like Moon.

Looking excited with a smug smile under the helmet, she raised her blade and ran ahead of the soldiers.

"HEYAA—Ack!"

Moon smacked her helmet. "Don’t shout!" he instructed first.

Lexie, unlike the soldiers, didn’t seem to have received any form of combat training entirely even if her stats were decent, maybe comparable to Moon’s.

If anything, she made the group of soldiers who were joining suffer more than they should, considering her lack of awareness.

Lexie simply wasn’t familiar with the tactics and formations they were using; to her, Moon was already running, attacking, and it looked awesome.

Until she started trying to do the same, "Ack!" The blade landed on her helmet again.

Moon nodded apologetically at the soldiers, letting them wait for her to try her best and get tired. They were tight on time and effort, but the potions were also invaluable assets for the future.

Lexie attacked again with a slash; this time she didn’t shout her lungs out.

Moon extended his hand with the wooden blade forward, pinned on her plate armor, her stride stopped, and the blade passed an inch away from Moon’s face.

She bounced back and lowered her stance, lunging for another attack.

"Ack!"

Moon smacked her helmet again.

She also began burning through her Echo to make the attacks reach Moon, but her control was also entirely poor.

If Ed’s Echo was like a true blade, Dara’s was close to a state of sponge; Gustav’s was less firm, closer to a state of water.

Lexie’s Echo was like a cloud of vapour.

Or so Moon felt; experiencing all of these types first hand, it was the feeling and impression they gave.

He swatted the Echo attack that didn’t have the slightest cutting edge with his bare hands.

Lexie didn’t seem to know any Combat Arts either.

Feeling like he had seen the future and had come to witness it, Moon smacked her helmet again.

"Isn’t that enough for today?"

"Huff, huff, what, huff, grrr!" She gritted her teeth in anger, not saying a sentence that was comprehensible.

Moon stared with a droopy face, and Lexie stared back with her eyes craving violence.