Sheng Sheng twitched the corner of her mouth, feeling slightly allergic to that translated tone.
She rummaged through her bag and took out Dark Bat Wings ×10. The game system was very considerate—not only providing automatic cutting services, but also cleaning and packaging.
What she took out now was a neat stack of bat wings, fully processed, each slice so thin it was almost like paper.
Antonio took the wings without even sparing them a glance and casually set them aside.
Sheng Sheng: "???"
Sheng Sheng: Can you at least give some respect to a player who worked this hard?
Antonio smiled. "My dear Song Unending, I sense a special power within you. Would you be willing to take it out and let me examine it?"
Special power…
After a brief moment of thought, Sheng Sheng more or less guessed what he was referring to.
But—
She pressed her lips together and probed cautiously. "This counts as my extra loot. If I don't hand it over, will it affect my class change?"
Antonio's smile grew even gentler. "Oh~ my dear Song Unending, of course it won't affect your class change. In fact, you are already a qualified Ritualist!"
[System]: Congratulations, player [Song Unending], your level has increased.
[System]: Congratulations! You have successfully completed Antonio's trial and changed class to Ritualist.
White light flashed around Sheng Sheng as her level rose to 15. Her experience even overflowed by ten percent.
What delighted her even more was that she had finally completed her class change.
Not only did she gain an additional skill—Heal—but even her base attributes were redistributed according to her class.
Player: Song Unending
Race: Human
Class: Ritualist
Level: 15
HP: 300
MP: 550
Intelligence: 20 (+23)
Constitution: 15 (+15)
Spirit: 15 (+40)
Defense: 10 (+10)
Agility: 5 (+8)
Unassigned Attribute Points: 15
According to the game's rules, players gained one base attribute point per level. However, before changing class, they were unable to allocate these points.
"Finally, I'm like other players now!" Sheng Sheng sighed. She allocated the 15 points—adding 10 to Intelligence and 5 to Spirit.
Ordinary Priests usually invested in Intelligence, Constitution, and Spirit.
But Sheng Sheng's class was Ritualist. Most of her skill tree consisted of offensive abilities, so she simply treated herself as a special kind of mage.
Sheng Sheng: As long as I kill the enemy fast enough, I'll live to the end!
Antonio was generous with his rewards. Feeling satisfied, Sheng Sheng stopped holding back and took out a crystal vial, handing it over.
"You meant this, right?"
Upon seeing the vial, Antonio grew visibly excited. His hands trembled as he took it. He even pulled out a pair of glasses from the drawer and put them on before examining it closely.
He inspected it meticulously—twisting the cap, sniffing the scent, just short of tasting it.
Sheng Sheng: "..."
After a long while, Antonio finally set the vial down, looking thoroughly pleased. "It really is it!"
Sheng Sheng looked utterly confused. "…What?"
Antonio smiled kindly and explained, "Well, that's a long story…"
It truly was a very long story, one whose timeline could even be traced back several hundred years.
After listening with half-lidded eyes for quite some time, Sheng Sheng felt the whole thing could be summed up in one sentence.
—When dark forces first invaded this world, a group of visionaries developed another kind of power to resist them. Unfortunately, they underestimated how quickly the darkness spread. Before the potion could be popularized, the base was destroyed by dark monsters, and both the potion and research results were reduced to ashes.
"That base was Paolis Research Institute," Antonio concluded. "I thought this would be a simple trial. I never expected you to bring back such a pleasant surprise. Truly worthy of being my fine disciple!"
As he spoke, he gave her a meaningful look.
Sheng Sheng twitched her mouth, stubbornly keeping silent.
Antonio cleared his throat. "This is only a semi-finished potion. It still needs further refinement by a potion master. Fortunately, your teacher's alchemy has already reached the advanced level!"
Sheng Sheng: "..."
What else could she do? In the end, she still handed over the remaining vials. At least until she finished learning her skills, she couldn't afford to offend her mentor.
Antonio was quite considerate.
Almost the moment he received the vials, a system notification sounded.
[System]: Antonio's favorability toward you has reached [Friendly].
Seeing this message, the last traces of reluctance in Sheng Sheng's heart instantly vanished.
In Earth Online, raising favorability with high-level NPCs was extremely difficult.
Unlike ordinary NPCs, who would jump to reverence at the slightest provocation, high-level NPCs only had four favorability tiers: Cold, Normal, Friendly, and Trusted. Each step was as hard to cross as a chasm.
In the original novel, the female lead Tang Wanwan had also tried to win over a high-level NPC. Unfortunately, after immense effort, she only managed to reach Friendly.
—At least, until the novel ended, Sheng Sheng never saw Tang Wanwan succeed.
So now, trading a few potions she couldn't use for Antonio's favorability was an absolute bargain.
Having gained a benefit, Sheng Sheng felt satisfied and was ready to leave quickly to go level up.
But—
"My dear Song Unending, wait here for a moment."
—The increase in favorability was most clearly reflected in how he addressed her.
Antonio warmly stopped Sheng Sheng from leaving and had her sit on a chair. Then he took the crystal vials and went to the corner of the room, pulling something out from the wall—
A workbench!
Looking at the smooth white wall, then at the massive workbench nearly half a person tall and two meters wide, piled with all kinds of items…
Sheng Sheng: "..."
As expected of a magical world—hiding things was truly an art.
Antonio busied himself at the workbench for a long time. During that period, Sheng Sheng saw him mix and fuse various reagents, occasionally casting runic magic arrays. It was extremely complicated.
She did want to learn.
—In the game, players could also learn secondary professions like alchemy or potion-making.
Antonio was clearly a master among them. Being able to study beside him was a dream opportunity for enthusiasts of these professions.
Now that Sheng Sheng had such a chance, naturally—
Sheng Sheng: Sorry, I choose to give up.
—Question: What does it feel like to make an elementary school student read college-level algebra?
—Sheng Sheng: Thanks for the invite. I'm dizzy. So dizzy I want to puke.
The facts proved that letting someone who hadn't even started potion studies learn from a master would only result in a head full of mush.
Sheng Sheng retreated in defeat and sat quietly in the chair.
More than half an hour later, Antonio finally finished his work and placed the results into Sheng Sheng's hands.
Sheng Sheng, who had nearly dozed off from waiting, was instantly jolted awake by the cold sensation.
Looking at the bottle in her hand, she was completely baffled.
"My dear child," Antonio said kindly, smiling warmly. "They were lost to time for ages. You were the one who discovered them, so they should belong to you. Take them. Perhaps one day, you will use them in the right place."
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup