"Master, you have finally returned!"
Butler Sebas Tian came to welcome him after Gerald came back to the capital.
"Sebas, did anything happen while I was gone? Did the girls do anything stupid?" Gerald asked after taking a seat to relax.
"Not at all, master. Everything was quiet and the ladies kept to themselves most of the time," the butler quickly reported. "But there was a messenger from the Auction House and he delivered a scroll for you."
Sebas Tian handed over a sealed paper scroll to Gerald, who broke off the wax. He quickly glanced through the content and then stored the letter in his pocket with satisfaction.
It was an invite from Arthur to discuss the matter about the Potion of Focus whenever he had time. It appeared they already had some news about God's Blood.
"I'll go see him later…"
He decided to make another set of Healing Potions first so they could be delivered to the merchants guild for this week's batch.
He went to check on Qiona first, though. Her grasp over Water magic was slowly coming along and she could almost separate individual molecules apart. It was still something unbelievable to her.
Gerald gave her a few more tips so she could advance faster. All in all, he was proud of her hard work and determination to learn.
Xilia and Sera trained hard the last few days and they both advanced their swordsmanship together. It was especially noticeable for Sera, she had a complete grip on the basics and could hold her ground against Xilia's attacks.
Meanwhile, the Elf got an opportunity to examine her own moves from another angle, since she had to verbalize what she knew to teach Sera. As such, the understanding of her own style deepened even further.
In the late morning the next day, Gerald delivered a crate full of Healing Potions to Saff, the headmaster at the merchant's guild, who happily paid for the high-quality product.
On his way to the Auction House, Gerald came across a fancy restaurant. The walls were decorated with statues and murals, and the windows had colored glass designs. A big sign was advertising the specialty for the day with big bold words.
"Gather around people! Special offer! Black Cave Bear roast! A beast of a Silver Rank, with an extremely low price for today, only five gold! Only here, at the Six Elements Restaurant!" A young man in a uniform of the restaurant was shouting at the top of his lungs, attracting the attention of the passers-by. "Don't miss this opportunity!"
"Black Cave Bear? Is it that beast from the North? Did they finally capture it?" one of the citizens wondered loudly.
A person quickly confirmed his guess, "That's right! A group of warriors subdued it a few days ago and it was still alive when they brought it to the capital! It's the freshest beast meat you can find!"
"I hear it's extremely tender and delicious, but alas... Five gold is too high a price!" another person voiced his opinion.
There was a big guy that laughed and said, "Haha, but, of course! The meat of a Silver-ranked beast is only for strong warriors like me! It's not something you common folk should think about."
The man took big steps and the people made a way for him, letting him enter the restaurant.
Gerald heard a few quiet voices curse him after he left, "Freaking meathead! Just because he is strong and can afford the best quality food he can grow even stronger by eating Silver-Ranked beast meat!"
"Yes, it's so unfair! The strong continuously grow stronger and the weak remain weak for life. Heaven is unjust!"
'Hmm?' Gerald perked up his ears and listened to the conversations around him. 'Did he just say that you can grow stronger by eating strong beast's meat?!'
Unfortunately, the conversation turned in another direction and the topic of famous strong warriors drowned out the facts about meat.
Gerald decided not to stick around in the crowd any longer and went on his way.
"I'll have to see if I can find any information on what I just heard after I'm done with this first…"
With that in mind, he entered the Golden Pouch Auction House and a servant swiftly led him to Arthur's office.
Arthur was sitting among a mountain of paperwork as per usual, but he still placed that aside when Gerald came in.
"Oh, Gerald, you are finally here!" Arthur stood up and invited him to take a seat.
After a few words of courtesy, he went straight to the point, "I wanted to talk about the topic of the Potion of Focus… One of my acquaintances that lives in Ethorora, a city near the border, has quite a few God's Blood herbs."
"I sent him a message raven to notify him so the plants could be here as early as next week. I was just wondering how the potion production is going. Did you manage to make it yet?"
When Gerald heard the news, he showed genuine happiness and smiled, "Really? That's terrific! The reason why I was absent these few days is precisely because I was working on the potion. And I finally succeeded!"
Gerald took a small, fist-sized vial and gently placed it on the smooth table's surface.
"Here it is, the Potion of Focus!"
Arthur extended his hand and tried to act nonchalantly, but he just couldn't stop his hand from trembling slightly in excitement. His eyes also betrayed his elevated emotions.
"Great, haha, that's great!" Arthur laughed while examining the vial in his hands. "It's still going to be a week or so before we get the God's Blood, so you will have to bear with it."
Gerald nodded with understanding, "It's okay. Waiting a few days to complete my master's mission won't affect it. As long as we can trade fairly…"
"Certainly!"
They had a few words of small talk before it was time to leave.
"Oh, that's right," Gerald turned around before the door and asked, "On the way here I saw people getting weirdly excited about a Silver-Ranked beast meal at the Six Elements Restaurant. I heard them say that eating meat can increase a person's strength… What's all that about?"
Arthur made a surprised expression, "Oh the Black Cave Bear? Eating strong beings can increase a person's fitness… You didn't know about it?
Gerald shook his head and said, "My master focused on enhancing his body through magic, but he never spoke much about it. I have never heard about strength enhancement through eating."
"Oh, that's understandable. Well, it's not really a secret, so I guess I can quickly explain what's this all about."
"Please do!"
Arthur sat down at the table and Gerald joined him.
"There is not much to say, really. For some reason eating monsters and beasts make warriors grow stronger much faster. Although the increase in strength is not that high."
"Eating a full body of a beast at Silver 1-Rank would give you about 10% of its strength. But then there is the problem of having to eat hundreds of kilograms of meat. Even if you are extremely rich, there's only so much a man can eat at once."
"Wait, does this 10% conversion rate apply to every animal?" Leaning closer he had a few specific questions to ask already.
"Well… More or less. It's an average, but it's usually somewhere around that amount."
"Then…" Gerald continued, "If you can find small beasts that are extremely strong, wouldn't that be a good way to grow stronger quickly?"
Arthur nodded and explained, "That's, of course, correct, but usually stronger beasts are also bigger. Besides, small powerful monsters are generally much more intelligent and cunning, making them extremely difficult to hunt."
"I have heard that in the Empire they had problems with a beast at the middle Gold ranks. Thousands of soldiers were annihilated before they finally brought it down, so you have to think twice before provoking something like that..."
Arthur gave his warning with genuine concern. He was afraid Gerald would do something foolish and lose his life before he could extract more value out of him.
"No worries, hehe… I was just curious. It's not like I'm in any condition to hunt anyway," Gerald laughed, showing his clunky metal hand, but in his mind, he had a completely different idea.