"Now that I think about it, the one who should have fought back then was Ariana."
Yoshino Aruven could no longer hold back his urge to complain. He tried his best. But he was still not that mature enough.
The female student named Ariana Aries furrowed her eyebrows. She seemed to have felt wronged. She replied,
"I did. My bellows had interrupted attacks that were supposed to hit you. Did you really think your evasion skill had you completely covered?"
This was indeed the truth. Agility + Danger Perception might have enabled Yoshino to dodge and parry attacks from his opponents.
But it was not enough to completely avoid all the imminent dangers. Her interruptions had actually saved him more than once.
The young man grumbled. He could not refute her words. Nonetheless he was quite stubborn too. So he still had to ask,
"But could you have done a little more? Attacked with a Tier 2 skill or something?"
"You… really think I did not try to do anything?"
"No! Really, I just want to clarify things. That's all, I swear."
"Why would you want to clarify things?"
The stubborn question had seemed to have made Ariana upset. She kept on raising an eyebrow as she inquired on the source of such lack in faith.
"For the sake of the readers?"
Yoshino had to find a way to distract the upset female student. He decided to try and pretend that he could break a somewhat fourth wall. Perhaps he could gain some special stones this way?
"Was that supposed to be funny?"
"Uhm, yes?"
Ariana asked in a dry tone. She had a disdained expression on her face now. The disdain even got stronger when she heard the lame reply.
"…"
"…"
The two stared at each other. But there was no romantic tension whatsoever. Instead, an awkward silence was in the atmosphere.
And then,
"It's not like I did not want to help. But rather, I was not able to. My skills are not fit against such a high-speed battle."
"I see…"
Ariana was the first one to give in. She explained her side as she gave an apologetic look. When she heard the half-baked reply, she even added,
"If it would make you feel any better, I was storing up enough energy to unleash a strong attack."
Yoshino decided to stay silent this time. He actually thought that such an attack would have been useless anyway.
Their opponents were able to move quickly. If he was taken out, they could have easily dealt with her skill that had a long casting time.
However, he could not blurt out such an insensitive remark. He would not dare say those words when he was yet to be fully recovered. So he instead asked,
"If Ariana does not mind, can I ask which level are you in exactly?"
"I'm currently in the Adept-level."
Yoshino nodded in understanding. This would explain why her casting speed was still slow.
The female student then returned the question.
"And you… are a peaked Tier 1? No, no, no, I had never met another Basic-Tier who could move like that. Why don't we call you Over-peaked instead?"
"Overpeaked? That… actually sounded really good!"
Yoshino was impressed upon hearing such a term. It was quite catchy. It even sounded close to a certain novel he was reading.
However Ariana just had to dampen the mood. She giggled and then said,
"Yes, an eternal over-peaked Basic Mage!"
"Never mind. That sounded wrong all of a sudden."
The young man rolled his eyes. He then dismissed the idea of using that term he just learned.
Neither of them spoke for a few seconds. There was an awkward silence once again.
Yoshino took a deep breath. He should use this opportunity to change the topic of their discussion. He said,
"Did you know who that student was? The bubble-using Warrior."
The real question he wanted to ask here was if Ariana provoked the Warrior student in purpose. Perhaps she wanted to trample on their pride or something?
But there was no way Yoshino could ask that question directly. If he ended up learning that the female student was a psychopath, there was no way he could defend himself right now.
Nonetheless, what he should do next depends on what she would answer.
Ariana pondered for a while. She then replied,
"Not really. But from what he said, he could be affiliated with the Hyugan Nation."
"Most likely, from a faction that does not support the 12 Clans?"
"Probably."
Yoshino suggested a possibile explanation on why the Warrior student seemed triggered when he heard the family name Aries. And the female student nodded in agreement.
This confirmation enabled the young man to arrive at a conclusion. That he was a poor victim caught in an unfortunate encounter.
In other words, he should ask for compensation!
But Yoshino had learned from his previous dealings with the Magan Mayor and the merchant-porter that he could not ask for such things blatantly.
He should be more creative in his approach. Thus he said,
"Ariana, can I have a few more potions? I think my toxicity level had subsided. I can probably consume another."
"Alright. What do you need this time?"
"The HP recovery."
Ariana surprisingly agreed. She reached out for her storage pouch. She took out a bottle containing a blue colored liquid and handed it over.
Yoshino took the bottle and opened its cap. He took a sip of its contents. The potion tasted like a famous sports drink before the world was transmigrated.
He put aside the bottle which was still almost full. He then asked.
"Can I have an MP recovery potion next?"
Ariana complied and handed out a bottle containing a black colored liquid. It was not a creepy looking black but was actually similar to a carbonated drink.
True enough, the taste was also similar to that of a famous cola brand.
Yoshino put aside the barely consumed potion. He then asked for another one,
"The SP this time."
Ariana followed accordingly and handed out a bottle containing a green-colored liquid.
The appearance and the taste was similar to that carbonated lemon drink that was also quite famous back then.
Why would Yoshino know about the taste of the products that were once famous brands before the world transmigrated?
Because they were still popular even today.
The advent of the resources that could be used to produce recovery potions had enabled the beverage manufacturers to adapt to a new market.
The world-renowned bottling companies were now the innovators who incorporated the essential adventuring supply into the daily thirst-quenching aids.
Exhausted from casting multiple skills? Have a drink of our cola to recover your MP immediately!
And of course the product range expanded further to cater to the new type of consumers.
Currently, the term 'Potions' referred to any beverage that could give special effects once consumed.
Although the manufacturing companies still produced those drinks that did not contain any 'extra' ingredients. One could rarely see those kind of beverages nowadays.
"Hey wait a minute. You said you're toxicity level had subsided. Why are just taking a few sips then?"
Ariana raised an eyebrow. She was probably beginning to realize what was actually happening here.
Yoshino answered as he put away the third potion he received.
"It subsided… a little. That was why I had to take the potions slowly this time."
Each bottle that the female student had handed to him contained a liquid that had a volume of 330 milliliters. When he haphazardly gulped 6 potions, he had actually consumed a beverage that had a total volume that was close to two liters.
Two liters! Even if Yoshino spilled some of those liquids since he was in a hurry, he had approximately drank more than 1.5 liters in one go.
That was similar to drinking the contents of a party-sized soft drink all by himself!
In other words, his stomach was actually close to bursting. He would not be able to consume any potions for the time being.
"You could have just said that you wanted compensation. I would still have handed the potions to you willingly."
"Haha…"
Ariana had indeed realized what was his aim. The young man could only laugh weakly as he smiled.
However, the female student then added,
"There was no way you can afford those potions anyway."
"Uhm, can I ask what is the quality of these potions?"
The female student grinned. She then answered proudly,
"Tier 2 potions."
Even products nowadays followed the Tier system of [Roku Shiki Online]. This was done to serve as a guide when purchasing essentials.
By rule of thumb, a person should only buy products that correspond to whichever Tier they were currently in.
The price of the merchandise would increase proportionally to the increase in Tier. Thus only those who belong to that same realm could afford them.
In exchange, the special effects of these products would also increase. They could surely keep up on the needs on that same realm of cultivation. Otherwise why would anyone buy them in the first place?
Yoshino sighed in relief. It might be above his current Tier, but it was on his expected range.
Unfortunately, Ariana was still not done. Her grin grew wider as she added,
"Tier 2 supreme-grade potion that is!"
"S-supreme?"
Supreme-grade referred to the rarity of an item or object. This was somewhat similar to the sub-levels of a Tier available to living being when cultivating. But at the same time it is not.
In games, item rarity was a classification that indicates the quality of a particular product. The greater the rarity, the greater the performance will be. And greater the price will be as well.
[Roku Shiki Online] had six currently recognized grades to classify the rarity of an object. The first three was namely Common-grade, Rare-grade, and Supreme-grade.
For reference, Common-grade items were the easiest to acquire. They were also the most budget-friendly. Thus these were the items that Yoshino and Steven O could afford and gather in a quick notice respectively.
Rare-grade was regarded as the good ones. These were of course the items that Alshura Soura could afford. Despite having her accounts frozen.
Supreme-grade was considered to be the premium quality items. Only those who have quite a large budget could afford these kind of products.
Nonetheless the effects of such items were no doubt, worth it. These products were classified to have high purity and offers top notch performance.
Now that Yoshino thought about it, if what he had consumed before were either common-grade or rare-grade he should have died when his toxicity rose to its limits.
Only supreme-grade or higher concoctions could ensure his survival after drinking that much.
In summation, those potions were items that were two grades higher than what Yoshino could afford.
There was no way he could pay those back!