THE MEDICINE AFFINITY
"I need a cover story about my Affinity", I told Sara.
"There are dozens of magic affinities and there are none of them as strong as the Angel Affinity", She replied to me.
"I just need one that could cover my extraordinary powers", I told her.
"There is one, the Medicine Affinity", she told me.
"Medicine Affinity? That doesn't sound too spectacular", I asked her.
"Someone with Medicine Affinity can increase his powers remarkably with the use of magic potions for a period of time although such potions are usually expensive", Sara told me.
"Damn, that is it. Money is not a problem for me", I replied to her.
"Wealthy brat", Sara told me.
"That is also an opportunity for me to push the potions of our Apothecary", I replied to her.
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The Noten House of Apothecary buzzed with a crowd extending beyond its doors. Surpassing expectations, the influx of customers overwhelmed the limited space within, forcing many to patiently await their turn outside, while those fortunate enough to enter earlier browsed the apothecary's wares.
Adorning the walls of the establishment and showcased prominently on a sizable billboard adjacent to the building was the visage of Oriese the Bully—myself.
In the image, I clenched a fist with one hand, the other firmly holding a vial containing the renowned Noten Apothecary potion.
"Conquer a Legendary with a Single Elixir."
"One Vial, One Victory."
These were the catchy taglines accompanying my portraits strategically placed throughout the city. The same visuals and slogans found their way into the pages of our local newspaper, the Herald Times.
Complementing these advertisements were a series of comic strips within the Herald Times, illustrating my triumphs over adversaries by consuming the potent potion from the Noten Apothecary.
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"You are a genius, your majesty. Our sales went up by more than ten times after your advertisement came out", Amelia, the matriarch of the Noten family said to me.
"We have a publishing house, might as well make good use of it", I replied to her.
"Did your templar strength increase so insanely after taking our potions? Our potions are good but not as good as advertised", Hugo asked me.
"There is a small disclaimer under each of my advertisements. The effects of the potions would be multiplied if the user has the Medicine Affinity", I said to him.
"Do you have the Medicine Affinity?" Amelia asked me.
"No, but that is the message that I want to be sent out. I am someone with the Medicine Affinity", I replied to her.
"I don't know what kind of tricks you are playing this time, but as long as it increases our sales, I am all for it", Hugo said to me.
After my explosive behavior recently, I desperately needed a cover that would explain my explosive growth in strength. That would keep the Inquisitors away from me and give the conjurers in the Conjure Court a reasonable explanation about my powerful magic.
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Even Orol deserves an explanation otherwise he would really think I am not his son.
It wasn't time to return the real Oriese to Orol yet because we are still reforming his bully behavior. The real Oriese was sent to Istiopolis city, to be schooled in Red witch's strict magic boarding school, so that he would learn manners and compassion for others.
"No wonder your magic improved so much recently. You have the Medicine Affinity, I guess the potions I bought for you last time really worked and it worked especially well for you", Orol said to me after he read my advertisement.
"That explains why an Earth tier can be so powerful in combat", Hagar said to me with understanding now.
"Yes, my power is all due to your efforts and money", I said to Orol.
"Yes, money is also a kind of talent", he replied to me.
"Indeed," I said to him in reply.
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After the Apprentice Conferment ceremony, I followed Conjurer Iras to a special vault in the Conjurer's Court that stored thousands of artifacts and magic grimoires, to collect my prize.
"You can pick an item or grimoire from this vault as your reward for ranking first in the Apprentice Conjurer Audition", Conjurer Iras told me.
"There is so much stuff here how much time do I have to choose?" I asked him.
"Well, you have a day to pick, and don't take more than one reward because we keep track of everything in here", he told me as he left the vault to my picking.
"Ratatouille go check what's good but don't steal anything they keep a track of everything", I told Ratatouille.
While the rat scoured the vault for good stuff I browsed through the Grimoires and see if I can copy some of these books for free. The Conjurer said don't take more but he didn't say I can't remember the books I read here.
"You better come out now", I told my girls as I squashed a magical artifact, creating a magical portal into the vault.
Rinna wanted to get inside this magical vault of the conjurers for a very long time but never got a chance. So, she prepared a magical artifact that could open a portal to her when I came here and bring her inside.
"The portal wouldn't last for too long, we have to be quick", Rinna said to me.
"I'll be done in a jiffy", Sara said to us as she came out of her shuttle, followed by Meera and Cassandra.
"There are so many religious texts here, it will take me months to read all of them", Meera said to me.
Meera was my beloved bookworm who loves going to the library. But our time inside this secret vault was short.
"We couldn't stay here to read", I told Meera.
"You can read all you want when we get out of this bloody place", Sara told her as she brought out her copying drones.
"Summon Copying Drones"
I knew we were coming to a secret vault that contained many magical secrets and grimoires. So, I asked Sara to come too, bringing with her some copying drones.