Neraxis stared at the sign with confusion but decided to go in nonetheless.
There was a single girl sitting at the reception, seemingly playing around on her phone.
He walked around the little shop, glancing at the names of the vials.
Potion of Speed? Huh... Is this alchemy? Neraxis was at a loss for words. He had assumed that was the case, but seeing it straight up was something else entirely.
[Hmm... Have you never seen a potion before?] Evangeline questioned.
I've only seen health potions and mana potions; these did not exist back then... he answered before lifting the potion and revealing its price tag.
...I can only buy two of these? Seriously?
He had a total of 10,000 crowns. It was a significant amount—he could probably buy hundreds of cookies for his mother if he wanted to.
Before he did that, there was one thing Neraxis wanted to check out: the variety of these potions.
Walking from shelf to shelf, he inspected each and every potion, its effects ranging from strength boosts to slight durability increases.
Finally, he reached a section that had caught his interest: a Potion of Hair Growth.
Neraxis obviously wasn't bald, but if he could get his mother a potion that had a similar effect to a rejuvenating beauty cream, then perhaps she would forgive him a bit sooner.
However, after several minutes of walking around, he still could not spot it. So, with resignation, he started heading toward the exit.
However, as he neared the exit, Neraxis suddenly felt a tug on his jacket. Turning around, he saw the girl from earlier standing right beside him.
"Sorry!" She immediately let go and stepped back a few meters before speaking again. "Was there something you were looking for?"
"I was... a beauty potion. The ones that could make your skin clearer," Neraxis replied, inwardly feeling embarrassed—it sounded a bit stupid.
"Oh! I'm sorry, someone recently bought out the last batch, but if you are interested, I can give you something similar?" She tried bargaining before turning around and gesturing for him to follow.
"Is this for your girlfriend?"
"...My mother."
"Oh... Well, that's a nice gift," she said with a chuckle as they arrived by the counter.
"Wait here a moment, I'll bring it right out."
"Go ahead." Neraxis nodded and turned his gaze toward the potions in the glass covering below him.
They seemed of much higher quality than the others. These ones, however, were without nametags.
But judging from the colors alone, he could assume what they were.
Red for healing, blue for mana, cyan for speed, and so forth. There was quite a wide selection.
Shortly, the girl came back out holding a rainbow vial, and with a proud smirk, she stated, "This is my finest work yet. It can cleanse the body of impurities, which in turn, will also give your mother clearer skin."
Getting closer, she said, "So? What do you say?"
Neraxis looked interested, so he went straight to the point. "And the price?"
"Hmm... 100,000, but since it's still a new product, and you would be the first buyer, I'll give you a discount. 50,000 crowns. If you are unsatisfied with the potion, you are free to bring it back."
Well shit. Neraxis nodded back at her with a smile. He did not have that much in cash currently; however, he did have a black debit card which he could try using.
"I'll buy it," he said and pulled the card out, holding it right in front of her.
She seemed startled at the sight. "Uh? Pleasure doing business with you, sir."
Neraxis put the card up to the scanner, and in the very next moment, it beeped, signifying that the transaction went through successfully.
"Hey, do you have any more of these?" he asked. It might be a good idea to bring back one for Elara as well.
But the girl merely shook her head to the side. "Sorry, it's a bit troublesome procuring some of those ingredients... But! I can guarantee their quality!"
"Sure." Neraxis replied with a smile as he took the bag with the potion inside. However, all of a sudden, his right arm began stinging, similarly to how it was when he first woke up in that strange place.
[You should head back fast... like really fast.] Evangeline remarked with urgency, and immediately, he said his goodbyes before calmly walking out of the store and bolting straight toward his home.
Why did it need to happen now... He grumbled, speeding up his pace, jumping over all sorts of fences until eventually, he was right in front of his house.
Neraxis's breathing became labored as the pain intensified. It was starting to get a little unbearable.
He ran inside, quickly noticing that no one was home yet. Before heading to his own room, he went to his mother's room and placed the potion on the desk nearby.
There was a piece of paper, so he quickly scribbled the words, "Sorry," and left the note next to the bag.
Immediately after he got back into his own room, he collapsed on the bed. His arm was practically spasming now.
Evangeline appeared in her sword form and hovered slightly above him before saying, [This will hurt a lot, but trust me, not all skill transfers will be like this.]
[When I transfer mine, you will feel a gentle breeze, so just hold on for now.] She tried reassuring him; however, his entire body was now shaking, and it was difficult to even catch a breath.
However, as he thought this would be the extent of his suffering, he saw blood starting to stream down his face, coming from his eyes.
But before it could go down further, it disappeared. Evangeline absorbed it into the sword.
[Don't worry about the blood, I will make sure you don't bleed out.]
Neraxis barely squeezed out a nod before trying his best to relax, bearing through the pain.
This continued on for several minutes, though it felt like hours, until eventually, the pain began subsiding.
He could see the red line that was on his right hand slowly fade away, disappearing into nothingness.
However, a red system window suddenly appeared before his exhausted self.
[Astral Bl-Recompiling...]
Is it not working? Neraxis thought but saw Evangeline just gliding around, seemingly bored and not paying any attention to the red system window.
I guess it's fine...
As his thoughts finished, the system window returned to normal, displaying a skill that was definitely not the one he had seen back in the auction.
What the...
[Stellar Dominion {A}]
[Skill Description: Allows the wielder to channel the limitless power of the stars.]
[Note: Due to user's insufficient power, the skill's effects are severely reduced.]
[Skill Effects (1/3): Cosmic Cascade (Active): Summons a torrent of primordial starlight energy in a targeted area, dealing massive astral damage over time and inflicting the Astral Fire Debuff. Cooldown: 5 minutes.]
[Skill Effects (2/3): Stellar Attunement (Passive): Enhance the user's connection to the astral plane, increasing their mana regeneration and skill potency.]
[Skill Effects (3/3): Enter the astral plane. Duration: 1 Hour. Cooldown: 1 Week.]
[Debuff - Astral Fire: Enemies afflicted by Astral Fire increase Astral damage on the target by 25% for 10 seconds.]
Evangeline...? Neraxis called out, not taking his eyes away from the skill.
[Hm? Is it a good skill? I can't see.] She replied with a playful tone, flying behind him.
Good? It's more than good... It's literally overpowered. He was overjoyed, opening up his status again and again, making sure the skill remained there.
An A ranked skill just landed on his plate; the first he had ever seen in his entire life.
Even if its effects were greatly reduced, it was still an incredible asset—one he planned on using to its full potential tomorrow.
Since that was the day the academy finally starts.