Roge worked tirelessly through the day working on his items, knowing that any tools for the magic-style classes he could make would most likely be weaker than what they were used to. So he decided to go all in on making potions, knowing any little bit he could do would help. He started out by making twenty lesser healing potions, grinning at the rank ten potion. He *could* try and increase it to rank nineteen, as his [Screen Hoard] had a higher cap on abilities, but he’d run out of the blueoak acorns making the potions. “Wish it was easier to improve you…” he muttered to the trees, the branches swaying in the breeze in response. He considered making buff potions for everyone as well, but those he was more hesitant on. Healing, he could understand being useful regardless. But boosts? They would be more hit and miss. “Besides, I’d have to make a lot of them…”

  At the very least, Roge was able to make more things after Alton and him went to bed, the nature mana wave refreshing all of his plants. It also made a good number of things grow, Roge smiling at the boosts he received.

  “Damn… making those potions really increased that huh…” Roge muttered, feeling as though his [Alchemical Farming] was skyrocketing in levels when he automated tier one potions. Once he harvested his materials, Roge could really get to work on his potions, setting up all of the tier zero resource potions besides health to be cooked up automatically. It meant that he couldn’t do any crafting himself, but Roge didn’t mind, though he did stop and think about how he could improve those potions. “I need to look into teas,” he muttered, Alton looking over to the dragon and giving him a questioning look. “If I’m right, mixing drinks with the potions increases the effects or makes more potions in the long run. I already know where allure is, as the hot chocolate recipe is in my book.”

  “Oh! Is that why Hops had me get those ingredients?” Alton asked, pulling another cauldron, a table, and several ingredients out of his inventory.

  Roge sighed as he saw all of it, giving Alton a grin. “Yeah. That’s why…” he muttered, moving over and looking through everything. Clearly the elf wanted him to experiment first, Roge huffing as he realized that the minotaur could summon his recipe book due to the ingredients for one batch of hot chocolate was sitting there.

  Roge frowned at the inconsistent measurements, not liking that his potions just seemed to use ‘units’, whereas the hot chocolate was a complete recipe with weights and everything. Hops had, of course, also gotten Roge a scale, though it was an old fashioned one with counterweights and everything.

  Obviously, none of the ingredients were magical, so once Roge had everything measured out, he deposited a coin of [Alluring] into each one, knowing that the total would be five and that he’d probably get two or three in the final batch. The recipe also didn’t take too long to make, Roge smiling at the delectable scent of his childhood favorite drink.

  Brushing aside the fact that the [Bond] ability was now gone, Roge took out one of the novice allure potions that just got finished being made. He wasn’t all that sure what the potion could add, as the hot chocolate was good all on its own. Shrugging, he took two of the potions, juiced them up to rank seven, and poured them into the hot chocolate, hoping that it wouldn’t alter the flavor too much.

  Roge blinked *hard* at that description, having expected the bump to only go up to nine at the highest. ‘So… I can mix drinks and potions to make the higher tier potions?’ That seemed a little busted, but Roge was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially since he didn’t have [Charisma Boost]. Unfortunately, Hops did not give him enough ingredients to make multiple batches, leaving Roge with eight novice allure potions and ten greater millennial drinker’s potions. At the very least, though, Roge could do alchemy in his hoard now, while still doing the automated stuff. He decided to hold off on doing any other experimenting, instead taking Alton’s lead and relaxing for the rest of the night.

  ~~~

  The next morning, after setting up a lot of potions to brew, Roge now had forty each of the different resource potions. He stretched and headed back towards the league building to visit Bert. He wanted to hand off the various potions to him, as well as see if he could get at least one bottle of ink. Relaxing had really done a number on the dragon, as he’d had the idea for the various [Pigment] plants in his farm hoard. He didn’t really have a use for it, but if the inks acted like potions, he could most likely use the petals he’d been accruing to make ink to sell.

  He was stopped, however, when he’d tried to get out of the back door of their inn and found a foot of snow at least. The wind was especially bad, but what made it worse is that, for the first time in that world, Roge felt cold creeping through his body. Luckily, after he quaffed a sapphire warmth potion, he just barely had enough leeway in his resistances and the heat of the potion to stave off the cold. Unfortunately, he knew that it would not be the same for his friends and the guild members, the dragon kobold now worried that no one would be able to survive in the storm.

  ‘Storm…’ That thought made Roge freeze and pull up his most unused skill, his maw splitting into a full grin as he pushed it to activate.

  Even though the blizzard wasn’t actively harming him, the skill still seemed to accept that the biting cold and snow would damage him over time. ‘Hopefully it’s not taking my potion into account…’ Even though his mana was completely filled, it still actively lowered the temperature in the area, the snow not coming down as heavily and the wind not actively blowing him off his feet anymore. Even the cold felt slightly warmer, though it still felt like a cool autumn breeze to him. As he looked around, Roge noticed that the effect didn’t seem to stop at his [Mana Manipulation] range, instead extending out more and more as he used the skill.

  ‘Maybe I’m sucking up the magic used to make the effect…?’ he thought to himself, pushing forward through the snow before giving up and transforming into his fairy wolf form to fly over it. Thankfully, the effects he gained from adding the form to his hoard didn’t get rid of his normal resistances, the cold still not really effecting him.

  Roge sighed, thinking over the [Wild Forms] effect and wondering how it would clash with his [Static Mind] when he was supposed to gain more from the forms. ‘Hopefully it changed it to what they have now, as I wouldn’t mind [Visual Flair].’

  He finally arrived at the league building, the storm around them getting more and more calm and revealing the thick fog surrounding the area. His storm absorption made him feel a bit bloated, but he otherwise felt fine, sighing as he turned into his kobold form and forced the front doors open with a lot of effort.

  “Roge!” Bert called out, the League Master looking worried as he glanced outside. “This cold is too much… even…” He trailed off as he noticed the storm abating, turning to look at Roge and his uncomfortable look. “Are you doing something there?”

  “I’m trying,” Roge grumbled, feeling some of the bloated feeling passing. “I have a skill that seems to suck up the magic from storms.” He then looked back out at the road, thinking fast as he swapped out his healing wand for electric fire. “You know where I need to clear a path?” Roge manipulated the electric fire to evaporate a portion of the snow, the dragon kobold sagging as some of the extra mana was used to fuel the effect.

  Extending his cold resistance to the League Master, Roge followed his instructions on where to clear a path, the snow finally stopping as Roge absorbed more of the storm’s energy. He could feel it trying to constantly come back, the dragon kobold growling as he barely kept in front of being overloaded with mana. Thankfully, all of the golden adventurers were holed up in a fancier inn right nearby, the League Master apparently having called them all in a few days previously when the temperature started dropping. Once that path was clear, the group of adventurers tried to help with clearing a path to Roge’s inn, but they quickly withdrew their advice when informed that he was keeping the storm away. Thankfully, everyone had heating enchantments on their clothing, courtesy of a higher level enchanter that had stopped by the previous day when Roge was otherwise occupied. That, along with Roge’s buff, made it comfortable enough for the stronger adventurers, leading them to not complain as they finally reached Roge’s inn.

  “Where have you been?!” Sean cried out, rushing through some of the uncleared snow to snatch up the weary kobold. His [Magic Tool Control] had gone up by two whole points during the hour long trek, his body feeling worn out by the constant magic use. At the very least, Roge felt as though it was worth it, grinning at his [Mana Manipulation] upgrade.

  “I’ve been grinding!” Roge slurred, cuddling up to Sean’s neck, much to the surprise of his party. “So many gains today!”

  “Yeah uh… You need to stop your skill,” Bert cut in, Roge turning around to give the League Master a pout. “We’ll be fine until we get to the drake. But you need to save some energy for the fight, as we’re going to need you to suck away any storm magic while keeping your buff on us.”

  “Fiiine…” Roge whined, cutting off his skill and instantly slumping in Sean’s arms. Thankfully, his buffs still extended to the group even when he was unconscious, as the dragon kobold was passed out in his lion’s arms.

  ~~~

  “Yeah… I think he likes you,” Hops muttered, helping the magical classes clear the way through the forest with his runes. Sean gave him a glare at that, though he was prevented from saying anything by Marge.

  “Yeah, I think you just need to tell him. He’s obviously not going to say anything, though we might want to also talk to him as well.” She tapped her muzzle as she thought the problem over, Sean getting more and more annoyed by the conversation.

  “Probably. If Roge confesses he likes Sean, then that’s most of the problem solved.”

  “Can you two cut it out?” Sean growled, holding the unconscious dragon kobold even closer. It was starting to get really cold, the snow having started again as soon as they entered the forest. Even though Sean knew rationally that Roge wouldn’t be able to get cold, he still worried for his dragon.

  “Well, considering how he reacted to you springing things on him last time, I think we’re being considerate,” Hops mumbled, drawing out several fire runes to float around them. “I’ve already told Alton to talk with him after the battle. You should too. No more secrets, remember?”

  Sean sighed when he realized they were right, hiding Roge’s face in his mane as he contemplated what to say. ‘And how do I tell him I like him better now…?’ he thought to himself, not liking the person that opinion made him.

  ~~~

  DISCLAIMER: The hot chocolate recipe is not mine. If you want to look at the original recipe, visit: to find the original recipe. I tweaked it slightly, as I prefer milk chocolate and I needed ten servings of it, but I still wanted to give credit to the site I got it from.