I slipped bato the tavern and peered around carefully. Thankfully, no sign of Lisa lurking about. I slid in unnoticed and headed for a secluded spot in the back. It wasn’t a private room, just a small area with a siable and five-foot-high wooden walls around it. I could still hear chatter oher side, but it was better than sitting out in the open.

  First things first—I ordered a pint of beer and stocked up on another crate of wine and some food for me and Donovan. Where better to resupply than a cozy tavern?

  Then I stacked all ten cauldrons oable; the waitress frowned but said nothing about it. While iing the cauldrons, I noticed a small yellow crystal embedded beh eae. A spark of mana, and the cauldroed, a tiny fme flickering to life. Sweet!

  For the preparation phase, the recipe only mentioned needing Rodumbine, so I pulled out the ingredients—ten times the amount, of course. To kick things off, I had to fill each cauldron with water, exactly as the recipe instructed.

  Right, who casually travels with gallons of water? Me! I hauled out my big water bottle and filled each cauldron, spag it out in five-sed intervals for the exploit to work.

  Ohe water boiled, I tossed in the violet alchemy thieically, they were called [Alchemy Reagents], but “alchemy thingies” had a better ring to it. Acc to the recipe, I was supposed to throw in “crushed flower” ohe thiurned bluish.

  Crushed flower? And why wasn’t that mentioned in the prep stage, you moron?

  While the water heated, I quickly ground the brittle bck petals of the Rodumbine flower in my brand-new mortar, releasing a sharp, pu aroma. The system timer ted down precisely to five minutes, and as the color finally ged, I dumped the flower in. The bubbling potions released an aromatic st as I stirred each of the ten cauldrons in rapid succession, leaving me more exhausted than a boss fight. Terrific.

  The table rattled slightly as I set dowion bottle, its tents sloshing inside. Alchemy bottles only came in two types—standard, with a 10-oune, and small, holding just 1 ounce. As soon as the first potion turned green, I activated the ring, and the liquid in the cauldron densed.

  I didn’t waste a sed, p it straight into the bottle. In quick succession, I repeated the process with each of the other cauldrons. When I finally finished, I slumped onto the bench, exhausted but satisfied, sing the blue notification boxes with a grin.

  [gratution! You have created the Agility Potion x10][Agility Potion]Effect: +50 Agility for 10 minutes“Yes!” I jumped up, cheering. My intuition had been spot on, and it worked like a charm! Sihe potion was inally rger, creating ten smaller ones and merging them made the effect ten times stronger. “Sweet,” I murmured in delight.

  The only downside was having to make the potions simultaneously, with just a ten-sed window after creation te them. Easy.

  “Princess?” I heard Lisa’s enthusiastic voice from across the room, followed by her quick footsteps as she rushed over. She threw her arms around me in a tight hug, like a kid clutg a favorite toy. “You’re amazing! Thanks to you, we cleared the sed boss!”

  As she hugged me, I felt her lips press gently against my hair in a sweet, affeate kiss. I opened my mouth to protest, but my voice caught, and all that came out was a soft squeak. Naturally, that’s the only rea I could manage when a beautiful girl held me like this.

  “What’s with the ten cauldrons? Don’t you only need one?” she asked, still holding me. Despite being treated like a cute mascot, I felt a warm flutter of happiness inside.

  “More is better. I’m heading to the Duke’s ship. You ing?” I deflected, not wanting to get into the details of multi-alchemy.

  Holy, I hadn’t ied this trick; I’d seen something simir in a video—five years from now. They decreased the size of metal to make it more sturdy. So I made an educated guess. With enough creativity, anyone could use the ring to their advantage, so I shouldn’t worry, right? Hopefully, the system would fix it ter rather than sooner. for Ian then.

  “Oh, I’d love to, Princess! I heard it’s a tough quest, but I o finish the dungeon first,” she said, soundied—which admittedly gave me a tiny thrill. No more annoying hugging.

  Or maybe it didn’t? Actually, hearing that had the opposite effect. Why? No more cuddling. “I get it. Good luck, friend,” I said, watg her return to her table. Please, Lisa, kiss me more!

  Determio earn more of her affe, I peeked over at her “room” again, only to find way too many people arouable, all waving at me. Not happening. I squeaked, quickly darted back, and got bay alchemy. The result? A hundred small potions—ten bottles for emergencies.

  My slow pad dejected expression revealed my enthusiasm as I entered my mentor’s ir. “Princess! e sit with us!” Donovan’s loud voied. Very loud. Wonderful. Just wonderful.

  I nodded and walked over to the low desk where they were squatting. A tea party on the floor? Bizarre, but at least they’d set up some actual furniture this time. I briefly sidered turning around and running, but ended up sitting down anyway.

  Donovan handed me a cup, and I took a cautious sip. The tea was lukewarm, with a strong blueberry aroma that was almost inviting. Almost. The taste, however, was… g. Like a mouthful of dry, fvorless soil. Patrick’s window er had better fvor.

  “So, what’s the story with you and Donovan? How did you two meet?” I asked, my glorious attempt at versation.

  “When my mother died, she wished for me to bee a knight! Like in the legends, back when humans were just a lesser race!” Donovan’s battle cry echoed through the ir loudly as he brandished his sword dramatically.

  Before I could ent on how ridiculous he looked, Teorn shot him a scolding look. “Donova go of that nonsehe past is in the past.” He gnced my way, and a knot tightened in my stomach. “Hero, you’re just in time. The Duke’s fleet will arrive shortly. I spoke with the harbormaster; you’ve got a p the third ship. You’ll o vihe Captain, or even the Duke himself, to fulfill your destiny.”

  “I khere’d be a catch. Wonderful,” I muttered, sipping the tea. A spsh of rum might’ve been perfeask the rocky fvor. Bh. Before I realized it, the old man ressing himself against me from behind, patting my head.

  Where I pin about harassing in a game?! Well… Let’s not put a target on my back, or they might pull the ban hammer.

  “You’ll be fine—you’re a hero!” He leaned over, trying to peek down my shirt, and I could feel his breath dampening my hair. A wave of disgust washed over me, quickly giving way to a growing rage. Fine. I poured the rest of my drink on him and smmed the cup onto his head, making him recoil.

  “Let’s go, Donovan.” An unexpinable anger was boiling inside me as I stomped out, each step nding harder tha. Why am I like this? My feelings were a mess I couldn’t make sense of. The not-yet-knight scrambled to join me, quickly gathering his things as I left.

  “Good luck!” the cursed mentor called after us, ughing as he healed himself.

  Choosing this vilge turned out to be a mistake. Stupid Teorn.

  It wasn’t until Donovan led us on a stroll through the vilge that I finally spotted the river winding through it. The harbor was hidden down and around the mountain, so when the river suddenly came into view, I let out a surprised, “No way.”

  Uhe calm streets above, this area buzzed with activity like a beehive. Elves were darting around, shouting, selling wares, b ships—you . The harbor master, an older man with a booming voice, stood ihick of it all. My calm dissipated with each step toward him, repced by a rising ay.

  I slowed my pace, veering slightly to the side as if I had something else to do.

  Donovan noticed and gave me a puzzled look. Thinking I hadn’t seen the harbor master, he grabbed my hand and dragged me forward. Wait!

  “Mister Teorn said we sail with the Duke!” Donovan’s trademark yell was actually useful here in the noisy crowd.

  The harbor master gave us a nod. “That’s right. Wait,” he shouted, just as loudly. Terrific. While I shielded my pointy ears, he called over a young boy and told him to guide us. Thankfully, too, sih hundreds of people bustling around, my focus ractically… ruihe noise of overpping versations, the cmor of ships, the rank smell of rotting… everything overwhelmed the poor introverted me.

  The kid led us te dock area, off-limits and guarded by the town’s soldiers. After he proved we belohe guards let us past the rope struween old, rotting posts. We found a quiet spot where the mountaihe river, and I finally leaned back against the rock to rest.

  “We’re here!” The boy grinned and held out his hand. He wants a tip? I looked over at Donovan, but he was too busy admiring the female guards nearby. After a quick look at the boy’s scruffy appearance, I handed him one silver. Judging by his wide-eyed gratitude and his repeated thanks, I’d overpaid again. Whatever.

  “Stop staring at the girls and tell me—how long have you been training?” I gave Donovan a sp on the back, instantly regretting it. That armor was no joke; my hand throbbed with pain.

  “I’ve been in the serviy master for over ten months!” he yelled, grinning at my cleavage.

  “Don’t yell, and that wasn’t my question. What you actually do? What kind of training have you had?”

  “I followed my master! Whenever I , I’d take a hit; he always healed me afterward,” he said proudly. Damn old man. This kid was utterly useless.

  “Show me how you’d strike an enemy, alright?” I kept my voieutral, trying to stay calm. He nodded, but it ainfully clear—his stance was off, his teique ent. He swung his sword without moving his feet or hips at all.

  After silently cursing the old pervert a thousand times, I said, “Let’s make a bet, alright?” I pulled out my staff and poi at him. I hadn’t tried the whip yet, and this wasn’t the best pce to practice. “If you stay on your feet for ten seds without falling, you win. And if you hit me even once, you also win.”

  He looked at my staff with a sful expression. “What are the stakes, Princess?”

  “If you win, I’ll let you touch my butt. But if I win, I get to call you ‘Don’ and teach you the basics of swordsmanship.” He agreed to the uerms the sed I mentioned his reward. What a fool.

  [You have used the Agility Potion][Agility increased by 50]After I o start, he took the initiative. The idiot tightened his grip on the sword, bringing it closer before thrusting it straight at my chest. Thanks to my agility, I sidestepped aly tapped the tip of my staff against his sword, direg his attack to the left.

  He nearly lost his bance from that alone, leaving his right side wide open. I reached out and tapped him with a single finger, which was enough to make him lose his footing and fall.

  “Again!” he shouted, scrambling back to his feet. We squared off once more. For the duration of my potion, I sparred with him aed him every time, yet his unyielding spirit kept him ing back.

  “Alright, Don, that’s enough. So, what do you think?”

  He looked at me with eager eyes and said, “Your butt is amazing!”