Heading out of the building, he made his way to replenish his stock, preparing for the upcoming tasks.

First, the Potions.

Treading on the neatly crafted road of mud brick and avoiding the horses, he reached a Potion shop around the corner to his right that stood out amidst the closed houses lining the quarter with its beautiful greenery decorations.

* Whistle * " Looking good, you seem pretty chill today. "

Open his eyes, the shop owner glanced at the door to see who had just arrived.

" Soo soo! Don't pester me. "

" Aww, c'mon man, I'm coming to buy your potions. Don't be driving your lovely and faithful customer away like that. ", Tark grins and replies.

The shop owner took a moment to stare at Tark, then gave up and massaged his eyes. He yawned and asked for what he needed.

" Hmmm, what are the new products? "

" Here, freshly cooked from the oven. "

The man took out a box of neatly placed, colorful potions from under his desk.

" Do you want me to tell you their effect? "

" Of course, my man, Heal and Harm potion and everything else looks the same to me. "

The shop owner's eye jerked with Tark's response. He took a deep breath and held back his frustration, calmingly looking at Tark and questioning him.

" ... Are you here to piss me off? "

" Nah nah I'm interested for real. "

* Glance *

" Fine. Here is Dizziness potion of the Stun group, version 1.3; Corrode potion of the Destructive group, version 1.8, Hunger potion... You know what? Wait me a bit. "

The shop owner takes out a book, promptly jotting down the names of the potions in the presented order on a page. To his generosity, he added colorful squares in front of each name to correspond with the potions' respective colors and passed it to Tark.

With a long read, Tark complimented,

" Woa! All are nice. How much is this one? "

" Five copper. "

" That's expensive! "

" It's the latest version. I will give you 20% discount if you buy right now for all those that are from this batch. "

" Ah thank you~ You are very kind. "

" Shut your craps, do you want it or no? "

" Ah yes, I would like to take... "

He pauses to rub his chin and sneer a bit.

" ... the usual, please. "

" . . . "

Tark, looking completely oblivious to the tension in the air, simply asked the store owner in turn after the latter had glared at him for three long seconds.

" What? I'm buying. "

* Deep breathe, and Sigh *

" Here's your ten Healing 1.5, ten Enhance 1.5, ten Stamina 1.5. "

" Add this Lust potion too, I wanna try something. "

" Very well. And by the way, I will cancel the old potion tiers soon. Meaning, you will only be able to buy the newest potion, at a higher price. So next time you come, it might be Healing 1.8, Enhance 2.0, and Stamina 1.6. "

Giving a thumbs up, Tark replies to him.

" That's okay for me. You should make small vials and cut the price for poor people you know? Your stuff is too potent. A sip from the Stamina one and I'm already at full vitality. Altho mental fatigue is still there. "

" Ah that mental fatigue is something I'm currently working on. It might take a few days before I get the best recipe. "

" Oh, so you already have it? "

" ... No. Only on theory for now. "

" Aww okay. And, you have any tip for my shield? "

" Yeah, buy a real shield already. "

" ...Not that... "

" Stick a knife or something to it that can attach and detach. Then insert a potion slot to make the potion flow to the blade when needed for a thorn shield. It would work better for offending than just bashing with the shield's flat body- " He halted a bit before continuing,

" Well, I'm no expert and I think the knife would just break if you bash the shield from the unfavorable angle of the blade. Anyway, that's all I can think of. "

" Hmm, Thorn shield huh? Thanks. "

" Aight aight now go away, Imma continue my sleep. "

" Aight bai. "

/// Narrator's interference

Yo, before we move on with the story, let's ask ourselves one question.

" How does one guard his own store if he's always sleeping? "

Well, to find an answer to that, lemme just.. * Forcefully bend the thread of chance *

Great, now let's see.

Not long after Tark left, a rummaging sound could be heard coming from within the same potion shop.

* Cluck clack cleck *

A young child with rag clothes snatched a few ingredients he believed to be the right component for his concoction from the store's storage. Upon getting out with his Sneak 100, the boy's vision suddenly got turned upside down, just a few steps away from the exit door.

* Srush Srush *

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

His body flailed helplessly in the air, as sticky and slimy tentacles violently shook him up and down against his will.

His possessions drop out and are precisely collected by the creature before they touch the floor, while he himself is still hanging by the ankle with the tentacle-gagged mouth.

* Ding Ding Ding *

The little tentacle tapped at the keeper bell on the door to wake its master.

" Huh? Oh-. Thanks, Pinkie. "

Stretching out his back with a loud yawn, the man summoned some water to wash his hands and face. The shop owner made his way over to the boy, surveying the items that could have been stolen. Nodding with interest, he inquired about the items,

" Interesting choices. Say, what are you going to do with this bunch? "

" . . . "

" Speak or I will sell you to the slave merchant. "

Tears welled up in the boy's eyes as he trembled and said in a voice barely above a whisper

" Nun-nunya! "

* Cries *

" Nunya? "

" Nun-Nunya business! "

A vein threatened to burst on his forehead as his anger reached a boiling point. He was about to fling the annoying dipshit into his herb-cleansing water barrel, but he held himself back just in time. Thinking of a better approach, he takes a deep breath and tries again,

" Listen here you little shit, if you show me what you are going to do with my stuff, I might let you go and forget about this incident. But if I lose interest midway, say goodbye to your tongue and hands. Understood? "

Aight! That solves the mystery. Let's move on.

. . . Inside a certain underground basement . . .

A steady * Oomph * noise with magical cracklings was sound throughout a quite spacious room. Purple scribbles of magical runes were lit up inside a complex formation consisting of various shapes, sizes, and thicknesses with meticulous rune placements. The magic circle on the ground lit up with a vibrant glow, and thick, shimmering bolts of blue lightning coursed through the intricate purple diagram. A beautiful phenomenon to behold.

Wiping his sweat, Tark - the one who created this marvelous scene has been preparing this formation for a while. Picked up a distilled mana bottle on the table nearby, he chucked it all down as his gaze returned to a pile of grey pebbles on the side.

" Here goes nothing "

Tossing a red gem into the middle of the formation, it hovered in mid-air at the center and started to spin. Ten gray pebbles then followed suit, evenly distributed around the gem and spinning in their respective positions.

* Swishh~ Srhhh~ Crack! *

One by one, the pebbles disintegrated, mana from within their cores flowing into the red gem as it spun. The magical fog seeped from the diagram, slowly retrieving the broken debris and laying it down on the ground.

In no time, there's none pebble left intact.

"Gem fusion" was the process's name.

After several rounds of mana conversion, he finally consolidated the 10 red gems' energies into a single, more powerful orange gem.

Fortunately, the red gems remained intact, unlike the grey ones that shattered and vanished.

After the conversion process, he stores the gems away and enjoys a meal and a rest. Upon waking up, he etched runes onto the orange gem before binding it into his newly crafted shield. He then set out to test his creation in the field.

. . .

In another part of the jungle, Vera's dangling herself upon a branch, surveying the wildlife that passed by. With her Enhance magic on, her senses were sharpened to a level beyond that of typical humans, enabling her to perceive even the smallest details of her surroundings.

" That tree got a lot of claw mark, it's like a bear is trying to take over another's. "

. . .

" And that is a cute pair of bear. A mother and a cub. Lovely! "

. . .

* Yawning * " And that is a wounded bear... near a set of 3 youngling bear... Why them all bear on this side of the jungle?! Oh there's a fox. "

. . . then she got bored . . .

" Nah screw it. Nothing to see here. ".

With fluid grace, Vera lifted herself off and swung from branch to branch, deeper and deeper into the wood.

* BAOOHMMM! *

" Ah- That's loud. "

The thunderous explosion tore through a swath of trees, casting a shadow of destruction in its wake. Though distant, the sound still reached Vera's ears, and she instantly changed course, swinging towards the source with her usual vigor.

* Z-Zap! *

With a quick tilt of her head, Vera evaded the path of an arcing bolt of lightning coming from the ground. Detecting the source, she tracks the exact location of her assailant almost immediately and makes a brief analysis.

" Huh? Lightning versus lightning eh? Okay then. "

With deft agility, Vera gracefully dropped down on all fours and then stood up to face her enemy. The electric and Enhanced magic coursing through her limbs was poised, ready for whatever may come.

The gorilla as her opponent, with yellow stripes and a scaly back, stood imposingly before Vera, towering over her at a height of over two meters. It was a formidable opponent, visually looking two times the size of Vera.

As the massive creature let out a rumbling roar, Vera gave the gorilla a fist against its own as a greeting.

* Bang! -- Vzoom! *

A thunderous boom exploded as their fists collided, sending a shockwave of sonic energy rippling through the air. The ground, the tree, and the unlucky bystanders around them were left scorched with smoldering streaks of lightning. In that moment of suspended action, Vera and the gorilla silently acknowledged each other's immense power.

' Very strong, a worthy opponent. '

And then they started fighting.