Checking his increased stats from the new ascension, Pef frowned.
While his Mana pool did double, and reached nearly 29 thousands, it was barely big enough to fire his Drill Torpedo nine times without recharge. But Bosses were already over level 200. Much too hard to kill.
"Is there a way to increase my mana pool more?" He asked with a glance at the resident Legendary wife.
Lise smiled and nodded. "You did get a Spirit Pill not long ago, remember? Didn't your mana pool grow from it?" she asked with a teasing voice.
Pef smiled back, and nodded in acceptance.
"So, there must be other pills. Even if not as strong as to give me 10 percent more stats, they might be stackable, unlike that Spirit Pill."
Lucia raised a finger, then lowered it with a sigh. "The Golden Branch also has a special tea...but I'm not welcome there anymore..." she explained in a pained voice.
Miya perked up for a second. "If we can travel to the East...we could visit the Water Dragon. He sells everything. Even stuff not on the Auction."
Pef sighed. "And we will, someday. But first, we have an opportunity here. Learning Alchemy isn't something I'm willing to drop. Plus there's the amazing Paracelsus dungeon!" he added with a pumped up tone.
Miya blinked and nodded back. "And we still have 7 months here. Maybe I can also learn Alchemy? At least til Adept level..." she mused, mostly to herself. She did reach Heroic class, and had 200 Mind attributes, more than enough to pluck herbs with telekinesis.
Lise clapped her hands, drawing all eyes on her. "Yes, we better make most of our time left here. Pef might actually reach Mastery, or at least get all the prerequisites. Lucia is close to getting an Alchemy Elder status as well."
And with that, she summoned her time expansion dungeon, and jumped on her husband.
Lise was too willing to gain as much as she could from the time left here.
With a happy grin, Pef activated his enhancement cultivation and spells, boosting his body with extra 90 Str and 50 Constitution, barely enough to withstand the hungry and horny monster.
His blonde queen rode him for a dozen hours, without break before she was spent and fell asleep in afterglow and bliss.
Pef fell asleep for a few hours too, then he woke up, farmed the other wives and returned to reading and studying.
He did have a plethora of mystic books and manuals to learn from, even if they were not skill books.
Then, the new day came, and Pef and his wives returned to the dungeon, to farm the next immortal for potions and health points.
Another month passed like that, and his treasury recovered by selling Elixirs. Cure for any illness. Thee were always buyers, even at 50 million per one vial.
Then, the cut off for Major healing potions was reached. At 900 potions donated to the alchemists, Pef stopped giving them out, and instead began placing them one at the time on the Abyss Auction.
In a frenzy of bids, the price for a single Major potion climbed from 10 million to 70 millions. It seemed people were very willing to pay good money for a potion that could restore lost limbs.
He sold 9 potions on the Auction, just making sure nobody could gain 1000 of them, without a direct trade with him.
Then Master Kimmel arrived, not too pleased.
"Mister Pef...congratulations for your new Saint rank class. I expect you'll reach Legendary soon?" the old alchemist asked politely.
"Sure. But passing the tribulations is expensive, Master Kimmel. And not just myself, but my wives as well..." Pef replied in a mercantile tone.
Master Kimmel nodded wisely. "I figured it was something like that. I do have something to ease the cost, in exchange for another batch of Major potions. Perhaps 100 more?" the man asked while presenting a few gifts, mostly Magic Resistance items, as well as a few rare books and another pill in a jade bottle.
Pef glanced at the offerings. "I admit, all these are tempting. But the price on the Auction is over 70 million now. I'm willing to trade 50 Major potions for these gifts."
He explained gently and laid 50 potions on the side.
Master Kimmel frowned and glared at Anne-Lise for some reason. "Hmph. Fine! Perhaps next month you'll obtain another batch? I'll try to find something worthwhile." the alchemist muttered not too pleased, then collected the potions and left, leaving his barter goods laid around.
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"... Master is not fine. But then, that was your intention, correct?" Lise asked him with a thin smile.
Pef smiled back. "I'm curious if Odin will come himself for the last potion."
"Hah. You are kinda foolishly brave, my husband!" the blonde wife said in an admiring voice.
Lucia and Miya nodded in concert and eyed each other with a secret look.
Pef just shrugged. "It's a seller's market. And next month there will be only 10 potions to trade. Scarce stuff, these Major healing potions."
Then he began going through the received gifts.
*Mana growing pill. Heroic rank. Grows the mana pool by 5 percent. Can only be taken once.
Pef grinned and gulped it at once. After circulating his Yang cultivation a few times, the mana pool expanded a little. 1500 extra MP wasn't bad at all.
Now he could cast his Drill Lightning Torpedo 10 times, without recharge.
*Krishna Female silk shawl. Cape. Grants +10 Mind. Grants 5 percent Magic Resistance. Usable by women.
*Krishna Male silk sash. Belt. Grants + 5 Charisma. Grants 5 percent Magic Resistance. Usable by men.
*Ganesha ivory bone bracelet. Adds 10 Luck. Grants 10 percent Magic Resistance.
*Yoruba lion mane headdress. Head gear. Adds 30 Block damage. Grants 5 percent Magic Resistance.
*Tengri Eagle feathers wind catcher. Cape. Adds 10 percent Magic Resistance.
*Shangri-La incense urn. Adds 20 Mind when lit. Grants 10 percent Magic Resistance.
*Golgotha earth urn. Smells of old blood. Saint class relic. Grants Holy Shield spell. Adds 5 percent Magic Resistance. Immune to Heaven's Tribulation. Worn on the back.
Pef blinked at the last item, a tall urn made of red clay, with a leather strap tied to it. "It this for real?"
Lucia grimaced at the holy relic, while Lise just shrugged. "They are all fakes, if you ask me. But like all religious items, belief makes them work anyway. So be warned. If you ever have to fight some Church knight with a sword glowing white, it might be Fidellius, the sacred sword with a rusted iron nail in the pommel."
Pef gulped at the news. Religious relics might be a bit too hard to deal with, for now.
"Don't tell me. That holy sword can cut though any defense..." he mused out loud.
"Not exactly, but close enough. Mostly versus demons or devils. Wiches too, for some reason." Lise replied with a smirk.
Lucia sighed. "Suffer no witch to live. Old grudges, I guess."
Pef collected all the items, but gave the Krishna shawl to Lucia. "Here, my dear witch. Your Saint rank tribulation is coming soon right?"
The black haired witch smiled widely. "Thanks Pef! With this I'll have 85 percent resistance on top of my enchanted armor. Should make tribulation easy to pass."
Lise frowned. "It's nine lightning bolts, dear sister. You need 5 percent more, to be completely safe."
Pef grinned and offered the earth urn, which had the missing 5 percent resistance. "Take the relic urn, my dear. Use it to become stronger, in spite of your differences."
Lucia grimaced, but took the holy urn anyway. "I guess, it would be kinda ironic. And the urn won't even break..."
Soon enough, they returned to grinding the Cerberus hellhound. Then they all got to see Holy Shield in action, as Lucia got to ascend herself to Saint rank.
A glow of dense white and golden light enveloped Lucia just before the tribulation fell.
"Pef! This Holy Shield blocks 20 percent of any damage, including the tribulation!" the witch exclaimed in a happy voice.
"What? Isn't that a bit overpowered?" he wondered out loud.
Gaia snorted next to his ear, and Pef could almost sense her breath on his skin. "The White God's relics are powerful indeed. A billion believers boost the relic potency much more than actually needed, or even possible."
"So...can I learn that shield, from using it?" Pef wondered to himself. He was going to try anyway.
"Oh, my clever servant. Trying to gain twice as much, for the same cost?" the goddess replied cryptically, but didn't actually say yes.
After the tribulation ended, Pef took back the earth urn and began using the Holy Shield from the item again and again, against Cerberus and his ghost summons.
It took a thousand uses, but eventually it did work.
*You have learned Holy Shield spell, by using it constantly. Holy Shield is now at level 1 and grants +1 percent defense against any damage or spell. Cost 1000 MP. Drains 100 MP per minute.