“Excuse me,” Melody said and cleared her throat, attracting the group’s attention. “If we’re in need of geums, I believe I can be of some help.” She withdrew a glass bottle from her root bracelet. “Do you remember the skill orb Feathered Serpent gifted me? It creates droplets of heavy water to slow down my target, but it doesn’t have to be used offensively. We can collect the heavy water and sell it. I’m sure plenty of alchemists or apothecaries on this floor would be interested in purchasing some; it is an uncommon material after all.”
“Infinite money?” Stella asked, poking her head out of the grassy spider. “Is that what I heard?”
“Well, not infinite,” Melody said. “I don’t have enough mana to continuously use the skill, and even if I did, the supply would outweigh the demand, eventually dropping the price to a minimum until it’s all been used up. However, it shouldn’t take very long to scrounge up enough geums for all of us to advance to the fourth floor.”
“Oh,” Stella said and nodded her head. “So, you’re like a berry bush, not an infinite gold mine.”
Melody stared at the fairy queen for a bit as she processed the tiny creature’s words. A faint smile appeared on the pink-haired woman’s lips. “Yes, that’s what I’m like.”
Stella nodded again before disappearing into the grassy spider. Kim Hajun cleared his throat. “Melody,” he said. “Have you considered using the heavy water for yourself? If you create potions with it, you’ll make more money selling the potions than you would if you sold the water. Not only that, but it’d increase your proficiency with alchemy. If I’m not mistaken, you have the talent to become a great alchemist.”
Melody blinked.
“If Kim Hajun says so, then it must be true,” Lindyss said. “After all, he’s a prophet.” She glanced down at Melody. “How about you sell some heavy water and purchase some alchemy lessons while we clear some missions for geums?”
“Actually,” Tafel said, “I kind of want to stay behind as well. There’s a lot of fire and heat involved with blacksmithing, right? If I practice with my flames during the smithing process, I think I’ll get better at controlling my flames faster than if I go on a mission with you and Vur.” She scratched her head. “Besides, missions aren’t that fun when Vur’s sleeping all the time, and you’re a bit too violent, Auntie.”
“Me? Violent?” Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow. “Nothing I’ve done in the tower so far has even come close to violence.”
Tafel furrowed her brow. “Maybe it’s not violence, but….” She glanced at Kax, who had his soul purchased by Lindyss. Then, she glanced at Kim Hajun, whose posture clearly indicated he wanted to be as far away from Lindyss as possible. “The looks we get from people aren’t … normal.” Tafel raised both her hands in front of her face upon seeing Lindyss’ darkening expression. “N-not that you’re a bad person or anything! It just feels like you’re grumpy all the time, and that’s not really fun to be around, you know?”
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“Well, I apologize for having a resting grumpy face,” Lindyss said and rolled her eyes. Then, she leaned over and pinched Tafel’s cheeks, causing the demon to cry out. “But I’m not the only one people are scared of here, alright? Melody trembles in her boots whenever she sees Vur.”
“T-that’s not true!” Melody said and shook her head. “I just don’t know what to say when he’s around. How can I speak so casually in the presence of a god?”
“Food?” The grassy spider’s abdomen split open, and Vur sat up. He blinked twice before looking from side to side. He sniffed the air before climbing out of the spider and landing by Tafel’s side. “Where are we?”
“This is the third floor,” Tafel said. “If you’re smelling food, then I’d guess it’s coming from there.” She pointed at a building in the distance with a gigantic, holographic frying pan projected over its roof. “Wait a bit for Melody to produce some heavy water to sell, and we’ll have plenty of geums for you to spend.”
Vur turned towards Melody, and the pink-haired woman’s shoulders hunched. She withdrew multiple glass bottles from her root bracelet and placed them on the ground before looking around. Her gaze landed on Kim Hajun, and she pointed at him. “Droplet Shackles!”
Kim Hajun’s eyes widened as water droplets condensed on his body. He staggered as the weight of his cloak drastically increased, and he dropped onto his knees before placing his hands on the ground to support himself. If he didn’t, he’d be pressed flat against the ground. “What are you doing?” he asked through gritted teeth, turning his head to look at Melody.
The pink-haired woman picked up two glass bottles, one in each hand, and squatted by Kim Hajun’s side, scooping up the liquid covering his body with the empty containers. “Sorry,” she said. “I needed a target to condense the heavy water on. I can’t just create it within the bottles.”
“Kax help,” Kax said and picked up some of the glass bottles, taking them over to Melody’s side. He squatted by Kim Hajun as well, filling the glass containers by rubbing their openings against Kim Hajun’s body.
“You could’ve condensed it on anyone else,” Kim Hajun said, gradually pushing himself up as more water was collected into bottles. “Why me?”
“Droplet Shackles!” Melody said, pointing at Kim Hajun again. With the weight from before along with the newly added heavy water, his arms and legs collapsed, his belly and face pressed against the ground. The pink-haired woman cleared her throat, her cheeks tinged with a shade of pink. “I’m afraid to use it on anyone else here. Also, you seem like a nice person, so I thought you’d be the one least likely to mind. Didn’t you encourage me to become an alchemist?”
Kim Hajun glowered at Melody’s feet. That was the only part of her he could see since he couldn’t lift his head off the ground. “Yeah, it’s fine,” he said. “I don’t mind.” For the sake of the bigger picture, he’d endure this bit of humiliation. If Melody grew to the same heights as she did in his prophetic dream, he didn’t want to offend her over something as minor as this.