It was already quite late, and the sun was dipping toward the west. Abel knew he needed to leave Fort Lee Town and head back to Bennett Castle right away—any further delay would make the road unsafe.
Norman glanced at the box in Abel's hand but said nothing. He cared little about what his young master had purchased; his sole duty was to keep Abel safe.
In truth, Abel had no choice. He'd first tried tucking the box into the Horadric Cube, but the artifact only registered one potion per slot—ten at most. Worse still, the Tome of Town Portal took up two more slots. Left with no other option, he'd had to carry the box by hand.
The trip back was uneventful, and they reached the castle safely. Just then, Knight Bennett and Abel's eldest brother, Zack, were practicing horsemanship. Abel had timed his return on purpose: aside from his brother, not even his parents would question what he'd bought. They stuck strictly to the noble code, which meant respecting every family member's privacy—including their secrets.
In this life, Abel had known a different kind of family love—nothing like what he'd experienced with his parents on Earth. There, their love seeped into nearly every part of his life: his studies, his friendships, his relationships, even his future marriage. They'd seen any secret he kept from them as a sign he didn't trust them.
Here, though, his parents asked for his input on almost every big decision—even if that choice might upend his life. Take his decision to become a knight: Knight Bennett knew full well how hard the path would be for a family's second son, yet he'd still agreed. It was a different kind of love, and Abel cherished both. He felt lucky to have two such deep, though different, kinds of love across his two lifetimes.
Once back in his room, Abel could barely hold back his impatience. He opened the box, pulled out a vial of Low-Grade Mana Condensing Potion, and studied it closely in the sunset glow. Faint white arcs of light swirled and flickered on the vial's surface in the sun. Even setting aside its other uses, its appearance alone would have made it priceless back on Earth.
Abel let out a soft sigh. Ever since he'd seen the Tome of Town Portal the day before, he'd found himself thinking of his Earth home now and then—a feeling he hadn't had in nearly a year.
He shook his head, forcing those thoughts away. His top priority right now was his experiment; if it worked, he could grow stronger much faster.
He took three vials of Low-Grade Mana Condensing Potion and set them in the Horadric Cube. With a nervous flutter in his chest, he tapped the synthesis button. The three vials vanished in a flash of white light, replaced by a single vial of Mana Condensing Potion. This one was different from the low-grade version: where the low-grade potion had swirling, flickering white arcs, this new one was wrapped in blue light.
"It worked!" Abel's heart skipped a beat. This had to be a Mid-Grade Mana Condensing Potion. He'd never laid eyes on one before, but he was certain—the Horadric Cube's synthesis formulas never let him down.
"I just made twenty gold coins." The silly thought crossed his mind, and he had to chuckle. Let the math sink in: three low-grade potions at ten gold each came to thirty gold, while one mid-grade potion was worth fifty—technically, he'd "gained" twenty gold. The absurdity of the thought in such a pivotal moment made him smile at his own silliness.
He set three more low-grade Mana Condensing Potions into the Cube. In that moment, he felt like a true potion master, mixing elixirs with professional care.
Even as excitement made his mind wander, Abel's hands didn't stop. He kept putting low-grade potions into the Horadric Cube, synthesizing them, and setting the finished mid-grade ones on the table. Before long, 54 vials of Low-Grade Mana Condensing Potion had become 18 vials of Mid-Grade Mana Condensing Potion.
Watching the box full of low-grade potions turn into 18 mid-grade ones lined up on the table, Abel's chest swelled with excitement. Even if he never managed to synthesize a higher-grade potion, he now had a way to survive in this world. Once he mastered potionology, mass-producing mid-grade Mana Condensing Potions and becoming a respected potion brewer would be a fine career—though becoming a knight was still his first choice.
After calming his excitement, he picked up three mid-grade potions and put them into the Horadric Cube. He tapped the synthesis button, and as expected, the three mid-grade vials vanished in white light, replaced by a single vial in the Cube's slot.
This potion was surrounded by glowing golden arcs. Bathed in that enchanting gold, it looked noble—this was a High-Grade Mana Condensing Potion. It was said only master-level potion brewers could make high-grade potions consistently. Advanced brewers might make them occasionally, but their success rate was as low as a master's rate for master-level potions: it only happened when inspiration hit. Abel didn't know exactly how much a High-Grade Mana Condensing Potion was worth, but he did know master-level potion brewers were rare across the duchy.
Next, the 18 mid-grade potions became 6 high-grade ones. By now, Abel was fully sure he'd made the right call—spending every last coin he had on those low-grade potions had been worth it.
He put three more high-grade potions into the Horadric Cube and clicked the synthesis button. Just like before, the three high-grade vials disappeared, and a new one appeared—this time, its surface was wrapped in swirling, flickering dark gold arcs. This was a Master-Grade Mana Condensing Potion. Abel lifted it carefully with his fingertips. Unlike the transparent liquid in the low-, mid-, and high-grade versions, the master-grade potion inside was amber-colored and slightly thick; when he tilted the vial, it swirled slowly.
After one more round of synthesis, Abel finally had 2 vials of Master-Grade Mana Condensing Potion—powerful, side-effect-free elixirs, the ultimate training aid for apprentice knights.
Now, Abel faced a problem: how to use these two master-grade potions. He couldn't reveal the Horadric Cube—it was his most important lifeline in this world. He'd have to wait for a safe chance to take them; safety came first.
The more Abel learned about this world, the less secure he felt. On Earth, science could explain just about everything. But here? He couldn't begin to make sense of a knight's power using Earth's scientific laws. Take Norman's injured leg: it hadn't been serious, but on Earth, a broken bone or torn tendon would have taken a hundred days to heal. Here, though, a church priest had healed it effortlessly with a low-level divine spell.
And Fort Lee Town was just a small town. If such wonders existed here, what unexplainable things might await in bigger cities—or even the capital beyond them?