Megumin's surprised voice caused everyone else to pause in confusion. Fang Li lowered his head and looked into the box he held in his hands.
Inside were five bottles of potions. To be precise, there were five bottles of Potions. As the name implied, they were medicines capable of producing effects nearly equivalent to magic.
Similar to magic items that also possessed magical-like effects, they were one of this world's unique features.
So, Fang Li turned his gaze to Megumin and asked:
"Do you recognize this type of Potion?" Fang Li's question was met with nothing more than a listless nod from Megumin.
"I've read about them in books." So said Megumin, who was supposedly the top student of her generation within the Crimson Magic Clan, a people known as great mages.
"This is a Level-Up Potion." That single sentence caused everyone to exclaim in surprise.
"Level-Up Potion?" Kazuma said in shock. "You mean, this is a potion that lets someone level up?"
"Is that so strange?" Megumin retorted. "Since even food can grant experience points and let people level up, then it's not that weird for a Potion to do the same thing, right?"
Though her words were simple, they made everyone suddenly realize the logic behind it.
When you think about it, it really wasn't that strange.
After all, if eating high-grade ingredients could give you tons of experience points, then a Potion that raised your rank wasn't unbelievable at all.
"This kind of Potion is made using all kinds of ingredients and materials rich in experience points. It provides a large amount of EXP and allows the user to gain one level. It's extremely rare and expensive."
Megumin explained somewhat disinterestedly.
"Even though the principle behind this kind of Potion is simple, it requires a powerful magic user to successfully craft one. And combined with the Potion's special effects, it's extremely rare."
Magic users are already a class that only those with exceptional magical talent can transition into.
Naturally, with such powerful magical abilities, most mages would want to put their power to good use, to benefit themselves.
And among the best ways to do that was creating Potions and magical items that functioned much like spells.
Therefore, most mages also possessed the knowledge to craft Potions and magical items.
Megumin's detailed knowledge of Level-Up Potions likely came from school, where she had probably studied Potion and magic item creation.
So Megumin continued her explanation in full: "The higher your rank, the harder it is to level up. Each level requires a different amount of experience points."
"Because of that, making a Potion that universally allows anyone to level up means you can't just extract EXP from materials, you also need advanced techniques. The number of people capable of doing that is extremely small, which naturally makes these Potions rare."
"Also, no matter what rank you are, using one will only raise your level by one."
"So for low-rank people, it's not worth using such a rare and expensive Potion when cheaper food would do the same job. That makes Level-Up Potions only worthwhile for high-ranking adventurers."
"Moreover, the production cost of Level-Up Potions is extremely high. Only top-tier adventurers can afford them, which means the market for them is very small."
"With all these reasons combined, even mages who are capable of crafting them tend to give up. It's time-consuming, exhausting, and even if they succeed, it's hard to find buyers. Naturally, that makes Level-Up Potions even more rare."
That was Megumin's full explanation, and also the reason why she didn't seem all that excited.
"Even in my hometown, there are only a handful of high-level mages capable of making Level-Up Potions. But none of them have the slightest interest in making them. After all, if you want to level up, the proper way is to defeat monsters in a flashy manner. That's why they all say things like, 'Using potions to level up is totally uncool,' and absolutely refuse to make Level-Up Potions."
This race of high-level mages really did seem like they had something wrong in the head.
Still, thanks to Megumin's explanation, everyone finally understood just how valuable the Potions before them truly were.
"Even the Royal Family doesn't have many Level-Up Potions in storage. I could only bring out this portion as a reward," Iris said a little apologetically. "I hope it can be of help to everyone."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at the neatly arranged Level-Up Potions in the box and immediately started voicing their thoughts one after another.
"Since it can only increase your level by one, the higher your rank, the more valuable its use. At my current rank, it feels like a bit of a waste to use this,"
-- this was Kazuma's take.
"For a super beautiful and talented person like me, leveling up is meaningless. Since this is a Potion only top-tier adventurers can afford, why don't we just sell it?" Aqua's suggestion.
"Idiot, this is a reward given to us by Princess Iris. How can we sell it?" Darkness responded.
"Either way, I don't care. I share the same sentiment as my fellow villagers. The proper way to level up is to defeat monsters in style. This kind of shortcut is totally uncool." Megumin gave her opinion.
In the end, only Fang Li stood there, quietly gazing at the five bottles of Level-Up Potions in his hand. After a long moment, he took a deep breath and spoke.
"In that case, I'll be the one to use these five Potions."
A Potion that could raise one's level by one.
Five Potions meant a jump of five levels.
And Fang Li was currently Level 45.
Exactly five levels away from reaching Level 50, the threshold for becoming a top-tier adventurer and completing Main Quest 1.
This was practically a gift from the heavens.
If not for these five Level-Up Potions, even with Fang Li's ability to take down enemies far above his own level, massacring high-EXP monsters in groups, and supplementing that with premium food dishes to boost EXP gain, it would still take two to three months to reach Level 50.
These five Potions could save him two to three months of grinding. It was absolutely worth it.
After all, the longer it took to complete the Dungeon Quest in the Main God's Dimension, the lower his post-clearance evaluation would be.
The more time he saved, the more bonus rewards he could potentially earn.
However… Fang Li's declaration of taking all five Potions for himself triggered a wave of intense protests from the others.
"Don't tell me you're planning to keep them all for yourself?" (Kazuma)
"That's totally despicable!" (Aqua)
"…I didn't really care at first, but you being this arrogant is starting to tick me off." (Megumin)
"This is a reward given to all of us by Princess Iris. You bastard…" (Darkness)
Faced with all the loud complaints, Fang Li simply replied with one sentence:
"The price is that all your debts are wiped clean. Not even that's enough to convince you?"
The moment he said that, Kazuma and the other three instantly shouted in unison:
"Please, by all means, accept them!!"
Truly shameless.
(End Of This Chapter)
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