"You want to buy some Apple Brew? That's certainly possible," Diona said, nodding.
"As for what you said about me using your fruits to mix a few drinks… it's not impossible," Diona said after a moment of hesitation, bringing up another matter.
"I heard them say your lemonade, which you sold in Mondstadt Plaza before, was very popular, and everyone thought it tasted good. I also used your lemons to mix drinks before. But the effect…" Diona said, taking the mixed drink beside her and placing it in front of Alex.
Diona pointed at the drink in front of her: "Hmm, such sour lemons, why don't the drinks we make from them taste bad?!" Diona really couldn't figure it out. Was it the lemons themselves?
That's not right; she herself would drool from the sourness if she ate a lemon by itself.
How could it taste good! How could it!
Diona's thoughts were like a ball of yarn tangled by a cat, very, very messy.
Alex spread his hands: "Perhaps its taste is just that novel."
"Let me try." Alex looked at the drink, which was clearly Diona's special concoction. Although he didn't like drinking alcohol, he couldn't help but want to taste this one Diona made.
With that, Alex snatched the cup and took a sip.
Then his eyes lit up.
What an exquisite taste! The strange taste of alcohol was covered by the lemon. Plus, some indescribable flavors.
These flavors merged, leaving a long, lingering aftertaste in his mouth.
"Delicious!" Even Alex, who disliked drinking, was won over by this drink. The full cup quickly went down.
"Hiccup~" Alex let out a burp, a satisfied expression on his face.
He, who used to be a lightweight, hadn't gotten drunk even now. The after-effect also didn't come for a long time. Perhaps it was because the alcohol content here wasn't high.
Hearing Alex's satisfied response, Diona felt even more depressed: "Ugh ugh…"
What's going on! When will she finally be able to make a drink so bad it makes their heads explode!
As a return gift for this drink.
Alex took out a pineapple. Then, for what he considered the first time, he began to use pineapple as an ingredient and made a cup of pineapple juice.
"Here, this is the pineapple juice I made. It's just ordinary pure fruit juice," Alex said.
"Hmm, I'll try it." Diona took it and began to drink.
"Meow~" Then Diona let out a delighted meow.
Diona's face flushed red, and she quickly turned her head away: "I didn't make that sound! I don't think this juice is delicious at all!"
"Yes, yes, you're absolutely right!" Alex said with a smile.
After a long time, Diona helped Alex mix many drinks.
pineapple wine, strawberry wine, lemon wine, and some mixed drinks with different combinations.
Of course, Diona wasn't helping for free; Alex also gave her some lemons, strawberries, and pineapples.
"You better go now! I've already mixed so many for you. Next time, no matter how much you beg me, I won't mix any drinks for you!" Diona said with a huffy tone.
"Hehe." Alex chuckled casually. Hearing Diona say that, he felt relieved.
After all, with Diona's tsundere personality, he could interpret her words in reverse.
After leaving the Cat's Tail Tavern, Alex looked in the direction of the Adventurers' Guild.
After completing those two commissions, there were no more Subjugation tasks in Mondstadt.
So, taking a break first was also an option.
He decided to run around the Mondstadt and Fontaine maps more in the next few days.
He wanted to farm more experience books and definitely reach level 50 today.
Then he would see what he needed to ascend.
Soon, an afternoon passed.
When Alex walked onto the streets of Mondstadt again, he was already level 50/50.
Now, all he needed was to ascend.
To ascend a character at level 50, the required materials were: Sea Ganoderma * 30, Naku Weed * 30, Crystalfly Core * 100, Varunada Lazurite Chunk * 8, and Dew of Repudiation * 12.
Alex had happily leveled up to 50 before, then cried on the spot when he saw these required items!
Help me, what are all these things!
First, there were two different regional specialties. Sea Ganoderma was good; it was a Fontaine material.
But how was he supposed to get Naku Weed!
Inazuma was still under Sakoku Decree, so Naku Weed flowing into foreign countries would be even harder to get.
Crystalfly Cores meant catching Crystalflies. That was manageable: Mondstadt Anemo Crystalflies, Liyue Rock Crystal Butterflies, Fontaine Hydro Crystalflies.
It needed a hundred, which wasn't too much trouble and quite doable.
Varunada Lazurite Chunks were even easier to talk about; he had a pile of them he couldn't use up.
The other materials were all manageable, as most of them could be bought with Mora.
But the only BOSS material that couldn't be bought.
It was actually Dew of Repudiation!
Because he used it rarely, Alex wasn't familiar with it. He clicked on it to check and only then realized it was a drop from the Hydro Hypostasis BOSS.
That's when he remembered; he had only farmed it when ascending Sangonomiya Kokomi before.
Oh my, why~~~ Alex wailed internally, even if the ascension materials made him clear all of Mondstadt's BOSSes, it would be better.
Alex nearly threw up! You know, that's the Hydro Hypostasis!
And where was the Hydro Hypostasis? That's Inazuma, Watatsumi Island!
Damn it, even if he knew the location, he was powerless now.
Otherwise, he would immediately start smuggling himself into Inazuma!
In short, he definitely wouldn't be able to ascend past level 50 for a while, and Alex was a bit annoyed.
Afterward, Alex wandered to Angel's Share, went inside, and as expected, he saw the green figure, Venti.
It was a pity, though, that he hadn't seen Diluc since coming here.
At the counter now was a server Alex didn't recognize.
Walking up to Venti, he directly put his hand on him. The next moment, Alex brought Venti to Windrise.
"Ah!" The half-asleep Venti finally became much more alert, looking at Alex with a smile.
"Did you bring me wine~ I smell a lingering hint of wine on you." Venti put his hands on his hips, both eyes happily narrowed.
"Yes, I also bought you some special Apple Brew."
"Wow!" Venti exclaimed excitedly, then snatched it and began to drink.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp." After finishing a bottle, Venti looked at Alex and said with certainty: "You bought this Apple Brew at the Cat's Tail Tavern, didn't you? It's fantastic! I'm allergic to cats, so I rarely get to drink the wine from the Cat's Tail Tavern."
"Yes, and I also have many fruit wines mixed by Diona," Alex said, taking out the drinks Diona had helped mix.
"And it's a Cat's Tail Tavern special! Achoo~ Thank you so much." Venti sneezed unconsciously even at the thought of cats, mid-sentence.
"Unbelievable, you, an Anemo Archon, are actually allergic to cat fur. I'm impressed." Alex saw Venti sneeze mid-sentence, spread his hands, truly speechless.
"Ehe~" Venti closed one eye and stuck out his tongue.
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