Now that I thought about it, the former Guild Master had also been a member of the Dungeon Research Society. That was likely why Val-san referred to him as a "comrade." That much made sense.
But had he really come back? If our deductions were correct, Godfee was the cultist who had summoned the evil dragon in the underground waterways of the Kingdom of Lievril. He was supposed to have been cut down and killed just moments before the summoning was complete.
...Had he really died, though?
Thinking back, the evil dragon had appeared immediately after he fell, so I never actually got the chance to confirm his death. Was it possible he survived? No, surely not. Besides, the idea that Godfee and that cultist were the same person was just a theory. If I was off the mark, then it wouldn't be strange at all for him to simply pop back up one day.
The only way to be certain was to go see him for myself. One of the researchers had apparently just spotted someone who looked like him in the city. If he really had returned, he might even end up reinstated as the Guild Master.
I sighed. Not knowing the truth of the situation left a bad taste in my mouth. Still, it wasn't something I could figure out just by brooding over it, so I decided to clear my head and focus on something else. For instance, I could summarize the effects of the Status Enhancement Potions.
Apparently, if you failed to brew a Status Enhancement Potion, you would either die instantly or suffer a permanent decrease in your stats. Since Destiny God’s Smile would negate an instant death once a day, I couldn't really factor that in as a risk, but I had experienced brewing failures a few times already. To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure how much my stats had decreased during those failures. At the very least, there was no visible change in my ability values before and after the mishaps. Perhaps the failures were too minor to trigger a penalty, or maybe the decrease was so infinitesimal that it didn't register as a numerical change. The negative effects were far lighter than I’d anticipated, which was honestly a bit of a letdown. Of course, the severity of the penalty might change depending on the degree of the failure, and it was still a waste of materials, so I intended to remain cautious with my brewing.
Among the C-Rank monsters, the Golden Slime provided the largest stat increases by far. To my surprise, it boosted all my stats across the board. Compared to other magic stones of the same rank, the total sum of the increase was significantly higher. It dropped rare items and provided top-tier magic stones; it was truly a lucrative monster. The only real drawback was how long it took to find one.
We had sixteen Golden Slime magic stones in total, so the four of us—excluding Shiroru—used four each. Shiroru claimed she didn't need them, so I didn't push the issue. It seemed she grew stronger automatically as I did, meaning there was no point in her using them herself.
So far, I was the only one who had used Status Enhancement Potions made from other magic stones. I always used the first one of any batch myself to verify the results. The ones that seemed most effective were from the Red Raptor, the Fire-Breathing Lizard, the Hide Spider, and, unexpectedly, the Soldier Ant. The Red Raptor provided boosts suited for frontliners, while the Fire-Breathing Lizard was better for mages. The Hide Spider and Soldier Ant seemed to offer superior increases to dexterity. That said, because the Golden Slime's total value was so far ahead of the rest, the most efficient route was to hunt them endlessly until we were strong enough to take on B-Rank monsters.
While I was satisfied with that plan, one thing gave me pause: whether or not to turn my mutant magic stone into a Status Enhancement Potion. I only had one of these, dropped by a Golden Slime Shiroru had defeated. Since then, no other monster had dropped one. It was clearly an incredibly rare find. I’d gathered some information from the Adventurer’s Guild and the Dungeon Research Society, and while they were found on very rare occasions, nobody seemed to know what made them different from normal stones. Apparently, they didn't even improve the efficiency of magic tools. Currently, they were just collectors' items without any special use, though their rarity meant their prices were quite inflated.
I didn't consider putting it up for auction. I liked having money as much as the next guy, but there was nothing I wanted so badly that I’d sell a precious item just to afford it. If that was the case, I’d much rather turn it into a potion. It was a rare stone, after all—surely it would produce a potion with a rare effect.
Well, let's give it a shot, I thought. I didn't have any other use for it anyway.
I set to work immediately. The result of my labor was a "Status Enhancement Potion (Special)." Unbelievably, it possessed the power to awaken a new talent in the user. Much like the Fruit of Talent I’d found before, it seemed I could acquire a new characteristic. However, even with my Appraisal skill, I couldn't tell exactly what kind of trait I would get.
Since it was called a "talent," I doubted it would be anything negative... but it was still a gamble. Then again, when it came to gambling, luck was everything. And when it came to luck, I was the man for the job.
I took the plunge and downed the potion. As usual, I didn't feel any immediate change. Now then... Appraisal!
The newly added trait was—Creativity Lv3!
Name: Tort
Race: Commoner
Age: 12
Level: 22
Vitality: 153/153 [30 up]
Mana: 138/138 [22 up]
Strength: 74 [18 up]
Stamina: 82 [18 up]
Agility: 96 [19 up]
Dexterity: 123 [24 up]
Magic Power: 120 [24 up]
Spirit: 97 [18 up]
Luck: 130 [5 up]
Divine Protection:
[Divine Protection of the Job God: Dungeon Explorer]
Skills:
[Destiny God's Smile], [Dagger Skill Lv20] [3 up]
[Shadow Strike Lv19] [5 up], [Throwing Skill Lv10] [1 up]
[Lockpicking Skill Lv11] [1 up], [Trap Disarming Skill Lv11] [1 up]
[Sense of Direction Lv13] [3 up]
[Sense of Balance Lv6] [5 up]
[Cooking Skill Lv16] [2 up], [Medicine Making Skill Lv13] [5 up]
[Light Magic Lv13] [1 up], [Water Magic Lv11] [1 up]
[Dark Magic Lv16] [3 up], [Non-Elemental Magic Lv9] [4 up]
[Wind Magic Lv9] [1 up], [Earth Magic Lv2] [new]
Traits:
[Cooking Talent Lv1], [Great Luck], [Dexterous Fingertips Lv1]
[Magic Aptitude Lv2], [Creativity Lv3] [new]
Magic:
〈Clean〉, 〈First Aid〉
〈Create Water〉, 〈Dehydrate〉
〈Decomposition〉, 〈Night Vision〉
〈Shadow Hiding〉
〈Shadow Leap〉 [new]
〈Breeze〉, 〈Wind Cutter〉
〈Shredding Storm〉
〈Detect Magic〉
〈Create Golem〉 [new]
*Total increments from the special potion (Estimated values):
Vitality +8–9
Mana +2–3
Strength +7–8
Stamina +6–7
Agility +4–5
Dexterity +5–6
Magic Power +6–7
Spirit +3–4
Luck +1–2