A few hours later…
"Sis Yue, what do you think my brother is making inside?" Mei Mei curiously asked.
Shen Yue shook her head, making her long black curls dance in the wind. "I have no idea."
The two of them had been observing the cave for a while.
They knew that Liam was inside because Derek was standing guard outside and they had also seen him going in or rather running in.
But the thing was… after that he hadn't stepped out for hours together. Occasionally, there were loud blast noises and smoke coming out of the cave.
Sometimes even Luna bolted out from inside looking pitch black in color and coughing up ash and dust but Liam was completely holed up. There was not even a peep from him.
"Grinding in the same spot… it's not boring but I wish I could fight something stronger." Mei Mei mumbled and then turned around nevertheless to continue doing the same.
Shen Yue as well went back to the grind. And just like that… another few hours passed.
However, all of a sudden, a huge explosion resounded loudly in the forest, thick smoke and debris blasting out of the cave.
The blast rocked the whole place. Several cracks appeared in the cave, and the whole place looked like it was about to collapse.
Everyone became shocked and quickly rushed back to see what happened. The cave as well started crumbling, Liam and Luna rushing out at the last minute.
"Ahhh. Boss, are you okay?"
"Brother, what happened?"
Mei Mei and the others looked at Liam worriedly because the man in front of them right now looked completely different than his usual self.
He was gaunt, lifeless, drooping and might as well be a sack of skin and bones. Even a heavy wind might blow him right off.
Just what the hell happened inside the cave?
Naturally, Liam understood everyone's shock. However, he would not explain his actions.
The recipe was definitely time consuming and difficult, perhaps even impossible for him to fully comprehend, but it somehow needed to be done.
This time there was simply no other way around it. Without this, their foundation would remain forever shaky. They would also never amount to anything.
In 'Evolution Online' or even in the new world, the higher one grew, they also simultaneously trapped themselves and reduced their potential.
After a certain point, there would be no more potential left and they would not be able to grow any further.
And without this elixir, that bottleneck would arrive that much sooner. Liam was not ready to accept this. He did not want to waste this glorious second chance he received.
If he did, there wouldn't be a greater fool than him!
No matter what happened, he was going to make this damned recipe work.
Liam was too tired to talk and flopped onto Luna's back. "You guys continue. I need some rest."
He hadn't given up just yet. He was going to go back to banging his head on the wall right after he got some rest, but the problem was… he was no longer sure if he would be able to do it.
This was not a simple matter of controlling or manipulating mana. He also had all the herbs that he needed.
However, he was no closer to figuring out what this recipe needed or what mistake he was making.
Perhaps it was missing something. That was why the beggar said that he was never able to make it.
And just like him, would he also not be able to make it? Liam couldn't help but become anxious.
If it was hard work that it needed, he was ready and willing to commit, but sometimes there was such a thing as genius. Something above and beyond hard work.
Maybe he would never be able to do it?
"No, I should not think like that," Liam muttered under his breath and covered his eyes. He decided to rest for a bit, so while the others continued to grind monsters, he took a small nap.
"Ummm… Liam, are you awake?" After some time, Shen Yue walked over to him.
"Hey." Liam yawned.
"Umm… I made something for you." Shen Yue extended her slender hand forward to reveal two nicely roasted meatballs.
She blushed slightly and explained. "These will help with your-"
Unfortunately, before she could finish her sentence, a white paw beat her to it and grabbed the two meatballs.
Munch. Munch. Munch. Luna happily grinned, savoring the taste of the good food. The white fox did not show the slightest hint of remorse for behaving so shamelessly.
Shen Yue was speechless. "Ah… never mind." She bitterly smiled and decided to head back, not knowing what else to do.
Those two were the only items she prepared. They had extremely high recovery properties, so she wanted to give them to Liam, but now it was gone.
Liam as well was lost for words. He shook his head helplessly and chuckled.
"Thank you for the meatballs, but you didn't have to. I already ate a few berries. They are as good as anything else."
"Right." Shen Yue nodded. She also knew that, but it wouldn't be good just to eat berries all the time.
Anyone would want to eat something tastier once in a while, which was why she had made it for him but this fox!
"I will make some again." She turned around to leave. However, Liam quickly pulled her back.
"Forget about that. Let's spar for a bit." Now that he had somewhat recovered and he didn't want to go back to alchemy so soon, he decided to practice the illusionary sword technique a little bit.
He chose Shen Yue particularly to do this because if she also managed to learn something from him, then it would greatly benefit her.
Illusionary Sword was a technique that would go extremely well with her class Enchantress.