Chapter 302 (Patreon)

Relief came quietly.

Kana hadn’t realized how tense she’d been until Chelle agreed without hesitation. It wasn’t just about numbers. It was about balance. About knowing that when things turned unpredictable, there would be someone who could tilt the scales back in their favor.

Still, relief didn’t last long.

There was too much to do.

A month sounded like time, but in Kana’s mind, it was already shrinking. Suri needed to reach lvl 30. That alone could change everything. The difference between twenty-eight and thirty wasn’t just numbers. It was the difference between surviving a mistake… and not making one at all. 

So there was only one answer. They would grind. Hard. Starting tonight.

Kana moved quickly across the academy grounds, her thoughts already racing ahead of her steps. She had left the exp ring with Patricia earlier, reluctantly, but it had been necessary. If the Scholarly Club was going to replicate even a fraction of its effect, they needed the original. That was one of their requirements to do such an almost impossible feat.

Still, a small part of her wondered if she’d made a mistake.

Not because she didn’t trust Patricia but because trusting anyone with something valuable always came with a cost.

She reached the familiar metal door leading to the basement and knocked. The sound echoed faintly, swallowed by whatever strange layers of protection lay beyond it. Kana waited, her [Night Awareness] stretching instinctively outward. And just like before… nothing. It was like knocking on the surface of still water and finding no reflection.

She knocked again.

Only silence answered.

A faint breeze slipped past her, brushing against her cloak as if the world itself was shrugging. Kana frowned slightly. It was still early. Too early for them to have left, unless—

She turned, ready to leave.

The door creaked open behind her.

Kana paused mid-step. A familiar face peeked through the narrow gap. Patricia. Her hair was more chaotic than before, strands sticking out in directions that defied logic. Black dust marked her cheeks like some kind of accidental war paint.

For some reason, she looked… thrilled.

Patricia grinned, then coughed, waving a hand through the air as if that would somehow clear the soot. “We finished it!”

Kana blinked. Finished?

That word didn’t sit right. Not this fast. Patricia’s grin only widened, clearly enjoying the reaction. “Yes,” she said, almost bouncing with contained excitement. “When I told them it was your request, the others jumped in. We worked together.” She paused, eyes gleaming. “It’s not perfect. Less than half, like I said. But still…”

She pushed the door open wider.

“You should see it.”

Kana hesitated because this felt… too fast. Too smooth. The kind of progress that usually came with hidden complications. She had underestimated them before. That much was clear now.

Or perhaps she simply didn’t understand them at all. Patricia stepped aside, gesturing for her to enter, practically vibrating with anticipation.

Kana exhaled softly, then stepped forward.

Whatever they had created… it would change things or they could have failed miserably. All of a sudden, the night’s plan of simple dungeon grinding felt a little less certain.

Kana followed Patricia deeper into the basement, her thoughts moving faster than her steps. Replicating a dungeon item wasn’t just difficult, it was the sort of thing scholars argued about for years without results. Even copying a fraction of an effect was considered a breakthrough.

And yet Patricia had said it like announcing dinner was ready.

We finished it. Patricia’s announcement still echoed in her mind. Kana wasn’t sure whether to be impressed… or uneasy.

The moment she stepped into the so-called guest room, the atmosphere shifted.

The air hit her first. It was thick. Not foul exactly, but layered. Burnt herbs, something metallic, a hint of sweetness that lingered too long, and beneath it all a sharp, almost electric scent that made her nose prickle. It smelled like ideas had been forced into existence and hadn’t fully settled yet.

Then she noticed the bodies.

Students lay scattered everywhere, draped over chairs, slumped against walls, curled on the floor like they had simply… stopped where they stood. The room breathed with uneven snores, some soft, others loud enough to rattle the wooden frames.

Kana blinked slowly.

“Did something explode?” she asked, half-serious.

Patricia glanced around, unfazed. “Only their stamina,” she said with a small laugh. “They worked straight through. They are all big fans of yours.”

She winked at her,”Including me.”

Kana simply forced a smile and stepped carefully between them, her boots avoiding scattered tools, scribbled notes, and what looked like a cracked vial leaking something faintly glowing onto the floor.

Her gaze landed on a familiar face.

“Is that Loyd?”

Patricia followed her eyes and grinned. “Ah. Right. First time seeing him like that.”

Kana tilted her head. The man looked completely different. Thin. Almost too thin, like the version of him she had known had been inflated for convenience.

“That’s him without the fattening potion,” Patricia added.

Kana stared for a second longer, then slowly nodded. That explained more than she wanted to think about. Loyd was the perfect guinea pig.

Around them, others slept just as deeply. Some had soot streaked across their faces. Others had small burns on their sleeves or ink stains crawling up their arms. A few still clutched tools in their hands as if they had fallen asleep mid-thought.

Kana recognized some of them. Students she had seen across the academy. Quiet ones. Loud ones. People she never would have imagined gathered in one place like this. For the first time, she understood. This wasn’t just a club. This was an obsession, given a room. It was probably a room full of Suri minded people.

Patricia pushed open another door, and the smell changed immediately. Sharper. Cleaner, but only slightly. Like stepping from chaos into something more controlled… but no less strange.

The main room stretched out before them, crowded with tables and shelves. Objects filled every available space. Stones etched with glowing symbols. Weapons that hummed faintly when Kana passed too close. A helmet that seemed to breathe in slow, steady pulses. Glass containers held liquids that moved on their own, curling and recoiling as if aware of being watched.

Kana slowed down her steps, her eyes drifting from one item to another.

Nothing here felt normal at all. Even the light wasn’t quite right. Lamps glowed too steadily, too brightly, casting shadows that seemed just a fraction delayed when something moved.

She almost reached for a piece of armor mounted on a stand before stopping herself. The surface shimmered faintly, like heat rising from stone.

“Careful,” Patricia said without looking back. “That one reflects skill. Not perfectly. And not safely. It returned the skills more powerful than it should. And it’s not stable yet.”

Kana withdrew her hand. Not safely didn’t sound like a warning she wanted to test.

Patricia stopped at a cluttered desk, pushing aside a stack of parchment with her elbow. Several vials sat arranged in a neat line, which in this room meant they weren’t actively trying to explode.

Kana stepped closer.

The liquid inside them moved in a way that made her uneasy. Purple and green twisted together, never mixing, like two currents locked in a quiet argument.

Patricia reached into her apron and pulled out the ring.

“We call this Kana’s Potion,” she said, holding it up briefly before setting it down beside the vials. “It’s not perfect. About half efficiency, maybe a little less. But stable enough.”

She handed Kana a rolled parchment.

Kana unrolled it and froze. The letters were clear. Familiar and alien at the same time.

The English description of the item itself.

[Kana’s Potion]

Multiply experience gained from dungeon monsters by 1.5x.

Duration: 1 hour

For a moment, the room faded.  Kana’s heartbeat quickened loudly as if it was music in her ears.

[Title Unlocked]

[Title: Item Name Bearer]

Kana ignored the prompt of the text of god.

“You guys are geniuses!” Kana said, the words slipping out before she could stop them.

Patricia blinked, then looked away slightly, a faint blush creeping onto her face. “Well… we had help,” she muttered.

Kana barely registered it. Her thoughts were already racing.

One point five times. Exp Stacked with her exp ring and title…

And if Suri and Boris used it too—

Growth wouldn’t just increase. It would accelerate.

She looked up. “How many did you create?”

Patricia gestured toward a rack nearby. It was nearly empty.

“Five,” she said. “That’s all.”

Kana leaned forward, urgency sharpening her voice. “I’ll pay. Whatever it takes. Can you make more?”

Patricia hesitated this time, her fingers tapping lightly against the table.

“It’s not about cost,” she said. “One of the ingredients… It's rare. Extremely rare. Not something you buy off a shelf. You’d need someone to find it like the adventurer folks. Or go by yourself.”

Patricia explained further,”The merchants don’t also sell it because the demand itself is also not existing.”

Kana frowned slightly. That complicated things.

Then Patricia went quiet.

Kana looked up. Patricia was staring at her now, eyes narrowed just enough to show something had clicked.

“You… you haven’t used it yet,” she said slowly.

Kana didn’t answer. Patricia stepped closer.

“How did you know what it does?” The question hung in the air, heavier than it should have been. Patricia wasn’t smiling any longer. Her eyes were wide, full of curiosity.

Her voice dropped, curiosity sharpening into something far more dangerous. “Don’t tell me,” she said, “you can read the text of the god?”

Patricia lips curved as if her question wasn’t a question. As if she was simply confirming everything. The strange room suddenly felt smaller. Well, at least for Kana.

And for the first time since stepping into the basement, Kana felt like she had walked into a different kind of trap. Patricia was more observant than she thought or was she really that careless?

Post note:

Exp potion unlocked!

Suri’s lvl 30 classes will be shown soon.

Fourth chap of the week.Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂

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