Chapter 35: Thrashtalk Mode: On
The small vial shimmered with a sparkling red glow, its contents swirling like a bottled storm. Within the liquid, flecks of green and purple herbs drifted lazily, each piece holding concentrated mana and alchemical potency. Though it only held about 50 ml, it might as well have been nitroglycerin for how dangerous it looked in Auren’s hand.
Auren’s grip tightened on the tiny bottle, his fingers trembling slightly—not from fear, but anticipation.
’Master! Are you sure about that!? Is this really the best time to use the Red Bull!?’ Bigbird’s voice echoed in his mind, laced with genuine worry.
After all, what Auren was holding wasn’t an ordinary potion. It was a homemade booster—a concoction so unstable it made most alchemists weep in horror. Based loosely on the idea of Earth’s energy drinks, the Red Bull was Auren’s most volatile invention to date. It worked like an arcane shot of adrenaline, caffeine, steroids, and reckless abandon... in one sip.
Once ingested, it sharpened the mind, supercharged critical thinking, and temporarily doubled his physical stats. On top of that, the herbs and mana crystals infused in the mixture dramatically boosted his mana flow, stamina, and health regeneration. It was the equivalent of strapping lightning to your nervous system and praying your heart didn’t explode.
For ten minutes, Auren would be an unstoppable blur of action.
But then came the price.
The crash afterward would leave him paralyzed for another ten minutes—sluggish, nauseated, and hallucinating like a drunken dwarf in a mushroom forest. The last time he’d tested it, he’d punched a rock thinking it was a troll... and lost so bad with broken fingers.
Still, the choice was simple. Use it, or die.
’I have no choice,’ Auren answered mentally, already raising to drink it. ’Desperate times call for desperate potions! Or would you rather I wait until I’m a corpse to use it?’
Bigbird had no retort this time.