The Legendary Caffeine Transcendent

On Alex's hand was a pouch of gold with exactly 100 pieces in the form of a coin slightly thicker than a $1 Canadian coin, a loonie. Behind her were the heavy wooden castle gates from which the knight had kicked her out from.

Who'd wanna be stuck in a castle with no coffee anyways? If they hadn't given her start-up money, next thing she would've done was going to be very rude. Most castles had a vault of some sort.

Screw that. She'd find that later if she needed more angel investment.

The plan now was simple. Find the nearest source of caffeine and monopolize it. To do that, she needed to investigate, in other words, she needed to know what the fuck happened to her body, how she ended up here, and what this whole world was.

As she was about to cast an analysis spell, a voice from above shouted at her.

"Wench! Leave at once! Begone from the castle gates!"

"Fuck off, make me," Alex flipped them off, not entirely sure that they even knew what the gesture meant.

A few of the guards above pulled the man away from the edge off of the walls. The other men whispered to the guard that shouted to not offend a former hero.

Didn't matter. Time to do some analysis.

Resource access: ether(50). Resource access: organic. Target: self. Predefined function: Transcendent_Analysis. Biology. Predefined function: User_Interface. Construct: User_Interface on Transcendent Analysis » Apply to Target.

A translucent white user interface appeared in front of Alex.

[Target: Alex Grace]

[Title: Caffeine Transcendent]

[Stage: Late-Transcendent]

[Sex: Female]

[Age: Forever 27]

[Height: 175 cm (5'9")]

[Heart Rate: 76 bpm, rising]

[Sanity: 87%]

[Caffeine Levels: Moderate-High, falling]

[True Core:

Multifaceted Energy: 8,014,054,771/10,001,412,368

Conversion Types Available: Ether, Mana, Qi, Prana, Essence(locked)]

[True Core Parts][Tap to Expand]

[Modules Installed: 1427][Tap to Expand]

[Notification: New Module detected]

Well shit, look what we have here. As she suspected, there was a new module installed on her, installed exactly 26 minutes and 54 seconds ago, which was when she and the four other idiots were summoned by the garbage truck or summoning circle. Honestly, she wasn't expecting that double whammy.

Tapping on the New Module Notification, Alex saw the new element that was installed.

[Spirit Sign]

[Predefined Function 1: Universal Language.

Effects: Those who have this module installed will experience the world in their own native language.]

[Predefined Function 2: Status Screen

Effects: Allows user to access their current attributes and allocate points to desired attributes. Users are created on arrival or birth and are assigned based on inherent aptitude.]

[Predefined Function 3: Mana Access

Effects: Allows those with Spirit Sign to access the Mana resource.]

If this module allowed direct access to the mana resource, it would mean that having the Spirit Sign would bypass the need for awakening. In this case, users would be able to cast spells or augment their bodies directly. But how would that work if users didn't have specific energy pathways in their biology?

Alex did see that the Spirit Sign had a mana amount that equaled her multifaceted energy, and that itself was a clue on how this system works. The only way that such a system could work would be if the process of energy pathways and processing was done entirely externally, aka offloading.

Without converting her energy into the four primary resources, Alex willed 100 Mana to circulate around her body. Instead of taking the path of her own established pathways, it moved directly into the muscles and veins, strengthening them and making them more flexible.

For once, Alex was fascinated. For such a module to be installed in every living being in this world would be a marvel of magic engineering. The implication of that was 'awakening' became optional. Everyone was awakened at birth via the Spirit Sign module.

It was a shitty system that was entirely pseudo-magic. If people relied entirely on an offloaded processor, what would happen if the processor was congested? Higher stage spells would create more congestion, which would then create a stage ceiling. That would explain why there was nothing higher than a Mid-Harmonic in that whole castle.

And the answer to why they needed to summon "heroes" was already obvious. Technically, there were two answers. The Spirit Sign would prioritize the growth of the summoned or give priority to the summoned or both.

[Caffeine Levels: Moderate-High » Moderate]

Fuck this. Where's the coffee?

Dismissing her analysis, Alex looked around the whole area. The throbbing at the crown of her head had already started. This world has got to have coffee if Alizia said it had a 'strong' tea.

Moving towards the buildings below the castle, the tallest building was a 3 story building. There were no towers or bells that would tell the villagers the time.

Everything was either for housing, shops, or who knows god what. What was important was to get to the place where people gathered to get information, and that 3 story building looked like one of the inns of the city.

Perfect.

A ginger girl wearing leather bracers with a muted green tunic and leather boots bumped into Alex on purpose.

"I'm sor-"

Alex moved past her at a brisk pace. Couldn't care less. Don't have time to care about some bitch trying to steal the bag of gold anyways.

Arriving at the front of the inn, in one kick, the inn's door slammed open. "Alright, bitches. Where's the coffee?"

All the patrons looked at the entrance where she was. The tavern maid serving the guests stopped. Grizzly-looking men and women, with all the medieval leather and armour flair, stopped their spoons, bites midway.

"Who are you?" the tavern maid asked.

"This bitch tryna start a fight?" a burly hairy man shouted from the frontmost table of the inn.

"Little boy, stay down."

The burly man stood up, or tried to, at least. A blue outline formed on the man, suppressing him from standing up. He kept trying to stand up, veins popping and everything, except he couldn't, resulting in him gasping for air.

Walking up slowly towards the suppressed man, Alex said, "Little boy, tell me when to stop. Herbalist, chemist, alchemist, potion makers, drug makers, pharmacist, apothecary, dispenser, pharmacologist..."

The man tried to speak as Alex listed more words, however, the pressure on him prevented him from even opening his lips. Beads of sweat began dripping from his temples.

"There are potion makers at the west end of the city," the tavern woman said in the man's stead.

"Potion makers, eh? What kind of potions do they make?" Alex asked, releasing the burly man from her telekinetic grip and moving towards the new prey.

"Potions that increase your prowess, anything that'll increase it."

"Stimulants?"

"Sort of..."

Good enough for Alex for whatever constitutes a 'stimulant' in this backwater dump.

Exiting the inn, she headed down the path until she reached an intersection. Accessing the rock resource and magnetizing it via plasma resource, she determined which way was west.

It was left.

Heading left at the intersection, she went through the corridor of houses, shops, and stalls. People moved about. Most were skinny and dirt ridden. Farmers by the smell of the soil on them. Then there were the stall owners who shouted as people passed by. Children also ran around, play-fighting with sticks.

Everyone and their moms stared at Alex as she walked by at a brisk pace. Standard reaction from the natives, as she wore a business dress with a tight fitting skirt that sat just above her knees. Her heels also clicked against the cobblestone path, a sound clearly odd to those unfamiliar with it.

At this point, the throbbing in her head had gotten to an annoying level. It had taken an extra 7 minutes to get to this point in her quest for coffee. Walking up to one of the stalls, Alex simply said, "Potion maker."

The man behind the counter pointed further down the path.

Moving faster through the corridor, she finally saw the potion maker's building. A pot was in front of its door, and the sign said 'Potions.'

Barging in through the door with a loud bang, an old man stared at her sudden entry while grating materials inside a pestle and mortar. "Who?!"

"Your mom," Alex quickly moved through the tables and grabbed the man by the shoulders. "Coffee, you have any?!"

The man, clearly spooked by her speed, couldn't muster up the courage to talk.

"TALK!"

"Ok! What might you need, lady?!"

"Coffee!"

"I don't know what that is!"

"Holy hell," Alex sighed, releasing him from her grip. "Caffeine. A substance that makes you feel more awake."

"There is no such substance, my lady. The royal alchemists have yet to find such a drug," the man said, clearly lying as his eyes darted around the place. His gaze landed on a specific small vial containing 3 thin oval red petals.

Alex floated that to her palm and uncorked the vial immediately.

"Let go of that! It's a narcotic!"

Throwing the man back into his seat, she took one whiff of the petal and licked it. In its purest form, caffeine had a distinct bitter taste. The taste of this petal had a similar taste, though, slightly dulled. It also had a nice bitter scent to it, which was a good sign. If this thing came from a flower, it would produce multiple petals.

Time to measure it.

Resource access: ether(50). Resource access: organic. Target: self. Predefined function: Transcendent_Analysis.Object. Predefined function: Object_Interface. Construct: Object_Interface on Transcendent Analysis) » Apply to Target.

[Object: Hadstead Star Seeking Flower Petal]

[Description: A flower that loves to view the river of stars above]

[Cultivation requirements:

• Only grows at 900-3000 metres above sea level.
• Only grows in places where the skies are clear during the night.
• Does not grow in bright environments]

"Hey," Alex said.

The old man flinched.

"How many petals does this flower usually produce?"

"About 12 petals, my lady."

12 petals would mean a single flower could produce 3.96mg of caffeine per flower. It would be a bit harder to cultivate compared to a coffee tree, but it was better than nothing. Magitech automation could handle that, which was restricted back on Earth via stupid bureaucracy.

"Where's the nearest place this shit grows?" Alex asked.

"In the Hadstead mountain range to the northeast, my lady. However, it is full of bandits. I don't advise going there."

"Whatever. On my way now," Alex pocketed the vial of petals. Before she stepped out of the door, she glanced back over her shoulder, causing the man to flinch once again. "Name?"

"This one's name is Elador, my lady."

"Last name?"

"I have none..."

"Cool. See ya," Alex stepped out of the shop. Enough walking. Time was of the essence.

A blue outline formed on Alex's whole body. Stares came in from all directions at the wind that gusted away from her. Her legs slowly lifted off the ground as she took off.

Climbing at a low altitude of 1600 meters, she could see the whole castle and the walled kingdom of Dragus below her. To the northeast, a giant row of mountains stood towering over her.

Moving towards the mountain at a high rate of speed, it became closer and closer until she had to crane her neck up to see the top. Examining the ground below, she needed to look at around 900 to 3000 metres in elevation to see where the plants grew.

Problem was, this shitty mountain range was too vast. Who knows how long it extended for?

Alex's eyes trailed downwards towards the path that cut through the mountains.

A caravan was traveling through the mountain path. The carriage's corners were trimmed with gold in organic swirling patterns. Its walls were reinforced with metal, and the windows were covered in a thin translucent curtain. A couple of leather-armoured soldiers slowly walked beside it. It had a flag with a tree and multiple leaves extending from its base.

Behind that caravan were wagons pulled by horses, tarped with a thick cloth that prevented people from peering guessing what was being carried.

And suddenly, multiple men in complete bandit outfits with bandanas covering their mouths blocked the caravan at the front. All of them were at most late awakened.

To Alex, they were the perfect people to ask for directions on where the flowers grew. Bandits should know the area around. Surely, they must know. Or else.

☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎

Kalaiser had already been worried about going through the Hadstead mountain range due to the recent rampant bandit situation. The King of Dragus had said they cleared out the bandits and that it would allow them to cut at least a month of travel back to their Kingdom of Lyra.

​

Even then, he was against it.

He had advised the princess to take the east seaside road through small villages instead of trekking the mountain path. Naturally, the princess looked worried, but trusted the disgusting lecherous king's words. Though, she couldn't be blamed. Dismissing the advice of a bigger kingdom would've been seen as an offence.

The last time he went through this mountain path, there were piles of dead bodies on the side of the road. That was the only reason why they haven't gotten robbed. And fortunately, he was only travelling with a small group. Made the bandits not care for the hassle of gathering a miniscule amount of gold.

To his left and right, only two of these soldiers have been with him through that diplomatic run. Their eyes were already peeled, hands ready to snap at anything that came out of the woods that hid anyone lurking in the woods.

The maximum prowess of this caravan was him at only 62 prowess, and he was already getting old. His bones and joints didn't work as they once did.

Trekking through the mountains, they were already 1/4th of the way through the mountain path when a blockade of bandits forced them to stop.

Putting his own status-glass on one eye, he could see that the prowesses of the bandits averaged around 60, while his side averaged around 45, except for him. This was a suicide mission.

"Pay up the toll to use this highway. 2 gold pieces and you're free to go, no negotiations, and if you try to negotiate, it goes up 1 gold every time," the bandit at the front said while yawning. "Come on people. We don't got all day."

"Fool. Who would pay such a ridiculous fee?!" Kalaiser said, hovering his hands by the hilt of his sword on his waist. 2 gold was basically a year's worth of his salary.

"2 gold is not a bad price," Princess May said from behind the curtains of the carriage. Her pale white hands poked through the curtains with 2 gold.

"Hey princess, it's 2 gold per person. Now it's 3 gold since you tried to negotiate," the bandit said.

"Bastards! That is robbery!" Kalaiser shouted.

"This is a robbery, idiot. 4 gold now," the bandit said, scratching his head.

"Cowards! That is 80 gold in total. Have you no shame for the price you ask for?!" Princess May shouted from the carriage.

"Bitch, we don't care. Pay up or put up your swords," the bandit shouted mockingly.

Silence fell on the field between the bandits and the caravan. No one moved. Everyone's hands steadied themselves on their swords. Kalaiser took a deep breath in.

[Agile Up! Activated.]

[Tenacity Up! Activated.]

[Eye Acuity Up! Activated.]

Three buffs cast silently so that the bandits didn't even know it. As long as Princess May made it out of this mess, it was all worth it. The situation now has devolved into a compressed spring ready to explode at any moment.

"Die!" the bandit shouted, leaping into the air. At least that's what he tried to do.

A heavy bag of gold hit the bandit on the head, spilling a couple of pieces of its contents onto the ground. It resulted in the bandit at the front being completely knocked out. With that bag of gold came a woman descending from the skies.

She wore an odd outfit, yet the fabrics radiated finesse and craftsmanship. Her skirt flowed along the edges of her curves, stopping just above her knees and slightly showing her thighs. The blazer that she wore complemented her form in a comfortable manner but still contoured her feminine physique and small shoulders.

She was unlike any woman Kalaiser had seen before. To think a bag of gold was violently thrown by her from the sky, hitting exactly the lead bandit's head and knocking him out, was quite an odd sight.

Through his own status-glass, he saw she only had a prowess of 20... That couldn't be right. His monocle might be glitching out, or the figure in front of them was hiding her power completely. The weight that radiated from her presence alone made it difficult to stand. If this being in front of them knew the spell of flight, she could very well be a legendary figure at over 500 prowess.

"Saviour, may we have the grace of knowing your name?" Princess May asked, parting the front curtains to see the woman.

"Alex. Now, fuck off." The woman picked up the bandit's head by the hair and slapped him a couple of times to wake him up.

"Who?!" the bandit woke up with a jolt.

"Do you recognize this?" Alex asked, holding up a vial in front of the man's face.

To easily manhandle the bandit like that, even a royal knight of their kingdom might not have been able to stay calm while surrounded by the other bandits. And Kalaiser had already noticed the blue outline that had encased the rest of them.

The woman in front of their caravan was someone they couldn't afford to offend, even if she was rude to the princess. Glancing over his shoulder, Princess May had already bitten her lips, concluding the same thing as he had.

All they could do now was wait and see how the situation would unfold.

"N-n-no... I don't know that petal," the bandit looked away from Alex.

"I didn't tell you it was a petal," Alex said. "Tell me where to find the flower. Or else."

"Who the fuck are you, lad- Ow!"

Alex had pulled down on the bandit's hair. "Location. Now."

"Alright! Alright!" the bandit said. "I'll take you to where it is!"

"But Grey!" one of the bandits shouted from behind Alex.

"Shut up! Take her to the field!" Grey shouted.

Shoving the bandit's head away from her grasp, Alex telekinetically grabbed the bag of gold and the couple of pieces that fell on the ground.

"Saviour!" Princess May shouted.

"HUUUHHH???" Alex grunted at her.

"Please take these 4 pieces of gold as a sign of goodwill from the Kingdom of Lyra," Princess May extended her palm with 4 gold pieces on it.

A blue outline formed around the four pieces of gold that shot toward the mouth of the pouch and into it. The woman didn't even bother looking at the princess as she took it for herself.

"Princess, you didn't have to give her..."

"It is fine, Kalaiser. We must make connections when we can, especially to beings like her," Princess May said.

Although she might be right, Kalaiser thought that the woman in front of them wouldn't even care. Would a figure like her concern herself with a small kingdom's peril? The princess was too optimistic.

The bandits left and disappeared from view deeper into the mountain range. The blue outlines on the bandits faded after a while.

☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎

​

Alex, looking irritated, snapped her fingers. "Move! We don't got all day!"

"Follow me, it's this way." Grey pointed to the left of the path.

The woman and the bandits then moved out of view into the treeline away from the mountain range's road. Their shufflings could be heard moving further into the unpathed area, causing everyone in the caravan to exhale a long sigh.

Meanwhile, Alex had already kicked one of the thugs in the ass for being too slow. They were on an incline as they moved through a rocky and root-ridden area.

But if these guys called themselves mountain bandits, they should be used to it by now. Time is money. Her foot landed on to Grey's back, causing him to fall down.

"Move it!" Alex shouted.

"We're going as fast as we can!" Grey shouted back, picking himself up quickly and continuing to move forward.

After moving up a hundred more meters in elevation and through rocky narrow passages, the group arrived at a wooden-walled area. Thick logs of trees were used as material.

The gate opened, and the bandits led the way into the bandit camp. Through the camp, there were women and men walking around, carrying materials, as well as children kicking around what looked like a coconut.

Arriving at the backmost part of the bandit camp, it opened to a large flat field surrounded by a scenic mountainous view. On the field were patches of flowers with the same distinct red oval petals, most had exactly 12 petals, but they also ranged from 9 to 14 petals.

Alex smiled. Progress.

"Who are you, bitch?" A low growling voice came from behind her.

Glancing over her shoulder, a man that towered over her at more than 2.3 meters came forward. He wore a metal shoulder plate while the rest of his body was covered in thick fur. The size of his feet was at least more than a men's size 17, and the bulk of his muscles didn't make him easier on the eyes.

Disgusting.

"Either you guys fuck off from here, or you work under me," Alex said.

Laughter rolled through the whole crowd that had already gathered around. The women and men looked at her like she was kidding.

"Grey, you brought this crazy bitch here?" the hulking man said.

However, Grey just looked the other way, not saying anything.

"Forget it," the hulking man said, taking off the giant battle axe from behind his back. "Die!"

A burst of flames erupted on his battle axe, covering it in violent blue fire. His Early-Resonant signature blared from his core, and the pressure he released caused the crowd to take two or three steps back.

And he charged.

Just as his axe was about to slice Alex's neck, it shattered into hundreds of pieces. His body disappeared as it was squished to the ground. A crater had formed where only a paste of meat could be seen, with hints of the man's fur and metal armor. The body had been completely decimated.

All the noise in the area completely deafened. Not a single chirp or footstep could be heard.

"Anyone else?" Alex asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

Turning her head towards the man beside her, Grey, she said, "Congratulations on your promotion. Now what will it be? Work for me or be turned to meat paste?"

Grey looked around him at the other bandits before answering the question. It looked like everyone was in agreement. "We'll work for you... but what are we actually doing?"

[Module: Space Storage activated]

A stack of paper and a single pen materialized in front of Alex, floating. On it was a detailed outline of the job description and company name: The Path.

"Let's just say, it's a job offer," Alex grinned. "You do everything I say, fetch, carry, break, kill when I tell you to. In exchange, you get paid, all with medical and dental benefits. How's that sound?"

"It sounds... actually nice?" Grey said.

"Good. It's better than whatever petty shit this idiot was making you do. And hey, it even has hazard pay," Alex said, eyes casually glancing at the meat paste beside her.

Grey took a sheet of paper and the pen hovering in the air. He didn't even read the contract, all he did was sign the paper.

Idiot. Little did he know, this was modern North America's standard slave--I mean, job contract.