The Legendary Caffeine Transcendent

Standing at the centre of the 2km by 1km field on a mountain clearing 1200 meters above sea level, Alex plucked one of the flowers by her feet. The bandit camp can wait to be managed. The important thing now was her current caffeine levels.

Using the object in her hand as a target, she cast mass_count on the whole field. The spell returned a sum of 512,014. At that number and this size of a field, it would mean the idiots at the bandit camp didn't bother cultivating the holy treasure of this world.

It was completely unacceptable.

[Caffeine Levels: Moderate » Low]

The dull throbbing had started to become a headache. Alex needed caffeine fast or shit was literally going to start exploding if her sanity wanes.

At 3.96mg of caffeine per flower, assuming 100% extraction rate, she'd need about 139 flowers to get 550mg of caffeine. 140 flowers to account for the deviation between petal counts of between 9 - 14.

Resource Access: Ether(5). Object_Target: Hadstead Star Seeking Flower. Count: 140. Predefined Function: Telekinetic Grab. Execute.

Exactly 140 flowers from the thick patch of flowers were plucked from its stems and floated towards Alex. They swirled in front of her, until they formed tight neat rows in front of her.

Conjuring an orb of water in front of her of exactly 120ml, she increased its temperature to about 54.5C. Once that was done, the next thing was to target the caffeine structures in the flower.

Resource Access: Ether(30). Object_Target: Hadstead Star Seeking Flower (petals). Predefined_function: Extraction(C8H10N4O2). Execute.

Swirls of white dust floated away from the 140 flowers and then merged with the orb of water. The orb of water swirled, creating a homogenous liquid of caffeinated water.

Materializing a cup of glass from her space storage, Alex carefully put the water in slowly to not let a drop go. And in one chug, the caffeinated water disappeared into her body.

[Caffeine Levels: Low » Regular]

Tastes like shit, but it'll have to do.

The throbbing in her head started to fade. Her sanity meter went back up to over 90%. Now she felt like she could actually think; a requirement for managing this shithole of a bandit camp and her 'employees'.

Everyone had signed the contract, except the children. They were spared since they were children that needed to be taken care of and nurtured to be hard working adults. Once they were 18, they'd have a choice of either signing a lifelong contract or getting kicked out of her company.

Before she walked back to the camp, she plucked one of the Star Seeking flowers on the ground, storing it into her space storage.

Then, she walked back to the bandit camp, and entered the central square. People were just going on about their day just like they were told to. Women carried along raw food from nearby fauna. Men carrying hauled logs at the centre of the camp.

"Grey! Get over here!" Alex shouted, causing everyone to stare at her, trembling as they did.

Grey popped out immediately of a small wooden building. Rushing over towards her, he rigidly straightened up his posture. "I'm here, My Lady."

The 'my lady' thing sounded stupid in Alex's ears, but it was starting to grow on her. Better than being called 'Managing Director', 'Executive Director, or something gaudy like 'President'.

"Gather up everyone in the town hall. You have 5 minutes." Alex walked towards the largest building of the bandit camp without acknowledging a reply from Grey.

Entering the building, what was presented was a dining hall with what looks like a large chair at the very back, covered in furs and large weapons that would fit a 2.3m tall man. Classic bandit bullshit, except these probably would sell for at least a few gold.

Alex went through the rows of dining tables and went all the way to the back, taking one step up onto the platform, then sitting down right at the large throne that didn't fit her.

If these people were going to be her employees, she needed to establish it as a formal company. This would need 3 overarching departments: operations, marketing, and finance.

However, that wasn't possible. Most of these people would need to be put in the fields to tend to the flowers that make the world go round. Marketing wasn't important right now because the company has no product and finance doesn't matter when all she has is 104 gold coins of start-up capital.

In just about 2 minutes and 34 seconds, the doors to the town hall opened once again. People filed in, looking down due to what was about to happen to them. In total, there were about 19 men, 17 women, and 5 children. Grey was one of the men, sitting right in the front most table, avoiding her eye contact.

"Grey, come," Alex said.

Standing up immediately, Grey took a step onto the platform and then stood beside her.

"Is there something small than gold coins?" Alex said. There was no way in hell that the gold coins themselves were only type of currency this world has.

"Yes, My Lady. There are silver coins and then copper coins which would be the lowest."

"And how do they convert?"

"100 silver is equal to 1 gold and 100 copper is equal to 1 silver."

Amazing. Very simple. Assuming that 1 Ter is equal to 1 year or something similar, and assuming that the fat old bastard said that 100 gold is equal to 1 year's worth of money, Alex can safely say that 100 gold is a decent amount of money.

"How much did the fat pig pay you before?" Alex asked.

"My Lady, he only paid me about 12 silver coins per month."

"Is that a lot?"

"It's a lot more than what we get if we worked in the Kingdom of Dragus."

That gave Alex a lot of information on the current economy of this shit hole of a world. Grey ran on 1.44 gold per year and that old lazy fat bastard said 100 gold could only run for 1 Ter.

This sneaky little bastard was also asking for 2 gold each per person to the caravan they were trying to rob—and Alex liked that. But that also meant that most of that money was going to the fat lazy pig she turned into meat paste.

"Grey."

"Yes, My Lady."

"I pronounce you as my Chief Operations Officer."

"May I ask what that is, My Lady?"

"Shut up, don't ask."

Grey bowed his head down. "My apologies."

"Everyone here is now pronounced as founding members of our company, the Path. Does everyone agree?" Alex asked.

Silence. No one dared to talk.

"Good. Everyone is going to be receive a salary of 1.5 gold per Ter, except for the children. This increases by 2.5% per year, depending on inflation."

Murmurs started to form across the town hall in their tables. A lot of the members started talking amongst themselves, whispering that it was too generous or asking themselves what inflation was. They were worried about what Alex had in planned for them, and they better be. They were all now under a legally binding North American job contract.

"As for you, Grey. As you are my C.O.O, you will be given 2 gold and 50 silvers per Ter."

Grey knelt onto one of his knees and put a fist over his heart. "Yes, My Lady! I shall do as you say!"

"For your first task, I need you to survey the surrounding mountains. There has to be more patches of those flowers."

"Yes, there are, however, we aren't the only bandits that occupy the Hadstead Mountain Range. There are 3 other competing establishments to the west, north, and east. We are the southern bandits."

"Shut up. Don't call yourselves bandits. We are now called a 'company'. You all are employees."

"Y-yes… my lady."

"How come no one's farming the flowers?"

"The flower is… They are considered as narcotics, and the Kingdom of Dragus bans the sales of them. It's also very hard to cultivate. It always dies whenever we try to move the flower patches."

This was an issue. At 511,874 flowers, that would barely last a year once she starts distributing the coffee to her own employees, they'd also cut into the burn rate of the flowers.

Alex needed a botanist to cultivate the plant.

"Grey, you're task now is to create me a map of where the other 'companies' are located in the mountain range. I need that by end of day. Apart from that, I need the company to start surveying the lands in squads of 4-6 to see where other patches are nearby our company. Put that in the map as well. The deadline for that is by end of day as well. Got it?!"

"Yes! My Lady!" Grey shouted. When he looked up from his kneel, Alex was gone, no where to be seen. His choice was right to follow her instead of resisting. Disappearing without a trace in a split second would have meant she was a being that would stand side by side with the legends.

The way her eyes looked at everything proved to Grey that she wasn't just all brawn as well. It was as if she had already calculated everything beforehand, playing more than 10 steps ahead, or maybe even more.

There was no point in resisting. Everyone in the bandit camp already knew. Yet with the Lady's declaration of everyone earning 1.5 gold per Ter, it even made him want to tear up. Such generosity was unheard of in any of the kingdoms of Nulfrae.

Looking back at the dining hall, Grey looked at each one of them. Men and women didn't matter to the lady. She viewed them all as equal compared to the fat snob that terrorized them.

Grey didn't know what a Chief Operating Officer was. However, he was tasked with managing how the 'company' would operate which was enough clue on how this whole thing works.

Taking a deep breath, Grey relayed his orders. "Alright, men and women. We have a task to do. I'll draw the map. All you lot move in groups of 5 to find more flowers. Andersen, Lucas, Rilathon, Ellie, Raynor, you're group leaders. Find the flowers and report back in 6 hours."

☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎

​

The botanist was more important than looking at the storage house of the fat pig he just killed. Whatever was in there could wait to be counted. Finding a botanist would take time. In this kind of medieval shithole, one would be very rare.

Standing in front of the Kingdom of Dragus' southern square where she flew in, Alex observed the surrounding for those handling organic material of the flower or vegetable sort.

None, however, looked like they knew what they were doing. Most farmers of this age would only have passed down knowledge from their parents and the generation before that.

And then there was Elador, the potion maker. The petals he had were in a vial. The man was old as well, bordering 60s with his graying hair, old for someone living in this backwater dump.

It could only mean the old man had gotten either gotten the vial from someone else or he got it himself up in the mountains, and the former was looking to be the only choice.

Moving at a brisk pace that cast a gust around her, Alex went back exactly to where the potion maker's shop was. In one kick, the door slammed open to where Elador was taking a nap, suddenly being jolted awake by the noise.

"Wha?!"

"Shut up. Tell me who gave you the petals?!" Alex shouted, crossing the distance between them in a blink of an eye. Her hand already on his collar, slightly choking him.

"My Lady, I got it myself—"

Alex's hand raised up, readying for a slap; simultaneously, she cast an Transcendent_Analysis on Elador to check his heart rate, blood pressure and brain waves.

"The tavern maid at the Solemn Stay Inn! Her name is Willow. I received it from her!"

"And if you're lying?"

"I would never, My Lady, or give me death."

The only thing rising was his heart rate and blood pressure, linearly, which was expected. His brain waves looked to be completely normal.

Alex abruptly let go of Elador, and she was out back into the streets. Moving back through east towards the Inn, and back north. Up at the sign in large letters was Solemn Stay Inn. Last time, she was too hung up on finding coffee, she didn't notice that this inn had a name.

In front of her, was the thick heavy inn doors, waiting for her to kick it. And one kick was all it took to slam it open.

The patrons in the inn all turned their heads slowly at the direction of the entrance. It was less busy than before, but still at least half occupied. This time, everyone turned their heads back to what they were eating, avoiding eye contact with Alex. Some she didn't recognize, but the others that she recognized nudged and whispered at the ones beside them to turn away.

Alex ignored them anyways and moved to where the tavern maid was, standing behind the counter, pretending to not see her while washing a dish.

"Willow." Alex said.

However, the tavern maid did not react, at least to the naked eye. To Alex, there was a momentary jitter on the way she washed the dish.

"If there's no Willow in this place, I'm about to start asking one of the patrons." Turning behind her, she saw the first man that was eating. The man was eating as fast as he could. Raising her hand to telekinetically grab him, the man spoke up.

"Stop! She's willow!" The man pointed at the tavern maid.

Turning her head back to the tavern maid who had stopped what she was doing, Alex gritted teeth. "Willow. I'm not here to hurt you. Just answer my question, and I'll leave, just like last time, right?"

Willow nodded slowly.

"Where did you get the star seeking flower vial you gave to Elador?" Alex asked.

"A woman named Aurora had given it to me to pass it over to Elador, my lady. But—" Willow caught her mouth, stopping herself from speaking more.

"But?"

"I cannot speak of the rumours, my lady, or my head will be in the gallows by the king."

Alex raised one eye brow. The fat old bastard has something to do with this? An uninteresting turn of events. "So what? You're not going to tell me?"

For a while, no one talked. The inn was completely silent. The tension was so palpable that Alex might just have to force out the answer from this bitch in front of her. Putting her hand on the counter, she clenched it once, causing a crackling noise that made everyone flinch.

"M-m-my lady, everyone in the kingdom already knows not to speak of the exiled. Aurora was one of them. She was hailed as the Royal Garden Keep, now banished from the kingdom to live in the outskirts, forever indebted to the king for ruining his favourite flower patch." Willow talked in a trembling voice. "He cast a mark on her face, marring her beauty forever. No longer can she live in the town with her hideous face…"

"She used to be the most beautiful woman in the kingdom." A man from one of the dining tables chimed in.

"What a complete waste…" Another man said from a different table.

"Boring. Tell me where she lives. Now." Alex said. The title of being a Royal Garden Keep probably was some kind of medieval fuckery of what a Botanist was, or at the very least, a florist.

"She now lives north west of the kingdom, just at the base of the western Hadstead mountains limits. We do not know exactly where she lives, just the general direction, my lady." Willow sighed.

"Whatever." Alex turned around and moved away from the counter, exiting the inn all together.

A blue outline once again formed around her. Floating slowly just a couple of inches above the ground, she suddenly sent herself up above to an altitude of 1600 meters to see everything in view. Consequently, the gust she created scattered the tables of the inn and ruined everyone's food.

Casting her gaze onto the north west of the kingdom, she looked for the limit of the mountain range. To her left was the sealine that curved around the mountains and snaked north as far as the eye could see.

Moving herself towards the mountain range for a closer look, on the base of the western side of the mountain was a small village of distant makeshift houses that barely provided any shelter from the elements.

At the centre of the square were men dragging a woman by the hair to the centre. She clung to her rags that barely covered her body and bosom. Her left side of the face had a hideous burn. She had auburn wavy hair, the type of hair that Alex was envious of as she liked the colour.

Slowly descending towards the small town, Alex stared directly at the woman being dragged. That was her target.

☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎

​

The day Aurora rejected the king's advances was the day that her life became hell. All she wanted was just to care for the beautiful flowers and rare elixir crops of the royal garden.

What hurt wasn't the burn on the left side of her face nor the rejection of the kingdom's people due to her appearance. It was her no longer being allowed to care for the flowers she painstakingly cultivated from tiny seeds; all of which were poisoned by the king himself before they could even bloom.

That was the only thing she couldn't forget. An unforgivable act of murder in her eyes.

Three bangs on her door knocked her out of her thoughts. They didn't even announce themselves as they just kept banging on her door.

"I do not have the money you seek," Aurora said.

"The hell you don't, wench." The man behind the door said. "Open up, or we'll break the door."

Aurora stood up from her desk. Her notes had gone damp from her tears, but it would dry by the time she was back. It was a minor inconvenience compared to everything happening in her life right now.

They could ruin her face, break her body, and spit at her hair, but there was one thing they'd never be able to touch: her purity, spirit, and mind.

"Open up, bitch!" The man shouted louder.

"I'm coming," Aurora said, moving over towards the door. She unlocked the metal lock at the top, middle and bottom. Cracking the door open, she was immediately pushed back in to her home.

The two men barged in. Gravos and Derek. The debt collector that had been harassing her for the past Ter.

"The date is not yet due, so I do not have money," Aurora said, shrinking back from the two men.

Gravos nodded to Derek, and Derek got to work. He scanned the room first before choosing the closet. Rummaging through the closet, he found nothing. Next place he searched for was the table which had nothing but her notes.

Derek looked at her for a second, then turned his face to her bed. He began rummaging through that too, but to no avail. She never did hide anything under her bed. It was too obvious of a hiding place. Then, Derek noticed the pots just by the window beside her bed.

That got a reaction out of her, which caused Gravos and Derek to smirk. Below one of the 3 flower pots was exactly 1 gold coin. The other had hidden 3 silver coins. And the last one had 2 copper coins.

"Wench, you said you had money?" Derek asked.

Behind her, Aurora heard the sound of the three metal locks click in place. Looking behind her, she saw Gravos had locked them, and his eyes were filled with lust.

"Must you do this? Have you no shame in forcing yourself upon a hideous woman?!" Aurora shouted, backing away until her back hit Derek's.

"We're the only ones in this house. No one will know," Gravos said.

The large hand of Derek grabbed her by the shoulder and pushed her towards her bed, causing her to fall back first onto it. Her breathing quickened, adrenaline flooded through her veins. Never before were they this brash. They'd always just search her house, and leave her alone. The burn on her face was her only saving grace from any forceful attempts of men.

Gravos quickly mounted her on the bed. His hands picked at her rag for clothes, yet she resisted each attempt, trying to sway away his hands. "Resistance all the more make the experience more blissful."

The two men laughed menacingly.

Aurora's eyes quickly found the pot that was still by the window. Her hands clawed at it, breaking her nails and causing it to bleed. She was almost half undressed until she finally caught a grip on the pot.

In one swing, the heavy pot hit Gravos by the ear, knocking him off her and onto the floor.

"You bitch!" Derek shouted. "You're gonna regret this!"

"Drag her to the square and give her the whip!" Gravos shouted, eyes full of fury as he wiped off the blood pouring down from his right ear. He picked away at the pottery shards on his face, wincing at each pull.

"Please! No!" Aurora shouted, but it was too late. Derek's hand had grabbed her by the hair, pulling her out the bed.

He unlocked the door one by one and dragged her along the dirt road. Parts of the rags she wore ripped from the blunt and sharp stone that jutted out from the dirt road.

She kept her hands locked on to her hair to prevent Derek from pulling her hair from the scalp. It was the only thing she could do to lessen the pain, yet that also meant she couldn't protect her body. There would be more scars on her by the time she was back. But as long as she remained alive, it was still her win.

The town villagers stared at her being dragged. None of them even bat an eye. Instead, they hurried to the square rather than helping her. Of course they would. All of them hated her anyway.

"The king's courtesan is finally being punished!" one of the villagers shouted for all to hear.

Believe all what they want. She never did such an act with such an ugly being and soul. She could care less about such rumours spread around.

And soon enough, they arrived at the square where the villagers had gathered. All of them also with rags as they all took in the pleasure of seeing the pain of others. They cheered for the two to punish her. Put her in the pillory, they all repeated.

Derek dragged her up the stairs of the platform that sat in the middle of the square where the pillory was and threw her beside it.

Aurora tried to run down from the platform, but Gravos had followed behind, blocking the stairs completely.

"Remember, wench. This was your fault. The king's men can do no wrong," Gravos smirked.

They completely trapped her. It was most likely the king's plan to do this. Aggravate her to retaliate on her own to finally be allowed to punish her. And the next thing that would happen before a pillory was to be undressed violently.

Gravos' smile grew larger as his hand reached for the rags she tried to keep on.

Aurora closed her eyes tightly. She knew in front of everyone, she cannot resist the royal debt collectors. The next step after resistance was to the gallows after all.

Yet the hand did not come for her. For a full moment, she felt no movement from either Derek and Gravos.

Slowly opening her eyes, Aurora saw a blue outline around both Gravos and Derek. They had completely stopped mid motion, and it almost looked as if they had a hard time breathing.

"What?"

"Are you Aurora?" A woman from behind asked.

Slowly turning her head, she saw a woman in fabrics finer than what she had seen worn by royalty in the kingdom's castle. Her hair was fully black, tied to a pony tail while also having a fringe. She was beautiful, most likely even more beautiful than the daughter of the king.

Gravos and Derek both had the prowess of at least 80, yet she easily subdued them with… what? A blue outline. Telekinesis which was deemed to be one of the useless talents.

How could such a useless talent suppress those two brutes? More importantly, what was this being asking for her?

"Answer," the woman said with a tone that held the weight of a general.

"I am my… my lady." Aurora hid her face with her hair, daring not to show the woman her hideous form.

"Tell me, Aurora. Do you wish for revenge against the king?"

Aurora did consider the thought of revenge. In the early weeks of her exile, that was all she could think of. But then she realized that what she cared for were her plants. She wanted revenge only because of the plants that died from his hands.

"I do not, my lady."

"Then what do you wish for?"

"I wish to care for the flowers, the plants, and a garden of my own. That is my dream."

"My name is Alex, but you may continue addressing me as 'my lady', understand?" the woman said.

"Yes, my lady," Aurora replied.

"Now tell me, do you recognize this flower?"

The Star Seeking flower was on the lady's hand, right in front of her face. She had been growing one in her room; the potted flower that held the single piece of gold had a budding Star Seeking flower. "Yes, my lady. I recognize the flower. It is the Star Seeking flower that is difficult to grow. It needs the right conditions to grow."

"And what condition is that?"

"An elevator of ideally around 1000-2000 meters above sea level where the river of stars could be seen every night."

"Interesting…" Alex said. "Do you know how to grow it?"

"It is a banned—"

"I said do you know how to grow it?"

"Yes, my lady. I am currently growing one in my room as a pet."

"A pet?"

"Yes, a pet."

"Whatever." Alex said.

On her hand materialized a funny looking stick and a single sheet of paper whiter than any of the paper that she'd seen in the castle. Extending it to her, Aurora read the contents.

It was all so… overwhelming. Annual salaries, benefits, dental, health insurance, medical leave, pay hazard… these words meant nothing to her. She'd never even heard of them before. For what reason would a noble allow these conditions to exist.

On the paper itself was her name already there and a title. The contents laid out that she will be called 'Chief Product Officer', a funny title. The lady must be an eccentric that she heard before.

What was more overwhelming was the paper stated she will be given land that is owned by 'the Path', and she may do as she wish with the land as long as the 80% of the land usage is for the cultivation of the Star Seeking flower.

The flower itself was her dream to cultivate, even though kingdoms had classified it as narcotics. It was the most beautiful flower that she wanted to raise. The first time father and mother took her to the north, there was a field of Star Seeking flowers, viewing the aurora that made the river of stars all the more surreal.

It was the most beautiful scene she'd ever seen; thus, the flower had planted itself as her favourite flower. She even asked her mother and father why they named her Aurora.

To them, she was the most beautiful. And now this very being in front of her gave that chance, yet the devil will always take its share. She must remain calm.

"Sign it, and you will attain your dream?" Alex said, slightly laughing, but then stopped herself.

"The contract is very generous. I will not give my body to your henchmen. What must I pay?" Aurora asked.

"Bitch, I don't care about your body. It's all there in the contract. Just sign it and make me money."

That caught Aurora off guard. If what Alex says is true, then her words are all in the contract. "What about the king's men?"

"Want me to kill them?"

Again, the answer caught her off guard. "They tried to sully me…"

"Done," Alex said simply.

Next thing Aurora knew, the two heads of Garvos and Derek thudded on the wooden platform, then rolled towards the edge, falling onto the dirt. Murmurs formed all around them, rolling through the crowd.

Aurora decided. This devil was more powerful than the kingdoms she's seen on her travels. And if she could have her own garden to herself along with all the things the contract stated, then she'd sell her soul to the devil.

Taking the pen, she signed the contract which disappeared as soon as she lifted the pen from it.

"Good. Done. Now get your stuff and get ready to go," Alex said.

She tried getting up, but she couldn't. The dragging had took a toll on her body, and the adrenaline has now faded. "I'm sorry, I can't get up, My Lady…"

Green light enveloped Aurora. The cuts she had closed themselves, leaving no scar. The bruises faded almost immediately. A slight tingling on her face could be felt where the scar was. What's most surprising was her body had regained its strength.

She looked at her hands, then back to the woman above her. Suddenly she caught a glance of her image on the pillory's lock's reflection. Although blurry, it was without a doubt that the scar was healed. Her face was back, and the hushed whispers all confirmed the same suspicion she had.

God or Devil, whatever Lady Alex was, she'd follow her to the end of hell or heaven. She had been given a new life, and dared she not waste the Lady's grace.

"Hurry up! get your stuff!"

"Yes, my lady!" Aurora stood up immediately surprised at how she felt like she just woke up from a good sleep. Her form disappeared into the distance with the biggest smile on her face.

...

Alex sighed. Fucking finally. That was a tough nut to crack. Didn't realize she was going to read the whole contract meticulously. At one point, she might've had to add more benefits to the contract. The company couldn't afford to let go of the top talent for a Chief Product Officer after all.

Turning back to the villagers, it was clear what they were trying to do to Aurora. Alex spoke up in a loud voice. "Villagers of whatever shit town this is, tell this to your king. Fuck off!"