Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst

"And what brings Princess Firestone here today?" Erik asked courteously as he looked at Silvana, who responded with a beautiful smile on her face.

"Actually, I'm here partly for the special items, but mainly for the lot of Sage Advancement Potions made by Master Brisanter."

"Oh, how interesting, but I thought taking those potions made it more difficult to advance to a higher level." Erik commented, somewhat curious, since he knew about those potions—or rather, he had read about them, and they didn't exactly have rave reviews.

Those potions were a special type categorized as advancement potions, which existed for each level up to the Sage level. Their purpose was to force an advancement in the consumer. For example, the potions Silvana mentioned, which were to be auctioned, could forcibly elevate a peak Illuminated to a first-rank Sage.

But despite being very useful and powerful, they had a significant social stigma, according to what Erik had read. This was because they had major drawbacks. Firstly, they were terribly expensive, requiring an extremely high level of skill to create—at least peak Arcane level—as well as scarce and highly demanded resources.

Secondly, they could only be consumed by someone who was at the peak rank of the level directly below that of the potion. For example, the Sage Advancement Potion could only be consumed by a peak Illuminated; otherwise, it could even kill the consumer.

But worst of all, if one advanced using a potion, the difficulty of increasing one's power level escalated by several tiers, to the point where simply advancing in rank became prohibitively difficult. Additionally, a mana user who advanced with a potion would always be weaker than someone who advanced by natural means.

"You are correct, Direct Disciple Erik, but reaching the Sage level is almost impossible for many people, and the Illuminated level becomes the peak for most. So, the potion is their only hope to climb higher and live a bit longer. There are many willing to advance in that way, despite its drawbacks."

Silvana commented in a calm and understanding tone, fully aware that for a supreme genius of Erik's caliber, it was at least difficult to comprehend the challenges faced by less capable people. The truth was that the young man was already being quite kind and considerate; someone else in his position might have mocked the moment they heard the phrase 'advancement potions.'

At the same time, the way Silvana looked at Erik changed a bit, appearing much more cheerful and interested. After all, while it was true, she came for those potions, under normal circumstances she would have avoided mentioning it. But she wanted to test the young man a bit, and he had passed with flying colors.

"Well, you're right about that; the difference in life expectancy between an Illuminated and a Sage is almost tenfold, so it might be worthwhile in certain special cases." Erik commented thoughtfully. He then took his notebook from his storage ring and began jotting down several things, which inevitably caught Silvana's attention. She remarked with a smile.