Chapter 48

"Thank you for saving me today. I haven't had the chance to properly thank you yet," Shelley's voice was soft, her head lowered, not daring to look directly at Gaodeng, her face full of bashfulness.

"Being able to save a beautiful young lady is my honor," Gaodeng said, then took two steps forward, reducing the distance between them to just a finger's width.

Shelley suddenly remembered what had happened in the sewer earlier, when they were squeezed in a narrow space. The memory made her body go limp. "Gaodeng, you're making me feel uneasy."

"Why be uneasy? Am I going to eat you?" Gaodeng reached out and wrapped his arm around her soft, slender waist. "Since you want to thank me, shouldn't I ask for some substantial reward?"

"Finally, there's no more of that annoying leather armor in the way," he thought.

Their bodies finally came together. Feeling the two soft, elastic mounds pressed against his chest, Gaodeng lowered his head and gently bit the delicate earlobe of the young girl, then moved down, planting a kiss on her white neck.

Shelley's body trembled, stiffening with tension. She closed her eyes, her curved eyelashes trembling, her chest rising and falling more rapidly, her breath becoming increasingly hot.

"Don't be nervous, I'll bring you happiness," Gaodeng's voice was like a spell, gradually relaxing her, making her stop resisting. Her body temperature rose, and the faint scent of green leaves began to waft, enveloping Gaodeng's nose.

Gaodeng's left hand, which was holding Shelley's slender waist, slid down to her firm buttocks, which he had already appreciated once in the sewer. The sensation was still perfect, making him nostalgic. His right hand, meanwhile, slipped under the hem of her nightgown, then climbed up, finally grasping a soft peak.

Gaodeng wasn't the kind of person who could estimate bra sizes, but he could tell from the feel that Shelley's bust was at least a 36D. His girlfriend on Earth was about the same size.

The smooth, soft flesh changed shape in Gaodeng's palm, as if it might spill out at any moment. This feeling of not being able to fully grasp it excited him. The pink nipple in his palm was gradually hardening. A light pinch from Gaodeng would make the young girl gasp.

Shelley's eyes became increasingly hazy, and with Gaodeng's movements, she occasionally let out sweet, moaning sounds. Seeing that the moment was right, Gaodeng leaned close to her ear and said, "Shall we go to the bed?"

Shelley's eyes were hazy, and she nodded.

"Master, your invigorating tea is ready. I added a new ingredient to the tea today, please try it," the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open, and Irelle walked in with a steaming cup of tea, then saw the two of them embracing—Gaodeng's right hand was on the young girl's prominent chest, constantly changing shape.

This shocking scene made the innocent young girl open her mouth wide, her face immediately flushed with a burning red. "I'm sorry!"

Caught in the act, Shelley suddenly snapped out of her dazed, soft state. She pushed Gaodeng away and stammered, "It's... too late. I'll go sleep with Seona. Gaodeng, you rest well."

With that, Shelley ran out of the bedroom, leaving behind the lingering scent of a young girl.

"How could I forget to lock the door?" Gaodeng held his forehead, looking dejected.

The delicious moment had flown away, and it was truly a sad story.

Gaodeng glared at Irelle. "Little girl, it's all your fault. Tell me, how will you make up for my loss?"

Irelle's shoulders hunched, and she timidly replied, "How about... Irelle serves Master?"

The mage, who had just had his moment ruined, couldn't help but laugh. He patted the little maid's head. "You little girl, you're thinking too much. If you really want to serve me, grow up faster."

He picked up the tea Irelle had made, and the desire in his heart had already faded. Thirteen-year-old girls were naturally sleepy. To make invigorating tea for Gaodeng, Irelle had to stay up late every night, which was very tiring. Gaodeng couldn't bear to blame her too much.

"Alright, go back to sleep," Gaodeng waved Irelle away, then picked up the teacup and took a small sip.

"Hmm!" Gaodeng raised his eyebrows and quickly called out, "Irelle, don't leave yet. What did you add to this tea?"

"Master, doesn't it taste good?"

Gaodeng shook his head. "No, it still tastes good. But there seems to be a very special ingredient in your tea."

He didn't say it all. After drinking Irelle's black tea, his mana, which had been depleted in the battle with Hao Lin, had actually increased by a point!

In "Ancient Era," there were three ways for spellcasters to recover mana: meditation, sleep, and potions.

Meditation and sleep aside, let's talk about potions. Spellcasters could restore mana by drinking mana potions, which players often called blue potions. However, after drinking any amount of mana potion, players would gain a resistance. For 24 hours, drinking more mana potions would have no effect.

Despite these restrictions, for player mages, mana potions were absolutely the most important consumable when clearing dungeons, fighting monsters, and taking on bosses.

After crossing over to the Telos world, Gaodeng missed the feeling of drinking a blue potion to immediately continue fighting after his mana was depleted. However, he knew that in a world where the core of the spellcasting system was spell slots, it was probably impossible to create mana potions.

Since 70% of the flora and fauna in this world were similar to those in "Ancient Era," he had once tried to find various raw materials according to the formula for mana potions he remembered.

In "Ancient Era," mana potions required six ingredients: blue berries, mint leaves, moon sugar, red mountain flowers, upright roots, and white-capped mushrooms. Upright roots were the most crucial ingredient. Even if players ate them raw, they could still recover a small amount of mana. The other five ingredients could be replaced with similar substitutes, but upright roots could not.

However, this world did not have upright roots. So Gaodeng had gradually given up on the idea of making mana potions.

But when he drank the tea Irelle had made, he found that his mana had increased by a point. This meant that the little maid had added something to the tea that could replenish mana, similar to upright roots.

This was a huge piece of good news!

Gaodeng couldn't wait and went to the kitchen with Irelle, asking her to bring out all the ingredients she used to make the tea.

"Master, this time I used 'Madame Mado's Black Tea' from the Ilden Estate in the west of the city. I added milk, brown sugar, and blue mint and sawtooth butterfly grass that I bought from the market."

Madame Mado's Black Tea was not much different from ordinary tea in terms of ingredients, but it had unique growing conditions and roasting techniques, and many nobles liked to drink it. Exclude it.

Milk and brown sugar were too common. This wasn't a world where eating sweet potatoes could increase magic. Exclude them.

The problem must be with the blue mint and sawtooth butterfly grass. Usually, Irelle only added blue mint to the invigorating black tea she made for Gaodeng, but this time she seemed to want to try a new formula, so she added a little sawtooth butterfly grass to give the black tea a hint of fragrance.

Gaodeng first picked up a piece of sawtooth butterfly grass, took a small bite, and chewed it in his mouth. A faintly sour and sweet taste spread on his tongue. Unfortunately, the system panel in his mind showed no increase in mana.

"No effect. What's going on? Maybe..." Gaodeng had a sudden idea and picked up a sharp blue mint leaf, taking a bite. The refreshing, spicy sweetness of the mint mixed with the taste of the sawtooth butterfly grass, and Gaodeng found that his mana had indeed increased by a point.

"So that's it!" Gaodeng, who had found the answer, couldn't help but pick up Irelle and kiss her on the cheek. "Irelle, you've done a great job!"

The little maid didn't understand, but seeing Gaodeng's happy face, she couldn't help but smile happily.

He sent the sleep-deprived Irelle back to bed, then, with an excited and sleepless face, Gaodeng dove into the alchemy lab.

The ingredients needed for the mana potion, except for the upright roots, were all common alchemical materials. Gaodeng always kept a sufficient supply at home. He got to work.

These materials had already been pre-processed, and Gaodeng only needed to grind, extract, and soak them according to the methods he remembered, then mix them in distilled water in a certain ratio.

As a mage, Gaodeng had countless experiences making mana potions in "Ancient Era," and he believed he could succeed. However, because the core ingredient had changed from a single material to a mixture of two, and the effects were different, Gaodeng encountered repeated failures. If not for his alchemy skill being at level 8, he might not have succeeded by morning.

At 7:00 AM, in the first-floor alchemy lab.

"Activate the subsystem 'Potions and Scrolls' and record the process of the last successful potion I made," Gaodeng said in a tired voice.

"Understood. Recording successful. There are 453 areas for optimization. The estimated improvement in potion effectiveness is 324%."

Hearing the system's indifferent, emotionless voice, Gaodeng sighed in relief. He picked up the potion he had made himself. The pale blue, clear liquid, like a clear sky after rain, filled the test tube, making him think of an old and famous advertising slogan: "Blue bottle, better effect."

He drank the potion in one breath. The sweet liquid was absorbed by his body, and soon, Gaodeng found his mana increased to 30 points.

"Hmm, about 30 mana in five seconds. This should be equivalent to the effect of a minor mana potion," Gaodeng nodded, tidied up, and left the alchemy lab.

Seona, who was practicing in the morning, was startled to see Gaodeng's tired face. Gaodeng had to reassure her. If not for his excitement and determination to make the mana potion last night, he wouldn't have stayed up all night. For a mage, adequate and high-quality sleep was the most important thing. Sufficient energy allowed mages to maintain good casting conditions and also improved the efficiency of studying and researching arcane arts.

Gaodeng swore he would never stay up all night again, as it was harmful to both his body and mind.