World Filter

The glass cylinders clinked against the side of the box Joslin was holding. Mark moved deeper into the room wondering why they were meeting here instead of in the main building. Karter didn’t make him wait too long and turned from Ethel’s side.

“Mark, glad you’re here. Have a look at this item that just popped up in the marketplace.”

They all seemed a little excited but there was a look of worry on Ethel’s face.

Nodding, Mark approached Joslin, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he did so. Mark was fond of the woman and he saw her flash him motherly grin as he approached. Joslin had taken up an important part of the logistics department. Acquisition: She, along with a couple of others, was responsible for buying goods and ingredients for the day-to-day necessities from the system.

As Mark arrived in front of her, Joslin turned the case towards Mark.

“The last time I saw you, you were putting a decent hole in my liquor cabinet… you look good Mark.”

The painful memories came but Mark still smiled sadly at her as she gave him a reassuring smile.

Refocusing on the box in front of him, Mark selected one of the blue glass containers. There wasn’t much to look at. It was just a small glass ampule with a deep azure blue sloshing about inside, measuring about two inches. The interesting part was that, near the narrowing of the neck, where one would normally break the seal. The end had been dipped in a gray metal, giving the edge a dull metallic sheen. Looking back to the box Mark spotted a couple with reddish-brown tips and even one with silver.

Belatedly Mark heard a faint ping in his ears as the system popped up a grey panel.

Item: Tonic of Mind (Iron)

Item lvl: 10

Description: once imbibed, gain a permanent +5 to Mana attribute.

Warning: Limit of three tonics per twenty-four hours.

Mark held the vial up, its murky liquid refracting the light. If this thing did what it said it did then this item alone could shift the playing field in humanity’s favor. No fighting, no long hours of Meditation needed. Just pop the cap and get stats.

Glancing at the other vials Mark picked up a red one but this time with a bronze tip.

Item: Tonic of body (Bronze)

Item lvl: 50

Description: once imbibed, gain a permanent +15 to Mana attribute.

Warning: Limit of three tonics per twenty-four hours.

Checking the values, he saw they were all the same for each level. All Iron versions gave five attributes and bronze gave fifteen. Mark checked the only silver tonic and it gave fifty Aura.

Mark smiled and shited look at the rest of them.

“How many of these things do we have?”

It was Joslin who answered.

“The moment I saw them, I realized we’d need them. I managed to get three hundred units of varying ranks. For today they're all sold out, but I think there’s a pre-requisite to buying them.”

Joslin went on to explain she had been buying the bulk food needed for the kitchens when her system had notified her of her market level increasing. It would seem that after the First Rite, changes to the marketplace had been made, or perhaps unlocked. One could now increase their market tier by buying more from the system. These tonics showed up when she had reached that threshold.

But she was hardly the only person buying enough good for a faction and it would seem that the supply of these tonics was only in the tens of thousands. Which sounded like a lot but Joslin quickly stressed how little it was.

An Item like this could easily empower a faction and allow them to compete with others twice their size. Better still, each and every one of these vials increased their chances of survival.

Karter brought them back one track a moment later.

“As difficult as it may be, we need to procure as many of these as possible. Joslin, If I gave you a team and a larger budget. What are the chances you could get us more of these.”

Joslin looked down at the vial, then back up at Karter, a light appearing in his eyes, the same look Mark had seen in George's eyes not even an hour ago. Those two really were birds of a feather.

“You can count on me. We’ll need a significant budget though. The Iron tonic alone costs one hundred Sp, while the Bronze is five hundred. I only managed to buy one silver tonic but at a thousand a pop I wasn’t too bummed.”

Mark's eyes widened as he looked back at the vials. Joslin took a risk buying these when she wasn’t certain how valuable they’d be, but it was clear she knew what she was doing. Even went so far as to use her personal Sp to acquire as many as she could.

They discussed it for a bit longer but all of them were in agreement as to how important these tonic could be.

Sam had been staring down at the vials and finally spoke.

“Now all we need to do is test their safety for consumption, we can take them back to the lab and-”

Mark heard the popping of a glass neck as Jonathan cracked the tip off and threw back a bronze tonic.

Everyone stopped speaking to watch Jonathan in horror. Mark found himself taking a step forward instinctually.

Grimacing, his eyes unfocused at a system prompt, and then looked back at everyone to nod he was okay.

“It’s safe and does as advertised.”

Sam’s eyes narrowed as she glared at him, but then sighed and nodded.

“Well, I suppose that works too, but I still want to examine one under the microscope.”.

Mark could see the wisdom in Sam’s approach. Slow and steady was normally the best way but right now that would lose them time and if one could only take three tonics a day, and they missed one because of testing, then their attributes could fall behind others. Sam looked at Karter, but the man just reached forward drew out a blue vial, and handed it to Sam. Karter's eyes were reassuring as he closed her fist around the ampule. Looking towards everyone else he spoke.

“We are going to do our best to keep a constant supply of these things to our fighters, we’ll even offer extras as a reward for outstanding service. For now, though you should all drink. Especially since I have something else to say, and if you agree you are going to need all the strength you can get.”

Mark didn’t know what Karter wanted to talk about but it was clear they had met up out here for more than just this.

With that in mind, Mark picked out three purple tonics with bronze tips and cracked one of his own. The moment it touched his lips he felt a rush of power merging with his, not unlike when an item merged with him. Only this time it was permanent, the power that swept in had no intention of leaving once it mixed with Mark.

Source: Tonic of Spirit x 3 (+45 Prana)

Sam was hesitant but eventually, she too cracked her vials.

After they had all finished, Joslin moved out of the room, leaving the five of them as alone as they had been in days. No one waiting in the wings for orders or documents, just the five of them.

Sam flicked her fingers, and an umbrella of darkness and air magic expanded over them. Mark absent-mindedly noted the addition of light that bloomed into the space. Sam was still busy grasping new magics.

“Right, now there are a couple of things that still need to be decided but I want to officially begin mobilizing the Exploration division.”

Karter's eyes moved over them all but rested on Jonathan for just a moment longer than the rest. Mark hadn’t expected to hear that, especially since they were still reeling from the last disaster, but no one interrupted him, as he seemed to be building towards something.

“The truth is we need to free you up from the admin side of things so that you can continue growing, and the only solution I could come up with was for you to all pick division heads. People you can trust to lead your forces when you are not here.”

Mark saw where he was going with this, and it was a good idea, but he had a bad feeling about this. He was proved right when Karter spoke again.

“That's why, in addition to the division heads we also need to look into filling the spaces left by Chloe and Daphne.”

Mark’s throat instantly closed. Objectively, Mark knew they couldn’t keep advancing without help. Ethel was already having to pick up the slack of their missing members, but Mark couldn’t bring himself to speak. He didn’t want anyone taking Daphne's place, she had died for them. Why were they so quick to replace her? Mark's frustration turned to anger and he shook his head. Karter saw him and paused.

“Mark we need to complete our chain of command, and this wouldn’t be right away. We still need to vet the candidates”

Candidates? Had they been looking for new leads behind Mark's back?

Without intending to, Mana exploded from Mark rushing into the space, causing the room to become steeped in pressure. The force magic emanating from Mark was enough to stop someone from breathing, but no one here was defenseless. Even Karter seemed to bear the brunt of it with a clenched jaw. Cracks began to spread through the surrounding walls, but then, two equally potent powers descended. Hedging Marks in and compressing it. For a moment the three fronts warred in the room as though ready to rip it to pieces.

However, the familiar mix of Sam’s Mana and Jonathan’s Aura startled Mark from his pain. Swallowing, he let their strength smother his and grunted when they pressed it back to the boundary of his skin.

Mark wanted to run when he realized how quickly he’d lost control, but that wouldn’t solve anything. Instead, he sat in the nearest chair and looked down at the floor's fresh cracks.

“...Apologies... I didn’t intend for that to happen. I… just didn’t think we'd have to move on so fast.”

When Mark looked up he didn’t see the accusatory or pitying expressions he expected. What he saw was a group of people also struggling with loss, only understanding graced their features. The silence dragged on and Mark realized he had to be the one to move them forward.

“...I’ll find a division head to take over in my stead, but I want the final say on whoever takes her place. It's selfish, I know but… I can’t accept it any other way.”

Ethel stepped forward and crouched next to where Mark was seated. Equal parts pain and strength welled up in her eyes. Mark had forgotten how close Daphne and her were. Daphne had even been her student at one stage.

“Whoever they are, will have the biggest shoes to fill, and of course, you may be there when I interview candidates. But that's not for a while, we’re just putting feelers out, so prepare yourself.”

Mark nodded and looked at the others, Karter was calm, while Sam nibbled at the inside of her lip.

Even Jonathan – Who Mark was sure was still pissed– looked on steadily.

Karter spoke to everyone again.

“For now, I’ve said my piece. We are going to start working towards making you all more independent, but in the meantime keep an eye out for people of interest. You had also better find a time to use your First Rites, but we’ll leave that up to you to decide.”

They had told their fellow leads about their rewards from the system and Ethel had even compiled a list of questions they wanted asked, but they needed to find a good time to use them.