After opening the door, what greeted him was...
A plain kitchen with a large number of Space Pouches, a stove, a dining table, cupboards, and so on...
Eric sighed and went directly for the last and final room—the only one left unchecked.
This room had gathered too much Aura. Eric felt this room could only belong to the Ultimate Demonic Boss.
He was strangely nervous.
If Lysandra had left any cure, then this room was probably 'the' room.
He just needed to defeat the owner of this room and rob the Elixirs.
Eric took a deep breath and entered the Final Boss Room.
And... it was his room.
Eric was speechless. He forgot that he also had a room after going through so many weird rooms.
The room's location had changed, but strangely, everything remained the same—even the walls looked identical.
There was an extra table and chairs in the center of the room, which hadn't been there before.
Above the table were three differently colored glowing bottles, three rings, and some small stones as well.
Eric and Riya's eyes immediately lit up.
Upon getting closer, Eric found another note quietly resting on the table.
Eric placed his bow from his shoulder and the sword from his waist on the table, then picked up the note while sitting down on a chair.
'To Eric, the son-in-law!'
Eric's lips twitched upon reading it. He decided to ignore it and continued.
"All the things in these rooms come from my adventuring and robbing days, which were collecting dust inside my Ring for a long time. Removing them almost felt like my kidneys had been cleansed!"
"I don't need a single thing I left behind. I am far too wealthy to give you more, but I've tried my best to provide only Tier 1 and 2 materials. Though the amount might be overwhelming, they aren't of great importance. You can practice as you like and sell the finished products if unnecessary."
"Professions are very useful for improving Training Stats, so it's best if you pick at least a few to practice. All require intense concentration to succeed, which, as I said, aids Intelligence and other stat growth."
"As for knowledge, I've provided the educational books I had. Of course, I don't have them all, but the Memory Orbs contain at least the initial three Tiers—some may have more. I heard they're excellent for learning. I was too tired to check or sort everything thoroughly, so don't blame me if something's missing or excessive."
"Don't worry—you owe me nothing. It's rare for me and my daughter to spend time with a Mortal and become friends. Trust me, this doesn't happen often. You can thank Elara—without her, I wouldn't have bothered saving you, even if I'd seen your body floating in the ocean."
"The Space Rings on the table are something even an Apprentice Rank can use; you will understand when you send your Mana. You can also put Space Pouches inside one another, and you can hold many in one Ring or Pouch. I have made these Rings myself, and the Space inside is very stable. There are basic Tier Spell books on the five main Elements inside a Ring as well."
"For the Elixirs on the table, the yellowish-looking one—just take a single drop and no more—will be enough to cure yours or any Mortal's or Apprentice Rank's Mana Vein injuries."
"The red one could help a normal Mortal without much talent become a Mana Wielder. It can also help with Rank 1 minor breakthroughs. But you shouldn't take this one yourself, as it would dull future improvement the more you take it. One or two is alright; after the third, it is said that the person could no longer improve by themselves until they've cleansed their internal body."
"The white bottle is special and could extend an Apprentice Rank's lifespan by half a year to a full year, no matter how grave the injuries are—as long as the person's head and upper torso are largely intact, even if the heart or any other major organs are gone. If one takes a drop within half a day, it would stop them from dying."
"All three Elixirs don't have any expiry dates, even after opening them, but with each intake by the same individual, the next effect will diminish. So, don't use them for trivial things."
"Use everything I left behind in whichever way you want—you can even sell them off—but don't you ever think of returning any junk to me. I will be pissed if you do. Also, the six black pebbles on the table have a Teleportation Array inserted into them. Anyone crushing one stone within 100 miles of this island will be teleported here."
"One final thing."
"If you don't know where to go next, I have a suggestion: between ages 15 and 20, one can try entering any of the top five Academies in the world. My recommendation is Celestia Academy. The location is pretty far from your Town, so you'll need to use a few Space Gateways to reach there—but it would cost you a lot of money, especially if you don't have an identity card. So make sure you earn and rob enough! I haven't left you any money, as money must be earned by one's own capabilities. Goodbye, then."
Eric massaged his forehead after reading through the long letter.
Riya sighed with emotion. "Eric, we owe a lot to Lysandra. It might not be too much for her, but for us, even a single Tier 1 potion is a great gift at this moment."
Eric nodded with complete agreement. Any other time, if someone helped him, he would be grateful, but at this moment—where he had nothing and hadn't even become a Mana Wielder—every bit of help was thousands of times more precious. Not to mention, Lysandra had provided a warehouse worth of supplies for all kinds of professionals, even considering that they needed food to stay on the island, along with Teleportation Stones. She was really thorough.
Riya muttered, "Lysandra had previously mentioned it directly, and there are enough hints as well. She is probably aware of Ly and Liv and expected them to stay here. She didn't give you any instructions and left it to your choices. So, what do you think?" She smiled.
Eric smiled as well. "What else? I'll pass the choice to them. But no matter what Ly or Liv decide, I will at least help fix their Mana Veins." He paused and sighed. "As for Grandma... although Lysandra provided what she could, she probably also knows it's pointless."
Riya nodded. She could see the white Elixir was mainly for Bella Noll, but it wasn't a cure or fix. Lysandra probably didn't have anything more useful for her.
Eric shrugged. "I'm sure Grandma will reject everything even if there were a permanent solution."
"Anyway, I've had this feeling for a while that Lysandra needs strong allies for some unknown reason. Though I'm not that great, she trained me and Elara this afternoon, left behind so many resources, and helped Ringwood Town—and us—by removing the Dark Elves, even though there was nothing in it for her. It's pretty obvious… and she's probably desperate, too."
"If we look deeper into her actions, we can also see that Lysandra actually doesn't have enough time. That's why she didn't hesitate to push me so hard. And, as you suspected, she's taken a liking to Ly and Liv—that's why there are three Rings, the extra room, and the extra bed. She wants both Ly and Liv to train using her resources."
Riya completely agreed on that. Whatever Lysandra's desperation stemmed from, it must have been very vital and urgent. Otherwise, she—being an Elf—and Eric—being human—no matter what, she would've subconsciously held back from giving that many resources under normal circumstances.
"You're going to take the Elixir, right? There's almost a confirmed chance you'll immediately break through to becoming a Mana Wielder, since your base is extremely stable," Riya asked seriously, though she was clearly excited—and anxious. She had been waiting to be a proper helper for a long time.
Eric took a deep breath. After grabbing the yellowish Elixir bottle, which was glowing like the sun, then he sat on the floor in his room.
He gently muttered in his mind, "Riya, I'm ready, but are you? Even if nothing works out and your plans fail, don't worry—you're not useless. I appreciate your very existence. What you can or can't do is secondary, so don't stress over it."
Eric knew Riya was under much more pressure than him. He was pretty chill, but Riya wasn't. If her plans worked, it would be a great blessing to him, but if not, it was also fine with him. He just needed to walk his own way at a much slower pace—that's all.
He hadn lie to Riya. She was really quite fun to hang out with, and he never felt a moment of boredom with her around. Lyria and Livy were also very easy and fun to hang around with, but he would still pull back with them and respect gender boundaries. With Riya, though, they openly joked about just about everything.
Riya blushed shyly. She was very touched but didn't say anything unnecessary, responding instead with full confidence: "Don't worry! I've got this. I'm sure it will work… And if it does—" She clenched her fist tightly, speaking with excitement and nervousness, "—then we can begin immediately after your breakthrough!" She was already prepared. Potions aside, Eric still had some unused energy left in him.
Eric smiled.
Well, in that case, he would also look forward to it—to becoming as badass as Riya claimed he could be.
Eric uncorked the elixir bottle and let a single drop fall onto the backside of the cork to observe it.
This elixir was bizarre; it looked like a gas and a liquid at the same time.
He didn't hesitate further and put the drop into his mouth.
After that, he quickly closed the bottle and put it slightly away from him, in case he kicked the bottle during his evolution.
Once done, he closed his eyes to focus.
Eric had already felt the moment the drop entered him; it 'vanished' from the physical plane and could only be detected by those who had a very good sense for sensing Mana Veins.
Eric felt the drop move like an ocean wave, charging in every direction through his Mana Veins, fixing and nourishing every route.
It alternated between the gentle caress of a mother and the stern lash of a father's rod.