Barbara: "Sucrose is a researcher very talented in Alchemy. She is usually busy with her own research projects and rarely interacts with others, which is why her reputation isn't widespread."
"But her achievements in Alchemy have already been recognized by Albedo."
Ellin: "It sounds like Miss Sucrose is quite amazing. Will she accept our invitation?"
At this moment, even Fischl, who had been full of confidence earlier, fell silent.
Previously, Fischl thought Sucrose's shy and bashful demeanor was very similar to Noelle's, which is why she was confident about inviting Sucrose to join the team.
However, now that she understood Sucrose was an Alchemist and was usually very busy, she lost hope of inviting her to join them.
After all, Sucrose didn't seem like someone interested in combat.
Barbara: "The vision obscured by dust is also part of the training. Finding enemies quickly in an environment with limited visibility can also make us stronger."
"Moreover, even if we can't see, we can still use our hearing and sense of smell!"
"There are always more solutions than difficulties. As long as we work hard together, we can overcome any challenge!"
"Everyone, keep it up!"
Under Barbara's encouragement, everyone cheered up and continued their training, constantly attacking the giant stones inside the mine shaft.
Seeing everyone full of fighting spirit, Arkz nodded secretly.
Arkz thought: "Inviting Sucrose to join isn't impossible. I remember she seems to really like the bones of unknown creatures. Coincidentally, whether on the farm or in this Underground Mine, we can always dig up many strange bones. Perhaps Sucrose will be interested."
One hour later...
Through the concerted efforts of everyone, the ores in the first level of the mine shaft were completely cleared by the five of them.
At this time, the Elemental Power and stamina of the group were almost completely depleted, and exhaustion showed on their faces. Only Klee remained full of excitement, looking around with her jumpy dumpty bomb, appearing full of vigor.
Among the group, Klee had the least consumption of Elemental Power and stamina, but she contributed the most in breaking the hard ore.
In the ores of this first level of the Underground Mine, Klee's bombs destroyed 80% of the ore, Noelle knocked down 10% with her Claymore, and the remaining three combined accounted for 10%.
Although Klee was young, as an elf, her Elemental Power and stamina far surpassed ordinary people. Furthermore, compared to the heavy Claymore, the jumpy dumpty bomb was small and light, requiring no effort to throw.
Most importantly, these jumpy dumpty bombs were prepared in advance by Klee. The only thing consumed here was the Pyro Elemental Power used to ignite them, which was almost negligible compared to Klee's Pyro Elemental Power reserves.
Therefore, it was understandable why Klee was still so energetic at this moment.
"Everyone, these are potions that can quickly replenish stamina and Elemental Power. Drink them all quickly, rest for a bit, and then we will prepare to descend to the next level."
"There will be monsters appearing on the next level, so everyone needs to be highly vigilant!"
Arkz explained while distributing the potions to everyone.
After receiving the potions handed over by Arkz, everyone drank them without hesitation.
"Judging from the potion of pure water that can purify Abyssal Power, Mr. Arkz is definitely a master in the field of pharmaceutics. It is very reasonable that he can also create potions to replenish stamina and Elemental Power.", thought Barbara and the others.
However, the next second, everyone's faces turned pale.
"Ugh! What a strange taste!"
"Ptooey, ptooey, what a strange taste! Klee has a lot of energy now, Klee doesn't want to drink strange-tasting potions."
Arkz nodded: "Alright, Klee, put the potion away. You can drink it later when you feel tired."
Klee happily put away the potion and jumped up cheering: "Yay!"
Barbara and the others looked at Klee with envy, but having expended huge amounts of stamina and Elemental Power, they could only obediently drink the potion, otherwise, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the training pace.
But just then, the 'gurgling' sound next to them caught everyone's attention. They saw Ellin raise the potion without changing her expression and gulp down the entire bottle in one go.
"Ell... Ellin, don't you think this potion..."
"Tastes bad, right?" Ellin revealed a hearty smile, gave a thumbs-up, and said: "I'm almost used to this taste now."
Everyone exchanged glances, always feeling that Ellin's hearty smile seemed to hide some inexplicable sadness.
"Hurry up and drink. After you finish, I'll tell you some interesting stories about these potions," Ellin urged while looking at the potions in everyone's hands, thinking: "Hahaha, finally someone can share my pain."
Under the urging of Arkz and Ellin, everyone gritted their teeth, stomped their feet, closed their eyes, and gulped it down.
Fortunately, these potions dissolved instantly upon entering the mouth; otherwise, they might have actually vomited due to the nausea.
"Water, is there any water?"
"There's no water, but how about freshly squeezed Sunsettia juice?"
"Quick, quick, give it to me!"
Arkz took out the Sunsettia juice he had prepared for everyone that morning—healthy, delicious, and capable of restoring energy—and handed it to the five of them. The fresh fragrance of the Sunsettia drifted into their noses, making it exceptionally tempting in the mine shaft.
Gulp, gulp, gulp. Knowing Arkz's cooking skills, everyone unhesitatingly started drinking heartily.
The faces of those who had been frowning just moments ago because of the potion's taste were now filled with expressions of enjoyment.
Arkz looked at them and couldn't help but think: "Am I giving them a stick and then a sweet date?"
After reluctantly finishing the last sip of juice, everyone immediately felt refreshed and full of energy. Even their arms, sore from chopping stones earlier, were now filled with strength.
"Ellin, what about the interesting stories about the potion? Hurry up and tell us!"
"Hurry up and tell us!"
Ellin reluctantly put down the juice. Indeed, compared to the strange-tasting potion, she preferred drinking this delicious juice.
"Do you know? The stamina potion and Elemental Power Potion originally tasted just as delicious as that juice!"
"Ah!!!"
"Really?"
"Then why does the potion taste so strange now?"
"Yeah, if the potion tasted that good, we definitely wouldn't hesitate so much."
Ellin looked up at the sky, her expression sorrowful: "That's a story from a long time ago..."
So, Ellin recounted in detail to everyone the sad story of how, because she was greedy, she drank too much stamina potion during training, overfilled herself, and finally caused Arkz to decide to improve the taste of the potion, making it taste awful.
"This..."
Listening to Ellin's account, the expressions on everyone's faces instantly became hard to describe.
Barbara, being a Healing Nun, sighed:
"Potions are ultimately used to replenish stamina and Elemental Power. If they taste too good and are secretly drunk, it's indeed not good."
"After all, overdosing on medicine can also cause harm to the body. Mr. Arkz probably did this for that reason."
The women imagined that if the potions tasted as delicious as the juice they just had, they would definitely find excuses to drink the potions.
For example: Sweaty, drink a bottle; tired from walking, drink a bottle; thirsty, drink a bottle; bored, drink a bottle...
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