Eric threw his shoes on the floor and sat cross-legged on the bed.
After some moments, he took out a blue bottle from his Ring. It was a Tier 1 Mana-refilling Potion—in short, a Mana Potion.
Mana, Stamina, and Health potions are also often just collectively referred to as "Refilling Potions." These things were mentioned in the books, and Riya had informed Eric of such information verbally.
Potions overall were not a magical method to fix everything. What "Refilling Potions" could do was speed up the natural regeneration process countless times.
There are other types of potions as well, such as those temporarily increasing certain stats and so on. There were no Elixir formulas in the Alchemy books. As for "Pills," they just work a little slower than "Potions," and some processes work better that way.
Eric didn't hesitate and drank the full blue liquid, which tasted like grape juice.
Sadly, it tasted too artificial and felt too sugary. Eric prefers real fruit juice with no added preservatives.
He could now consciously absorb Mana from the atmosphere through meditation to speed up his recovery much faster, but he didn't bother and half-lay on the bed.
While lying down, Eric started musing on their current goals.
According to Riya, all three of them could easily reach the highest "50" points on each stat without hurdles due to overflowing Alchemy products in the Alchemy room.
As for the breakthrough, Riya currently had no idea what it would be at this moment, but it should be within the bounds of what they could do. She had also guessed that it might be unique and different, yet she probably would be able to link them together.
Eric didn't quite understand a lot of things that Riya had talked about, and he also wasn't too interested in learning everything right away. He just needed to do whatever she figured out so he could pass smoothly.
No matter how much of a masochist he had become, he still hoped whatever the Breakthrough requirement was would be easier and could be easily completed, as he didn't want to waste too much time on breakthroughs.
After all, who would enjoy being stuck in a traffic jam?
Other than that, he also wondered how he could cover all seven professions in just eight months, and not only that, there were more things to do, such as mastering Spells and so on.
Thankfully, due to Riya, he didn't need to memorize or waste time on it, and according to her, intelligence stats also increased memorizing and calculating abilities. Though, that didn't mean he would become smart, but the possibility would open up.
If possible, Eric wished to turn all the raw materials into finished goods to sell.
Unlike how Lysandra had suggested, he wouldn't be selling Alchemy goods. All those colorful bottles held too much steroids to increase his, Lyria's, and Livy's thick muscles.
So, what they could sell was arms—true money-making products—other than that, Scrolls. Runes and others could only be applied to products, usually on weapons and armors, thus it was arms again.
After resting for half an hour, Eric noticed that it was already quite late at night. He walked out of his room and called out both Lyria and Livy for dinner.
Livy had already recovered from her previous embarrassment, but she still kept her head down and avoided eye contact with everyone for some reason.
As they showed themselves, the few who were still present in the hall were completely mesmerized by all three, especially Lyria and Livy, whom they were seeing for the first time after their transformation.
From everyone's perspective, Lyria and Livy now truly looked like princesses from their dreams—no, far above that.
If not for everyone in the orphanage being used to all three overgrown children and their foreign looks, they would have all been dumbstruck and stupefied by how beautiful all three of them had become.
It was a good thing it was already night, and all three of them were not walking outside of the orphanage, or else who knew how many men and women would have fallen unconscious.
While the workers in the orphanage kept praising and complimenting them and kept asking for their beauty secrets, Eric, Lyria, and Livy quickly finished their dinner and escaped back to Eric's room again.
Eric didn't wait and started his full-body intrusion on Lyria's deepest secrets and privacies, and within 50 minutes, it was over.
Lyria was as red as Livy. She finally understood what Livy had gone through and quickly escaped to take a quick bath, returning to Eric's room after another 10 minutes.
After Lyria returned, Eric's expression turned stern. He looked at Livy how a commander would look at their subordinate.
Livy and Lyria's expressions also turned serious. They had long accepted Eric as their leader of their small team.
"Liv, you haven't killed a human yet, and so I have a perfect task for you. Tonight, go and kill Cooper's wife Isolde Eldridge within the Eldridge manor. This mission is of stealth, so no one should notice your involvement; also, you are not to use any weapons. Any questions?"
Riya, who was working in Mind Space, rolled her eyes. Eric himself hadn't killed a human before and was lecturing and pressuring her cute little sister Livy!
Eric had previously secretly searched Eldridge manor to find Stuart Eldridge, the head of the Eldridge family, the elder brother of Cooper Eldridge, and the father of Jack Eldridge.
Sadly, Stuart wasn't present, and the only other member of the Eldridge Noble family was Cooper's wife Isolde, who was there.
Eric had long wanted to wipe out the entire Eldridge family, and since only Isolde was present at this moment, it was time for her to meet her husband and nephew.
Both uncle-nephew pairs might truly become gay if they stayed alone in the afterlife for too long. So, Eric was thinking of fixing this issue tonight.
Livy and Lyria were thunderstruck and stayed agape for a while.
Livy eventually came back to her senses and nodded without saying anything.
Eric could see Livy was nervous and hesitant. So, he chuckled while shaking his head.
"Don't be so upright with me. I'm not your king or a commander. Feel free to question me if you girls are ever confused about anything; otherwise, I will think you have no doubts. Don't worry, I won't judge or blame you, even if you ask silly questions." He smiled gently to ease them.
Livy and Lyria glanced at each other for a moment, and then, after some hesitation, Livy opened her mouth. "I understand we need to kill Cooper and even Jack for targeting us, but Cooper's wife is innocent. Should we really kill her? She has never even shown herself or troubled us, and she is also just a mortal..."
Eric smiled knowingly. He knew Livy would definitely hesitate; Lyria would execute the mission, but she would also be lost. In that sense, this mission was perfect for their beginners—Evil team!
"Liv, Ly, first understand this—innocent or not can only be judged when it's a matter of one specific situation. In a larger context, no one is innocent—not even a child."
Eric felt he had explained something similar in the past, but since it was a completely different matter, he decided to elaborate further.
"For example, let's consider Cooper and Jack here. Do you consider them as evil or vile—at least someone who deserves death for what they were trying to do?"
Livy and Lyria nodded without hesitation. Cooper had ambushed them and later tried to kill them when they had never provoked or brought any harm to him or his Eldridge family.
While returning to town, Eric had shown them the scrolls. After understanding the entire truth, their anger reached a new peak. But since both uncle-nephew pairs had already perished, they calmed themselves down.
They didn't question why Eric hadn't destroyed such evil scrolls, but Cooper and Jack using those scrolls to control their minds was the most heinous crime possible in their understanding.
They also understood that Jack was lusting after them—so much so that he decided to use such cruel methods on them.
Thus, according to both of them, Cooper and Jack deserved to be thrown into the deepest pit of hell!
Eric smiled seeing their livid expressions.
"Actually, if you look at this from their perspective, then it was not such a big crime. First, you must understand what nobles mean and who they are not—and the difference."
"Social responsibility aside, people want to become a noble or a wealthy person largely to procure and secure food, safety, and reproduction rights. Overall, it is just to safeguard their survival process better. But other than these reasons, it is to stand over commoners—in other words, 'authority'—to do what they like while facing the least amount of consequences. This is the most basic survival desire of almost all people, even if they don't understand this or speak directly about it."
"This is almost like—how both of you are now mana wielders. Will you now swallow random insults from commoners or mortals on the streets toward you? You won't. Even if there is tolerance, it still has a limit. At some point, you will even find it hilarious for mere weaklings to provoke mana wielders so much. Just think by yourself—as you get stronger, will you take such insults, mockery, rejections, and so on from lower ranks? You won't."
"Similarly, Eldridge is a noble family of Ringwood Town; they hold power, wealth, respect, and authority. So, what is wrong with them seeking out some orphanage girls? They weren't even trying to kill you—just to take you as their housewives. Although it was against your will, if a noble cannot exercise their weight on commoners, who will really value noble life? Even without becoming a noble or a king, people can still procure food and safety after all. No one will try their best to become noble and take so much responsibility—even if it's just in name—if they don't have at least this much power."
"If everyone becomes equal and shares the same rights, what value is there in becoming a noble? Just because they carry a 'noble' title doesn't mean they have to have such a heart."
"It is only to pacify the poor and the commoners—who are always there in large numbers—that the wealthy and authoritarian will say something like 'equality.' In reality, there is no equality. For example, even if a poor person's dream is to only eat expensive meat, do you think they care about 'equality' with lower species? They don't."
"Don't take this as my personal feelings on this matter. I just want both of you to look at this impartially—not through personal feelings or opinions."
For the current situation, Eric was even certain that if Bella Noll wasn't in the orphanage, even Town Mayor Jarvis would support the Eldridge family's activity completely—that included the use of scrolls, which was overkill.
From Jarvis's perspective, he would think all commoners should know their place and be grateful for receiving such grace from a noble family.
Jarvis wasn't really trying to be the bad person in this situation—as that was how society works.
Without nobles, no one would be there to take charge of poor and illiterate people. And it wasn't just about literacy—most commoners were simply too dumb and didn't know how to handle or behave by themselves. Without authoritarian guidance or control, commoners would ruin themselves.
This way of conducting society was never good. But all people—including kings—were too lazy to look beyond survival or beyond what 'eyes' could normally see, to figure out new ways that won't create such hidden dangers for everyone. Since there were never any easy-quick permanent solution, what they chose was always animal-style—monarchy, authoritarianism, and so on.