Chapter 51: The Trial Potion Incident
When Rovel opened his eyes again, he found himself staring up at the sterile ceiling of Mobius's laboratory once more. It was a view that was rapidly shifting from unfamiliar to uncomfortably routine.
His body felt whole, the aches and pains from his bout with Kalpas completely gone. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, only to freeze.
A short distance away, a certain green-haired figure was watching him. Rovel cautiously met her gaze, felt the sheer weight of her gloomy, analytical stare, and immediately averted his eyes.
He lay back down.
'Maybe I should just log off...' The thought was a desperate, fleeting prayer.
Mobius was angry. No, she was furious. And her fury was directed at two individuals: Kalpas and Rovel.
First, there was Kalpas. To deal with a weakling like Rovel, a boy he could have flattened with one hand, he had actually resorted to using Active Reaction. His final, over-the-top attack had even torn a rift in the fabric of the Elysian Realm itself.
'Is he out of his mind?'Mobius fumed internally.'What kind of sane person trains like that?'
Even knowing Kalpas's volatile temperament, she couldn't help but seethe at the sheer absurdity of it. At the time, she had assumed Rovel must have said something truly outrageous to provoke the man, which was why she had rushed over. Instead, she had found Kalpas sitting off to the side, catching his breath, while Rovel was already unconscious on the ground.
Then there was Rovel. This boy... of all the Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm, he just had to pick the single craziest one to help him train. She had explicitly told him to stay away from Kalpas, but he simply wouldn't listen.
As someone practicing swordsmanship, wouldn't it have been far more sensible to seek out Sakura?
Wait. A thought brought her internal tirade to a halt. It seemed she hadn't actually taken him to meet any of the other Flame-Chasers yet.
Mobius suddenly realized the oversight. Most of the Flame-Chasers kept to themselves, hidden away in their own domains. Only Kalpas, that lunatic, would rampage through the depths of the Elysian Realm every day, killing everything in sight like a patient who'd escaped his ward. It wasn't unusual for some of the others not to show their faces for hundreds, or even thousands, of years.
Regardless, for such a disobedient 'understander,' Mobius felt it was necessary to let him know the gravity of his actions.
"Cough... Dr. Mobius. Morning."
Just as Mobius was contemplating a suitable punishment, Rovel, having lost his internal struggle, sat up again and offered a tentative greeting.
"You. Come here." Mobius pointed a slender finger at him, then curled it in a beckoning gesture. Her expression was a cold, unreadable mask, making it impossible to guess what she was thinking.
Rovel's heart hammered against his ribs, but he obediently slid off the medical bed and walked over.
"I was wrong!" he declared, admitting his mistake without a shred of hesitation.
"No," Mobius shook her head, her voice dangerously soft. "You weren't wrong. I was."
"Then... Doctor, what were you wrong about?" Rovel asked, looking up at her with a hint of confusion.
"?" From her workstation across the lab, Klein poked her head out, her curiosity piqued.
"...I was wrong for not breaking your arms and legs to keep you in this lab," Mobius said, her voice dropping to a low murmur. She reached out, pinched Rovel's cheek, and pulled it outward with just enough force to sting. "Then you wouldn't have the strength to run around causing me trouble every single day."
Rovel felt like a college student who had just returned home for the holidays; after a few reckless fights with Kalpas, his 'welcome home' protection period had officially expired. The more Mobius looked at him, the more her annoyance grew.
"Then it's better if I was the one who was wrong..." Rovel hurriedly changed his tune. He really shouldn't have tried to be cheeky just now.
"Hmph." Mobius let go of his cheek and snorted coldly. "Today, you are not allowed to go anywhere. You will stay in the lab and be a good little test subject for my potions."
"Okay!"
If just testing a few potions could appease Mobius, then this was getting off easy. It would be even better if, like the first time, one of them granted him some more Honkai Energy resistance.
Rovel would soon come to regret his careless optimism.
[Used a potion with unknown effects. Gained DEBUFF: Dizziness. Duration: 1 hour.]
[Dizziness: Temporarily lose the ability to control your body.]
[Used a potion with unknown effects. Gained BUFF: Strength. Duration: 10 minutes.]
[Strength: Strength +20]
...
At first, the concoctions seemed normal enough—a mix of standard buffs and debuffs. But soon, Rovel began to feel that something was not quite right.
[Used a potion with unknown effects. Gained BUFF: Cat Ears. Duration: 30 minutes.]
[Cat Ears: Grow a pair of cat ears.]
A pair of fluffy black cat ears sprouted from the top of Rovel's head as if from thin air.
"This... this isn't right, is it?" Rovel said, his new ears twitching involuntarily.
"Not bad. It looks like the Cat Ear Potion research was a success," Mobius noted, nodding with clinical satisfaction.
"Dr. Mobius, is there any actual use for researching this?" Rovel's mouth twitched.
A mischievous smirk curled at the corners of Mobius's lips.
"It's of no use," she said sweetly. "It's just for fun."
Rovel was speechless.
"Ahem. Continue." Mobius's smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and she handed him another bubbling vial.
[Used a potion with unknown effects. Gained BUFF: Cat Tail. Duration: 30 minutes.]
[Cat Tail: Grow a cat tail.]
"There's definitely something wrong with this, meow?!" Rovel felt a strange itch at the base of his spine, and a long, black cat tail swished into existence behind him. He immediately clamped his hands over his mouth. That strange verbal tic...
[Cat Ear BUFF and Cat Tail BUFF have triggered a Linked BUFF: Verbal Tic.]
[Verbal Tic: You will unconsciously add 'meow' to your speech.]
"Hmm... I didn't expect the Cat Ear Potion and the Cat Tail Potion to have a linked effect. Let me record this," Mobius said, turning around and pretending to scribble something on a datapad.
But Rovel could clearly see the triumphant curve of her lips reflected in the screen.
"Any other abnormalities in your body?" Mobius asked, schooling her features into a neutral expression as she turned back to him.
"No... meow~" Rovel covered his mouth again, his face flushing.
A flicker of amusement danced in Mobius's eyes. She reached out a curious hand and tried to grab his new tail. Rovel's entire body went rigid, and the fur on his ears puffed up in alarm.
"Hmm, it seems the neural connection is also normal," Mobius murmured, thoroughly satisfied with his reaction.
Then came another series of tests.
After a grueling half-hour, Mobius had her fill of playing with her new 'cat,' while Rovel was completely burnt out.
"Doctor, I was wrong, I was really, truly wrong..."
"Continue." Mobius, however, had no intention of stopping. She wanted to make sure Rovel would deeply regret not listening to her.
[Used a potion with unknown effects. Gained DEBUFF: Drunk. Duration: 10 minutes.]
[Drunk: Your courage will increase, and your inner desires will be amplified.]
"Hic..." A small, drunken hiccup escaped Rovel's lips.
"Hmm? Is this potion spoiled? Or did I accidentally mix it wrong just now?" Mobius turned around and picked up the beaker she had just used to prepare the dose.
The words 'Water of Life' were written in large, clear letters on the side.
"...It must have been put there by mistake the last time I was drunk," Mobius muttered, massaging her brow with a sigh.
But when she turned back around, Rovel had already staggered right up to her.
He reached out his hands, placed them firmly under her armpits, and...
Lifted her straight up into the air.
"So high..." he giggled, holding her aloft like a trophy.
"Snakey is so high..."
"Dr. Mobius, the experimental data is... I'll come back later." Klein, who had chosen the worst possible moment to approach, saw the situation, and silently retreated back into the shadows of the lab.
"Rovel!!!"
It seemed today was destined to be another restless day in Mobius's laboratory.
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