Chapter 1146 – Expansion Plans

Jake woke up with a killer headache, finding himself lying comfortably on a couch back at his palace residence. He took a moment to orient himself as a voice echoed from directly above him.

“You know, most people are able to pace themselves and not embarrassingly pass out,” Artemis said, her words sounding almost like a scolding, but her tone didn’t indicate she disapproved.

Opening his eyes, Jake stared directly up at Artemis, who looked down at him, which was also when he realized that the comfortable pillow he was lying on wasn’t a pillow at all.

Smiling, Jake looked at Artemis a bit teasingly. “I don’t know. I think it turned out quite well. At least I’m not complaining about the situation I currently find myself in.”

“Mighty cocky for someone who just knocked themselves out on accident,” Artemis chuckled.

“Hey, those small sprouts should be happy. They got quite the meal,” Jake commented casually. “Though I will admit, they consumed a lot more than I thought they would be able to. Did Nature’s Attendant starve the poor buggers or something?”

“No, you’re just too weak to provide them with proper nutrients,” Artemis said, not a hint of jest in her voice.

“Ow, that’s hurtful.”

“Sometimes, the truth hurts,” Artemis shrugged. “You should be happy. The fact that they could absorb that much energy means that the final result will be stronger, right? Nature’s Attendant isn’t holding anything back with this one, which means your input is essential. He can’t provide the energy himself, or his Records will inevitably turn the item into something only gods can use.”

“Sounds like I’ll have to knock myself out a few more times, eh?” Jake joked.

“Or, better yet, you could stop just before you pass out from exhaustion. That way I wouldn’t have to carry you home,” Artemis said with exasperation.

“And miss out on getting a lap pillow from a goddess? Never.”

“If it happens again, I’m gonna throw you off in the middle of the busiest market in the Pantheon of Life,” Artemis threatened. “And I’ll make sure that your only way back will be through asking strangers for directions.”

“You wouldn’t,” Jake said, a hint of actual fear in his voice.

“Oh, I would.”

“Evil truly knows no bounds,” Jake sighed. “Point taken. I should avoid passing out next time.”

“Good,” Artemis smiled triumphantly. “Now stop lazing around. You’ve already slept for five hours.”

“But I’m just-“

Artemis stood up with no regard for Jake lying on her legs, pushing him down toward the floor. Forced to react, Jake stopped his fall and pushed himself off the floor and into a standing position.

“See, not that hard,” Artemis smiled. “While I would love to laze around more, I sadly do have some obligations I need to attend to. Don’t miss me too much.”

“Hey, when my mind is in the alchemy mire, I miss or think about nothing else,” Jake shrugged.

“That’s only a good thing,” Artemis said. “Oh, and do say hi to the Warpsnatcher for me. It was hanging out in the living room when I returned and looked at me as if I’d killed you when it saw me carrying around your limp body.”

“Poor little guy,” Jake sighed as he checked using his sphere and saw the Warpsnatcher hide within one of its loot piles in the cellar. “I’ll go down and talk to him.”

“You do that. See you later,” Artemis said as she teleported away, presumably to do god stuff.

Jake did as he said he would and went down to the cellar right away to assure the Warpsnatcher that things were fine, and that Artemis hadn’t cruelly killed him and paraded his body around in some bizarre display of superiority. He wanted to say that Artemis wouldn’t do that kind of thing, but when he considered her earlier threat, she definitely did have the ability to display pure evil.

On the topic of deciding a name for the little guy… still a work in progress. Something very Jake-like, such as Snatchie or Warpie, was tempting, but he decided to take his time and think about a proper name that Miranda wouldn’t smack him over the head for. Hopefully, if the Warpsnatcher did successfully evolve to B-grade, the new race would give him a good idea.

After reassuring his little friend, Jake went straight back to his alchemy lab and continued working on making a rejuvenation potion. At least for a little while, but seeing as his resource pools were still rather barren, he soon switched to meditation and studying the tome left by the First Sage.

Like that, Jake got back into the grind as he worked on several projects at once. The only times he contacted the outside world were if he needed something, in which case Jake just had to send a message through his token, and a delivery would arrive shortly after. Everything ordered naturally was put on the tab of the Order of the Malefic Viper.

Days passed, and soon enough, Jake had his first success as he crafted a common rarity rejuvenation potion. However, Jake knew he could do better than that and kept pushing, and only a few days later, he finally got what he wanted.

You have successfully crafted [Rejuvenation Potion (Uncommon)] – A new kind of creation has been made. Bonus experience earned

As with other potions, the requirement for uncommon rarity was to consume at least a hundred thousand resources in total, and Jake barely passed that threshold as he bottled up the liquid and used Identity on the newly created potions.

[Rejuvenation Potion (Uncommon)] – Restores 34,432 health, stamina, and mana when consumed.

With the potion done, Jake didn’t need to think long about what to do with it. Jake chugged the entire thing down as he closed his eyes and focused on how the energy spread throughout his body to restore it. He observed how the liquid split off into different streams of energy as it was carried through his Soulshape before eventually being fully absorbed or dispersing.

Opening his eyes again, Jake took mental notes of how the energy had acted as he also felt the subtle effects of Palate doing its work. To better understand their restorative properties, Jake had already consumed an exorbitant quantity of herbs, but consuming a finished potion was also nice at times.

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