"Here, take this."
Roy picked up a copper glass, which was filled to the brim with murky black liquid, and passed it to Aydin.
A nose-wrenching scent wafted off it and made Aydin's eyes sting.
The corners of his eyes turned red, and his brows drew together.
He wanted nothing more than to wash his hands off of it and throw it into a dustbin along with its creator.
"And this."
Ignoring his conflicted expression, Roy also gave him a mana core.
"Consume them."
Then, he gestured to Aydin to take them simultaneously.
"Are you sure you want me to drink this first, then eat that?"
Aydin skeptically stared at Roy.
He found it hard to believe that Roy was asking him to kill himself.
It's a known fact that elves are more sensitive to impurities than humans.
There are even records of them dying after 100 mg of impurities were introduced to their bodies.
As Aydin was a half-elf, a core with even a little bit of impurity was enough to poison him.
There is no known prescription that can eliminate all impurities from the core.
Thus, everyone had the same thought as Aydin; they thought Roy was playing with the young boy's life.
Roy didn't feel bothered by the way they were eyeing him.
"Yes," Seeing that Aydin was hesitant about taking them, Roy enticed him like a devil, "You will advance to the second level without a hick if you follow my words and drink the potion before eating the core. I advise you to hurry up. It's best to drink it while it is hot, like hot milk. If you delay, it might taste worse than it already is."
Aydin was in hot pursuit of power.
It was not wrong to think he would jump off a bridge if that would strengthen him, not kill him.
Thus, finding out that he wouldn't be harmed and only benefit from taking the core after drinking the potion, he fell for Roy's temptation.
"Let's just believe him."
Aydin was stopped from doing what he was about to do by Arlo and Maya.
They then turned to look at Roy with a conflicted expression, and although they didn't want to doubt him since it concerned Aydin's life, they couldn't help but doubt him.
Maya asked, "Wait, doing this would seriously put his life at risk. Can't you reconsider?"
"That won't happen." Roy said, "I know what I am doing."
"If your potion can't eliminate all the impurities from the mana core, it's hard to say what will happen to him after he swallows it." Arlo said, "Must you test its efficacy at removing impurities from a core on the boy?"
"Think what you like." They advised him to not go down this path without taking further precautions, but Roy shot them down.
He didn't want to bother himself with them anymore.
Some things were better shown than told.
Once they see it for themselves, they will realize the greatness of the Core Purifying Method.
"Go on." Roy looked at Aydin with encouraging eyes.
"Consider this a repayment for the help you have provided us so far."
Aydin glared at Roy as he drank the liquid with a disgusting texture and an even more horrendous taste before putting the core in his mouth and swallowing it.
It turned into a gaseous form of energy with impurities as it rolled down his throat.
The effect of the purifying liquid in his guts came into play at this moment.
It rushed up to his throat and clashed with the energy there, eradicating all impurities, leaving only pure energy.
This pure energy entered his magic sea through the opened gate of magic.
It nourished Aydin's Magic Sea.
A moment later, the size of his magic sea increased by one whole unit as it digested all the pure energy.
Aydin's total mana capacity increased to 101 units.
The onlookers saw nothing happening to him, even after several moments, then suddenly noticed his eyes widening to the size of saucers in shock.
"I have advanced to the second level of the First Stage," Aydin announced in shock and joy.
『Ding! Congratulation. Your subordinate "Aydin" has reached the second level of the Fake Mage Stage. You get 2× Skill Shards of the Lord Blessing Skill!』
『Keep up the good work!』
"Congratulations on officially becoming an acolyte." Roy congratulated the young boy and ruffled his hair. This time, Aydin stood still out of shock and let him mess up his hair.
"You don't feel discomforted?" Arlo questioned the boy.
Even a human wouldn't come out fine after directly eating a mana core.
They would feel a stabbing pain in their gut or arteries, although only for a short while.
"No, I am feeling better than before," Aydin replied, his eyes bright.
It felt good to trust Roy, especially because it benefited him, not harmed him.
"He took a beast core directly but didn't fall ill or feel pained. How could that be possible?" Delilah exclaimed in shock.
"Like I said, it's safe to take core after drinking it." Roy sighed, "Can you guys stop doubting me? I am tired of repeating myself."
Arlo's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and he looked at Roy as if he was looking at an insane alchemist.
"Don't tell me that thing you created purifies the entire core?!"
Arlo didn't call it a potion as it looked nothing like one.
At best, it looked like debris or waste that gets created during alchemy.
Roy beamed at the people surrounding him and spoke.
"Yeah, this liquid purifies a core thoroughly, eliminating all impurities. Thus, after taking a glass of this, you can use beast cores to improve your raw strength and the size of your inner world and magic sea without hesitation!"
"Master, you're amazing!"
Maya and Amelia hugged and praised him at the same time; he could feel their soft breasts pressing against his arms.
"This potion breaks common sense. There are bound to be some side effects of taking it, no?" Arlo questioned Rou.
"There is a side effect, and it's quite severe." Roy tried his best and thus hid his smile.
"What is it?" Arlo's eyebrows raised as his eyes widened.
"Your farts and breath will be smelly after taking it, and a bitter taste will be left in your mouth for hours." Roy broke the news to him.
Everyone heard what was said, and some cracked when they saw Arlo slipping and thudding to the ground head first.
Arlo raised his head to stare at Roy. "Please tell me you are not being serious…."
"Sorry, can't do." Roy shattered his hope. "I was being quite serious when I said that. Those are the only side effect of taking this potion."
"How has it suddenly become so easy to become strong when in my time, we had to fight to the death for a slight increase in our strength? I feel cheated. My entire life has been a lie. I feel like killing someone right now."
Arlo clutched his heart in dismay and cried imaginary tears of blood.
"I know what that feels like." Roy sympathized with his uncle.
He clearly knew what it felt like to be cheated.
Back on Earth, he was close to becoming a hunter, but before he could, a dungeon break happened, and he was torn and eaten alive by a beast.
The city ensured nothing of that sort would happen and thus applied extra taxes on the citizens, but that happened to him, and he felt cheated by them.
It could also be said that Fate cheated him out of his life just as it was about to take a turn for the better!
