The other fruit options were not as beneficial to the drinker as the antidote pears, so they were separated into unmixed drinks for testing.
There were five left for the Echoes to test, each of them a Mythic fruit in its own right, just not one that would be expected in a recovery potion. There were blackberries shrouded in the same dark mist that the Echoes themselves were, which granted a hard-to-detect form of invisibility when the one who ate them was in the dark.
There were Mangoes that granted the user perfect skin, removing all scars and acne. That particular fruit was in exceptionally high demand, despite not serving any sort of combat purpose.
There was a raspberry species as well as a strawberry species that could provide an entire meal in a single bite, though the strawberries had a mild aphrodisiac effect. Those two had a number of fans among the crowd. They could be juiced, or more importantly, they could be dried and kept as part of an adventurer's trail mix.
The final one was the most amazing of the lot. The Echoes had grown Pineapples that granted a three-minute long boost to all damage modifiers. Not just physical, but magical as well. A single mouthful of the acidic potion that felt like it was burning the inside of your mouth would increase your damage output by twenty percent.
That one Cain volunteered to try himself, knowing that his Skill [Ancient Perfection] had already maximized his modifiers to at least the pinnacle of Ancient quality and that his body quality had increased again after becoming a Mythic being. The potion didn't add raw damage, like a rage potion or other similar effects, so whether it would work on him at all was questionable.
For ease of movement, and so that everyone watching could see the actual test, and not just the oversized body of an Ancient standing in the testing field, Cain shifted back to his Wrath Demon form, drawing gasps of shock from those who hadn't connected the Ancient with the demon that most of them had seen many times before, and that everyone had heard of.
First, Cain cast an arrow at the prepared target, using his lowest damage skill. He made a note of the damage done, drank the potion, and cast it again. Exactly the same result.
"The potion is ineffective if your modifiers are already at the peak of the Mythic Grade," Cain informed the research team, who stared at him in shock.
They had thought that he wanted to see the damage boost for himself, but to hear that he was at the Pinnacle of the Mythic Rank blew their minds. That meant that theoretically, he should be able to handle single combat with anything at his rank, with only experience and skill versatility determining the winner. To have a transfer like him as their leader was an honor, as well as a blessing of safety.
Most of the Mythic Awakened already looked up to the Echoes though, so the transfer who created them was bound to get their admiration, at least for his raw power.
One after another, the refugees here tested the pineapple juice, doing a before and after comparison using the data provided by their system to see how the effects were.
The result was uniform for almost all applicants. Those who were Mythic Awakened but without the modifiers to call them Mythic Quality all saw a twenty percent increase in their combat power. Those who were Mythic Quality saw ten percent, while Cain, whose modifiers were already at the Maximum for his quality saw nothing.
The same wasn't true for the Companions, whose abilities were a derivative of Cain's and therefore somewhat lower. They saw the ten percent bonus from the potion, as did the Echoes.
"That concludes today's tests. The Pineapple Express Potions will be ready in just a few minutes, so hunting teams please wait to head out." Victor called, blending the fruits and mixing them with water to extend the number of potions that could be made.
"I think I will join them today. My level is growing at a decent pace, from the summons and the adaptation to the new power level of the world, but it could be better." Cain tells the Echoes out loud for the benefit of the crowd.
In truth, what Cain is feeling is a sense of unbalance. Every level before has been forged through experience, but the levels that he is gaining only due to the mana in the world feel almost hollow and soft like he isn't making full use of the increased power yet.
The only way Cain can see to fix that is to go out and grind some levels himself, using his actual body and not relying on his summoning abilities. It's a bit ironic, given his progression path in the System, but the intense need to stab something is imprinted directly into his consciousness, somewhere in the leftover human survival instincts.
The hunters have developed a well-detailed map of the area across the surrounding hundred kilometers, the extent of their hunting range while based at the farm. It even includes the projected territories of packs, the types of monsters, and their special abilities.
There is a group of Mythic quality Golden Apes near a city to their west, near the edge of the range that catches Cain's eye. They have Lightning magic on the Mythic Level, strong bodies, and intelligence that is at the very high end of the beasts, with decent mobility comparable to the transfers.
It has been marked as a do not enter zone, due to the number of them that have gathered there, but Cain doesn't fear numbers, he can close that gap in a second if he starts to get overwhelmed.
The first ability Cain chose to upgrade for the outing using [Versatility] is naturally [Summon Pet] The upgraded version of [Summon Lesser Golem]. The spell gives him the maximum number of additional Mythic summons for a single ability, which is hard to argue with. Since he is already in an appropriate demonic form, he will be able to use [Ancient Resistance to triple their numbers as soon as he calls them, giving him a total of 54 summons from the Lesser Golem category of demons, but at Mythic Quality.
Even the mightiest of Golden Ape tribes shouldn't be able to stand up to that for very long.
The next ability that he wants to enhance is [Slash] from the Dark Elven fighting forms, but he finds that the entire selection of [Offensive Basics] that came in a single skill book is enhanced at once. That is perfect, now he has a wide variety of close combat attacks to work with, using his spear and scimitar.
For his third and final spot, Cain picks [Acid Rain]. That will give him a large area of attack Mythic spell, and he can use [Dominion] to increase the radius at the cost of additional mana.
"Do you have a group? I can see you intend to go hunting, and I just got here today, so I haven't had time to prove myself to the group yet to get an invitation to any of the regular parties." Cain hears a female demon ask Vala.
Looking her over, Cain understands why. She is one of the rare demonized plant monster types, not a born demon. She looks like she was once a Dryad, but now has a rather pestilent tone to her green skin, and the bark that makes up her natural armor has turned inky black. She is more armor than flesh, though with the System ranking her as Epic as well as Awakened Mythic, the flesh is certain to be tougher than any natural leather.
Cain checks her stats to see if she is actually worth bringing. If she isn't bad she can fight alongside the Companions while Cain tones his body to keep up with the rapid changes he has been undergoing.
[Name] Prana
[Class] Plague Caller
[Species] Carnivorous Treant
[Level] 310
[Awakened] Mythic
[Physique] Epic
That looks pretty respectable to Cain, and she would have been a powerhouse among the hunting teams before the change in Mana. Epic creatures are being pulled up towards level 300, so she had already exceeded the standard when the changes begin. That means she is used to her power, not new and adjusting, plus they have a collection of new and valuable potions to keep everyone safe.
"What are the specialties of a Plague Caller?" Evangeline asks, looking the demon over the same way that Cain did.
"In my case, a variety of debilitating and paralysis effects, plus my species abilities of extendable vines. Most of my skills are debuffs or control, but I have Mythic Quality [Poison Needles] for attacks that can be fired a hundred meters and are very hard to detect." Prana explains and Evangeline nods at Vala. A control type caster goes well with their group where Vala will be tanking and the rest will be further back, using their own summons to defend.
"Boss, we will need the good stuff this time though. Maybe a taste of the [Blessed Summoner]?" Nemu asks with a hopeful shine in her eyes.
Blessed Summoner is the ability Cain uses to call Mythic Quality beings, and if he uses [Ancient Wisdom] to grant it to the group, they shouldn't have any concerns about not being able to stand up for themselves. Even the two summons that each of the Companions will get should be enough to take care of whatever attacks them.
"Once we get near the location I will give you the buff." Cain agrees, causing Moana and Laura to give each other a high five.
They're a bit too excited to get an extra summoning ability, and Cain it makes Cain begin to wonder if he has actually been working them too hard.
