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Looking at the spoon, Roland immediately started 

worrying about his future, he fiercely shook his head.

Ruby frowned and said, "Don't waste my time, I order you to drink this!"

Dissatisfied and feeling the weird tattoo heating up, Roland forced himself to drink the suspiciously yellow liquid. Ruby and Vanessa took a few steps back which annoyed Roland.

It tasted bitter, like plain water mixed in with something strong. As soon a the liquid entered his throat, Roland felt like he had an abundance of energy, his body was filled with energy and felt like he was about to explode.

He took a deep breadth and he felt like his senses were improved, 'Magical! What sort of potion is this?'

"Quickly tell me the effects! Don't leave anything out." Ruby already had her quill and 'notebook' in hand, and was already standing in front of Roland. She had a serious look on her face, her previous attitude had completely disappeared, and was replaced by an enthusiastic one as she quickly took notes. 

Roland admired the 'professionalism' from one 'scientist' to another, so he was very descriptive.

"Nice! Your very articulate." Ruby nodded with a smile, while she finished the last of her notes. 

Roland was initially happy with being praised but his smile froze when he heard the following sentence, "You'll be in charge of testing the potions from now on!"

'Guinea pig!' Roland wasn't an idiot, this wasn't a promotion of any sorts, it was more like a demotion. Sure the potion is great but what if it went wrong? If I knew, I could have given her, a shitty description.

"Congratulations young miss, this is your first 3rd grade potion, and it's a power potion." Vanessa on the side, 'congratulated' with her monotone voice. Hearing her tone, Roland doubted if she's ever experienced joy.

"Thank you Vanessa, quickly, let's test the purity." Ruby wore a beautifull smile on her face, that made her seem like any other girl her age.

"Young miss, what about him!" Vanessa hesitated for a moment and pointed at Roland. 

Ruby's smile froze as she remembered Roland, she frowned and said "You, I order you to go outside and guard the door. If you let anyone in or come in without permission, I'll put you in the next potion!"

Roland saw the weird looks on their faces, and just left. He couldn't disobey any 'orders' anyway. Standing outside, he felt the power coursing through his body, he felt like he could crush a rock with his bare hands. 

He sat down and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down, his mind shifted and his conciousness moved.

He opened his eyes and appeared in the temple, sitting on the throne. Strangely enough, when he was here, he couldn't feel the power anymore. Roland didn't dwell on it to much, he focused and a screen popped open;

[Interface]

Title: Baron

Species: Dragon,(young)

Experience value: 1%

Fabric substance: 15 940

Assesment Comprehensive strength: F

Looking at the new '1%', Roland thought about how it came to be. The last time he checked the interface was before he went to that pond of Styx, which had no effect on him. Then, anything else that happened of subsequent value, was him discovering, that mysterious power, which Roland thought was the 'key' to this 'level'. 

He had given it some thought, and recognised the mysterious system, as like a 'software' in his mind. 

He closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing. Not long after, Roland saw the familiar whisp of smoke floating up and down in the darkness of his vision, this time though the whisp was pitch black. Luckily Roland was able to see it clearly. 

Like a hungry dog looking at a delicious steak, Roland followed it with his eyes, the more he focused on the whisp, the more he 'felt' it. Time passed but Roland didn't feel the passage of time, like he was in a trance of some sorts. 

As the hands of time danced, Roland 'felt' the whisp, more and more, until he became 'familiar' with it. Finally after a long time, he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw, was the interface;

[Interface]

Title: Baron

Species: Dragon,(young)

Experience value: 40%

Fabric substance: 15 940

Assesment Comprehensive strength: F

Roland was pleasantly surprised by this development. Initially he didn't know what to do but then ended up looking at the whisp for a very long time. Now it seems that his hunch was correct.

'I really wish I knew what I was doing, but since it's working let's continue.' He adjusted his breathing and closed his eyes again, and this time the whisp appeared almost immediately. 

Roland continued what he was doing for some time, this time though, he didn't feel like he was in a trance of some sorts but was fully aware. This made him slightly uncomfortable, like what he was doing was pointless. 

He shook away the feeling and opened his eyes;

Interface]

Title: Baron

Species: Dragon,(young)

Experience value: 40%

Fabric substance: 15 940

Assesment Comprehensive strength: F

To his surprise, the interface hadn't changed, the experience value was the same.

'If only the old man was here.*sigh* I'll ask the stars later.' Roland thought, suddenly he felt like someone was touching his neck.

Confused then surprised, Roland quickly closed his eyes and appeared in the hallway. Standing in front of him was Vanessa, who was checking his pulse. 

"What were you doing sleeping here without permission, so unprofessional." From behind Vanessa, Ruby's annoyed voice came.

'I could've sworn he didn't have a pulse.' Vanessa looked confused for a sec, but her thoughts were inturupted by Roland who got up.

"I'm sorry." Roland quickly got up and dusted himself clean. Staying in the system for extended periods of time is undoubtedly dangerous. 

"No need, come, we'll be late." Ruby shook her head. Happiness could be heard in her voice. Today seemed to be quite a fruitful day for her.

Today she successfully made her first 3rd rate potion, this meant that she was a 3 star alchemists, possibly one of the youngest in history who were self taught. Now all she needed to do was work on the potion some more and increase the purity, then she can think of making other types of 3rd rate potions.

Roland suddenly frowned, he looked outside through the window and saw that it was actually getting dark out. When the group walked downstairs, he was able to confirm this.

'What the hell, I was only in the system for a few minutes!' Roland didn't even know what to make of this situation, he's always been good with time but now he was confused.

Although there weren't any clocks in this word, when they arrived here earlier it should have been morning or approaching lunch time at most. So what was going on, looking outside now, it shouldn't be more then six or eight hours later. Roland didn't have time to think though as his group moved.

"Good evening, beautiful and smart miss. Fred your humble servent, is awaiting your orders." Fred was already standing by the door, bowed deeply, with his head almost kissing the ground. 

"Hmh Quickly bring the other guards and close early today." Ruby nodded, she was currently thinking about her recent achievements and how they needed to be kept a secret and safe.

"Oh Thank you young miss, your generosity and beauty is comparable to the nine gods." Fred gleefully bowed again, he was obviously misunderstanding something. He had been overthinking of how the young miss was 'testing' him and it seemed as if that kid servant was right! What was his name again, Roland yes.

Ruby and Vanessa didn't pay attention to Fred and walked out of the door. Roland was also preoccupied with his own thoughts to even notice.

"Uh young miss the report, last month we sold fifty potions and made 500 golds, here's also the logbook." Fred followed after them, he held out a brown bag the size of a lunchbox that was obviously filled with coins, with a book under it.

Seeing Ruby's frown, Vanessa leaned closer, "Today's the first of a new month, and since the last servent was stealing money, he is reporting to you." 

"Oh, good job, keep up the good work." Ruby took the book and left the man standing there.

The group entered the carriage and rode back to the mansion. In the carriage, Ruby flipped through the book but understood nothing, she gave up and closed it.

They returned and entered Ruby's room where she went into a side room with Vanessa and moments later, Roland heard the sound of running water.

'Shouldn't I also take a bath? Whatever, the days almost over anyways.' Roland quickly dismiss those thoughts when he remembered the dirty water from the pool. 

He couldn't come up with an explanation for today's phenomenon. He couldn't say it was the system but he thought of the process he was doing, it was the only different thing he could think off. 'It's not gonna help, if I continue to think about it.'

Roland stood there without doing anything, he didn't go back into the system after what happened earlier.

Finally after almost 2 hours Ruby came out of the bathroom fully dressed in a long yellow dress with flower patterns, that hugged her curves. Her blood red hair was already brushed and tied up. She was carrying a small smile on her face.

They quickly left the room and arrived at the big dinning hall. Roland and Vanessa stood some distance by the wall, where other servants like them stood. Some chairs were empty around the table but more and more people were coming in.

Some time later, steaming food was placed on the table and everyone had arrived. 

"Everyone before we start eating I have a terrible announcement to make." Boron the acting family head had an ugly expression on his face.