Crafting the combat potions proved to be more challenging than Fenix expected. His potion-making skills were still at a very low level, and despite carefully following each step, he failed nearly 40% of the time while creating the Mini Fireball potion. After successfully crafting around 50 of them, Fenix decided to stop. His supply of Glow Flowers was limited, and he needed to save some for future use. Just as he was about to switch to making the Dreaming Dust potion, ChibiScker approached, curiosity evident in his expression.

  “Chaotic Nexus, why are you making so many potions? Do you think we’ll need them tomorrow when we go through the forest?” ChibiScker asked.

  “These are combat potions,” Fenix expined, gncing up from his work. “I was reading the book I got from the dungeon while soaking my feet and ended up learning a new combat potion.”

  “Really? That’s awesome!” ChibiScker excimed. “What kind of combat potion did you get?”

  “It’s called a Mini Fireball. It can damage two monsters at a time. The damage isn’t super high, but I’m happy to have it. Plus, if I pair it with Dreaming Dust, it should work out fine.”

  “Dreaming Dust? What’s that?” ChibiScker asked, puzzled. He had never heard of that skill before.

  “It’s another combat potion. It dropped from the potion monster after we killed it, remember?” Fenix replied.

  ChibiScker thought for a moment before nodding. “Oh, yeah, I remember now. I thought it was just a regur potion recipe and didn’t pay much attention. So, what does this combat potion do?”

  “It can put monsters to sleep for a short time and, while they are sleeping, the damage done to them will be greater. However, I think only the first hit would double the damage since I assume they will wake up after being hit once." Fenix expined. A look of excitement could be seen on his face as he described this combat potion.

  "Wow! I’ve never heard of a skill like that before,” ChibiScker said in awe. “It must be rare. Check the circle rating.”

  "I doubt it's worth checking. There's no way a rare recipe would drop from a monster in a low-level dungeon like that. You'd need a ton of luck for something like that to happen, and..." Fenix trailed off as it suddenly hit him—he did have the luck stat. He nearly facepalmed. "Right, let me check."

  "Okay," ChibiScker said, slightly puzzled by Fenix’s sudden change in attitude, but just shrugged and waited.

  Fenix pulled up the circle rating tab, conveniently located beside his character tab, and began scrolling. Circle ratings were used for almost everything—skills, recipes, pnts—showing how rare an item was. For example, the green herb for potions had one star since it was extremely common. The more circles something had, the rarer and harder it was to obtain.

  As he scrolled through the list, Fenix eventually reached the combat potion section and found what he was looking for: Dreaming Dust. What he saw made his eyes widen in surprise—six circles, the highest rating possible. This meant the potion was extremely rare, a fact that made Fenix realize just how much his luck stat had worked in his favor this time.

  Noticing Fenix’s stunned expression, ChibiScker asked, “What’s up? What does it say?”

  “It’s a six-circle combat potion,” Fenix replied, still processing the information.

  “No way, are you serious?” ChibiScker asked with disbelief in his voice.

  “Yep, a monster in a low-level dungeon dropped an extremely rare potion,” Fenix said matter-of-factly.

  “Man, if we had sold it, we’d be swimming in money right now,” ChibiScker said with a hint of regret.

  Fenix ughed. “This is a combat potion. Besides me, who would be crazy enough to take this css?”

  “Oh, right. Even if it’s super rare, nobody else would have wanted it anyway,” ChibiScker said, feeling better knowing they wouldn’t have missed out on any profit.

  Rolling his eyes at ChibiScker, Fenix set to work on crafting the Dreaming Dust potion. The flickering campfire cast long shadows as he gathered his ingredients. He hoped that he didn't mess up while trying to make the potion. Knowing it was a six-circle potion, he anticipated a high failure rate, especially given his current potion level.

  The potion required stamina potions and dewy-eyed fruit. While Fenix had plenty of stamina potions, he only had 50 dewy-eyed fruits, their glossy surfaces reflecting the dim light.

  The dewy-eyed trees were beneficial to the soil and helped pnts grow, so he had collected a few in Beginner Town for when he eventually bought his own nd. If he had known he'd need the fruit for something like this, he would have gathered more.

  “Chaotic Nexus, I can’t wait to see your combat potions in action during our next battle. I’ll make sure to record it and show everyone how awesome you are,” ChibiScker said gleefully, watching Fenix prepare his ingredients.

  Stopping what he was doing, Fenix said, “ChibiScker, don’t record me when I start using my combat potions, please.”

  "Why not?" ChibiScker asked with confusion in his eyes. "I hate how everyone badmouths you, calling you useless. Once they see your combat potions in action, that’ll shut them up."

  Fenix nodded, but his expression was serious. "It would, but it would also bring trouble. Think about it—what do you think would happen if rankers and guilds saw I could put a horde of monsters to sleep with just one potion?"

  ChibiScker paused, the realization dawning on him. "They’d come after you, trying to force you to join them. And if you didn’t, they’d make your life hell."

  "Exactly. Right now, I’m just a newbie with no protection. Until I get some, I have to keep my true abilities hidden. Do you get it?"

  ChibiScker's determination flickered in his eyes as he replied, "I get it. But once I nd a sponsor, you won’t need to worry. I’ll have your back, and you can show your true skills without fear."

  Fenix smiled, humoring him. "I’ll be waiting for that day."