(MC POV)

Hmmm… We're already done with breakfast and the girls are still not out of the bedroom. They must have been more exhausted than I thought.

I made sure to tell the chefs to prepare something for the girls when they wake up later before leaving with Brendan and Cai Hong, just in case.

Which in hindsight, that wasn't really necessary since the Matriarch herself was also there and there was no way they would forget feeding their own Queen. 

Anyway, since the girls aren't awake yet, I brought Brendan to the alchemy room to discuss that liquefied Origin thing I made.

Of course, Cai Hong and the foxes were also with me, the little dragon absolutely elated to be together with me, she hasn't stopped cuddling me for awhile now.

"Ehehehe~ Cai Hong with Papa! Cai Hong happy~~"

I couldn't resist and gave her a head pat and a candy.

"Yaaayy! Papa's candy! Cai Hong wuv Papa!"

Ugh… My heart.

Ahem… I let Cai Hong sit on one side of the alchemy room with Shiori and Akari, the loli dragon still watching me with sparkly eyes while munching on the candy I gave her.

I moved to the centre of the room where Brendan was waiting for me patiently, the books he had borrowed from the palace's library already returned. 

Not one to beat around the bush, I took out the vial of Origin and placed it on the table in between us.

"This… Is liquid Origin," I announced without fanfare.

Brendan blinked at the vial of blue liquid that I had just set on the table, taking a few moments to comprehend what I just showed him.

He slowly raised a finger and pointed at the vial, "... This?"

I nodded, "Yep. A hundred percent. If you want to know, here's the scroll I got from an acquaintance who got it from a god that instructed me on how to obtain it."

I handed over the scroll that Muon had helped me obtain from her patron god to Brendan.

He received it with shaking hands while still staring at me, "Master… Met a god?"

"Err… Not really met one. You can say my acquaintance is a champion of that god and made a prayer to receive this. It's complicated, don't worry about it."

Brendan nodded and quickly glanced through the contents of a scroll before a frown materialised on his face.

"A thousand years for a single drop? But there's an entire vial right here…"

"Oh, read the fine print at the bottom of the scroll."

Brendan's eyes darted to the bottom before wandering around again.

"Master… There's no fine print anywhere?"

I raised an eyebrow at his words, his eyesight can't be that bad right?

Moving to his side, I pointed to the line written at the bottom, "See here? It says 'This is the normal procedure to create pure liquefied Origin energy. But if it's you, you can just will it to existence.' That's what I did to get this entire vial."

Brendan squinted his eyes and moved even closer to the scroll before pulling back to shake his head.

"Master… There's nothing written there."

Eh?

I know the words were small but they weren't that small. Anyone should be able to notice that there was something written there without much effort.

I tapped directly at where the words were, "It's right here. Can't you see?"

"Umm... Master… There's… Really nothing there…"

I wrinkled my brows before turning to the foxes who were laying down beside Cai Hong.

"Akari, Shiori. Can you two see the words written here?"

The two foxes bounded up to me, climbing up my shoulders to peek over them.

"Eh? There's nothing at where Master is pointing though?"

"Unn… As sister said, I don't see anything at where Divine One is pointing."

Hmm… Strange. Is this some kind of secret message by Muon's patron to me that others aren't supposed to see?

Oh well.

I shrugged, "Doesn't matter then. But this vial of liquid Origin was something that I apparently 'willed into existence'. According to that recipe, you probably can't use it to make that potion since I was the one that gathered it, so maybe you could figure out how to make it after getting your hands on it?"

Brendan switched his gaze back to the vial, "I'm not sure Master… What does this thing even do?"

I grinned, "Good question. I have no idea."

"Eh? Master doesn't know what it does either?"

I tilted my head at him, "I would ask what kind of impression you have of me but there's things I don't know either that exist you know? This being one of them. I can tell you that I tried… Ummm… I tried drinking it, but nothing happened."

Brendan adopted a thinking pose when he heard my words, "No effect after drinking… Could this just be a reagent?"

I lifted my finger, "Nothing happened after I drank it. But for the others… Let's see… Akari and Shiori each grew an extra tail… A wolf monster first turned into a giant wolf, then into a floating fish. Some red bird turned into a fire bird that… Huh… That actually resembled the Life Spring Phoenix now that I think about it."

"Master… Created another Life Spring Phoenix?"

"Erm… I'm not sure if I did… I let the bird drink from it again and it turned into a water... Lizard… Thing… I think? I gave it to another wolf and it turned into a puppy, dropped it on some trees and they changed into a lot of different things with one somehow turning into a sword. Not a wooden sword, mind you, but an actual forged iron sword."

I paused to look at Brendan and the alchemist was visibly bewildered.

He took another second to scratch his head, "That… Umm… Well… That's interesting?"

I chuckled, "Yeah… And a spider monster turned into a horse after drinking it."

"Oh… Umm… Well… I'm honestly not sure what to think of this," Brendan admitted sheepishly. "Could I really experiment on this? Isn't it supposed to be… Er… Hard to get?"

"Nah, watch this."

I pointed my finger at the vial and the previously half full bottle was instantly filled to the brim with the same liquid.

"As expected of Master," Brendan complimented, looking at me with a gaze filled with admiration. 

I'm not even sure how to react to his earnest praise.

"So what do you intend to do with it?" I asked.

Brendan picked up the vial and inspected the liquid inside it closely, "I'm not sure… It seems like Master has already tried quite a few things… I think I'll at least try and find out if it's possible to produce this liquified Origin through some other means."

"You have a plan?"

"Umm… Not exactly. I'll first try a few more tests under controlled environments to see its properties. Perhaps if I can find a pattern in the things that transform after ingesting it, it might give us a hint."

"Right… And your test subjects are?"

"Well… I'm sure I can go out and catch a few mice in the city's slums. And I believe the Matriarch wouldn't be against me experimenting on some death row prisoners either."

Yep, she definitely wouldn't, considering how she experimented on me in my other life.

I shrugged, "Seems like you have a plan then. In that case, I'll go check on your senior sisters. If you need anything, like more of that liquid Origin, just find me."

Brendan bowed, "Of course, Master."

I turned back, "Does Cai Hong want to stay with big brother Brendan or follow me?"

"Cai Hong go with Papa!" The loli dragon decided immediately, rushing up to hold my hand while Shiori and Akari stayed my shoulders.

So cute.

Yep, leaving this matter with Brendan should be the best choice. I have no doubts he would be able to figure something out soon enough.

With that thought, I left the room to go check on the girls. Are they even awake yet?

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