Chapter 101: The first night in the Bridal Chamber 2

"I have several things to show you."

All eyes turned to him.

Adam began with the rewards directly related to the Chamber.

He first explained the Time Bell.

As he described how it worked, the expressions changed.

Isadora was the first to grasp the true significance of the addition.

"So if an emergency arises five hours after we enter..."

"Someone rings. The Chamber’s time synchronizes to those five hours, and we can leave immediately."

Vespera nodded.

"That eliminates our primary operational risk."

Selene sighed.

"We should have thought of that sooner."

Elaria nodded.

"Yes."

Shiora added,

"We were all too impressed by the time distortion to consider the opposite problem."

Adam smiled.

"At least the System thought of that for us."

Isadora stood up immediately.

"I’ll be right back."

Adam watched her.

"Where are you going?"

"To give instructions to the staff."

She left the Room.

A few minutes later, she returned.

"It’s done."

"What did you tell them?"

"In the event of an incident requiring our immediate presence, they will have to use the Doorbell. Only for a genuine emergency."

"Good idea."

Adam then went to the Permanent Door.

This time, the reaction was even stronger.

Lyriana sat up straight.

"You can actually install one at my mother’s?"

"According to the description, yes."

Elaria took the card and examined it.

"So, one gateway to Valoria and another to the elven realms..."

"And we can cross the Chamber to go from one to the other."

The two elves exchanged a glance.

Lyriana was the first to grasp all the implications.

"I could come here for my responsibilities in Valoria... then return to my mother almost immediately."

Elaria added:

"And I could continue to oversee certain affairs of the elven realm without having to choose between the two territories."

Adam nodded.

"That’s exactly what I thought."

Shiora, however, had become far too silent.

Adam slowly turned his head toward her.

"No."

"I didn’t say anything."

"Your face says it all."

She smiled.

"Just imagine transporting goods."

Adam closed his eyes.

"There you go."

"No land travel. No bandits." Almost no delays. No convoys.

Isadora immediately interjected:

"This Chamber isn’t a commercial warehouse."

"I know."

Shiora thought about it nonetheless.

"But a few important items..."

"Shiora."

"I’ll stop."

She didn’t seem to have stopped mentally at all.

Adam retrieved the card.

"Anyway, we’ll test it at Astraea first."

Then he moved on to the alchemical rewards.

He took out the ten Major Stamina Potions.

Elaria leaned forward slightly.

"Major?"

"Ten."

"Not bad."

Adam smiled.

"Wait."

He then produced the Alchemical Recipe Book.

Elaria saw the title.

Her expression changed.

Adam didn’t even have time to speak.

She practically threw herself at him.

The book vanished from his hands.

"Hey!"

Elaria sat on his lap without even seeming to notice what she had just done.

The book was already open.

Adam remained motionless.

Then he watched her turn the first few pages.

His eyes moved quickly.

Very quickly.

"So it was like this..."

Next page.

"Oh."

She leaned closer to the text.

"It’s this step that’s missing."

One more page.

"I see..."

Adam exchanged a glance with Elena.

Elena suppressed a smile.

Elaria continued.

"This ingredient is incorrect in the modern versions."

She turned a page.

"This one is correct, but the maturity used isn’t right."

Then:

"Oh... and to think the problem was the order of incorporation."

A few more seconds.

"This is the temperature."

Vespera moved slightly closer.

"Which recipe?"

"Major Recovery Potion."

Elaria continued reading.

Several minutes passed.

Adam decided not to disturb her.

He knew the elf well enough to know that trying to retrieve the book now would probably be pointless.

Finally...

She stopped.

Partially closed the book.

Then she turned to Adam.

Without warning, she placed a kiss on his cheek.

"You’re the best."

Adam blinked.

Elaria turned around immediately.

And resumed reading.

Still sitting on his lap.

Adam looked down at her.

Then at the others.

Selene was smiling far too much.

"Not a word."

"I didn’t say anything."

"I’m starting to hate that phrase."

Elaria finally spoke again without moving from her seat.

"Many of these potions are known by name. Some even still have general descriptions in the archives."

She tapped the book.

"We tried to restore several of them from recipe fragments."

"Without success?" Adam asked.

"Not reliably."

She opened a new page.

"Sometimes the ingredients were correct but used at the wrong stage of ripeness. Sometimes the temperature was transcribed incorrectly. Sometimes two steps were reversed."

Her expression became particularly satisfied.

"With this, the problem disappears."

Shiora had already taken out her notebook.

Adam saw her writing.

"And here’s the second phase."

Shiora looked up.

"What second phase?"

"Elaria figures out how to make them. You’re already calculating how much they’ll bring in."

"Of course."

She seemed almost offended that he would doubt it.

"Major Potions are incredibly valuable." "If we can produce them regularly instead of relying on old stockpiles or dungeon loot..."

She began listing potential markets.

Guilds.

Army.

Expeditions.

Nobles.

Healers.

Foreign traders.

Isadora raised a hand.

"Before any sales, we first secure production for Valoria."

Shiora nodded.

"Obviously. But after..."

Adam smiled.

"Then you’ll try to conquer the mainland market."

"Conquer" is an aggressive term.

Selene interjected:

"Dominate?"

"More elegant."

Laughter rippled through the pit.

Adam waited for them to settle down before bringing up the next reward.

"There’s also something about my Luck."

This time, the reactions were much more serious.

Adam explained the Minor Luck Gem.

The fact that it had permanently increased her stat.

And most importantly...

The System description stating that it was normally impossible to invest Stat Points in it.

Silence gradually fell.

Isadora frowned slightly.

"She increased it permanently?"

"Yes. From twelve to thirteen."

Even Vespera seemed impressed.

Adam noticed.

"Is it really that important?"

Isadora answered.

"Much more than you think." "

She settled back down.

"Luck isn’t considered exactly like other statistics."

Vespera continued:

"Strength, Spirit, Endurance, and the others primarily represent your personal potential. Luck is different."

Adam waited.

Then Lyriana spoke.

"It’s linked to concepts that are much harder to measure."

"Like what?"

"Destiny."

A short pause.

"Karma."

Adam raised a slight eyebrow.

Shiora added:

"The probabilities that seem to rearrange themselves around certain people. Improbable encounters. Unexpected opportunities. Sometimes even the ability to survive a situation where the odds were almost zero."

Adam thought for a moment.

"So you actually know how to measure it?"

"To a certain extent," Vespera replied. "But we have a very poor understanding of how it works in its deeper stages." "

Isadora continued:

"Unlike other statistics, Luck rarely changes."

"How can it normally increase?"

The women exchanged several glances.

This time, the atmosphere became slightly heavier.

Vespera replied:

"Through actions with consequences significant enough to alter the course of the world."

Adam immediately stopped smiling.

"That much?"

"Yes."

She continued:

"Saving a kingdom might sometimes change nothing. But preventing an event destined to shake an era... or conversely, causing that event... can affect Luck."

Adam looked at his invisible board.

Thirteen.

Suddenly, the number seemed much larger.

"What’s the average?"

"Around five or six," Elaria replied.

Adam turned his head toward her.

She was still reading her book on her lap.

"Are you still participating in the conversation?"

"I can do both."

He gave up.

Isadora continued:

"Going over ten is already remarkable."

Adam looked at his thirteen.

"So mine is really high."

"Yes."

He hesitated.

Then he asked the obvious question.

"And you?"

Several smiles appeared.

Selene replied:

"None of us is over twenty."

"The youngest in the group have only just passed ten," added Isadora, without specifying the exact figures.

Adam thought for a moment.

Then he noticed that the atmosphere had become far too serious for a simple statistic.

"There’s something else going on."

No one denied it.

Vespera finally spoke a name.

"Nocthar."

Adam sat up slightly.

The room seemed to instantly lose some of its lightness.

"What was wrong with him?"

Isadora replied:

"Fifty."

Adam thought he had misheard.

"How many?"

"A fifty chance."

He remained silent.

The average was five or six.

The women in front of him, despite their power and influence, had never gone over twenty.

And Nocthar...

Fifty.

"That’s the highest value ever recorded with enough evidence to be considered credible," Vespera explained.

Adam immediately sensed that the story didn’t end there.

"He was born like that?"

Lyriana shook her head slowly.

"No."

Isadora continued:

"The records indicate that he accumulated it."

"How?"

An uncomfortable silence followed.

Then Vespera replied in a cold voice:

"Through sacrifices."

Adam immediately understood that the word didn’t refer to mere objects.

"His family?"

"His family. His loved ones. His most loyal allies."

Vespera didn’t elaborate.

She didn’t need to.

"He supposedly discovered a method for diverting a portion of the destiny or karmic potential of people extremely connected to him."

Adam frowned.

"And it was necessary for his ritual."

"We think so," Isadora replied.

"Not just necessary," Elaria corrected. "Probably one of the most important factors in his success."

Adam remained silent.

So Nocthar had amassed an absurd amount of luck at the cost of everyone around him.

But a contradiction immediately occurred to him.

"Yet he lost."

"Yes," Selene replied.

Adam observed the women around him.

Then he understood.

"Because he was alone."

Isadora nodded.

"Exactly."

Nocthar had sacrificed almost everyone he was connected to in order to increase his own chances.

He had amassed terrifying personal power.

But when the world turned against him...

He had no one left.

"That’s also one of the reasons why his potential return worries us more today," Lyriana added.

Adam looked at her.

"The cult."

"Yes."

This time, Nocthar no longer had to stand alone against the world.

Generations of fanatics had continued to preserve his legacy.

Agents.

Resources.

Knowledge.

Safe havens.

People willing to act for him.

Adam exhaled slowly.

"So the one who lost because he sacrificed everyone could return with an entire organization behind him."

"That’s the problem," Isadora concluded.

The atmosphere remained heavy for a few seconds.

Adam then looked at his own Chance.

Thirteen.

He didn’t yet know what it really meant.

But he now knew that he absolutely mustn’t consider this statistic a mere in-game bonus.

He closed his panel.