Chapter 5: Liquor Store Powerup

The meeting with the attorneys was on Friday, so Rick spent all his time before then training. In theory, whatever his parents had left him would probably dwarf the small gains he could make in that time, but he felt that he needed to be prepared. Even when it came to inheritance, dealing with lawyers always made him nervous. That was what came from growing up having to pick up his parents from the local jail.

They were dead now, though.

Even two days later, that thought still stopped him. It wasn't like they had been close, or ever been real parents to him. Melissa hadn't even cried when he'd told her, just sat quietly for a while. But even absent, they had still been a part of his life that was now entirely gone.

Rick pushed such thoughts aside and focused on training. On Wednesday he threw himself into sparring with all his clients, dusting off his own skills. He'd had Thursday off anyway, so he asked his boss for Friday off as well. There was a lot of grumbling, and he had to reschedule with Lisa, but in the end he was allowed to use one of his vacation days. That meant he could attend the official meeting and see what his parents had left him.

Before that, he needed to use the last days before the meeting to finish preparing. Since Melissa had been in good health since then, as she usually was for a while after an incident, he decided that he could afford to invest his lucrim.

Which meant he was going to the liquor store.

As he walked down the weed-covered sidewalk, Rick checked his status again:

[Name: Rick Hunter

Ether Tier: 19th

Ether Score: 196

Lucrim Generation: 15,950

Current Lucrim: 12,378]

[Rick Hunter's Lucrima Portfolio

Foundation: 7300 (Lv II)

Offensive Lucore: 3100 (Lv II)

Defensive Lucore: 5550 (Lv IV)

Golden Lucore: 10 (N/A)

Total Lucrim: 15,950]

Not a bad improvement, mostly working through the aftermath of the big fight. That amount would be overwhelmed by what he could purchase that day, though. Maybe in the old days it was possible for lone warriors to become powerful by meditating alone, but today you needed money and lucrim, no matter what you did. Most likely even the old days had been similar, though, and the easy routes to power were just fairy tales.

He had gotten his paycheck on Wednesday and spent a good chunk of it absorbing lucrim, which had raised him near his generation limit. It wasn't often that he was close, usually needing to spend lucrim on other things, so he enjoyed overflowing with power for once. But if all went well, he'd be in much better shape for the meeting with the lawyers.

Finally Rick arrived at the liquor store, stepping over a man lying in a training stupor. A bottle that had once held something potent lay beside him, and his body glowed with power, but he was out cold with a pool of vomit spreading beneath his face. Probably a power addict.

Inside there were mostly regular drinkers who stuck to themselves. The inside of the liquor store was normal enough, mostly just shelves filled with bottles. But one corner of it by the door was a massively reinforced cube of glass. Travis the owner sat inside it, capable of both dropping a metal door over the entrance if anyone tried to run or projecting power outside the glass if necessary. He was a large, greasy man, but he made enough money from owning the store to gather some real power.

Rick didn't come there often, so he needed to take some time to find what he wanted. He kept his head down and avoided a loud group of students from one of the combat sects. Too much of a chance they might be looking for a fight, which he couldn't afford right now.

After scanning the walls and finding only normal alcohol, Rick gave up and approached the glass cube. "Do you still sell philosopher's elixir here?"

"Ah, yeah." Travis scratched at his stomach where it protruded from his shirt. "Had to put it behind the glass due to new regulations from the local board. Apparently some idiots couldn't handle the lucrim surge and smashed up some things downtown. Now I'm only allowed to sell what people can handle."

"That's understandable. I'm looking for some, so if-"

"Gotta test you first." A glass plate opened, revealing a small machine with a needle at one end and a collection disc beneath. Rick sighed and looked up at the owner.

"Travis, you've sold elixir to me multiple times, you shouldn't need to test me." Plus, it was well known that he sold both alcohol and stronger substances to whoever could pay.

But it seemed like Travis was going to force him to jump through the hoops, possibly just as a power trip. Rick reached forward and pricked his finger on the needle, letting a drop of blood fall onto the disc. The blood was instantly whisked away and the machine rumbled for a moment before it gave a readout on the other end. Whatever it said, it made Travis grunt affirmatively.

"Alright, I can sell to you. All the philosopher's elixir is in the top row behind me, but I'd recommend a 10k if you're looking for an edge, a 25k if you want to boost your training." Travis stared at him for a moment, judging his build with an undercurrent of scorn. "You're a gym rat, right? Maybe try a 20k mix instead, unless you want to get roided up."

"No, I'd like to try the 100k." Rick was confident that he knew his limits better than Travis did, and he wasn't going to let the man's scorn slow his development.

"That's gonna knock you right out, kid. You have any idea how strong six figures is?"

"I had one of them as a client the other day." He left out the details, of course, just stared back at Travis and refused to budge. "But if you don't want my business, I can go somewhere else."

"Eh, it's your funeral. How much do you want?"

In the end, Rick bought only a single bottle of 100k philosopher's elixir. If he'd spent all his money, he could have purchased three. That would have been enough to invest a huge amount of lucrim into himself, which would have been a substantial boost to his strength.

It would also have been stupid. Something in the apartment could break, or Melissa might need money for something at school, or they might have to pay for a medical emergency. Only someone with no responsibilities and no sense of long term planning could blow all their money on training supplies. Just buying this bottle was already extravagant for him, but he justified it because he'd soon have his parents' inheritance. Even if it was meager, what they left him could pay for one bottle.

Once he received the bottle, he hefted it with one hand, feeling the tingle of power even through the glass. Just to make sure he wasn't making a mistake, he opened it and took a sip. He was pretty sure just a sip wouldn't knock him out cold, but if so, better to do it here, where someone would call for help. At least, they probably would.

To his surprise, though it tingled as it went down his throat, he handled it easily. Had fighting against the Birthrighter improved his tolerance that much? If so, he was actually getting much stronger...

No. Abruptly Rick realized that answer might massage his ego, but there was a much simpler explanation. He checked the label again, frowned, and turned back to Travis.

"Are you sure this is right? It doesn't taste like 100k to me."

Travis grunted and didn't look up. "Don't go complaining just because it's more than you can handle. No returns after you open the bottle."

"No, I'm saying it tastes like less than 100k. And I'm wondering just how that could have happened."

That got Travis to look up, beady eyes glaring. "Are you accusing me of something, kid?"

"No, of course not." Rick gave him a flat smile and tapped the bottle against the glass idly. "I just assume that you would be concerned if your supplier gave you an inferior product. Seems like something everyone would be concerned about. Maybe we could ask all those students to weigh in and give their impressions?"

"You little shit." Travis glared at him a while longer, but his eyes flickered toward the sect students milling in the aisles. "Look, most training addicts can't tell the difference, they just want something to burn through their system. I didn't mean anything by it."

"No harm in an honest mistake. But I really did need 100k for my training..."

Though he cursed under his breath, Travis gave in. He reached beneath the counter and pulled out a different bottle: it looked identical to the first on the outside, but the clear liquid inside burned a little brighter. When it moved through the security door, Rick compared it to the first and then took a sip. Yes, that was definitely stronger.

Travis leaned forward, one hand pushing against the glass. His hand was fat enough that his flesh flattened against the surface, but it also burned with power. "That makes us even, kid. Unless anyone hears about this, in which case we will never be even. You understand me?"

"Perfectly. Thanks for the elixir." Rick gave him a smile and headed out the door, though he took care to secure both bottles in his backpack first.

The entire way home he found himself tense. Part of it was just carrying something so valuable, but another part of it was the confrontation. Liquor stores needed to care about security, particularly if they also dealt in lucrim-related drinks. He didn't think Travis had directly threatened him, or that there would be any consequences, but the possibility left him uneasy. If mobsters broke his legs, he wouldn't be able to take care of his sister and his training would be set back years, putting them in a hole they'd never escape.

Though he wasn't a power addict, he couldn't forget about the 100k elixir he carried. As soon as Rick got back to the apartment, he double-checked that everything was locked and then brought the bottle out. Getting two bottles changed his plans a little, but only a little.

To make sure that Melissa wouldn't find him in a pool of his own vomit, Rick poured a small glass of elixir first. It burned going down and he sensed the strength kindling within him like hot coals, but he only felt a little dizzy. So he sat down on the couch and gathered his nerve, preparing himself fully.

100k philosopher's elixir didn't contain 100,000 lucrim - that was only a marker of the quality. What the elixir could do was restore his strength up to his maximum generation rate. It was a better way to restore one's strength than serum, though the cost started high and only went higher as one's lucrima soul required higher quality elixir.

But his goal wasn't to restore himself to average, it was to push himself further. If he drank the entire elixir, for a short time his body would be burning with far more power than he could normally handle. Power addicts just enjoyed the rush and got a small boost from it, but the real gains came from trying to absorb the flood. If all went well, the elixir would expand the pool of strength he could control and boost his generation rate.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Rick tilted back his head and drank the entire bottle.

For several seconds he felt like living fire, his body shuddering involuntarily against the couch. He managed to get it under control, though the strength still raged inside him. Gritting his teeth, Rick demanded that the power obey him. All the strength he had, even the lucrim he had collected before, all went into smashing through his current limits.

Several hours later, his mind came out of the rigid training exercises and began thinking normally again.    At some point he'd slumped over on the couch, though he hadn't vomited or drooled. Actually, his jaw was sore as if he'd been clenching it the entire time.

He didn't remember dropping the bottle, but saw it lying on the carpet, fortunately unbroken. They didn't have a vacuum, so broken glass was a real pain to clean up.

That simple thought brought him fully back. His efforts had been successful, though he wouldn't know how much progress he'd made until his lucrima soul recovered. Right now he felt completely drained, but that wasn't a problem thanks to the other bottle.

Rick drank that one slowly, not trying to blast open his power, just letting the tingling restore him. He guessed that this bottle was in the 70k-80k range, though he didn't have as much experience with high end elixir. Though it might help him a bit, the main benefit he hoped to gain was just restoring himself to full strength.

Before he finished the bottle, he became ravenously hungry. He got up and began to eat through what they had - a lot of it was junk, but it wouldn't do him any harm because right now his body was a calorie furnace. Only after swallowing several snack cakes whole and finishing the bottle on the couch did Rick realize how much of a trashy fighter stereotype it was.

Not that it really mattered. When it came time to meet the lawyers, he'd be ready.

For the rest of Thursday Rick did more recovery exercises, testing his new strength. By the end of the day after spending some time relaxing with Melissa, he felt stable enough to check his strength again.

[Name: Rick Hunter

Ether Tier: 19th

Ether Score: 196

Lucrim Generation: 17,400

Current Lucrim: 17,400]

[Rick Hunter's Lucrima Portfolio

Foundation: 8100 (Lv II)

Offensive Lucore: 3500 (Lv II)

Defensive Lucore: 6000 (Lv IV)

Golden Lucore: 10 (N/A)

Total Lucrim: 17,600]

He was in the best shape of his life and he felt great. True, the boost had cost him a huge percentage of his paycheck, and he wouldn't be able to get another boost like that without going to even more expensive elixirs. Still, after so long stagnating, it felt good to have broken through.

His ether tier and score remained unchanged, but that was only a matter of time. Just his progress from the elixir might be enough to raise his score above 200, which would mean fewer institutions would reject him. Combined with whatever he inherited from his parents, he'd likely see his tier increase as well. Perhaps enough that their lives would begin to turn around.

On Friday morning he helped Melissa get off to school, then spent an hour pacing around the apartment before he realized that he should just go. He might arrive at the offices early, but that was better than wallowing in anxiety. After spending so much on the philosopher's elixir, he decided to run the whole way, using the time to clear his head.

Most importantly, he let his pessimism reassert itself. Maybe this would change his life, but probably not. His parents had probably been close to penniless when they died, so whatever they left him would be minimal. He shouldn't get his hopes up, just invest whatever they left as best he could.

When he reached the address, he discovered that the law firm's office was an impressive building, but Rick barely had time to look at it. Instead, his attention was entirely absorbed by the parking lot. Amid the luxury cars and lucrim hybrids, there was a beaten red pickup truck with a nearly naked woman painted across the front.

That was his uncle's truck, and not the good uncle. Uncle Alan. Why would the lawyers have called him here too? Rick put aside all optimistic thoughts and rushed inside to find out.