Chapter 227: Career Change! The Apothecary

Chapter 227: Career Change! The Apothecary



The beautiful Jennifer stood gracefully, with a smile, observing Ren reuniting with his family.

However, upon seeing Jennifer approach, Ren's mother, Emma, seemed to recall something and spoke up, "Ren, you're not getting any younger. It's time to start socializing more with the noble ladies."

"It's perfect timing with Jennifer here. Jennifer, could you help him get acquainted with some noble ladies or attend a few parties?" Emma said, expressing her concern to Jennifer.

"Jennifer, this is a big favor I'm asking of you. When Ren wasn't a knight yet, I worried he was too frail, but now..." Emma lifted her head, glancing at Ren's muscular build, and furrowed her brows.

"He's grown so tall that the noble ladies might find him intimidating."

Hearing his mother's words, Ren couldn't help but smile wryly.

Meanwhile, Jennifer covered her mouth, her entire body shaking with laughter.

"Sister Emma, your worries are unnecessary," Jennifer assured her.

"If Baron Ren were to announce he's looking for a girlfriend, I'm sure countless noble ladies would be delighted."

Jennifer caressed her ample chest and took a deep breath, comforting Emma.

"Really?" Emma looked at Jennifer with a hint of skepticism, finding it hard to believe.

In Emma's eyes, her son, Baron Ren, had only recently been promoted, and his family background wasn't particularly impressive. Noble ladies might not find him appealing, so it was essential to start looking early.

How could Jennifer's words be true?

"Absolutely!" Jennifer nodded confidently.

"But if, by any chance, Ren doesn't find a noble lady in the future, Jennifer, you'll have to take responsibility. Your daughter, Jenny, seems like a good match for him."

At that moment, Jenny walked out of the villa, looking bewildered as everyone's gaze shifted towards her.

Emma's words startled Jennifer, who immediately protested, "No, no, Sister Emma! Jenny is definitely not suitable. Baron Ren and Jenny have incompatible personalities."

As Jenny approached the group, she overheard her mother's words clearly.

She silently turned her head to glance at her mother, thinking to herself, 'Mother, how can you not know if their personalities match or not?'

After a sumptuous dinner, Ren retired to the study.

Minutes later, a faint knocking sound, "Knock, knock, knock," echoed through the room.

Recognizing the familiar footsteps, Ren already knew who it was, and a smile crept onto his lips.

As Ren opened the door, Jennifer, who had enjoyed several glasses of Bordeaux vintage during the dinner, stood before him, her face flushed and her beautiful eyes sparkling as if they could draw threads.

For Jennifer, it had been a while since she had experienced that exquisite feeling.

And at her age, it was a time of need.

So, from the moment she saw Ren, she had been longing for a deeper connection with him.

Finally, the perfect opportunity had arrived.

As the steward, she had to report on the recent developments in Maister County and the new manor to Baron Ren.

It was only natural.

"Baron, I'm here to brief you on the recent happenings at the manor," Jennifer said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and lowering her head shyly.

"Of course, please come in, beautiful lady," Ren promptly stepped aside, inviting Jennifer into the room.

As Jennifer entered, accompanied by a fragrant breeze, Ren clicked the door shut, and that 'click' seemed to be a signal that activated a certain mode within Jennifer.

She walked to the large mahogany desk, removed her white shawl, turned towards Ren, and revealed her shoulders and a generous view of her ample chest.

But that was just the beginning.

Jennifer winked at Ren with her beautiful eyes and turned again, untying the laces at the back of her white puffy skirt. Soon, the round, white puffy skirt fell to the ground, exposing a pair of straight, shapely, and dazzlingly white legs!

And that wasn't all...

Ren's eyes widened in astonishment.

A small, fluffy tail was inserted into the tailbone, in a place it shouldn't be! Jennifer stood there, her legs fully exposed, and her upper body covered only by a white, form-fitting corset. The entire ensemble showcased her S-shaped figure to perfection.

Jennifer leaned against the large mahogany desk, slightly lifting her ample hips, her slender waist swaying as she stood with her legs together. The white, fluffy tail followed suit, swinging gently.

Jennifer's pose and movements were undeniably seductive.

However, Jennifer herself felt incredibly shy, her fair face turning crimson.

This playful outfit was something she had learned from her close friend, who suggested that if her beloved man preferred the unconventional, she should immediately remove the tail.

At that moment, a flame ignited in Ren's eyes.

After all, the last time he had kissed Veronica in Fishing Harbor Town, his desires had been challenging to control, constantly surging upwards. Now, Jennifer's forwardness...

Hesitating for a second would be disrespectful!

Suddenly, a rustling sound emanated from behind Jennifer, quickly filling the room. A moment later, a rough, warm hand grasped Jennifer's slender waist, while the other hand carefully removed the white fluffy tail.

The beautiful woman was both surprised and delighted by this revelation. She took out a thin parchment from her chest and looked at Ren with a seductive gaze.

Thus, the female housekeeper began her enthusiastic report, and the Baron responded with equal fervor!

(Omitted 10,000 words)



For the couple who hadn't seen each other for over half a month, the study was not enough to satisfy their desires.

In the middle of the night, a passionate embrace found its way into Ren's arms.

They played cards until the wee hours of the morning before finally taking a break.

The next morning, Ren gazed at Jennifer, who was lying beside him, her face radiating satisfaction and joy as she slept peacefully.

Recalling the previous night, a smile couldn't help but grace Ren's lips.

As the morning light gradually filtered through the window into the second-floor bedroom, Jennifer's long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she woke up naturally.

Jennifer looked at Ren with a deep and shy gaze, saying, "Dear, I feel like I'm getting less and less able to keep up with you."

"Has your strength increased again?"

In response to the beautiful woman's praise, Ren immediately pulled her into his embrace, his fingers gently caressing her fair and smooth skin.

"This trip to Fishing Harbor Town was quite fruitful. I can officially call myself a Grand Knight now."

Hmm?

Jennifer was taken aback, her beautiful eyes widening in surprise as she fluttered her long lashes and stared at Ren, thinking to herself, 'I was asking about that aspect, and you tell me this. Wait a minute!'

"Dear, you're only sixteen, and you're already a Grand Knight?" Jennifer exclaimed in disbelief, her first words after regaining her composure.

Goodness!

She had found herself a rising star, a potential prodigy of Maister County, but now it seemed like she had underestimated him. She might have found a rising star on the level of the entire Minster Province!

Ren nodded and smiled, saying, "Yes, but in the entire empire, there are still some sixteen-year-old Grand Knights, although they are quite rare."

"But in Maister County, you're definitely the only one!" Jennifer exclaimed, looking at Ren with admiration, her words coming without hesitation.

As if remembering something, Jennifer continued, "By the way, dear, since your trip to Fishing Harbor Town, I've been continuously collecting rare minerals. Recently, through various channels, I've gathered quite a few mineral ores and metal ingots."

"I've managed to collect some Magic Steel Ingots, Star Iron Ore, Water Film Steel Ingots, Blood Pattern Steel, and more. They are currently stored in the blacksmith's warehouse, and I've assigned someone to take care of them."

The beautiful woman spoke with familiarity, listing the items.

Ren's heart stirred as he listened. She was truly a capable wife.

Several of the rare minerals she mentioned were exactly what he needed, which was perfect!

Seeing Ren's appreciative gaze, the beautiful woman was greatly encouraged. She was about to say something more, but soon, her red lips were sealed by a passionate kiss.

For such a capable woman, Ren naturally wanted to reward her further.

Of course, the pleasures between a man and a woman were a respite from the monotony of cultivation, but one must never become too immersed in them.

Otherwise, as the saying goes in his previous life, 'The land of gentle breezes becomes the grave of heroes.'

After breakfast, Ren boarded the luxurious carriage and headed towards the blacksmith's shop.

Meanwhile, in Maister County City, in Alonso's study.

Lamar, wearing a black hooded robe, sat across from Alonso and began speaking directly, "Baron Alonso, I've been entrusted by the High Priest to request that you invite Ren to attend a banquet held on the second Sunday of this month at Baron Elliott's Manor."

"Baron Elliott's Manor? Isn't that where the High Priest..." Alonso's expression turned perplexed.

Lamar nodded in confirmation, addressing Alonso's unspoken question. He continued, "But first, we need to find a way to get Ren back to the county city. I heard he has close ties with the Crowley family. So, on my way here, I was thinking, could we use the Crowley family's business to force them to seek Ren's aid?"

As Lamar spoke, he observed Alonso's reaction.

Soon, he noticed that Alonso's expression became peculiar as he listened.

This caused Lamar to pause in his speech, perplexed.

Alonso and his steward, Michel, exchanged glances, then looked at Lamar.

Lamar's confusion deepened, wondering if his information was incorrect.

He looked at Baron Alonso with a questioning gaze.

Alonso didn't keep him waiting and coughed, "Lamar, don't you know? The Ren you speak of returned to the county city yesterday."

"What?" Lamar's eyes widened in shock.

But soon, Lamar's expression turned to one of surprise and joy, with joy being the more prominent emotion.

He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.

It was as if the Black Flame Church and Ren were not enemies but allies, working together seamlessly.

"Baron, doesn't this mean that our plan is already halfway to success?"

Baron Alonso did not immediately agree, instead, he furrowed his brows slightly, tapping the armrest with two fingers as he pondered.

After a while, Alonso spoke up, "Your Excellency Lamar, does the High Priest have the confidence to deal with this Leon during the prayer ceremony?"

"Don't forget, Baron Norman has already successfully entered the rank of a Great Knight, but he was still defeated by Leon in a bloody duel. So, I think you should at least assess his strength based on the combat standards of a formal Great Knight, or even a Senior Great Knight."

"Otherwise, it might backfire and disrupt the Black Flame Prayer Ceremony."

In response to Alonso's question, Lamar confidently replied, "Baron, that possibility is almost non-existent because the High Priest has absolute assurance this time!"

After a moment of hesitation, Lamar decided to reveal some information to Baron Alonso.

"At that time, the High Priest will borrow a sliver of the Hunting God's might. Not even a peak Great Knight could withstand it!"

A sliver of divine might?

Alonso was astonished by the scale of this plan.

Although Alonso didn't know the exact method, he understood that borrowing the might of a god would come at a significant cost.

Hearing this answer, Alonso nodded and said, "If the High Priest can borrow a strand of the Hunting God's power during the prayer ceremony, then I believe there shouldn't be any more unexpected issues."

"By the way, Your Excellency Lamar, perhaps I should inform you of another piece of news."

"This morning, I saw in a letter from Minster that the Baron Leon we're dealing with will be going to the Imperial Swordmaster Organization's examination in the Minster Province in a few days."

"A Swordmaster?" Lamar's expression changed, and he exclaimed.

"Yes, I was pondering this issue. If we can't deal with Leon before he takes the Swordmaster examination, once he passes and officially joins the Swordmaster Organization, I believe he will likely choose to target the Black Flame Church first."

Upon hearing this news, Lamar shuddered, his face turning solemn as he confirmed, "Baron Alonso, is this information you've shared true?"

At this moment, the steward, Michel, spoke up, "Your Excellency Lamar, the letter is currently on the desk of Count Habsburg, the Magistrate of Maister County. The news is one hundred percent authentic."

Lamar nodded, deep in thought.

It seemed the letter sent by Minster to Count Habsburg, the Magistrate of Maister County, was undoubtedly genuine.

"Baron, I understand your intention. This time, we must not fail!"

"I'll go and report to the High Priest right away."

After seeing Lamar off, Baron Alonso stood up and looked out the window on the second floor of the villa, gazing at the densely packed houses in the noble district outside. Although it was already the Month of Vitality, there was still a considerable amount of white snow on the roofs.

At this moment, Steward Michel spoke up, "Baron, do you think the Black Flame Church will be able to deal with Leon this time?"

After all, anyone who had repeatedly racked their brains to eliminate someone without success would have some psychological shadows!

This was true not only for Steward Michel but also for Alonso himself.

Especially the last time, Alonso had arranged three backup plans, but Leon had foiled them all, which dealt a significant blow to Alonso's confidence.

After a while, Michel finally received a response from Alonso, "If we don't act, we'll never have the chance to get rid of him."

"Moreover, all we need to do is extend an invitation to the ball, and we won't have to intervene directly. However, we need to carefully consider how to make him accept the invitation."

---

Inside the smithy managed by the Crowley family.

As an armorer, Leon was currently swinging his blacksmith's hammer, repairing his Water Film Steel Advanced Knight Breastplate.

During the battle with the Shadow Assassin, his breastplate had been punctured with over a dozen holes. Although he had made some minor repairs in Fishing Harbor Town, due to the lack of Water Film Steel, a rare mineral, he had only managed to smooth out some of the dents and uneven surfaces."

But this time, thanks to Jennifer's early preparation and collection of rare minerals, Leon easily found the Water Film Steel ingots in the rare mineral storage room and proceeded to integrate and manually polish the breastplate.

One hour later.

Leon held up the repaired Water Film Steel breastplate, examining it. The smooth surface showed no signs of the previous damage, and Leon couldn't help but nod in satisfaction at his own craftsmanship.

It seemed his skills as an armorer were quite impressive.

Setting the breastplate aside, he then took out the longbow that belonged to 'Bloodthirsty Archer' Phil.

The original material of this bow, the Magic Steel Ingots, was already quite good. Thanks to Jennifer's advance preparation, she had also acquired some Magic Steel Ingots.

What Leon needed to do now was to further reinforce the bow, especially increasing the diameter of the bow arms, so that it could withstand the strength of a Great Knight.

As for the bowstring, which was made from the spine of a Spinefin Sea Snake, Jennifer had arranged for the best bowmaker under the Crowley family to help with its reinforcement.

According to the bowmaker, by wrapping a special flax fiber around the spine and soaking it in a specially formulated solution for several hours, the bowstring would gain exceptional tensile strength and greatly improved durability.

For Bowstring, extreme elasticity was not required, but durability and resilience were of utmost importance.

Half a day later, Ren removed the newly-molded war bow from the mold.

The bow, gleaming with a pale gray metallic luster, had noticeably stronger limbs compared to before, and its length was slightly longer, reaching 1.8 meters. Additionally, due to the thicker limbs, the weight had increased by about fifty percent, but this was not a concern for Ren.

When Ren returned to the manor, a servant had already placed the newly-prepared bowstring in the study.

Ren was pleasantly surprised and immediately retrieved the new bowstring, tying it onto the bow.

Holding the brand-new war bow, Ren couldn't help but feel eager to test it out.

He went to the training room on the first floor of the manor and, without using any magic, simply drew the bow and released an arrow with a sharp "Dang!" The arrow cut through the air with an extremely piercing sound.

The steel arrow in Ren's hand flew towards the target like a silver lightning bolt.

"Boom!" The thick wooden target exploded, and the arrow penetrated the wall behind it by several centimeters, leaving only its trembling tail end visible.

At the same time, Ren heard the exclamations of the servants on the other side of the wall. Seeing the power of the shot, Ren nodded in satisfaction. He had only used about seventy to eighty percent of his strength, and the result was already so impressive.

Afterward, Ren placed two thick iron shields on the target and tested his shots several more times.

With the protection of the two iron shields, Ren shot with full force, and finally, the arrow did not penetrate the wall.

However, each shot still created an impact similar to that of a sniper rifle bullet, causing Ren to laugh uncontrollably.

Of course, his primary purpose was to test the new war bow, and from what he could tell, it could definitely withstand the stress of using 'Break Limit' and his talent, 'Intermediate Gigapower'. After all, he had only drawn the bowstring about halfway.

As for using 'Break Limit' and 'Intermediate Gigapower' together?

Ren couldn't find a suitable place to test this power. With his limit-breaking strength, there was a high probability that the bowstring would be damaged, but it should be able to withstand a few shots.

After testing the new war bow, Ren went to the alchemy room on the first floor of the villa and began making potions.

This time, Ren did not choose to make a Mutation Growth Potion, a supernatural-level potion, but instead opted for a simple Hemostatic Potion.

His purpose in making the potion was clear: to try and trigger the Alchemist profession.

Soon, as Ren had expected, a system prompt sounded:

[Ding! Host is detected making potions, triggering the profession change - Alchemist!]



[The prerequisites for changing to an Alchemist are: 1. Mastery of any basic potion crafting, and 2. Spirit 6 points or above. Current conditions met. Do you wish to change to an Alchemist? Yes/No?]



Ren was delighted and immediately chose 'Yes' without hesitation.

[Ding! Profession change to Alchemist successful! Spirit +1!]



Looking at the meager reward of +1 Spirit, Ren couldn't help but shake his head with a bitter smile, sighing, "After experiencing profession changes to supernatural and legendary levels, the rewards for a common profession change are indeed a bit lacking."

However, Ren quickly adjusted his mood.

The reason he changed to an Alchemist was not for the profession itself but for the skill points and the subsequent special advanced profession, 'Deathstalker (Supernatural)'.

So, Ren quickly continued making Hemostatic Potions in the alchemy room.

System prompts kept flashing:

[Your skill in making Hemostatic Potions has improved. Experience +2]



[You have focused on making Hemostatic Potions for 10 minutes. Alchemist profession experience +6]



[Your skill in making Hemostatic Potions has improved. Experience +2]



For several consecutive days, except for feeding the Bloodfeather Eagle Beast and Lurcher in the mornings, Ren spent most of his time in the alchemy room, working tirelessly.

During this time, Count Habsburg sent an invitation for Ren to visit the Count's mansion for dinner this Sunday.

With his powerful spirit and stamina, Ren was like an indefatigable, high-precision robot, effortlessly completing intricate potion-making processes that would be extremely challenging for ordinary people."

After a few days, Ren's Alchemist profession level successfully reached lv3, reaching lv3 (3/500). He now had 7 remaining attribute points and 2 remaining skill points.

Lady Jennifer, watching Ren constantly busy in the alchemy room, felt puzzled.

She had always known that Ren enjoyed blacksmithing, but she had never seen him devote so much time and energy to potion-making.

She wondered if she should advise Ren.

After all, one's energy was limited, and while blacksmithing and knighthood could complement each other, adding potion-making might be too much.

At this moment, a female servant approached and handed Jennifer a letter, saying respectfully, "Madam, Baron Alonso just sent this invitation, to be delivered to you or Lord Ren personally."

"Hmm?" Jennifer took the letter, her face filled with confusion.

Ever since she and Ren attended the Axson Auction House auction, the noble suitors from the county city had mostly given up their pursuits, and Baron Alonso was no exception.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end