"These are the goods that will never appear on those shelves."
Damian’s words immediately changed the atmosphere inside his Rosewood Town cottage.
The nine retainers had already witnessed products worth thousands upon thousands of Gold being casually stacked inside the Central Lane store, yet Damian had deliberately separated the two jade bottles before them from everything he intended to sell publicly.
That alone gave the pills a different weight.
Damian opened the first bottle and poured a pale pill into his palm.
"This is a Qi Nourishing Pill. For anyone at Level 5 or below, it directly grants Experience toward your Main Class. The effect diminishes with repeated use, but never falls completely to zero."
Nobody spoke.
Damian opened the second bottle.
"This is a Qi Acceleration Pill. It doubles Experience gained from eligible Qi Nourishing Pills for twelve hours, provided you remain Level 5 or below."
The silence shattered.
"What?!" Bram shouted before immediately remembering who he was standing before and clamping his mouth shut.
Bram was a twenty-year-old Level 3 Fighter, broad across the shoulders and formerly employed as caravan muscle until his employer went bankrupt.
He possessed decent martial instincts but had spent nearly two years crawling through the Novice Stage because meaningful Experience opportunities were neither safe nor cheap.
Beside him, David looked even worse.
The Level 3 Warden was twenty-two, taciturn and squarely built, with a battered shield he had maintained himself for years. Most of his life had been spent guarding warehouses and storage areas, which was exactly why Damian had selected him.
Dax was another Level 3 Fighter, younger and considerably more energetic than Bram, while Jory was a Level 2 Ranger whose previous hunting group had disbanded after losing two members inside Moonveil Forest.
The final Novice was Vivienne.
Unlike the four men, she did not carry an obvious weapon.
Vivienne was thirty-one, attractive in the polished, mature manner of a woman accustomed to presenting herself professionally. Long chestnut hair was pinned neatly behind her head, while a fitted dark-green dress emphasized a generous figure without interfering with movement.
Her Standard Variant Class was <Steward>, currently Level 3.
Vivienne had spent most of her adult life managing the household of a declining minor noble family before that family collapsed beneath debt and infighting.
Her skills lay in servants, supplies, scheduling, property management, hospitality and maintaining the countless small systems required to stop a large household from turning into chaos.
Damian had chosen her almost immediately.
The remaining four were already beyond the Novice Stage.
Cassian was a Level 8 Mage with considerable experience in magical security and commercial administration.
Marek was a Level 7 Rogue whose quiet manner and almost forgettable appearance made Damian suspect he could disappear in the middle of a conversation if sufficiently motivated.
Then there was Stella at Level 9, and finally Ronan, who stood above everyone at Overall Level 13.
Damian looked across the five Novices.
"Another standing benefit of the Baines Noble Family begins today. Any recognized retainer below Level 6 receives enough Qi Nourishing Pills and Qi Acceleration Pills to reach the Journeyman Stage without paying House Merits."
Bram’s mouth fell open again.
"You mean... free?" Dax asked carefully.
"Free indeed." Damian confirmed.
"However, once you reach Level 6, the free ride ends. I am currently appraising and testing the next progression tier, so I haven’t determined the House Merit price yet. Give me less than a week." Damian added with folded arms.
The five Novices stared at him as though Damian had just announced that rain would henceforth fall upward.
Ronan slowly folded his arms, as even his frivolous expression had changed.
Level progression was not simply an increase in combat power.
It meant Attribute Points, Feats, higher Class authority, and access to more dangerous yet profitable work.
For many people, moving from Level 2 or 3 to Level 6 could consume years.
Damian pointed toward the carpet.
"Sit."
The five immediately obeyed.
One Qi Acceleration Pill went to each of them before Damian began distributing measured piles of Qi Nourishing Pills according to their present Experience.
"Take the Qi Acceleration Pill first, then keep going until your Character Sheet reaches Level 6. Tell everyone what happens as you progress."
The first notifications obviously remained visible only to the person receiving them, but their reactions did not.
Bram swallowed the first few pills and froze.
"Experience! I’m actually gaining Experience!"
Dax almost dropped the pill between his fingers. "Mine too! Two Experience from the first one!"
Jory stared at his Character Sheet with increasingly wild eyes before stuffing another Qi Nourishing Pill into his mouth.
Then another... and another!
Within moments, dignity disappeared completely.
The five retainers began swallowing Qi Nourishing Pills as rapidly as they safely could while reporting Level increases, Experience values and free Attribute Points between mouthfuls.
Damian watched speechlessly.
He remembered his own suffering vividly.
The endless swallowing, the calculations, and the resentment.
The moment when eating another damned pill had begun feeling like someone was punishing him for discovering a loophole.
These people showed none of that.
Bram looked close to tears.
David swallowed pill after pill with the solemn determination of a starving man eating his first meal.
Vivienne’s hands trembled whenever another level appeared upon her Character Sheet, yet she never slowed down.
Something clicked inside Damian’s mind.
He had underestimated these pills again.
To him, the Qi Nourishing Pill had become a resource measured against his own absurd progression.
To ordinary Valorians who had fought for every Experience Point of their lives, each pill was a piece of their future being handed directly into their palms.
One of them eventually noticed the small bottle Damian had placed farther away.
"Lord Damian, what about these err... Marrow Cleansing Pills? Are they useful and can they assist in the experience gain process?" Cassian asked from the side.
"They can, and you aren’t touching them," Damian refused immediately.
"Every effective cleanse permanently increases all future Experience requirements by ten percent of the original base requirement. That trade is terrible for anyone I expect to advance far." Damian reminded them solemnly.
Ronan’s eyes narrowed.
Damian continued without hesitation.
"If somebody was desperate, trapped by time, or if I were raising disposable forces that I never expected to advance meaningfully beyond Journeyman, then the calculation changes. For proper Baines Noble Family retainers, no."
That explanation immediately killed whatever temptation remained.
Five minutes later, the impossible had already happened as five Novices had become five Journeymen.
They stared at their Character Sheets with expressions ranging from disbelief to barely contained hysteria.
Damian, meanwhile, stared at them speechlessly.
"...It really only took you people five minutes."
He felt personally insulted.
............
Damian did not allow them to immediately choose their newly available General Feats.
Their Roles came first.
"Stella and Ronan, you two are assigned directly to me. You will handle my personal protection, escort, combat support and anything else I decide that requires people capable of surviving beside me."
Stella straightened immediately while Ronan only nodded, though satisfaction briefly crossed his face.
Damian turned toward Cassian.
"You will serve as Commercial Overseer of the Central Lane store. Tana controls daily administration and Kevin controls accounts and inventory, but you oversee both of them from the Baines Noble Family side. Any major problem they cannot resolve comes to you, and any major problem you fail to resolve comes to me."
Cassian nodded solemnly.
The four newly promoted combat retainers were assigned beneath him.
Bram, David, Dax and Jory would provide store security while also acting as deputy supervisors over the general employees. They were not merely guards expected to stand beside the doors looking decorative.
Anything involving customer disturbances, suspicious behavior, employee misconduct, stock movement, emergency response or physical security became their responsibility.
Then Damian turned toward Marek.
"You are responsible for intelligence."
Marek’s previously neutral eyes sharpened.
"I don’t merely mean asking tavern keepers for rumors. Build something. Informants, watchers, contacts, safe locations and eventually a proper shadow organization. I want information moving toward the Baines Noble Family before problems reach our doorstep."
Damian paused.
"Criminals who have committed genuinely heinous acts are acceptable recruitment material for your deeper forces. If they’re useful but deserve no sympathy, control them, strengthen them and use them as shadow troops. I have resources that can force rapid advancement at the expense of future potential, and I have no intention of wasting clean talent where dirty talent will suffice."
Marek lowered his head.
"I understand, Lord Damian."
Finally came Vivienne.
"You are Seneschal of the Baines Noble Family and my chief housekeeper. Until I obtain a proper estate, you’re responsible for the cottage, longhouse, servants, Kellan Baines, the seven wards, household purchases and anything related to domestic administration."
Vivienne placed a hand over her chest.
"I will not disappoint you, Lord Damian."
"Good, because I’m planning to make your workload considerably worse."
A faint smile appeared upon her lips.
Only after the responsibilities were clear did Damian allow the five newly promoted Journeymen to resolve their pending General Feats.
Bram selected <Sentinel> for controlling enemies near people or territory he guarded.
David chose <Alert>, strengthening the awareness expected from a Warden responsible for commercial security.
Dax selected <Tough>, reinforcing the straightforward role Damian envisioned for him during violent emergencies.
Jory chose <Observant>, leaning further into perception and identifying trouble before it reached the counters.
Vivienne selected <Keen Mind>, an almost perfect match for someone expected to manage schedules, personnel, supplies and eventually an entire noble estate.
Damian approved all five, then brought out the cultivation manuals.
The resulting reaction was somehow even louder than the pills.
............
Every retainer would begin with the <Five Elements Harmonization Art>.
No exceptions.
The technique strengthened the whole physical foundation and provided exactly the broad base Damian wanted beneath every member of the Baines Noble Family.
Anything beyond its peak would require House Merits.
Damian personally guided them through the opening circulation before bringing out the Spirit Root Testing Orb.
The results were fascinating.
Stella produced the strongest reaction.
Brilliant Fire and Wood radiance flooded through the Spirit Root Testing Orb with such intensity that Damian judged both affinities near the Top Grade by Shengyuan standards.
Ronan’s result was stranger.
Wind and Lightning manifested more strongly than the orthodox five elements, but both readings were damaged and irregular, as though whatever functional structure Valoria created for him had been mutilated sometime in the past.
The others possessed mostly Middle to High Grade compatibility in one or two areas, with weaker secondary affinities.
Most importantly, Damian finally understood something.
This was not simply natural talent.
Their Attributes, Classes, Feats, Specializations, achievements and accumulated development were influencing what the Spirit Root Testing Orb interpreted as cultivation compatibility.
Which meant Kellan Baines’ current Low Grade Fire-Earth compatibility was not necessarily permanent.
The boy could grow into better talent.
That realization was exciting for approximately three seconds before its darker implication arrived.
Shengyuan cultivators were born with largely fixed Spirit Roots whereas Valorians could apparently improve the equivalent through an entirely separate progression system.
If cultivation spread freely across Valoria, people could level their Classes, strengthen their Attributes, acquire Feats, improve their functional Spirit Roots and then use cultivation to strengthen themselves again.
Two progression systems feeding each other.
Damian’s expression became serious.
He could never allow this to spread uncontrollably.
The consequences would be catastrophic.
By the time everyone completed their first proper circulation cycle, even the slowest among them had succeeded far faster than Kellan Baines.
Stella was the clear standout.
Ronan was difficult to evaluate because of the strange damage affecting his affinities.
Damian dismissed the others afterward.
Cassian, Bram, David, Dax and Jory returned to Central Lane immediately, where the store employees undoubtedly needed reinforcement.
Marek received custody of the remaining Qi Nourishing Pill, Qi Acceleration Pill and Marrow Cleansing Pill stock reserved for his developing intelligence forces, though every use was to be recorded.
"You will take funding from today’s store revenue and begin immediately," Damian instructed.
Vivienne received similar authorization.
"Find the best property in Rosewood Town suitable for a permanent Baines Noble Family estate. If there’s already something there worth keeping, fine. If not, buy the property, clear it and prepare plans for the Baines Noble Family Villa."
Vivienne’s eyes brightened.
"How ambitious should I be, Lord Damian?"
"Assume I’m going to become considerably richer."
That was enough.
Both were also authorized to draw their first month’s salaries from store revenue, as were the rest of the retainers once Kevin processed the accounts.
............
Damian left shortly afterward with Stella and Ronan Calder.
Their destination was the Bazaar Market.
His remaining personal liquidity had become uncomfortable, but the store was now actively generating revenue, which meant Damian could finally begin replenishing Valorian export stock aggressively.
After several rounds of bulk negotiation, he purchased five hundred Vials of Healing, three hundred Vials of Restoration and two hundred Vials of Vigor.
One thousand potions.
The entire order came to roughly one Gold and twenty Silver after bulk pricing, consuming most of what Damian still carried personally.
Approximately seventy-nine Silver remained afterward.
Damian then purchased one Draught of Healing, one Draught of Restoration and one Draught of Vigor at one Silver each.
These were of a higher concentration and higher tier than the last, so they were perfect comparison samples.
Then came entirely new products.
A single Uncommon Potion of Berserk temporarily drove a consumer into an aggressive battle state while removing many normal mental restraints, yet unlike crude berserker drugs it left no inherent weakness period afterward.
An Uncommon Potion of Growth accelerated and strengthened plant development.
A Common Potion of Comprehension significantly improved learning and understanding for a limited period, instantly becoming Damian’s second favorite discovery of the trip.
Then he found the real prize.
[Item: Basic Holy Water
Grade: Common
Description: Water consecrated through recognized divine power. Cleanses hostile, corrupted, profane and other nefarious supernatural energies upon sufficient contact. Does not directly heal bodily injury or cure ordinary disease.]
Damian read the description and thought of the Nightmare Corpse Sect, and their Corpse Qi.
His smile slowly widened.
"Now that’s interesting."
He purchased multiple samples of every new item before finally returning to his Rosewood Town cottage.
By then, Stella and Ronan had become dramatically more attentive than they had been that morning.
Damian stopped outside his bedroom.
"You two will guard this room. Use the neighboring chamber to cultivate while I’m occupied, but nobody enters here until I return."
Neither asked unnecessary questions.
"Yes, Lord Damian," Stella acknowledged immediately while Ronan gave a short nod.
Damian entered his bedroom and closed the door.
He waited until their footsteps moved into the adjoining room before activating <Permanent Realm Passage>.
Valoria disappeared, and a moment later, the familiar spiritual atmosphere of Shengyuan surrounded him.
Damian opened his eyes.
It was time to see what his newest Valorian purchases were truly worth!
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