Nova's eyes bulged in astonishment. He wondered if he'd misheard.
"Could you repeat that, sir? I think there's something wrong with my ears."
"You heard me correctly," Eric Watson said, his smile unchanged. "I'm here to ask you to join the fight against the King of Winter. And a minor injury in your ears won't hinder your hearing."
Nova stood speechless.
Had someone just invited him to battle the King of Winter?
It was absurd. He was in no position to refuse, either.
In the Arkon Kingdom, nobles held immense power—especially the Four Major Houses who ruled beside the royal family. A noble like Eric Watson could erase someone like Nova without leaving a trace. The last thing Nova wanted was to offend someone like that.
But the King of Winter… that wasn't just any monster. It was the most powerful creature in Winterland—the region symbolic of winter itself.
Even experienced Stage 2 explorers would struggle to survive an encounter with it. Only a well-coordinated group of Stage 2 explorers stood a chance of killing it without heavy casualties.
To Nova, inviting him into such a battle seemed nothing short of madness.
"Sir… as you can see, I'm heavily injured. I won't be of any help. I'll only slow you down."
He didn't outright refuse. Instead, he tested the waters—curious to see if Eric viewed him as expendable or genuinely valuable.
If Eric insisted despite his condition, then Nova would know exactly how little he mattered in this equation.
"That's not a problem," Eric said, still smiling. "I have a special life potion made by the Holy Church. You can use that."
'What's wrong with this guy's brain?' Nova thought, blinking. 'Who uses a special life potion for minor injuries and exhaustion?'
'And now how am I supposed to refuse him?'
Nova's mind raced, searching for a way out.
After a pause, he offered another angle. "Sir, this is my first time in the labyrinth. I'm not even a proper Stage 1 explorer yet."
Eric nodded. "That's true. In your current state, you wouldn't be much help."
Nova blinked. For a moment, he thought Eric was going to drop it.
But then Eric added, "I still need you."
"Sir… I'm confused," Nova admitted honestly.
"In your current situation, you're not very valuable," Eric said bluntly. "But I see potential in you."
"I watched your entire fight against the Toxsona. Your instincts, your timing… It was impressive. I believe you might be the key to our success."
Nova's thoughts reeled.
'He said potential… and he watched me fight?'
'Also, why didn't I even know the monster's name was Toxsona?' Nova could only groan internally.
"But sir," Nova said, trying again, "even if I have potential, I'm still just an ordinary person. Right now, I can't—"
"You don't need to worry about that," Eric interrupted. "We have a potion maker on the team. You'll get your potion—free of cost."
He paused, then added with a smirk, "You looked pretty happy about getting Toxsona's head core. Fortunately, I know all the auxiliary materials needed for that monster."
"As long as your compatibility is high enough, we can brew the potion in a single day."
Nova felt like the ground was tilting beneath him. His head spun.
'A potion maker? In the labyrinth?'
The first floor of the labyrinth only allowed a maximum team size of twenty. Any team that tried to exceed that number would be cursed by the labyrinth itself.
Not only that—Stage 2 and higher-ranked explorers couldn't use their full strength on the first floor. Other than self-defense, their abilities would be forcibly limited to a Stage 1 level.
So, using one of those precious twenty slots on someone like him—a non-Stage 1 explorer—only made Nova more suspicious.
'Unless… he really does give me a full potion made from Toxsona's core.'
'Then I'll believe he's serious.'
'Until then, I need to keep my options open. Escape, stall, lie—whatever works.'
Just then, Eric's smile vanished.
He stepped closer. His tone dropped, low and icy.
"Do you think I'm being too nice?"
Nova stiffened. A chill ran down his spine.
For a moment, he felt like prey caught in the jaws of a predator.
Hurriedly, he replied, "No! I was just… thinking whether I should choose a different monster core."
"I don't know much about cores yet," Nova added quickly. "So I'm still deciding."
Eric's expression softened slightly.
"No need to change," he said. "Toxsona is a nearly perfect monster—no major weaknesses."
"In fact, I had my eye on Toxsona's core as well. But my compatibility was less than 50%, so I gave up and chose Shadow Panther instead."
Nova's eyes narrowed slightly.
'Shadows? Is that related to how he snuck up on me earlier?
Or does he have some kind of teleportation or stealth skill?'
"Alright," Nova said slowly. "I'll go with this core. Sir, what about the auxiliary materials?"
Eric patted him on the shoulder.
"I've already got them. Didn't I say Toxsona was my first choice? I collected everything before checking compatibility."
"Now it's all yours."
Nova didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
'He's really planned all of this out.
Looks like there's no escaping now…'
Eric pulled out a small vial filled with a shimmering silver liquid and handed it to Nova.
"Drink this life potion," he said. "We'll check your compatibility after that."
Nova stared at the potion, catching a pleasant scent from its contents. He hesitated.
The special life potion from the Holy Church wasn't some everyday healing fluid. It could bring someone back from the brink of death. For someone at his level, this was like a second chance at life—priceless.
And here he was… using it for exhaustion and minor wounds.
Holding the vial carefully, Nova asked, "Sir, how about I use my own potion and keep this one as a souvenir?"
Eric seemed to understand, but didn't comment. "Do as you wish. It's yours now."
Nova grinned, slid the potion carefully into his backpack, and pulled out another.
Unlike the glowing silver potion, this one was greenish, thick, and smelled… foul.
Eric recoiled immediately, pinching his nose.
"What the hell is that thing? Throw it away—I don't want it anywhere near me!"
Nova ignored him.
A noble like Eric wouldn't understand. This was a standard healing potion, also from the Holy Church. A single vial cost ten thousand rubies.
The special potion Eric gave him? A hundred thousand.
A tenfold difference in value—but ten thousand rubies wasn't cheap, either.
He grimaced, uncorked it, and downed the liquid in one gulp.
'Disgusting! Why does it taste like rot and regret?'
Nova nearly gagged but forced himself to keep it down.
Eric, still covering his nose, groaned. "Why did you drink that swamp water? If you'd asked, I would've given you another potion."
Nova's eyes lit up. "Really? Can I get one?"
"No," Eric said flatly. "Only if you'd listened and thrown that trash away."
'Damn. I thought you were the generous type…'
Despite the awful taste, Nova soon felt the effects kick in.
Unlike antidotes, which took an hour to work, healing potions acted fast.
The gash on his arm began to close. The cut on his shoulder sealed. Skin knitted back together visibly, right before his eyes.
The throb in his head faded. The ringing in his ears stopped.
Within seconds, he felt as if he'd just woken from a deep, refreshing nap.
Eric handed him two tubes. "Now give me your blood and the monster's. Let's check your compatibility with Toxsona."
Nova nodded, passed over the tube with the monster's blood, then made a small cut on his finger. A few drops of his blood dripped into the second tube.