24. A Healthy Diet

Jake focuses on potion mass production, honing mana control and settling on a modest price to prioritize practice over profit. After Miranda’s advice, he hands all commercial handling to Lillian, who collects his output and procures requested items. Over two weeks, Jake gains profession and race levels while planning an uncommon‑rarity Necrotic Poison.

Jake targets Aged Bluebright Mushrooms from the System Store as a core toxin, ingesting samples for insights thanks to Palate of the Malefic Viper. He considers cultivating them but postpones due to time, personnel, and mana‑affinity constraints, noting the dungeon cavern’s life affinity is unsuitable for rot/death‑leaning mushrooms. He aims to finish the poison within a month, then tackle the dungeon.

Shifting to Haven, Miranda conducts a large Verdant ritual in the City Lord residence cellar, leveraging a prior Verdant Mark on an Oakwood Tiger. Through a complex circle and costly catalysts, she casts Verdant Feast, turning the tigers’ grove into a devouring lagoon that drowns and consumes the entire pack.

Exhausted but successful, Miranda earns two class levels and confirms progress toward a Perfect Evolution, reflecting on Verdant magic’s deity‑bound nature. The ritual’s range highlights her strategic capability to eliminate threats from safety, reinforcing Haven’s security without direct battles.

After cleanup, Miranda meets Phillip. He reports Arnold seeking a meeting with the “owner,” minor temple and Store issues, and that Neil is close to D‑grade. The news underscores Haven’s growing infrastructure and the approaching rise of key allies.