Lust System: Conquering the World Beauties

[Analysis Complete]

Item: Strength Enhancement Potion

Grade: Level 2 Magic Potion

Effect:

* Temporarily increases the user’s physical strength by ×3.

Duration:

* 5 Minutes.

Side Effects:

* After the effect expires, all physical attributes are reduced by 50% for 1 Hour.

* Temporary muscle fatigue.

* Reduced combat capability during recovery.

Threat Assessment:

* High.

⸻

Liam blinked once.

”...Interesting.”

His eyes lingered on the description.

”So it triples your strength...”

His gaze shifted downward toward the side effects.

”...Then cuts it in half afterward?”

His expression became thoughtful.

”...That’s one hell of a drawback.”

For a brief moment...

He genuinely couldn’t understand the point.

Why cripple yourself for an entire hour afterward?

Wasn’t that practically asking to be killed?

Then...

Understanding dawned on him.

”...Right.”

His lips curved upward slightly.

”He doesn’t intend for this fight to last five minutes.”

He wanted everything decided...

Before the timer ever became a problem.

Not far away...

Alden’s expression had darkened considerably.

”...That idiot.”

He folded his arms tightly.

That potion wasn’t cheap.

Far from it.

It had cost them twenty silver coins.

Twenty.

A fortune for ordinary adventurers.

The two of them had pooled their savings together specifically to buy it for emergencies.

Life-or-death situations.

Powerful beasts.

Unexpected ambushes.

Moments when surviving mattered more than money.

Yet Rowan...

Had chosen to waste it...

In what was supposed to be nothing more than a duel.

Alden nearly cursed aloud.

”...Idiot.”

”...What a waste.”

His irritation lasted only a few seconds.

Then...

His eyes drifted toward Tatiana.

She stood quietly near the edge of the crowd, completely unconcerned by everything happening around her.

Even wrapped in thick traveling clothes suited for the chilly morning, her breathtaking figure couldn’t be hidden. The heavy woolen cloak concealed little of her graceful curves, while the fur-lined hood resting behind her shoulders only made her ethereal beauty stand out even more. Every strand of her silver hair seemed to shimmer beneath the sunlight, drawing eyes wherever she stood.

Alden swallowed.

His annoyance gradually disappeared.

His expression slowly changed.

”...No.”

”What am I thinking?”

”What are twenty silver coins...”

”...compared to a woman like that?”

His eyes gleamed greedily.

If Rowan won...

That woman would become Rowan’s.

Surely...

As friends...

Rowan wouldn’t mind letting him...

His imagination wandered further and further until an involuntary grin spread across his face.

”...Worth every coin.”

Meanwhile...

The surrounding adventurers reacted the instant they recognized the bottle.

Their expressions changed dramatically.

”That’s...”

”A Level Two Magic Potion.”

”No wonder...”

Several people instinctively stepped backward.

Then another.

Nobody wanted to be standing too close once Rowan drank it.

Everyone present understood exactly what that potion was capable of.

Someone who was already powerful...

Would become terrifying.

Only one person looked completely confused.

Tatiana tilted her head slightly.

Her emerald eyes moved from Rowan...

To the bottle...

Then toward the crowd.

”...What’s wrong with everyone?”

She couldn’t understand their reactions.

No one answered her.

Instead...

The spectators continued retreating, widening the battlefield even further.

Whatever Rowan was holding...

It was clearly dangerous.

Tatiana observed everything quietly.

Then...

She simply looked back toward Liam.

Her expression softened.

”...He’ll be fine.”

She didn’t know what the potion did.

She didn’t know why everyone looked so nervous.

But she knew Liam.

She had seen enough to trust him completely.

That confidence never wavered.

Back in the center...

Rowan uncorked the bottle with his thumb.

Without hesitation...

He tilted his head back.

Gulp.

The crimson liquid disappeared down his throat in one swallow.

Silence.

One second.

Two.

Then—

BOOOOM!!

A violent surge of heat erupted from Rowan’s body.

The veins across his neck and forearms bulged grotesquely as raw power coursed through his muscles.

His robe fluttered violently despite the absence of wind.

The flames surrounding him exploded outward, nearly doubling in size.

Their color deepened from ordinary orange...

Into a fierce crimson-orange blaze.

Heat waves rolled across the street.

Several spectators immediately covered their faces.

”...Hot!”

”Back!”

”Move back!”

Even those who had already retreated instinctively took several more steps away.

The stone beneath Rowan’s feet gradually blackened from the overwhelming temperature.

Tiny cracks spread outward.

His aura had changed completely.

He slowly lifted his head.

A savage grin spread across his face.

Power.

He could feel it overflowing through every muscle.

He had never felt this strong before.

Across from him...

Many adventurers looked toward Liam with genuine pity.

”...It’s over.”

”The boy did well.”

”He showed courage.”

”He even managed to slam Rowan.”

”...He can leave this world with his head held high.”

”What a shame.”

”If only his opponent wasn’t Rowan.”

Several people sighed.

Others shook their heads.

Some even turned away slightly.

They simply couldn’t imagine Liam surviving what was about to happen.

The murmurs came from every direction.

”He was impressive.”

”But this is the end.”

”No one survives a strengthened Rowan.”

”What bad luck.”

Liam listened quietly.

One comment after another.

Then another.

And another.

The ridiculous certainty in everyone’s voices...

The complete confidence that Rowan had already won...

Made something inside him snap.

He lowered his head slightly.

His shoulders began trembling.

At first...

Everyone thought he was afraid.

Then—

”...Pfft.”

A laugh escaped him.

Another followed.

Then another.

Before long...

Liam was openly laughing in the middle of the battlefield.

”Hahaha...”

”Hahahaha!”

He even wiped the corner of one eye.

”...Sorry...”

He took a slow breath before looking around at the crowd.

”I’ve been trying...”

”...really trying...”

”...not to laugh.”

He glanced back at Rowan, whose flames continued roaring around him.

Then back at the spectators.

”You people...”

”...are way too entertaining.”

The laughter echoed across the silent street.

And for the first time since the duel had begun...

It wasn’t Rowan who looked confident.

It was Liam.

Rowan’s chest rose and fell violently, flames dancing wildly around his body as he glared at Liam with bloodshot eyes. His entire body trembled, not from fear, but from pure humiliation. Never in his life had someone made him look so pathetic in front of this many people.

Liam finally stopped laughing.

The smile on his face slowly settled into an amused grin as he rubbed the back of his neck.

”So...” he said lazily, tilting his head. ”Your power has tripled now?”

Rowan’s lips curled into a savage smile.

”Now you’re finally starting to understand.”

He expected panic.

He expected Liam’s confident expression to crumble.

He expected him to regret every word he’d spoken.

Instead...

Liam folded his arms across his chest.

”I’m so fucking scared.”

Silence.

Then—

”Ahahahahaha!”

His laughter echoed throughout the guild square.

It wasn’t forced.

It wasn’t nervous.

He was genuinely laughing.

Tatiana couldn’t help rolling her eyes from where she stood.

There he goes again...

She had already figured out Liam’s personality.

The more confident his opponent became...

The more he wanted to annoy them.

Around them, the gathered adventurers exchanged bewildered looks.

”...Has he lost his mind?”

”Doesn’t he understand what that potion does?”

”That idiot...”

”His power literally tripled.”

”Why is he laughing?”

Even Alden frowned.

He had watched Rowan consume the potion himself. The terrifying increase in mana and physical strength wasn’t something that could be faked.

The air around Rowan had changed completely.

His flames burned brighter.

Hotter.

Denser.

Even standing several meters away, many spectators instinctively stepped backward as waves of scorching heat rolled across the courtyard.

The stones beneath Rowan’s boots slowly darkened.

The very air shimmered from the temperature.

Rowan slowly clenched his fist.

”You’ll regret laughing.”

”I doubt it.”

”I only have five minutes.”

”So?”

”...That’s more than enough to kill you.”

Liam sighed.

”So dramatic.”

Rowan’s expression twisted.

He had no intention of wasting another second.

Five minutes.

That was all the potion granted him.

Every heartbeat mattered.

BOOOM!!

The ground exploded beneath his feet.

Unlike before, where he had merely left streaks of fire behind him...

This time...

He left waves.

Sheets of blazing fire rolled outward as he charged, the earth cracking beneath every step.

The spectators’ eyes widened.

”So fast!”

”He’s even quicker than before!”

”I can barely see him!”

Several Rank One adventurers couldn’t even follow Rowan’s movement anymore.

All they saw was a blazing comet tearing across the battlefield.

The intense heat rushed toward Liam like a furnace unleashed upon the world.

Yet Liam...

Simply watched him approach.

”...Slow.”

The word barely escaped his lips.

Rowan roared.

”RRRAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!!”

Mana erupted violently from his body.

The flames surrounding him suddenly surged skyward, gathering into a colossal wall of fire that towered over everyone present.

Gasps erupted throughout the crowd.

”My God...”

”That’s enormous!”

”I’ve never seen flames like that!”

”It looks like the gates of hell!”

The blazing inferno stretched across the battlefield, completely swallowing Liam from view.

Its heat alone forced everyone to retreat several more steps.

Even the guild building behind them reflected the fiery glow.

Rowan poured every ounce of strength into his final charge.

He didn’t care if Liam survived.

He only wanted victory.

Only wanted to erase that smug smile forever.

Meanwhile...

Inside the wall of flames...

Liam simply sighed.

”...Seriously?”

He didn’t slow down.

He didn’t dodge.

He didn’t activate Gale Wings.

He didn’t draw a weapon.

He simply lowered his shoulder...

...and ran straight through.

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A deafening explosion shook the entire street.

Fire erupted in every direction.

Dust.

Smoke.

Flames.

Everything mixed together into one massive cloud that swallowed the battlefield whole.

The shockwave blasted across the square, forcing everyone to shield their faces.

For a brief moment...

Nobody could see anything.

One figure suddenly burst out of the smoke.

Completely engulfed in flames.

Flying backward at terrifying speed.

”There!”

Someone shouted.

”Is it?—”

But then...

”...Wait.”

”...That’s...”

”...Rowan?”

The realization spread through the crowd like wildfire.

”It... it can’t be...”

BANG!!

Rowan’s body slammed into the stone wall of a nearby house with an earth-shaking impact.

The entire structure groaned.

Cracks raced across the walls.

Then...

CRAAASH!!

The building collapsed inward, burying Rowan beneath a mountain of broken stone, shattered timber and roof tiles.

Silence.

Utter silence.

Nobody moved.

Nobody even breathed.

The smoke hanging over the battlefield slowly began to drift away.

Little by little...

A lone silhouette appeared.

Standing exactly where the collision had happened.

Perfectly still.

Perfectly upright.

Liam.

Not a single burn covered his body.

Not a single scratch could be seen.

His robe was still spotless.

His white hair swayed gently in the morning breeze as though he had merely taken a casual walk.

The spectators stared with mouths hanging open.

One adventurer rubbed his eyes.

Another slapped himself across the face.

”...Am I dreaming?”

”Did... did Rowan just lose?”

”...In one hit?”

Even Alden felt his throat go dry.

Impossible.

Absolutely impossible.

That punch...

It hadn’t even looked powerful.

It looked...

Casual.

As if Liam hadn’t taken the duel seriously for even a second.

Tatiana simply smiled.

She wasn’t surprised.

Not even a little.

She knew exactly how absurd Liam truly was.

The only person who seemed dissatisfied...

...was Liam himself.

He frowned.

Looked down at his sleeve.

Then pinched something between two fingers.

”...Damn.”

The crowd leaned forward instinctively.

Had Rowan actually managed to injure him?

Had they simply failed to notice?

Liam held up the edge of his robe.

A tiny loose thread near the cuff had been scorched black.

Nothing more.

He clicked his tongue.

”My robe...”

”...It caught fire.”

Silence.

Complete.

Absolute.

Silence.

One adventurer’s knees nearly gave out beneath him.

Another slowly lowered the mug he’d been holding, forgetting to drink.

Someone in the back whispered weakly,

”...He’s upset...”

”...because...”

”...a thread burned?”

Nobody knew what to say anymore.

The man they had pitied only moments ago had walked through a wall of flames, defeated a Rank Two adventurer empowered by a costly magic potion with a single exchange...

...and the only thing bothering him...

...was a burnt thread on his sleeve.

At that moment, every single person present understood one terrifying truth.

From the very beginning...

Rowan had never been fighting someone on his level.