Chapter 11: Enhancing Efficiency
The next day—
The circus was on the verge of bidding farewell to the city that witnessed the birth of the new Fire Breather.
Before the convoy set off, Xia Zuo carried his potion box to the third carriage.
Originally, he intended for Audrey to look after it, but the first carriage was too packed to free up any space.
So, it had to be placed together with Fan Er Si's box.
The two boxes had distinct appearances, impossible to confuse. Xia Zuo's was new, while Fan Er Si's was relatively old, and their locks were different.
He handed the key to Audrey and busied himself reading "Fire Breathing Techniques" aboard the train.
He spent the entire previous day practicing flame-spitting with Audrey. Though the taste of the fire-breathing potion was bitter, he could endure it and even picked up some simple alchemical maneuvers.
While using Audrey's mixed flame-spitting potion, he entered a state of continuous health deduction, but the deduction and recovery rates were equal.
For Xia Zuo, apart from a tingling sensation in his mouth and a desire for water, there were no other notable effects.
Once successful in spitting fire, he could reap a bountiful experience!
"Completed 1 fire-spitting training, duration 2 seconds, gained 0.002 experience."
Calculating at 0.001 experience per second, after accumulating a thousand seconds of fire-spitting, he'd acquire 1 point of experience.
If he could eventually spout flames three meters long, how much experience would that yield?
And adding the bonus for performing fire-spitting for an audience...
Tsk tsk tsk~ Xia Zuo sat on the floor of the carriage, unable to contain his laughter.
"Little guy, hey, you seem to be in a good mood," remarked his roommate, the muscular Pole Pie, cheerfully watching him.
As the carriage started moving, both of them leaned backward for a moment, readjusting the next second.
"I feel like I'm well-suited for fire-breathing performances. I can already spit flames, although not for long," Xia Zuo smiled faintly, pulling out a miniature elastic ball to train his strength.
After gaining 1 point of strength with this little object, it would take a million repetitions to earn the next point. With ten times the training repetitions, the experience gained was halved, totaling only 5 points.
Pole Pie also brought out his elastic ball, "Hehe, with Big Sis helping you train for fire-breathing, you'll be as amazing as Fan Er Si."
One big and one small figure, inside the carriage, squeezed and released the elastic balls, swaying with the jolts of the carriage.
Two months later—
The circus entered the southern part of the Rosack Province.
Xia Zuo's devastated homeland lay a bit farther south, near the kingdom's border.
Ever since marauders infested this area, it had been constantly tumultuous.
In passing inns, rumors of villages being ransacked and turned into ruins were frequent.
The circus stopped at the Piedek Citadel in the south of the Rosack Province.
This was the midpoint of their current travel plan, a turning point.
The eldest sister didn't intend to travel farther south to avoid encounters with marauders. After performing at this citadel, the circus would head north, taking a different route back to Rosack City.
Unexpectedly, on the first day of their arrival, a momentous event disrupted their travel plans entirely.
The Piedek Citadel was both a city and a military stronghold. Aside from regular civilians, it housed stationed troops.
With marauders wreaking havoc within the citadel's protection zone, soldiers were exhausted, in dire need of performances to boost their morale.
The arrival of Audrey's circus came as a timely relief for the Citadel's commander-in-charge.
When the eldest sister returned from the fortress, she joyfully announced some great news:
The circus had accepted the Citadel's commander's invitation to stay around Piedek for about a month, providing performances for the soldiers resting at the Citadel!
This was an incredibly solid deal! There was no reason to decline.
The Piedek Citadel was not the commander's private property; like Rosack City, it belonged to the Rosack Council.
The circus's performance fees here were directly funded by the Rosack Council, not from the commander's pocket.
There was absolutely no chance of being stiffed.
The eldest sister speculated that if the performances were outstanding and raised the soldiers' spirits, there might even be additional rewards from the Citadel's commander.
This speculation was well-grounded.
The Citadel's commander not only placed a significant order from the military but also personally took an action that won people's hearts.
When Audrey returned, she brought with her a bag brimming with coins.
The commander of Piedek Citadel was a kind, generous, and compassionate leader.
He had set aside a sum to cover all circus performances at the Fountain Square for the Citadel's residents.
For the next six days, any resident could queue up and watch the circus show; the guards would maintain order at the venue.
When Xia Zuo took that hefty bag and started counting coins in his room...
His heart and hands trembled. Not because there was too much money,
but because...
All this substantial money, and yet not a single point of experience was given.
Apparently, only money collected directly from customers counted for experience.
The eldest sister returned with ten silver coins and hundreds of copper coins, which roughly summed up to 14 points of experience.
Xia Zuo didn't get even a single point of experience. Glancing at the character template:
【Level】LV.5
【Experience】0.9/200
He had just leveled up a few days ago.
To reach level 6 from level 5 required 200 experience, which was four times the amount needed to level up from 4 to 5.
Upon a rough estimation, under normal circumstances, it would take about five to six performances to ascend a level. The next promotion would likely occur three months from now.
For this month stationed within the fortress, the circus is scheduled to perform for both the civilians and the soldiers.
The funds from the civilians go through the fortress commander.
As for the soldiers' earnings, they come from the Rosac Council.
...Quite the clever allocation of these two sources of income, yet not a single experience point has been garnered.
Without the revenue from tickets, relying solely on reading, odd jobs, and training to breathe fire, the efficiency of experience gain in the coming month is remarkably low.
Instead of immediately delivering the records to the boss, Xia Zuo sat at his desk lost in thought, weighing the possibility of an early appearance on stage.
Over the past two months, he tirelessly experimented to find a stable and secure way to level up, customizing his fire-breathing technique to suit himself.
The "golden fingers" calculate experience based on the duration and size of the flames.
A flame measuring two fingers in length yields 0.001 experience points per second.
Presently, with a success rate of 100%, holding a mouthful of fire-breathing potion allows a continuous exhale for about 20 seconds.
A half-meter flame generates 0.002 experience points per second.
The faster airflow allows only a 5 to 7-second burst with occasional interruptions or choking, maintaining a success rate of over 90%.
Exceeding one meter in flame length, Xia Zuo's success rate drastically declines due to insufficient lung capacity, yielding 0.003 experience points per second.
Fan Er Si manages to sustain a fireball of nearly three meters for about 10 seconds, relying on both lung capacity training and the fire-breathing potion, but predominantly on a special breathing technique.
During the fire-breathing lessons, the boss revealed the intricacies of this breathing method, available for both men and women over 18 years old who join the Warrior Guild. They can exchange points earned from completing tasks for courses in this technique.
The simplest task to embark on this path is to enlist in the army.
Most soldiers within the Piyeck Fortress joined precisely for this purpose.
After completing their tasks, however, the majority of them opt for lucrative positions or exchange their points for military rank rewards, continuing their journey within the army.
Only a few choose to invest their points in the volatile practice of the breathing technique.
Anyone practicing this technique for the first time can pair it with a supplementary potion, which, with a minimal probability, permanently strengthens one part of their body, at the cost of an irreversible, non-malignant mutation in another area.
This process is known as potential development or excavation.
Regardless of triggering random strengthening and mutation, all practitioners experience an overall enhancement in physical prowess.
Those who trigger the strengthening can smoothly use the enhanced body part as long as they activate the breathing technique. The faster they operate it, the more pronounced the enhancement becomes.
Sneck, the snake charmer, gained the ability to communicate with serpents at the expense of darkening skin tone, receiving a specialized vocal organ.
The clown siblings sacrificed emotional stability for remarkable physical balance.
Pole Pie traded a sharp mind for sheer muscle strength.
Audrey had a stroke of luck, obtaining exceptional vision but exchanging her former slender physique for a fuller form.
In a sense, as long as she enjoys her current body, it doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice...
Initially, Fan Er Si wasn't suited for fire-breathing.
Through the breathing technique's physical potential development, he sacrificed most of his facial expressions to gain control over his lungs, paving his way to become a fire breather.
The bald head and lack of facial hair are merely remnants of a training accident.
The pros and cons of the breathing technique extend beyond these instances.
The initial use of the technique to uncover one's potential results in permanent physical losses, leaving challenging-to-heal hidden injuries.
When utilizing the enhanced abilities from the technique, the mutated areas do not undergo further changes, but they exacerbate these hidden injuries, affecting the user's lifespan.
Thus, the existence of body restoration potions.
Priced at 200 copper coins per bottle, these potions provide a 30-day effect. They not only repair bodily injuries but also mitigate the life-shortening effects caused by using the breathing technique.
Affordable and long-lasting, these potions are a benefit developed by the Warrior Guild exclusively for practitioners of the breathing technique.
For Xia Zuo, who's just turned 15, the breathing technique is something for adulthood, three years away for him to practice.
Currently, there's only one way to swiftly enhance experience gain efficiency in the short term!
To bypass the lengthy process of building lung capacity and immediately achieve a stable one-meter-long flame, the only option is to start with the fire-breathing potion.
Similar to Fan Er Si, who added a red liquid to his potion to enhance the flames.
While reading the "Essentials of Fire Breathing Training," Xia Zuo found the description of this substance.
"Blaze Solvent, enhances flame power. When mixed with the fire-breathing potion, each drop increases flame power by 20% and toxicity by 20%."
Xia Zuo did a quick calculation.
He currently uses Audrey's weak mixed fire-breathing potion, a blend of fire-retardant oil and a weak fire-breathing potion that, when held in the mouth for three seconds, forms a fire-resistant layer, protecting the oral cavity.
While maintaining this state, he loses 3 HP per hour but can steadily emit flames.
During training, fire-breathing alternates with rest, so the actual HP deduction rate is approximately 1 per hour.
When performing on stage, the frequency and duration of holding the potion decrease significantly; it's usually expelled within 10 seconds, resulting in an actual deduction rate of about 0.5 HP per hour.
To achieve a flame length of 0.5 meters, five drops of blaze solvent are required, doubling the flame's power and also doubling the HP deduction rate.
Meaning, during performances, the deduction rate increases to approximately 1 HP per hour.
[HP] 20/20 (Healthy)
The character template only shows HP; the regeneration rate isn't visible.
Roughly estimating, Xia Zuo reckons that, well-fed and watered, he regenerates about 0.8 HP per hour, doubling in a deep sleep.
His current vitality is at 4 points.
He mentally inquired of the "golden fingers" about how HP regeneration is calculated but received only silence in response.
However, that didn't stump him.
Roughly combining the 4 vitality points with a regeneration rate of 0.8 per hour, he approximated an imprecise conclusion:
Increasing vitality by 1 point would raise the regeneration rate by about 0.18 per hour, reaching approximately 0.98 per hour.
To offset the HP deduction from holding the fire-breathing potion, at least an additional 1 vitality point is needed.
Xia Zuo double-checked his calculations, ensuring everything was in order.
He focused his attention on the plus sign next to the vitality attribute and mentally pressed it.
[Vitality] 4+1→5 points.
[HP] 22/20+2→22.