Inferior Mind Elixir - 200 Contribution points.
Inferior Spirit Elixir - 200 Contribution Points.
Inferior Perception Elixir - 100 Contribution Points.
Inferior Strength Elixir - 25 Contribution Points.
Inferior Dexterity Elixir - 25 Contribution Points.
Inferior Charisma Elixir - 200 Contribution Points (Only 4 Remaining.)
Warden's eyes lingered on the elixir panel for an extended moment before he asked, "Where are the intermediate variants of these elixirs?"
"Unfortunately, sir," the female attendant said in apology, "only with the rank of sergeant can you access the elixirs of intermediate quality of these variants."
This meant there were other quality items that could only be accessed through high military rank.
"What you see here is a lot cheaper than what can be found outside," the plump attendant explained. "It is one of the reasons elixirs like these are smuggled out by the soldiers for their families and loved ones. Some even just want to make a profit selling them at higher prices. Thankfully, the military can spare the inferior grades in bulk to never run out of stock.
Unfortunately, it isn't the same for the intermediate and advanced articles."
Warden nodded in understanding. Still, he wondered if he could ask Agnes to smuggle out a few of these elixirs using her rank as a captain.
"These inferior-grade attribute-boosting elixirs work best when the attribute is under 100 points," the attendant explained. "Although you still can receive the benefit if your attribute is under 150."
This was, of course, the threshold of Iron rank. She was indirectly saying the inferior grades were enough for his Iron rank.
Warden couldn't help but smile. "How many of them can I take before they lose potency?"
"For the first three ingestions, each elixir will give 2 points to the said attribute, and for the next three, it is 1 point each," she said with a smile. "9 points in total. After that, for some, ingesting two or three vials can give a point, but it's mostly minimal."
"Umm, sir?"
Warden sighed. "Buy me the Mind and Spirit elixirs, six each."
There went 2400 contribution points. Still, Warden had a little over twelve hundred points remaining. And he had no interest in any strength or dexterity-enhancing potions—they were rising as fast as possible. Unfortunately, there was nothing related to Recovery as an attribute. Perhaps only the Celestial has secrets to the Recovery Attribute.
The attendant fidgeted with the controls of the formations. After a couple of minutes, another worker came to deliver the items to him.
"Do you have books?" Warden asked.
"Books? Of what kind?" she asked, already moving into the tabs of books.
"Anything, from steamy romance to fundamentals of magic," Warden said without a stutter in his voice.
"Unfortunately, sir, we don't have fiction," she added regretfully. "But we do have a large collection of books on the theory of magic and rankers."
Warden clicked his tongue. There were whorehouses in the frontline, but not a steamy romance book. The injustice to those loyal men... and women.
"Show me books related to Wards," he said. June had taught him some fundamentals of wards, and he had learned well, but not as much as he was afforded to with the limited time he had.
After shuffling through the list of books, Warden bought a couple of them; one was written by an Elven Gold ranker, and the other was actually someone Warden knew, Elder Vess from the academy. The two purchases cost 220 points.
"Do you have books on the history and geography of the world?"
The attendant smiled, opening a huge list for him to choose from. Thankfully, these mundane books were a lot cheaper compared to anything related to magic. Spending a hundred credits, Warden bought a couple dozen of them.
"Now for the rest of my contribution points, I want a swing, alcohol, a barbecue grill, hmm." Warden paused to remember what he was missing. "Hey, do you sell janitor's equipment?"
***
Warden was back in the withering garden. Without paying for his workstation and the clutter he created, he brought out the elixirs he bought. Twelve of them. If everything went well, he would receive a boost of 18 points in total.
But before that... Warden summoned his Status page to check...