Chapter 105: The Price Keeps Rising (R-18)
Sitting there with her breasts exposed in front of Max, Yennefer couldn’t help wondering whether sacrificing what little dignity she had left was really worth turning her grandson into a potion brewer.
Then again...
She understood better than most what an opportunity like this was worth.
Much like Zerena, she’d awakened during the early days of awkened world, back when simply becoming a mage was enough to make people treat you like a celebrity. In those days, mages were rare. People admired them, respected them, sometimes even acted as though they walked on water.
Unfortunately...
The world eventually flooded with them.
Millions awakened.
And once everyone around you could throw mana around, having two tiny Mana Rings was about as impressive as bragging you once won a school race twenty years ago.
Yennefer had never possessed extraordinary talent to begin with. Throughout her entire life, she’d only managed to form two Mana Rings.
To outsiders, that still sounded respectable.
To anyone who had actually walked the path...
It wasn’t.
People who had never cultivated mana often assumed forming Mana Rings was simple. Just keep pouring mana into the core and, sooner or later, another ring would magically appear.
If only it worked like that.
Half the world would’ve been walking around with nine rings by now, complaining about how expensive mana stones had become.
You didn’t just dump mana into a ring and hope for the best.
If only cultivation worked like filling a gas tank, every idiot with a mana stone would’ve been walking around with nine Mana Rings and an ego bigger than their future.
No.
Before a Mana Ring could truly merge with the core, you had to completely understand the element it represented. Without that understanding, the ring simply wouldn’t fuse, and you could forget about creating another one.
That was exactly why most mages spent their entire lives following a single element. Fire stayed fire. Water stayed water. It wasn’t because they lacked ambition—it was because trying to juggle multiple elements was a fantastic way to end up understanding absolutely nothing. Like trying to satisfy five wives with one penis. Everyone leaves disappointed.
The important part was that understanding an element didn’t mean knowing how to throw bigger fireballs or make prettier streams of water.
It meant understanding the runes behind that element.
Every stroke.
Every connection.
Every rune array.
And that...
That was the part people spent years beating their heads against.
Which was exactly why someone capable of understanding the runes used in potion making possessed an absurd advantage. Potion brewing involved far more than just healing. It required a deep understanding of multiple elemental runes working together in perfect harmony.
Of course, Max didn’t know any of that.
As far as he was concerned, making Mana Rings mostly consumed two things.
Time.
And money.
Nothing more.
As Max thought about what kind of payment he should ask Yennefer for in exchange for the notes, he unfortunately made the mistake of thinking while staring at her breasts.
It turned out those two activities didn’t mix very well.
Almost every idea his brain came up with somehow involved them. It was like trying to negotiate a business contract while your penis had already appointed itself chairman of the meeting.
He could have accepted her body as payment.
That would’ve been easy enough.
But Max had bigger ambitions with Yennefer.
Unlike Zerena, he didn’t want her body to become the payment itself. He wanted Yennefer to gradually believe it wasn’t worth all that much to him—just an extra benefit that occasionally came with doing business, rather than the thing he was actually charging for.
After thinking for another moment, Max finally spoke.
"How about this..." he said.
"You transfer the deed of this store into my name."
Yennefer’s expression hardened immediately.
She shook her head without the slightest hesitation.
"The shop?"
Yennefer snorted.
"Dream on."
She folded her arms.
"You can ask me to become your slave if you want."
Then she shook her head.
"But the deed stays with me."
"That’s the one thing I’m not selling, it’s my legacy."
"It’s only a legacy if your children—or your grandchildren—actually keep it running," Max said with a smirk.
He couldn’t deny the thought of her offering to become his slave had been... distracting.
Still, that wasn’t what he wanted.
Not when, in his completely unbiased opinion, she’d eventually end up becoming one anyway the moment he finally managed to shove his penis inside her.
"You’re making this difficult," he sighed. "For both of us."
He leaned back, genuinely thinking this time.
If not the shop...
Then what?
Several seconds passed before another idea wandered into his head.
"How about this," he said. "Do you know any other rich ladies?"
He paused.
"Preferably the sexy kind."
Yennefer gave him a flat look.
"...Quite a few."
She shrugged.
"A lot of them come here to buy beauty creams, magical cosmetics, and rejuvenation potions."
"Then it’s simple," Max said. "You’re going to help me fuck them."
Before Yennefer could react, he grabbed the leg of her chair and dragged it a little closer.
She let out a small yelp of surprise.
"And when I’m not busy fucking them..." Max continued with an easy grin, "you’ll be my personal cum dump."
Yennefer stared at him.
She’d heard every word perfectly.
She didn’t like the idea.
Not even a little.
But after everything he’d proposed so far...
This was somehow the option where she stood to lose the least.
That realization alone irritated her.
Max, meanwhile, continued as though they were discussing perfectly ordinary business terms.
"And from now on," he said, "you only get new notes after I’ve slept with at least one of the women you introduce me to."
He pointed at her phone.
"So make sure you send me pictures of them first."
His tone left little room for negotiation.
He’d already made up his mind.
Yennefer let out a long, tired sigh.
"...Do they all have to be rich?"
"Not necessarily," Max replied. "Just really hot. Really sexy."
His eyes drifted down to her chest again.
"And if they’ve got tits like yours..." He reached over, giving one a slow squeeze. "Even better."
Yennefer shot him a flat look but didn’t pull away.
"Now..." Max continued, sounding almost thoughtful. "About the part where you become my personal cum dump."
His gaze slowly lifted to her face.
"How good is that mouth of yours at doing things besides uttering insulting?"
As he spoke, he raised a finger and gently pressed it against her lower lip.