I look over at Liber, and his face is twisted into a grimace, “You get the same message Liber?”

“Skill leveling is disabled? Yea, I got it. I think it’s time for me to to get some sleep. There isn’t much reason to stay awake now.”

“Yea, I supposed so bud. I have a couple questions though. First, do you know what a Mexican Axolotl is?”

“Yea, it’s that little salamander that lived in that lake Mexico City was built on. I can’t remember what it’s called. They’ve been extinct in the wild for years, but there were thousands of them in captivity. They are studied all the time since they can regrow damn near anything for as long as they can stay alive. I think Rio Grande has been putting a lot of research into formulating something from them.”

“Awesome, uhm, how long do you think it would take for them to regrow their nose?”

“Uhm, I think they regrow limbs in like 2-3 months… so, a month or so maybe? I really don’t know, why are you asking me?”

“Well, you are a college professor right? I didn’t really want to log out just to look it up. I actually got a choice of three enhancements. I picked a Mexican Axolotl serum since it was S ranked. It allows me to regenerate pretty much anything.”

Liber stares at me for a few moments before clasping his hands together as if he was praying, “Oh, thank god! Ok, sooooo I’ve been so worried about how to break this to you… soooo, I may have spent more money than I should have…”

I give him a deadpanned look, “Liber, how much did you cost me?”

“So, I know I quoted you 200 pesos, but the metal was more expensive than I thought. Oh and the coca leave and ether was added into it…”

“Liber, just tell me the fucking number.”

He gives me an awkward smile, “500 pesos. Don’t be mad.”

“God Dammit Liber, 500? How? Wait, how much did it cost to make your ‘go-go juice’?

“Uhm, 200…”

I glare at him, trying to channel all of my frustration into it, “I’m gonna kill you.”

He laughs it off at first, but then he realizes I could actually be serious, “Wait, wait, I can pay you back.”

“How, you’re broke?”

“I have got a tonic from reaching 100 in blacksmithing. I picked it since it would accelerate healing for 24 hours. You can have it! Then we’ll call it even?”

“A tonic that increases healing over 24 hours? Let me think about it for a second. Leave me be.”

I walk out of the building before he has a chance to say anything. I have 750 pesos right now, and I can afford the increased price… but dammit Liber. I needed you to make so much more shit for me. The weapons I need you to make will be way more expensive. It’s almost the end of February right now… that gives me 17 months before the Spanish treasure fleet sails. Fuck, Liber is still my best bet.

I walk back in, and Liber is sitting in a chair biting his nails and bouncing his leg, “Alright Liber, I’ll buy that tonic from you. Here is a sack of 500 pesos, but if you lose this one, I will kill you. I’ll keep killing you until you’ve lost all of your skills.”

He shakes his head up and down so hard he almost falls off his chair, “Yep, you got it! I’ll make sure everything gets paid, and I will get the rest of those shields to you by the end of the week.”

“Alright, what all do you need for the cannon upgrades and the improved small arms?”

“I crunched the numbers, and I think that the cannon upgrades will be super cheap once we get the casting kiln. It’ll be a hundred pesos or so. I’m going to get two so we can make sure we have enough of a supply. The small arms though…”

He takes a few moments to gather his words, “I can get all the chemicals I need. It’ll be around 1,000 pesos for everything, but... there is something I’m gonna have to get you to steal. I need mercury, a good bit of it actually. Without it the new weapons will me marginally better at best.”

“Alright, where can I get it?”

“You’re gonna have to steal it from the Spanish. I’d suspect you could find a ship carrying some in Havana, but I have no idea when there will be a ship carrying it.”

“I’ll hop on the forums and over some credits and pesos to someone to find me one. Will a shipfull be enough? I will need the rest of those shields to do it… by the way, there is something I want you to add to the shields. Put some small spikes on the bottom. They’ll be easier to use with some way anchor them.”

“ Yes, a shipful will be plenty, but damn, why couldn’t you have told me to begin with. I could hav…”

Liber stops mid-sentence when he sees the glare I’m giving him, “Liber I like you, but I won’t be taken advantage of. No, stop, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care what you have to say. Get some rest and I’ll be back in a week for those shields. Now, the tonic?”

Liber runs over to a large drawer. He pulls out a package wrapped in plastic and a small bottle. He hands it over to me while avoiding eye contact, “Here, it says you have to eat the entire block of ‘High Density Nutrition Brick’ and then drink the tonic. It also said that logging out for 4.8 hours was recommended, while your body was in a safe place. The description didn’t say why though.”

“Thanks Liber, get some rest. I’ll be back in a week.”

I walk out of the building and start making my way to the Brown’s office. Should I go ahead and fix this ugly mug? I look at the cinder block sized block of stuff I’m supposed to eat. It looks kinda like a solid cinder block to… its gray with specks of black in it… I think I’d rather save it in case I lose an arm or a leg. Yea, that sounds like a good idea. Although, I am curious as to how Mrs. Brown will react when she sees me… well, one way to find out. I need to give her the money back anyways.