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Starry’s arrival seemed to disrupt their good mood. Theo, slightly tipsy, frowned and said, “Old man, you invited a woman to drink with us?”

“Hah, what nonsense are you spouting? I’m not interested in women!” Zenn replied, then downed his cup of Saintspring Ale in one gulp.

“Well, that’s true…I was overthinking. Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Their cups clinked loudly, splashing wine everywhere, but the two drunks didn’t care in the slightest.

Seeing how quickly they were ignoring her, Starry strode forward without hesitation.

“Master—Sir!!”

“Young lady,” Theo said with a hazy look at the wine in his hand, “interrupting someone’s… drinking session… is not… a good habit.”

Zenn had been ready to scold whoever had barged in without permission. But when he turned around, the sight of that naturally violet hair shimmering under the moonlight and those crimson eyes glaring coldly at him made him freeze.

“Oh, it’s you, Starry!” Zenn lit up, patting the empty stone chair next to him. “Sit!”

‘Why is he acting like this is normal…’ Starry hesitated for a moment, but finally sat down.

“She’s…?” Theo asked with a hint of doubt.

“My brand-new disciple, just accepted today! The Saintbloom Water was brought back by her. Without her, brother, you wouldn’t even get a chance to taste this Saintspring Ale~” Zenn said sentimentally.

Theo gave Starry a once-over and nodded after two seconds. “Not bad, not bad.”

‘These two…’ Starry couldn’t take it anymore. “Master, didn’t you say the ale wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow?”

Zenn blinked. “Don’t sweat the small details! Come on, drink!”
“Drink, my a̲s̲s̲! Where’s my share!?”
“Haha, did you think I forgot? Don’t worry, I saved your portion real nice.”
“Where?”
“There, that’s it.” Zenn pointed to a tiny cup in the corner.

How small? Maybe three spoonfuls, tops.

“…”

Starry felt a strong urge to draw her Autumn Moon Sword.

“Young lady, don’t be so petty,” Theo stepped in to smooth things over when he saw Zenn looking awkward. “When there’s good wine, drink it while you can! Who knows what tomorrow holds?”

‘Forget tomorrow, how about I chop you both up right now!’ That’s what she thought… but she held back.

Even though Zenn had basically hoarded the Saintspring Ale, it had accidentally led to Theo showing up. Who would’ve thought that the mysterious “drinking buddy” mentioned in the description turned out to be The Mad Blade himself!

Drunks attract other drunks, it was inevitable.

And honestly, for someone who was rumored to be an eccentric sword saint, he just looked like a slightly drunk uncle.

Seeing that Starry didn’t make a fuss and quietly took her seat, Theo smiled. “You’ve picked a very well-mannered disciple!” He raised his cup. “Come, let’s toast to the new master and disciple!”

Zenn hadn’t expected the girl to be so calm either. He lifted his cup with a grin. “Cheers!”

Then both of them looked at Starry expectantly.

‘Nani? Why are you both staring at me? You drink your drinks, why drag me into it? I was hoping to wait until they got drunk and then trick a hidden class out of them…’

“I don’t like drinking…” Starry tried to refuse.

“No worries, no worries,” Theo waved his hand dismissively. “You’re a brewer and you don’t drink? People would laugh you out of the trade. Trust me, once you’ve had enough, you’ll never want to quit.”

“Starry, just take a sip. You brought the Saintbloom Water back yourself. How can you not at least taste it?”

‘Oh, *now* you remember that!’

She looked at the little cup in front of her. It probably held less than 100 milliliters… If she just had one, it should be fine.

As she picked it up, the drink’s properties automatically popped up.

+1000 Max HP!! There were tons of players whose total HP didn’t even reach that!

Still, the part about a significant rise in Confusion status made Zane hesitate a bit. But being stared at by two pairs of unwavering eyes was more than a little uncomfortable.

‘Just one glass!’ Starry brought the cup to her lips, tilted her head back slightly, and downed it in one go, the intense scent of alcohol stung her senses.

The taste was quite pleasant, slightly sweet, with a faint oceanic note, probably from the Rainlily. Drinking it all at once didn’t feel difficult at all, it was almost like sipping a soft drink.

So this is what a Level 5 exquisite wine tastes like…

**Buzz—!**

A rush of heat surged straight to her brain. Starry clenched her lips tightly, struggling to keep her composure. A few beads of sweat slid from beneath her hair, whether from tension or exertion, she couldn’t tell.

Even her main body, connected through shared consciousness, felt dizzy and unsteady. Zane simply leaned against a small tree and sat down, trying to cope.

“Now that’s courage!” Zenn nodded approvingly. “In that case, I can’t lose to my own disciple.” He raised his cup with pride and turned to Theo. “So, what do you think of my student, brother?”

“Haha! Not bad, not bad at all! Cheers!”

Starry placed the empty glass back onto the stone table with trembling hands. She forced her eyes open, ‘It’s time to get straight to the point.’

“M-Master… Theo…”
“No need to be so formal. Just call me Martial Uncle!”
“M-Martial… Uncle…”

‘Ugh. My mind is getting hazier and hazier. I only had one drink, why did it hit so hard?’

“For that ‘Martial Uncle,’ I’ll drink another toast to you!” Theo raised his cup excitedly, clearly pleased by the title.

“Starry, drink another with your Martial Uncle!” Zenn egged her on.
“I… I really can’t…” she murmured, her voice barely audible.
“No need to be shy! We’re all family here!”
“Then… one more… but after this… you have to listen to what I have to say…”

Her consciousness was hazy, yet her hand still found the cup with uncanny accuracy. She raised it to her lips once again, there was that same familiar scent.

‘Who’s afraid of who? Bottoms up!’

Starry drained the entire cup of Saintspring Ale.

“H-How’s that!” Starry wiped her mouth proudly.
Theo chuckled. “Alright then, speak—what do you want?”
“I… want to learn sword techniques… from you!”
“Oh? You’ve heard of me?”
“Of course…!”

While the alcohol hadn’t fully kicked in, Starry quickly pulled out the Gale Emblem, the key item Sheen had entrusted to her.

A flicker of surprise passed through Theo’s eyes. “Who gave this to you?”

“S-Sheen…”

Apparently reminded of something amusing, Theo’s lips curled into a grin.

“Hey, old pal, don’t forget…Starry is my disciple!” Zenn slurred happily, clearly deep in his cups.

Theo ignored him and looked back at Starry. “Did she tell you anything about me?”

“Hah! That sour-faced mentor wouldn’t tell me anything!” Starry’s words were still clear, but her logic was noticeably starting to drift. “Thank goodness for Elna! If not for her, I’d still be completely lost.”

“Elna? The Wishkeeper?” Theo asked with interest.
“Of course! Who else would it be?”
“Elna… huh? That little one’s my disciple too! And she hasn’t even visited me since she came back,” Zenn muttered with drunken irritation.
“You’re the one who saved her?”

…

‘Oof, my head hurts. Damn it.’ He had no idea when exactly he had lost consciousness. Zane glanced at the horizon, where the first light of dawn was breaking through. It was already 4:00 a.m.

‘What’s going on… Why am I still in the game at this hour?’

Elsewhere, Starry slowly opened her heavy eyelids. The table around her was littered with messy wine cups. The air was thick with the scent of evaporated alcohol.

‘When did I fall asleep on the stone table…?’

Off to the side, on the grass, Zenn lay sound asleep with several wine cups clutched to his chest, completely soaked in spilled liquor, reeking of sour fumes.

Theo was nowhere to be found.

The whole place looked like a drunken garbage heap. Starry pinched her nose and walked outside. Glancing at the system notifications without much thought, there were dozens of them!

‘What the heck…?’

First was the max HP increase from the Saintspring Ale. Her HP had risen to 2,140—no longer something that could be easily one-shotted! Then there was this Hero of the Brew.

‘…A title? Attack increases based on confusion level…? And it’s endorsed by Theo? When did all of this happen!?’

And that wasn’t even the end of it, there was a string of high confusion level warnings following that.

‘Just how much did I drink yesterday…?’ Starry stared at the empty cups littering the table, lost in thought.

Then, after the confusion warnings, more notifications popped up.

‘Wait, when did that…’

But that wasn’t all, new skills had also been unlocked.

Frenzied Blade was a piercing, linear AoE skill. Blade Dance was an AoE centered around the user, with a chance to inflict confusion. Confused enemies would attack indiscriminately, regardless of friend or foe, they would target the nearest unit.

Both AoEs dealt a monstrous 200% damage, surpassing even Icy Moon Slash.

Triple Frenzy Slash was a single-target burst skill, perfect for pressuring and staggering the enemy. Unchained Will guaranteed immunity to crowd control. And Battlelust, rare as it was, offered life steal with every hit, allowing her to sustain herself in combat.

‘What a terrifying class!’

Even Wishkeepers would struggle to counter her. Unchained Will would nullify their crowd control tactics entirely! And Mad Swordsman was clearly a branch of the Swordsman class, meaning she could learn Charge too!

With an outstanding 4.5-star Dexterity growth… There was no need to change her build. Full Dexterity it was.

Then her new stats screen came into view, and it was just as staggering.

To be honest… Zane no longer knew who the real boss was anymore.