A few days later, at the residence.
"Diluent, purifying agent, neutralizer... Everything's almost ready. Let's begin!"
Previously, Roy had placed the entire Aquena Demongold Claw Blade into a special solvent he had purchased specifically for the purpose.
After several days, it had visibly corroded, with most of it disintegrating and settling at the bottom.
Roy inserted a glass rod and gently stirred it. The rust powder quickly turned the clear solution murky, while the remaining claw blade vanished completely.
A while later, he placed it into a witchcraft array. The liquid visibly began to tremble, as though boiling.
Roy seized the opportunity to add some alkaline solution he had made himself. Before long, he obtained a turbid liquid.
Within that bright yellow liquid, the faint crimson threads of blood were precisely where the essence of the Aquena Magic Gold he wanted was concentrated!
"Success!
"Still, the cost-effectiveness seems a little low. I still didn't do it well enough, and it took a bit too long!"
Roy carefully examined it with his Spiritual Power. After confirming that a trace of Law Residue had appeared inside, his expression became somewhat strange.
No matter what, this thing had been a Formal Wizard-level weapon. Apprentice-level acid or smelting techniques couldn't deal with it easily. He had to buy some high-grade materials on the market and use them to prepare the solution.
And high-grade materials often meant high prices.
He would need even more magic stones—perhaps several times, or even dozens or hundreds of times more—to buy them.
"Alchemy really is a bottomless pit. Everything requires money!
"Fortunately, I have the Skilled Worker success-rate bonus, which saves me a great deal without my noticing!
"But this isn't the end. Every subsequent step will have similar difficulties!"
Roy couldn't help but start worrying.
Once all my money is spent, will I have to drink the northwest wind?
But then he thought it over. The reason he had chosen the Hair Ghost Witch Body in the first place was to gamble on obtaining god-demon-level power.
It was a long-term investment.
He still had to spend what needed to be spent. At worst, he could work hard to earn it back after he ran out.
After firming his resolve, Roy got up and tidied the Alchemy Platform. He then brought over a second claw blade and continued experimenting.
"This time, I'll come up with a more efficient method.
"And learn and practice along the way."
To become an excellent alchemist, one had to master a great deal of occult knowledge and study all kinds of formulas.
Late November.
The twenty-third Will Rune, Dakaz(), manifested as scheduled.
"Excellent. My meditation cultivation is progressing smoothly too. I'm only one step away from becoming an Advanced Apprentice!"
Roy revealed a satisfied smile.
Thanks to his magic-stone refining and Dark Orchard projects, he had a continuous and stable income.
Although it wasn't much, it was enough to maintain his current meditation progress.
Ordinary apprentices didn't have such conditions.
The next step should be advancing to Advanced Apprentice.
Roy thought about it, his heart filled with a trace of anticipation.
For the apprentices in the Witch Tower, this was a major event.
It meant that they could manifest all twenty-four Will Runes, and their Spiritual Power would enter the materialization stage.
At that moment, Renion came looking for him excitedly. "Roy, I've got good news!"
"What good news?" Roy asked in confusion.
"To encourage us to accept missions, the Witch Tower has raised the rewards once again... Look!"
Roy took the notice from him and read it. "Clear the West Coast...
"Mission requirements: Kill the Merman Shaman and retrieve the Fish Pearl from its body as proof.
"Mission reward: one quota for the primary material of Apprentice-level Mage Body Modification (ordinary modification, not part of an inheritance sequence)..."
Renion gesticulated excitedly. "The primary materials for Mage Body Modification!
"With something like this, even if we haven't mastered a Spell Model, we can still ask an Advanced Apprentice to help us with Mage Body Modification or various enhancements!
"I plan to get some Star Soul Dust, then ask someone to refine a Star Soul Beast Arm. Do you want to go together?"
"The situation seems to be growing more and more severe. Did the previous Forbidden Experiment have such far-reaching effects?"
Roy didn't answer Renion immediately. Instead, he considered the matter for a moment.
Renion said, "Why bother worrying about all that? For us, this is a good thing, isn't it?
"All the materials we obtain will belong to you. I haven't been willing to spend my magic stones from before, either. I'll give them all to you as payment for hiring you!"
"That's true." Roy nodded. "All right, I'll go."
With his advancement to Advanced Apprentice imminent, a mission with such generous rewards was worth undertaking.
However, when they went together to the Quest Center and asked the Steward Apprentice about the specific details, several more groups suddenly arrived.
They had also come for the mission to clear the West Coast.
"A number of merman tribes suddenly appeared over there. It may have been caused by Witchcraft Energy radiating into the outside world..."
"There's a rumor that when the Chalk Country exploded last year, quite a few materials passed through the void and fell somewhere on the West Coast...
"That was the cause of the Great Demon Uprising!"
"Really? If we could pick up a few pieces, wouldn't we make a fortune?"
"Keep dreaming. The Astral Void is blocking the area! But even if a few slipped through the net, the various residues and fragments would still be an unimaginable boon."
"Of course. What kind of place was the Chalk Country? It was where the great wizards attempted to Create Life! There were all kinds of precious materials!
"And I heard that the Forbidden Experiment wasn't anything ordinary like Create Life. It was about creating souls—the souls of humans!"
"What? Human souls?"
Okmi was translated as "alchemy," a branch of occult thought originating from chemical philosophy.
Among the so-called Four Ultimate Pursuits, Create Life—or, more specifically, "creating humans"—was the core content of Genesis.
That could be called a forbidden art, one capable of challenging the authority of the gods.
And creating souls was the forbidden art among forbidden arts!
Especially human souls!
Could that Forbidden Experiment really have been related to this?
"No wonder everyone's so enthusiastic. It turns out they aren't just here to hunt mermen!"
Renion suddenly understood.
"Come to think of it, I'd like to look around while I'm there too..."
"It'd be great if we could make a windfall!"
Nia and Andov said, their faces filled with anticipation.
Even Roy couldn't help feeling tempted.
The group accepted the mission together and set out to explore, full of hope.
Like everyone else, their goal was to complete the Mandatory Task while trying their luck there.
Unexpectedly, however, they came up empty-handed.
Although it was far from a case of "more people than monsters," the mass rush still meant that others had beaten them to the mission site and cleared it once already.
The group had no Storage Artifact, and their trip was limited. They could only hunt a few teams of Merman Scouts before hurriedly beginning the return journey.
On the way, another group also rode back on Necromancer Warhorses.
It was Potterning's group.
They too had followed the trend and accepted the mission to hunt Merman Shamans, planning to complete the Witch Tower's assigned task while trying their luck outside.
Near the Witch Tower, the two sides failed to notice each other. They approached one another at a fork in the road.
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