A true battle to the death could be decided in an instant.
Relying on his forced charge after resisting the lightning, Roy successfully dealt the enemy a heavy blow.
He clenched his teeth and swung the Iron Sword, leaving afterimages in the air as he hacked down several more times.
Blood gushed from the mutated monster.
At last, it could hold on no longer. With a thud, it collapsed and died.
Renion and the others were helping deal with the remaining enemies. Seeing this, their morale soared, and they became incredibly excited.
The monsters, however, were utterly demoralized and began abandoning their weapons and armor.
Many of the mermen had always been timid, low-level creatures. They relied entirely on their leader's strength and only followed along to fight easy battles.
When the Merman Lord had the upper hand, they had been vicious and brutal, difficult to deal with.
But now that even the lord sorcerer had been killed, they no longer had the courage to fight.
Some of the mermen did not even bother taking the bone spears in their hands. They simply threw them away and fled toward the river bend behind them.
Others panicked and ran about blindly, even trying to flee uphill.
With their short legs, they stumbled through the uneven ground and could not run fast at all.
Before long, they were all caught. One sword each, and they were slaughtered one after another.
"We won!"
After their complete victory, everyone was filled with sincere joy, their faces brimming with excitement.
They had once been driven into a desperate flight by this group of monsters, losing several companions along the way. The memory had been painfully tragic.
But now, they had finally avenged themselves!
"Don't celebrate too soon. Hurry up and clean things up, then we'll leave."
Roy leaned on his longsword and panted for a moment. Once he recovered, he reminded them.
There were still quite a few other apprentices and mermen nearby. Encountering either side could trigger another battle and plunge them back into danger.
Everyone acknowledged him and quickly dissected the fishmen to retrieve their pearls, cleaning up the battlefield.
Just like the fishmen sorcerers they had slain earlier, these spoils could be exchanged for many things and turned into wealth to support their growth.
"This thing..."
"I've been keeping an eye on it for a long time!"
Roy also turned his attention back to the corpse of the Merman Lord. The first thing he did was dig out the strange eyeball growing in the palm of its hand.
There was no doubt that this thing was a treasure. There was also a strong possibility that it was a treasure originating from the Chalk Country.
He did not know exactly what it was.
But judging from its previous performance, it was some kind of Demonized Organ capable of casting spells.
Roy still retained the basic knowledge he had learned during the Beginner Apprentice stage.
Therefore, he knew that many monsters absorbed various Energy Particles as they grew, gradually accumulating Witchcraft Energy within their bodies.
These supernatural forces could form certain Demonized Organs, giving rise to Casting Ability such as that of an Innate Sorcerer.
Of course, the models involved were all simple force-gathering strikes or Shaping Spells of the ice, fire, and lightning varieties.
Their main feature was crude directness.
Suddenly, Roy shuddered.
He faintly felt a stabbing pain reappear between his brows.
It seemed that something was rapidly condensing in the air, stimulating his scalp until it tingled.
"Can this thing still be activated?"
Roy tensed his body, as if facing a formidable enemy.
But the lightning he had been guarding against did not appear. Instead, a translucent Phantom Panel suddenly materialized before his eyes.
Then, the progress suddenly surged forward by a large amount.
Alchemy Talent Acquisition in Progress (35%→100%)
"What's going on?"
Roy had inexplicably gained so much, and he was both pleasantly surprised and bewildered.
That was because his previous acquisition of the Alchemy Talent had always been passive and slow.
It had taken him an entire year to acquire his second Black Iron Rank Talent, Alchemy Machine.
After that, the rate of progress had slowed even more noticeably.
He had thought it would take at least another year or two to obtain a third Black Iron Rank Talent...
He had never expected to obtain it in one step!
What the panel displayed next delighted him even more.
The translucent Phantom Panel in his field of vision shimmered with a strange light, and words appeared upon it.
Sulfur-Mercury Theory (Bronze-grade) Grants knowledge of using Sulfur and Mercury to produce Zabir Magic Gold. When performing related operations, the corresponding ability level is increased by 1. Alchemy Talent Acquisition in Progress (0%→83%)
A Bronze-tier Talent!
Not a Black Iron Rank Talent?
And the acquisition progress for the next talent had shot up to 83%!
Threads of knowledge flowed into his mind like clear spring water.
Roy's eyes immediately became much clearer.
He quickly focused his attention on the knowledge that had just flowed into his mind as if he had learned it without a teacher.
The feeling of understanding everything naturally was intoxicating.
The Sulfur-Mercury Theory was an important foundational theory in ancient alchemy.
Ancient people believed that the essence of base metals was a diseased state caused by an imbalance among the Four Roots—fire, earth, air, and water—and Sulfur and Mercury. Thus, by balancing their proportions, one could "cure" them and turn them into "healthy" precious metals.
All metals in the world, meanwhile, were composed of Sulfur and Mercury in different proportions.
These two substances were dry like smoke and moist like vapor respectively. When they condensed into matter, that was the process by which the earth formed various metallic ores.
Through a secret formula with specific proportions, combined with the incantations and rituals of Alchemy Witchcraft...
And, most importantly, the infusion of Witchcraft Energy.
They could undergo transmutation!
This kind of Enchanted Metal refined using Sulfur and Mercury as raw materials was known as Zabir Magic Gold in the Wizarding World.
Its item grades ranged from low to high, and its properties varied as well. It could be considered a specific category of metal. In the early development of the Wizarding World, it had once been widely used.
The Bronze-grade Talent known as Sulfur-Mercury Theory granted knowledge and abilities related to this field.
"So that's how it works..."
Roy instantly felt as if everything had suddenly become clear.
This was not a superficial impression like watching an instructional video. Instead, it had fused into his mind like instinct, directly pouring itself into him.
Its scope was no longer Apprentice-level Alchemy Operation. Instead, it had shifted to the field of Zabir Magic Gold.
He continued reading and discovered that the so-called "when performing related operations, the corresponding ability level is increased by 1" was even more wondrous.
The "ability level" here referred to the Alchemy skill level corresponding to a wizard's rank.
For example, Apprentice-level Alchemy +1 would become Level 1 Alchemy, while Level 1 Alchemy +1 would become Level 2 Alchemy.
And so on.
Just like the knowledge he had previously gained without a teacher, it was directly added to him in an instinctive manner.
This was not restricted by any other innate conditions. As long as the ability belonged to the field of "Zabir Magic Gold," it could receive the enhancement!
As an Advanced Apprentice, Roy had only possessed Apprentice-level knowledge and abilities in every field up until now.
But after obtaining this Bronze-tier Talent, his abilities in the field of "Zabir Magic Gold" instantly soared to a level comparable to that of a Level 1 Wizard!