Rockforged Knight (13)

Since he had already made the decision, and had to head to the Avak Region, the next step was preparation.

And a "pretext."

Pretexts were quite important to official organizations, and the pretext Ian had chosen for himself and the Fairies was the "Special Incident Observation Squad."

This was a special unit within the Inspecting Knights Order. Whenever something akin to the Western Frontier Incident occurred, a squad of relevant alchemists and scholars would head to the target area as an observation team to analyze the cause and origin of the event.

Ian went without saying. Hua An was a Shaper and scholar of Elysium, while Mo Feng was also a Falling Star City observation scholar stationed in the Imperial Capital. All in all, they were a group of scholars, so naturally they could form an observation squad.

As for Frost Butterfly... Frost Butterfly was an observation tool, obviously.

The observation squad itself was not responsible for combat, so under normal circumstances, it would be protected by Patrol Knights led by a Second Energy Level captain.

Ian designated Teres's squad. With permission from Mikael and Deputy Commander Shuang Ji, Teres did not quite understand why, but he agreed nonetheless.

After all, he would still earn merit, still draw the attention of important figures, and acting alongside Ian was even safer—why not?

After settling the preparations concerning their pretext, Ian began preparing to advance.

In theory, advancing to Rockforged Knight now would increase the possibility of his true identity being exposed. But in order to better face the increasingly urgent threats, as well as the silver future foretold by "Frost Butterfly," Ian still intended to increase his strength as soon as possible.

The primary ingredient of the Rockforged Knight Magic Potion was naturally the perfect material known as the "Rainbow Spear Plume of the Silver Halberd Falcon," supplemented by materials from two other magical beasts.

Through Isengard and the Platinum-Iridium Workshop's channels, he had then used research funds for personal purposes to purchase "Voltage-Transforming Muscles of the Flying-Flame Giant Locust" and an "Infernal Ice Wolf Crystal Core." Both were of excellent quality and could absolutely be made into top-grade materials.

The supplementary ingredients were "refined blood of the Land-Sea Leech" and "life-enhancement culture fluid." The former was a bloodthirsty predator that lived in oil fields, while the latter was a universal base for all enhancement potions. Naturally, Ian was not paying for them himself.

Misappropriating research funds was part of an unscrupulous scholar's life.jpg

No matter what, Ian was at least the sort of alchemist who genuinely produced results. Even if the Platinum-Iridium Workshop found out, they would probably forgive him.

The moment he returned to his laboratory, Ian took out all the alchemical bases he had prepared long ago—he had made plans for this long in advance. Whenever needed, he only required a few minutes to transform the bases into Magic Potions.

Now was the time.

The Flying-Flame Giant Locust's Voltage-Transforming Muscles were a pale silver, strange biomatter that did not seem as though any normal creature could possess it. They were semi-transparent and fibrous, and when stimulated by the appropriate Origin Matter, they rapidly contracted and expanded, unleashing extraordinarily powerful force.

The locust king of the Flying-Flame Giant Locusts even possessed additional "jet vents," which led to air sacs controlled by the Voltage-Transforming Muscles. When the locust king burst forth at full speed, it would spray explosive high-pressure airflow and crash into its enemies like a projectile several times faster than sound—and that earthshaking explosive jet roar was precisely the horn signaling the collective charge of all giant flying locusts.

The vast Swarm would sweep over its enemies with an overwhelming force, crushing everything to pieces.

This would be Ian's future flesh-and-blood structure. Combined with the high-energy fat and Origin Matter provided by the Steel-Patterned Starfish, even without the Ancient Dragon Core and Aether Crystal, his endurance would be astonishing.

Its base was a mass of silver semi-transparent gel, activated with electric current and slowly dissolved into a viscous liquid.

As for the Rainbow Spear Plume of the Silver Halberd Falcon, there was no need to say more. It was the outer armor that protected the flesh, and it had already been introduced many times.

It could make Ian's bones even harder and generate rows upon rows of fine feather scales beneath his skin. Those were the initial form of the scales that had covered Teacher Hilliard's body back then... But even this initial version was one of the finest defensive modules at the Second Energy Level. Not only would it not hinder agility, it could even enhance Ian's transmission of force.

Its base was a large quantity of fine metallic dust. Once mixed into the silver gel, it transformed it into a mercury-like metallic fluid.

The Infernal Ice Wolf Crystal Core, meanwhile, had only recently arrived. It was the high-grade magical beast material Ian had been waiting so long for.

Crystal cores were exceptional materials for strengthening Origin Matter organs. They could comprehensively enhance every Origin Matter-related ability. Their only drawback was that they emitted astonishing heat while operating. Without the corresponding physical constitution, one might be half-crippled after a single battle before the enemy had even done much.

Its base was a solid gray-white crystal, but as long as it was catalyzed with earth-aspected Origin Matter, it could dissolve into the mercury liquid from before while preserving its own structural integrity.

The final "Rockforged Knight" Magic Potion was a mass of semi-transparent mercury liquid. Its outer edges reflected a cold metallic gleam, while inside lay orderly gray-white crystal lattices. Layer upon layer of complex inscription structures rotated in rhythm with flickering Origin Matter, making it look like some kind of incredibly powerful energy shield.

Solid and plain, it was obvious at a glance that its strength was absolutely terrifying.

The problem was that this Magic Potion looked far too hard.

"What's the difference between drinking this and drinking mercury? Oh, mercury isn't as heavy."

The Magic Potions of the Immovable Fortress line might rival Fairy Magic Potions in appearance, but when it came to taste, they were worlds apart—Ian still remembered how the Second Energy Level Fairy Magic Potion had carried the floral fragrance of Rosy Radiance Grass. It had been cool and faintly sweet, like drinking chilled honey water.

As for the Rockforged Knight Magic Potion's flavor...

"Gulp."

Ian felt as if he were drinking cold lava.

It sounded contradictory, but because it was a Magic Potion, it was not contradictory—the mercury potion itself was cold, but the Origin Matter stimulation it brought was nearly equivalent to being scorched by blazing fire.

It entered his muscular stomach, then was analyzed by Ian's powerful Origin Matter system and merged into his entire body.

This time, it was not the Silver Chip, but a true elevation of his life essence.

Buzz—

At the center of Ian's chest, though covered by a shirt and alchemical robe, a silver-gray I-shaped light lit up. It then condensed into layer after layer of hexagonal latticework, spreading across his entire body.

An utterly dry heat, like the scorching rock strata deep underground, briefly emerged before withdrawing and gathering at the ends of the youth's limbs, at his fingertips and hair tips. A powerful phantom of Origin Matter briefly appeared, like a suit of silver-gray armor.

Then the armor sank beneath Ian's skin.

—The Rockforged, firm as stone, standing immovable.

He opened his eyes.

Watery halos flowed within his pupils. Though Ian's face remained expressionless, he was enduring pain that ordinary people could never imagine—his flesh was twisting and changing, being replaced from the most minute parts with a more powerful structure. Every one of his nerves quivered beneath the heat generated by rapidly moving Origin Matter and the stimulation of tiny electric currents, trying to make his body convulse and howl in agony.

But just as the Inheritance's name implied.

For those who cultivated this path, the best way to deal with all this pain was to endure it.

Endure all of it.

Half an hour later, the white-haired youth slowly rose to his feet.

With that single movement alone, every object in the laboratory began to tremble faintly. It was an "anomaly" caused by being drawn by excessively vast Origin Matter.

At this moment.

He was already a "Rockforged Knight."

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Update time: 2022-08-09 8:00:00