Making Magic Armor (Please Keep Reading)

Alchemy was a craft of staggering complexity. Whether it was Magic Armor, Magic Potions, Chimeras, or Magic Arrays, all of them required a mixture of numerous skills to achieve the best results.

It demanded not only sufficient patience and meticulousness from a wizard, but also the ability to adapt to changing circumstances—or even have a flash of inspiration—during the process.

After purchasing the tools, Richard hung a Do Not Disturb sign on his door.

The process of making the Pale Mask did not seem complicated to him, but he still approached it with two hundred percent seriousness.

Since he had not purchased a skull directly, Richard first had to process the Black Striped Water Python's head.

He soaked the Black Striped Water Python Skull in a specially prepared alchemical solution for twelve hours. After taking it out, he could clean away most of the flesh and blood clinging to it. Then he repeated the soaking process with the same alchemical solution, repeating the same steps until not a trace of flesh remained on the skull.

While soaking the skull, Richard did not waste any time.

He ground the Inferior Wind Pattern Stone needed for the Pale Mask into powder, mixed it with charcoal powder made from ten-year Enchanted Wood in the proper ratio, added five hundred grams of water, let it sit for three hours, and extracted the clear liquid.

This was Cartilage Water, used to soften the skull.

Next, he mashed Sticky Mushroom into a paste and mixed it with Poisonous Wisteria Ink to create the ink for drawing alchemical Runes.

This step was extremely dangerous.

Poisonous Wisteria Ink evaporated easily, and its vapors were highly toxic. Furthermore, if the proportion was even slightly off when Sticky Mushroom was mixed with Poisonous Wisteria Ink, it would generate an enormous amount of heat.

For his own safety and that of his neighbors, Richard had no choice but to rent space in the Test Area for the mixing.

That was another extra expense.

Once the preparations were complete, Richard placed the Black Striped Water Python Skull into the Cartilage Water and soaked it for an hour to soften it.

The skull was the main material of the mask, and softening it made it easier to shape.

After softening, the Black Striped Water Python Skull had a texture somewhat like modeling clay. Richard easily shaped it into a pale mask.

Then came the most crucial step.

For ordinary Magic Armor, inscribing a spell was often the most critical step. But the Pale Mask was the exception. Its greatest difficulty lay in drawing the magical power conduction circuit. Richard needed to use threads of magical power to guide Black Mercury through the inside of the skull, drawing out the magical power conduction circuit. If he took a wrong turn or his magical power fluctuated even once, the mask would become scrap.

But because Richard had extracted Gerald's skills, he was thoroughly at ease when it came to controlling magical power. He completed this step in only ten minutes.

"Phew, all that's left is inscribing the Runes."

Richard carefully opened the ink he had prepared earlier and began inscribing Runes on the back of the mask with a quill pen.

Within the quill, magical power reacted with the Alchemical Ink. The reaction deformed the quill, so each time he completed a Rune, Richard had to replace it with a new quill.

The spell inscribed on this mask was the First-Circle Spell Fear Spell. Its effect was to intimidate enemies, a form of spiritual attack.

If a Low-level apprentice were suddenly struck by a Fear Spell, they would instantly lose their focus. If they were more timid, they might piss and shit themselves—or even faint on the spot.

After inscribing the spell, Richard wiped the sweat from his forehead.

By now, he had spent four days making this mask. The entire process had gone very smoothly. It might not qualify as Premium, but it was at least above the passing line.

This result should be enough to pass the test.

"But why is this thing so fragile?" Richard touched the mask. Perhaps because the skull's original owner had not yet reached adulthood, the finished mask lacked the hardness described in the blueprint. Instead, it felt like it would snap with a single bend.

"I should reinforce its texture with the entire magic array. Otherwise, a slight bump or knock will ruin this mask."

"You finished it pretty quickly." Jacques held a wine flask as he looked at Richard in surprise. "It took me two weeks to make this thing back then, and I even failed once in the middle."

"This... maybe I was just lucky. I succeeded on the first try." Richard scratched his head and smiled somewhat bashfully.

He had not cheated this time. He had completed every step with his own hands.

"Remarkable, truly remarkable. Senior Sister was right—you really are an alchemical genius." Jacques praised him. "From today onward, we're fellow disciples. If you run into any minor problems later, you can come ask Senior Brother. What I study may be rather obscure, but I do have the fundamentals."

Richard nodded. Naturally, he knew the drawbacks of shutting oneself away to build a cart.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, a rapid thud-thud-thud of footsteps approached from afar and reached Richard's ears.

Bang.

Anna pushed open the door and entered. Today, she was not dressed as before. Her wizard robe had been replaced with a black outfit resembling a bodysuit, putting her fiery figure fully on display.

"You finished it?" Anna's phoenix eyes fixed tightly on Richard.

"I finished it. This is the finished product."

Richard waved the bag containing the mask at Anna.

Sensing the faint magical power fluctuations coming from the bag, Anna's expression did not change, but she secretly let out a breath of relief.

Her judgment had not been wrong. Richard truly was a genius.

"Come on. Follow me to see Master. Jacques, you're coming too."

They arrived at the ninety-ninth floor of the Central Black Tower. This time, Gerald was still seated before the bookshelves, staring at his notes with a troubled frown.

"Failed again. What exactly am I missing? Could the laboratory's location be bad and affecting my luck?"

"Master, Richard has completed his work."

"Hm?" Gerald turned to look at his eldest disciple, his gaze seemingly filled with confusion.

"What Richard?"

Anna's expression stiffened. She grabbed Richard and pulled him in front of her, saying helplessly,

"It's Richard, the one you met before, Teacher."

"Oh, oh, right, right. You brought an apprentice over before." Gerald slapped his forehead, suddenly recalling that Anna had once brought an apprentice to see him.

He seemed to have some talent, too.

Gerald repeatedly tapped his temple with his index finger, searching through his vast and tangled memories for information from that day.

There were simply too many things he needed to remember. A minor figure like Richard truly was not worth committing to memory.

After searching for several minutes, Gerald finally recalled the scene from that day.

Anna had introduced an apprentice, and he had thought the boy might have talent, so he had given him a test.

But that day, he had apparently been in a bad mood because his experiment had failed, and it seemed... he had given him the wrong thing.

He should have given him the blueprint for the Stealth Mask, not the blueprint for the Pale Mask.

Gerald felt somewhat embarrassed. How could a Low-level apprentice possibly make a Pale Mask?

The Pale Mask's magical power conduction circuit had to be guided with magical power and completed in one go. This placed extremely high demands on magical power control. If one's control was insufficient, quantity would have to make up for it. Generally speaking, an ordinary Advanced Apprentice could only complete the Pale Mask after studying magical power manipulation.

Even his two disciples, despite their exceptional talent, had only completed it during the Intermediate Apprentice stage.

Yet the apprentice before him seemed to have made one.

It should be a defective piece that can barely conduct magical power.

Gerald looked at the bag holding Richard's mask and thought,

Magic Armor quality was divided into four tiers: the highest, Perfect; second, Premium; third, Finished Product; and finally, Defective.

Although Defective Magic Armor could still cast spells, it suffered enormous disadvantages in both magical power consumption and spell effects. Compared with Finished Product-grade Magic Armor, Defective Magic Armor consumed more magical power while producing weaker spell effects.

Even so, being able to make Defective Magic Armor was enough to prove the talent of the apprentice before him.

Gerald walked over to Richard and did his best to put on a gentle expression. After all, giving someone the wrong test blueprint was rather embarrassing.

"Don't be nervous. Give me the mask."