Chapter 101: Act 37 – Brendel’s Preparations (Part II)
Brendel laid out eleven daggers in a row, each finely crafted like pieces of art. He then used a silver hammer to crush the tree crystal extracted from the body of a Withered Beast, mixing it into the alchemical liquid. Turning around, he spoke:
“Tam, why don’t you give it a try?”
“Me?” The middle-aged man standing behind Brendel was momentarily taken aback but quickly exhibited a look of eager anticipation. The future alchemy master, though usually taciturn, couldn’t help but engage in animated discussions when it came to alchemical subjects.
Yet, no amount of talk could match the hands-on experience. Tam held the title of alchemist in the aristocratic court, but his role often entailed purifying trivial materials. After all, most nobles with clout typically had their own private alchemists, reluctant to expose their secrets.
Thus, creating magical items by hand was a first-time experience for Tam. The eleven daggers before him made his throat twitch involuntarily.
Brendel smiled and nodded. Tam’s alchemy skill was improving rapidly; upon their first meeting, based on his actual capabilities and experiences, he estimated Tam was at around the 3rd level of alchemy. But by now, Tam was likely hovering around the 5th level.
Judging by this pace, it wouldn’t be long before the future alchemy master surpassed Brendel and entered the ranks of professional alchemists—a testament to his innate talent.
This progress was, of course, partly attributed to the intensive practice over the past month with Moonflower, Luminescent Moss, and Black Wizard extracts. Due to his commoner status, Brendel’s alchemy skill remained locked at level five, thus allowing the future master this extensive practice opportunity.
However, Tam seemed utterly unaware of his potential. When Brendel expressed the interest to recruit him, due to a sense of gratitude for his rescue and recognition of Tam’s abilities, he agreed without hesitation, even reducing his commission to a mere fraction. Though initially offering 30,000 silver a year, the future alchemy master insisted on accepting only a symbolic one-sixth.
At five thousand silver, employing an alchemy master was an impressive bargain, even for household retainers. But Brendel wasn’t worried; given the intimate nature of a noble’s alchemist, they rarely departed from a contract. Besides, he firmly believed he’d be able to secure Tam’s continued service when the time came.
For no one understood better what the future of this alchemy master held.
“Alright, I’ll give it a try,” the middle-aged man declared after brief contemplation.
Brendel smiled, admiring Tam’s confidence in his area of expertise.
As silence fell in the alchemy laboratory, the young man casually reached for a noble history book from the nearby shelf and began reading. His aristocratic knowledge and heraldry skills recently improved to level six, elevating his scholar rank to eleven.
The skill experience gained was utilized to enhance several abilities—military swordsmanship to (6+1) level, first aid to four, White Crow swordsmanship to two, along with weapon proficiency (mercenary), crossbow specialization (mercenary), stealth, and tree resilience.
Weapon proficiency was an exclusive skill of mercenaries and warriors, forming the core of a mercenary’s arsenal. This one-level skill enabled those who possessed it to wield all types of military and simple weapons with proficiency, regardless of previous training.
Simply put, this skill saved a substantial amount of skill points and complemented the versatile nature of a mercenary. It was speculated that to master every weapon without this skill would demand a significant investment of around twelve to thirteen thousand points—a monumental cost even in the game’s later stages.
Thus, many professions took up the mercenary/warrior path primarily for this skill.
Crossbow specialization pertained to advanced training with crossbows, with different classes possessing distinct weapon specializations. Mercenaries, however, had access to all but the magic-focused weapons: wands, staffs, and staves. This expertise went further than warriors’, emphasizing the jack-of-all-trades nature of mercenaries. While versatile, this meant they excelled in none—a prominent drawback of the mercenary class.
Stealth stemmed from nocturnal characters like Nightingales, while Tree Resilience originated from Druids. It was an active self-protection skill and one of the most practical non-core skills Druids possessed. It could transform the user’s skin like tree bark for a period, increasing natural defense by 50% per level.
Coupled with talismans of natural defense, it formed one of Brendel’s primary tactical strategies in later stages.
Of course, both skills were obtainable at the Royal Geographic Society in Bruglas, and the young man seized the opportunity. Professional cross-training skills were seldom available, much less without additional quests.
After leveling up these skills, the few hundred additional skill points gleaned from the Scholar class were once again depleted. While he understood that skill experience was a compensatory mechanism in the game, improvement primarily depended on practice and usage—something he could ill afford.
Recalling the great battle in the Jagged River Valley, his swordsmanship barely inched towards (6+2).
However, as Brendel flipped through the book with casual indifference, Tam swiftly completed his alchemical work. The future alchemy master approached with a dagger, his excitement akin to a child proudly showing off toys.
“Lord, it’s done!”
“So fast?” Brendel glanced at the hourglass, noting only a third of the sand had fallen. “No defective ones?”
“None,” Tam replied confidently.
Brendel was astounded; crafting magic items with no wastage on the first attempt was no small feat. Even in the game, his failure rate was roughly 46% until his hundredth attempt—a fairly good achievement for a novice.
Taking the dagger and examining it, he activated a display, seeing that these initially plain weapons (1–2 damage) now bore the suffix (1–1 toxin), their name becoming ‘Ent Infused Poison Daggers.’
They were labeled as Black Iron grade.
Brendel returned the dagger to the iron tray and reflected that such weapons could fetch up to two thousand Tols each at most—his clientele would comprise mostly lower nobles or rogue adventurers, as higher nobles possessed their own private alchemists who wouldn’t look twice at these items.
Twenty thousand Tols, it was still a considerable gap from the amount promised to Romain.
But the young man wasn’t flustered, retrieving the high-grade tree crystal from the Golden Magic Tree and a dwarf short-sword purchased from Balthom.
“The next one will require more effort, Tam. Let’s do it together,” he suggested.
“To… together?” Tam blinked, for alchemists usually performed solitary tasks, occasionally collaborating with wizards. Never had he heard of two alchemists being able to work alongside without their magical resonance interfering.
But Brendel had none of those qualms. He drew a circular formation on the ground with chalk, adding numbers and runes around it. As he completed the task, Tam’s eyes widened in astonishment. He identified the numbers as coordinates used by male witches for constellations.
Upon completing, Brendel pointed towards a specific section of the formation and said, “Take your position here.”
Tam stared at the completed formation, his mind awestruck. After a long pause, he couldn’t help but ask, “Lord, is this the Circle Ritual?”
“Circle Ritual?”
“It’s rumored only the wizards of Bud possess such arcane knowledge. Standing on the dominant star’s position, the Archmage can harness the combined power of many to cast spells or practice alchemy. Lord, could this be…?”
“Something like that. This is the sixteen-man simplified version; I’ll illustrate the complete formations for thirty-two and sixty-four men if the opportunity arises.” To Brendel, what seemed extraordinary to Tam was a necessary skill every player in his world mastered.
The middle-aged man’s eyes ignited with fervor. This future alchemy master nodded enthusiastically and took position within the formation, eagerly awaiting the array’s power.
Brendel smiled and picked up the sword. The short sword, crafted with dwarven aesthetic sensibilities into an elegant pointed trapezoid, contained the essence of rock magic. Checking with his fingers, he detected the Rock’s Edge enchantment. Fortunately, the affinity of Earth magic with Nature magic wasn’t conflicting, ensuring his work could proceed without issue.
He then raised a platinum chisel and tapped it lightly against the short-sword, creating a small hole.
“Ow!” At this moment, Balthom, standing near the door, yelped involuntarily.
“What’s with the racket, Balthom?” If not for his steady hands, the blade worth fifteen hundred Tols would have been ruined.
Brendel had no spare funds to buy another.
The red-bearded mercenary now knew he’d nearly caused trouble and kept silent accordingly, though his heart cried out. Most craftsmen would lament seeing such a knight tarnish the masterpiece of a dwarven iron artisan—but to Brendel, this was of little consequence. He raised the chisel again and struck it.
This blow echoed within Balthom’s chest.
However, Brendel didn’t concern himself. He mounted the tree crystal into the blade and nodded at Tam. Together, they began drawing runes on both sides of the short-sword. Within approximately half an hour, a brand-new magical weapon emerged before the trio.
Brendel took up the trapezoidal sword, its golden Earth runes contrasting beautifully with its new green Nature runes. But more importantly were the attributes: it now possessed 3–4 attack (3–3 toxin) capabilities.
Meaning this sword’s lethality was almost comparable to Azure Light Rapier in damage—save for slightly less sharpness and missing additional magical attributes.
Still, with these qualities, the sword would undoubtedly earn the Bronze label and fetch a hundred thousand Tols on the underground black market. After all, whether it be nobles, adventurers, or mercenaries, none would object to owning a fine blade.
Even knights unconstrained by mundane treaties might find it irresistible.
Brendel wiped the sweat from his brow while examining the blade. This marked his first successful creation of magical equipment over 15 (Oz) in this world. The fourteen layers of runes almost depleted him, though the rewards were plentiful. Not only was the weapon flawless beyond his imagination, but he also sensed his alchemy skills nearing a breakthrough.
Brendel felt confident that obtaining the status of a knight noble would immediately elevate his alchemy to (5+1) level.
Looking to Tam, the future alchemy master still appeared unsatisfied, his glowing eyes directed towards him. “Lord,” Tam began, “I believe I’ve grasped certain essentials. If nothing interrupts, mastering higher-level runes and arrays should merely be a question of time—”
Professional Alchemy Master.
Brendel felt a surge of delight. It seemed he would soon add a professional alchemy master to his team. For non-players, level five was a significant threshold; breaking through it meant reaching level ten in alchemy was just a matter of time, allowing for the creation of Dragon Slaying Arrows (40 Oz).
This was indeed good news.
(PS. I’ve been bothered by some irrational critics from LK’s community. Some always interpret others’ statements with maximal malice. To those who find me disagreeable, simply stop reading my book, sparing yourself the distress. It’s disheartening to see some criticize me while still reading my work—perhaps they’re masochistic by nature, finding comfort in pain.)(To be continued…)
