Episode 45
045. The Alchemist’s Secret Manual
‘Will Cha Yu-kyung really log into Lepione?’
He was half-convinced, half-skeptical, but he decided to be satisfied for now with having planted a seed for the future.
There were many ways to make her log in if she didn’t.
Now was the time to focus on the immediate goal.
“Walker, status?”
“Woooorker! Worker!”
At Golden Hand call, Iron Walker answered powerfully, its chest core glowing blue.
The minor scratches from the consecutive battles had already been perfectly restored through its self-repair function.
“Good, then let’s head out immediately. Parakel should still be there, right?”
Golden Hand muttered as he climbed onto Iron Walker’s back.
The time Parakel had given was three days.
Since he had spent a little over a day in reality, time was a bit tight.
A sense of urgency crept in, wondering if that eccentric old man had broken his promise and disappeared.
“Walker, as fast as possible!”
“Worker! WorkerWorker!”
Iron Walker raced across the wasteland of Kratum toward the Blue Cave with heavy strides.
“Huh? Geumson, it’s you! Back already? There’s still a day left, though?”
Parakel revealed himself from beneath a crystal pillar in the deepest part of the cave.
Seeing golden hand, his eyes widened as if in disbelief.
“No, did you give up? Tsk tsk, a shame, but it can’t be helped. The Dragonblood Herb isn’t that easy to…”
“Here it is.”
golden hand cut him off, pulling out a bundle of herbs pulsing red from his inventory.
And not just any Dragonblood Herbs.
They were Supreme-grade Dragonblood Herbs, their efficacy maximized, obtained through golden hand exceptional gathering skill.
“Th-this is all… Dragonblood Herb? And all Supreme grade?”
Parakel’s jaw dropped as if it would hit the floor.
With trembling hands, he took one herb, smelled it, and even lightly chewed a leaf to taste it.
“This can’t be… this purity, this magic… it’s definitely Supreme grade! And this is a top-quality product aged for hundreds years at least! How on earth did you… and in such a short time?”
Parakel doubted his own eyes.
It was an item even he had failed to gather several times due to the Corrupted Earthworm.
Moreover, even if such top-quality herbs were found, harvesting them was no easy task because they were surrounded by lava, making it difficult to endure the heat.
Yet this young blacksmith before him had met the deadline.
In fact, the three-day timeframe had felt somewhat unreasonable.
So he hadn’t expected much, but in just two days.
In two days, he had brought a mountain of the highest quality Dragonblood Herbs Parakel had ever seen in his life.
“It must not have been easy to harvest due to the heat, impressive! Ah! What about that strange worm?”
“Ah, that thing? It seemed like it would be a hindrance to gathering, so I took care of it first.”
“Right, if it’s a hindrance, you should take care of it… what? T-took care of it? That big thing?”
Parakel was speechless.
In his mind, a reassessment of the entity named golden hand was taking place.
This was definitely not just a stranger with good dexterity.
However, regardless of Parakel’s thoughts, the awaited system messages cascaded before Geumson’s like a waterfall.
[Impromptu Class Quest: Completed ‘The Master’s First Task’ with ‘Perfection’!]
[You have brought back the materials faster than the time limit, and in Supreme grade.]
[Parakel cannot help but marvel at your ability.]
[Parakel’s Favorability has increased to ‘Maximum’.]
[You have acquired the Alchemist Subclass.]
[Rewards are greatly enhanced.]
[You have acquired the Hidden Skill ‘Insight of the Flow’!]
[As a token of gratitude, Parakel additionally gifts you ‘Fairy’s Tear’ and ‘Alchemist’s Secret Manual – Extraction Volume’.]
‘Got it!’
Geumson cheered internally. He quickly checked the information of the newly acquired hidden skill.
[Insight of the Flow Lv.1]
[Passive Skill]
– Description: Gain the insight to see through the flow of energy and magic within objects.
[Effects]
1. The ‘flow’ of magic running through an object’s internal structure is displayed as blue lines.
2. Areas where magic flow is blocked or twisted, ‘nodes,’ are displayed as blue dots.
3. Attacking nodes can interfere with skill casting or cause magic overload.
4. Usable in non-combat situations to sense latent magic in materials or analyze the structure of magical items.
‘This is… jackpot, isn’t it?’
He felt like shouting for joy.
He just couldn’t show it with Parakel present.
Insight of the Flow.
This was definitely a set skill with Intuition of Resolution.
The synergy with Intuition of Resolution, in particular, was thrilling just to imagine.
‘Intuition of Resolution shows physical weaknesses as red dots, Insight of the Flow shows magical weaknesses as blue dots… Is that the concept?’
Now, Golden Hand’s eyes could simultaneously see the physical and magical weaknesses of everything in the world.
This didn’t just mean an improvement in combat ability.
‘It’s the same for crafting too. If I can simultaneously grasp a material’s physical flaws and magic flow…’
The failure rate of crafted items would approach zero, and the quality of finished products could be raised to the extreme.
Moreover, there were two more unexpected rewards.
[Fairy’s Tear]
– Description: An item personally refined by Parakel from teardrops shed by a fairy with a pure heart.
– Effects:
1. Universal catalyst or stabilizer for alchemy.
2. Excellent at neutralizing toxic substances or stabilizing unstable magic.
[Alchemist’s Secret Manual – Extraction Volume]
[Active Skill]
– Description: A portion of a secret manual where a legendary alchemist compiled all his knowledge. Contains profound principles for understanding and reconstructing the essence of matter.
[Effects]
1. Extracts the core attribute (e.g., Flame, Frost, Virulent Poison, etc.) of a target in the form of an ‘Essence’.
2. Extraction success rate varies based on skill level and the target item’s grade.
While Insight of the Flow was a tremendous gain, the Alchemist’s Secret Manual was no less significant.
‘Extract as Essence? That means I can use the extracted essence to imbue other items or make potions, right? Crazy…’
As Geumson checked the rewards with a dazed expression, Parakel spoke with a laugh.
He seemed pleased with Golden Hand’s reaction.
“How is it, useful?”
“More than just useful… it’s truly amazing. But if this is the Extraction volume, are there others?”
“See, that’s why quick-witted little… ahem! Just kidding. Of course, there are other volumes.”
Parakel seemed to hesitate about something.
He spoke to Geumson with an apologetic expression.
“Hmm, the fact is, my circumstances require me to wander from place to place, so I’m not in a position to teach you directly. So, how about this…”
Parakel presented an alternative.
“I’ll give you tasks. You go find rare materials hidden in the world. Then, as a reward, I’ll pass on my secret manuals to you, one by one. How does that sound?”
It seemed he felt bad about suggesting that I become an alchemist but not being able to teach him properly.
But golden hand was actually pleased.
golden hand also had to wander. There was no reason for him to refuse Parakel’s proposal.
As Geumson nodded, Parakel immediately started packing his bag.
His hurried appearance prompted Geumson to ask.
“But why the rush? You only gave me three days to get the Dragonblood Herb, too.”
At Golden Hand’s question, Parakel made an ‘oops’ expression.
He cleared his throat and deftly sidestepped the question.
“Ahem! Well, you see, someone important like me has a tight schedule. There’s a very important transaction soon at the Kratum Auction House.”
“A transaction?”
“It’s something you don’t need to know.”
Parakel seemed to be withholding his words, but his face was full of concern.
Geumson didn’t miss his expression and asked again.
“Is there some big trouble? You don’t look well.”
Parakel hesitated for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.
“Hoo, telling you won’t help, but… have you ever heard of the ‘Serpent of the Eclipse’?”
Serpent of the Eclipse.
The moment he heard those words.
Grind-
golden hand’s gritted his teeth.
Of course he knew.
The calamity that suddenly appeared in the Age of Ruin, swallowed Jeju Island whole, and erased it from the map.
He couldn’t possibly not know that thing.
An Unrivaled Foe.
South Korea lost Jeju Island but could not touch the Serpent of the Eclipse.
They had no means or method to deal with it, so they couldn’t even seek revenge.
The thing that became the first signal flare of the calamity upon its initial appearance.
Not just the media, but every nation in the world focused on it.
[- Breaking news! The entire Jeju Island has been covered by a mysterious giant shadow! Communications are currently cut off, and all ships and flights heading to the island are missing! There are still those inside Jeju who haven’t evacuated…]
On that day when pitch-black darkness swallowed the whole island.
What the satellite photos captured was the shape of a giant serpent.
670,000 missing.
670,000 innocent citizens were declared missing.
Not processed as deceased, but as missing.
Because no one knew what had happened to Jeju Island.
“Huh? Why do you look like that?”
golden hand had unconsciously clenched his fist so tight.
He didn’t even feel the pain of his nails digging into his palm.
He just asked Parakel.
“You… know about that thing?”
“Know about it? Of course! How could I not know about a serpent so big it could encircle an entire castle wall and more?”
“A castle wall…?”
The scale was different.
The Serpent of the Eclipse golden hand knew was a calamity large enough to swallow Jeju Island in one bite.
But Parakel said it was big enough to encircle a castle wall.
By pieced together Parakel’s explanation and his past memories, all the puzzle pieces fell into place.
