Chapter 108 - Chapter 108 (1/2)
"Fuu..."
Jin-Woo spat out a short sigh of relief.
This was the moment his long march that started from the very first floor of the Demon's Castle dungeon was drawing to a close here on this 100th floor.
He closed his eyes for a moment in order to get a grip on his turbulent emotions, only for the image of his mom's face to pop up.
'...'
When he reopened his eyes, the System messages that hadn't gone away yet entered his view again. Four alerts of him levelling up floated up there.
'I rose up four levels in one go?'
Jin-Woo's expression brightened up considerably. Thinking back to how his levelling speed had slowed down to a crawl after he broke past level 90, he couldn't help but revel in happiness.
He quickly checked his Status Window.
[Level: 97]
Indeed, his level had jumped up by four.
'Niiice!!'
Jin-Woo fist-pumped.
A dizzying sense of achievement was quickly added on top of the relief he felt from finally clearing this dungeon. However, he quickly put aside this joy to the back of his mind.
He still had something far more important than levelling up right now.
'The Purified Blood of the Demon King.'
That was the final puzzle piece to craft the item, 'Divine Water of Life'. Jin-Woo quickly unwrapped the bandage off his hand and reached out towards the blinking lights on the corpse of the Demon King, Baran.
[You have discovered 'Item: Demon Sovereign's Ring'. Will you take it?]
[You have discovered 'Item: Demon King's Longsword'. Will you take it?]
[You have discovered 'Item: Demon King's Shortsword'. Will you take it?]
[You have discovered 'Item: Demon King's Shortsword'. Will you take it?]
[You have discovered 'Item: Baran's Two Horns'. Will you take it?]
[You have discovered 'Ingredient Item: Purified Blood of the Demon King'. Will you take it?]
Rather than feeling elated, Jin-Woo felt anxious instead from the list of 'item discovered' messages that continued to pop up. Because, he couldn't spot the item he was looking for. However, he cried out in excitement as soon as he spotted the very last item, 'Purified Blood of the Demon King'.
'It's here!'
Jin-Woo quickly acquired all the items and lifted up the item that must've been the Purified Blood of the Demon King.
[Ingredient Item: Purified Blood of the Demon King]
Rarity: ??
Type: Ingredient
This is the liquid created from purifying the blood of Baran, the Sovereign of the demons.
Possesses immense magical energy, but even after going through the purifying process, the blood still retains strong toxins. In order to use the blood as a medical ingredient, both the 'Fragment of the World Tree' and 'Spring Water from the Forest of Echoes' are needed to neutralize the toxin.
The red liquid sloshed inside a clear glass bottle according to the angle it was held.
'This is the blood of the Demon King....'
He already possessed the other two ingredients, 'Fragment of the World Tree' and the 'Spring Water from the Forest of Echoes'. So, what was there to hesitate about?
Jin-Woo promptly summoned the Crafting Skill Window.
[Crafting Skills]
Consumable: Divine Water of Life (3/3)
Different from the past, the words 'Divine Water of Life' was now blinking constantly. When he checked the details, the words 'Crafting possible' immediately caught his attention.
[Divine Water of Life]
- Crafting possible
- Ingredients:
1. Purified Blood of the Demon King (1/1)
2. Fragment of the World Tree (1/1)
3. Spring Water from the Forest of Echoes (1/1)
[Will you start crafting 'Item: Divine Water of Life'?]
Jin-Woo was in a hurry to see the finished article, so he didn't waste any more time and chose to start the crafting process.
"Start."
[Crafting process for 'Item: Divine Water of Life' has commenced.]
[10, 9, 8....]
Jin-Woo waited for the result with bated breath.
[7, 6, 5....]
[The 'percentage of Crafting success' and 'number of finished items' will depend on Crafter's Intelligence Stat.]
Jin-Woo's eyes widened.
'Are you telling me only now that the odds of success, as well as the number of completed items, will depend on the Intelligence Stat?!'
If you were stupid, then you couldn't even craft anything?
….It did sound somewhat logical, so Jin-Woo could only nod his head.
In the meantime, the countdown steadily ticked on.
[4, 3, 2....]
Why did the words 'percentage of Crafting success' get on his nerves so much? The only solace he could take away right now was the fact that he had at least woke up to the importance of the Intelligence Stat quickly enough to invest a lot of extra Stat points there.
[….1, 0.]
[Crating process has been completed!]
[Crafting is a success!]
[You have acquired 'Item: Divine Water of Life x6'.]
"That's what I'm talking about!!"
Jin-Woo had been waiting anxiously until then, but as soon as the 'Success!' message popped up, he raised his hands high up into the sky.
'….Huh?'
However, he quickly discovered something a bit odd. The bottle containing the blood of the Demon King still remained in his right hand.
'Well, uh, the amount of blood has decreased by a little, but....'
Jin-Woo tilted his head, before summoning the 'Fragment of the World Tree' and the 'Spring Water from the Forest of Echoes' from his Inventory.
The only thing that appeared on the ground was the slightly-shaved-on-the-edge Fragment of the World Tree, though. He accessed his Inventory and searched, but couldn't find the Spring Water anywhere.
'Could it be....?'
Feeling a bit suspicious, he confirmed the Crafting Skill Window, and his suspicion was soon answered in full.
-Ingredients:
1. Purified Blood of the Demon King (1/1)
2. Fragment of the World Tree (1/1)
3. Spring Water from the Forest of Echoes (0/1)
Out of the three ingredients, only the Spring Water showed '0'.
'So, it's something like, not all the ingredients will be used up, but only the necessary amount – is that it?'
The Crafting process must've come to a stop because the Spring Water from the Forest of Echoes had run out, unlike with other two ingredients.
From the get-go, he got this feeling that the Crafting process wouldn't have required a lot of the Demon King's blood. As for the Fragment of the World Tree, it was a gigantic piece of lumber when he had initially acquired it, to begin with.
It was rather obvious that the Spring Water contained within a small bottle would be the first one to run out.
Jin-Woo grinned widely in satisfaction.
'Well, it's not a bad result for me regardless.'
Because, as long as he could find more of that 'Spring Water from the Forest of Echoes' in the future, he'd get to craft more of this Divine Water of Life.
'Hold on, there's another problem to consider, isn't there?'
Jin-Woo was desperate for a bottle of this Divine Water, yet now, there were six wooden bottles waiting for him on the ground, so it was rather difficult for him to calm his wildly beating heart.
[Item: Divine Water of Life]