Chapter 510 - A Piece of Water Meteorite (1/3) (2/2)

In an instant, the fish ceased all movement. Its fins began thrashing about wildly; its whole body trembling uncontrollably as if it was being electrocuted. Ten minutes later, a blue glow filled the swordfish’s eyes.

Thoreau had successfully taken control of his new body. He waved a fin and wiggled his body, closely feeling the power in him that flickered like a candle in the wind. He then heaved a long sigh.

“I’m left with Level-8 power. My body’s suffered serious damage, and I’ve lost my magic wand. Years of effort gone down the drain like that… Well played, dragons. From now on, you are now my sworn enemies!”

Though he had lost most of his power, Thoreau had enough experience as a Level-8 Magician. He would not need to spend a thousand years to regain what he had lost.

“If I’m lucky, I’ll be back to my full Legendary power in a year or two. I can’t go back to the island now, but I can still head for the coast of the Firuman continent. There are a lot of boats passing by the coastline, and the soul of a mortal sailor on board should be a few times stronger than a fish. This way, I’ll be able to return to my former glory in no time.”

With this in mind, Thoreau swished his new tail and propelled himself away from the island that he had built with his own bare hands, towards the continent of Firuman in the west.

…

The castle on the island

Link and Gretel finally returned to the castle. After resting for the whole day, they then began puzzling over how best to forge a dampening material that could withstand high temperatures.

It took Link three days to produce his Level-20 experimental magic circle.

In that time, Gretel had begun her experiments with samples they had retrieved from the Sea of Void, including the purple meteorite, the azure gemstone, and the Void Centipede’s stinger, to test their alchemical properties.

When Link was finally done with the magic circle, he then proceeded to construct a number of alchemical equipment. That took him another two days. When he was finished, Gretel had already come up with a concrete alchemical procedure for their objective.

She then explained her plan to Link, “I’ll combine all these things together to produce a totally new piece of material. It will have the property to withstand high energy levels, but according to my estimations, it will only be able to resist Level-18 power.”

Link frowned at this. “There’s quite a difference between Level-18 and Level-20, you know.”

Though it was only a two-level difference, the last two levels after Level-18 were the most difficult stages to reach, especially Level-20, which existed in another realm entirely.

Pondering on this for a while, Link said, “Let’s put it aside for now. Start making the Level-18 material, and we’ll think of something to improve on it along the road.”

Gretel nodded, then said, “The alchemical process is extremely complicated. I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it on my own. I’ll need your help in it as well. You’ll probably need to master the basics of alchemy. Don’t worry, I’ll be the one guiding you through it.”

Link did not seem to have a choice on this matter. He said, “Alright then, let’s get started!”

Gretel then began teaching Link alchemy.

Alchemy was essentially a huge branch of magic. Gretel was a master in alchemy, while Link was a master in magic. Both stood on the pinnacles of their respective fields.

Everything and everyone else seemed so small from where they stood.

Link listened attentively to Gretel’s alchemical teachings and was able to rapidly absorb all that he was taught. His skill in alchemy improved in leaps and bounds.

Half a month later, Link’s alchemical skill had surpassed 99.9 percent of the alchemists living on the continent.

Of course, there was still a small gap between Link’s current level and Gretel’s.

One day, he was carrying out an experiment according to Gretel’s instructions, when suddenly, an alchemical inspiration popped out of nowhere in his mind.

He was stunned for a moment, completely forgetting his work in front of him. Ten seconds later, the mixture in the magic cauldron before him began to boil violently. There was an explosion later, and the soup within the cauldron was splattered all across the alchemical laboratory.

Gretel had heard the explosion and immediately came into the laboratory from a room nearby. She saw that Link was radiating with the glow of a defensive spell, and the rest of the laboratory was all but destroyed.

“What happened?” Gretel did not understand how Link could have made such an explosive error.

Hearing the explosion, Link’s eyes came back into focus and groggily stared at Gretel. “I suddenly thought of a way to increase the level of the end-product all the way to Level-19.

“Impossible!” Gretel shook her head. “I’ve already thought of every possible alchemical process. With the materials we have currently in hand, the highest we can reach is only Level-18.”

Even an alchemy master such as herself could not achieve such a feat. How was a novice like Link able to do such a thing? She refused to believe that he had surpassed even his own teacher!