Chapter 244 – Inotia, the City of Magic 1 (1/2)
“There are a few things you need to create first,” Woohyuk ordered Dexter, the runesmith.
He ordered Dexter to craft Seven Color Rainbow Ring and reinforce Andvaranaut.
Both must succeed, so he called upon Dexter, who was the most likely to succeed.
“… You’ve collected a lot of ingredients,” Dexter said in awe as he stared starstruck at the items Woohyuk brought out.
The S-grade artifact he created last time became nothing in his mind.
Dexter couldn’t even fathom what kind of product would come out from these materials.
“How long will it take to complete these tasks?” Woohyuk asked.
“I don’t know. I think it’ll take at least three months,” Dexter answered while scratching his head.
In actuality, three months was just a wild guess, assuming everything went according to plan.
After thinking for a while, Woohyuk took out the Hourglass of Time.
“You’ll be needing this. I brought it over from the Rhine Kingdom.”
“T-That’s…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll give you enough time. However, you won't be able to leave the workshop until you complete this mission.”
In Neustein, Dexter had a dedicated, private workshop.
It was also filled with three different types of combat meals.
After putting Dexter in his workshop, Woohyuk went to Aris.
“What are the current research achievements?”
“Eh? Asura~, it’s been a while! The analysis of the Qliphoth Fruit is now complete, and the treatment is being produced…”
A fairly long report followed.
Analysis of Alice the Queen of Thorns was currently in progress.
The research on Unit 1 Ishvar had been completed, was reproducible, and could be commercially produced.
Other miscellaneous studies were also in progress through the efficient allocation of laboratory personnel and resources.
“How much longer before your studies on Alice are complete?” Woohyuk asked.
“I’m not sure. I’d say about 2 to 4 weeks, depending on how many people are assigned to the analysis?”
It seemed that he wouldn’t have to use the Hourglass of Time to get results on Alice.
It was being used for Dexter’s workshop anyway.
“I hope we can mass-produce 100 Ishvar units to defend Inotia. I hope that the Homunculus, which was damaged this time, will be repaired in a hurry… Of course, the current priority is the production of treatments for the Qliphoth Fruit.”
“Okay~ I see! By the way, are you not going to the High Sage’s Arcane Tower? If everything went as planned, they’ll be exiting today,” Aris asked.
“I have to interrogate some prisoners, so you’ll have to go alone,” he replied.
After giving Aris the task of transporting the attack squad back safely to Inotia, Woohyuk swept his eyes past all the people in the laboratory.
“Eek… y-y-yes!” Alphone eked out.
“We’re always working hard!” Agnes added.
Alphone and Agnes, who were sitting and knocking on their respective boards, suddenly stood up and answered Woohyuk.
They were assisting Aris and learning the laboratory research trade.
Meanwhile, Lucas, who liked biological research, was analyzing the cell traits of monsters in the basement.
“How have you been?” Woohyuk asked as he made his way down to the basement.
“O-Oh! Oh, h-hello, s-sir!”
Lucas was frightened and took a military attention posture in front of Woohyuk.
Woohyuk glanced at the monsters Lucas was studying and then asked,
“It looks like you’re in the chimera research project group. How far have you been able to progress?”
“It’s difficult to say exactly in terms of numbers… but it seems to be about 90%.”
90% meant that they were almost finished.
Woohyuk nodded his head and gave a parting piece of advice,
“I’ll say it again, but don’t do anything stupid. I know that there are only girls in the lab.”
“I-I would never t-think of anything l-like t-that! I swear, I’ll focus on experiment and research only!” Lucas replied with a loud voice. It seemed that he equated loudness with truthfulness.
After leaving the laboratory, Woohyuk visited Cadiz, the Death Alchemist, who was locked up in a cell.
“Do you know why I kept you alive?” Woohyuk asked.
“… To find out Adamante’s secret?” Cadiz replied.
“You know well.”
The quest stated that he should kill Cadiz, but it didn’t state whether the alchemy production process of Adamante would be given as a reward.
So, Woohyuk saved Cadiz to find out for himself.
Of course, he was going to hypnotize him if he refused to answer or rebelled.
“I’m the only one who can make Adamante. Even if you steal a peek at the process or do exactly as I do, you won’t be able to make it,” Cadiz responded softly. He understood his situation.
Woohyuk nodded his head and then sent the guard outside to bring in the coffin and alchemy tools he asked for the guards to prepare in advance.
“If so, try it. Show me your miraculous alchemy skills,” Woohyuk said.
Inside the coffin was the body of a man who had just died.
Cadiz placed his hand on the body without hesitation.
Sa-Ah.
Black fumes rose from the corpse and gathered in the air above it, forming a sphere.
At the same time, the corpse gradually disappeared.
Woohyuk watched Cadiz’s alchemy process with interest.
‘That’s why the hidden class’ name seems to be Death Alchemist.’
The corpse represented death.
Thus, the Death Alchemist used a corpse as a material to create a miracle mineral, Adamante.
The value of the mineral would be hundreds of times that of gold at present.
However, there was a problem.
Cadiz must be killed to complete the legendary quest that began with Midas’ Hand, but there was no guarantee that this process of making Adamante would be passed along if he succeeded in completing the quest.
‘… One can’t kill the duck that lays golden eggs.’
Considering the options, it seemed better to keep Cadiz alive.
Killing and eliminating him was always possible.
Woohyuk carefully watched as Cadiz put the sphere made of black smoke into a boiling cauldron.
Bronze. Silver. Gold. Lead. Amethyst.
There were fewer ingredients than Woohyuk expected, and the ingredients’ amounts were very small.
This further proved Adamante’s economic value and profit-producing capability.