Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 27
The creation of secret elixirs is not something that ends overnight.
Only by spending several days and perfectly implementing the manufacturing method without the slightest error can one obtain complete results.
As the first step of this process, Seo-jin selected and prepared materials according to Circe's elixir manufacturing method.
Peeling skin, cutting finely, grinding into powder, drying under starlight, and for medicinal herbs that needed to be boiled, he poured water and boiled them all night long to extract maximum efficacy.
CHULPEOK- CHULPEOK-.
From morning until late at night.
This was when Seo-jin was stirring the medicinal herbs in a large cauldron with a wooden ladle, sweating profusely.
HEUNDEUL- HEUNDEUL-.
Unlike Seo-jin who was suffering, Circe, who was comfortably lying in a rocking chair reading a book, asked.
"By the way, disciple, I sense that energy other than mana also flows in your body."
"That's correct."
"Is that the energy of the martial art called Primordial Unity Technique you mentioned?"
The mysterious power that flows through the mana circuits together with mana.
It seemed Circe had also noticed this.
HEUNDEUL- HEUNDEUL-.
Seo-jin looked at Circe who was moving restlessly in the rocking chair and answered.
"Yes, it's a martial art I learned to control the side effects of mana reversal. It was difficult to acquire, but it has quite an effect."
Although the effect was minimal as it was only 1-star at the moment, the Primordial Unity Technique certainly had the ability to harmoniously control the energy within the body.
The power to push away Reverse Heaven's mana and gradually restore the body's balance.
"Would you like to take a look?"
"Never mind, just keep stirring."
Circe waved her hand dismissively as if uninterested.
"......"
HEUNDEUL- HEUNDEUL-.
Seo-jin suppressed the urge to destroy the rocking chair swaying before his eyes and silently stirred with the ladle.
Meanwhile, after reading her book for a while, Circe quietly murmured.
"Martial arts."
"I wish Master could learn it someday too, but it would be difficult now."
Currently, the place where Circe's consciousness had transferred was a puppet body made from old artifacts.
While it was one of several methods to bypass the side effects of black magic, it also had several disadvantages.
One of them was the inability to learn physical techniques like martial arts.
"There will be an opportunity someday."
The day when she could roam this tower with a complete body, avoiding the curse of black magic.
When that time comes...
"But am I the only one stirring this?"
Just as Circe was about to fall into sentimentality, Seo-jin made groaning sounds while massaging his aching palms and arms.
Having to stir medicinal herbs in front of a boiling cauldron all day was unbearable even for Seo-jin.
Circe frowned sharply and shook her delicate and small limbs.
"Then should I do it? Trying to make such a delicate maiden work, how unreasonable. And for elixir creation, the disciple's fresh blood must be added, so it can't be helped. Just keep quiet and continue."
As she said, there was a tube connected to the cauldron attached to Seo-jin's forearm.
Through this tube, Seo-jin's blood was dropping into the pot one drop at a time at a regular speed.
She said that mixing blood could reduce side effects and enhance the elixir's effectiveness.
"......"
In the end, Seo-jin stirred the ladle without complaint.
***
Three days later.
The work of boiling all the prepared materials was finished.
Next was extracting only the necessary components through fractional distillation, selecting only the highest purity ones among them and freeze-drying them.
Finally, the dried contents are placed on a wide plate and broken to complete small crystal-form elixirs.
CHWAREUREUI-.
The completed secret elixir looked like small crystals.
The purity of the elixir is determined by the transparency of the crystals, and fortunately, the result had transparency close to glass.
Truly top grade.
A purity level that would be hard to see even in the workshop areas of the tower's upper floors.
Circe touched the sand-like flowing crystals with her hand and smiled with satisfaction.
"Kuku, it was worth making the disciple suffer. An elixir with this level of purity. I'd like to smoke it once myself, disciple."
"......"
There was no one to answer Circe's words. The disciple had already collapsed exhausted next to the cauldron and was sleeping.
It was natural, having stirred the pot for three days without proper sleep.
But she couldn't just leave him lying on the ground like that.
Circe grabbed Seo-jin's arm and tried somehow to lift him.
'Heavy...'
However, it was difficult to move an adult man with a domestic puppet body that wasn't equipped with combat capabilities.
Circe struggled to move Seo-jin but failed, and eventually called his pet, Baduki.
"Baduki, move your master."
KEUREUREU-.
Baduki bit the clothing part of Seo-jin and dragged him to place him on the sofa.
Circe had Baduki move Seo-jin and then entered the final post-processing of the elixir.
'There's the method of burning this as is and smoking it, and there's also the method of using it as seeds to grow artificial plants and puffing the processed leaves.'
The method of putting the crystals directly into a pipe and smoking them is easy to use and has immediate effects.
But that way, the mystique of the elixir itself decreases, so complete effects cannot be expected.
On the other hand, there's also the method of using these crystals to cultivate artificial plants and making tobacco from them.
It takes a lot of effort and time, but the mystique increases accordingly, so the effects improve dramatically.
'There's no need to worry about it.'
Because she could split it in half and make both.
Leaving half for immediate pipe use by the disciple.
And using the other half for herb cultivation to increase mystique.
She would have to pay attention to herb cultivation for several months, though.
'What kind of hardship is this.'
To burden a master who lives leisurely buried in the forest with such a big headache.
Isn't this truly the worst disciple?
Circe looked at the soundly sleeping Seo-jin for a moment and smiled slightly.
***
A late night with twinkling stars.
Circe came out of the cabin and looked up at the sparkling Milky Way.
While enjoying the forest air and the sound of insects with her head raised in a daze, Circe suddenly opened her mouth.
"Ghost."
[......]
"If you think it's me, come out."
At Circe's voice, Hyeon-wol asked cautiously.
[You, can you see me?]
Circe looked at Hyeon-wol and shrugged her shoulders.
"Who do you think I am? For an elder of Pandemonium, commanding ghosts is nothing."
[Why did you call me?]
Circe glanced sideways at the inside of the cabin.
"From what I see, you seem to be bound to the disciple's energy, so you'll continue traveling together, right?"
[I have no choice.]
Hyeon-wol could exist even as a ghost thanks to the power of the Primordial Unity Technique.
But since only Seo-jin in the vicinity had learned this, no matter what she did, she couldn't escape from him.
Circe said.
"Then since you're traveling together anyway, please take good care of that fellow. He's quite pitiful."
[Pitiful? I've never seen anyone live doing whatever they want like that fellow.]
Although the time they'd been together wasn't very long, even in that short time, she could somewhat grasp Seo-jin's temperament.
But Circe chuckled and said in a calm voice.
"Actually, you know it too, don't you? That fellow has many wounds."
[......]
Circe recalled the sensation of handling Seo-jin's mana circuits.
"Mana circuits are the trajectory of life that mage has walked. That fellow's mana circuits haven't been made long ago, but strangely, they have a long history."
Mana circuits that were heavily damaged, unsuitable for his young age.
The great mage Circe could read Seo-jin's temperament, the past he had gone through, and the future to come just from that.
"He looks strong on the outside, but inside he's like a precarious tower that could collapse at any time. He must have endured countless hardships and adversities in the past, but nothing would have remained in his hands."
Circe looked at Seo-jin visible through the cabin window while saying this.
"He must have been greatly betrayed by someone he trusted at some point. By now, there probably aren't many people he can open his heart to and talk with."
Circe turned her head to look at Hyeon-wol and said.
"But you're different from others. Although it may not be your will, you won't be able to leave that fellow or betray him. Also, you can't leak secrets to others. In that sense, you're the best conversation partner and traveling companion."
[Why do you care so much about that fellow? Is he really your disciple in the first place?]
To warmly welcome someone who suddenly came claiming to be a disciple and even bestow great favor.
It's not easily understandable behavior.
Circe looked at Seo-jin's figure reflected in the window again and shook her head.
"I don't have a disciple named Lee Seo-jin. I asked not only my other consciousnesses but also the main body. He and I are meeting for the first time."
[Then why......]
Circe shrugged her shoulders.
"But what does that matter? If he regards me as his master and I regard him as my disciple, that's enough. Connections and such can be built from now on. That fellow must have come to find me with such a mindset too."
[......Don't you have any doubts?]
Circe answered quietly with her hands behind her back.
"Of course I do. How could I not? But various incomprehensible things happen in the world."
No one could accidentally find this place, and no one could ignore her presence detection and break through the barrier.
Also, without being told the cabin's rules, no one would take off their shoes, spray perfume, and put their clothes in the magic wardrobe on their own.
Lastly, there's no one who would reject Abyss contracts and blood sacrifices despite stepping into black magic, and torment themselves with anguish.
'Unless they were my disciple.'
Though she couldn't know the exact causality, he was somehow connected to her by the bond of master and disciple.
Whether it was the past that had gone by or the future that hadn't come yet didn't matter.
He was certainly her disciple and would continue to be so.
Because that's how connections work.
Having finished her thoughts, Circe nodded quietly and said to Hyeon-wol.
"Ghost, I'll help you. I'll restore your memories and make you a puppet body that can move freely from the book's curse. That's my specialty."
[Is, is that possible?]
"Yes. So in exchange for that, help that child."
Circe commanded Hyeon-wol with sparkling purple eyes.
"Until that child reaches the end of the tower, you watch over him from the side."
***
Several days later.
The secret elixir to control the side effects of black magic was completed.
Circe handed Seo-jin the secret crystals made from half of the elixir along with a pipe.
"You've worked hard all this time. Take it."
Crystals coated with mana so the medicinal effects wouldn't dissipate, divided to exactly match single-dose portions.
"You've memorized the usage method, right? If you burn too much at once, you'll die."
"I understand."
Even medicine becomes poison if the proper usage method isn't followed.
Unless it's a life-or-death situation, it's better to keep to the proper dosage.
Circe, who had nodded, spread both hands.
"Good. Then I, Circe, as one of the floor administrators, will give you a class change quest."
"You're not an administrator right now."
"Just go with it. Then as a former administrator, I'll give you a quest."
TING-.
[You have received a class change quest.]
[Deal with the King of the Black Forest, the Thousand-Eyed Demon Tree.]
Unlike other class change quests, Seo-jin received a class change quest directly from Circe, who was administrator-level.
'Thousand-Eyed Demon Tree......'
Circe deliberately lowered her voice and solemnly declared.
"Deal with that creature and elevate the reputation of the false sage. And prevent any more black mages bewitched by that creature's mana from appearing on this land!"