Chapter 286: Escaping Stamina Deficiency!
Chapter 286: Escaping Stamina Deficiency!
The third-floor corridor was dark. With night having fallen and the Light Stones extinguished, the surroundings were utterly black. Yet, the farther I walked, the more Vivian's form ahead of me, once a mere silhouette, came into view. Light was slowly filtering into the passage. When I raised my head, I could see a faint glow leaking from the crack in the door at the end of the hall.
Vivian threw open the door, which had been slightly ajar. As I followed her inside, the workshop she and Shin Sangyong had set up came into view. No. To be honest, it would be more accurate to say it was cluttered all over rather than ‘set up.’
The workshop was quite spacious, with a fairly high ceiling. As I slowly looked around the interior, flickering under the lamplight, I was suddenly reminded of the workshop I had seen in ‘Ancient Alchemist Vivian's Dungeon.’ It wasn't exactly the same, but for some reason, traces of that place were visible here and there.
“We're almost ready. We're about to start. Originally, we were going to do it just the two of us, but I thought you should watch the alchemical refinement process, Soohyun.”
“I'm fine. If I'm in the way, I'll step out.”
“No. Just stay quiet in a corner.”
That wasn’t a difficult request. I nodded quietly and moved to a corner, and Vivian also moved to the large, black forge placed in the center.
Three magic circles were drawn on the workshop floor. One large one that covered the entire floor, one drawn beneath the forge, and one small one drawn inside the large magic circle. But those were only the visible ones.
The innermost magic circle was in the shape of a hexagram. At the vertices of each triangle, a Demon's Heart, Horrence’s Magic Core, Vivian's Spiritual Core, a Unicorn's Horn, and two Stamina Elixirs were neatly placed. Shin Sangyong was sitting cross-legged in front of that magic circle.
Shin Sangyong's eyes weren't closed. Despite my arrival, he didn't even turn his head, merely looking down at the magic circle with his eyes narrowed to slits. His attitude made me feel very satisfied. Mages and alchemists require extreme concentration when conducting important research. This is because even the slightest deviation in their meticulous calculations can lead to an irreversible situation. Right now, Shin Sangyong's mind was likely filled with nothing but the process of achieving the refinement.
“Soohyun. We're starting. It won't take that long. Thirty minutes at most… maybe even less.”
“I can wait for thirty hours.”
“I wouldn't last that long. Sangyong? I'm summoning Ordo. Get ready, and match the timing perfectly.”
Shin Sangyong didn't answer. He just gave a slight nod. But Vivian paid it no mind and extended her right hand to the side. A sphere of light, emitting a bright glow, appeared in her hand, and soon began to elongate. It was the ‘Ordo of Order,’ which she had recently succeeded in performing the Master Ritual on.
“Hoo.”
After taking a deep breath, Vivian…
“—”
…aimed Ordo at the magic circle and chanted a short spell. At that moment, a red light seemed to rise from the magic circle drawn beneath the forge, and soon, a shimmering heat haze began to rise into the air.
Wooooong.
The forge heated up, and the light from the magic circle began to spread wide. It wasn't spreading randomly. At a glance, it might have seemed chaotic, but it followed a constant flow according to a formula. Soon, as the red light flowed into the large magic circle, the inside of the room began to heat up in an instant.
Wooooooooong!
As time passed, the noise grew louder. As the sound of the magic circle activating gradually increased, the temperature inside rose in direct proportion. And just as the base of the forge turned crimson and the liquid inside boiled violently, the red light that had been creeping in from the outside reached the vertices of the hexagram. And then, Shin Sangyong, who had been still until now, finally began to move.
“───. ───. ───.”
“───. ───. ───.”
Vivian was continuously chanting. And as Shin Sangyong's chant began, their voices resonated in a strange harmony.
‘Ordo of Order’ was now aimed at the hexagram. Though invisible, I could feel a vast amount of magic power flowing between them.
How much time passed like that? Just as beads of sweat formed on both their faces, the refinement, which had maintained its state for a while, finally began to show a change.
It's melting?
It was literal. The ingredients placed at the vertices were melting, albeit very slowly. The six ingredients, which had been gradually turning into liquid, completely melted down over the course of five minutes. And just as I felt they had filled their respective triangles, Vivian's sharp voice burst out.
“Sangyong! I'm about to release it, so get ready! Do not, under any circumstances, let them mix even a hair's breadth!”
He no longer even nodded. His usual clumsy smile was nowhere to be seen; he only extended both hands forward, his eyes shining intensely.
It was the moment the fiercely burning hexagram’s light suddenly died down. Shin Sangyong, who had been keeping his eyes narrowed, snapped them wide open, and brilliantly shining magic circles formed from magic power surged from both hands.
Drip, drip.
As the hexagram that had been containing the ingredients lost its light, the liquefied ingredients instantly spread out. No, they were about to spread out.
“Magic Square of Harmony.”
Finally, Shin Sangyong spoke for the first time. To be honest, I had been watching his reaction since the situation began to change so suddenly, but seeing the concern in Vivian’s eyes turn to relief, it seemed I could rest easy for now. She moved her lips again as if to say something, but ultimately closed them.
I watched every part of the spiritual core's creation, not wanting to miss a thing. Where the hexagram had disappeared, the Magic Square of Harmony took its place, and at that moment, the liquids churned against each other within the square.
At first, they didn't mix well. The white, black, and blue liquids, as if in a power struggle, refused to accept each other like oil and water. And above them, Shin Sangyong's hands moved as if swimming smoothly. It was such a fluid hand movement that it was hard to believe he was someone who stuttered.
Vivian, after cutting off the magic power to the hexagram, was checking the forge. She would glance at Shin Sangyong from time to time, but it seemed her primary task was finished. However, seeing as she hadn't unsummoned Ordo yet, it seemed she still had a part to play.
Woooong! Woooong! Woooong! Woooong!
The interval of the intermittent humming was gradually shortening. From a spectator's point of view, it might not seem like a big deal, but the person actually doing it must be going through hell. Though invisible, I could feel the movement of immense magic power beneath the formula.
“Keuk! Keuuuk!”
With each vibration, Shin Sangyong let out a pained groan. However, watching him, I didn't think about whether I could help in any way. As Vivian had said, the only thing I could do here was watch.
’They're mixing.’
Just as Vivian had predicted, as 20 minutes passed and it neared 25, the second change began. The liquids, which had been tentatively rubbing against each other, had now completely mixed to form one giant liquid. The color of the combined liquid was changing from moment to moment.
It turned black, then white, then blue, then back to black. The color changed every time I blinked. And Shin Sangyong, controlling it, was now pouring sweat as if caught in the rain. Without a moment to even close them, his eyes remained wide open, maintaining the Magic Square of Harmony.
Eventually, the constantly changing color of the liquid stopped. The color it stopped on was black. But it wasn't a deep, jet-black; it was a light black, so clear it seemed translucent. And the moment the color change stopped, Shin Sangyong's lips, which had been tightly shut until now, opened forcefully.
“It's done!”
“───. ───. ───.”
As Shin Sangyong's shout was heard, Vivian's chant followed without a single error. When she aimed Ordo, which she held in her right hand, a magic circle appeared and gently enveloped the liquid. And as it completely wrapped around it, she extended her left hand and slowly clenched her fist. The magic circle then floated upwards, and the liquid also floated gently into the air. Then, it began to coalesce into the shape of Vivian's clenched fist.
The moment the liquid became a moderately sized sphere, Vivian carefully moved it and dropped it into the forge with a splash.
“───. ───. ───.”
“───. ───. ───.”
And once again, their chanting began. This time, it seemed to be a joint effort, as Vivian focused on the forge and Shin Sangyong on its contents, each performing their respective roles.
A strange smoke rose from the forge along with a bubbling sound. Peeking inside, I could see that the contents that had filled the forge were rapidly decreasing. If I was right, this would be the process of the combined elixir absorbing the supplementary ingredients.
Soon, when the liquid that filled the forge had receded so much it was barely visible, the two exhaled with a slight delay between them. Vivian first, then Shin Sangyong. And as the bright light also began to fade, it seemed the work was more or less complete.
Vivian and Shin Sangyong were both drenched in sweat from head to toe. They were breathing heavily and swaying slightly, looking as if they could collapse at any moment. They lifted their heads, looked at each other, and then simultaneously turned their heads to me.
The first to speak was Shin Sangyong.
“L-Leader.”
“You worked hard.”
Hearing my reply, Shin Sangyong showed a faint smile. And then he rolled his eyes back and collapsed. A thud from his head hitting the floor suggested he had fainted instantly.
Vivian wasn't in good shape either. She frowned slightly, annoyed by a strand of hair stuck to her lips, then spat it out and called my name.
“Soohyun. It's done. You can take it.”
“Right. You worked hard too…”
Thump.
Vivian's stamina seemed just as depleted, as her body crumpled sideways before I could even finish my sentence. Even so, she managed to lift a finger and point at the forge, which probably meant I should hurry up and take it.
The inside was still filled with intense heat. Composing my pounding heart, I calmly walked towards the forge. And I looked inside. The liquid that had filled it more than two-thirds of the way was gone without a trace. There was only one thing in my sight. A single, fist-sized elixir, emitting a brilliant golden light.
*
Sitting with my back to the window, I suddenly felt a clear light coming from behind me. I glanced up and saw that the dark room had brightened a little. I let out a long sigh and lowered my gaze back to the desk. On the desk, two spheres were sparkling, asserting their presence.
I used my Third Eye to read their information again.
『Tears of the Elf Queen』
(Description: A tear containing the true emotions of the Elf Queen Margarita. Corrupted by an evil mage, she poured all her emotions into this tear at the moment of her death. Upon consumption, 2 new stat points will be created. The added stat points can be distributed as the User wishes.)
『Elixir of Love and Respect』
(Description: A secret elixir made for a single User lacking in stamina, with one person's love and another's respect. Not only are the ingredients special, but the conflicting attributes of light and darkness, which cannot be mixed, were unified with the ‘Magic Square of Harmony’ ability to draw out maximum efficiency. 1. Increases Stamina stat points by 10. However, it can only be consumed by Users with 72 Stamina or less. 2. Increases Magic Power stat points by 2. However, it can only be consumed by Users with 90 Magic Power or less.)
After carrying the two, who had fainted from exhaustion, to their rooms, I returned to my office on the fourth floor. And there, I ended up staying up all night.
A 10-point increase in Stamina. It was a truly enormous number. Of course, with two Stamina Elixirs used, 6 points were the baseline, but I never dreamed it could be increased by this much more. It had no flexibility, but it was 4 points higher than the ‘Angel’s Tear’ that had once shaken the Hall Plain.
I was lost in all sorts of thoughts while reading this through the dawn, and I considered countless possibilities. I didn't want to make the same mistake as before. And only after morning arrived could I finally make a decision.
If I raise my Stamina right now, I'll hit the limit in the future, and raising it with elixirs will become a distant dream. I know that. But from the moment I decided to make this elixir, I was determined to solve my stamina problem no matter what.
I know my body's condition well. If I neglect my stamina any longer, I might face a truly irreversible situation later on. As such, I had no intention of waiting any longer. In other words, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The last chance I would have in the 70-point range.
Coincidentally, my current stats are right on the edge… A 10-point increase… It's safe to say there will be almost no chance to raise it more than this in the future. The magic power is a bit of a waste, but…
Many thoughts still crossed my mind, but I was done with being sick and tired due to a lack of stamina. After making up my mind, I picked up the two elixirs in one hand as if possessed.
And then I brought them to my mouth and swallowed them in one gulp.