Material Synthesis?
“Material synthesis?”
What the hell is this?
Caught off guard by the unexpected alert, Carpe hurriedly scanned the skill description.
Magic Engineering Lv. 1 - 8-star
[Active]
1. Synthesis
2. Decomposition
3. Crafting
4. Alchemy
5. Magic Imbuement
[Passive]
Magic material discovery and gathering probability increased
Low probability of additional bonus during synthesis, decomposition, crafting, alchemy, magic imbuement
*Passive probability increases by 3% per skill level.
-So it's a production skill, huh.
“Yeah, now that you mention it, I think there was something like that.”
Carpe glanced down at his hands.
Enigma, the magic weapon. A Legendary-grade gauntlet item.
The description definitely mentioned it was “crafted directly” by the Magic King.
-The Magic King guy was probably a grand sorcerer and alchemist or something. That's the setup, right?
“Heh. Combat, production—he does it all. Total all-rounder.”
-Or maybe just a jack-of-all-trades.
“Jealous much?”
Cheonma was being petty for no reason, but they both knew a Mythic class couldn't be some useless scrub.
-Anyway, a production skill—and an 8-star one at that. You're lucky.
Production skills were rare.
There were far fewer of them compared to combat skills.
-Word gets out that you have an 8-star production skill, and the big guilds will lose their minds trying to scout you.
“Pass. Hidden classes are meant for solo play—that's the fun part.”
-Smart thinking. Mediocre players huddle together like animals. Wolves pack up, but you ever see tigers doing that?
“Hell yeah. Wise words.”
One-man army! Above all others!
The sweet allure of supremacy blinded them to the fact that lions and elephants—the real top beasts—did run in groups.
Tigers were the only truth.
Compatible materials found in inventory. Proceed with synthesis?
The alert popped up again in front of them, as if telling them to quit yapping.
“Oh, right.”
Snapping back to focus, Carpe zeroed in on the skill window and activated the “Synthesis” option under Magic Engineering.
*Ding.*
A new window appeared with a sound effect.
“Guess I drag materials in here.”
The window had two empty slots and a gray [Synthesis] button below. Simple, intuitive interface—anyone could figure it out.
“Let's see.”
Carpe pulled Flame Acorn and Ice Acorn from his inventory and slotted them in.
*Ding.*
Proceed with synthesis?
The gray [Synthesis] button turned green.
-That's how it works.
“Synthesizing these should give an acorn with both attributes, right?”
-Probably. Like Frozen Flame Acorn or some nonsense.
“Tch. Headache already.”
He had eight acorns total. Pick two to synthesize.
“Number of combos...”
-28.
“Argh! I job-changed early to narrow down pet options, and now they've multiplied!”
Without synthesis, he'd just pick one of eight. Now this...
-Just pick randomly, man! You'll upgrade to divine beast or mythic later anyway.
“You pick two, bro. I hate this crap.”
-Sigh. Fine—light and dark. Versatile enough.
“Convenient.”
Carpe opened his inventory to grab the Sun Acorn.
“Huh? What's this?”
The remaining six acorns were still blinking.
“...No way.”
Guessing the situation, he grabbed the Sun Acorn and shoved it into the window.
*Ding.*
A third slot appeared, accepting it. [Synthesis] still active.
“...”
-...
No words needed.
Carpe dumped every acorn from his inventory into the slots.
Water Acorn, Moon Acorn, Vegetation Acorn...
It didn't take long for all eight to vanish from his hands.
“...All in?”
-They're just sitting there, right? Bet it fails when you hit synthesize...
Proceed with synthesis?
-...Nope.
Cheonma was floored.
Attributes had counters, right? You couldn't just mash them together. Made no sense.
If this worked, what was his decade of game knowledge worth?
'Gotta stop him.'
Truth was, Cheonma had been uneasy since the job change quest.
He boasted as the top expert, a 10-year regressor on Last Savior—but reality?
Unlock? No clue.
Magical Fist Lord? Zero info. Obviously ignorant of its job skill, Magic Engineering.
He'd strutted like “RaSe is my playground”—but unknowns everywhere.
'What if another blind spot hits now?'
Obvious how Carpe would see him.
'10-year vet, my ass...'
'Strategy guide? Yeah, right...'
'Knows jack shit, hands me a farmer class...'
'Chatty ghost...'
'Maybe swap Patron Spirits...'
Horrifying.
-N-No!
Couldn't let his knowledge get debunked again.
'Prove my worth!'
Cheonma urgently tried to stop him.
-Come on, that's insane. Listen—attributes have counters...
“Hmm.”
-...So don't get greedy, just two? It'll fail anyway.
“Hmmm.”
-Can't you see the future? Synthesis fails, acorns gone!
“Hmmmm.”
-...I can see you ignoring me and it pissing me off.
“You know me too well, bro.”
Could he skip something this fun?
-Argh, no!
“Yes!”
No hesitation—Carpe smashed [Synthesis].
Initiating synthesis.
Fwoosh!
A bright glow enveloped the eight acorns as they floated up, spun wildly, and merged into one.
Success! Synthesis complete.
“Knew it!”
-...
Carpe cheered; Cheonma despaired. Their fortunes crossed.
But the alerts weren't done.
Bonus applied.
“Huh? Bonus?”
'Bonus out of nowhere?' The thought flashed, but he nodded.
“Right, Magic Engineering's passive mentioned low-chance bonuses. Must've procced.”
-...Even luck's on your side... What about my value...? Chatty ghost...?
“Bro, what're you mumbling?”
Carpe tilted his head at Cheonma's odd reaction but kept eyes on the alerts.
Bonus: Material grade upgraded by one step.
“Oh, grade up—nice... Wait, grade up?!”
Carpe's eyes widened. If so...
Legendary material Elemental Acorn upgraded to Epic material Primal Fragment.
“Whoa.”
Jaw dropped. An Epic grade just like that?!
Stunned, Carpe checked the synthesized item's info.
Epic Grade
Classification: Magic Material, Attribute Stone
A fragment containing primal energy in the shape of an acorn. All things began from the primal one.
“Now just apply this to the magic squirrel egg, right?”
-...You don't even need me.
“What? You taught me.”
-Huh?
“You said squirrel eggs hatch with acorns.”
-...Yeah, right.
“Whew. Dodged a bullet not knowing about the squirrel dungeon. Praise Cheonma—this is it.”
No Cheonma, no egg, no Epic acorn.
Mythic class too—without knowing the guerrilla quest, no dice.
-...You.
To Carpe, just stating facts. To Cheonma, a lifeline mending his battered ego—a ray in the dark.
“Time to hatch... Gah! Bro, you crying?!”
-What? Epic high making you delirious?
“No, I swear just now.”
-Shut up and hatch it. Curious what Epic acorn gets us.
Back to normal, Carpe shrugged it off.
Who cared? Epic pet incoming!
“Here we go!”
He pressed the Primal Fragment to the magic squirrel egg.
*Ding.*
Hatching conditions met. Hatch now?
No brainer. He tapped 'Yes'. Cracks spiderwebbed across the egg.
Used material grade excessively high.
Hatchling info updated.
Entity race changed from magic creature to Phantasmal Species!
Crack!
The egg shattered fully, and a tiny black furball popped out.
“Chyu?”
Hand-palm-sized squirrel. It looked around, scurried up Carpe's arm, and nuzzled his face.
“Chyu! Chyuu!”
“Aw, so cute.”
-Looks like a regular magic squirrel, 'cept the black fur.
“Unique color, yeah.”
Not pure black—smoky gray-black, unlike standard squirrels.
“Chyuuu.”
Tail-wag from a finger tickle, chattering happily.
Then an alert.
Name your pet.
“Oh, naming time.”
-Yeah, like when we swapped names—names seal the bond.
“Got it.”
Hmm. Names need care—gotta make it pretty.
To efficiency-focused Cheonma, pointless.
-Don't overthink. It's chyu-chyu-ing—call it Chyuchyu?
“Chyuut!”
“It hates it. Figures from an evil cult leader—zero humanity... Huh?”
Cult leader? Cheonma?
A word flashed in his mind.
Perfect. Matches the color too.
Name your pet.
“Decided.”
-Quick for you. What?
Curious despite his lazy suggestion, Cheonma prodded.
Carpe grinned.
“Mukhyang.”
Gifted the strongest Cheonma name he knew.
Pet name updated.
*Ding.*
Noble bloodlines of Tamias, squirrel kingdom, are born with magic. Rarest wield all attributes.
Skills:
Spell of Eight – 8-star
Collection Instinct Lv. 1 – 6-star
Silver Shadow Step Lv. 1 – 5-star
-Mythic class and Epic pet in starter city...
Cheonma muttered bitterly. Too absurd for snark.
“Hyangie. Rolls off the tongue. Together forever, yeah?”
“Chyuuung!”
“I'm top user—you'll be top pet. Sound good? Oh, you love it?”
“Chyu!”
-Enough mush. We got places to be.
“Huh? Graduating starter city now? Level 10.”
-Level 11's the cutoff. Test that new skill. You wanted combat trials, right?
Might as well go big.
Not far off lurked a perfect graduation exam boss.
-Hell Beast.
The “Leisin's Nightmare,” strongest monster in starter zone.