The Constellations' Game [Laika]
Ever since my class advancement into the hidden class Seraphist, I had been granted a total of three skills — all of them, fittingly, tied to alchemy.
Lumen Synthesis. Seraphic Forge. And Offering of Life.
But Offering of Life was still locked away, so the tools I actually had at my disposal amounted to just two: Lumen Synthesis and Seraphic Forge. And of those two, the one I had truly mastered was the practical synthesis technique, Seraphic Forge.
Didn't I put Lumen Synthesis to perfectly good use when I created Keyel's formula? ...I'd call that debatable. Drakiel's formula had, for all intents and purposes, been handed to me as a quest reward.
Ding—! '5 LP' has been paid.
Purchased item: Old Parchment Piece
Ding—! '3 LP' has been paid.
Purchased item: Torn Cloth of the Dead
......
Which meant that what I was doing right now was only possible because the conditions for finally putting Lumen Synthesis to real use had been met. In plain terms: with no quest doing the heavy lifting for me, I could at last craft a synthesis formula entirely on my own.
— Slay a target whose Synthesis Comprehension has reached 100% to obtain synthesis materials.
* Synthesis Comprehension rises the more you study a given target.
— Once you have gathered synthesis materials and secured sufficient Lumen energy, you may craft a Lumen Synthesis Formula.
I had hunted the Ghosts of Agony like a madman for the first three days, pushing my synthesis comprehension of the monster all the way to 100%, and then spent yesterday and today farming relentlessly until my Lumen energy was filled to the brim as well.
[Main synthesis material: Condensed Crystal of Grief — 1000 / 1000 (100%)]
[A new Lumen Synthesis Formula using 'Condensed Crystal of Grief' as its main material can now be crafted.]
[The following items are required to craft the formula:]
1. Old Parchment Piece 2. Torn Cloth of the Dead 3. Black Ink
So there I was, heart quietly thudding. I could finally create a new summon — not that dragon brat I could barely deploy without collapsing, but something I could actually use. This meant I could genuinely pull off the vibe of a proper 1st-advancement player now... right?
True, unlike with Keyel, the formula ingredients felt distinctly bargain-bin this time around... so all I could do was pray something cost-effective came out of it. Lost in that thought, I got straight to work on the formula.
Formula crafting has begun.
Current progress: 3%... 5%... 27%... 56%...
The Constellations looked to be pretty invested in my new formula as well. The chat kept rolling in, and — my usual 8 p.m. log-off time long since past — the live viewer count was actually climbing.
Eighteen hundred concurrent viewers. That was a number I hadn't even seen when Sword Princess made her appearance... so the pressure was very real.
But the swelling viewer count probably wasn't driven by hopes of another earth-shattering formula like Keyel's. The ingredients alone were so pathetically cheap that comparing them to last time felt almost rude, and while Keyel's base had been dragonkin from a class main quest, this time it was nothing more than a junk-tier wraith.
So no, I wasn't about to disagree with the Constellations on that one.
Current progress: ...92%... 97%... 100%...
In that spirit, I could be reasonably satisfied with the completed formula's grade. And no, that is absolutely not rationalization. I mean every word of it.
A synthesis formula for crafting the Rag Doll of Vain Lingering.
Register this formula with the Seraphic Forge skill to synthesize the Rag Doll of Vain Lingering.
* Account-bound item. Cannot be traded.
* Class-exclusive item. Usable only by the Alchemist of Light class.
* Upon a successful synthesis, this formula disappears.
Synthesis Material List
A. Torn Shroud of the Dead × 1
B. Ownerless Golden Buttons × 3
C. Rusted Coffin Nails × 15
D. Skeins of Black Thread × 8
You're saying even Rare is a bit of a letdown? Not a letdown at all. Because... this formula's total material cost came to less than 100 LP. Rare grade alone gave me a perfectly decent shot at pulling a 3T.
If I'd thrown a few thousand LP at the gacha for a Rare 3T, sure, I'd be crushed. But at under 100 LP? Landing a 3T is nothing but pure profit, isn't it?
Which is exactly why I'm going right now, hyung-nims. Honestly, this was where the real game began, wasn't it?
All materials required for synthesis have been registered.
Would you like to use Seraphic Forge to synthesize 'Rag Doll of Vain Lingering'?
[ Y / N ]
Unlike with Drakiel, I clicked Y with genuinely zero hesitation — not even a tenth of a second of it.
"Here we go!"
Of course, an entire week's worth of labor had condensed into this one synthesis, so I wasn't completely free of nerves... but I'd already hit a 300-million jackpot on my very first attempt last time, and that experience made me a good deal more relaxed.
Class-exclusive skill, Seraphic Forge, has been activated.
Synthesis of 'Rag Doll of Vain Lingering' will now begin.
Man, what a mouthful of a name, though. Rag Doll of Vain Lingering. I could practically feel a dark aura radiating off it... though that was probably just because the synthesis base was the Ghost of Agony.
Vmmm—!
In any case, while I was musing on that, the familiar pure-white formula pattern bloomed into the air before me.
The quality of the result may vary depending on the completeness of the formula.
And from here on out, I had to focus with everything I had. A tiger gives its all even when hunting a single rabbit.
For a split second, I flinched. How do you people know me so well?
[Current synthesis progress: 0.7%]
The Constellations kept murmuring away in the chat, but I tore my eyes off it for good. They were right, after all — the best possible plan was to ride another mana surge just like last time and pull out a Unique-grade summon.
Ziiing— eeeeing—!
Meanwhile, the formula flowing from my hands was steadily taking on its true shape.
Gooooh—!
In any case, the formula was coming along smoothly — very much the same flow as Keyel's synthesis.
[Current synthesis progress: 22.3%]
[Formula completeness so far: S+]
Maybe because the formula itself was simpler, the grade seemed to be climbing a bit faster than last time.
A perfect 'Path of Mana' has been completed.
The formula's completeness has grown one step sturdier.
[Current synthesis progress: 30.0%]
[Formula completeness so far: SS]
Pushing it all the way to SS put my mind considerably at ease.
[Current synthesis progress: 67.3%]
[Current synthesis progress: 79.5%]
Thankfully, the mana surge arrived even sooner than it had last time.
'The Flow of Mana' is erupting explosively.
Formula progression speed accelerates by 50%.
[Current synthesis progress: 82.4%]
And then, when I finished every last stroke of the formula without a single mistake—
Ding—!
A perfect 'Core of Mana' has been completed.
The formula's completeness has evolved one step further.
[Current synthesis progress: 100.0%]
[Formula completeness so far: SS+]
What appeared before my eyes was exactly the blue pillar of light I'd been hoping for.
A result that has transcended the formula's limits has been completed.
The skill proficiency grade of the class-exclusive skill Seraphic Forge rises from B-rank to B+ rank.
Ooh, so the synthesis rank ticked up a little too?
The grade of the synthesis result, 'Rag Doll of Vain Lingering', evolves by one stage.
So the grade had landed exactly where I'd hoped: Unique. And yet... a small anomaly occurred at the very end.
The tier of the synthesis result, 'Rag Doll of Vain Lingering', rises by three stages.
Three tiers? Then what tier was about to pop out of this thing?
The Will (Ego) of 'Rag Doll of Vain Lingering' has been successfully instilled into the created being.
Synthesis of 'Rag Doll of Vain Lingering (Unique) (6T)' has succeeded.
In a somewhat different sense from Keyel's time... something I had never once experienced before was happening.
A Unique 6-tier summon. Even the words themselves sounded a little violent, didn't they?
It wasn't quite the explosive eruption of Keyel's first synthesis, but the Constellations had apparently been pretty startled by the tier value of 6 itself. Not that it mattered much to me — I was quite satisfied. A Unique 6T summon, roughly converted to player level, was probably somewhere in the mid-to-late 40s.
Vmmm—!
As I was thinking that, particles of pure-white light spilling over the formula began slowly clumping together in midair. Then, for just a moment—
It looked like... a rabbit?
As the white light seeped into the empty air, the completed summon's figure came into sharper focus within my vision.
Thud—
What dropped limply to the floor was, in a word, a tiny stuffed rabbit. A black cloth rabbit doll about the size of two grown men's fists, its mismatched button eyes staring up at nothing.
The Constellations' chat made me flinch before I could stop myself. Because... I had been thinking the exact same thing a heartbeat ago. But I trust the System. The System's grades and tiers have never lied to me. Not even once.
Thud—
While I was mulling that over, the little creature — propping a rusty nail as tall as itself against the ground like a walking staff — staggered upright.
And then, the very next moment. The thing met my eyes, heaved one long, deep sigh, and murmured in a low, dragging voice—
This little punk, seriously... what on earth is it supposed to be?