Chapter 7: Alchemy Changes Lives!

“Change my life?”

The professional mask on Seres’s face completely shattered.

This man really seemed to have no interest in her, nor in any shortcuts she could offer.

What… what a peculiar man?!

“Heh, boring.”

Lomio had no time to bother with the inner struggles of a scheming stewardess.

“Bye-bye now.”

Waving at the still-stunned Seres, Lomio left the shady shop without so much as a glance back.

“Ring of Aura Suppression, huh?”

In the game, its effect was to greatly reduce one’s presence, automatically entering stealth after leaving combat, and granting immunity to most detection magic.

“Pretty good for a warrior or mage… But what use is it to me?”

Sounds wonderful?

But what if the side effect is that it’s nearly impossible to remove, making daily life unmanageable?

That’s right, there’s even a quest in the game where keeping quest items for oneself leads to disaster… though it never happened to the protagonist.

Naturally, it’s Lomio Arkadi who gets saddled with it.

Instead, the quest rewards of “Skill Point +1” and “A favor from the Genius Alchemist” were much more useful to Lomio.

Unlocking Assassin skills earlier—like the legendary Leap, or the multi-stage dash Wind Sprint—

It meant he could farm credits in hidden maps sooner.

And a favor, especially from a top technical expert, was an incredibly valuable resource both in-game and in reality.

No matter how you looked at it, it was a good deal.

He needed to buy some gear first.

Not weapons or armor, but the most basic safety gear—

A sturdy pair of alchemist’s gloves, and a gas mask capable of filtering toxic fumes.

Even scavenging junk requires professionalism.

“Woohoo! It’s beautiful, a mountain of gold… Uh… the smell is a bit much, though.”

Following his in-game memory, Lomio bought the necessities and made his way straight to the Academy’s alchemical waste disposal site.

It was at the very end of the commercial street, in a secluded Back Mountain Corner.

Towering metal fences hung with glaring warning signs, and the air was thick with a pungent stench—a bizarre blend of rotten eggs and rusting metal.

Lomio pushed open the squeaking iron gate. The sight that greeted him was truly spectacular.

A small mountain made of shattered test tubes, discarded crucibles, solidified multicolored liquids, and unknown metal parts dominated the center of the yard.

A few bulky Alchemical Golems plodded slowly and mechanically, using huge metal arms to grab waste and toss it into distant decomposition furnaces.

“Whrr—whrr—”

The monotonous, dull hum of the golems made the junkyard feel all the more desolate.

“Perfect.”

Lomio pulled on his gloves and gas mask, waved the issued parchment in front of a golem, then logged his Academy badge.

With the advancement of alchemy, all these tasks had long since become fully automated.

Credits would be awarded based on the work time recorded by the monitoring golems.

Alchemy was just too useful!

“Let’s get digging!”

He activated [Beginner Alchemy] in his talent tree.

The world changed before Lomio’s eyes.

A faint golden border appeared at the edge of his vision. In the once chaotic trash heaps, clusters of light—bright and dim—shone into view.

[Detected residual ‘Lorel Grass’ powder, purity about 17%, can be refined.]

[Detected root remnants of ‘Mercury Flower,’ containing trace active ingredients, can be extracted.]

[Warning: The liquid mixture ahead is highly corrosive, but contains unreacted sediment of ‘Basic Mana Solvent.’]

…

One message after another, like item tags in a game, clearly marked the corresponding pieces of trash.

This was the alchemist’s “Appraisal” ability—the most basic passive skill, yet more useful than any treasure-hunting tool.

But because it consumed mental energy, most alchemists scoffed at it.

Besides… they didn’t really care about waste.

With the sack picked up at the entrance, Lomio dove headlong into this treasure mountain.

He deftly avoided dangerous chemical wastes, and reached into a pile of charred ashes to pull out a still-warm metal ingot;

He carefully pinched out a few withered-looking roots from a heap of sticky, rotted plant mush.

“If the ring can block aura and detection skills, it definitely won’t be easy to find.”

“I’ll just focus on collecting materials—for now, the opportunity will present itself.”

Lomio was perfectly calm.

The confidence of an old-school gamer was playing it cool for the best possible ending!

One hour later

Alchemy Workshop.

This place was a world apart from the junkyard outside.

Under the bright glow of magestone lamps, rows of pristine alchemy stations stood in perfect order. The air-purification array operated silently, whisking away all impurities and stench.

Karenina had been waiting for some time.

She occupied the farthest corner alchemy station alone, elegantly leaning back in her chair, her slender fingers tapping the polished desktop in a rhythmic pattern.

When Lomio pushed the door open, she immediately looked over.

Then, her hands froze.

The man who entered wore his hat brim low, carried a faint but strange smell, and hauled a filthy, bulging sack in his hand.

“Sorry, brother, kept you waiting.”

Lomio strode quickly to the alchemy station beside her, plopping the sack heavily onto the table.

A muffled “thud” echoed, along with a clatter of metal and glass containers.

“Had to take care of something on the way. Got delayed a bit.”

Karenina said nothing. She just stared at the sack, then at Lomio.

Personal business?

That was his so-called personal business?

Did he roll around in a garbage heap?

“What is this…” she finally spoke, a hint of curiosity she herself didn’t notice in her tone.

“Oh, this?” Lomio untied the sack, and with the pride of presenting a treasure, dumped everything out onto the table.

Clatter—

Burnt metal lumps, dirt-caked plant roots, half-solidified gray powders, and several bottles of cloudy liquids…

A whole pile of things that could only be described as “junk” instantly covered half the alchemy station.

Other students conducting experiments nearby all cast looks of disgust.

“…You call these materials?”

Karenina was baffled.

She’d given him a thousand mana stones—enough to buy the finest materials on the market.

And yet he’d brought back a pile of… refuse?

What did this mean?

“Don’t be hasty. Watch me work!”

Lomio was busy sorting materials, paying no mind to what she was saying.

“Oh?”

Karenina stepped closer to the alchemy table, eyes bright with interest at the pile of junk.

“I’m just curious how you’ll use this stuff to finish the so-called ‘card engraving.’”

“Watch and learn!”

Lomio’s game knowledge was blazing!

Not literally blazing—just that when he placed his hands on the alchemy table, a few lines of arrow keys appeared before his eyes.

“They even kept the QTE mechanic? Doesn’t that mean I can craft everything just by thinking a little?”

Lomio was thoroughly impressed with the gamified system.

He followed the mental prompts, letting his thoughts flow.

In the next second, his body moved as if guided by an invisible hand.

He activated the table’s heating array, tossed a pitch-black metal ingot into the crucible—every motion smooth and seamless.

Under intense heat, the metal quickly melted. Thick black impurities separated out as blue smoke, instantly sucked away by the purification array.

Next, he poured a cloudy liquid into the distiller. His hands danced across complex rune channels, and in just a few minutes, drops of pure, water-like mana solvent dripped from the other end.

Empowered by the talent tree, even as a first-timer, his movements were shockingly precise, not a single wasted motion.

Those foul-smelling scraps were being transformed before their eyes into glittering, magical, refined materials.

Karenina stood quietly by, watching.

But in her ice-blue eyes, the shock grew deeper with each passing moment.

“Using waste as a catalyst, and this reaction process… truly imaginative.”

“Such practiced movements… the result of countless repetitions.”

Lomio: “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right…”

…

“Okay, done!”

Lomio wiped the sweat from his brow, neatly laying out several sets of purified materials on the table, exhaling in relief.

Easy!

Too easy!

With a system like this, there was no such thing as a failed attempt!

Why was there so much, though?

Even Lomio was surprised.

Logically, the loss rate for alchemy reactions shouldn’t be less than ten percent, and he hadn’t gathered that many materials—

There were enough materials here to craft three Basic Experience Cards, or even one Intermediate Experience Card!

Way more than expected!

“This really is… fascinating.”

Karenina examined the materials, sensing their purity.

“I’ve seen many alchemy workshops, but no one else has recycled materials so perfectly.”

“If this could be adopted more widely… we could save several castles’ worth of resources every year.”

“No way.” Lomio shook his head.

“Oh? And why not?”

Karenina realized this might involve the current system of the Duchy, her interest piqued.

“Alchemists nowadays are national treasures—the entry barrier is high, the ceiling even higher. The Duchy will do anything, even offer loans, to maintain this as its core strength.”

“For the Duchy, it’s all about attracting talent from around the world, using the monopoly of card development to force other nations to spend.”

“But for the wizards? If they don’t waste materials, how will they get research funds? And if they don’t get funds, how will they enjoy life… uh, or prove their efforts?”

Even the devs had joked about this in official game Easter eggs—are you kidding me?

If nobody hoards, what’s the point?

In other words, if you’re a pig in a pen and don’t want to be a pig, then what do you want to do?

Rebel?

“No wonder you’re your mother’s child… you see things so clearly…”

Karenina nodded inwardly, realizing every word Lomio said was true.

The Duchy now held an unrivaled position in the world through its alchemical might.

Even royal heirs from other countries considered it an honor to study in the Duchy.

But on the other hand—

The Duchy was using alchemy’s lead to swallow up resources worldwide, exploiting the gap to fuel its own power.

Money was just the fuel to drive the alchemical beast, spreading the card upgrade system across the globe.

If Rosso wanted to develop alchemy in the future, more attention would have to be paid to such issues…

A lesson well learned.

What’s more—

Lomio’s insight into the Duchy’s internal workings also validated Karenina’s own thinking.

He would help her, and the so-called credit loan plan was already targeting some key figures.

“The cooperation must continue, and must remain stable.”