Tap, tap.
The stem growing from the sprout had become quite visible.
Looking at it, Ichan asked Sinhyeok, who was touching the barrel of the mana cannon.
“Hyung, are you sure this is going to become Yamyohonsik?”
Sinhyeok had his arm stretched out, modifying the inside of the barrel.
“I don’t know either. They said we won’t know until it’s fully grown.”
“Hmmm.”
Ichan tapped a leaf that had poked out.
Then he ended up cutting himself.
“Ah!”
“Be careful. That thing’s damn sharp.”
The drop of blood beading on the leaf was absorbed completely.
Sucking his stinging finger in his mouth, Ichan watched with an expectant look.
“Leave that alone and go do what you’re supposed to do.”
“Okay.”
But Ichan did not move.
Sinhyeok gave a hollow laugh.
“Are you that excited?”
“A little?”
Sinhyeok chuckled and, muttering to himself, inspected the eight mana cannons that were no longer in good condition.
“They’re pretty badly damaged….”
He pulled his hand away and called up the blueprint recorded in the Akashic Pocket, expanding it wide.
“Can you roll this up in a 3D shape similar to the inside of the barrel? I want to see it in a form similar to what I’m touching.”
[Converting blueprint to 3D and applying.]
“Oh~ very nice.”
He placed the blueprint beside the barrel and compared them.
‘It really is badly damaged.’
Seeing it like this, more than half of the internal magic circles were destroyed.
“If I’m going to fix this, it’d be better to make a new one.”
Sinhyeok left the cannon alone for a moment and focused on the blueprint.
‘The principle is simple.’
The magic used was Magic Arrow.
It was the most basic spell that granted physical force to mana.
The auxiliary magic circles used were also basic.
‘The runes used are only one each, too. They’ve just been connected in a complex way. It’d be easy to make…….’
The problem lay elsewhere.
‘The alloy used inside this thing is the key. What kind of alloy is it?’
[No records exist regarding the raw materials of the alloy inside the barrel.]
“That’s vague.”
The magic used was relatively simple.
The internal alloy of the barrel had a strong property of smoothly gathering and condensing mana.
“If I figure this out, I think I could copy dozens of them.”
Sinhyeok imagined it for a moment.
The sight of majestic mana cannons lined up atop the castle wall.
It was thrilling.
And the sight of the undead being swept away in an instant was simply perfect.
“I want it.”
Sinhyeok grabbed the barrel and focused, trying to determine the ratio of the alloy.
A faint amount of mana flowed from his fingertips into the barrel.
Watching the waves of mana ripple through the barrel, Sinhyeok pondered.
‘Mana stone is certain. It’s definitely mixed in. But what on earth is the rest?’
“You don’t know either?”
[………]
[There are no samples that can be applied to inference.]
In other words, it meant it was a type of mineral or material I had never seen before.
“Should I just ask?”
Sinhyeok immediately got up and headed toward Malakai.
On the way, he spoke to Ichan, who was staring intently at the Yamyohonsik.
“If you’re going to play around like that, at least help the residents level up.”
“Okay.”
That Ichan brat. He only answers well.
“You only answer well.”
“Okay.”
Feeling as though Ichan was replying without even listening, Sinhyeok casually tossed out a remark as he walked away.
“Hey, you’re a dwarf’s little poop sack, aren’t you?”
“Okay, huh? Damn it! No, I’m not!”
Ichan belatedly burst out in anger.
Sinhyeok cackled as he headed toward Malakai.
* * *
“The cannon’s alloy, you say?”
“Yes.”
“Hohoho. Of course I wouldn’t know that. It’s a secret of the Magic Tower. A frontier city like ours can’t make such things in the first place, and we don’t share magic with the Magic Tower, so there’s even less chance of knowing.”
“Ah…….”
He had expected it, but it was still quite disappointing.
Seeing Sinhyeok’s disappointed expression, Malakai at least gave him a hint.
“Mm, still, I have roughly seen and heard a few things.”
Hope appeared on Sinhyeok’s previously discouraged face.
Malakai spoke while trying to recall as much as he could.
“They probably don’t use pure mithril alone. As far as I know, they mix in the body parts of other monsters.”
“Ah. Parts of monster corpses too……!”
After thinking for a moment, Sinhyeok realized there was a mineral he was hearing about for the first time and asked him in return.
“But what is mithril?”
“Mm?”
Malakai was instead taken aback.
“You don’t know mithril?”
“Mithril?”
“Hohoho.”
He let out a laugh full of disbelief and wonder.
“I mean the mineral that has no resistance to mana. Isn’t it the core of alchemy?”
“Doesn’t alchemy originally have no resistance?”
Malakai shot up with an indignant face.
“What are you talking about! That is the core of alchemy! Eliminating resistance values! That’s why mithril and mana stones are the core materials of alchemy!”
“…….”
‘Right. I’ve always been getting by for free.’
It was a matter that did not apply to Sinhyeok, who possessed the Golden Hands.
“Hahaha. How frustrating. No, aren’t you an Alchemist? One who has mastered alchemy and awakened to the truth of all things.”
He stopped speaking when he saw Sinhyeok’s hollow expression.
“No, you’re not……. Is it just innate talent?”
Sinhyeok nodded with an awkward expression.
“A little?”
“Hoho, what a bitter world. Some people had no talent for alchemy and had to change their path to become an Enchanter.”
As if anger was rising in him, he opened a drawer and searched for his pipe.
“I’ll smoke one. It’s been a while since the back of my head throbbed like this.”
“Ha. Haha….”
Sinhyeok laughed awkwardly and thought about running away.
‘I shouldn’t have come.’
It felt as though he had stirred up a hornet’s nest for nothing.
Malakai took a refreshing puff and exhaled the smoke out the window.
“Huaaaah. That’s a little better.”
“Is that so? Haha.”
As if he had made up his mind, he declared to Sinhyeok.
“Let us do it together.”
“Yes? Do what?”
“Make it, I mean.”
Malakai looked for a moment at the residents outside the castle.
“I feel like I should move forward as well. Since things have come to this, you should teach me.”
“Yes?”
Flustered, Sinhyeok asked back.
“W-what?”
“Alchemy, I mean. As it happens, my awakening is that as well.”
[Status Window]
Name: Malakai Strun (LV.1)
Class: Alchemist
Strength: 7
Agility: 6
Stamina: 8
Mana: 188
Trait: Scholar
[Owned Skills]
=====================
[Main]
Enchant (LV.1)
=====================
The class Alchemist was clearly visible to his eyes.
“Then I look forward to your guidance. Master.”
“…….”
With his clear display of determination that there would be no refusal, Sinhyeok had nowhere to run.
“Are you serious?”
Malakai smiled and replied.
“Then would it be a lie, my master?”
Sinhyeok made a troubled expression.
‘My alchemy isn’t something other people can understand.’
It was the culmination of tricks painted over solely with talent.
“It’s not really my place to say this, but you may not understand anything. My alchemy is extremely different.”
Malakai chuckled.
“Then that would be my limit.”
At his firm will that he would absolutely not back down, Sinhyeok simply accepted it.
“Mm, understood. Let’s work together for now.”
“Excellent!”
Delighted, he immediately asked.
“Then, Master. What shall we start with?”
Shiver, shiver.
Hearing an elderly man call him master made him feel strangely chilled.
“W-we need to identify that alloy first.”
“Hm. You handle iron as well?”
He spoke with a puzzled face.
“Yes. Among my alchemy masters was a dwarf from the Aurumstone clan, so I learned a very small amount about alloys and minerals.”
‘Really just a small amount. That man taught me in a slapdash way too.’
“Oh, you encountered them?”
Finding it fascinating, he headed toward the vacant lot where Sinhyeok had been working.
When he saw the vacant lot, his expression changed completely.
“You work here?”
At his cold expression, Sinhyeok flinched.
“In a place with this many impurities and this many variables that could affect the final product?”
“…….”
Sinhyeok smiled awkwardly and answered.
“Well, my ability is…….”
“Kh-hmm.”
Perhaps thinking he had gotten too angry, Malakai forced a smile.
“Hm, my apologies, Master. I was rude. Please, continue.”
“Ahem. Understood. First, I think it would be better for you to do that with me.”
Sinhyeok pointed at the mana cannons he had neatly laid out in the vacant lot.
“I separated those because I thought there was no point in restoring them.”
Malakai nodded.
“I saw them as well. Those eight were truly used to the point of cruelty. They were fired so many times that the magic circles inside have worn down.”
“That’s why I thought it’d be better to melt them down and make them anew, so I asked earlier about the internal alloy.”
“Ahh!”
Sinhyeok mentioned the “mithril” he had spoken of earlier.
“First, I think I need to touch mithril myself. Do you happen to have any?”
“I don’t. There’s no way I’d have something that expensive.”
Malakai thought for a moment before continuing.
“Mm, but it may exist. Perhaps it could be in that mine.”
When Sinhyeok made a puzzled expression, he explained.
“Mithril is usually found often around mana stone mines. Sometimes it’s mined together with mana stones.”
“Oh.”
“There’s a common hypothesis regarding that. They say ordinary iron changes into a mineral that has no resistance to mana under the influence of mana stones.”
[Saving new information to the Akashic Pocket.]
“No, don’t save that.”
[Information withheld.]
“Shall we give it a try?”
Sinhyeok tapped the barrel as he pondered.
‘Mithril, huh.’
“Lord Malakai.”
When Sinhyeok called him, Malakai looked at him curiously.
“Would it be faster to make it? Or faster to find it?”
“It would naturally be faster to find it.”
At the answer that finding it would be faster, Sinhyeok quickly gave up on the thought of synthesizing it.
“Then let’s go together.”
“Let us.”
* * *
The two went to the mana stone mine that had recently been opened in order to find mithril.
“Huff. Huff.”
Malakai was struggling, breathing heavily.
Sinhyeok stopped along the way and looked back.
“I’ll go by myself.”
“Huff, no! Let us go together! I can overcome this!”
Wasn’t this elder abuse?
Since the man himself said he would go, they went together for now.
Sinhyeok walked as slowly as possible and explored the interior.
[Mapping in progress.]
[The discovered minerals are as follows.]
[Iron ore]
[Copper]
[Mana stone]
[Limestone]
[Soil]
‘Do we have to go deeper?’
Sinhyeok stopped for a moment, closed his eyes, and focused more.
He sent the search sphere far deeper inside.
[Unidentified mineral discovered.]
“There it is.”
After identifying the location, Sinhyeok began swinging his pickaxe.
Soon, there was a sound of something catching beneath the ground.
Clang!
Smiling, he pulled it out just like that.
A silvery mineral slid out from the ground.
Panting, Malakai saw it and spoke.
“M-mithril!”
“Nice!”
They found it in one go.
Delighted, Sinhyeok soon continued easily finding the locations of mithril.
Then he extracted it in large quantities.
At the mithril pouring up in heaps, Malakai made a surprised expression.
“Hohoho. If one becomes an Alchemist, can one do that much as a matter of course?”
Putting the mithril into his inventory, Sinhyeok said,
“If you work hard, I’ll teach you.”
“Good grief, what a stingy master. Still, I appreciate the words.”
He tried to deny it, saying this would be impossible, but the corners of his mouth twitched.
“Let’s head out.”
Sinhyeok supported Malakai and headed outside.
“Now I think we can try making it together.”
After returning to the vacant lot, Sinhyeok arranged the mithril and mana stones with an excited face.
“Hmm, hmm, hmm.”
Humming, Sinhyeok checked the waves flowing out.
‘It’s lacking. They mixed in iron.’
When he immediately took out iron ore and placed it together, the wave matched perfectly.
“This is it.”
Malakai watched with a puzzled expression, then asked,
“What are you looking at to say that this is it?”
“Ah. It’s the wave. When I let a faint amount of mana flow in, I look at the shape and color of the mana, like ripples…….”
He smiled awkwardly and asked,
“Can you perhaps see mana?”
“Mm…….”
Sinhyeok made an awkward expression.
“It’s n-not normally visible, is it?”
Malakai nodded.
Feeling awkward, Sinhyeok changed the subject.
“For now, just watch me make it.”
“Very well.”
[Material Synthesis]
[You have synthesized a new alloy.]
[Please name it.]
‘Just call it mithril alloy.’
[Information on mithril alloy will be saved to the Akashic Pocket.]
Sinhyeok proceeded with the remaining process in one smooth sequence.
[Synthesis - Mana Cannon]
Malakai lost his words at the sight unfolding before his eyes.
Sinhyeok swiftly made it, then even inspected it.
“Put in some mana stone.”
He ground mana stone and poured it into the hole in the barrel.
Then, when he sent a faint amount of mana through it, blue mana began to condense.
“Fire.”
Kwaaaang!
The projectile shot out refreshingly.
“As expected, it’s not that difficult.”
When he turned around, he could see Malakai’s stunned expression.
“It’s a little difficult, right?”
Malakai took back the words he had spoken.
“I take back what I said about asking you to teach me. This is not in the realm of something that can be learned.”