When he said they needed some kind of potion, Sinhyeok pulled a studded glove from his pocket and put it on as he asked,
“You’ve got it, obviously, right?”
When Ichan saw Sinhyeok put on the glove and start giving off a menacing air, he hurriedly said,
“No! They said it was made with World Tree sap and some other stuff! They said it was a secret art and they’d tell me later!”
“Damn it. Got my hopes up for nothing.”
Sinhyeok felt stifled when a sign of a solution appeared, only to vanish again.
“But it’s not like I have absolutely nothing.”
“You little— Are you seriously going to keep going back and forth like this?”
Ichan rummaged in his pocket and showed him a bracelet woven from young tree stems.
“This has the potion used for spirit-calling soaked into it. They said they soak it in the stuff when they make it.”
Sinhyeok took the wooden-stem bracelet Ichan handed him.
“In this?”
“Yeah. But, hyung, can you do it?”
He placed the item Ichan had given him on his palm and examined it from every angle.
“Do I look like I can?”
“Fair.”
But, surprisingly, he felt like it might work.
“But maybe it could.”
‘Couldn’t I use the same method I use on minerals here?’
“It can?”
Ichan’s eyes went round at the words maybe it could.
“You can do it?”
“Just wait for now. I don’t know if this’ll work either.”
It seemed like he could apply the same grunt work he usually did—the work he had been doing until just yesterday.
‘When I’m organizing the warehouse, even if it isn’t a mineral, I still get reactions to waves and such.’
He closed his eyes and focused.
‘Cancel mapping.’
[Canceling Mapping.]
The search sphere returned again.
“Phew.”
He exhaled thinly and concentrated.
He released a faint amount of mana and searched as usual.
Then he opened his eyes and looked at the waves.
‘Pure and intense, but there’s a strong will? Something like thoughts mixed in.’
The wave itself had a strange feeling to it, as if it bewitched and drew things in.
‘The color’s gray, but it’s bright.’
He took the wave into his eyes, felt it, and steadily accumulated data.
Ichan only saw mana pop out with a little plop, and looked puzzled.
“Is there something?”
“Yeah, there’s a whole lot.”
Sinhyeok closed his dry eyes and massaged them with warmth as he spoke.
“Let’s look for the ingredients. I need to see if they’re nearby.”
“Huh? You’re really doing it? Hyung!? For real, for real?!”
He answered Ichan, who was chattering beside him, coolly.
“Yeah, so quiet. I don’t know if they’ll be around here.”
He came out of the temple and began mapping again.
‘I need to focus. Overlap two of them.’
[Beginning Mapping.]
Two search spheres overlapped and moved as one.
‘Narrow the range.’
He limited the range he could sense on his own. Then it became more detailed.
[Unidentified mineral discovered.]
[Unidentified mineral discovered.]
‘Ah, that message is seriously annoying.’
He wanted to change that “mineral” message that appeared through mapping, but there was no way.
‘Do I need to obtain something else for that to update too?’
He had a guess, but for now he decided to focus on this.
‘Not that one. That’s… hm?’
In one place, he felt a cluster of similar waves.
‘I haven’t gone there before.’
Following the sensation, he moved and found that it was near the temple.
“Huh? Ah, it’s that place.”
It was the place where, every time he came by, the priest would turn stern and say it would be troublesome for him to enter.
“Tsk.”
Sinhyeok glanced around. Fortunately, no one was watching.
“Excuse me.”
‘It’s all for a good cause, isn’t it?’
When he went inside, what he saw was a graveyard.
A broad graveyard enshrining many.
However, there was only one large tombstone, and no names were engraved.
Looking over the widely spread graves, he scanned them quietly and carefully.
‘Mm, found one.’
He carefully dug up a small flower growing in a corner of the graveyard, roots and all.
Watching his surroundings, he cautiously put it in his pocket.
‘Again, again.’
He quickly scanned the area. He found another one after only a few steps.
It looked like a weed that had grown tall and slender upward.
“This looks really familiar. If it had about ten red berries at the end and smelled of blood around it, I think it’d be a mandrake.”
It was a rare medicinal herb that could be seen surprisingly often in Gates.
If eaten, it provided a large amount of mana close to yin—in other words, close to dark mana.
If properly purified and consumed, it counted as a good medicinal herb.
“As expected.”
When he pulled it up slightly, it was indeed the one.
“You’re for last.”
He buried it again and only plucked the berries at the tip so he could see the wave.
“That makes two~”
The farming was going smoothly.
‘One seems to be this soil.’
The wave spread broadly across the area seemed to be one ingredient.
He carefully dug up some soil and put it in his pocket.
‘Done, and what else!’
He stared around for a long while, and strangely, from within the graveyard—in other words, beneath the tombstone—he detected a wave that seemed like it would fit perfectly.
“No, if I go that far, I’ll really be the scum of the earth.”
And yet no matter who looked at it—no, even if Aurumstone came and looked at it—they would think, “That’s the one.”
First, he approached it.
“It’s way too much under the tombstone.”
He quietly tapped the ground.
Beneath the ground where neat, grass-like plants grew brightly, he felt that wave.
‘How do I dig this up without leaving a trace?’
As he pondered this and focused, a familiar voice came from behind him.
“Why are you there?”
Sinhyeok, startled, hurriedly turned around.
“Damn it. Why do you guys come up so quietly from behind?”
Ichan and Arin looked at him with dumbfounded faces.
“No, you detect us just fine with mapping, so what do you mean quietly?”
“Whatever. And the priest?”
Ichan answered.
“He said he felt awful and tired, so he went to his room. And he asked us to keep watch.”
“Fine. Then stand a little farther away. I’m scared we’ll get caught.”
Arin asked casually,
“You said you were making some potion?”
Sinhyeok looked at Ichan, whose mouth was far too loose.
“No, this rude brat keeps threatening me with a sword.”
“What? Rude bra—?”
“A sister overflowing with grace!”
He corrected his words.
“You, we’ll talk later.”
“Heh! What’re you gonna do, what’re you—agh!”
He received a heavy knuckle rap to the crown of his head.
Ichan glared while pointing at the tears that had welled up.
“Want me to make the left side leak too?”
“Hmph. Forget it! Go away!”
Sinhyeok looked at Arin’s sword, then said discreetly,
“Use that sword and stab deeply here.”
“That’s a bit…”
Under Sinhyeok’s steady glare, she had no choice but to draw it and stab.
“But how do you know what it is, stabbing it with this? If it’s something like stone, I can’t take it out with this.”
“It’s not stone. Something hard doesn’t have this kind of wobbly motion.”
“Huh? You can see that?”
“Yeah.”
Ichan and Arin found it fascinating, seeing Sinhyeok acquiring strange tricks at the workshop.
“What on earth do you do at the workshop? Are you learning something like foresight?”
When she pulled out the sword, it really wasn’t stone, but something like black liquid.
“Ugh! The smell!”
The stench was quite overpowering.
All three of them covered their noses.
Sinhyeok said while pinching his nose,
“That, into my pocket.”
Arin thrust the sword out.
“Hurry up and take it!”
“No, no.”
Sinhyeok, who had been about to put it in his pocket, recoiled from the smell.
“Not the pocket. Just hold it.”
“Aaah! It stinks!”
“Endure it!”
Sinhyeok took out all the items and overlapped them.
‘They’re similar. But it looks like one is missing.’
Ichan looked at all the things he had taken out and quietly said,
“There’s probably one missing.”
“Huh? Right, we’re roughly one short.”
Sinhyeok agreed with Ichan’s words.
“You probably need to mix in a piece of the World Tree or some sap. Usually, they use everything together. I learned that when you do, the effect and divine potency become completely different.”
“Ah.”
“The World Tree.”
Arin and Sinhyeok despaired at the words “World Tree.”
“The World Tree Yggdrasil that made this system?”
“Or the World Trees inside Gates that supposedly appear once in a very rare while?”
Ichan fiddled with his necklace.
“I have one.”
When Sinhyeok touched the necklace, Ichan stopped him.
“Not that. Are you insane?”
“I’m not using this either. This is out of the question.”
Ichan flipped the necklace over and opened it.
Then a single seed, stained black, became visible.
He scraped off a little with his fingernail and held it out to Sinhyeok.
“This much should be fine, right?”
Sinhyeok received the truly tiny speck with care.
“It’s enough.”
When he overlapped the waves again, they were definitely the same.
“Good, the ingredients are all ready. Ichan, you’re sure you can do this, right?”
Ichan nodded with certainty.
“Yeah, I can guarantee this.”
Sinhyeok headed toward the mandrake he had looked at earlier.
“We really have to do it. Once I pull this out, they’ll definitely come running over to kill us.”
The two immediately realized what Sinhyeok was about to pull up.
“Crazy!”
“H-Hyung!”
The two hurriedly covered their ears.
“Here goes!”
Pop.
When the mandrake was pulled out, the human face drawn on the surface of its root opened its eyes.
“Kkiyoooooooot!”
A strange cry spread out, and Sinhyeok immediately slammed it onto the ground.
“Kkiyolk!”
It let out a death cry, and the scream disappeared.
Sinhyeok hurriedly took out his canteen and emptied its contents.
Rattle, rattle, rattle.
“H-Hyung! Hurry! Someone’s coming!”
“Oh, mother.”
Sinhyeok hurriedly mixed the things he had gathered.
Papapapat.
“Urgent, urgent, this is urgent.”
[Attempting to craft a potion.]
[Crafting using the Remnant of the World Tree.]
[The potion transcends through the Remnant of the World Tree.]
[Under the influence of a trait, it transcends once more.]
[An unprecedented miracle has occurred, giving birth to a legend that will remain in the records.]
[A Legendary-grade potion has been crafted.]
[Grave-Moon Spirit Water][Legendary]
===================
Spirit Water for summoning souls, completed in a graveyard beneath the moonlight. It calls forth spirits, crosses the boundary between life and death, and strengthens the user’s spiritual power.
Simply possessing it partially activates spiritual senses and a connection with spirits.
※ If a Moon Elf is present, consuming the Spirit Water briefly transcends all boundaries and calls forth the one desired.
※ Restores and strengthens spiritual power; strengthens connection with spirits
※ Simply possessing it partially activates spiritual senses and spirit responses
※ After use, skin may become pale and body temperature may drop for a certain period; exposure to the sight of wraiths possible
====================
“Uh. Looks like something amazing came out?”
But another amazing thing was coming too.
With hurried movements, someone was coming, having even thrown off one shoe.
“You scoundrels!”
Priest Eizar rushed at them with fire in his eyes.
“Get out of there this instant!”
Gulp.
The three swallowed.
He held a mace in one hand and glared at the three of them.
“Brothers. Explain yourselves this instant. Now!”
Sinhyeok nudged Ichan.
“Hyung, this can only be used when night falls.”
“Are you insane? You should’ve said that first.”
It was broad daylight.
“Brothers. Leave this place at once. At once!”
Sinhyeok looked at the canteen in his hand and thought of the effects that had appeared earlier.
‘Let’s put it in his hand. He’ll feel something, at least.’
“Excuse me.”
He opened the canteen and flicked a little out.
“No, what are you doing!?”
Eizar was horrified by the murky gray liquid scattered into the air.
He managed to dodge it, but some of it ended up on the tips of his fingers.
“You will feel something. The world of wraiths that even a priest cannot see.”
Eizar collapsed onto the ground.
“B-Brothers.”
Seeing the thickly floating wraiths in the air, he squeezed his eyes shut.
“P-Please forgive me. Please.”
He lay flat on the ground and begged again and again.
Only after begging for a long while did he look at Sinhyeok with eyes full of fear.
“Brother.”
Ichan stepped forward in Sinhyeok’s place.
“Priest. You said earlier that you wanted to ask for forgiveness.”
He looked at Ichan and trembled. Then he grabbed Ichan’s hand and said,
“I beg you, please.”
“It seems you’ll be able to see them only once. So you need to think carefully before you speak.”