Chapter 21
“Material synthesis?”
What’s this?
Caught off guard by the unexpected notification, Karpe hurriedly read through the skill explanation.
[Mad Engineering (魔道工學) Lv. 1 - 8 stars]
• Enables secondary processing of magical materials through research.
[Active]
1. Synthesis
2. Decomposition
3. Production
4. Alchemy
5. Enchantment
[Passive]
Increased probability of discovering and collecting magical materials.
Low probability of additional bonus creation during synthesis, decomposition, production, alchemy, and enchantment.
*Passive probability increases by 3% per skill level.
“Oh, now that I think about it, there was mention of something like this.”
Karpe looked at his own hands.
Mad Armament Enigma. A legendary grade glove item.
There was undoubtedly a phrase in the description of that item saying it was ‘personally crafted’ by the Mad King.
“Perhaps the Mad King is both a grand sorcerer and an alchemist. Well, that seems to be the setting.”
“Haha. If it’s combat, it’s combat, if it’s production, it’s production. A one-man army.”
“Or just a jack-of-all-trades.”
“Jealousy suits you.”
Although Cheonma teased him for no reason, both he and Karpe knew well that a mythical class couldn’t just be a jack-of-all-trades.
“Anyway, a production skill, and an 8-star one at that. Lucky.”
Production skills were precious.
Especially since their numbers were much smaller compared to combat skills.
“If rumors spread that you have an 8-star production skill, giant guilds will go crazy trying to scout you.”
“There’s nothing to do about it. Hidden classes should be cultivated solo for the best results.”
“Good point. Mediocre things flock together. Even animals. Ever seen a pack of tigers or lions? It’s always wolves that gather in packs, not tigers.”
“Haha. You’re right.”
Independence! Individualism!
To the two who were intoxicated by the sweet words of independence, the fact that even the strongest predators like lions or elephants formed herds didn’t matter.
Only tigers held the truth.
[There are materials available for synthesis in the inventory. Would you like to synthesize?]
Once again, an alert popped up in front of the two. It was as if it was saying, “Stop chattering nonsense.”
“Oh, right.”
Karpe regained his focus and returned to the skill window. Then, he activated the ‘synthesis’ section of Mad Engineering.
Ding.
With an accompanying sound effect, a window appeared.
“You just need to put the materials here.”
The window that appeared had two empty slots, and below them was a grayish ‘Synthesize’ button that read ‘Synthesis’. It was a straightforward interface that anyone could understand at a glance.
“Let’s see.”
Karpe took out ‘Acorn of Flame’ and ‘Acorn of Ice’ from the inventory and placed them in the synthesis slots.
Ding.
[Would you like to synthesize?]
With a notification sound, the gray ‘Synthesis’ button turned green.
“So, this is how it works.”
“This way, will a acorn with both attributes come out?”
“Probably. Like a frozen flame acorn. Can something like that even pop out?”
“Ugh. Another headache.”
Karpe had a total of eight acorns in his possession. Among them, he had to select two for synthesis.
“So, the number of possible combinations would be…”
“28.”
“Ugh! I advanced to a hidden class first to reduce the pet attribute options, but now they’ve increased!”
When there was no synthesis skill, he only had to consider one out of the eight, but now this…
“Just pick two, please. I find this really inconvenient.”
“Ugh. Just choose light and darkness! They’re all pretty much the same, but those have the widest applicability.”
“Con-venient.”
Karpe reopened his inventory to take out the Sun’s Acorn.
“Huh? What’s this?”
The six remaining acorns in the inventory were still blinking.
“…Could it be?”
Understanding the situation vaguely, Karpe grabbed the Sun’s Acorn and thrust it into the synthesis window.
Ding.
Then, a vacant slot appeared, and the Sun’s Acorn went in. The ‘Synthesis’ button remained active.
“…”
-…
Was there any need for further words?
Karpe began to take out all the acorns from the inventory and put them into the synthesis window.
Acorn of Water, Acorn of Moon, Acorn of Grass…
It didn’t take long for all the acorns to disappear from Karpe’s hands.
“…They all went in?”
-They just go in, don’t they? But when you try to synthesize them, it’s impossible…
[Would you like to synthesize?]
-…It’s not.
Cheonma was dumbfounded.
No, even so, there’s such a thing as polarity between attributes, how can you just mix them like this? It doesn’t make sense.
If, by some miracle, this succeeds, what would that say about the gaming knowledge he had accumulated over the past 10 years?
‘I need to intervene.’
In fact, Cheonma was currently engulfed in anxiety.
More precisely, it was from the moment Karpe began his advanced quest.
The person who supposedly knows the most about La Cité, the 10-year-old regressor, what’s the reality like?
Unlocking? Of course, he didn’t know.
Mythical class’s Mad Lord? He didn’t know that either. Of course, he didn’t know about Mad Engineering, the job skill of the Mad Lord, either.
‘All that talk about having everything in La Cité in the palm of my hand~’ But the reality was filled with things he didn’t know.
‘How will Karpe see me in this situation?’
‘A 10-year veteran yet…’
‘A guidebook…’
‘I don’t seem to know much, and in comparison, the job is like a farmer or something…’
‘A talking jackal…’
‘Should I change my title?’
The thought alone was terrifying.
-Oh no!
He couldn’t deny his own knowledge any longer.
“I have to prove my worth!”
Cheonma urgently admonished Karpe.
“No matter what, that doesn’t make sense. Hey, listen carefully. You might not know, but there’s usually a polarity between attributes…”
“Hmm.”
“…So why not just put in two without being greedy? Since it won’t work anyway?”
“Hmm.”
“Don’t you see the future clearly? The future. The future where the synthesis fails and all the acorns evaporate!”
“Hmm.”
“…I feel like I’m going to get really frustrated watching you ignore my words and proceed.”
“You really know me well, Hyung.”
Could they just let this amusing situation pass by?
“No, we can’t!”
“Yes, we can!”
Without any hesitation, Karpe pressed the “Synthesis” button.
“Synthesis initiated.”
Boom!
With a bright burst of light, the eight acorns floated up and spun around before merging into one.
“Congratulations. Synthesis successful.”
“You see!”
“… “
Karpe cheered, Cheonma despaired. The two’s fortunes intersected.
But the notifications weren’t finished yet.
“A bonus is awarded.”
“Huh? A bonus?”
The thought ‘Where did this bonus come from?’ briefly crossed his mind, but he soon nodded.
“Come to think of it, one of the Mad Engineering passive skills mentioned receiving bonuses at low probability. I guess it triggered.”
“…If even luck is on my side… what’s my worth…? A chatty ghost…?”
“Hyung, why have you been mumbling to yourself?”
While Karpe chuckled at Cheonma’s unfamiliar reaction, he couldn’t take his eyes off the notification window.
“The material’s grade is being upgraded by one level as a bonus.”
“Oh. An upgrade is a good thing… Huh? An upgrade?”
Karpe widened his eyes. Could it really be happening?
“The material ‘Elemental Acorn’ is being changed from Legendary grade to Epic grade material ‘Primordial Shard’.”
“Wow.”
His mouth fell open. Could he really attain Epic grade like this?
With a dazed expression, Karpe checked the information of the successfully synthesized item.
“Primordial Shard”
“Grade: Epic”
“Category: Magical material, Elemental stone”
“A shard imbued with the primordial energy in the form of an acorn. Everything started from the primordial one.”
“Now, all I need to do is apply this to the magic squirrel egg, right?”
“…You’re surprisingly good at this alone.”
“What are you talking about? You taught me.”
“Huh?”
“You told me that acorns can be hatched into squirrels.”
“…Oh, right.”
“Ugh. If you hadn’t told me about the squirrel dungeon, I wouldn’t have gotten the acorn, and I wouldn’t have gotten the Epic acorn either. Hail to Cheonma, the savior!”
Cheonma’s revelation about the squirrel dungeon had enabled Karpe to obtain the acorn and subsequently the Epic acorn. The same applied to the mythic class. If he hadn’t known about the guerrilla quest’s existence, he wouldn’t have had the mythic class.
“…You.”
While from Karpe’s perspective, it was just a matter-of-fact statement, to Cheonma, it meant much more. It was like a ray of light in the darkness, healing his tattered mental state.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you crying now because you’ve hit an Epic high?”
“No, it’s just… a moment ago…”
“Stop babbling and crack the egg. I’m curious to see what will come out of hatching an Epic acorn.”
Karpe chuckled at Cheonma’s usual self but soon forgot about it. After all, what did it matter now? They were about to get an Epic-grade pet!
“Alright, let’s do this!”
Karpe placed the Primordial Shard onto the magic squirrel’s egg.
Ding.
“Hatching conditions satisfied. Would you like to hatch now?”
It was a rhetorical question. Karpe touched the ‘Yes’ button, and immediately, golden lines started appearing on the surface of the egg.
“The material used for hatching is of ridiculously high grade.”
“The information of the hatched specimen will be modified.”
“The species of the specimen will change from magical creature to mythical creature!”
Crack!
The egg shattered completely, revealing a small clump of black fur inside.
“Kyu?”
It was a tiny squirrel, no bigger than Karpe’s palm. It looked around, then scampered up Karpe’s body and began nuzzling his face.
“Kyu! Kyu!”
“This little guy is adorable.”
“It looks similar to a regular magic squirrel, except for its fur color.”
“Its color is unique.”
Unlike regular squirrels, it had a color that was rarely seen. It wasn’t entirely black; it had a light black fur, somewhere between gray and black.
“Kyu-woo.”
As Karpe gently tickled it with his fingers, it continued to chirp happily.
At that moment, a notification window appeared before them.
“Please choose a name for your pet.”
“Oh, I need to give it a name.”
• Alright, just like we exchanged names when we first met, we should give our pet a name to complete the bond.
“Sounds good.”
Hmm… I’m pondering again. Naming is an art that requires careful consideration.
Of course, to Cheonma, who prioritized efficiency, it seemed like a pointless endeavor.
“Don’t overthink it. How about just naming it ‘Kyu-Kyu’? It’s been chirping ‘Kyu-Kyu’ since earlier, right?”
“But I don’t like that. Besides, what if it turns out to be an evil cult leader or something? I mean, who knows… Oh?”
Evil cult leader? Cheonma?
In an instant, a word flashed through Karpe’s mind.
Yes, that’s it. It’s perfect, especially since the color matches.
“Alright, I’ve decided.”
“You decided rather quickly. What’s the rush?”
Cheonma seemed curious about the sudden choice of name, prompting Karpe to speak up with a grin.
“Mukhyang (묵향).”
He gifted it with the name of the strongest Cheonma he knew.
“The pet’s name has been updated.”
Ding.
[Primordial Tamias]
[Name: Mukhyang]
[Level: 1]
[Grade: Epic]
[Classification: Pet, Mythical Creature]
[Personality: Curious, Active]
“The noble lineage of Tamias, the kingdom of squirrels, is born with the power of magic. Among them, there is a very rare chance that a species capable of mastering magic of all attributes is born.”
[Skills]
Spell of Eight - 8th Rank
Collecting Instinct Lv. 1 - 6th Rank
Silver Aura Lv. 1 - 5th Rank
“A newbie city with a mythical class and an epic pet… Unbelievable.”
Cheonma muttered bitterly as he reviewed the information. He was too dumbfounded to even think about making a comeback.
“Hyang-ah. It has a nice ring to it. Let’s be together for life.”
“Kyuwooong!”
“I’m the pinnacle among users, and you’ll be the pinnacle among pets. How about that? Oh, you’re okay with it too?”
“Kyu!”
“Alright, enough fooling around. Let’s move. We still have places to go.”
“Huh? Aren’t we graduating from the newbie city? We’re already level 10, aren’t we?”
“As long as it’s not level 11, it’s fine. Now that we’ve learned new skills, we should try them out. You want to try using combat skills?”
And since we’re testing it out, let’s go all out.
Not far from here, there was someone we had to face.
“It’s the perfect opponent for our graduation test.”
The Hell Beast.
It was known as the strongest monster in the beginner zone, dubbed the “Nightmare of Layscene.”
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