Chapter 16: Mana Lesson

I began to mine Mana Ore for about five hours. I was going to mine this vein after I cleared the second dungeon, as it required a skill to be mined perfectly, and I was mining it without preparation, which was quite painful.

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[ Tool "Full-Metal Pickaxe" has been Destroyed ]

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I finished mining the mana ores and took out the [Auto-Brewing Cauldron] from my [Inventory]. I increased the size of the cauldron since I needed the space for the ores.

I began to liquefy the ores one by one inside the cauldron, starting with the biggest.

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[ Skill "Material Liquefier" Activated ]

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With each activation, my overall health began to decrease as the mana consumption increased.

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[ Skill "Material Liquefier" Activated ]

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It was around the third activation when I found that I didn't have any mana left in me, so I consumed the potions in order.

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[ Potion "E-grade Mana Potion" in Use ]

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[ Skill "Material Liquefier" Activated ]

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It took me 30 minutes to liquefy all of the ores in front of me.

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[ Skill "Material Liquefier" Leveled Up ]

[ Mana decreased by 1 due to excessive Mana Fluctuation ]

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I was happy with the result, but the liquid in front of me was nothing but some potent liquid mana, and I didn't want that. I was hoping to create Mana Infusing Potions. I took out the [Sword of Beginning] and moved it around the cauldron as if I was blending the solution.

Mana Ores form if a huge amount of mana is left alone for a long time, making them inactive. To reactivate the mana properties within the inactive mana, one requires a catalyst to stimulate them. Although the cauldron had the stimulating factors, the process was painfully slow, and I used the sword to counter the slowness.

After a while of manual mixing, the once-liquid mana shaped into a creamy texture.

I poured in any potions I brought from the potion store. Many glue and other strange potions mixed and gave off a bright golden glow. The process of making a Mana Infusing Potion wasn't hard but costly, and I performed the solution without any problem.

I took out the sword from the cauldron and observed it. I could see minor fractures created by the excessive mana channeling, and I wasn't happy about that. [Sword of Beginning] was made from the branch of the world tree, and fixing it was beyond any normal blacksmith. I decided to put the sword away for the better and use it only in case of need.

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[ You have Brewed a large amount of "Mana Infusing" Potion ]

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[ Level up ]

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"Well, an [Alchemist] needs to level up in his own way, right?"

Everything was perfect and went smoothly. There was only one problem that I needed to fix before packing up and leaving the cave, and that was the fact that the potion was too potent.

By simply looking at the emitting colors, I could assume that the grade of the potion was close to A, and I didn't want that, since the ones we were going to deal with weren't that strong. It was about quantity over quality, and I could only make three bottles of A-grade Mana Infusing Potions out of it.

I could dilute the solution by adding some water, but that would waste a lot of mana in the process, and it was inefficient.

The second option was Slimes since they had a super mana conductive body structure, and that was all I could ask for. But the problem was that slimes had an impressive instinct, which meant that they all went into hiding or ran away due to the sudden rampage, and I couldn't waste any time on that.

And lastly… the ugly option.

"Thank god I brought some healing potions, too." Slash-!

After I finished everything, I poured the diluted version of the potion into the bottles and put them in my [Inventory]. Then I left until the sunrise.

Despite being dizzy due to blood loss and hunger, I ran towards the Raid's location to bring them the potions.

After I reached the exact location where I restarted, I saw some people in the distance who were fighting from far away. I asked around and found out that Dalv was staying in a tent close to the battle and giving orders. I rushed towards the tent to visit him.

After I entered, I saw him focused on the papers with his golden eyes. It was truly a sight to see, but it wasn't the time to appreciate the game's content.

"Sir Aloraz, I need to talk to you," I said.

Dalv noticed me and put away his papers and glass in a corner.

"Wow, I know you from before. You're the one who talked about the undead and then vanished for a day, right?" he said sarcastically.

"We need to be prepared. Something bad is going to happen."

"Why? Everything is under control. The cause of the monsters' rampage was the Undead appearance, just like you said. I split the team into two sections. One is dealing with the Undead, while the other is protecting the city."

"That's not what I meant. There is a [Necromancer] who uses Undead to cause all of this, and you think this is all? They're probably using some low-level skeleton for distraction."

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[ Dalv von Aloraz Used "Eye of Truth" Skill ]

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"… I can confirm that you are telling the truth thanks to my Skill. But that doesn't mean anything if you don't have any reliable alibi to your information. What if someone else lied to you about it?"

He was right. I couldn't just say "Your City is Going to Fall" and expect him to believe it. I turned quiet and thought for a little.

Just as Dalv was about to say something, I said, "How much do you know about Other Mana Types?"

"I know a little more than a commoner. Why do you ask?"

Normal Mana, which was everywhere in the atmosphere, wasn't the only mana in this world. Each Mana type had its own unique properties that separate them from one another. With this information in my mind, I continued.

"Undead have their own unique Mana type called Mana of Darkness. No matter how sacred this land might be, if even a single skeleton enters the forest, it would cause monsters to act unpredictably, which causes destruction like pushing the first domino. More so if more undead enter the forest."

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[ Dalv von Aloraz Used "Eye of Truth" Skill ]

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"Ugh- Fine. Just tell me, what do you want from me?" he said furiously.

I was happy about the outcome. It wouldn't have been so easy to convince him if it wasn't for his skill, but thankfully, everything went according to plan.

"I want at least a C-grade party to hunt the Undead."

"Ok, I'll prepare that for you. Just remember, this will be the last time I trust you 100%."

"You won't need to say that twice."

After all, Dalv's [Eye of Truth] could only be used three times per person.