Summer had arrived in the Peter Barony.
After five months of raids on the Mapleleaf Town caravans by the wolf emissaries, Warwick, and Perla, Su Nan had finally gathered all the ingredients he needed for potion crafting.
In his tower attic, he added the final ingredient—verbena—into the cauldron. A green, toxic solution began to swirl within.
Among the seven ingredients of the Wolf Venom Potion, the most crucial and expensive was wolfsbane, a rare herb scarcely cultivated within the Storm Kingdom. The other six were common weeds, along with a single gold coin to complete the recipe.
Carefully, Su Nan poured the finished Wolf Venom Potion into five glass bottles and stored them in the cabinet alongside his other creations: three High-grade Lycanthrope Transformation Potions, five Steel Claw Potions, ten Sleep Beetle Potions, and seven (+1) Mental Enhancement Potions.
The Steel Claw Potion's primary ingredient came from the claws of an animal called the Iron-eating Leopard, native to the Storm Kingdom, mixed with five common minerals and another gold coin.
Su Nan noted the recurring reliance on gold coins across all the potion formulas devised by the AI. However, the AI insisted that these optimized formulas offered the best quality for their crafting complexity.
Crafting these potions had transformed four units of his mental energy into mana. Over the same five months, his mental strength had also increased by one point.
Now, Su Nan's mental strength stood at 9.8, with 6.8 units of mana at his disposal.
---
"Wolf Venom Potion requires verbena, Steel Claw Potion needs Iron-eating Leopard claws, and Mental Enhancement Potions demand licorice and ginseng. These are all ingredients I'll need in bulk," Su Nan mused.
"These resources will require extensive cultivation, especially verbena, licorice, and ginseng. The Iron-eating Leopard hasn't even been successfully domesticated yet. We'll also need a cricket farm to maintain a steady supply for the Sleep Beetle Potion or stockpile dried crickets while they're plentiful in the summer."
"Even something as seemingly trivial as crickets becomes a bottleneck in non-summer seasons. More money will be needed to secure these."
Su Nan sighed, realizing the sheer difficulty of sustaining his research without a substantial territory and workforce.
This was only the beginning. He could only imagine the staggering resources required for advanced wizardry.
It was now clear why wizards had abandoned this magically barren land during the retreat of the magic tides two millennia ago.
---
Su Nan asked, "Are there any special considerations for the Wolf Venom or Steel Claw Potions?"
[AI Response]
"The Steel Claw Potion has no particular drawbacks. However, the Wolf Venom Potion's reliance on verbena means that verbena also acts as an antidote to its poison."
[Solutions Proposed]
1. "Incorporate additional toxins into the wolf claws to create a composite venom. This would diminish verbena's effectiveness as an antidote."
2. "Upgrade the Wolf Venom Potion formula to (+1). However, this requires upgrading the Lycanthrope Transformation Potion first."
[Limitation Note]
"Currently, insufficient knowledge of the wizarding world makes upgrading the Lycanthrope Transformation Potion impossible."
Su Nan understood that each lycanthrope potion variant specialized in enhancing a particular function but was not a holistic upgrade.
For example, the (+1) Mental Enhancement Potion added ginseng as a primary ingredient, significantly boosting its efficiency.
For now, he stored the Wolf Venom Potions away, intending to administer them alongside Steel Claw Potions to his two wolf emissaries, Warwick, and Perla.
Without these enhancements, a lycanthrope was akin to a "blank slate." The supplemental potions essentially acted as skill upgrades for his wolves.
This workaround was his only option given his current limitations in understanding the wizarding world.
---
Su Nan suspected that higher-grade potions would demand rarer ingredients and become exponentially harder to craft. Even if he obtained advanced formulas, he lacked the means to produce them.
After cleaning the cauldron, he prepared for his next endeavor.
Filling the cauldron with fresh water, Su Nan ignited the fire and set out the materials for the Sacrificial Hand Potion.
"Engage auxiliary control mode," he instructed.
Instantly, the AI synchronized with his muscle movements, optimizing his coordination down to millisecond precision.
Su Nan donned black snakeskin gloves, as many of the materials were highly toxic.
Among all nine potions he had mastered, the Sacrificial Hand Potion was by far the most complex and hazardous to brew.
---
"List the anticipated challenges for crafting the Sacrificial Hand Potion," Su Nan commanded.
[Challenges Identified]
1. "Most ingredients are highly toxic."
Solution: "Wear protective gloves and proceed with caution."
2. "The potion's reactions are highly volatile. Risks include explosions, toxic clouds, or hallucinations during brewing."
Solution: "Maintain meticulous control using auxiliary mode to ensure no more than two minor errors occur."
3. "Brewing the original formula requires sacrificing five years of the brewer's lifespan. The optimized version reduces this to one week of life."
Solution: "No workaround available due to insufficient data."
Su Nan frowned. The risks were significant, but the reward—a left hand imbued with powerful telekinetic abilities—was worth it.
Lacking immediate alternatives for self-protection, this potion would grant him his first semblance of sorcery.
---
Taking a deep breath, Su Nan began the process.
Following the formula with precision, he added belladonna, foxglove, mistletoe, and elderberry powder in exact proportions. As the seventh boil of the water reached its peak, the concoction turned pitch black, emitting an eerie glow.
Suddenly, the liquid ignited into black flames, and Su Nan experienced a vivid hallucination: a man being cast into a fiery pit, thrashing and screaming as his body turned to ash.
The vision felt unsettlingly real, as though the man's cries echoed directly in Su Nan's ears.
A disembodied voice whispered, "Evil calls to evil. Violence answers violence. By choosing the path of the wicked, you summon only wickedness. Do you truly believe this is the right path?"
The voice persisted, "Evil begets evil. You invite us in, and we are always the same."
"AI, this hallucination feels more coherent than the one triggered by the Lycanthrope Potion," Su Nan noted, his hands steady as he continued his work.
Though the hallucinations were vivid, his calm demeanor and precision remained unshaken, a testament to his growing resilience.
[AI Response]
"Insufficient data to confirm. Magic appears to be highly subjective and may carry echoes of past users' experiences or the potion's origins. Such manifestations are usually meaningless noise."
"Mana conversion detected. Your mental strength is rapidly transforming into mana. The mana generated during this process appears to carry traces of the potion's properties."
---
By the end of the ritual, the potion glowed faintl
y in the cauldron.
Su Nan smirked. His left hand trembled slightly as he prepared for the next step—the true test of his resolve.
In the forest, a carriage trudged along a muddy path.
The coachman, a middle-aged man, chatted away with the passenger inside. "You're from the big city, aren't you, sir? I hear you're heading to the Saint Sophia Cathedral."
"Heh, once we reach Mapleleaf Town, you'll find a reliable caravan to travel with. Don't worry, I know these routes well. I'll get you there. Just pass that castle ahead, and head straight to the town. That castle belongs to the baron, or so they say—"
A cold, authoritative female voice interrupted from inside the carriage. "Stop. We're not going that way. Take another route to Mapleleaf Town."
The coachman hesitated but offered a warning. "If we take another road, we might run into bandits. The Peter Barony has its share of robbers. And why not go that way, ma'am?"
Inside, the woman's thoughts churned. Fool. Can't you see it? Can't you sense the malevolent aura around that castle?
Such an evil force... How did it bypass the Storm God's shepherds to return to this land and grow unchecked?
It's better to avoid it. I don't know who—or what—is behind it. But if someone dares to act so brazenly, even in this era, I must hope they won't interfere with the task my ancestors entrusted to me.
In the attic of Peter Barony's castle, Su Nan completed the final step of his potion.
As he added the last dose of elderberry powder to the cauldron, the liquid began to spin on its own, forming a small whirlpool.
Following the precise sequence, Su Nan dropped four minerals—malachite, lapis lazuli, hematite, and labradorite—into the vortex, one by one. The minerals dissolved rapidly into the potion.
Finally, he tossed in ten gold coins.
As if striking a deal, the coins vanished into the liquid. In their place, the potion thickened into a gelatinous mass.
The ominous whispers that had filled the air disappeared.
With the potion complete, the magical energy that had stirred the atmosphere began to settle.
Su Nan carefully divided the gelatinous substance into three glass bottles.
"AI, evaluate the potion's quality," he instructed.
[AI Analysis]
"Perfect quality. However, due to insufficient isolation from external factors during brewing, the result is within predicted quality ranges."
"There were no errors, not even minor ones, during your process."
"Your mental strength has now fully converted into mana, bringing your mana to 9.8. You are approaching the estimated levels of a true wizard. However, the current (+1) Mental Enhancement Potion is losing its effectiveness for you. It is recommended to allocate computational resources toward developing the (+2) version."
"The records recovered from the bandits provide valuable data for this project, increasing the likelihood of successful formula upgrades."
Su Nan raised an eyebrow.
While he had made significant progress, his limited knowledge of wizardry remained a bottleneck. Upgrading formulas required extensive computational power and a trial-and-error process akin to reconstructing an entire magical civilization.
That said, he was not entirely in the dark—his forays into the occult had yielded fragments of valuable knowledge.
The library in Mapleleaf Town, rumored to be the largest in the region, intrigued him. Seizing it could potentially unlock even more wizardly secrets.
Su Nan uncorked one of the bottles and poured its contents onto the back of his left hand.
A searing heat spread across his skin, as if he had plunged his hand into boiling water.
According to the instructions, he would need to apply the Sacrificial Hand Potion daily for three consecutive days, for at least twelve hours each time, to complete the transformation of his left hand.
As the potion adhered to his skin, it clung like double-sided tape, remaining firmly attached without hindering movement.
Satisfied, Su Nan gathered four Steel Claw Potions, four Wolf Venom Potions, and four Sleep Beetle Potions before leaving the attic.
In the castle hallway, Su Nan stopped a maid carrying a silver tray.
"Fetch the steward and the head maid," he ordered.
The maid nodded quickly, understanding that the baron's requests were paramount, regardless of her assigned duties.
In the study, Su Nan commanded his two loyal hunting dogs to transform into wolf emissaries in broad daylight.
The two creatures obediently drank the Steel Claw and Wolf Venom Potions he had prepared.
Their claws gleamed with a metallic sheen, indicating that their strength had reached the durability of steel.
To test their enhanced abilities, Su Nan presented a caged rooster in the study. With a swipe of their claws, the wolf emissaries injured the rooster, which immediately began attacking the other roosters in a frenzy.
Perla, the head maid, widened her eyes in astonishment. "Oh my, this venom is so potent it drives them to turn on one another."
Warwick, the steward, observed thoughtfully. "Master, will this work on humans as well?"
Su Nan nodded and handed the remaining potions to Perla and Warwick. "This will make our territory's military force even stronger."
After consuming the potions, both Warwick and Perla felt an immediate surge of vitality.
Su Nan watched as their physical forms subtly strengthened. The additional potions had amplified the dark energy coursing through their veins, making them even more formidable.
Warwick asked, "Master, the people of Mapleleaf Town seem to be working with the three independent knights. When do we strike?"
"They're amusing themselves by encroaching on our interests. How ridiculous," Warwick sneered.
Su Nan considered for a moment. "A lion uses its full strength even against a rabbit. We wait a few more days. At the very least, I want my Telekinetic Hand to be complete. I also want more wolf emissaries."
Creating wolf emissaries was inexpensive. Over the past five months, Warwick had procured fifteen young hunting dogs, which Su Nan had personally raised to ensure loyalty.
After culling five that displayed signs of disobedience, he was left with ten candidates ready for transformation.
These, combined with his original two emissaries, would bring his total to twelve.
With this force, Su Nan could overwhelm any resistance from Mapleleaf Town.
Patience was a virtue he would wield to its fullest advantage.
"Furthermore," Su Nan continued, "to prevent any assassination attempts during the upcoming battle, I will solidify my own power first."
In his study, Su Nan smiled, fully aware of the carnage that awaited Mapleleaf Town.
ความคิดเห็นย่อย
คุณลักษณะความคิดเห็นย่อหน้าอยู่ในขณะนี้บนเว็บ! เลื่อนเมาส์ไปที่ย่อหน้าใดก็ได้แล้วคลิกไอคอนเพื่อเพิ่มความคิดเห็นของคุณ
นอกจากนี้คุณสามารถปิด / เปิดได้ตลอดเวลาในการตั้งค่า
เข้าใจแล้ว