Chương 17: Quest Complete, Practicing Alchemy

"You are not permitted… to step any further!!!" A deep rumble shook the chamber as the roars of a giant stone golem echoed throughout the room. Alex darted forward, empowered by the undead entities fused into his body and the significant stat boosts they provided. He weaved swiftly between the monster's massive stone swords, then leaped onto its shoulder with agile precision. He assembled the dozens of hands from the Fleshbound Horror onto his reinforced bone armor and swung his blade with explosive force.

Combining Brutish Force and Dive Bombing, he released all the stored energy from his stretched undead muscles in a single devastating strike. CRASH! A silver-colored cleaving arc sliced cleanly through the golem's shoulder, head, and upper torso. Its core remained barely intact as the massive body crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

"HAAAH!" Meanwhile, Gryg smashed the head of another golem using a giant hammer formed from the creature's own stone. She defended against incoming magical attacks with a second enormous shield.

"A little help here, skelly?"

"Hm." Alex nodded and left the defeated golem behind. He leaped over Gryg's head, conjured a giant fireball, and infused it with his Nether Aura. Laughing Skulls made of magic fire and nether energy materialized and rained down upon the remaining three golems, bombarding them with powerful explosions. He combined the spell with Dive Bombing, realizing that as long as it was an extension of himself, the skill would trigger its effect. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The three remaining golems collapsed to the ground, still twitching. Alex and Gryg quickly finished them off by destroying their heads and limbs, carefully leaving the cores intact as Alex had requested.

"Phew, we're done! Ugh, I'm dead…" Gryg sighed in relief, dropping onto the floor and opening a large bottle. She drank the health potion inside to restore her energy and refresh herself. Ding! [You have slain [Stone General – Level 30] x1 – Bonus experience earned for killing enemies above your level. 100 TP earned.] [You have slain [Stone Knight – Level 26] x5 – Bonus experience earned for killing enemies above your level. 100 TP earned.] [You have slain [Stone Mage – Level 26] x4 – Bonus experience earned for killing enemies above your level. 80 TP earned.] [You have slain [Stone Archer – Level 25] x3 – Bonus experience earned for killing enemies above your level. 60 TP earned.] [Class: Soulweaver Necromancer (F+) has reached Level 11 – Stat points allocated. +1 free points.] [Race: Undead Skeleton (F) has reached Level 12 – Stat points allocated. +1 free points.] [You have completed the Quest: Slay The Ancient Knight Order] [Objective: Defeat 30/30 Monsters within the {Forgotten Knight Order's Mausoleum} Dungeon. (COMPLETE!)] [Reward: +EXP | Stone General's Broadsword (B Grade) | +Skill Upgrade] [Stone General's Broadsword (B Grade)] The Stone General's Broadsword, forged from mithril mixed with magisteel. It carries the ancient knight's legacy and the remnants of their power. Any wielder with sufficient Strength can use it. Effect: +200% Damage Dealt.

+30% Defense Penetration. +10% Strength & Willpower.

Alex marveled at the giant blade he received as a reward. Gryg had obtained a staff instead, which greatly enhanced her magical abilities. Unfortunately, the experience he gained was not quite enough for another level, though it brought him very close. He also received a Skill Upgrade but decided to save it for later. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"That takes care of the quest too. We are also close to the boss room. It shouldn't be too far from here. I can sense a strong presence," Alex said.

"Is that so?" Gryg wondered, yawning widely.

"I'm exhausted. Now that we completed the quest, can't we take it easy and rest?"

"Hm." Alex rubbed his chin.

"You can rest if you want. I'll take on the boss by myself."

"Are you crazy?! You're going to die! This is a B Rank Dungeon we're talking about! That bastard will be at least double my level when you met me!"

"So Level 40?" Alex's eyes gleamed with interest.

"Hmm, that would give a lot of experience points. Sounds tempting."

"You are really considering it, you nutjob?" Gryg sighed.

"Have some patience! Just sit down, make some golems, brew more potions, and tomorrow morning we will take him down together. He seems unable to leave his room anyway, just like me."

"..." Alex thought about it for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"Fine."

"Yes! I finally made you change your mind! You're so damn stubborn!"

"... Am I?"

"Yes, you are! Anyway, I'm starving… Do you have any meat in your storage? This damn dungeon has nothing good for me to eat!"

"I have these." Alex showed Gryg the corpses of a couple of trolls he had carried with him. They were now boneless and consisted of pure meat, which had remained mostly fresh.

"Perhaps cannibalism isn't good though? Sorry, that wasn't—""Ah, this is perfect! I'll roast this meat."

"...?" Alex's lower jaw dropped as he watched Gryg cut into the troll meat and begin roasting it over a large bonfire.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you looking at?!"

"... Cannibalism is okay with you?" Alex wondered.

"Cannibalism?" Gryg repeated, looking confused.

"What does that word mean?"

"I see. Your species does not treat it like a taboo the way humans do," Alex analyzed calmly.

"Humans consider eating another of their own kind a serious taboo."

"What? What sort of stupid logic is that?" Gryg laughed heartily.

"You humans are so strange! Meat is meat! If someone is dead and wasn't important to you, then it's just free meat. I never cared about any of these bastards anyway."

"I could tell," Alex nodded.

"Thank you for sharing this valuable information. It helps me understand how trolls live."

"Huh? Okay?" Gryg raised an eyebrow. She continued drinking her health potion while adding some to the roasting meat. Soon, a sweet, herbal aroma filled the air.

"Hmm, this doesn't smell bad! Wow, it's caramelizing! Nice! Do you have more meat?!"

"A few more. Let's save those for breakfast tomorrow," Alex said.

"Don't eat everything now like a glutton."

"Ugh, fine," she shrugged. After Gryg enjoyed a satisfying meal and felt refreshed, she joined Alex in alchemy practice. Both of them crafted more potions in preparation for the next day. Alex focused on making additional Nether Potions. Through experimentation, he began adding his own Bone Clay into the mixture and eventually refined a new type of undead-only medicine: White Bone Pills! He created as many as his materials allowed, producing roughly thirty pills.

This process significantly leveled up his profession. Ding! [Congratulations, you have successfully crafted [White Bone Pills (D+ Grade)] – A new kind of creation has been made. Bonus experience earned.] [Profession: Shamanistic Alchemist (F) has reached Level 5 – Stat points allocated. +3 free points.] [Class: Soulweaver Necromancer (F+) has reached Level 12 – Stat points allocated. +1 free points.] [Race: Undead Skeleton (F) has reached Level 13 – Stat points allocated. +1 free points.] [You learned the Skill: [Concoct Potion – Tier 1]!] Thanks to the extra experience from the quest, he successfully leveled up his Class and Race once more. He also gained the Concoct Potion skill, leaving Alex very satisfied with his progress tonight. But there was yet another reward waiting. Ding! [Profession Level Threshold has been reached. Please choose a Skill to learn.] [Alchemical Nether – Tier 1] [Concoct Poison – Tier 1] [Toxicology – Tier 1] [Bone Synthesis – Tier 1]"Huh…"

Alex's violet eyes gleamed brightly.

"What should I choose, Gryg?"

"Hm?" Gryg, who was about to sleep after using up her saved materials, glanced over.

"Ah, you already reached Level 5 in your profession? Wow, that was damn fast. How do you level up so quickly?"

"I suppose it's because of one of my titles," Alex replied.

"Hmm, okay," she nodded.

"Why not check the descriptions? Tap on them." Alex used his long bone finger to tap the skills and read their details. [Alchemical Nether – Tier 1] You are a unique type of Alchemist who has learned to masterfully combine Nether into the concoction and brewing of potions.

By infusing your Nether Aura with the essence of alchemy, it is possible to improve its effects on alchemy-related creations and also grant your Nether the power to be imbued and synthesized into compatible objects, enhancing their affinity with you. Nether of this nature can be shaped and molded in more ways than usual, increasing its power, effectiveness, and regeneration.

[Concoct Poison – Tier 1] Grants the ability to concoct all kinds of poisons, toxins, and deadly acidic substances through the combination of compatible materials and then imbue them into weapons and attacks. With enough practice, deadly toxins capable of melting metals themselves can be created. There is nothing that can resist your poison. [Toxicology – Tier 1] Grants complete knowledge of any toxic plant or material you encounter, providing valuable information about each one.

It also allows you to absorb toxic materials into your body and synthesize them, eventually turning your body into the deadliest poison. [Bone Synthesis – Tier 1] Grants the ability to freely synthesize and combine bones to create stronger bone constructs or other structures. Other compatible materials such as precious metals, ores, crystals, and more can be added to the synthesis, evolving and strengthening your bones beyond their original limits. Alex nodded while carefully reading the information.

He found all four skills very appealing and wished he could learn every one of them. Choosing just one was always difficult for him.