Draco marveled at the bottle he held in his hands and the contents it contained. Both were at the pinnacle of the main plane's standards, radiating supremacy and potency beyond what he, the creator, understood.
Such was life though. You thought most scientists/creators always planned on getting what they got? Sometimes, they ended up creating a new formula that was intended to achieve A and B, but ended up achieving A through F.
Draco did not see any prompts from the system about his success or the like, since he wasn't done yet obviously. To complete his Grandmaster Design and Grandmaster crafting, he still needed to name the potion before him.
The moment he did that, he would ascend. As such, Draco inspected his potion calmly, wanting to see exactly what he made and how close it was to his estimates.
｢Unnamed – Consumable
Rank: Legendary (100% effectiveness)
Effect: Permanently change a person into a semi-void monster, maintaining the positive aspects of their original race as well as the void monster race.｣
Draco shivered internally. What he had been going for was a potion that could grant one the ability to use or at least be immune to Abyssal Energy, which had been prevalent in the reagents he chose for the brew.
However, his Refined Star Technique and Eyes of Caelo allowed him to methodically assess flaws in the brew and eliminate them with his unique methods, creating an almost perfect result.
Not to mention he had used all the Aetheric Energy of a top-grade Crystal to collect the potion, increasing its quality and purity further to the point that this end result came forward.
This hadn't occurred due to luck, but through Draco's own actions, a first in a long while. He felt a mixture of pride in himself and excitement for what came next. He decided to name the item Call of the Void.
｢Call of the Void – Consumable
Rank: Legendary (100% effectiveness)
Effect: Permanently change a person into a semi-void monster, maintaining the positive aspects of their original race as well as the void monster race.｣
｢Congratulations on creating new potion: Call of the Void (consumable) (Legendary)
Rewards:
5,000% Exp
5,000% Tradeskill Exp
20,000,000 gold
500,000 reputation with the Tradeskill Association｣
Draco's eyebrows rose. The rewards for making a new Legendary recipe were certainly not small, especially for the first time. Unfortunately, new potion recipes fetched less than new Blacksmithing designs for the first time.
Still, 5,000% combat experience was enough to make him feel good. The 5,000% Tradeskill experience was also great, though he would lose out after the conversion when funneling it into his high-tier Tradeskills.
Draco released the combat experience on himself. His glorious 5,000% experience which could bring any other player straight up to level 100 from level 50 and send them to Rank 3 got reduced to 250% by his exp gain rate.
As such, he only went up 2.5 levels, reaching level 52, 50%. At Rank 2, players merely gained 1 stat point per level, so the two new stats were placed into Spirit, bringing it from 70 to 72.
Draco stood there stoically, trying to look calm but failing to do so. What further ruined his hard expression that radiated nonchalance was the blood leaking from the side of his lips, showing that he had suffered internal damage. The only saving grace for him was that nobody was allowed into his room, sparing others from taking in his unsightly appearance.
Draco decided that this was a lesson in wisdom from the AI. He vowed to always funnel external experience earned through such means into items like Pair Dadeni and co in the future, to avoid seeing it slashed down so brutally ever again. He would only level himself up using 'normal' combat experience as soon as he was done brainwashing himself into forgetting how abysmal his gain would be.
After clearing this mistake up, he decided to see the other system prompts about his success.
｢System to Player Announcement
Checking player Tradeskill level… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
Analyzing player Grandmaster Technique… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
Analyzing player Grandmaster Design… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
Verifying player's approval from Tradeskill Primogenitor… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
Authenticating player Tradeskill Association reputation… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
Analyzing player Grandmaster Creation… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
All the above have passed the requisite criteria for promotion. Assessing the available Grandmaster slots for the Alchemy Tradeskill…｣
｢System to Player Announcement
Warning! Detected that player is staying inside a pocket realm from the old era! No limitations on Tradeskill Rank increase below Primogenitor!
The player is able to ascend to Grandmaster Rank at this time, but choosing so will forego his benefits from the worldwide system announcement as well as make him lose out on all special system rewards aside from the basic ones for the achievement.
Continue?
Y/N｣
Draco scowled. He remembered that there had been a lot of fanfare when he had become the Grandmaster of Enchanting, which had netted him many benefits and Richmond as well.
Not getting any announcement boons or extra benefits that would normally come with the ascension would be a hard pill to swallow. The basic rewards were nice and all, but who would ever say no to extra benefits?
Especially since the system announcements for becoming a Grandmaster at Rank 2 would certainly give him some new overpowered abilities, and potentially even another Unique Quest, and who knew if it would stop there?
Alas, he reasoned that there was little chance he could succeed in this current quest if he did not have at least three Grandmaster Tradeskills at Rank 2. He could have made do with only 1 Grandmaster Tradeskill at Rank 1, but he could no longer delay his Rank up.
Draco sighed sadly and chose yes. There really was no other choice for him. He couldn't throw away the chance at the inheritance in the core area from a Semi-Origin God of Tradeskills just for some lofty rewards he wasn't even fully sure of.
When he made his decision, he noticed that his whole body shook and his mind practically left his body. No, it didn't 'practically' leave his body, it actually did.
He seemed to travel across an infinite distance, ascending higher and higher until he entered a space so small that it was only fit to be a courtyard for an average family.
There, he saw many entities of different races seated on what looked like prayer mats, all mediating calmly without a single sound. None of them turned to look at him, and he could only assess them for two seconds before he was yanked towards one particular ascetic.
This person was a gnome-like man with thick white brows and frazzled brown hair, like someone had shocked him with electricity. Despite his diminutive size, Draco felt like his existence towered over him… and the whole world for that matter.
Without even opening his eyes, he spoke in an archaic voice that resounded like a bell: "Another Grandmaster in my Alchemy Tradeskill, huh? I didn't think I'd see another that soon."
He then sounded dismissive. "You may leave- hm?"
His eyes which had been closed suddenly opened, revealing shockingly silver irises that seemed to lead to an entire world of its own. He slowly assessed Draco with those powerful orbs in his sockets, leaving the fellow feeling weak and pressured.
"Currently, partaking in Little Norma's test, huh? I guess someone must sooner or later acquire that heritage. Not only that, but possessing such talent for combat and Tradeskills combined… such bloodlines… what a monster."
The gnome seemed to decide something and flicked a tiny ball of golden energy into his chest, where the Lion Medallion resided. "This should be a good enough incentive."
The gnome then waved his hands and sent Draco away, while speaking distantly. "Remember boy, I do this because of your bright future, your talent, and for you to succeed in inheriting Little Norma's path. Do not fail me."
His eyes slowly closed and he went back into that weird meditative state they were all under, while Draco crash-landed into his body like a truck had hit him, causing him to stumble to the floor.
He slowly picked himself up before assessing the system prompts jumping at his face.
｢System to Player Announcement
You have achieved all the requirements to become the Grandmaster of the Alchemy Tradeskill and as such, you have been promoted to Grandmaster of that field. For every Tradeskill, there are 10 Grandmasters, 5 Gods, and 1 Primogenitor.
The system cannot verify the number of worldwide Grandmaster Alchemists at this time. Congratulations!｣
There was no follow-up prompt to this stating that any of his titles had been upgraded or that he had gained any new titles, recipes, or quests, which was what he expected.
However, there was something else.
｢System to Player Announcement
Warning! You have attracted the attention of a Primogenitor, and they have decided to bestow you with a boon! The smallest and thinnest wisp of Origin Energy was infused into your Seal of Camelot, raising its Rank from Legendary to Divine!
Congratulations!｣
Draco was shocked by this. So that small courtyard-like area… was where the Origin Gods resided? Seriously? The venerated number 1 entities of the entire universe, the supreme beings of supreme beings… and that was their living condition?! They looked like a bunch of NEETs who had bundled up and were wasting their life away playing around!
They were all so engrossed in their task of creating Origin Energy to infuse into the universe to stabilize it that they had no time to even live…
Draco felt smothered by this realization. As they said, with great power came great responsibility, and the heavy task of keeping everyone and everything not just alive, but existent fell on their shoulders whether they liked it or not.
So, in their endless lives, most likely from the moment of their births which must have been thousands of millennia ago, they had been stuck in that place, in that position, doing one thing over and over again… Draco shivered at the thought.
'No wonder the gnome told me not to make him regret it.' Draco thought.
After all, even though that was a small wisp of Origin Energy, so small that it was even less than an iota, it was still something that could have been used to stabilize the universe.
If the Origin Gods had a quota of sorts, then the gnome had withdrawn from his allocated quota and given it to him, which was no small kindness. Draco didn't think it was just because of emotions or feelings, but rather the gnome saw potential in him becoming an Origin God.
In that case, everything would make sense. The gnome had withdrawn a bit of Origin Energy - enough that it shouldn't cause too much trouble - to smoothen his path of ascension, in the hopes that one day he would become like them and help stabilize the universe.
The tradeoff between a small wisp of Origin Energy and whole Origin God who could endlessly produce such energy… even the most powerful investors would orgasm at the sight of the profit curve.
However, Draco was depressed. That was because he knew in his heart that he would rather delete his account and start again than suffer the fate of an Origin God.
When he thought of Rila having to do that, he swore to smuggle her away at all costs, never allowing his adopted daughter to suffer in such a way.
Thinking about how he was betraying the trust and wishes of his benefactor, Draco initially felt bad, but thickened his skin reasoned that the gnome wasn't thinking that far ahead. He had simply been captivated by his charm and excellence, wanting to fawn upon him like a sycophant… yes, that was it!
Too bad Draco was not interested in having lackeys, even if they were an Origin God. Hmph, his standards were far too high for such a fellow to make the cut with such a small contribution!
As they always said, give an idiot a chance to be foolish and he will display the limit to stupidity. One could only lament that the Primogenitor of Alchemy had simply bet on the wrong horse this time… truly sad.
In the meantime, Draco checked on the upgrade of the Seal of Camelot. The item was supposed to be Divine, like the one Arthur had, so he was excited to see what benefits it gave compared to when it had been 'just' a Legendary.