Chapter 198: Dragon’s nest, Experiment, Change, Enhancement (6)
[Dragon Breath Potion (Legendary)]
[This is a legendary potion made by Dragon Alchemist Lee Kiyoung. After 2 seconds, Dialugia’s magical power is released in all directions when injecting magical power, creating an explosion with a shock wave.]
This peculiar-looking glass bottle in my hand looked cooler than I thought. The deformed appearance also looked highly unusual. I was on a definite high.
This was a tool that could make up for my lack of magic power and as another means to protect my body. Of course, the fact that it would take two seconds before activating would prove to be quite a disadvantage. I wouldn’t be able to use this during an interpersonal battle, yet I still felt good despite knowing this.
For now, it’s an advantage just to have one more option besides magic.
My personal specs alone were not enough to reach the Eight Imperial Seats, but as I continued to improve this potion, the magic power alone may be enough to deal with even an Archmage.
At this point, Dialugia had returned to human form.
“That’s great. Really… I didn’t think I could really make it…”
She was amazed enough when she first saw it, but she looked even more amazed to see it up close. Her amazement soon turned into a smile. The fact that she was surprised meant that I had done it right.
‘This is the power of alchemy.’
“Didn’t I say it before? This is the product of science, magic, and alchemy. Of course, there are still many things to improve… In a way, it’s a primitive test piece, but it will develop more and more in the future.”
“I… don’t understand how this is possible. Of course, its magnitude isn’t as powerful…”
“I think it’s sufficient, though… Ahem. Anyway, the principle is simple. Your organ was just a model. What appears to be a vial contains a few of your cells. It’s not perfect, but it’s probably enough to be a thermal organ plate. The only difference is that it has been drastically reduced in size and that what flows through this organ is purified blood, not magic power.”
“…”
“In fact, I’m not sure how this organ can emit magical waves, but that’s not what matters. The important thing is that the organs inside you can emit magic power, and I was able to copy it.”
“Is that possible?”
“It is impossible for common people. My eyes are a little better than theirs… Well, for explanation’s sake, it’s like this: Magic power flows into your blood. Just as you’re delivering magic power to your organs, I dropped a dose of your blood into this glass model. Following the guidance of the engraved spell, the blood creates energy and activates this organ. It takes two seconds to activate…”
“Yes.”
“And…”
Zzzaaaaaaaap!
Baaaaaannnnng!!
The potion I threw broke, thus creating a large wave of magical power.
I didn’t know if this was the influence of her magical power, but seeing it burst in such a manner seemed to make my guess plausible.
I knew it definitely wouldn’t be that cool if it had been an ordinary explosion.
Considering the price of that glass bottle, it seemed a little wasteful to break, but it was a test product anyway, so it didn’t matter if it burst.
“It’s amazing, just looking at it again.”
“I am also amazed. Anyway, I think you don’t need to participate in the experiment for the time being. We’ve also gathered all the data we need, and everything else is up to me.”
“Is what you originally decided to make been completed?”
“I’m almost at the final stage. In fact, it’s okay to say it’s almost complete, but… I didn’t have the confidence to make anything more than this with my current ability.”
The serum that would strengthen Park Deokgu was almost in the final stage.
It should have been a little difficult to make two things at once, but Jung Hayan, who busied herself with playing with Tol To-ri, proved to be very helpful.
The reason was that the probability of success could only be increased when alchemy’s area got expanded and imported into magic.
Repairing a person’s body was more difficult than making a dragon breath potion.
Although it was complete, I knew more improvements were in order. However, the limit of ability cannot be helped. At this point, I was limited to improve the potion only by this extent.
[Enhancement Serum (Legendary-Grade)]
[This is a legendary-grade potion made by Dragon Alchemist Lee Kiyoung. Made from Dialugia’s serum as a catalyst, this potion forcibly increases the user’s physical abilities. It can only be used on players with stamina of 70 or higher and endurance of 70 or higher. The probability of success is not that high. If it fails, the user will die, so please be careful when using it.]
The green liquid looked ominous. It wasn’t even warm, but the way it boiled alone was quite gaudy. It was obvious as to why it required more than 70 stamina. Naturally, there was a risk.
Even if one managed to make a serum, it would not be safe to inject it. The human body would reject the dragon’s blood, and the minimum stats to overcome the rejection were either stats of 70 stamina or 70 endurance.
Of course, the probability of success could be increased with the practitioner’s will as well as the help success rate was less than 62%, which was risky no matter how high it seemed to be.
Though it can be used on people like Kim Hyunsung or Cha Hee-ra, the effects would prove to be meaningless since their stats were already so high. I wasn’t that stupid.
In other words, this was a custom-made item just for Park Deokgu.
It was originally designed with him in mind and improved to fit his body.
Nevertheless, I thought that the probability of success was only this much because the enhancement procedure itself was a risk-bearing procedure.
“It definitely looks dangerous.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Our blood causes rejection to other monsters as well. To do this with the blood of another race in the first place is a dangerous idea.”
“Hmm…”
“If it fails, one’s whole body may burst and die…”
I definitely didn’t want to see Park Deokgu’s body bursting to death.
When I collected Park Deokgu’s body data during a busy experiment, he was still busy wielding his sword. What I was trying to do now was, in a way, similar to making a chimera.
Considering that all chimeras had some side effects, I didn’t even want to recommend this.
But…
‘I think it will work somehow…’
I didn’t know why, but I was confident about this. It was different from feeling confident in my abilities. This particular confidence stemmed from my honest judgment that this experiment had a higher probability of success than what it really seemed to have, thanks to whatever transcendental being kept intervening in my affairs.
‘Whoever that is doesn’t want Park Deokgu to die.’
Though this sounded like a simple delusion, I couldn’t help but feel that way.
Considering that the being had also intervened with my Mind’s Eye, there was plenty of room for it to intervene in this experiment as well.
‘The probability of success can continue to increase.’
I knew Park Deokgu would accept this, anyway. It was entirely his decision to make. However, I myself could get kicked out of Kim Hyunsung’s party if I became too reckless about this, so it would be better to play safe for now.
‘Let’s do that.’
I wanted this to be a surprise, but it was difficult to raise the probability of success without a definite target.
“Hayan.”
“Yes, Oppa?”
“Can you bring Deokgu here?”
“Ah… Of course!”
Jung Hayan nodded at my request and ran out. Dialugia looked at me with a strange expression.
“Are you really doing it?”
“We have to do as far as we can to improve it. It’s a potion tailored to individuals, so if he’s here, I can increase the chances of success a little more.”
“How will you…”
“I think it would be a good idea to check out what kind of rejection his blood is causing and recreate a potion that can offset the effectiveness of this fortification serum. I’m just going to inject the potion first, then inject the serum to increase the chances of success. I have to go through a close inspection.”
“It’s hard to understand exactly what you’re talking about, but… you seem confident.”
“Yes, yes. It’s a bit disappointing that we can’t do clinical trials… Anyway, this time, I will try to approach this a little carefully.”
“Well… Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Just injecting your energy will reduce the rejection.”
Surprisingly, Dialugia herself seemed interested in alchemy.
‘Shall I get her to train with the newcomers this time?’
While waiting, I decided to entertain these useless-sounding thoughts.
Park Deokgu was important, but Dialugia’s socialization was also a task that I needed to solve.
In conclusion, I did get help from this lab’s costs, but I would hate having to undergo such a situation again. If Lee Jihye hadn’t helped me, I would have felt how risky the loan business was.
As I continued to talk with Dialugia, I gradually began to hear Jung Hayan’s voice. Coupled with Park Deokgu’s, they proved to be quite the noisy pair.
I wanted to show Deokgu the serum right away, for I had prepared it as a gift.
‘It’s not a surprise, but I have to show him this.’
I could understand the feelings of a man without talent better than anyone else. Because of this, I was already looking forward to seeing what kind of reaction Park Deokgu would have.
As the two approached me, Park Deokgu waved at me. Since it had been a while since we had seen each other, his expression appeared to be one filled with joy.
“Hyung-nim!”
“Deokgu.”
“Well, how are you? Experimenting is good, but please show up every once in a while in Blue. The guild’s administration team is living hell. There seemed to be more preparations than expected for the tutorial dungeon.”
“I was a little busy lately making something.”
“I heard everything from Hayan. I heard you made something amazing…”
He was smiling, almost as if he was feeling good about himself. Seeing that he was all sweaty, it appeared that he had been training before Hayan had urged him to come with her.
After hearing him talk, I was worried about whether Jung Hayan told him about the serum, but I quickly realized that he was talking about the dragon breath potion.
“Didn’t you call to show me that dragon breath potion or what? Whoa… I knew Hyung-nim would show me first! Hayan has already spread rumors throughout the guild.”
“Haha. Actually, it’s also because I made something else, something new.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
No wonder my heart had been trembling. Park Deokgu was totally clueless. With this, I handed him the Enhancement Serum. The man looked completely startled.
“Please read it.”
“Huh? This?”
At my request, Deokgu immediately checked the potion’s status window with interest. As he did so, I began to speak.
“There are some things that I still need to do, but it’s all custom made, so it won’t be a problem. For now, I think it would be better for you to stay here from now on.”
“Ah…”
“There are some problems with what I’m doing right now. I have to weigh the number of cases. Oh, and don’t mind the penalty. If I can improve it, the success rate will eventually be higher than 80%. I called you here…”
“Is this what you called for?”
“Yes. You seemed to be having a hard time lately.”
“…”
“What?”
He showed a reaction that was different from what I had been expecting. Did he not like it?At this, Park Deokgu quietly pushed my hand away.
“I’m not going to drink it, Hyung-nim.”
“What?”
“I told you I’m not going to drink it.”
‘This bastard…’
For the first time, Park Deokgu was staring at me with a serious expression.