"Modified Human Troll Army Project," William muttered as he read the document in his hand. "A humanoid hybrid that has superior regeneration ability with only one weakness… acid strong enough to melt adamantium."
Amelia who was standing beside him sucked in a cold breath because she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Y-You mean this facility was made to turn humans into trolls?!" Amelia couldn't contain her outburst. "And they built it here in our barony… this means that they were planning to use our citizens for their experiments!"
Amelia glared hatefully at the pool of miasma in the distance while gnashing her teeth. If not for the fact that something had gone terribly wrong with the organization's plan, their barony might have suffered a calamity of untold proportions!
William didn't reply to her and read the rest of the document. This time, he read silently. He didn't want Amelia to be blinded by rage and destroy the whole facility out of anger. He needed to gather more information about this hidden organization that he was hearing about for the first time.
After reading the scroll, the red-headed boy picked up a small book that seemed to be a diary. Just as he expected, the daily logs of the sorcerer who managed this facility were recorded. Fenrir had told him these things beforehand, so William had a general understanding of what had happened to the base.
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-- Day 18 of the month of the Empress
We bought a few human slaves from the capital of the Hellan Kingdom and brought them here to be experimental subjects. They were made to drink the latest potions we had concocted to help modify their bodies from the inside. The modification will finish in three days, I can't wait to see the results!
-- Day 22 of the month of the Empress
The bodies of the human slaves have turned green, but aside from that, nothing seems to be different. They were still rational and there were no signs of their intelligence degrading. Will wait two more days before we proceed to Phase Two.
-- Day 24 of the month of the Empress
One of the female slaves died after her body encountered some side effects from the potion. Such a useless b*tch. She wasn't even worth the coin that was used to purchase her from the slave trader.
Although there was a small mishap, the remaining slaves were still good to go. All of them were forced to the pool to undergo the Second Phase of the experiment.
-- Day 25 of the month of the Empress
All the experimental subjects died before they completed their transformation. I guess the miasma was too much for them to resist. No problem, we will just modify the potion in order to give them a tougher skin.
-- Day 12 of the month of the Magician.
Failure! All of them are failures! I refuse to believe that my research is wrong. Perhaps we are using the wrong approach? I better ask the organization to give me some beasts to experiment on first.
-- Day 20 of the month of the Magician.
Wild Dog and Troll blood are unexpectedly compatible with each other. This is a good start. Also, test subject 288 is showing great potential. Among the Trollhounds that were created, its transformation has surpassed my expectations.
-- Day 8 of the month of the Hierophant
Success! We created a new breed of monster! Hahahaha! A truly wonderful creation! With this, the organization will be able to give me additional funds for my research.
-- Day 12 of the month of the Hierophant
Something is wrong, Experimental subject 288 suddenly broke through to the Centennial Rank. The chains binding it were not enough to contain it. I need to do something fast before things get out of hand.
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The journal ended that day and William couldn't find any more diaries in the other locked drawers inside the chamber. All he saw were the formulas that were used to make the "body modification potions" that were used on Humans and beasts alike.
'Fenrir said that the Titanic Green-Scaled Trollhound rebelled a few weeks ago and managed to kill more than half of the researchers in the facility,' William thought. 'The sorcerer was only able to save his life because he used a teleportation scroll.'
William clicked his tongue after connecting the dots together. He felt regret that the Titanic Trollhound wasn't able to kill the mastermind behind its suffering.
'So that sorcerer is still at large,' William narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the pool of miasma. 'This is troublesome.'
The Half-Elf was feeling slightly anxious because if the sorcerer resumed his experiments elsewhere, a new Titanic Trollhound might be born. Also, there was a possibility that the sorcerer had managed to gather enough data to make the "Human Troll Project" a reality.
If this was true then only a handful of individuals would be able to stop an army of mutated Trolls if they decided to wreak havoc inside the Hellan Kingdom.
While William was deep in thought, the system finished its calculations and notified him right away.
< There are three possible side-effects that might occur to the host after the Black Rose Seal absorbs the pool of miasma. >
< The first one is that the power of the seal would be strengthened and the hosts inability to use magic would be extended for four more years. >
William grimaced when he heard the first side-effect. This was something that he didn't want to have happen to him. He was thankful that he lost his magic power a few years ago because it made him realize his shortcomings. It also allowed him to train and build his foundation. However, having an extension to his magic-less state was something that he wanted to avoid at all cost.
< The second one is that the host will unlock a new Prestige Class called Dread Lord. This is an extremely rare Job Class that is a level higher than most prestige classes, however, the chance of acquiring it is only .0000000001%. If the host fails to acquire this Job, the host's body will explode due to the inability to contain the miasma. >
< The third side-effect is that the host's body will undergo a transformation and turn into a Centennial Monster Slime made from Miasma. The chances of this happening is 40% >
William sighed. None of the options were appealing to him. Although the Dread Lord Job Class was enticing, the percentage was just too low for him to take a gamble.
'System, are there any other options?' William asked. 'I don't want to leave this miasma pool here. The Sorcerer might come back and, if he does, he will come fully prepared with reinforcements.'
< Sorry, Host. I can't think of other means aside from using God Points which we currently do not have. >
'Is there no other way?' William wondered. 'I swear I saw something about miasma somewhere…'
It was at that moment when William remembered the notice he received not long ago from the God Shop. He immediately asked the system to retrieve the mail that they had received from the Alchemy God.
The system hadn't brought it up at first because William had told the system to ignore it, as it was highly unlikely that they would ever come across those ingredients while in the Academy.
The System lit up his status screen with the letter from the God Shop about the Alchemy God's request for ingredients.
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< God Shop Mail >
"Attention to the Devout Followers of the Gods from the Ten Thousand Temple. Great rewards are waiting for each and everyone of you!
The God of Alchemists has issued a commission that is open to everyone.
He is currently looking for extremely rare and potent ingredients that he will use for his experiments. If any of you are able to acquire the items on our list, please, send a message to me, Mercurius, the Manager of the God Shop, directly.
I will assist you in transporting the materials to the Alchemy God free of charge! However, anyone who sends me troll messages will immediately be banned from using the God Shop for a hundred years.
Here is the list of materials that the Alchemist God is looking for and the rewards associated with them.
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Spring of Life - 100,000 God Points
Baphomet's Horn - 50,000 God Points
A liter of Empyrean's Blood - 20,000 God Points
Ink of Krakens - 10,000 God Points
-----
The list was long, but William's and the System's attention locked in on the last entry on the list.
Liquified Miasma - 1 God Points per Liter.
William gulped and sent his thoughts to his "dependable partner".
'System…'
< Five million liters. >
'... I still haven't asked a question.'
< Host, there's no need for the long winded approach. >
< Should I contact the God Shop Manager, Mercurius? >
< Yes / No >
William scratched his head and gave his answer. He didn't know whether he should laugh or cry because the System had taken the initiative to calculate how many liters of liquified miasma were present in the pool. Not only that, it was only a moment away from getting in touch with the manager of the God Shop.
Moments later, Mercurius, replied to his message and told William how the transaction would be made.
The Half-Elf rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He was looking forward to how many God Points he was going to earn after this one time transaction with the God of Alchemists.
'5 Million God Points.' William wanted to laugh out loud. He greedily checked the weapons in the God Shop while waiting for the exchange to finish. He had already asked Ella to take Amelia outside the chamber with the excuse that he would personally deal with the miasma that was threatening the peace of the land she was born in.
William was feeling good about this unexpected turn of events. What he didn't know was that his happiness would be short-lived.