Chapter 36: The Final Trial Before the Journey

Night fell.

The manor inside the barrier became quiet once again.

It did not snow tonight.

Yinuo climbed onto the roof of her house and stared blankly at the starry sky.

The vines and exotic flowers covering the building showed no signs of withering; they remained in full bloom.

Even when wind and snow fell upon them, the frost would quickly melt away.

Lucoco once said that Lucia had placed some kind of blessing on them.

It was quite beautiful, and Yinuo liked it very much.

The fire in the blacksmith shop was still burning bright.

Sebas paced out of the room, carrying something in his hands.

“Yinuo — want some?”

“Uncle Sebas, we eat sweet potatoes every day. I’m getting tired of them — “

“Hahaha!”

In Su Yue’s room, Du Lin was tangled around Su Yue like an octopus, rolling around on the bed without stopping.

Du Lin held her in a tight grip, making strange, playful noises.

“Say it! Did you steal someone’s underwear?”

“Mph — “

Su Yue struggled.

“No… I didn’t!”

Her voice was muffled by the blankets, sounding quite innocent.

“I’d be crazy to believe you! Didn’t you hide Lucoco’s socks?”

“Mmm-ph! I can’t breathe…”

Meanwhile, in Lucia’s room.

Lucoco was slumped over the table, her eyes glassy and a long trail of drool dripping from her mouth.

It looked as if her soul had left her body.

*Hic…*

Her small body would shudder every now and then — at least proving she hadn’t logged out of the game.

The words in the book seemed to whisper wicked phrases, like a vicious curse desecrating the gods.

The twisted text almost tore her confused mind into fragments.

Evil, incomprehensible things — terrors that humans could never imagine — battered her psyche.

How much Lucoco regretted opening that unspeakable, mysterious door.

Terrifying memories gnawed at her sanity over and over as she experienced that suffocating fear.

Lucoco knew that until the day she died, even if she fell into an eternal hell from which there was no escape, she would never forget those hateful incantations!

*Alchemist: Required Course Two.*

Next to it lay *Required Course Three*, *Required Course Four*, and a half-written copy of *Required Course Five*.

Lucia stood before the alchemy table, weaving silk threads.

A brand-new pair of underwear was gradually taking shape.

She had forgotten to take in the laundry when she lowered the barrier this morning, and she hadn’t noticed when Lucoco’s underwear was blown away by a gust of wind.

Seeing that Lucoco had once again turned into a flat octopus pancake, a gentle smile flashed in Lucia’s eyes.

Once upon a time, she had been in the same wretched state.

Even Yinuo had been full of enthusiasm at the beginning, saying she wanted to learn alchemy.

Unfortunately… she didn’t even last the first day.

She nearly drowned in that vast, overwhelming sea of primary magical formulas.

[Alchemist] — what a noble title.

In every Domain, there were only one or two in the major towns.

It was a type of Imprint that could not be awakened directly.

It didn’t require an Awakened Mark as a prerequisite, but it demanded tough perseverance and countless hours of sweat to obtain this Mark of Prosperity.

As long as one possessed mana — regardless of the amount — they could attempt to learn alchemy.

The Kingdom even distributed books on alchemy for free to various locations, and anyone could borrow them.

All of this was done just to increase the number of Alchemists within the borders.

Once someone was discovered to have awakened the trait, they would be trained vigorously.

For example, there was a primary-level [Alchemist] at the Crossroads Market.

After registering their identity, they were left to their research.

Not only were they provided with a fixed amount of free materials every month, but they also received an income of 20 gold coins.

Among Alchemists, a few geniuses would occasionally advance to become an [Alchemy Master].

Once such a person appeared, they were recruited directly into the royal palace.

Their initial status would be that of a Viscount. If their skills were sufficient, it wasn’t impossible for them to be named a Duke.

The King of a country that possessed an [Alchemy Master] could look down his nose at other empires.

In the Kingdom of Lunes, where Lucoco was, there was one such legendary [Alchemy Master].

She had never received an Awakened Mark, and her mana was so weak that she couldn’t even use a basic illumination spell.

Yet, step by step, she had climbed from the status of an ordinary person up that unreachable ladder.

She was 46 years old when she became an Alchemist, and by the time she became an Alchemy Master, she was already 97 years old.

Now, she was nearly 400 years old, yet her appearance was like that of a 16- or 17-year-old girl.

It was said that she was also one of Saint Alicia’s mentors.

*Hic…*

The light returned to Lucoco’s eyes.

*Shiver…*

She broke into a cold sweat and stood up unsteadily.

Yawning incessantly, she pushed open the door and slowly returned to her own room.

She fell onto her bed and fell asleep instantly.

There were still many days like this ahead…

—

The first ray of dawn pierced through the clouds and spilled onto the frozen river.

Today’s sun was a bit warmer than yesterday’s.

Ah, spring had arrived.

All things were waking up, and it was that time again…

A roe deer trotted along.

As usual, it held its neck stiffly and walked with an arrogant gait, intending to cross the ice to find food on the other side of the river.

*Crack!*

The ice beneath its feet split open.

*Ying ying!*

It fell headfirst into the freezing river water.

“Look! A silly roe deer! Hahaha!”

A girl under a tree on the bank pointed at it and laughed loudly.

“You have the nerve to mock it?”

Du Lin wrung out some wet clothes that someone had taken off.

She glanced at Su Yue, who was wrapped in a blanket and huddled into a ball by the fire, with the same look one would give a silly roe deer.

Lucoco said nothing.

She simply extended a tentacle, fished the struggling little creature out of the river, and placed it by the fire to dry.

“Ying…”

The deer trembled as it huddled next to Su Yue to warm itself by the fire.

Should it be called a shared misfortune, or was it just one dork finding another?

Today was the first time the three of them had gone hunting as a team.

They hadn’t found any monsters yet, but Su Yue had almost frozen to death first.

She only had one decent set of equipment, which she had bought after selling the gear Lucoco had given her.

Fortunately, she still had a free Level 1 linen outfit she could wear; otherwise, she would have truly been running around naked.

Lucia’s final assessment had begun: a three-person team hunt.

The goal was to use the monster materials they gathered to save up 100 gold coins.

Once they saved enough, they could go on a journey.

A Level 10 common monster could only be sold for about fifty copper coins.

A Level 10 elite, however, could be sold for five or six silver coins at the very least.

Therefore, Lucoco planned to cause some trouble at a few nearby monster spawn points.

She already knew exactly where the spawn points in this area were.

The route was already planned.

She specifically chose places that had at least one elite monster accompanied by several or even a dozen common monsters.

The roe deer dried its fur, stood tall, and ran off…

Immediately after, another hole appeared in the ice.

Its “ying ying ying” cries drifted downstream with the melting river water.

There was no need to worry about it.

The sun had already risen, so the thing wouldn’t freeze to death.

“See! It’s stupider than me!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say…”

It wasn’t until nearly noon that Su Yue finally put on her equipment, though it still felt a little damp.

Lucoco led the two of them toward the nearest marker on the map.

The presence was very close…

“They’re here.”

Lucoco carried a wand today.

With a gentle wave, she placed a full set of buffs on the two of them.

Du Lin immediately assumed a combat stance, and rich elements quickly condensed on her wand.

“Lucoco, tell us quickly! Which direction is the evil in?”

Su Yue followed closely behind, casting a **[Holy Shield]** on herself and standing at the very front.

“My longsword is already famished! Today, I shall definitely open these monsters’ eyes!”

A low growl echoed from the forest, shaking the un-melted snow from the trees.

A giant monster hound and over a dozen starter-tier wolves and slimes rushed out, intent on tearing apart the enemies who had entered their territory.

Their levels were all below Level 15, and among them were two elites.

“Mass Taunt!”

Su Yue roared.

“I’m crouching! **[Holy Shield]**! **[Holy Shield]**!”

The classic “head-holding defense” while crouching and layering shields — she didn’t use a single thing Sebas had taught her.

*Roar!!*

*Awoo!!*

*Shriek!!*

*Clang! Clang!*

The battle erupted instantly!

Su Yue firmly drew the aggro of the monster pack.

Su Yue: “Ouch! Ah! Hey! Oh! Ho! Oof!”

Lucoco: “Heal, heal, heal… Buff, buff, buff…”

Du Lin: “Lightning! **[Toxic Rain]**! Lightning Whip! Fireball! Wind Blade…”

The basic player combat strategy: Draw the monsters!

Group them!

Keep the health up!

Burst down the damage!

If the Tank could hold, and the Healer could heal, they could grind the monsters.

It was a bit of a pity that there was no Assassin in the team to specifically go for the back and land critical hits.

“Roar!”

An elite giant wolf suddenly entered a **[Berserk]** state.

Breaking free from the aggro, it lunged straight at Lucoco.

“**[Magic Barrier]**!”

Lucoco said calmly.

*Thud!*

*Awoo!*

The giant wolf slammed headfirst into the barrier, leaving it dazed and dizzy.

The barrier didn’t even budge.

“Wind Blade, Fireball, Lightning! Fuse!”

Lucoco easily performed fusion magic.

*Boom!!*

The giant wolf’s health bar was instantly emptied, and it fell to the ground unwillingly.

On the other side, Du Lin was drenched in sweat.

She stared at the monster hound that was about to go berserk and struggled to chant.

“Watch me… Mph!! Wind Blade… Fireball… Lightning… Go!”

Three spells spiraled and pulled at each other as they shot out.

“Fusion!!”

They collided in front of the monster hound.

‘She’s very talented!’

Lucoco nodded in appreciation.

*Boom!*

The explosion emptied the remaining health of the monsters in that area.

The monster hound let out a mournful cry, but it didn’t fall.

A small sliver of red remained on its health bar.

It instantly entered a **[Berserk]** state and charged toward Du Lin.

“Su Yue!”

Du Lin screamed.

Su Yue performed a graceful back-lean and thrusted her longsword toward the universal monster weakness.

“Stabbing your ass!”

*Squish…*

*Whimper…*

*Thud…*

The monster hound’s legs stiffened.

In its final moments, it was as if a field of bright yellow wild chrysanthemums appeared before its eyes…