Chapter 309: The Desolated Path and The Bustling Town
Angor told Toby not to wander away from the territory of his ethereal laboratory before he began his work.
There was one more thing he needed to do before actually creating his item, which was to practice multitasking. Usually, any wizard who could calm his mind and meditate could do something like this. However, it was a completely different case when someone wished to multitask while handling extremely difficult alchemy processes.
Here, Angor needed to draw a magic array while forging a space storage item at the same time; both of which required his attention. He had to maintain a stable mana output during the entire course without getting distracted.
However, Angor had help.
While drawing a magic array, he could copy from his hologram projection without having to spend too much of his own effort. A stable mana stream wasn’t a problem when he could use the axes of the universe, which meant he only needed to concentrate on the second task—making the space storage item.
Another major challenge was drawing two runes at the same time, which was also the main reason why there were very few alchemy items with composite effects in this world.
It was the last step of his work. While drawing the magic array, he had to work on the covenant rune as well. Doing so required wizard-level mental and controlling abilities.
And not many people became wizards while they studied alchemy.
Because of this, most composite-effect alchemy items sold on the market were products of synthesis, not enchantment.
With the help of his tablet, Angor could disregard such restriction. It might appear as something that did not belong to his current level, yet there were no such things as “conventions” for alchemists—ways set up by predecessors weren’t necessarily the best ways.
Besides, practical experience was always more important when it came to alchemy. Before, Angor had to rely on projections to draw runes. With enough practice done, he could already draw the simpler runes straight out of his memory.
As long as he could gain the outcome that he wanted, the method he used didn’t really matter.
Angor spent two days getting familiarized with multitasking. He made sure that every step and time point was perfect before he began to craft.
And it took him another two days.
When it was finally time for the final forging step, the skin around his eyes was almost completely black.
On one side, his “Infinite Reticence” was approaching its final phase, while on the other end, the “covenant rune” also had one last stroke left. He controlled two pairs of Hands of Spell which carried two engraving pens to join the two lines together. Once he did so, the joining point of two runes began to release an amazing energy aura.
Time for Condense.
As his eyes burned with passion, he lost balance for a brief moment and almost fell down. Luckily, the spell area of Condense wasn’t affected by the small quiver.
He was just too tired. He only got to rest for five hours in the past four days.
He slowly removed his clothing and tossed them aside. The wet clothes gave out the terrible smell of sour sweat on the floor, while his bare backside was tainted by patches of sweat salt after being trapped under poorly-ventilated fabrics for such a long time. He simply used his Hand of Spell and rubbed his back a little using a wet towel.
The chill of water sank into his back, loosening the tensed skin.
Meanwhile, he kept his concentration on the “ring” that was being condensed in his spell. The area of the spell was flashing with white beams of light, and the finishing move was imminent.
“That’s it!”
A strong glimmer was released into the room, causing Angor’s already tired-out eyes to water uncontrollably.
When it darkened again, Angor wiped his tears away and found himself standing at somewhere strange.
It was dark, stale, and void of life.
A crescent moon hanged in the sky. The mountains in the distance and the water nearby were all coated under a dark color.
The omen had come.
...
An alchemy omen wasn’t just a signal that told others about the appearance of a new alchemy item. It was also a challenge, a trial, for the alchemist who created it.
It was to test whether the alchemist could bear to possess the new creation which defied the rules of nature.
Back then, when Angor learned about the “dark cloud” he caused, he immediately went to search for related information in the evening.
Any mid-tier alchemy item would cause such an omen. Also, the omen existed both on the outside, and on the alchemist.
The “dark cloud” which covered the entire town was the “outside omen”, while the omen that affected the alchemist... now appeared as this deserted area that Angor was standing in.
The item was only considered a success once the alchemist could clear the trial. Otherwise, the item might suffer degradation in its effect or level.
Angor wondered why the silver revolver didn’t present him any “personal omen” before.
When there was a dark cloud outside, he also heard the howling of perished souls around his ears. He believed that the noise was his omen since it somewhat hurt his head at the beginning. However, the itchiness on his shoulder soon prevented it.
It looked very similar to when he fought Saka in Sky Tower when Silvia’s howling didn’t affect him at all.
It seemed none of the negative effects aimed at souls would work on him.
When he was creating that revolver, Angor unknowingly avoided an omen thanks to his special trait. This time, however, he had to face the challenge head-on and survive whatever was presented in front of him.
He carefully looked around the dark area. The dirt under his feet was totally black. The river nearby was black. Looking further, there was a black forest, and then shadowy mountains... even the sky was pitch-black. The sickle-shaped moon was the only noticeable object. There were no stars, no clouds.
Nothing.
Next, Angor looked down at himself. His upper body was still bare, and he only had a pair of simple trousers.
The wind in the night blew over, injecting painful chills into his bones.
When he moved to cast a cantrip to warm himself, he realized he could no longer control his mana. The mana that was flowing in his mana pool now entered complete stasis, just like the environment.
He walked to the riverbank and saw the dark water moving below. Yet he couldn’t hear anything. The whole world around him was deathly and terrifyingly quiet.
He moved on, trembling a little.
He was walking on the only path he could see. There was a dense forest behind him, and in front of him, there was only total darkness. He chose to move forward into the dark, for he feared that some unknown and deadly trap awaited him behind those trees.
Following his instinct, he moved toward whatever that looked smoother on the path.
He didn’t know how long he walked. One hour, or maybe one day.
He felt tired, but he couldn’t stop. Something told him that danger would quickly catch him if he were to rest now.
It was the same instinct that warned him of great danger when inside the Nightmare Padt Manor, as well as when possessed by Parasite Queen. And he always trusted it.
The end of the path led him toward a small town.
The town seemed lively. When he moved closer, he saw residents in the town talking, singing, and dancing joyfully. There were snack vendors, colorful lamps, party spots, and children playing along the street.
When he stepped into the town, he suddenly sensed the fearful quietness gone. Even the lonely moon in the sky appeared gentler, and it now shined a soothing light onto the earth instead of the cold gleam just a moment ago.
Everyone was having fun in this energetic town, and Angor felt himself getting influenced by them. Someone walked to him to invite him to their dance. Angor only stepped forward a little before he backed away out of cautiousness. He moved to a corner of a wall when the passionate dancer moved away to look for someone else.
Angor kept moving again, during which more people invited him to join their activities, be it singing, eating or drinking. Angor rejected them all, and each time he did so, people simply shifted their attention to something else instead of insisting.
He felt it strange. It seemed people here could all see him, yet the passionate folks never requested him to stay.
He walked through the crowds while pondering about the situation. Was this an illusion? Yet as a talented Illusionist apprentice himself, he didn’t sense any properties that indicated that it was an illusion.
Everything he could see, feel, or touch told him that this was a reality. Everything was real. The desolated path, the cold wind, the dark water in the river, or the bewitching happiness which made up this small town.
Did something really create a whole reality just to give him a “testing omen”?
Angor recalled something similar called “mental demons” which he read about in the novels from Earth. It was both an illusion and the truth. It tricked your senses, yet... it did not.
It was like a game, which gave you a challenge according to the item you built. You clear the challenge to get the reward, and if you fail, you would receive a punishment.
So... what kind of challenge was created by his space storage?