Demon Realm (Main Character hides his Strength Book 2) Page 5

  3. Blessing of Blademaster Karakardra

  (+ 1 Dexterity, -1 Strength)

  4. Ancient God’s Champion, Arrak – Garr’s Criticism

  (-3 Strength)

  5. Dark Dragon Groteus’s Karmic Curse

  (- 20 Strength, -20 Vitality)

  6. Adelwight of the Haunted Forest’s Common Curse

  (- 5 Strength, Erectile Dysfunction)

  7. Enemy of the Kingdom

  (Faction: Nemesis of Human Kingdom, Blank Check Reward)

  8. Destroyer of Hora Mountain Sect

  (Faction: Nemesis of Hora Mountain Sect, Destroyed)

  9. Destroyer of Mewra Sect

  (Faction: Nemesis of Mewra Sect, Destroyed)

  10. Enemy of the Allied Mage’s Guild

  (Faction: Nemesis of Allied Mage’s Guild and Sub guilds)

  11. Steel Fist Curse of Crimson Orc Chief, Drakuul

  (Race: -30 Orc Favor)

  12. Recorded on Dwarven Book of Grudges

  (Race: -200 Dwarf Favor)

  13. Recorded on Allied Merchant’s Guild’s Blacklist

  (Faction: Trade impossible with Allied Merchant’s Guild and their affiliated factions)

  …

  [Class]

  Main Class – Primordial Warrior (Mythic)

  Sub Class – Echo Mage (Legendary)

  Sub Class – High Class Chef (Rare)

  Sub Class – Alchemist (Rare)

  [Stats]

  Strength 999+ Dexterity 853

  Vitality 801 Magic Power 183

  Intuition 173 Magic Resist 621

  Resilience 502 Charisma 18

  Luck 18

  [Soul Contract – 6 Slots]

  1. Soul Harvester

  ([Legend] Vitality Leech 15%, Vitality restored from fallen enemies)

  2. Thunder Shield

  ([Legend] All Magic Damage reduced by 50% / Negate all mental attacks below legend rank)

  3. Eye of Truth

  ([Legend] Negate all blessings below Epic rank / Identify all items, consumables, and skill details)

  4. Soul Storage

  ([Epic] Can store 1500 different items)

  5. Deceiver’s Veil

  ([Rare – High Tier] Conceals status window)

  – Blank –

  [Weapon Proficiency]

  Blunt Weapons – Max Proficiency

  Sword – Master (85% until next level)

  Axe – Expert (22% until next level)

  Spear – Expert (18% until next level)

  Bow – Master (82% until next level)

  Polearm – Expert (11% until next level)

  Staff – Veteran (44% until next level)

  Unarmed – Grand Master

  [Achievements – 592 in Total]

  Member of the Original 500

  First Warrior

  Killer of Kobold Chief Garlagu

  Veteran of the Battle of Avaron

  588 more…

  The status window was a type of epic; a memoir of the path an individual had taken during their life in the Other World. How many conflicts had he been involved in before now? Every single day he had experienced battles that would be called “a battle of a lifetime” for anyone else. He received countless blessings, but also terrible curses. He was also hiding power that he could not yet reveal to the world.

  I am a tool for my purpose. Sungchul’s eyes flashed a single time within the darkness.

  Deckard approached him in that instant. He plopped down onto the dirt beside Sungchul and spoke while staring off into the sky. “Is Sarasa doing well?”

  Sungchul nodded.

  “That kid… how is she? Pretty?”

  Sungchul was about to shake his head but nodded instead. Deckard, who hadn’t seen Sungchul’s hesitation, continued to look toward the sky while speaking with a voice wet with emotions.

  “That kid… she was so much more beautiful before she took on that form. The entire school made a fuss whenever she was around, and her power was so strong that she broke the Soul Absorption Stone. That kid… she did something not even I could.”

  Deckard looked happy as he spoke of his daughter, but he would undoubtedly grieve if he saw the current state of her changed face. Sungchul didn’t say anything.

  “Anyways, you said you were a Former Returnee?” Deckard reinitiated the conversation. Once Sungchul looked in his direction, Deckard took a sip of alcohol and spoke again. “You’re in quite the rush. Seeing as you’ve come here of your own volition to harden yourself.”

  “I could even go places rougher than this.”

  “That’s quite the resolve.”

  “Didn’t you also come here to grow stronger?”

  Deckard nodded. “That’s right. I came here seeking strength.”

  “Because of the demon tribes?”

  “That too, but there is also another reason.” A meaningful smile formed on Deckard’s lips. He looked up into the rosy night sky and continued, “According to a rumor, there is a dungeon around here created by an ancient mage. A dungeon filled with an unbelievable amount of magic power.”

  “Who made this dungeon? The Seven Heroes perhaps?” asked Sungchul.

  Deckard shook his head. “They are beings that existed before the Seven Heroes. In the era of a calamity before the calamity resolved by the Seven Heroes. A forgotten age lost to time.”

  “Quite interesting.”

  The era of the Seven Heroes was even considered ancient, and barely any records remained. Their names were not being recorded properly, and only a handful of people remained with the correct knowledge of it. He was talking about something from a time before this. In other words, an individual from an unfathomably ancient and bygone era.

  “I came to this place following its clues. It was one of the reasons I got sent to the suicide unit too. The suicide unit always operates on the front lines, so it makes it easier to approach the dungeon. But there is another benefit; it is a good place to cultivate your skills.”

  “I agree.”

  The demons were strong, and their numbers were endless. That meant that as long as you could survive, it was possible to drive yourself into life-or-death battles that tested your limits. The warrior class was meant to bloom with combat.

  Sungchul had also cultivated his abilities on his own by slaughtering countless devils, and he continued to challenge himself with danger; trusting his stats as a foundation to steadily gain power that exceeded the limits of humanity. Deckard must have come to the same conclusion.

  “Thanks to it, I think I have reached a point where I can confidently say I am quite strong. It’s probably about time for me to challenge that place.”

  “Where is that place?”

  Deckard pointed to his feet in reply to Sungchul’s question with a smile on his face.

  “It’s somewhere below here. It is a place called the Underground Kingdom from a forgotten era. Even I don’t know where the entrance is. I only have few clues to go on.”

  “The Underground Kingdom…”

  It sounded familiar. At a distant past, there was a story of a group of people of the forgotten era that attempted to escape the calamity by digging underground and eventually forming their own kingdom. It was a story that was treated as folklore or children's bedtime story, but Deckard must have learned something about it.

  “Now that winter is approaching, the demons will be attacking less frequently. Since you and I are both people constantly thirsting for strength, why not go together to check it out sometime?”

  He was a good person. He was good-natured but also very considerate. Sungchul judged him as such, but good people didn’t last long in the Other World. The demons ambushed the base within the cover of the night.

  The demon’s attack was easily repelled mostly due to Aaron’s efforts, but he couldn’t prevent casualties from occurring.

  “…”

  Deckard had received a critical wound and had fallen unconscious. It was such a sudden event that not even Sungch
ul could intervene in time.

  Chapter 3 – Underground Kingdom

  Deckard’s condition was serious. He overcame a critical point through emergency procedures performed with herbs that an elven man named Fagan had on him, but he still did not regain consciousness.

  “He constantly pushed himself too far. Adequate rest is also necessary. He ran out of mana at a critical juncture again,” said Arkaard who was beside Deckard when he was injured. It had been something Deckard would have been able to take care of easily had he been able to use Glare, but his magic failed at a critical moment, and he was pushed into a corner which allowed him to be mortally wounded.

  “The problem is the poison. The imp’s weapons are coated with some dirty poison made by fermenting troll shit. We washed away all the poison, but some of it already made its way into Mr Deckard’s body and is chipping away his vitality.” Fagan, who was known to have fought the demons from a young age, accurately diagnosed Deckard’s current condition. Sungchul also agreed with his assessment.

  Sungchul immediately headed out to start sifting through dirt in search of something. He found a plant that was growing along some rocks that appeared like a plantago and grabbed a handful. The plant was named the Solitary Plant and was sometimes seen in this area. If the plant was ground and applied to the afflicted area, the imp’s poison could be neutralised to a certain extent. It was one of many useful things he picked while living on the Demon Realm Battlefront. The effect was mediocre at best, but in a place like this with no doctors or priests, such herbs were worth its weight in gold.

  As he was preparing to pound it with a pestle, Bertelgia suddenly popped out to speak. “You’re just going to use it like that?”

  Sungchul nodded in response, and Bertelgia rebuked him.

  “You’re going to reduce its efficacy like that, and you don’t even know what kind of side effects it might have. Why not act like an Alchemist and apply your skills to solve the problem?”

  Bertelgia was giving luxurious advice in such dire times when every second counted, but as he thought on her words a bit more, it did have some rationality to it. As they say, “When you’re in a rush, take a step back.” Sungchul checked on Deckard’s condition once again. It looked like he could hold on for a moment longer.

  He left the barracks again and took a whiff of the Solitary Plant. Alchemic information relating to the plant appeared before him.

  < Thousand Year Solitary Plant >

  Level: 3

  Grade: B

  Attribute: Wood

  Effect: Detoxification, Poison Damage

  Note: A perennial plant found on rocky mountains near the Demon Realm. It has a neutralisation effect due to the influence from the Demon Realm. However, it is also poisonous itself, so take care during usage.

  “There is also poison in the Solitary Plant.” Sungchul had used the Solitary Plant many times, but he wasn’t aware that the plant itself contained poison. It was because the plant was not only rare; it was incredibly bitter and its distinct smell prevented it from being used as anything else other than medicine.

  “Of course. It is a plant growing off the radiating demonic energy from the Demon Realm. It wouldn’t be able to survive without producing toxins to protect itself. It’s a characteristic shared by all the flora growing in this region next to the Demon Realm,” said Bertelgia.

  This meant that there was a need to neutralise the poison. Sungchul brought out the Soul Storage and began to lay out the alchemic ingredients he had gathered over time as he contemplated a solution.

  He was most confident with using what he had always used: Blind Man’s Grass. It felt as though the Blind Man’s Grass, with its similar wood attribute, would be most suitable when used with the Solitary Plant. However, Bertelgia landed on his hand as he reached for the Blind Man’s Grass and spun side to side. “Nu-uh!”

  “… what are you doing?”

  “Don’t look for the easiest path; think a bit harder.”

  “Think about what?”

  “Don’t just think about extracting the poison, but look at the situation in its entirety. The characteristics of the poison inside Mr Deckard for example.”

  “You mean the troll shit poison?”

  “Yep. Isn’t that ultimately what you’re trying to detoxify?”

  Pitchforks with troll shit smeared on them were lying all over the ground. Sungchul grabbed one and took a whiff to check. He then began heaving from the atrocious stench, but he could see the alchemic information regarding the shit poison appearing before his eyes.

  [Troll’s Faeces (Northern)]

  Level: 3

  Grade: A

  Attribute: Metal

  Effects: None

  Note: According to Legend, these Northern Trolls were raised like cattle by a now extinct kingdom of an avian race. This avian race used the faeces for several different uses, but one of them was gathering it to form metal. Keep in mind that the sense of smell of this avian race was not well developed!

  Reading the note, something clicked in Sungchul’s mind. “The troll shit has the same properties of rusted metal.”

  Bertelgia’s body shook up and down. “Mm-hmm. That’s exactly it!”

  Solitary Plant. Blind Man’s Grass. Troll shit. He looked at these conflicting ingredients, then turned his attention to his other ingredients.

  Alchemic items had one of five attributes: Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Null. Other than the null attribute that only exists in theory, it would not be an exaggeration to claim that everything in alchemy can be broken down to these four attribute categories. Each of the attributes also has a beneficial or detrimental relationship with each of the others. It was a complex system where fire overpowered wood and metal, and water overpowered fire and metal. However, water was weak to wood. Even so, the system doesn’t have too strict of a rule; thus, the strength of each attribute could change by its concentration.

  Sungchul focused on the fact that the troll shit had metal attribute. The suppression of metal element required a superior fire element type alchemic item. However, he didn’t have any fire attribute item that could easily subdue the metal attribute. The only alchemic item in his possession with enough impact to overpower the metal attribute contained the wood attribute. It was the porous seeds of the Firework Tree that he used to create the Alchemic Bomb (Darkness) at Airfruit.

  “Mmm…” Sungchul let out a groan as he continued to brush the fuzzy seeds.

  Bertelgia who was watching him from the side thought to herself. This guy… he has talent. To find the answer among all those ingredients… Is it intuition or is it luck?

  Bertelgia wanted to let him think on it a bit longer, but she also knew that there wasn’t much time. She threw out another piece of advice. “Attributes can change for certain items if you process them.”

  “So that was the case.” Sungchul’s eyes lit up. It was a refreshing feeling as though a fog had lifted as soon as he heard her advice. His movements were quick, but he carefully trimmed each seed with great care and attention. That aspect was also a plus in Bertelgia’s eyes. As expected. He definitely has talent.

  The ability to exercise this level of leisure, even in the middle of a crisis, was considered a part of someone’s gift in alchemy. It wasn’t just an insult to say that the lazy and half-assed could never be an Alchemist. Sungchul, who was pruning each seed, began to pound the seeds with a pestle and synthesised a bright red powder from his alchemic cauldron with a couple of additional ingredients.

  < Essence of Porous Seed >

  Level: 3

  Grade: B

  Attribute: Fire

  Type: Explosive

  Effect: Ingredient for Explosives. Handle with Care.

  He succeeded in converting the wood attribute into fire attribute. Sungchul looked at the ingredients in his possession once again: Solitary Plant, Blind Man’s Grass, Essence of Porous Seed.

  The recipe hadn’t been given to him, but the vague idea of how the alc
hemic item would form appeared in his mind. The experience he had gathered and the knowledge he accumulated were applied to his creativity, which led to a creation of his own.

  He immediately began working with controlled haste. He added the concentrate he gathered from the crushed Solitude Plant to distilled water. He then boiled the mixture to evaporate the water. Finally, he filtered the mixture through a filter leaving only the concentrate on it. It wasn’t something anyone had taught him. He applied the process of synthesising wood attribute items directly to this item. This was meant to remove the impurities and retain only the concentrate with the desired components.

  Sungchul added the Blind Man’s Grass to the cauldron and boiled it to create a separate counteragent, then added the Solitude Plant concentrate and the Essence of Porous Seed to the mixture. He hesitated regarding the amount of Porous Seed Essence to add…

  “For that, it’s fine to just add a little bit.” Bertelgia gave her input at the critical moment, and Sungchul began to add a minute amount as though he was flavouring a dish with salt with a faint smile on his face. Finally came the synthesis. He stirred his mixture within the alchemic cauldron and obtained a result after a considerable time had passed.

  [Synthesis Success!]

  It was a reward befitting the effort. However, there was more to his reward than he thought.

  [You have successfully produced an Alchemic Item without anyone’s teaching, using personal experience and knowledge as your foundation.]

  [Great Alchemists have no use for recipes.]

  Reward: +10 Magic Power, +15 Intuition

  Unexpected words along with a strange light that burst forth from Bertelgia’s body were drawn to Sungchul’s body like steel to a magnet.

  “Bertelgia, what is this?” Sungchul looked directly at her as he asked his question.

  “That is one of the trials of the Creationist. I did help out a bit though…”

  “…”

  It wasn’t a simple trial. Sungchul recognised that the new strength that entered his body did indeed come from Bertelgia. It was similar to the instance in the basement of House of Recollections with the Baal. He felt uncomfortable about it, but there was a more important matter at hand. He checked the item produced within the cauldron.