Chapter 104: Chapter 101: The Complete Competition Form
Inside the Central Library.
This ti, Allen headed toward the "Advanced Material Processing in Alchemy" section.
The bookshelves here were noticeably sparser, and there were far fewer apprentices browsing.
He moved between the shelves, his eyes quickly scanning the titles on the spines.
Research on the Magic Affinity of Draconic Materials, Extraction and Use of Elental Creature Cores, Techniques for Preserving the Activity of Magic Plant Materials...
Finally, his finger ca to rest on a rather thick to—The Art of Coating with Special Magical Beast Materials: From Extraction to Enchantnt.
As his fingertip touched the spine, a pale blue screen of light appeared.
[Borrowing Requirent: Advanced Apprentice or higher. Fee: 80 Low-Level Magic Stones for 72 hours of access.]
Eighty Magic Stones. This was the most expensive book Allen had ever borrowed.
Without batting an eye, he took out his identification card and completed the paynt at the terminal next to the bookshelf.
For an Alchemy Apprentice, investing in knowledge was never a loss.
Back in his dorm on the fifth floor of the Furnace Black Tower, Allen spread open the newly borrowed book and activated DSeek, rapidly scanning and digitizing all the content it could record.
The reason it could only scan "recordable" content was that in the Wizarding World, the more advanced a Witchcraft Book, the more "weight" the knowledge within it carried. So information, difficult to convey through re text, was recorded in various dia, such as a mory fragnt, a Magic Mark, or even an ineffable thought.
In other words, unless DSeek was modified and upgraded, its usefulness to Allen would gradually diminish.
Fortunately, with the aid of the first thread for auxiliary learning, his progress hadn’t fallen behind.
This technique involved a great deal of knowledge about Magic Potions, a subject where Allen already had a solid foundation. His current Magic Potion Alchemy Equipnt was more than sufficient.
Once his studies were complete, the specific plan for creating the biological coating—every step, every material ratio, and every Magic Power infusion frequency—was clearly laid out in Allen’s mind.
He started the preheating sequence for the "Master’s Hand" Type Three Alchemy Distiller.
Using a pair of Silver Forceps, he picked up the gland of the Shadow Demon Spider from its box and placed it into the distiller’s reaction chamber.
As Magic Power was infused, the gland inside the transparent vessel began to slowly dissolve, releasing wisps of a gray, smoke-like liquid.
He added other materials to this liquid, stirring, precipitating, separating, and processing it.
Over the next few hours, he would sotis add catalyst powders asured to the milligram into the reaction chamber, and at other tis adjust the frequency of his Magic Power output, guiding the properties of different materials to rge.
The entire process was tedious and monotonous. Any minor mistake could lead to the complete ruin of the priceless materials.
Finally, when the last step was done, a full bottle of a strange, blackish-gray, viscous coating was complete.
It looked unremarkable, yet it caused the space around it to warp slightly.
Allen then placed a "Spider Slayer" chanical Body on his workbench.
He switched to an Alchemy Engraving Pen with an exceptionally sharp tip, leaned over, and using Craftsman’s Hand, began to inscribe the Rune Circuits on the chanical Body’s black shell. These circuits would conduct Magic Power and activate the coating.
He had to maintain a high level of Spiritual Power concentration, ensuring every stroke was precise and flawless.
The Rune Circuits extended from the Control Core, spreading across every corner of the chassis and finally converging at the soles of its six articulated legs.
After completing all this, he poured the precious coating into a small alchemical sprayer and evenly coated the surface of the chanical Body.
The black shell, which originally had a tallic sheen, was quickly covered by a matte, blackish-gray layer, as if cloaked in shadow.
After spraying one chanical Body, the bottle of coating was empty, not enough to completely cover another Spider Slayer.
For the final step, Allen removed the Spider Slayer’s Control Core to calibrate it.
Writing ’Shadow Travel’ tactical module... Updating combat logic... Update complete.
"Done."
Allen took two steps back, examining his masterpiece.
The cold killing machine now looked more subdued, and also more dangerous.
He couldn’t wait to see the results and imdiately issued a command.
"Spider Slayer, activate ’Shadow Travel.’"
The Spider Slayer on the workbench received the command. The Rune Circuits inscribed all over its body lit up instantly, emitting a faint, ethereal glow.
A ripple spread through the air, as if a stone had been tossed into water.
And then... nothing.
The light from the Runes flickered a few tis before quickly dimming. The Spider Slayer remained obediently in place, motionless.
’A failure?’
Allen frowned.
’Wrong materials? Flawed procedure? Or a conflict in the Rune Circuits?’
He imdiately had DSeek run a full diagnostic.
[Diagnostic Report: chanical Body functions normal. Rune Circuits clear. Coating activity ets standards... Detecting external environntal restriction based on knowledge base...]
A line of red text popped up.
[Current area is under the coverage of the academy’s main barrier. All forms of spatial travel, jumps, and blinks are prohibited.]
Allen stared at the line of text, raised his hand, and slapped it against his forehead.
"I’m such an idiot... How could I have forgotten about that!"
For security and administrative purposes, the academy had a powerful, space-stabilizing Rune Barrier covering all public areas. Only professors with special permission were exempt.
He shook his head in resignation, packed away the brand-new "Spider Slayer," and quickly walked out of his dorm.
Destination: the practice grounds.
The academy also offered private practice rooms, and this was the first ti Allen had rented one.
He walked straight to the counter and said to the apprentice on duty, "A small private practice room for one hour."
"Twenty Magic Stones."
To avoid revealing the trump card he was preparing for the "New Star Cup," this expense was necessary.
Entering the completely enclosed practice room, Allen placed the "Spider Slayer" in the center of the room, retreated to a corner, and issued the command again.
"Activate ’Shadow Travel.’"
This ti, a completely different scene unfolded.
The Rune Circuits on the chanical Body’s surface lit up, and the blackish-gray coating seed to co alive.
Its presence rapidly faded. Its silhouette imdiately blurred and distorted, like a video with a bad signal.
Then, without a sound, it simply "dissolved" into thin air and vanished completely.
Allen’s Spiritual Power link remained connected, and he could vaguely "feel" the chanical Body’s current state.
It had entered a dinsion that was gray, silent, and spatially warped to an extre degree.
All sound, color, and temperature from the real world had vanished, leaving only endless nothingness and, in the distance, so blurry shadows ford from pure negative emotion.
Allen didn’t let it linger in the Shadow Realm and imdiately issued the return command.
At the other end of the practice room, an extrely faint ripple appeared in the air.
The Spider Slayer solidified from a blurry phantom, appearing silently on the solid floor. Its six legs landed steadily without making a sound.
’It worked!’
Allen’s eyes lit up.
After a series of tests, he determined the limitations of the Shadow Travel ability.
Ten seconds of travel in the Shadow Realm, with a three-minute cooldown.
Although it couldn’t match the performance of an actual Shadow Demon Spider, for a match taking place in a complex urban warfare environnt, those brief ten seconds were enough to cross any obstacle and appear in the most unexpected locations—not to ntion the ability to travel quickly within the Shadow Realm itself.
This was the complete competition-grade version of the "Spider Slayer."
An assassin and sniper capable of ignoring cover and striking from anywhere.
Allen looked at the silent chanical Body. All his investnt, calculations, risks, and hard work over the past three months had paid off in this mont.
This version was the product of countless compromises made to keep the cost under the one-thousand-Magic-Stone limit for the competition. To win the prize, he had even resorted to so underhanded thods.
Once the competition was over and he was free from cost constraints... he could create a far more durable and lethal Shadow Hunter.
Reviews
All reviews (0)