CHAPTER 153: ACT 10 ALCHEMY 2

Ghouls, I just don’t know if there are any Corpse Demons. Brand said nothing; what he feared most was ghouls. These undead creatures came from the Black Border Region. In Madara’s military hierarchy, they were a rank higher than Skull Cavalry, but a rank lower than Black Knights and Pale Knights. However, they were the highest rank of low-level soldiers that could gather en masse in this era of Madara——

He wondered, how many ghouls did ’Dead Maggot’ Magus have at hand at the very least? A hundred? Two hundred? Ghouls are level 20 creatures, each possessing the strength of Black Iron Lower level. It was only natural that the White-maned Knight Order was defeated by them in a surprise attack.

"Sir Knight?" Batom looked at Brand, who had not spoken a word, feeling somewhat uneasy.

Only then did Brand nod: "If you want to join my team, you must follow my rules. It means that I am hiring you, and besides payment, I will also provide you a place to rest. Follow him, he will give you some food, herbs, and bandages. Once you’ve recuperated, be ready for battle at any time."

As he spoke, he patted the shoulder of the mercenary beside him: "Take them over."

"Thank you for your generosity, Sir Knight." Batom quickly gave a deep bow. The conditions Brand proposed had far exceeded his expectations. He had been to many places but had never met such a generous noble.

However, the rider who had come down with him asked: "What about you, Lord?"

"You go back first; I want to be alone for a while." Brand looked around at the surroundings, feeling that they suited his needs exactly, and thus replied.

Of course, Brand did not want to be alone for a while; instead, he wanted to complete some alchemy. Alchemy in Vorn was not a mysterious technique. The magic civilization had determined that many workshop craftsmen could more or less perform a little alchemy. However, to elevate it to an art of magic, profound knowledge, and long-term accumulation were required.

In the language of the game, alchemy appeared as two different skills before and after level 5. Before level 5, it looked more like chemistry, with craftsmen using this technique to obtain materials different from the usual ones.

After level 5, it became a mysterious art; Wizards used high-level alchemy to extract pure crystals and magic materials and even to create magic potions and some natural magical items.

Combining it with forging, craftsmanship, and enchantment skills formed the legendary technique of crafting magical equipment.

There were many craftsmen and workshop apprentices among the refugees, so it wasn’t difficult for Brand to learn alchemy. He just needed to casually ask some questions to get started in ’Basic Alchemy’. As a noble, no one would suspect him of stealing skills——

But this time, Brand just happened to be there to steal skills.

To elevate alchemy from level 0 to level 5 required a total of 122 Skill Experience points, but this wasn’t a problem for Brand at the moment. After the battle the previous night, he had a total of 967 experience points, enough to raise his professional level to Mercenary level 9——which left enough spare Skill Experience points—164 points, more than enough.

Unfortunately, since alchemy is a mysterious system skill, a physical system profession could only handle it under the Basic identity of a civilian. This is because, unlike a profession, the Basic identity treats any skills under it as native skills——but since the Basic identity cannot level up, any skill under it can only be raised to a fixed level.

For example, civilians can elevate alchemy to level 5, nobles to level 7, and Alchemists to level 15. Indeed, in ’Amber Sword,’ the combination of identity and profession skills was a sophisticated technique. Sometimes warrior players sought Wizard skills, or Wizard players sought warrior skills, and if they didn’t want to waste experience and attributes on multi-classing, they would think of changing their identity.

Brand’s ideal state was to elevate alchemy to level 6 so that he could create magic potions, but the current conditions didn’t allow for that.

After Batom and the others had left with that rider, Brand waited for a bit, confirmed that there was no one around, then walked alone to the center of the clearing. Carefully, he cleared out a space on the ground and then drew a simple Array on the ground with his treasure sword:

Energy Conversion Array——

The knowledge of the Array came from level 4 alchemy. Craftsmen used it to extract free energy from material entities and then seal it into crystal form.