Chapter 111: The Great Whale of the Void and the Young Fox

Chapter 131: The Void Sea Leviathan and the Young Fox

“Ramen.” Vynigo patted Ramen’s large head with his hand. “Are you trying to get me killed?”

It seemed that Ramen’s unusual presence had drawn the attention of the nearby pod of whales. Two colossal leviathans, each nearly a kilometer in length, swam toward them. They paid no heed to the massive swirling vortex below, which crackled with rolling thunder and lightning, and pressed forward with overwhelming force, like a mountain collapsing, heading straight for Vynigo.

“Ramen, run!” Vynigo leapt onto Ramen’s back and gave a powerful kick. Given Ramen’s thick hide, Vynigo’s full-strength kick felt more like a gentle tap to the creature.

Ramen let out a deep, resonant howl and suddenly surged forward. Its speed more than doubled.

Yet the leviathans behind, despite their seemingly slow movements due to their immense size, were actually faster than Ramen.

“Hold them off… but judging by the size of these beasts…” Vynigo pondered while rummaging through his belt.

“This will have to do.”

The Void Sea Leviathans were elemental beings, so although Vynigo appeared as an eccentric scholar, many of his materials were useless against these giants—like his famed chili powder or instant adhesive.

“Use the alchemical potion: Mandrake powder. Property: Charm.” Without hesitation, Vynigo scattered a large bottle of the powder. Just a fingernail-sized pinch could cloud the mind of an adult and induce hallucinations, but Vynigo had prepared enough for a thousand people.

A thousand-person dose of Mandrake powder against the Void Sea Leviathans—at most, it caused them to hesitate briefly.

“The potency isn’t enough. Even with the enhanced alchemical effects from the eccentric scholar template, it still can’t fully take effect,” Vynigo complained. “But this is enough for now.”

Though the potion didn’t allow Vynigo to control the leviathans, it made them dizzy and forget their original intent. One giant paused, playfully nudging its companion.

The two enormous beasts collided with tremendous force. The angered leviathan roared, protesting fiercely at its companion. The other, already disoriented, lost control of its strength; what it thought was a “gentle” bump was actually enough to shatter a steel fortress.

Confused but excited, the leviathan charged again. The two colossal creatures clashed, twisted around each other, and roared, their thunderous bellow capable of sending Vynigo flying.

Covering his ears, Vynigo clung to Ramen’s back in a sorry state. After swimming hundreds of kilometers, Ramen finally distanced them far from those dangerous beasts.

“Ramen, you bastard,” Vynigo grumbled, stomping on Ramen’s head. “If you weren’t still young, I’d roast you!”

Ramen responded with a joyful sound and suddenly dashed through the dimensional gate. In its simple mind, Vynigo’s threat was meaningless.

Roast? What’s that? Ramen didn’t know. It was too excited by the surge of new power within.

Once through the gate, Ramen’s flying speed slowed. Though still much faster than before, without a burst of wind-element acceleration, it was only at the pace of a human sprinting at full speed.

Despite its excitement, Ramen still remembered Vynigo’s command and headed toward the Prism Manor.

Vynigo dispelled the eccentric scholar template and, calculating his recent mercury consumption, realized he needed to collect and refine more mercury soon to avoid running short.

Speaking of which, was there anything that could replace mercury? Mercury was costly, and the consumption was high. For a level-30 character build, merely maintaining operations for an hour would consume mercury worth three gold coins. A bottle costing a thousand gold coins would be nearly depleted after an intense hour of battle.

If only there were a cheaper alternative… but unfortunately, there wasn’t enough samples or time to experiment.

Back at the manor, Vynigo placed purified wind spirit crystals, ochre quartz, and other materials into his magical materials storage. The warehouse was already filled with numerous materials, mostly loot and many purchased by Yuri’s relentless errands.

Speaking of which, that not-so-young mercenary surprisingly had a knack for business—though he was rather ugly.

“Yuri, I still need some silver plates, friendship herbs, and chilled pure water,” Vynigo said as he counted items on the shelves.

“Sir, friendship herb is a banned substance due to its strong hallucinogenic effects…” Yuri wrote down Vynigo’s requests with a wry smile. “And the price for chilled pure water…”

“It used to be expensive, but now that a water-elemental dimensional gate has opened nearby,” Vynigo replied, “we can go treasure hunting in the elemental realm, and of course other adventurers are willing to take risks, too.”

Yuri sighed and jotted it down.

“By the way, mercury…” Vynigo stamped his foot in frustration, “is there anything that can replace mercury?”

“Maybe Miss Sherry would know? She’s a mage, after all.” Yuri replied after a moment.

Vynigo snapped his fingers and dashed out.

“Mercury? A catalytic medium representing the concepts of ‘transformation’ and ‘weight’… so there aren’t many substitutes,” Sherry explained seriously.

“Then what catalytic mediums represent ‘transformation’?” Vynigo suddenly asked.

“Slime creature bodily fluids, shapeshifter blood, and Mist King crystals,” Sherry answered without hesitation. “I’m not skilled in alchemy, but fortunately, several of my personalities enjoy reading.”

“That’s great news.” Vynigo snapped his fingers again. “Yuri, get some of those for testing.”

The items Vynigo requested were hard to find, but Yuri managed to procure some.

These materials weren’t cheaper than mercury. Although slimes and shapeshifters weren’t powerful monsters, they were rare and usually died too quickly to gather samples.

As for the Mist King crystal… the Mist King was an elemental creature on par with pureblood dragons. Its core would be extremely difficult to obtain.

A few days later, Yuri brought back some slime fluids and shapeshifter blood from the Free Paradise marketplace. After testing, Vynigo found they could indeed serve as mercury substitutes.

However, these materials were more expensive than mercury and less durable by volume. The only interesting feature was that after use, their potency diminished but would gradually recover over time.

“Yuri, make a note: buy up all the slime fluids and shapeshifter blood you can find,” Vynigo ordered. “Also, find buyers for the Harmonized Iron-Cleaving Bow and the Laceril Sword I made. Be sure to tell them the bow was custom-made for Sir Skamon’s elite sharpshooters, and these are the last batch produced to meet delivery demands. The Laceril Sword is a sister piece crafted by the Silver Helm Brotherhood’s master swordsman.”

“Yes, sir.” Yuri replied. “By the way, there’s a wandering merchant in Free Paradise who has a Mist King crystal, but he refuses to sell it, claiming it’s a reward from a major task.”

“What kind of task?” Vynigo asked, curious.

“Destroy the warlord’s fortress,” Yuri said.

“Isn’t he afraid someone will steal it?” Vynigo scoffed. “Though rare, no one would risk angering the kingdom’s most belligerent mage organization just to get a Mist King crystal by attacking a warlord’s fortress.”

The Mist King crystal was known as the most expensive yet useless treasure—and with good reason. The Mist King was a dangerous beast comparable to a dragon, and far harder to find. The crystal granted weapons the ability to freely shape-shift and self-repair—traits that were hardly essential for a legendary weapon.

“Maybe you should negotiate with him yourself?” Yuri suggested.

“Good idea.”

==Youthful Negotiations==

On the western outskirts of Free Paradise, in the wanderer’s shabby dwelling.

The negotiation with the wandering merchant was brief. In fact, from the moment they met, Vynigo sensed the terrifying power concealed beneath the black tattered cloak.

No wonder no one had robbed him—not for lack of trying, but anyone who dared probably ended up fertilizing the plants.

“Sir, with your strength, assembling a decent team to level the warlord’s fortress might still be challenging,” Vynigo said frankly. “Though your reward is generous.”

“I’m not really concerned about the warlord’s fortress,” a strange metallic voice came from beneath the cloak. “What I want is a fool daring enough to come negotiate after hearing this task.”

“I admit I’m reckless,” Vynigo did not boast as the other implied, shrugging. “What do you think of my strength?”

“Weak,” the mysterious merchant bluntly replied.

“If that’s so… pardon me.” Vynigo stood and asked, “May I demonstrate?”

“Please do.”

With divine power infused, character constructed… Vynigo chose the most extravagant display.

The wave of killing intent—Haohki.

Without striking a blow, the overwhelming aura of murderous intent moved the mysterious merchant. He rose and studied Vynigo in his Haohki form, silent for a long moment.

Silence—a silence fraught with danger.

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