Chapter 24
(This extra chapter is brought to you by these brilliant and astute individuals: Mikael M, Christine W, Keneth P, Cayleb R, Tristan B, Gege S, David L, and Valentino W. Thank you for your donations!!)
Ten days following the submission of his dagger to the Blacksmiths tournament, Sae-Jin maintained a regimented lifestyle.
In the mornings, he practised Alchemy and Blacksmithing Technique, and in the afternoons, he went downtown to take a break. Even though he called it a break, it was nothing more than him walking around the city’s streets aimlessly. But that was enough to put his mind at ease.
And at nights, when the number of Hunters and Knights were few and far in between, he hunted Monsters in the low Mid Tier and Mid Tier hunting grounds. Most of the time, he hunted in his Ebony Wolf Form’s Beast Mode, but sometimes, he deliberately went out in the Orc Form too. He did that in order to evolve. Well, the thing was… he ran into a particularly tough wall while performing the Smithing Technique.
[As an "Orc Warrior", Hardness Level: D and the Skill Proficiency Level: D is the maximum attainable limit.]
Unfortunately, though - no matter how many Monsters he hunted, the Orc Warrior showed no sign of evolving.
"Fuu…"
Right now, the time was 11 am. Sae-Jin put the mortar and pestle down after making three bottles of potions. He’d been grinding herbs for so long now, the Goblin’s tiny little hands were all swollen up in red and everything.
The potion-crafting proved to be a cumbersome and difficult endeavor. Even though he was blessed with the Goblin’s Craftsmanship skill, it’s Proficiency Level was still low; and to repeatedly refine ingredients as well as to compound them to the minute, exacting degree, a great deal of his mental strength and focus was required.
[Crafting of the Element Resistance potion has failed. Skill Proficiency Level will be increased.]
He often encountered failure whenever he tried to concoct difficult potions. Just as its high price suggested, the Element Resistance potion was difficult as hell to make. This was his fourth try today, but he hadn’t succeeded once. Right about now, he was seriously missing the powder of Sabre-tooth tiger’s fang as that thing not only doubled as a Mana Stone but also could greatly bolster the success rate of potion-crafting.
"Haa…."
As he tasted yet another defeat, the strength abandoned him in droves. And the lightheadedness from inhaling the fumes of the ingredients belatedly began to assault him, too.
For the sake of taking a break, Sae-Jin changed to the Human Mode of the Wolf Form and switched on the TV. Without a doubt, proper resting or playing needed to be done in a human’s body. Of course, just by being inside this stupid cave, the level of enjoyment he’d derive would be halved - no, maybe even worse than that, but still.
– Precisely 10 days ago, a man’s body was discovered in one of the Gangwon Province’s rental houses. The victim had died instantly after his neck bones were twisted, and on his neck, imprints of unidentifiable animal claws were discovered. The crack team of detectives investigated the case using that evidence as the lead off point, until they announced that they have made a surprising discovery. As to what that exact discovery is, can you inform us, Professor Kim?
It was a programme related to currently trending news topics. Taking the already happened event as its topic of discussion, the chat show let the anchor and a panel of so-called experts talk about stuff and present information to the viewers. Sae-Jin’
s ears had to perk up from this show’s contents, since it was definitely related to what he had done.