Chapter 306 Void Floating Algae <TOC> Chapter 308 Snowy Feather
Translator: SumTLMan
Time flew by in the blink of an eye.
Two days later, Angel rubbed his red, fatigued eyes as he emerged from the underground laboratory. In these two days, he had prioritized the refinement of the spatial item, going through the process from understanding the materials to the refining steps.
After ensuring he had grasped every detail, Angel returned to his bedroom for some rest. Upon waking, he quickly reviewed the process before officially commencing the refinement.
The refinement of the spatial item was unlike any alchemy Angel had ever performed. In terms of magic output, it was the simplest, requiring only the inscription of a contract rune at the end. However, the precision of the rhythm and the crafting of the details were the most difficult aspects.
Each step had to be accurate down to the second, and each spoonful of material had to be precise down to the microgram while constantly monitoring the temperature and humidity. Angel recorded his actions with a holographic tablet during the refinement process, ensuring perfection at every step.
The first attempt…failed.
Upon reviewing the footage, it turned out that a single spoon movement was one second slower than what was written in the book, causing a delay in the formation of the Crystal Wall Microbes, ultimately failing to complete a full necklace.
The second attempt also ended in failure.
After reviewing the footage, it was another issue with timing.
The third, fourth…eighth attempts…
A day passed, and nearly thirty percent of the collected Crystal Wall Microbes were consumed. Finally, as the moon began to rise, Angel successfully refined the first blank form of the spatial item.
Looking at the lump that resembled putty, Angel could already sense the space within it through his mental power. Although the space was currently in an extremely unstable state, based on the experiences of predecessors, it would transition from weakly stable to strongly stable in two minutes.
Once the internal space entered a strong stability, the refinement would be successful!
However, at the same time, Angel had only these two minutes to go from the blank to melting, and finally to setting. Initially, he planned to create a perfect ring, but after a day of refinement, he was nearly depleted of magic power and mentally exhausted. In this critical process, he had to inscribe the contract rune and follow the original ring melting process, but there wasn’t enough time.
In the end, he simply molded the “putty” into a spherical bead and inscribed a few flowing runes. Time was up.
With a faint light flashing, a marble resembling a child’s toy appeared in Angel’s hand.
The marble was pure black with several mysterious runes on it, appearing rather dull overall. However, when sensed through mental power, one could perceive a stable internal space within the marble.
Angel let out a long sigh. Although the final solidification was a bit hectic, fortunately, the end product had no flaws…well, not exactly. The superfluous flowing runes he had carved were a blemish.
Regardless of the external imperfections, Angel was quite satisfied with the internal space of the marble.
Although they hadn’t formed a contract yet, he could discern the inner space through mental power. After forming a contract, only the contracted master could perceive the internal space. If the master did not consent, no one could retrieve anything from the space.
“3 cubic meters, it is indeed the maximum value.” Angel estimated the internal space of the marble to be approximately 3 cubic meters, which was within his comprehension.
During the refining process, he used the most conservative materials to be on the safe side and gain experience. The final product was expected to have an internal space of only 1 to 3 cubic meters.
However, Angel used the Stone Core of Black Dredging Stone as an auxiliary material, an incredibly precious item with properties that allowed the spacial item’s final product to reach its maximum value. As a result, the final product reached 3 cubic meters.
Angel didn’t intend to keep this Black Dredging Stone for himself but planned to sell it. He would only use the maximum value he could refine for himself, and 3 cubic meters was still in the most conservative stage.
Nevertheless, even for selling, this Black Dredging Stone was too conspicuous and inconvenient to use on its own. After a moment’s thought, Angel took out several non-metallic materials from the material box and spent a few minutes melting them into butterfly wings. There was a mechanism at the center of the wings where Angel embedded the Black Dredging Stone and then crafted a necklace.
Angel set the necklace, named “Ink Butterfly Heart,” aside.
During the Twilight Auction, there was a necklace made into a spacial item called the “Overflowing Hue Pearl Necklace.” Its internal space was about 10 cubic meters, which was the maximum value for low-level spacial items.
In the end, this Overflowing Hue Pearl Necklace fetched a sky-high price of 50,000 magic crystals.
Based on that necklace, the estimated price of the Ink Butterfly Heart he refined should also reach around 10,000 magic crystals.
Although it didn’t take much effort to create a spacial item that could sell for a high price, the reason they were expensive was due to the difficulty in obtaining Crystal Wall Microbes and the scarcity of alchemists who could craft spacial items without inheritance.
Angel was able to refine it so smoothly because he had consumed a lot of Crystal Wall Microbes, which were already extremely valuable. Moreover, he had a complete alchemy inheritance. The combination of these two factors led to his effortless refining today.
Once he succeeded the first time, it wouldn’t be difficult to succeed a second time.
Especially with the help of a holographic tablet, Angel directly projected the successful video of the first attempt. When refining, he would glimpse at the video with his peripheral vision. With a reference, he smoothly crafted the second spacial item.
In order to be lazy and convenient, in the final stage, Angel still molded it into a marble-like shape.
However, this marble appeared somewhat grayish.
The gray marble was still embedded by Angel in the center of the butterfly wing necklace, named Gray Butterfly Heart.
The internal space of the Gray Butterfly Heart had reached 5 cubic meters, which was the ultimate limit of the Crystal Wall Microbes Angel used, and its price was roughly estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000 magic crystals.
Three days later, on the tenth day of the latter half of the Month of Rest.
Angel had already refined five spatial items, differentiated by color: the Ink Butterfly Heart, Gray Butterfly Heart, White Butterfly Heart, Orange Butterfly Heart, and Pink Butterfly Heart.
Aside from the Ink Butterfly Heart, which had an internal space of only 3 cubic meters, the other four colored Butterfly Hearts all reached 5 cubic meters.
Once these five items were refined, Angel’s financial pressure from the past few days finally disappeared. He felt much more relaxed, and the five spatial items should be enough to offset more than 100,000 magic crystals, right? Even, if they were auctioned off, it might be possible to exceed 100,000 magic crystals.
With no more debt pressure, Angel’s tense nerves finally relaxed.
As for the 150,000 magic crystals owed to Sanders, Angel had initially planned to stall. But now that he could refine spatial items, there was no need to stall; he could just repay the debt with spatial items.
Moreover, Angel had not yet planned to use his own Crystal Wall Microbes for refining. He remembered that when Sanders was constructing the Magic Garden, he had collected countless Crystal Wall Microbes…
Now, Angel truly felt that alchemy was indeed a skill that could make a family wealthy.
After resting comfortably for a day, Angel returned to the underground laboratory. This time, he planned to refine a spatial item for himself.
For himself, of course, he wanted the best. From the choice of materials to the final shaping, everything was top-notch. The amount of Crystal Wall Microbes was based on the limit Angel could refine. Most importantly, Angel not only wanted to create a spatial item, but also planned to refine a composite-effect spatial item for himself.
Since spatial items only required a neutral contract magic rune, their manipulability was considerable. Angel was confident that he could engrave an additional magic rune, and with the cooperation of an energy stabilizer, even engraving a magic energy array was possible.
However, there was one aspect that had to be circumvented: the two-minute shaping time.
Any alchemy item could only have magic runes engraved during the smelting process. Spatial items only had less than two minutes to engrave magic runes, as cooling and shaping also consumed time.
Therefore, refining a composite-effect spatial item was not an easy task. If other alchemists were asked to refine it, they would likely be frustrated.
However, among the alchemy books that Angel had collected from the Nightmare Plane, there were many alchemy examples. Previously, his alchemy skills were not advanced enough to understand them fully. But now, having immersed himself in alchemy for some time, he no longer felt as lost when revisiting these examples.
Among the many enchantment examples, there was one that described how to give spatial items compound effects through an alchemical process.
Essentially, it involved embedding and fusing components. For example:
Carve a magic rune on a ring, and at the appropriate time, use the hand of magic power to simultaneously perform two operations – one to steadily continue carving the magic rune, and the other to start refining a spatial gem.
Ultimately, when the magic rune reaches the final stage, the spatial gem must also reach its final blank state. Then, fuse the ring with the gem blank, so that the last stroke of the magic rune is carved on the gem blank. Next, carve the contract magic rune on the gem blank, and finally, solidify the shape to create a spatial item with compound effects.
However, this example also reveals that there are many key points to consider when creating a compound spatial item:
Firstly, a significant reserve of magic power is required. This is something Angel could achieve by investing resources.
Secondly, one must be able to multitask, simultaneously releasing two hands of magic power and performing dual operations without error. This is not very difficult, as any wizard capable of focused meditation can multitask. As for the dual operations, some practice would suffice.
Thirdly, timing is crucial because both operations must be carried out simultaneously. While carving the magic rune, the output must be stable – not too much, nor too little. On the other hand, the spatial blank must also be refined at the same time, and both processes must reach the final stage at the most appropriate moment. This is not difficult either, as it is essentially a primary-level mathematical application problem akin to two vehicles meeting. Angel doesn’t even need to calculate it himself, as the holographic tablet can help. By calculating the rates on both sides and providing timely reminders, errors can be avoided.
Although the process seems complicated, once analyzed layer by layer, the three key points are not difficult. It is only when they are combined that the process appears complex and challenging.
Ordinary alchemists might be deterred, but with alchemy examples and the assistance of a holographic tablet, why wouldn’t Angel try?
With such a beautiful vision in mind, Angel began the planning phase before the refining process.
Chapter 306 Void Floating Algae <TOC> Chapter 308 Snowy Feather