Chapter 182: Mystery Cloak Forging

The Alchemist Class was brought to the limit of its current maximum Level, not only reaching Level 45 but also being upgraded to Rank 3.

As a result, it awakened two more skills, one of which was extremely useful to Aurelius.

...

[Alchemist’s Blessing Lv. 1: By activating this skill, the Alchemist can bless themselves, increasing the chances of their next Relic forging or Potion refining being successful. The chances depend on the Level of this Skill.]

[Current Effect: 10%]

...

Alchemist’s Blessing.

By using it, he could directly improve the chances of a successful Transmutation.

Looking at this skill that had been born as a result of Alchemist advancing to Rank 3, Aurelius didn’t hesitate to upgrade it to Level 10.

The effect immediately changed.

...

[Current Effect: 100%]

...

Seeing this, Aurelius’ eyes flashed.

Sure enough, his decision to upgrade the Alchemist Sub-Class had been correct.

With a 100% improvement to the chances of a successful Transmutation, his confidence in forging the Mystery Cloak increased greatly.

After all, if he previously only had a 40% chance of crafting this Epic Relic, then after activating Alchemist’s Blessing, this chance would directly increase by 80%.

It had doubled!

’The Mystery Cloak is a special Relic.’

’Although it is an Epic Relic, the difficulty of crafting it is not any higher than forging an extremely powerful Elite-rank Relic.’

’I was already confident enough to forge it. Now, with Transmutation having been engraved into my Demigod’s Physique and this blessing, the chances of failing are slim.’

As for why the Mystery Cloak was so easy to craft, Aurelius guessed it had something to do with the difficulty of gathering its materials.

Unlike other Relics, which required a dozen or so extraordinary materials to forge, the Mystery Cloak required nearly a hundred.

Had it not been for the full efforts of the Players, who worked tirelessly to trade with him, Aurelius would have never been able to gather all the materials in such a short amount of time.

Especially when most of them were things he didn’t recognize.

Of course, the fact that the blueprint was produced by the System might also have something to do with it...

Countless thoughts raced through Aurelius’ mind.

In the end, his expression became solemn.

He didn’t dare try to forge the Mystery Cloak in his own room.

If someone suddenly interrupted him, or if some extraordinary phenomenon erupted during its forging and attracted unwanted attention, Aurelius wouldn’t know who to complain to.

He couldn’t afford to have the forging interrupted halfway.

The materials were too valuable, and gathering them again would be extremely troublesome.

Therefore, he immediately made a decision.

Without any hesitation, he placed the materials he had collected back into the System Inventory, then made his way out of the mansion and arrived at the familiar underground room.

After lighting the lamp and allowing the dark room to be illuminated, he sat on the ground and waved his hand.

Instantly, the many materials reappeared, causing the walls of the room to shine brightly.

Aurelius closed his eyes.

He took several deep breaths, emptying his mind of all distracting thoughts.

With his prior experience, he quickly succeeded.

Minutes later, his eyes opened again.

A gleam flashed across them.

There was no panic, nor any fear about the incoming Relic forging.

Only calmness, like an experienced Alchemist who had crafted hundreds of Relics and was full of confidence.

"It’s time to begin..." He murmured under his breath, and before these words had even fallen, he reached out with his hand.

Transmutation was activated.

A giant beam of light emerged from his hand, falling toward one of the materials in front of him.

It was a black object.

Unlike the Soul Stone, the Black Diamond had no actual function, being unable to hide its owner’s aura or possess any other ability.

Its only property was that it was extremely tough, frequently used in the forging of armor!

Even if a Rank 3 Awakener struck it with all their strength and tried to break it, they would be unable to leave any damage behind.

If anything, it was highly likely they would be injured instead.

Yet as the light of Transmutation washed over it, a surprising scene unfolded.

The Black Diamond, which was capable of resisting the flames of the hottest volcano, began to melt.

Starting from its edges, its surface quickly transformed into a black liquid, the affected area spreading at an astonishing rate.

Within mere moments, the Black Diamond was nowhere to be seen.

In its place now stood a single drop of black liquid, shining like mercury but looking like a drop of black ink.

Spirit wrapped around it, bringing it in front of Aurelius.

As Aurelius’ azure eyes reflected the black drop, the calmness within them could be seen.

He controlled the drop to float in the space before him.

Then, he turned his attention to another material.

Another beam of Transmutation was fired.

This time, what was targeted was not a crystal, but a peculiar item which was difficult to describe.

It possessed the form of a floating white mist, requiring it to be sealed within special vials in order to be stored.

Soul-Calming Mist.

Its function was similar to the Soul Stone, though it was a consumable.

By consuming it, one could hide the fluctuations of their soul for two hours.

It was usually born in places rich in moonlight that had experienced a battle between Awakeners and had witnessed their death.

Some claimed it was created by the souls of the unwilling dead, who didn’t want to enter the Underworld and thus hid themselves in the living world.

Aurelius had no way to confirm or deny this rumor.

Either way, he didn’t care.

Without any hesitation, Transmutation wrapped around the Soul-Calming Mist.

Instantly, the vial storing it shattered into fragments.

The light descended into the white mist inside.

As a mist, it should have been far less tough than the infamous Black Diamond.

Yet even in front of the upgraded Transmutation, which was boosted by his upgraded Alchemist Class and its own high Level, the Soul-Calming Mist did not budge.

Aurelius raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t panic.

He intensified his efforts.

Transmutation was strengthened.

Soon, the mist finally began to melt.

A second drop appeared in front of Aurelius.

This time, it was white.

Controlling it to float beside the one born from the Black Diamond, he continued with the forging process.

Soon, another material melted.

A green drop emerged in exchange.

Then a red. A yellow. An orange.

Slowly but surely, the extraordinary materials on the floor before him disappeared.

In return, the drops in front of him increased in number.

From merely three, it quickly jumped to a dozen and then to hundreds.

Before long, the area before Aurelius was filled with multicolored drops of liquid, creating a beautiful scene.

Each shone with its own unique light, obviously extraordinary.

Some of them moved as though they possessed their own consciousness, wanting to flee.

Fortunately, Aurelius’ Spirit was ample following his upgrade to Rank 3.

It had increased in both volume and quality.

As such, he was able to restrain them and hold them firmly in place.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, nor how many times he had activated Transmutation.

His entire mind had become focused on the forging. The outside world had been completely forgotten.

All Aurelius knew was that soon, the last extraordinary material before him had also been consumed.

Yet that did not make him breathe a sigh of relief.

If anything, it caused his expression to become even more stern.

The time had come!

Whether the Mystery Cloak’s forging succeeded or failed would be decided next.

If it failed, all his efforts would be for naught. He would have wasted several weeks and countless resources for nothing.

If he succeeded, however, his immature plan regarding the Imperial City’s matters would become much easier to complete.

Thinking of this, Aurelius’ face shone with determination.

Then, Transmutation was activated for one final time.

This time, it wasn’t a beam.

Instead, it was a sea of golden light.

The Transmutation glow quickly flowed out of his palms and spread to the rest of the room, crashing onto the surrounding walls and enveloping all the liquid drops before him and moving back and forth.

As though an invisible hand was controlling them, the drops began to fuse together and take a material form.

They slowly took the shape of a cloak.

Unfortunately, this was far from a success.

The surface of the cloak had already begun to take shape, but the countless materials within it remained separate.

To truly forge the Mystery Cloak, Aurelius would have to properly integrate the different materials and thus their respective properties.

This would rely on his Intelligence, the quality of his Spirit, and his experience as an Alchemist!

The more materials there were, the more difficult it would be to perfectly combine them.

As long as he made a single mistake, the forging process would fail.

Aurelius knew.

From now on, there was nothing that could help him.

Everything that could be prepared had been prepared.

From this point onward, success or failure depended entirely on himself!