Volume 10 Bugs Chapter 67 Busy Emptiness
In the following days, I lived a busy and fulfilling life.
Yes, busy! fulfilling!!
Among the thirty-six pages of notes scattered by Mr. Edgwell, there are a total of eighteen different levels of magic crystal production methods recorded. Among them, there are certainly some low-level items like the "Life Stone of the Earth Element" whose scientific research significance is far greater than its practical significance, but there are also records of the formula and process flow of high-level magic crystals such as the "Eye of the Magic Stone Statue of Aguna".
For quite a long time, I locked myself in that small laboratory, immersed in the vast and profound world of science, entangled with experimental equipment, formula raw materials and production processes, and put my friends, my tasks, my adventures and...
…and that warm and lovely bakery, and that bright face bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, were locked outside the door.
Looking back, I can't remember how many magic crystals I made during that period. One thousand? Two thousand? Five thousand? Or more?
I have no idea!
Maybe in your opinion, it is enough for a craftsman to produce thousands of magic crystals in just a dozen days, but for me, this number is far from enough and will never be enough!
These shining stones, these beautiful ornaments, these sources of magic that aid you in battle, how beautiful and magical they are? I once marveled at their wonders, intoxicated by the omnipresence of the Creator.
But now, I can only use their clumsy shapes to fill up my narrow room, but they can never fill the emptiness in my heart or nourish the dryness of my soul. Every day I just exchange all the money I have for raw materials, make all the raw materials into magic crystals, and then exchange all the magic crystals for money, letting this pale and busy cycle occupy all my time without stopping.
I am afraid to stop. I don’t know how to stop, and I dare not think about what to do after stopping.
I even hate my own vigorous energy, I hate myself for being so tireless and never tired. You don't know how many times I have envied those tired-looking people who travel by air. No matter what happens, they will feel tired and exhausted after a while, and then abandon everything and return to their world to pursue an irresistible sleep.
I don't know what kind of state it is, but I guess it should be a wonderful and peaceful feeling like death. After falling asleep, you may forget something temporarily , or something may be forgotten forever in your sleep. You may even forget yourself in your sleep - even forgetting for a moment is good.
Now I know that our life is not just a journey of different kinds, it is also our baggage and parcels, the burden of our souls. If we keep everything in our hearts and throw nothing away, perhaps one day, we ourselves will be the first to be unable to bear this long-accumulated burden, until we are overwhelmed, crushed, and killed by it!
So I think that maybe life is meant to be about forgetting something and abandoning something, no matter whether it is sweet or bitter, beautiful or ugly, happy or painful... Forgetting some things, putting aside some things, lightening the burden on our hearts, will give our weak souls enough strength to support us to complete this journey that leads to an unknown destination.
Yes, I want to forget, even for a moment...
Although this was a busy and numbing time, it actually improved my alchemy level. Before I knew it, my alchemy had reached level 57 - if it weren't for the fact that the level of life skills could only be three levels higher than the combat level, I think it could be even higher.
If I were just a lonely and downtrodden traveler, no matter how hard I tried, it would take a hundred times more time and effort to reach this level. In fact, when I tried to make the 48th level "Stardust of the Azure Sea", the ingredients I needed could no longer be obtained from the auction house - this was mainly because some materials were produced in very few places, and there were not many high-level alchemists who really understood their uses, so many people did not know that these things still had auction value.
At this time, our guild demonstrated the strong value of an organization: I sent a message to the president Feiyin, briefly explaining my progress and needs in alchemy. Our president immediately smelled a huge potential benefit from it. She quickly arranged for people to go and collect those special ingredients that were hard to find in the auction house for me to use. At the same time, she asked me to provide all the partners in the guild with the magic crystals they needed, and to give the remaining high-level magic crystals to the guild as part of the profit after the auction.
Soon, many rare and in-demand special raw materials were mailed to me from afar. In order to enable me to master the production methods of higher-level magic crystals as soon as possible, those relatively high-level guys even collected a lot of raw materials that I didn't need for the time being.
After that, Feiyin sent me the types and quantities of magic crystals that my guild partners needed, and I also handed over all the magic crystals I produced to Feiyin for processing.
In fact, the use of magic crystals is not just as an ornament as we are used to. With the improvement of the level of other life-related professional skills, the use of magic crystals has become more and more extensive. For example, in the hands of a high-level weapon maker, an ordinary weapon will often have a huge attribute improvement after being transformed with magic crystals, and even directly improve the level of the weapon itself.
However, since a weapon can only be transformed with one magic crystal, and the level of the magic crystal cannot be more than ten levels higher than the weapon itself, and this transformation carries a great risk of failure, generally speaking, few people will keep a low-level weapon for a long time, and risk wasting it by using a high-level magic crystal whose value is far higher than the weapon itself to transform it.
At the same time, the unexpected surprise is that our elven druid girl "Fairy Descending to Earth Face Down" is also a "gem inlay master" who has just been promoted to a high level. At the primary stage, this profession can only inlay various gems including magic crystals on the protective gear that originally has inlay slots to increase the various attributes of the equipment. But when the inlay level reaches level 45, you will learn the "drilling" skill to create new slots on equipment that originally had no inlay slots. Similar to weapon modification, the inlay skill also has similar many conditions and restrictions, and if the inlay master's proficiency is not high, the higher the level of the gem, the greater the possibility of failure in inlaying, and each failure means that you will lose an expensive gem.
It is precisely because of these harsh conditions that the professional skills of our weapon maker, Longbow Shooting the Sun, and gem inlay master, Fairy Descending to Earth with Face on the Ground, have not been upgraded for a long time.
When the two of them proposed to use these magic crystals to upgrade their skills and upgrade the weapons and equipment of their guildmates, Guild President Feiyin came to ask for my opinion. She told me frankly that these two guys with rusty skills would definitely waste a lot of magic crystals in the upgrade process, which was actually no different from burning a lot of money, and among the piles of gold coins they squandered, at least one third should have belonged to me.
She told me that I had the right to object and that no one would be unhappy about it. This loss should have been borne by the guild, not by me alone - let alone such an expensive sacrifice.
I have no objection.
I gave them all the magic crystals I had accumulated, and told them that as long as the guild could guarantee the supply of raw materials, every magic crystal I made could be given to them for their own use - this was much higher than they expected. Originally, they only hoped that I could provide some low- and medium-level magic crystals to help them improve their skill proficiency. But now, hundreds of high-level magic crystals over level 50 were too much of a luxury compared to their meager wishes.
Even Feiyin felt that my loss was too great. She repeatedly dissuaded me from doing so and even seriously considered giving up the position of president to me to compensate for my loss - this was the worst idea you could imagine, but I naturally rejected it on the spot.
They don't understand that I never thought about getting anything from these magic crystals from the beginning. They are just tools, tools for me to dispel loneliness and fill time. I don't care what they are used for or how much they are wasted. If these stones that are meaningless to me can be of some use to my companions, then it is just some extra gains; on the contrary, if I make them and then sell them casually, it will be a real waste.
Although it was totally unnecessary, Longbow Shooting Sun and Fairy Descending to Earth still expressed their gratitude to me in their own way. The heroic dwarf priest inlaid a 55-level magic crystal "Touched Lightning Stone" on my longsword "Rattlesnake's Wind Blade". That longsword was originally a weapon I replaced when I was in my 40s. In addition to increasing the attack speed and adding some poison damage, it didn't have much to praise. For me now, it can hardly meet my needs. If nothing unexpected happened, I should have replaced it at level 55 and replaced it with a new weapon whose level and lethality are more in line with my current level requirements.
However, after being transformed by the Longbow Shooting Sun, this weapon, which was not particularly outstanding to begin with, has undergone a complete transformation: compared to the original, the blade of this sword is a bit wider and longer, and the magic crystal is embedded in the front end of the long sword's handle. A layer of light blue electric light is constantly flowing on the surface of the magic crystal, and one or two bright sparks burst out from time to time accompanied by a "hissing" sound. The originally faintly green blade now reveals a layer of blue light, and a layer of force field with electric light vaguely emerges around the blade, as if it contains an unstable and dangerous energy, ready to burst out suddenly at any time.
After the transformation, its name has become "Blue Thunder Snake Fang Blade", and its attack power has suddenly increased to 320 points, adding 15 points of poison damage per second, while retaining the original attack speed bonus that I value most. In addition, the "Touching Lightning Stone" has injected lightning power into this long sword. When attacking, there is a 5% chance of triggering the lightning effect, which can cause 50 points of lightning damage and paralyze the opponent for three seconds.
Although I was at my lowest point, I still couldn't help but admire the work of Changgong Sheri. You know, this sword takes into account the triple functions of attack power, attack speed and controlling the opponent's actions. Even compared with any level 60 melee weapon, it is not inferior at all. And as a level 54 warrior, it is a luxury to be able to hold such a weapon in my hand when facing the enemy.
From another perspective, this "luxury" is well deserved. You know, Changgong Sheri consumed a total of nine pieces of the highest-level magic crystals that I could make - perhaps the highest-level magic crystals that you can find in this world - before he finally succeeded in his experiment. And the price of each magic crystal he wasted is more than enough to buy a level 60 high-quality weapon in the market.
Due to the alchemical requirements for making magic crystals, I sometimes had to run to the city wall to kill a few hens and collect some chicken feathers for alchemical potions.
A level 54 warrior, wielding a sword worth nearly 20,000 gold coins, was killing and plucking chickens by the city wall - this was truly too extravagant!
At the same time, Changgong Sheri also installed a 44th level magic crystal "Arcane's Way" on my heavy shield "Solidified Sigh Wall". If this unprepossessing earth-yellow magic crystal is used as a magic accessory, it can only increase physical defense by 60 points, which is completely useless. However, when used to transform the shield, it not only increases physical defense by 100 points and magic defense by 40 points, but also greatly improves the sturdiness of the shield, making it stronger and more durable.
The skillful elven druid fairy came down to earth and improved my armor: she embedded a piece of "Wind Sound Crystal Stone" on my helmet, which increased my dodge rate by 10%, and embedded a piece of "Earth Essence Rock" on my armor, which increased my physical defense and magic defense by 150 points and 70 points respectively. Originally, she wanted to re-embed my arm guard, but I was worried that the boxing gloves hidden under the arm guard would be exposed, so I refused her.
It's not just my equipment that has improved. In fact, with everyone's joint efforts, our entire guild has fallen into a joyful atmosphere of collective outfit change. Every day, many people send me all kinds of raw materials from all corners of this continent. After I turn them into magic crystals, they will be turned into weapons and armor equipment in the hands of the longbow shooting the sun and the fairy descending to the earth, and return to their hands. Even for a small guild like ours with less than 30 people, this is a huge project that you can hardly imagine - you know, I can't successfully turn raw materials into magic crystals every time. The success rate of my alchemy experiment is only about half, and the higher the level of the experiment, the greater the chance of failure; and as far as I know, the success rate of our weapon makers and gem inlay masters seems to be even lower than mine. For this reason, President Feiyin is heartbroken about our success rate.
Even so, after auctioning off our remaining magic crystals, I still got more than 5,000 gold coins.
Although I once hoped that this busy life could continue without stopping, so that my spiritual pain could be numbed by the repetitive labor of the body, my fellow spacefarers could not work tirelessly in this world like me. Finally, one day, the life skills of longbow shooting the sun and fairy descent to the earth temporarily reached the top, and the equipment of most people in the guild was significantly improved. Everyone finished their long-term hard work, put on new armor, held shining weapons, and embarked on a new adventure.
Only I declined all the adventure invitations and hid alone in my alchemy laboratory, busying myself blindly, trying desperately to do something, but not knowing what I could do or what I should do.
In the past, I always felt that this room was too small, with just a bed, a chair and a table, so crowded that there was no room for maneuver.
But now, I feel that this house is too big, so big that it makes me panic. Except for me, a kind of irritating thing called "loneliness" fills the whole room, making me feel that everything here has become empty and I can't find the place.
I tried to drive it away, but I fell deeper into its entanglement. Something that I desperately wanted to forget and escape from climbed up my mind uncontrollably, making it impossible for me not to miss it. The more I tried to stay away from this thought, the closer it got to me, holding me tightly.
I knew I couldn't just stay alone and let this feeling of despair overwhelm me. But I also knew that I couldn't get any help from my fellow airmen. I needed someone who could understand all this. I didn't even need him to say anything, just listen to me quietly.
I happen to know that there is such a person in this world, and I know where to find him. Coincidentally, I have an appointment with him to meet again.
Now is the time for me to fulfill this promise...
