Blushing under Helena's doting gaze, Exiled Immortal bashfully nodded.
The moment he swallowed the Dreamweaver's Mercy, the pill dissolved into points of light that entered his body. He could vividly sense how the warm specks seemed to draw strength from him.
Exiled Immortal watched, almost helplessly, as if a meter were running backwards—his level and experience bar rapidly declining. His class label, [Archer], was erased due to the loss of levels.
Within a mere minute, Exiled Immortal shockingly found his quest panel had reverted to its original state from when he first entered the game.
But instead of feeling disheartened, his eyes lit up with joy, and elation surged within him.
"Fantastic! You could say, it's like having a pillow when falling asleep—I never thought I'd actually find an item that could reset my level."
"Aren't you going to thank Lily?"
"Li-Lily, thank you so much..."
With cheeks flushed, Exiled Immortal awkwardly scratched his head, barely daring to meet Lily's star-like eyes.
In contrast, Lily appeared much more composed, simply shaking her head and smiling. "No worries, as long as it's useful to you. Can you give the Firewalker Dagger to Johnny now?"
"Oh, right, right, I'll give it to John now."
Realizing what he needed to do, Exiled Immortal nodded, handing the Firewalker Dagger to John. Observing the dagger, which resembled a sinuous serpent, John felt an inexplicable sense of affinity.
"Thank you."
With the first-clear rewards distributed, there remained dungeon rewards for the group to claim. Yet, compared to these trivial dungeon prizes, John was far more concerned with the body of the Basilisk.
Its sturdy scales, venom-spewing tongue, and tough sinews were exceptional alchemical materials for John!
He could forge a complete set of scale armor from the Basilisk's scales, offering unparalleled defense!
Fortunately, after the Basilisk's death, its scales were no longer as neatly overlapped, creating just enough gaps for John to peel them off one by one.
Of course, the venom was indispensable too—capable of corroding even bluestone, its toxicity was unimaginably extreme!
It took nearly two hours for John to collect all the materials he needed from the Basilisk's body, after which he and the others, including Helena, left the dungeon.
The moment they stepped out of the dungeon chamber, the experience rewards were credited. The experience from a Level 25 Boss-level dungeon allowed the Level 19 Helena to gain three levels. Lily finally reached Level 18 and learned new spells.
With the [Kiss of LUCK] boost, John's level skyrocketed by ten levels, reaching a formidable Level 40!
As for Exiled Immortal, the massive amount of experience brought him in one go to Level 15. Without a moment's hesitation, he immediately accepted the class change request to become a swordsman.
Since it was detected that Exiled Immortal was currently in Calia City, the quest location shifted from Adra Village to the Calia region. Exiled Immortal had to head to the mines to gather the metals needed to forge his sword, so he left first.
"So, shall we part ways here?"
Emerging from the underground city, John had put his hood back on, his features shrouded in shadow, rendering his face indiscernible.
After learning John's little secret, Helena happily agreed to keep it, so she didn't reveal John's name. Instead, she just curved her lips into a seductive smile.
"Shall we meet again another day?"
"Another day indeed."
"Little cutie Lily, next time we meet, I'll have a gift for you."
"There's no need, Sister Helena."
"How could I not? Our darling Lily deserves all the tenderness."
Helena affectionately pinched Lily's cheek. After saying goodbye to John, she prepared to return to the Pioneer Squad's base.
Overall, the rewards from their first dungeon clear were indeed substantial.
Two pieces of [Epic] quality gear, two precious items—they had distributed these needs-wise, quite reasonably. But after some thought, Helena felt she might have been on the losing end.
Not only had she used up scrolls, but she also ended up with none of the first-clear rewards.
But...
Well, never mind that. Items only mean something when they serve their purpose. Besides, the stronger Exiled Immortal became, the better it was for her.
...
Meanwhile, back at the shop, John simply greeted Fara before secluding himself in his room to start crafting new potions and scale armor.
But before that, he needed to peruse the journal of that Legendary Alchemist to see what useful experiences he could glean from it.
Opening the first page of the journal, John's eyes met with words he had read countless times before.
"The world of alchemy is far grander than you could imagine."
Though it was a simple sentence, John found it incredibly stirring.
[Ding, host has detected the Alchemy Journal]
[Ding, detected that the Alchemy Journal is incomplete, Kiss of LUCK assessment in progress]
[Ding, Kiss of LUCK assessment successful, this journal is identified as a forbidden tome, completion in progress]
...
[Completion successful!]
The journal thickened instantly, and John eagerly started flipping from the back.
This journal documented hundreds of Orlando·Barry's alchemical experiments, detailing both failures and successes. Orlando·Barry had meticulously recorded his experiences and even pinpointed the reasons behind them.
Of course, the forbidden alchemy techniques John had hoped for were also included, with nearly ten different types recorded.
These included experiments on living monsters, spell fusion, trait transfer, and equipment quality inheritance experiments, any of which could shake the world with their greatness if released. Gradually, John became so immersed that he lost track of time.
It was only after he had read the entire journal, word for word, that John took a deep breath.
Looking out the window at the night sky, he rubbed his temples, both shocked by Orlando·Barry's brilliant talent and unbounded creativity, and in awe of his staggering practical skills.
Just the ten-plus alchemical techniques recorded in the journal had been subjected to hundreds, if not thousands of trials, with both successes and failures.
"The reason this alchemy hasn't been passed down might just be because it's too against the natural order," John mused.
"Some experiments were literally playing God, not too far from being a creator themselves!"
The journal clearly recorded how Orlando·Barry once fused a high-ranking, intelligent monster, a three-eyed giant, with a low-ranking slime, resulting in a test subject that successfully acquired the giant's robust physique and the slime's incredible regenerative ability.
Even mortal wounds, unless instantly fatal, could be healed by the subject's powerful regenerative capabilities.
Creating an entirely new monster from two known species might be something only a creator could achieve.
At this moment, John felt increasingly grateful for choosing the Alchemist class. With Orlando·Barry's journal, he could replicate those legendary alchemical techniques that existed only in myths and significantly enhance their success rates.
The SSS talent [Kiss of Luck] was a unique advantage that others did not possess!
Of course, these things would require gradual exploration.
For now, John was still a junior Alchemist. To replicate the feats of the legendary Alchemists, he would need to advance to a senior Alchemist and undergo a second class change for a chance at success.
Putting his swirling thoughts aside, John turned around and focused on the Basilisk scales that had been cleaned and were soaking in acid.
Using silver tongs, he lifted the scales out, which had undergone a dramatic transformation in flexibility.
If the original scales were like a rigid iron sheet that would not bend, then after the acid soak, they had become tough alloys that retained their hardness but gained much more malleability.
Thus, John began to craft the scale armor, meticulously picking out each scale, rinsing them in clear water to remove the acid, then starting the forging process.
This task consumed two whole days.
...
Standing outside the closed door, Lily bit her lip, clearly worried about John's condition.
While players didn't need sleep or food, nor did they feel fatigue or hunger, the concern was that if John continued to work relentlessly, he might disconnect at any moment.
With this thought, Lily could no longer heed John's potential complaints and was about to knock on the door to persuade him to rest.
But just at that moment, the door burst open, and John's joyful laughter echoed from the room.
"It worked, Lily, I did it!"