Chapter 55: The Prodigious Alchemist 3

Everyone around Kent was confused.

After all, how could the belly skin of a single magical beast possibly require the hides of several beasts?

The reason was simple.

A magical beast’s weakness was usually located on its softest area—the belly.

If a hunter was skilled enough, they could preserve that part of the hide intact.

But magical beasts were not easy opponents.

Many times, after a battle, not even a single usable piece of scroll material remained.

After all, most people cared far more about the magical core than the hide.

The magical core was the true treasure.

---

Kent picked up the crystal bottle beside him.

Inside was the special solution used for engraving magic arrays.

Because the crystal container blocked his senses, Kent could not directly feel the magical energy within the liquid.

However, judging from its color and the faint elemental glow surrounding it, he could tell immediately.

This was a high-quality engraving solution.

Kent opened his personal alchemist pouch.

It was one of the simplest applications of spatial magic.

Even so, such an item was already an extremely rare treasure in the underground world.

From inside the pouch, Kent took out his alchemy pen and a small filter.

These were not experimental creations.

They were already mature, standardized tools that he had personally developed.

He had not spent any money on them.

The alchemy pen came with three replaceable tips.

The filter was the only one he owned, but it could be disassembled and cleaned after use.

---

The moment the City Lord saw Kent take out the alchemist pouch, his body stiffened.

For a brief moment, he almost stood up.

Spatial magic.

That was something that had long been lost in the Underdark.

And yet this young human possessed a fully developed spatial alchemy item.

Such craftsmanship was almost unbelievable.

However, the City Lord quickly suppressed his reaction.

He continued watching.

Then he noticed the strange tools Kent had taken out.

They were completely different from the methods used by dark elf enchanters.

If one spoke of alchemists, then the dark elf race probably had the greatest number remaining among underground races.

But even then, one could count them on one hand.

And their success rate was painfully low.

The reason was simple.

Dark elves loved beauty and art.

They pursued elegance, creativity, and perfection.

But alchemy was the complete opposite.

It was a discipline filled with endless calculations, boring experiments, and repeated failures.

To most dark elves, studying alchemy was practically a nightmare.

Later, as the status of mages continued to decline throughout the underground world, fewer and fewer dark elves chose the path of magic.

And among those few mages, alchemists became even rarer.

Now, the dark elves faced a serious problem.

There was almost no younger generation willing to inherit these ancient skills.

Most young dark elves devoted themselves to swordsmanship, art, or archery.

Very few still pursued magic.

And even fewer pursued alchemy.

That was why the appearance of a human mage who was also an alchemist immediately attracted the City Lord’s attention.

Especially because this human had not come from the surface through any known method.

He had simply appeared by chance.

There was no reason for the City Lord not to take him seriously.

---

Kent filled his alchemy pen with the engraving solution.

Then he closed his eyes briefly and calmed his mind.

He placed one hand over the blank scroll and carefully smoothed its surface.

After taking a deep breath, the tip of the pen finally touched the soft material.

In that instant, Kent’s entire consciousness sank into the magic array.

The countless hours of practice appeared vividly in his mind.

Every failed attempt.

Every correction.

Every improvement.

The magic formation was already carved into his memory like an image permanently burned into his thoughts.

The pen moved.

Smoothly.

Gracefully.

A thin stream of liquid flowed from the tip and spread across the surface of the scroll.

At the same time, strands of Kent’s spiritual power and magical energy flowed through the alchemy pen and merged into the engraving process.

The entire room became silent.

Everyone watched.

No one dared interrupt him.

“Hu...”

Kent finally let out a long breath.

The moment he lifted the pen away from the scroll, the blank surface suddenly flashed.

A powerful wave of fire-element magic erupted.

The completed lines of the magic array glowed with a faint red light.

Then, slowly, a subtle fire-element aura began radiating from the scroll.

The first magic scroll was complete.

Kent did not even bother to examine it carefully.

Instead, he immediately began working on the next one.

Such high-quality materials were rare.

Such a valuable opportunity was even rarer.

There was no reason to waste it.

The City Lord and the old dwarf became more and more shocked as they continued watching.

At first, Kent had needed half an hour to complete a single scroll.

But his speed was constantly improving.

Now, he only needed twenty minutes to create a Fireball scroll.

However, that was not even the most astonishing part.

The truly unbelievable thing was his success rate.

So far, Kent’s success rate was one hundred percent.

That was impossible.

Even a high-level alchemist could not guarantee a one hundred percent success rate.

Although Kent had only created four scrolls so far, the number itself was not what mattered.

Success rate was not determined by how many scrolls someone made.

Nor was it directly related to the level of the alchemist.

Of course, lower-level magic scrolls were generally easier to create.

But that did not mean low-level scrolls had a guaranteed success rate.

For ordinary alchemists, the success rate of a low-level magic scroll was usually around fifty percent.

And Kent?

He was only a Level-Two Mage.

Under normal circumstances, a mage needed to reach at least Level Four before they could barely begin creating Level-One magic scrolls.

For beginners, achieving even a ten percent success rate was already something worth celebrating.

And that was only possible for those with exceptional talent.

Therefore, the City Lord’s shock was far greater than the old dwarf’s.

The reason was simple.

The City Lord understood much more about magic and alchemy.

He knew exactly how abnormal Kent’s performance truly was.

---

Kent continued without stopping.

Only after creating five Fireball scrolls in one breath did he finally feel his spiritual energy beginning to weaken.

Then he suddenly remembered something.

He was inside the City Lord’s residence.

This was not his own workshop.

Without saying anything, Kent quietly put away all of his alchemy tools.

Looking at the five finished scrolls in front of him, he felt extremely satisfied.

Whether it was the time required or the quality of the finished products, the final scroll was clearly the best one.

And faintly, Kent sensed something else.

The magic array could probably be simplified.

Its structure could possibly be reduced.

The area required for the inscription could become smaller.

However, he had not tested his idea yet.

It was only a vague direction in his mind.

---

“Not bad.”

The City Lord carefully examined the five scrolls Kent had created.

“Very impressive, young man.”

He looked at Kent.

“Your name is Kent, correct?”

After inspecting the scrolls one by one, the City Lord also used his spiritual power to examine their internal structure.

A thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

*Could this human learn the alchemy techniques of the dark elves?*

The City Lord did not even consider asking Kent to repair the ancient teleportation array.

That was a task only a space-element mage could accomplish.

And the City Lord did not understand why, but he felt an unusual sense of closeness toward this human.

For a dark elf, that feeling was extremely strange.

Both elves and dark elves were notoriously exclusive races.

They rarely trusted outsiders.

Yet this young human somehow made him feel different.

So when the City Lord spoke again, there was an obvious intention to recruit him.

“Kent, what are your plans for the future?”

The meaning behind his words was clear.

He wanted to keep Kent.

However, Kent immediately understood.

“Forgive me, Your Excellency.”

“I have already promised my friends that I would create fire lizard leather armor for them.”

“The fire lizards have already been brought back.”

Kent had no intention of staying.

To be honest, he did not have a particularly good impression of this unbelievably beautiful male dark elf.

*Why does a man need to look that beautiful?*

Deep down, Kent had to admit that a small part of his reaction came from jealousy.

---

“Old man!”

The moment Kent finished speaking, the old dwarf suddenly jumped up.

“Kent is our dwarven people’s best friend!”

“So don’t even think about stealing him away!”

“If you try, I, Wright, will make sure you regret it!”

The old dwarf shouted directly at the City Lord.

The City Lord only smiled.

“Old Wright...”

“Can you even defeat me?”

Kent looked at that smile and immediately turned his head away.

Even as a man, he had to admit that the dark elf’s appearance was dangerously charming.

If he kept looking, it would be too distracting.

More importantly, judging from the way Wright and the City Lord spoke to each other, their relationship was obviously very familiar.

And both of them...

Were probably Level-Nine experts.

Kent thought about it for a moment and quickly understood.

It actually made sense.

The underground world did not have many cities.

After ten thousand years of development, it was only natural that some Level-Nine experts would eventually appear.

Those powerful individuals would naturally be assigned to protect different cities.

After all, the dangers of the Underdark were endless.

No one knew what kind of magical beasts might suddenly emerge from the countless tunnels surrounding them.

Even if the first level of the Underdark did not contain high-level magical beasts...

That did not mean they could not appear.

After all—

Magical beasts had legs too.

While Wright and the City Lord continued arguing, Kent quietly took the opportunity to examine the hall around him.

The first thing he noticed was the overwhelming artistic atmosphere.

This place was completely different from the grand halls of nobles he had imagined.

There were no piles of gold.

No silver decorations.

No extravagant displays of wealth.

Instead, the entire hall was filled with carefully crafted works of art.

Handwoven ornaments decorated the surroundings.

Strange wooden sculptures covered with intricate patterns stood in various corners.

There were also stone carvings displaying exquisite designs that Kent had never seen before.

Even the chairs were not ordinary furniture.

Every surface had been carefully carved with countless beautiful patterns, turning something as simple as a chair into a work of art.

The City Lord’s clothing was the same.

At first glance, it reminded Kent of traditional Chinese embroidery.

The fabric was covered with delicate patterns, every thread carefully arranged, creating a design that was both elegant and full of artistic beauty.

Even the lighting fixtures in the hall were extraordinary.

The room was illuminated by magic crystal lamps.

The transparent crystal covers surrounding the lamps were clearly extremely valuable.

Yet despite the elegance and nobility of the entire hall, Kent noticed something interesting.

There was not a single piece of gold or silver decoration anywhere.

The dark elves did not seem interested in displaying wealth through precious metals.

Their pride came from craftsmanship.

From beauty.

From art itself.