Chapter 28: A Legendary Inheritance

Roughly ten minutes had elapsed since the chaotic clash with the Royal Guard began.

Boom!

“Kieeeeek!”

With a final, echoing explosion, the first of the heavily armored guardians collapsed to the ancient stone floor, its legs curling inward.

Thud!

‘Fifteen Shadow Orbs per Elite guard,’ Se-hyeon calculated, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. ‘Even inside a D-rank zone, an Elite variant is still an Elite.’

Expending fifteen orbs per guard meant that even if he ignored the Queen entirely, he would still need to deploy a staggering 150 Shadow Orbs just to wipe out her remaining escort. Had any ordinary hunter party discovered this hidden chamber, they would have suffered a swift and total wipeout from mana depletion long before making a dent in these ranks. Fortunately, Se-hyeon was a statistical anomaly who could spend mana like water without ever seeing the bottom of his pool.

‘Instead of scattering my damage across the whole pack, I need to focus them down systematically, one by one.’

Up until now, he had been firing his volleys sporadically, hitting whatever target presented itself. However, the moment the first guard fell, he noticed an immediate, palpable relief in the enemies’ positional pressure. Realizing that reducing their numbers was the key to reclaiming his mobility, he shifted his strategy toward focused execution.

By the twenty-five-minute mark of the Royal Guard’s invocation:

“KIAAAA!”

Crash!

Through disciplined single-target targeting, Se-hyeon successfully liquidated four more of the elite escorts. With five guards down, the board was instantly simplified: only Peltriana and five remaining Royal Guards were left standing.

“Haa! Talk about perfect timing,” Se-hyeon gasped, a sharp grin breaking across his face as a system clock refreshed in his mind. “The cooldown is finally over. Say your prayers, you overgrown bugs.”

The lock on his premier crowd-control magic had finally dissolved.

“Dark Chains!”

Clang! Clang! Raaaaattle!

As he cast the spell a second time, a forest of ominous iron links saturated with dark energy erupted from the stone floor, wrapping tightly around Peltriana and her five remaining guards.

“KIEEEE-EEEE-EEEE!”

Recognizing the very same chains that had previously left her utterly defenseless, Peltriana went completely ballistic with panic, thrashing against her metal bindings. Beside her, the five surviving Elites twisted and strained, but their frantic struggles were entirely in vain against the high-tier magical restraint.

‘Five minutes of total lockdown,’ Se-hyeon thought, his eyes turning cold. ‘I’m ending this right here.’

Unlike the chaotic evasion marathon of the previous twenty minutes, this five-minute window allowed him to abandon all defensive positioning and concentrate 100% of his focus on raw, industrialized offense. The mechanical vulnerability of the spell remained absolute: because the chains forced all targets to freeze facing the direction Se-hyeon occupied at the exact moment of casting, their rear flanks were entirely defenseless.

Swish!

Gliding effortlessly around their frozen forms via his Wind Boots, he claimed the uncontested firing range directly behind their massive rear carapaces. Turning around was physically impossible for them.

“Let’s wrap this up! Shadow Orb!”

Whirrrr!

Instantly manifesting a full battery of 30 Shadow Orbs, Se-hyeon initiated a ruthless, point-blank execution.

Screeech!

BOOM! CRASH! RUMBLE!

What followed was a relentless, unbroken carpet-bombing of dark ordnance.

“Shadow Orb! Shadow Orb!”

CRASH! BOOM! BANG!

Under the unmitigated, localized destruction of the continuous volleys, the remaining five Elites were completely vaporized within the first few rotations. Peltriana, whose health pool had already been whittled down to roughly 30%, could not withstand the catastrophic damage inflation. Long before the five-minute timer on the chains could expire, the Queen let out a final, agonizing shriek.

“KIEEEEEK!”

THUD!

Her massive, mountain-like frame crashed heavily onto the ruined stone floor, entirely devoid of life. Concurrently, the remaining iron links faded into black mist.

Clatter…

[All targets have been eradicated. Dark Chains has been dispelled.]

[Dark Chains has siphoned a total of 13,800 Health. 6,900 Health is transferred to the caster.]

[3,980 Health has been restored. Excess siphoned health is discarded.]

Unlike his previous engagements, the chaotic multi-target brawl had taken a small toll on his vitals. Lacking the flawless mastery of Zephyrus, he hadn’t been able to dodge every single sweeping leg and kinetic shockwave; minor chips of damage had gradually accumulated across his health bar. Fortunately, none of the injuries were severe enough to hinder his combat efficiency. With his vitals instantly topped off by the massive siphon, the remaining healing energy dissolved harmlessly into the air.

“Phew. It’s finally over,” Se-hyeon muttered, rolling his shoulders as the highly anticipated system chimes echoed in his ears.

[Peltriana, the Defeated Queen Spider Seeking Vengeance, has been slain.]

[The lockdown on the Laboratory of Alchemist Kaltraven has been lifted.]

[Warning: The Laboratory of Alchemist Kaltraven will be permanently sealed in 1 hour.]

With the countdown initiated, it was finally time to reap the rewards of his labor.

“Oh! The drop rate this time is insane,” Se-hyeon noted, looking at the glowing remnants. “First, let’s grab the laboratory key.”

The boss-tier Queen and her elite escort had yielded an incredibly generous bounty. Sweeping up the glowing drops, he cataloged a total of five distinct equipment pieces: a tower shield, a longsword, a ring, a bracelet, and a set of heavy plate armor.

“I’ll set these items aside for now,” Se-hyeon murmured, stacking the gear neatly in a corner. “Now, let’s see what kind of experience these hatchlings give. If those little guys provide even half the lifeforce of a fully grown spider, this will be massive.”

The moment for Vitality Absorption had arrived.

Under his current progression metrics, farming 100 adult monsters a day for ten consecutive days would yield roughly 20% growth for the ring. If the residual vitality from the thousands of dead hatchlings provided even a fraction of an adult’s value, it would shave days off his path to Phase 3. Realistically, even if they only yielded 1/10th of an adult’s value, the sheer volume would still be an incredible windfall.

“Vitality Absorption!”

SWISHHHHHH!

As the skill activated, a brilliant, starlit gale of residual life force erupted from every corner of the massive cavern, converging into the gemstone of his ring in a blinding vortex. Watching the sheer density of the incoming energy, Se-hyeon’s eyes widened in profound shock.

“What… What the hell? The residual vitality from a hatchling is exactly the same as an adult?!”

The system made no distinction between the developmental stages of the monsters; a single soul was a single soul. Because his maximum absorption cap per cast was limited to 500 units of essence, Se-hyeon had to cycle the skill three consecutive times to completely cleanse the chamber. The moment the final speck of light was pulled into the band, a cascading sequence of gold system text flooded his vision.

[The growth rate of the Magic Ring [Xerostan] has reached 20%.]

[The Chaos Mage class has evolved to Phase 3.]

[All basic attributes have increased by +500.]

[New skills have been unlocked. Please check your Status Window for details.]

[The options for the Title [Master of Xerostan] have been updated.]

[Phase 3 Memory Transfer for Magic Combat Arts has been unlocked.]

An achievement that should have required ten grueling days of corporate dungeon tracking had been bypassed in a single, thirty-minute slaughter. The presence of over a thousand hatchlings—each carrying a full unit of soul essence—had catapulted him straight into Phase 3.

“Ha… Haha. You’ve got to be kidding me,” Se-hyeon laughed out loud, staring at his glowing hand.

Advancing his entire build by a full ten days entirely by accident was a stroke of fortune that left him reeling with joy.

“Get a grip, this isn’t the time,” Se-hyeon chided himself, shaking his head. “I can check the detailed status updates when I’m back home. I need to get inside the actual lab before the timer runs out.”

The instance would permanently collapse in less than an hour. He needed to extract everything of value before the portal vanished. Clutching the ancient iron key, he walked over to the back wall of the cavern, where a concealed, masterfully carved keyhole was embedded into the stone. He inserted the key and turned it.

Click!

VROOOOOOM!

The moment the mechanism turned, a swirling, iridescent portal manifested across the wall, humming with spatial stability.

“Before I step through, I should notify Manager Park,” Se-hyeon muttered, pulling out his phone. If they were going to harvest this massive windfall of carcasses before the lockdown closed permanently, the extraction team needed to move immediately.

Within two rings, Park Sang-soo’s anxious voice blasted through the receiver.

—Yes, Hunter Jang Se-hyeon! Is the situation secure? Are you alright?

“The area is completely clear, Manager Park. However, we have a bit of a logistical situation regarding the cargo volume. The adult carcasses number around a hundred, but the hatchling corpses exceed a thousand.”

Though the hatchlings were significantly smaller than the massive adults, a volume of over a thousand units was a massive quantity that required serious transport coordination.

—H-A thousand?! Park gasped, his voice cracking.

“Yes. Fortunately, since they’re newborns, their individual volume is quite small compared to a standard D-rank spider. Either way, I need the team down here as fast as possible.”

—Ah! Understood, perfectly understood! We are moving out right this second!

Hanging up the phone, Se-hyeon turned his attention back to the swirling light.

“Let’s see what Kaltraven left behind,” he murmured, stepping firmly through the threshold.

Flash!

A second later, the spatial distortion cleared, and Se-hyeon found himself standing inside a vast, gothic laboratory that felt like a preserved research facility from the high medieval era.

“Wow. It really is just a laboratory,” he observed, looking around.

As he had realistically expected, there were no towering mountains of gold coins or chests overflowing with gems like a corrupted director’s private vault. Instead, one entire wing of the facility was packed with a staggering, massive inventory of rare, preserved herbs and flora. Another shelf held ten meticulously sealed glass vials containing strange, luminescent fluids. Finally, sitting perfectly at the literal center of the room, sat a single, ornate stone chest.

“I figured there wouldn’t be conventional treasures here. But what am I supposed to do with this massive mountain of herbs? I don’t even have a crafting profession,” Se-hyeon muttered, bypassing the flora for now. “Let’s check the glass vials first.”

He approached the shelf, noting that four of the vials emitted a soft, ethereal golden light, while the remaining six glowed with a deep, liquid sapphire hue. He reached out and lifted one of the golden bottles, inspecting it.

“Let’s see…”

The system immediately projected the item’s data into his mind.

[S-Rank] Elixir of Awakening

—When consumed by an ordinary human, grants a 100% success rate for Awakening.

—The resulting Awakened Class is applied completely at random.

The description was incredibly brief, but its implications were absolutely world-altering.

Since the dawn of the dungeon era decades ago, there had never been a single recorded instance of artificial awakening. Humanity’s leading researchers had universally concluded that awakening was a strictly natural, biological phenomenon; forcing an ordinary human to cross the threshold via external, artificial means was considered a scientific impossibility. Yet, this single elixir completely shattered that absolute law.

“An Elixir of Awakening? Forcing a standard human to awaken with a hundred percent certainty? Are you kidding me? Is this even real?”

A potion that could turn an ordinary civilian into a super-powered Awakened asset. For the ultra-wealthy elite or the desperate individuals who had failed their natural aptitude tests and lived in perpetual despair, this single bottle was an item they would gladly trade entire corporate empires to possess.

“This is insane,” Se-hyeon breathed, his mind racing. “What kind of place is this? How does a hidden room inside a mere D-rank dungeon drop an item of this caliber?”

It was an item of such apocalyptic value that finding it in a low-tier wilderness zone defied all logic.

“Haa. Let’s keep this safe in my sub-space storage for now. Moving on to the next one.”

Carefully storing the four golden elixirs away, Se-hyeon picked up one of the deep blue vials.

[A-Rank] Perfect Potion

—Upon consumption, instantly restores 100% of Health and Mana.

—Instantly removes all negative status ailments, curses, and debuffs.

—Completely heals all physical wounds and trauma.

—Cannot be applied if the target is already deceased.

—Can be used consecutively without cooldown or diminishing returns.

The Perfect Potion was exactly what its name implied—the ultimate logistical insurance policy. It was an item that could completely erase a lifetime of combat trauma, lethal blood loss, and mana burnout in a single swallow. For a hunter operating on the front lines, this wasn’t just medicine; it was a literal extra life.

“A Perfect Potion… Incredible,” Se-hyeon nodded, deeply impressed. “Having six of these is functionally equivalent to carrying six extra lives in my pocket.”

Because the world-shattering shock of the Awakening Elixir had already desensitized him, the description of the Perfect Potion didn’t hit him quite as hard, but its practical utility was undeniable.

“Haha, this is unbelievable. Leaving the Perfect Potions aside, those Elixirs of Awakening are assets that make Mithril ore or gold bullion look like pocket change.”

In terms of raw market value, the elixirs occupied an entirely different echelon. If he ever placed just one of those golden bottles on the global black market or a high-end corporate auction, the bidding would easily clear tens of billions of won within minutes. The world was full of trillionaires who lacked the genetics to enter a dungeon.

“The side shelves alone are throwing out S-rank items… then what the hell is hidden inside the main chest?”

If items of this caliber were relegated to secondary shelves like common clutter, the contents of the central stone container had to be legendary. After safely transferring all six Perfect Potions into his sub-space pocket, Se-hyeon walked slowly toward the center of the laboratory.

“Let’s find out what’s inside.”

He reached down and popped the heavy iron latch.

Click!

Lifting the stone lid, his eyes fell upon two distinct items resting on a bed of faded velvet: a thick, ancient leather-bound tome and a strange, intricately designed mechanical apparatus.

“A skill book?”

Se-hyeon picked up the heavy tome first. Instantly, a system prompt materialized.

[You have obtained a Skill Book containing the skill: [Kaltraven’s Alchemy].]

[Would you like to learn this skill?]

“Ho? Alchemy?” Se-hyeon mused, his eyebrows rising. “Does this mean I can actually practice crafting now?”

Even after decades of societal transformation under the dungeon system, a dedicated ‘Alchemist’ class had never emerged within humanity’s ranks. Had Alchemists existed to mass-produce reliable healing potions, the social and economic leverage of Priest and Healer classes would be significantly lower today. As things stood, Healers remained undisputed nobles alongside high-end Tanks, entirely because their active magical cooldowns were humanity’s sole source of vitality replenishment inside a dungeon.

“If this works the way I think it does, I might just upend the entire global Hunter economy.”

Even if the efficiency of the skill was low in its initial stages, the mere ability to mass-produce standardized potions would fundamentally shatter the current class hierarchy of the entire hunter industry.

“Learn.”

Operating under the philosophy that more utility was always superior, Se-hyeon immediately accepted the prompt.

FLASH!

The ancient book erupted into a brilliant, blinding light that dissolved into particles of pure information, seeping directly into his consciousness.

[You have successfully learned the skill: [Kaltraven’s Alchemy].]

[Passive Skill: [Alchemy Mastery] has been unlocked.]

[Active Skill: [Alchemy] has been unlocked.]

The moment the acquisition concluded, his status menu updated with a pair of cleanly structured sub-menus.

[Passive] Alchemy Mastery [Lv. 1]

—Increasing the mastery level raises the probability of a ‘Great Success’ during crafting.

—Increasing the mastery level reduces the volume of raw materials required for recipes.

—Increasing the mastery level enhances the overall quality and potency of crafted items.

—Upon reaching Mastery Level 5, the active skill [Alchemy] will automatically upgrade to [Kaltraven’s True Alchemy].

—Casting the active skill [Alchemy] grants experience toward your Mastery Level.

[Active] Alchemy [Lv. 1]

The crystallized essence of Kaltraven, the only individual in alchemical history to successfully synthesize the mythical Elixir, elevating him to the rank of Grand Sage.

—Allows the user to craft potions.

—Currently available recipes: [Lowest-Grade Health Potion], [Lowest-Grade Mana Potion].

—Increasing the skill level unlocks higher-tier potion recipes.

—Increasing the skill level enhances the base quality of lower-tier potions.

—Casting Time: 30 seconds.

—Mana Cost: 15.

—Cooldown: None.

The passive Alchemy Mastery was a comprehensive multiplier, governing success rates, material efficiency, and item scaling. However, the clause that immediately caught his attention was the Level 5 threshold, which promised to evolve the standard active skill into Kaltraven’s True Alchemy. Even without details, it was obvious that the upgraded version would allow him to craft items of an entirely different tier.

Meanwhile, the active Alchemy skill was currently locked at Level 1, limiting his output to standard, lowest-grade health and mana replenishments. However, the absolute lack of an internal cooldown meant that as long as his skill level rose and his material stockpile grew, his production capacity would be bounded only by his imagination.