Explosive Creation

[Reawakening: Announcement at the end of the chapter.]

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"Wait!" Alden said, bringing the exiting party to a pause.

They all stared at him, their faces expressing obvious confusion.

Alden went ahead of them, and quickly said, "You've all seen how impressive I am. Honestly, I'm an expert."

TrulyDo was speechless at Alden's straightforward words, and the others seemed like they were on the verge of laughing.

"So, knowing that who wants to join my party, long term?"

Immediately, everyone fell into deep thought. None of them were idiots. There was no reason for such a talented expert to carry them through a dungeon's first clear.

Now, they realized that they were being scouted!

Baron immediately spoke up, "I don't see why not. I came to get carried by an expert, why not get carried again?"

"Yeah, those large guilds won't accept people like me anyways! Why not get training from the leader instead?" OurLordOlympus said.

"Mhm, me too... I'll join you," MouseAndCheese chimed.

Then, Alden looked at TrulyDo, who seemed to be in deep contemplation.

"What about you, TrulyDo?" Alden inquired, his excitement evident. This was someone with just as much potential as him, after all.

'Though, I doubt he'll ever reach my level in this life.'

TrulyDo looked at Alden and simply shook his head. "I can't, I have a guild I want to join, and I don't think being in your party is better than that."

Alden sighed, 'I guess he still wants to join Relentless. Whatever, I'll poach him to my side later.'

It was definitely a shame. Paragon-level experts were few and far between. In Realms, there were 7 tiers of power and each tier experienced an exponential increase in skill requirement and stats. There were initiates, apprentices, neophytes, specialists, experts, savants, paragons, and apexes.

"No problem, my offer will remain until the end of time. If that guild doesn't go so well, let me know." Alden relented.

After adding everyone to his friends list, Alden pulled out 4 papers, and told them, "Sign these contracts. I assume loads of guilds are out there, waiting to buy the clear strategy. Signing these will ensure that you never leak the existence of my common heat resistance potions."

This time, even TrulyDo agreed, and they all signed it. Although they could break the contract in the real world, at least in Realms, the system would automatically lower their level to 0, delete every item in their inventory or bank, and lower their EXP gain by 50%.

When the team signed the contracts, Alden led them toward the exit. In the Serpent Nest dungeon, the maze led the player through what was basically a circle. So soon, they arrived right back at the entrance.

Upon exiting the dungeon, their screens went black, and once a new scene faded back in, they arrived in the overworld.

Instantly, their group was flooded with players.

"It's the Expert Bus Party!"

"What's the clear strategy?! I'll buy it for 10,000 bytes!"

"I'll buy it for 1 silver!"

Alden's party members were dumbfounded. Clearly, they underestimated the impact of their first clear.

Then, someone shouted.

"Make way!"

From the back of all of the people who rushed over to them, a woman was seen. Everyone parted as if they were the Red Sea, making way for her. Her long, black hair flowed as she inched toward Alden's party.

"Hey... isn't that?"

"It is! That's the eclipse fairy!"

As soon as he saw her, Alden went wide-eyed. 'That's Eclipse Joy! In my past life, she was one of the top 50 female experts!'

If Alden fought her in his past life, she would defeat him in a single move. After all, she was an Apex Wanderer!

When she arrived in front of Alden and his party, she said, "I'm Eclipse Joy, I want to buy the clear strategy off of you. State your price."

Eclipse Joy's expression was cold as if she wanted to be anywhere except here. However, the only thing on her mind right now was shock, 'He's level 5...!'

Alden smiled wryly and explained, "While Truth Gate is a powerful guild worthy of my respect, and you, Eclipse Joy, are subject to my admiration... I'm afraid I must decline."

OurLordOlympus, MouseAndCheese, Baron, and even the stoic TrulyDo looked at Alden in shock! That was the eclipse fairy!

In the gaming world, she was a celebrity! Just having her favor would be extremely helpful to him in the future!

The person in question, however, shrugged it off. "Okay."

As she walked away, Alden called out to her, "But, I'll be selling it on the forums later!"

Even though she simply walked away, Alden knew that Truth Gate would come to buy the clear method for Serpent Nest as soon as he posted about it.

'At that time, I'll put loads of heat resistance potions in the auction house... I'll be rich!'

With his advertising done, Alden bid his party farewell. For one, he needed to get to a private location and equip his new cloak. Secondly, he had so many materials and coins, it would be a waste if he didn't craft items!

Thankfully, while he had to come to the dungeon manually, he now had silver coins. Every use of the teleportation array costs a single silver. Alden could arrive in Cedar Town instantly.

Upon arriving, Alden equipped his new oil-drenched robe. The improvements to his stats felt energizing, and Alden was even more motivated to craft good items.

In no time at all, the creator was directly in front of the alchemist's shop. Here, the only NPC alchemist in town resided. 'They're at the same level as me, being an apprentice... though, I'm probably better.'

After all, he was a specialist alchemist in his last life.

Once Alden entered the alchemist's shop, he was immediately greeted by the sound of crashing metal

"Wait a sec!" a feminine voice could be heard.

Then, in a worn-out lab coat and brown pigtails, a girl rushed out from the back of the shop.

Alden ignored the clutter and examined the shelves. There was, frankly, nothing of interest.

"I'm an apprentice alchemist, and I had some inspiration. Could I use your lab?"

The alchemist NPC's bright, clumsy smile immediately turned into a degrading frown. "Not a customer? Leave."

"If you let me use the shop, I'll buy your entire stock of common heat resistance potions," Alden negotiated. He would make a profit with the potions anyway.

The NPC alchemist immediately ran up to Alden, "Yes, yes. Of course! Come right in! I am Sherica, yes. My lab isn't the richest but you'll find its enough!"

Following the purchase of the potions, Sherica escorted Alden into her lab, and Alden was instantly mesmerized. 'She has so many tools! With this, my success rate will definitely increase!'

Alden was here for only a single reason:

to craft an original item.

He had everything he needed to make a legitimate war weapon, and he intended to do so. Alden immediately occupied Sherica's lab. He pulled out every material he possibly could, and zoomed in on a few.

"Death root, the poison sac, and the oil sac..."

These would be the main ingredients for his creation. In his past life, many recipes were found that required Exsslor's oil sack. All of those recipes were for explosives.

Alden quickly used one of the knives that Sherica had to slice open the poison sac, which was about the size of a fist, and watched as purple liquid fell into a bowl he already prepared.

He was careful to not be poisoned himself.

Then, he put the death root inside of that liquid, allowing it to melt inside of it. It was a crude method for creating poison and even a waste of a rare ingredient. 'But I have urgent need for it.'

On the side, Sherica's eyes glowed as she watched Alden handle multiple uncommon and rare ingredients.

Then, Alden emptied the oil sac into one of the potion bottles Sherica had on hand, which barely filled it up halfway. The oil found inside the naga's oil sac was very irritable and exploded at first contact with the ground as long as it was on fire.

Alden then mixed in the poison with the oil and stuffed a piece of paper within it.

System: "You've crafted an original item! Alchemy Proficiency +100!"

System: "You are the first Alchemist to craft an original item in the Sorus Empire! 1 silver coin!"

System: "What would you like to call this item?"

Alden's grin was as wide as could be as he said, "Poison Bomb!"

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[Reawakening:

Power Stone event! We've hit multiple milestones with only a few chapters! I want to thank you all, but my schedule is already pretty packed. Here's what we'll do: Every 30 power stones is one bonus chapter! I'll post the chapter as soon as I see the goal hit (message me on the discord if I take too long)! This will last for 5 days, good luck!]