Chapter 16: The Power of Enchanted Weapon Oil

Ian's mana flowed steadily into the alchemical array under the guidance of his spirit, like a gentle stream. As the silver disk's engravings slowly began to glow, the simple alchemical array took shape.

Ian didn't feel any strain; everything was falling into place effortlessly.

It took Ian about an hour to etch the alchemical array. Once he had familiarized himself with the materials and their properties, he finally began the actual work as midday approached.

He had been worried about failure before starting, but once he began, it felt as natural as eating or drinking—without any real difficulty.

He followed the process from memory, starting with purifying the materials.

Alchemy, at its core, is about equivalent exchange.

Understanding, purification, decomposition, transformation, construction, solidification, and completion—these are the seven key stages of alchemy. Alchemists might choose to reassemble or skip certain steps depending on the situation to finish the process.

Soon, as the materials were consumed and the array solidified, a semi-solid, semi-liquid yellow oil began to float in the center of the array.

With Ian's spiritual energy focusing, his delicate mana manipulation cleared the chaotic magical energy from the array, and then he fully withdrew his power, ensuring that his personal influence didn't interfere with the magical transformation process.

From there, Ian relied solely on his spirit to activate the process, using the pure magical energy created by the alchemical array to enchant the oil.

Once the alchemical process completed, the silver disk's glow faded, and it fell to the ground, shattering into several pieces.

The bright yellow enchanted weapon oil hovered delicately in the air, its magical light stable and without impurities. There was no doubt that its quality was top-tier.

Ian's face lit up with joy as he quickly sealed the enchanted weapon oil into a pre-prepared silver container.

It had only been a little over two hours since he began, and the entire alchemical process had gone off without a hitch.

In his past life, even at his peak, he could never have performed such a delicate and stable operation.

Using such a simple alchemical array and ordinary materials, Ian had created top-quality enchanted weapon oil in just two hours.

If any other alchemist knew this, they'd probably be floored.

Ian calculated that, except for the Coordinating Crystal, he still had plenty of materials left.

The enchanted weapon oil he produced weighed about three pounds, costing around 20 gold coins in materials.

He'd seen other recipes for enchanted weapon oils at the Bounty Hunter's Guild on the third floor, where a pound of their oil was priced anywhere from 30 to 60 gold coins, but those oils clearly didn't compare to his in quality.

Doing the math, Ian was amazed.

Three hours, ten times the profit—sounds almost illegal!

He almost wanted to keep making it non-stop—if he did, he could buy a second-tier battleship in a year. Of course, if someone were willing to sell one.

But at that moment, his spirit and mana were nearly drained, and there was no way he could continue today.

...

"Knock, knock, knock..."

As Ian's mind wandered, a knock sounded at the door.

Through his senses, he detected two people outside—one was a nervous attendant from the inn, and the other was a supernatural figure with a ship's hat, hand resting on the hilt of a sword, looking cautious.

Ian wasn't surprised. The supernatural figure was probably from The Breath of the Ocean. Ever since he had started alchemy, that figure had been standing outside, but hadn't interrupted him.

The alchemical array had created quite a disturbance earlier, so if no one came to check, Ian would have thought something was wrong.

In his previous life, Ian had been cautious, always fearful, a pawn of the system. But now, reborn with the advantage of his new abilities, he wasn't going to be reckless. Still, he didn't want to live in constant fear, walking on eggshells.

In this world, the supernatural is based on spirit—its power drawn from intuition and emotions, not reason and logic. Suppressing his own nature would only make his path as a supernatural being more difficult.

...

"What can I do for you?" Ian asked as he opened the door, his gaze fixed on the supernatural figure standing a few paces away.

The attendant hesitated, but the swordsman interrupted, stepping forward. "Allow me to handle this."

"Greetings, sir. I am Damiel from the Whale Hunter Guild. First of all, welcome to The Breath of the Ocean," said the swordsman, who was dressed in silver-grey leather armor. He was shorter than Ian by half a head, with a lean, sharp appearance. The sword at his waist had a unique design—without a guard or counterweight, it was sleek, straight, and emitted a subtle magical aura.

"However, according to regulations, no uncontrolled rituals are allowed in public areas. The ritual you performed earlier lacked the necessary protective measures, and if it had gone awry, it could have caused significant damage."

"Fortunately, nothing went wrong this time, but I hope we won't see such a scene again. Don't you agree?" Damiel quickly added, trying to clear up any misunderstanding, his lips curling into a stiff smile.

Ian could tell that Damiel had sensed the potent spiritual energy from earlier—it was strong, focused, and had an unbreakable quality. Clearly, Damiel recognized Ian as someone far beyond the typical supernatural practitioner, and wisely chose not to provoke him.

Ian knew the rule well. It was part of the legislation passed by the Supernatural Occupational Association, with countries around the world adopting it.

But it was primarily to prevent dark rituals, such as summoning or shadow conjuration. Alchemical arrays, however, weren't included. Though they fell under the category of rituals, after centuries of refinement, alchemical arrays were designed with built-in safety mechanisms. They no longer exploded at the slightest misstep like they did a thousand years ago.

It seemed Damiel had never seen an alchemist at work.

"I think you misunderstood," Ian said with a smile. "That was the resonance of an alchemical array, not some forbidden ritual!"

He stepped aside, showing Damiel the remnants of the alchemical array's silver disk and the silver container holding the enchanted weapon oil.

"This... um..."

Damiel stared, stunned. An alchemist wasn't using the Alchemist's Guild for their work but was brewing magical items in an inn without any protection?!

From the staircase to the sixth floor, Lia, who had been observing the situation, quickly made her way over after realizing things had taken an unexpected turn.

The sixth floor was the Whale Hunter Guild's private area, used for meetings and gatherings, and was shielded by a cloaking array. Ian hadn't sensed the goings-on up there.

"Damiel, you're being reckless. You rush in without understanding the situation," Lia scolded, then turned to Ian with a formal bow. "Sir, please accept my apologies on his behalf."

The Whale Hunter Guild was currently in a cooperative phase with the Alchemist's Guild, and provoking an alchemist would certainly be unwise.

As Ian glanced at Lia, his eyes lit up. Though her scar marred her beauty, there was no denying her impressive figure.

He wouldn't admit it was because of her appearance—or because he was getting bolder after stepping into the realm of the supernatural—but after spending an entire week surrounded by men, it felt like a welcome change.

This world still retained some old traditions, such as the ban on female crew members on ships, though supernatural practitioners were exempt.

Women were also a rarity on Paradise Island. Even when Ian did encounter them, they were usually dressed head to toe and always in a hurry.

So, yes, this was likely a normal reaction... probably.