Meira went over some material from her latest lesson as she gazed towards the mansion. Sir had said he would be around less, but she had believed he insinuated he would leave the Order to return to his own universe, not this.

He had entered the laboratory and then just stayed there after giving Meira the task of handling anyone who came looking for him. He had even done so everyone who tried to contact him through the token would instead reach her, making Meira more than a little uncomfortable.

She had to tell off a newly advanced C-grade vampire, the succubus in charge of his group from the ninety-third universe, and dozens more who wanted to speak with him and had somehow gotten his contact information. Meira the fact that he had a Bloodline that had leaked, and it seemed they all wanted to discuss it with her Master, but the only one they would reach was her.

Meira had to steel herself every time the token activated, and she had to answer only to inform them that her Master was in seclusion doing alchemy. The only lucky thing was that everyone accepted this answer, and coupled with no sightings of him anywhere, they had no reason to doubt her.

She herself was still busy going to lessons every day and learning. Meira was honestly still unsure of the reason why she had been tasked to do it, but she naturally would try her best. She did realize that with every day, her value increased, and she began to have the pet theory that he was actually nurturing her into a long-term slave. That he wouldn’t discard her but keep her around.

This was also confusing in its own right, though. It was normal to get new slaves once you advanced a grade to have more useful subordinates. Of course, you couldn’t have slaves beyond your own grade, so real talents like the Chosen naturally had to switch out often as there was no way for a slave to keep up in levels, much less be able to have the same level of Records to keep advancing.

Maybe he was planning on having her serve his descendants? It could also just be that he was eccentric and wanted to see how far she could go. If that was the case, Meira would certainly do her best, and hopefully, that would be good enough.

However, for every day that passed, she actually began doubting if he had just stopped bothering with her. She had originally hoped for this scenario before meeting her new Master, but now it gave her conflicting emotions. It wasn’t that she truly believed he had forgotten, but that small tinge of doubt never left, no matter how logical she tried to be. It was true that he was in seclusion, after all. The problem was that his way of doing it was a bit abnormal.

It would be fine if it was only in there for reasonable periods when he entered seclusion. When it came to alchemy, a highly intense type of crafting that required a high level of focus, it was normal to at most be in seclusion a week or so at a time while in D-grade, take a few days to rest, and then go back into the laboratory. This was to renew focus and get rest, as many couldn’t properly relax within the laboratory.

This was the normal way… and him doing alchemy in seclusion was normal… the problem was that he hadn’t taken a single step out of the laboratory for over two months.

The entire area was tinged red as the scent of blood dominated the air. Most vitality-based creatures in early D-grade would find themselves bleeding from every orifice if they entered this dense cloud of crimson mist, truly turning it into a domain of death.

Luckily it was contained within a shielded room. A room where only a single alchemist sat in the center, unbothered by the mist. No, the opposite of bothered. He reveled in this environment as it fueled his regeneration.

This was naturally Jake, who was sitting within his alchemy lab. He had been busy crafting hemotoxin after hemotoxin, going through the net worth of some D-grades every single day as he spent the valuable materials he had received from the vampires.

To Jake, gaining levels was very easy when compared to others due to his overwhelming amount of already accumulated Records. He could spend a few weeks within a forest and probably get a dozen class levels just killing more powerful foes and taking advantage of all his class bonuses.

This was relatively normal as most everyone could quickly gain class or even race levels by slaying those of significantly higher levels. Jake did not doubt this was how the King had gained so many levels so quickly. Of course, one should do this with moderation to not hurt one’s Records, and it also came with the inherent risk of death, but sometimes a burst of potential was truly what one needed.

Crafting like Jake did, splurging on materials with no care for cost in the face of progress, was in many ways similar to hunting far more powerful enemies in quick succession for levels. Rather than necessarily needing to be perfect when he made a poison, the value of the ingredients alone could help uplift the rarity.

Within the first week of Jake’s isolation, he had already gone through hundreds of rare materials and even more common and uncommon ones. Yet he kept pushing on without the slightest care as he felt the progress like never before.

Concepts that would have taken him far longer to grasp before he understood instantly. When he encountered a minor problem, he would often have a eureka moment, remembering something mentioned in lessons, skimmed in a book, or recalled due to Sagacity and Palate. He was truly harvesting the fruits of his labor.

He had not truly crafted anything since coming to the Order. He had barely gotten any levels but had just fortified his fundamental abilities, and now it was time to build that damn tower higher. Jake had chosen hemotoxins as his method of doing this because he wanted something that would be effective when hunting beasts. Necrotic Poison also helped, but Jake knew Hemotoxic Poison was better in prolonged combat. Besides, he already had uncommon rarity Necrotic Poison, which was pretty good.

Jake also used his blood in every creation, which was more potent than ever before, not to mention all the stats that just helped with everything. Things had just gone so smoothly, and after the first week, his experience and talent in crafting hemotoxins rivalled his best kind of poison prior, Necrotic Poison, as he crafted an uncommon rarity version.

*You have successfully crafted [Potent Hemotoxic Poison (Uncommon)] - A new kind of creation has been made. Bonus experience earned*

[Potent Hemotoxic Poison (Uncommon)] - Greatly increases bleeding on infected entities and makes any injuries significantly harder to heal. The poison must be introduced directly into the bloodstream to have any effect. Spreads throughout the body of the inflicted foe near-instantly, making it even harder to dispel.

To most alchemists, using several rare ingredients and even using the epic Crystalized Blood Essence to further improve the process and then only end up with an uncommon rarity product would be viewed as an utter failure. But what had Jake done? He made another batch. And then another.

He just kept pumping out concoction after concoctions with no regard for wastage as he rapidly improved. When he got tired, he slumped over and slept. When he was in doubt, he entered Serene Soul Meditation to calm his mind and refocus on his task. No outside interference got in his way, and even Villy seemed to understand as Jake had not heard the god ever since he had entered the laboratory.

Weeks passed by fast, and he had barely noticed when it had been more than a month since he entered seclusion. Yet he didn’t feel tired at all as he kept pushing, still finding new inspiration and improvements every day, no, every hour. He even recalled the times he had fought the vampires in Yalsten and some of their blood magic. Especially the magic of the Monarch of Blood, and he remembered when he had bitten and consumed the blood of the ancient revived vampire. Blood that had now mixed into him with Palate, as it qualified as toxic simply due to the level of sheer life energy it had contained.

Every day was just great, and he produced piles of Potent Hemotoxic Poison. One good thing about the Order was the limitless supply of glass bottles. He had thrown a buttload into his new and improved spatial storage already, with it barely taking up any space.

On the sixty-third day after Jake entered seclusion, he had been crafting his most difficult creation yet. It contained the Crimson Dawn Lotus and pulled on all of Jake’s insights he had gained so far and his understanding of the concept of time. This was far from the first try, but he had a good feeling as Jake became more and more familiar with the concept due to his class skills and further improved his level of comprehension as he researched the lotuses.

By researching, he meant he ate them for Palate, something he had done with all of his obtained herbs.

If others saw this, they would be spitting up blood, but Jake didn’t care. He knew he was wealthy, and he knew he could earn back his wealth again. Hoarding materials without progressing made no sense. And progress Jake did, as he on that day finally managed to succeed – just before he hit the two-month mark since entering the laboratory.

*You have successfully crafted [Accelerated Hemotoxic Poison (Rare)] - A new kind of creation has been made. Bonus experience earned*

[Accelerated Hemotoxic Poison (Rare)] – Time heals all wounds, or so the saying goes, but to some alchemists, time can become yet another weapon. Greatly increases bleeding on infected entities and makes any injuries significantly harder to heal. The poison must be introduced directly into the bloodstream to have any effect. Spreads throughout the body of the inflicted foe near-instantly, making it even harder to dispel. Forcefully speeds up the flow of blood within the foe, forcefully accelerating the effect of the poison, making it deal damage faster over a far shorter period.

Seeing the notification had put a massive smile on his face. The poison was exactly what he had hoped and avoided one of the biggest weaknesses of the Hemotoxic Poison, which was the slow-acting effect. By mixing in some time affinity from the Crimson Dawn Lotus, the process would be sped up and make the poison even better. The ash from the Crimsonwood tree would then make the poison bind with the blood more thoroughly, making it even harder to get rid of too. It was one nasty poison, and one Jake was very happy about making. Especially as it was followed by another system message.

[Concoct Poison (Uncommon)] - While most focus on the aspect of giving life through their craft, others prefer to take it away. Allows for the concoction of uncommon-rarity poisons and below. Must have suitable materials and equipment in order to create poisons. Adds a small increase to the effectiveness of created poisons based on Wisdom.

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[Concoct Poison (Rare)] - While most focus on the aspect of giving life through their craft, others prefer to take it away. Allows for the concoction of rare rarity poisons and below. Must have suitable materials and equipment in order to create poisons. Adds an increase to the effectiveness of created poisons based on Wisdom.

When he had gained the upgrade, Jake was more than elated. He had wanted Concoct Poison to reach rare before he evolved to C-grade. He had evolved it to uncommon rarity in E-grade and now rare in D-grade, so he had to keep the streak going, right? He knew this was already far better than the average, making him smile as he read the changed description.

As expected, it was much of the same, just pointing out he could now make rare rarity poison. The only other benefit was that it increased Wisdom scaling, now making every poison he created slightly better. More than anything, upgrading a skill like this was a feel-good moment and not a purely practical one… okay, it apparently did have a great impact on Records and potential profession evolutions, but Jake had a feeling he would be fine in that department either way.

Speaking of Records, there finally was the big one. The one other goal Jake had when he entered seclusion: to get some god damn levels. And levels he got.

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 153 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

…

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 168 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 153 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

…

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 160 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

Sixteen levels in his profession in only a bit over two months. It was roughly one level every four days, which quite frankly was insane and proof of how many materials he had burned through as well as the level of progress he had made. He knew this had been him building off the momentum he had amassed for the last few months before the crafting sessions, but during it all, he also realized how much he had to pull on for knowledge even before he went to the Order.

One had to remember Jake had undergone the Trial of Myriad Poisons. He had been injected with – as the name suggested – myriad poisons, and even if this didn’t help much in his daily life, it allowed him to more easily understand things when he came across them. He got a sense of deja-vu whenever a poison he had consumed prior popped up. As with most knowledge, he didn’t just remember everything, but the knowledge only appeared when in the right context.

With the levels also came two other benefits. One was Path of the Heretic-Chosen getting another charge, and the second was skill selection. To cut a short story even shorter, Jake picked the best skill of the bunch.

[Advanced Core Manipulation (Ancient)] – To touch upon a core of pure energy and Records is to touch upon the broken shell of a soul. Allows the alchemist to far more easily manipulate cores and the Records within the broken soul shells with the goal of refining them. Refined cores will, in most cases, be more effective, and you can also choose to amplify certain effects. Having taken it further, you have learned that the layers of souls can be malleable in some circumstances, and applying this knowledge, you have learned to fuse cores containing similar Records and even change their nature in some circumstances as your own soul influences the core. Adds an increase to the effectiveness of Advanced Core Manipulation based on Wisdom and Willpower.

The reason why he had chosen this skill was two-fold. First of all, it was something he felt like he needed, especially as he had decided that it would soon be time to awaken the Pollendust Bee Queen. Okay, Jake-soon, as he still didn’t feel even close to ready. Additionally, he also knew that core refinement did not work very well with Touch of the Malefic Viper, as that was more core corruption. After all, touch did not really “improve” something; it just changed it. He needed a dedicated skill, so when he saw the option, he was instantly intrigued.

This was clearly an upgrade to the rare Refine Core skill he had been offered at level 120. Back then, he had skipped it due to its low rarity but also because he didn’t have any immediate use. Both of those things had now changed.

As for the skill itself, well, as far as he could tell, it pulled a lot on his experience with Shroud of the Primordial. It had something to do with soul shells or something, and to be fair, Jake was not entirely sure what it was talking about. Either way, he had a strong feeling the skill would be very useful, and it would also offer him more diversity when it came to alchemy. Oh, and being able to fuse the thousands of insect cores he had would make the ritual to awaken the Pollendust Bee Queen way simpler and likely also more effective. The skill also came with a lot of innate knowledge, giving him confidence in using it.

Anyway, that was the first reason he had picked it: because it was good. The second reason was that everything else offered was shit. Like, so shit, he didn’t even want to think about it. Every single one of the four other options related to Jake being either a Chosen or a Heretic. All of it was about Jake being back at the Order of the Malefic Viper and offered him a leadership skill, a skill granting knowledge of the Order, a skill to grow dissent and make more heretics, and some fourth bullshit skill Jake would never pick in a thousand years. Rather pick the god damn geology skill at inferior rarity than that.

And this more or less was Jake’s progress over the last two months and a bit. He had kept crafting a few more rare poisons until the evening of the same day he had made the first one. That is when he was finally contacted by the one person he had allowed to.

“Carmen contacted me a while ago and asked me to inform you she was on her way to Haven and would arrive within a day or two. She found clues on where her family might be and a trail to start following. More details to follow when you get back.”

The moment Jake heard the message, he also felt like now was a good time to stop. He hadn’t entirely burned through all his momentum, but it was best to stop now anyway. He had reached his goal, and he was tired anyway.

So Jake sent back an affirmation as he prepared to leave seclusion for the first time in over two months. On a side note, Miranda had known he was in seclusion, and, for that reason, they had skipped their agreed-upon meetings. They did have a small talk before he entered seclusion and agreed on her giving him a debrief once he returned to Earth.

At the same time as he exited the laboratory, he also reached out to the Viper and got confirmation: the snake god had made a better method for Jake to return to Earth.

That settled everything as finally, it was time to return to Earth. He would not return to the Order until after the next system event either, but he would have to hunt down a Prima before that. Something he had also made prior preparations for with the help of Miranda and a little-known mad scientist called Arnold. He also had to help Carmen, so he had plenty of things to do. Things he wanted to do.

Jake smiled to himself as he smelled the fresh air outside the laboratory, happy with everything he had achieved and even happier as he thought about visiting Earth again and finally getting in some good stretches by killing something.