Eight: Feeling stronger—that’s a good thing, right?

"Alchemists can make a gem called Dowsing Tear Drop."

"Oh, right. Dowsing, that’s the thing that finds water veins and ore veins."

"Looks like it."

Seems Leifan knew about it. No surprise he’s the one in charge from the Production Guild.

It’s knowledge the alchemist’s sigil teaches me—can’t be certain, but from experience, the sigil never lies. So it should be fine.

"Attach the Dowsing Tear Drop to a string, walk while picturing the vein you’re searching for, and it’ll glow when it’s over the spot."

"Ah. Makes sense. Craft isn’t always around the village, after all."

"So even when Craft’s not here, we can find water easily."

"Yeah. Gotta go out for supplies or hunting stuff, right? A well’d be handy."

"True. Can’t beat that."

"Knowing where the water veins are means we don’t gotta dig blindly at random spots."

"Only one problem, though."

"Problem?"

"Yeah. One ingredient’s missing for making the tear drops."

"What?"

"Gemstone."

"Ahh…"

Gemstone.

Stone pulled from monsters—beasts, whatever you call 'em—packed full of magic.

Used in alchemy, magic weapons, tools, golems—anything that needs a spark of power.

We need one of decent quality, nothing fancy. But goblins? Their stones barely scratch the surface.

"Guess we’ll need to take down an oak or two."

"Oak-class gemstones, huh?"

"Then we’ll send Alphard or Persia on a hunt."

"No way. I know their strength, but I won’t allow them to go solo."

"Then… both of them together?"

"Even worse. Who’s going to guard Kyle and the village? We’ve got no more guard adventurers left."

"Clawt’s here, isn’t he?"

"Of course he’ll protect us with everything he’s got if things go south. But that’s not something you leave to a part-timer."

Alphard, listening from a short distance, nodded along with a quiet hum.

"Buy it in town? Oak-grade gems? We can afford it, no problem."

Generally, oak-level stones are the standard—maybe a little better.

Goblin-class gems? The buy price is dirt cheap, but we keep the sell price reasonable, so nobody bothers with them.

Above oak-level? Quality jumps way up. Price shoots through the roof.

"Guess that’s the fastest way, but we’ll need magic stones regularly from here on out, huh?"

"Yeah... that’s true."

"Need that many, huh?"

"Alchemy’s impossible without them."

"I see..."

We were all scratching our heads when hunters tumbled back from deep in the woods.

"Th—There’s an oak settlement deep in the forest!"

"Shit! Over twenty oaks! A real big settlement!"

"What?!"

A villager working nearby let out a scream.

To common folk, oaks were demons bringing death.

Funny timing, though.

We’d been told the nearby woods were far more dangerous than they looked. Pain in the ass.

"Oaks... huh."

"Twenty’s a lot. I might not be able to handle that alone."

"Wait—Leifan, you can fight?"

"Production jobs are basic, right? Gathering materials too."

"Even non-adventurers fight oaks, huh."

"Magic stones are never enough."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

The most stable income for adventurers comes from buying magic stones.

Prices are strictly set by rank, no room for trickery.

I’ve been on the receiving end of that more than once.

" Hmm... I’ll check things out alone first."

"Wait? Alone?"

"I was an adventurer not long ago. Recon’s no problem."

"You said not to send Alphard or Persia alone, though."

"Keep profession soldiers and adventurers separate. I’m a monster specialist."

"But you were a mage, weren’t you?"

"Used that magic for nothing. So I did whatever I could."

Cleaning, laundry, cooking, scouting. Swordplay, staff techniques, identifying herbs...

Seriously, all I did was grunt work. Heh heh.

"Must’ve been tough."

"Craft-san..."

"Save it."

Good thing I’ve got spatial storage. No need to prep anything special.

"Then I’m off."

"Please don’t push yourself. You really should have Alphard or Persia with you..."

"The enemy’s size isn’t confirmed yet. Those two are essential for guarding the village. This isn’t just about Kyle."

"That’s... true. Understood. Be careful!"

"I’ll be fine. Leave it to me."

Asked the hunter for directions, then moved deeper into the woods.

Huh. No surprise it’s called the Demon Forest—visibility’s terrible.

First thing’s first—near the village, we’ll need to clear the forest and turn it into a proper wood.

I crept toward the spot, thinking that.

"Right. Twenty… no, thirty, at least."

A number that’d give even the Marquis’s old adventurer party or Raidock’s crew a hard time.

No way they’d charge straight at us.

"Alright, let’s try it."

There was a reason I took on this dangerous reconnaissance alone.

It had to do with the alchemist’s sigil.

Back when I wore the mage’s sigil, magic flow was a disaster. I’d burn through every ounce of power just holding myself in check, leaving barely enough to cast spells—like scraps.

Good thing the alchemist’s sigil told me I could still use the spells I’d learned as a mage.

And not just that—it whispered that even higher-tier magic was within reach now.

If I can really use high-tier offensive magic, I wanna test it properly.

Can’t just say “didn’t work when it mattered” and call it a day.

“Meh, if it fails, we bail.”

Orcs building a crude village in the wilds.

Smart enough for a species, but they’ve got one fixed habit—see a human or half-breed, go berserk, charge like mad. No way they’re allies. Clear enemy.

“Forest, so fire magic’s out.”

Even if the fire spells I’ve used before wouldn’t start a blaze, they still can’t take down a single orc.

The knowledge from the crest says even basic spells are way stronger now. But I’ll need to test the fine details before I know for sure.

Earth-based attacks? Too unreliable. No way to go full-on blind with those.

Leaves wind or water.

The water talk came up a bit ago, so let’s try a water attack here.

Keeping an eye on the exit, I launch the spell from just within visual range of the orc settlement.

…Back in my adventurer days, I trained hard at sneaking just to make the most of my weak magic.

Right then, the power of the basic spells I’ve used before flashes through my mind.

A water bolt hitting an enemy’s face? Barely more than a distraction. Fireballs? More like a name than a real threat—useful only as flint stones.

So the spell I picked… was…

“Chasm of the Abyssal Ice Prison!!”

The strongest water magic I can currently cast.

Also known as Cocytus.

Even among A-rank adventurers, few water mages can handle it.

If I could actually pull this off, I’d be scouted by court mages straight up.

Seriously… can I even do this?

Still doubting, but the mark—it’s telling me the spell formula. Whispering it right into my skull.

So I figured, why not try it out?

If this actually works, I could wipe out thirty orcs in one shot.

That’s what I was thinking when I let it fly.

So…

“W-what the hell…?”

Before me was a scene of blinding white.

The whole area—hundreds of times bigger than the orc village—froze in an instant. Everything living turned to ice.

The temperature dropped so fast, moisture in the air froze too.

Like white fog, swirling all around.

“C-cold!”

A sudden blast of wind hit me square in the face, freezing me to the bone.

“Uh… ‘Cold Resistance’!”

I cast a spell on myself to endure the cold.

"Wow, this is... "

It used to take every last bit of strength, twisting it out of my body just to spit out a thumb-sized water bolt. Now? The magic flows smooth as hell—right into the spell, turning straight into an effect.

"Ah... this is real magic...!"

Funny how that magic ability—useless all this time, just dead weight—bloomed like a flower thanks to the alchemist’s sigil.

But!

Magic’s supposed to be like this, not some other way!

"Damn, can't just keep soaking in this forever."

I grinned, smashing the orcs apart and pulling out the gems. I’d given up on monster materials.

The鉴定 came back good enough to make a dowsing teardrop.

Cheap to sell, expensive to buy.

They piled up into thirty or more, grinning all the way home.

Climbed back to number one on the daily leaderboard! (´ω｀)

All thanks to you guys!

Keep the support coming, please!