Little Flower received the knowledge and was busy copying and compiling it, soon placing the results onto the little bookshelf in the Slime Academy that held knowledge and wisdom, for Slime Scholars to study.
Having done all that, Chen Yu was excited to begin learning and practicing alchemy.
He had even carefully selected spirit herbs whose properties matched the pill records;
everything seemed ready.
Then he realized he’d overlooked something.
Where would he find an alchemy furnace?
Without an alchemy furnace to focus fire, a chef without cookware can’t cook a dish no matter how skilled they are.
Unless he didn’t need to concentrate flame at all.
Recollecting that, he soon remembered the magma channel the Anvil had left running in the mining area.
Magma couldn’t provide the same focused fire as an alchemy furnace, but it had violent heat.
According to Xu Xuan Heaven’s sources, magma counted as the earthly fire alchemists dreamed of: fierce and powerful. With magma you could refine pills without a furnace.
Not only feasible, pills refined with earthly fire had higher success rates and better quality.
“Right, I forgot the dwarf left me this treasure,” Chen Yu said, his small eyes brightening.
He birthed a little slime with a soft plop and left it to guard the fortress, then bounded toward the passage leading down to the dungeon and returned to the mining area.
The Obsidian Mining Area had originally been controlled by goblins at Riftrock Pass;
the central mine lay within the pass.
Riftrock Fortress was not far from the pass;
the portion of the mine controlled by the Slime Kingdom lay almost directly beneath the fortress.
Chen Yu bounded through the maze-like tunnels and soon, passing the familiar stronghold, heard Beetles industriously extracting ore.
He had returned to the mining area.
The forging area was empty.
The Anvil and the little Earth Elementals had already returned to the Eastern Swamp. Only unfinished metal components were scattered on the stone table, their cold hard sheen reflected in the red glow of the magma channel.
They looked like upgraded versions of Earth Elemental armor, but more complete.
Chen Yu remembered the Goblin Ripper-Type II he’d given the Slime Scholar for study.
This dwarf, after fighting the Formation Company, had kept complaining that artillery power was insufficient. To improve the Earth Elemental tanks, he had apparently cooperated with the Slime Academy on a project.
He wondered how far the progress had advanced.
His gaze passed over a huge beast-skin chair nearby. He had intended to sit and read while waiting for the Poison-stinger Wasps to deliver the spirit herbs needed for alchemy.
But before he could approach, a strong stench of sweat hit him.
Had this fellow been leaning on the chair to rest after every forging session?
Chen Yu abandoned the idea of sitting, found a cool dry corner, flattened himself out like a puddle, and closed his eyes.
His consciousness plunged into the sea of alchemical knowledge.
While he busied his mind with new knowledge, his split-body was not idle: a bat slime was on its way to deliver an airdrop to Sekashi.
At the foot of the snowy mountain, the bat slime beat its wings hard to lift its plump body out of gravity, floating over a sparse coniferous forest as it flew toward the mountain.
Around it, Beetles spread their elytra and hauled supplies many times their size. The sacks contained a jumble of items: anti-cold potions, Magic Leaves for instant shields, rations Sekashi needed, a finely crafted wand made by elves, and cold-resistant leather armor carefully stitched by Glimmerlings.
The armor balanced warmth and protection well—suitable gear for the snowfields.
On the formation’s outer ranks flew several massive Wasp Guards, responsible for protecting the whole team.
The bat slime flew over, curiously observing the terrain so different from the swamp.
Closer to the southern slopes of the mountain, the tall swamp trees thinned and gave way to stubborn Carter spruce and fir.
The ground was covered with fuzzy reindeer moss and lichens, with occasional low shrubs. Only near the Reed Riverbank’s wet soil did hardy cold-tolerant grasses like goat-beard grass and alpine cotton grow thickly.
A brown bear paddled in the river, slapping the water and clutching a silver-scaled salmon to its maw.
Downstream on a shallow bank, a herd of snow-step ponies lowered their heads to drink. Several snow buntings suddenly flitted up from a tussock, their wing tips skimming the water and sending out ripples that broke the silence.
The monster team rested on boulders when tired, hunted to replenish energy, and then continued.
Gradually snow began to fall, landing on the bat slime’s gel with a chill, melting into droplets.
The gray-green ground cover turned to white snow, and the high, towering mountain loomed close.
“Oh…”
The small group of monsters watched the alien scene with awe and curiosity.
The bat slime spied the twin peaks Sekashi had mentioned and, after making them out, continued inward.
...
Behind the lee slope of Mount Buda, a sharp arrow cut through the drifting snow, whistling as it struck a running shape and sank into it.
A snow hare kicked its legs, blood staining the white snow, and soon lay still.