NOVEL WEB Chapter 13
“Compress, Enhance, Synthesize.”
Upon returning to the mansion, I made a huge batch of rose candy.
Since it’s for my body, preparing a few won’t be excessive.
Thanks to the repetition of work, my [Compression] skill rank has risen from E to D.
“Now I’m running low on candy. I should ask Cervus to order some.”
It’s not just overly stimulating; it has a richly sweet taste that lasts a long time.
“There are five days left until the attending physician exam.”
I heard that the Gothberg family’s knights and healers from the training center are heading out to hunt demons in the northern forest.
In the northern marquisate, high castle walls are built. The northern part of the Empire is an undeveloped land full of demons.
The fact that the marquis’s estate is located right at the forefront shows the trust in its safety.
In fact, the castle walls have reportedly not suffered even a single hole in the 200 years since the Gothberg family was founded.
“There aren’t any great demons in the forest anyway.”
Complacency is a no-no.
With my current stats, I could get beaten to death by even the weakest demon.
―――――――――――
Strength: 6
Endurance: 6
Magic Power: 1
Mana: 14 (UP)
Divine Power: 22
Faith: 100
―――――――――――
“Mana has increased because I’ve been using spells.”
Anything increases with practice, right?
However, I have no talent for magic, so my magic power growth is dismal.
“Divine power will keep rising, but I won’t be using it.”
Thanks to my good lineage, but even that caps out at around 50.
After ten years, growth slowed down significantly.
Without talent, both stats and skills hit a ceiling at a certain level.
My talents lie in alchemy and medicine.
“In other words, it means that my mana has no cap.”
Alchemy is a skill based on knowledge, and spell skills are based on mana.
But I still don’t understand the exact mechanism behind medicine. Is it just the medicine I already know?
“To chase after the knights for the exam, this strength and endurance won’t be enough.”
I need to grow a bit more.
It’d be way more efficient if I had someone to train me.
“As luck would have it, there’s a suitable talent in the family.”
I think I’ll ask that knight tomorrow.
“And I need a healing performance to score high on the exam…”
The weapons available to me right now are rose candy, which has a healing effect, and the emergency treatment skill.
“Not enough.”
The healing from candy is ongoing, so I don’t feel a dramatic effect just by putting it in my mouth.
Emergency treatment is the same. It can prevent injuries from worsening, but it doesn’t heal immediately.
On the other hand, healing spells, while less efficient, have a definite effect, and people in this world would understand exactly what happened.
The difference is significant.
“I wish I had impactful healing abilities. But there’s no guarantee I can rank up in five days.”
Above all, I can’t even predict what new skills will emerge.
“Even with healing spells, I don’t think I can beat the training center ace with these stats, and I don’t really want to.”
So there’s only one option.
“Let’s make impactful medicine.”
I decided that using alchemy would be the quickest route.
“Let’s see, what useful herbs…”
Being at the mansion limits my materials.
I opened the window. The yellow rose garden in the backyard is almost bald now. Of course, I’m the culprit.
With that, I have a mountain of candy, so I feel reassured.
Rustle…
A gentle breeze blew, making the leaves rustle.
It was the sound of nearby willow leaves swaying.
“Willow?”
An idea popped into my head.
I grabbed a dagger and dashed into the yard.
I carefully made a groove at the base of a nearby willow tree and peeled off the bark.
“This is it.”
Willow bark has pain-relieving properties.
It may not be here, but it was a material historically wrapped around wounds.
“If I extract beta-glucocide and use compression and enhancement, it’ll become a painkiller.”
In simpler terms, I can make a pain reliever.
I brought it into my room and got straight to experimenting.
I stacked the willow bark and carefully dispersed my mana to let it settle.
“Compress.”
The bark squeaked as it transformed into pill form.
I checked my status window.
―――――――――――
Willow Painkiller (Synthesis)
Effect: Relieves pain slightly for 5 minutes.
―――――――――――
Success.
Now, I’ll draw the spell formation.
According to what Acella taught me, the more vertices a shape has, the better the spell’s effect.
The shape doesn’t need to be a regular polygon. If the lengths of the sides are different, it has the opposite effect.
So a circle is the best.
Non-vertex shapes are said to be indistinguishable from infinity, though I’m not too clear about that.
For now, I’ll practice with a square.
“Enhance.”
Light surged forth.
The spell formation began to slowly rotate.
“…This is taking a while?”
Unlike the rose medicine, this incantation takes a decent amount of time.
The mana travels around the spell formation at a pace like a worm crawling.
It’s like the loading of a poorly optimized game.
“Still taking a heck of a time.”
It seems making something good requires investment.
My focus waned, making the process even slower.
A circle, this is tiresome.
After focusing for around two hours, I finally completed the first incantation.
―――――――――――
Enhanced Willow Painkiller (Synthesis)
Effect: Relieves pain significantly for 5 minutes.
―――――――――――
“The wording changed, didn’t it?”
So it’s a sign that it has a good effect.
Without hesitation, I popped the medicine into my mouth and swallowed.
“Hmm.”
I bit my finger.
“Oh.”
It feels like the sensation I get when I go for a partial anesthesia at the dentist. The only thing left is a slight tingle in my nerves; I hardly feel any pain.
“Great! This should have an impact.”
Healing spells don’t eliminate pain.
In fact, during healing, the body’s regeneration process can amplify pain, potentially causing shock.
Well, the willow painkiller probably wouldn’t be this effective anyway.
“Alchemy is pretty useful.”
The effects boosted by the enhancement skill exceeded common sense.
Just then, an alert popped up on my status window.
―――――――――――
· Skill rank has increased.
· Synthesis E → Synthesis D
· Property Change E has been unlocked.
―――――――――――
“Next skill in the alchemy skill tree has been unlocked.”
This is it!
My hard work is showing its worth.
Reading the description of the property change skill, I got another idea.
Medicine, that’s the quintessential medicine, isn’t it?
A drug very familiar to men.
“I can’t live without it.”
*
The next day, I woke up early before dawn and moved before the sun came up.
That knight has such a diligent personality that if I don’t act now, he’ll surely be busy later.
‘This is it. The Knight’s Barracks.’
I searched for the knight’s barracks located behind the mansion.
As expected of a direct unit under the marquis, it was quite well-equipped.
The accommodations were quite luxurious, and the training facilities were modernly outfitted.
However, the actual force isn’t large.
The Gothberg Marquisate primarily nurtures healers, and the imperial family forbids regional nobles from operating large knight units due to concerns of rebellion.
During seasons when demons appear in droves, they mainly collaborate with guilds to hire adventurers.
‘It’s quite a coincidence that someone this talented came from such a land.’
As I tried to enter the knight training grounds, a guard on duty saluted me.
“Young Master? What brings you here at dawn?”
He had an overtly annoyed expression.
After all, I probably haven’t given him good sights whenever I show up.
“Let me inside; I want to train.”
“Training? You should be doing that in your estate. It’s not the knights’ active time yet.”
“This is also my estate. Don’t worry, I won’t act out of line.”
As I attempted to move, the guard blocked me with his arm.
“Whoa, now! Were you out drinking again last night? This will go straight to the head of the household!”
“I was not; I got a good night’s sleep. Oh, I almost forgot.”
I pulled out a candy stick from my pocket and unwrapped it. As soon as I popped it into my mouth, the sweetness exploded.
“Ha, this is driving me insane.”
“If you clear the way, it won’t drive you insane. Move!”
“No…”
“What’s going on?”
A serious voice interjected between me and the guard.
‘Ah, here she comes.’
I know that face well.
But of course, she looks much younger than I remember.
Fiery red hair that seems to burn with passion.
Her calmness starkly contrasts with her gaze.
She has a sleek physique and, having just run, drops a bead of sweat from her cheek.
“Good morning, Commander Tanya.”
“Young Master.”
Tanya, the commander of the Gothberg knights, casually acknowledged my greeting with a slight gesture.
Though she’s only twenty years old now, she’s already a prodigy in swordsmanship, reaching the level of sword expert.
She will soon be scouted by the imperial army and rise to become a swordmaster, no doubt.
‘It feels a bit strange to see both her eyes in one piece.’
Tanya was unjustly implicated during the incident involving my family’s disgrace.
At that time, she belonged to the imperial knights, not our family, yet she risked everything to resist and ended up injured.
She cannot stand injustice. She might have known that our family was unjustly accused.
In the future, she plays the role of a hermit helping the hero.
It won’t hurt to get close to someone who’s likely to succeed.
“What brings you here? The knights operate from nine in the morning.”
“I believe you should sweat early in the morning if you want to enjoy it. So, isn’t it odd for the commander to be running around like this?”
“…That is indeed correct.”
Tanya gave me a suspicious look.
“I’ve been feeling quite bad physically lately. If this keeps up, I might kick the bucket. With the demon hunt coming in five days, I’ll need to train a bit.”
“I understand. You’re taking the attending physician exam, right?”
“Could you train me a little to prepare? Teaching me swordsmanship would be great.”
“Did you say sword?”
Tanya’s expression turned icy.
She always takes sword skills very seriously, so I shouldn’t bring it up lightly.
But right now, I need to go all out for my own body’s sake.
“Alright, I won’t blame the commander.”
“That’s not the main issue.”
“What is the main issue then?”
Tanya replied coldly.
“You aren’t even prepared physically, Young Master. Before you pick up a sword, you need to run first.”
“I can’t turn my back to the demons during the exam and just run away.”
“Then run away. If you value your life.”
Running during the attending physician exam is basically jumping into hell.
There’s no way to make her understand by simply talking.
I need to entice her by presenting what she wants.
“Commander Tanya, you know who I’m engaged to, right?”
“I do, but why suddenly…?”
It’s true that martial artists are often weak in political calculations.
I’m going to point out one by one the things she might not realize.
“If I become the attending physician to Princess Acella, I will have to enter the imperial family. This is definitely a special situation.”
“Special?”
“When a noble family above counts acquires a position within the imperial family, they can take their escorting knights along. Up to two.”
At my words, Tanya’s eyes widened slightly.
Tanya is highly ambitious when it comes to swordsmanship.
That’s why she accepted the offer from the imperial knights when it came, aiming for improvement.
“Of course, the best knight in our marquisate, you, should be the one to escort me, what do you think?”
“…I have the duty of the commander of the Gothberg knights.”
“Even commanders must understand how the world works, right? Who knows, my fiancée may even scout you, and you might reach swordmaster status by mingling with the imperial knights.”
I whispered provocatively in her ear.
“If you’re so confident in your swordsmanship.”
After chewing on my words, Tanya finally commanded the guard.
“Bring out the wooden swords.”