(Ugh······.)
Of course, just because the purification work involves repetitive actions doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Seeing Rainy’s body quickly drying out, I went behind her and infused my magic into her back to help, even just a little.
(Heeek! What the—?!)
Rainy was startled as the intense magic pierced into her body.
‘I’ve got to finish this in time, no matter what. Just hold on a little longer. It’s okay to wrap around me with your vines and absorb my magic.’
(Ohh— Really? Then—)
As soon as she got permission, Rainy swiftly wrapped her vines around my body.
‘Wow—! What’s up with the speed of this magic absorption?!’
I was shocked by Rainy’s ability to absorb magic, which far exceeded my magic recovery rate.
‘That means she’s using a lot of power.’
Rainy’s green aura illuminated the dark space.
Whaaaaa—
As time passed, I could see the fragments coming together and becoming clearer.
But the speed was painfully slow.
‘This is tense···.’
Even Rainy, the so-called Tree of Possibility, had her limits.
The purification work had taken weeks when we first started. Rainy had grown and the work had become familiar, so she had shortened it to a few days recently, but purifying over two hundred contaminated fragments in just 36 hours was clearly impossible.
Splash, splash, splash—
Water fell from Irmana’s jug like a waterfall, soaking Rainy’s dry body, and I poured in the mana potions I had stolen from my raids.
‘Oh, right! Rainy! Take this!’
(Ugh… I’m so tired… Huh? What is that?)
I handed over the two artifacts I had just obtained to Rainy.
Mysterious and Bizarre Dwarf Crystal
– Helps you not get tired doing repetitive tasks.
– Health +200
Talisman of Ibglas
– Draws mysterious power from distant dimensions and rejuvenates the user.
– Magic +180
The two artifacts clung to Rainy’s body.
To see if they were effective, Rainy’s vitality began to return.
(Aaah—! W-What is this?! Amazing! I feel my strength surging!)
Her reaction was incredibly immediate.
I wasn’t expecting much from the vague descriptions without actual numbers, so it was a relief.
‘As expected, having artifacts is helpful.’
*
(Ugh— Get clean… Get clean… For my friend Il-wol…!)
Thirty-five hours had passed since Rainy had been straining herself.
Rainy was purifying the last remaining fragment of the Life Potion.
‘The vines are drying up and breaking… This is dangerous.’
Rainy had pushed herself to the extreme to do the purification work, and her body was starting to show signs of distress.
Crack—
‘What the…?!’
Rainy started to dry up and crumble rapidly.
(Just a little more… It’s almost done, please…!)
But there was no way I could tell her to stop now after all her hard work.
I could only squeeze out as much magic as I could to give to Rainy.
Then, with mere minutes left on the clock.
Whaaaaaaaa—
The dark space was suddenly filled with dazzling beams of light.
(······ It worked, it worked!!!)
Rainy miraculously completed the purification of the contaminated fragments in just 36 hours.
‘Rainy!! Are you okay? Your body is falling apart!’
(Hahaha— I-I’m fine. I’m just returning to my original form. I can grow back again… Ah… Why am I feeling so sleepy all of a sudden… If I just close my eyes for a bit…)
‘No! You can’t go to sleep!’
As I urgently shook Rainy to wake her up, the fragments I had stored in the space and the freshly purified ones began to float together, radiating dazzling light.
(Aaaaah… The children I cleansed have finally…)
Thankfully, Rainy regained her senses thanks to the intense energy, and I could only stare in awe at the scene unfolding before me.
Wheeeeee—
Boom, boom, boom, boom—
The light flickered intensely, followed by an overwhelming magical storm.
– An amazing potion filled with the essence of countless lives is being born······
It was an astonishing moment so incredible that even the system held its breath and watched.
I remained cradled in Rainy’s arms, watching the entire process unfold without missing a beat.
The swirling fragments began to form a perfect sphere.
– ‘Life Potion’ completed!
– Achievement [The Price of Darkness and the Despair of Light] acquired!
[The Price of Darkness and the Despair of Light]
– The ill desire to resemble the ‘Trickster God’ has left behind ripples in future generations, causing trouble even now.
– Each time you use the potion, you grow closer to the traces of the Dragon Lord. What kind of results that may yield, nobody knows.
‘Dragon Lord… Suddenly talking about the pinnacle of dragons?’
I was momentarily thrown off by the sudden mention of such a massive being, but one thing was certain: this item was related to the elixir.
Initially, to approach an elixir, one needs the ‘Dragon Lord’s Scale,’ so it didn’t seem like a bad deal. However, the phrase about not knowing the outcome of using the potion couldn’t just be ignored.
‘I can interpret it as a warning to use it cautiously.’
– You have achieved an unbelievable achievement!
– The weight of your existence becomes even heavier.
‘The weight of existence… So the self-destruct power has become stronger. This is a good thing.’
Even the amazing First Escalon had felt fear toward the [Blast of Madness], and its rank had now increased.
‘Of course, I had said I wouldn’t use it for a while… but there will definitely be occasions where I’ll have no choice but to use it.’
The messages continued.
– As a quest reward, the capacity of the ‘Life Potion’ drastically increases!
‘Yes! This is why I wasted so many days!’
【Life Potion】
– You have completed the forbidden potion filled with countless life forces.
– A potion forged from the dreadful malice, despair, pain, and dark emotions intertwined with the madness of the abyss and the mysterious energy of the ‘Tree of Remarkable Possibility’ exhibits astonishing effects.
– The potion’s effects can only be triggered when empowered with your magic.
– Revives a being that met their end, returning them to their state before death, but only once.
– Beings that died and whose demise was confirmed for over 24 hours cannot be revived.
– A being revived by consuming the Life Potion cannot defy you.
– The revived being’s nature twists in an unknown direction.
– The revived being’s stats will be drastically increased, and their potentials will awaken.
– When a being filled with vitality consumes it, their body will fully restore, exhibiting unpredictable positive effects.
‘······ Wow, why is the explanation so long?’
From the lengthy description, one thing was certain.
‘This is really… a potion that brings back the dead… is this real?!’
It only works if my magic is infused, and can be used only once on one person, plus there’s a time limit of 24 hours.
Moreover, consuming it causes the being to practically become my minion and twists their nature.
‘Even considering all that, the fact that I can save a life is shocking. This is insane…’
No hunter of any class in this world, even transcendent beings, can bring the dead back to life.
Reviving someone on the brink of death is possible, like using a defibrillator, but reviving a corpse hours after death goes against nature’s flow—something that should never happen and truly couldn’t.
Even in this crazy world where insane powers abound, it was always seen as an absolute truth that this was impossible, but at this very moment, that law had been broken.
Gooooo────
A giant sphere radiating dazzling light floated in front of me in the stillness.
(Wow······.)
‘What the······.’
Rainy and I gasped together, staring at it for a while.
Swish—
The golden liquid inside the transparent sphere gently rippled, drawing our attention.
Thinking that the liquid contained the life forces of the sacrificed, a deep sorrow washed over me.
[Be Calm]
I heard a voice urging me to calm down, and barely managed to regain my composure as I reached for the sphere.
Swish— Swish—
‘With this amount… how many lives can be saved?’
As the achievement warned, I shouldn’t misuse it, but if the time came when I needed to use it, I couldn’t possibly hesitate.
Moreover, it was way more than I initially anticipated.
‘Just seeing it is reassuring. Assuming just one sip activates its effects… it should be enough to save hundreds of lives. This is insane.’
Originally, it must have been significantly less than this, but it likely increased greatly due to completing minor quests.
Sahara—
The texture of the sphere felt soft in my hand. It had a slightly squishy yet unique sensation.
I fervently hoped that the warmth I felt was the body temperature of souls freed from pain.
Having obtained such an amazing item as the Life Potion, I wanted to rush to Yeon-hee and tell her all about it, but I couldn’t.
‘Rainy······.’
(I’m fine… Just a little more rest, and I’ll really be okay.)
In the dark space, the enormous roots and vines of Rainy, which had been expanding, were now scattered as more than half turned to ashes.
Even now, it was continuing.
Fortunately, the speed had significantly slowed down, so it didn’t seem to be a threat to Rainy’s life, but that was just my guess.
‘If it comes down to it, I’ll have to use the Life Potion.’
(Don’t… you shouldn’t use something so precious on someone like me…)
‘What are you saying? This is something I wouldn’t have even dreamed of making without you.’
(Haha… That’s true. I, Rainy… the Great Tree, should be treated more valuably by Il-wol.)
‘Whatever you say, I’ll run to Hell and fetch anything for you.’
(Pffft… Just… stay by my side like now…)
With those words, Rainy fell silent for a time.
She probably didn’t have the strength to speak.
I kept supplying magic to Rainy, but after two times my magic ran out, so that became difficult.
Signs of mana exhaustion began to creep in, but since I had largely overcome the penalties from exhaustion, it wasn’t a point where I couldn’t hold on.
After hours of care, leaves began to grow back on Rainy’s withering branches.
The shy little leaves that peeped out looked incredibly lovable.
(Haha— I survived! I thought I was going to die.)
‘······.’
Only after everything was resolved did Rainy speak her true feelings.
A pang of sorrow hit my heart, but I couldn’t let the tree that had just regained its vitality feel sad.
(But I haven’t seen the orb lately?)
Rainy seemed to change the subject as if trying to comfort my unspoken concerns.
‘Maybe… it’s because you pushed yourself back then.’
The master who sent me to the mysterious old woman.
Thanks to that, I was able to keep my distance from Yeon-hee.
‘Master and Rainy… I keep just taking everything. Aah— I want to be a greater capable individual.’
Beyond the desire to grow stronger, for the first time, I felt I wanted to be someone who could give back to them more than I received.
‘… For now, let’s do what we can do.’
I worked on widening the crack with Rainy until Yeon-hee summoned me.
It was just a simple task that quietly repeated itself, but Rainy seemed thrilled by how the possibilities were slowly expanding.
Or perhaps she was simply enjoying the time spent together with me.
(Wow— Yesterday it was this big, but now it’s this big!!)
Rainy explained the widened hole with her fluffy hands, but to my eyes, it looked about the same.
‘I need to quickly get stronger···.’
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