Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3151: Chapter 3152: Lighthouse

"... Distilling essential oil?"

Upon hearing the Honey Badger’s task, Shariel couldn’t help but express surprise on his face.

Given the Honey Badger’s talent, refining essential oil is not an unacceptable task. However, essential oil is typically used in scents, so what does Lord Pat intend to use it for?

Could it be that Lord Pat also plans to venture into the Fragrance World?

As Shariel stared blankly, Angel produced a sheet of paper he’d prepared earlier and passed it to the Honey Badger: "I need you to use the materials listed here to distill an essential oil."

The Honey Badger took the sheet and glanced over it, noticing it detailed more than twenty different materials. The first five seem to be the main ingredients, circled in red pen by Angel, with approximate quantities noted, while the subsequent materials were left unquantified.

"Can this essential oil really be used?" the Honey Badger asked, examining the main ingredients with a hesitant expression.

The non-flammable oil fumes of the Fragrant Conifers, mottled bark oil of Swamp Cypress, the Dead Butterfly Arum Lily, Ghost Bells Mushroom, Ten Thousand Leaves Gourd Peel... Just these five materials alone were enough to make the Honey Badger feel a tingling scalp.

Fragrant Conifers, named "fragrant" conifers, are actually called "stinking" conifers, with an extremely pungent odor. Their place of growth is so repellent that no insect dares invade, nor any beast disturb.

And the "fragrant" scent of Fragrant Conifers comes from their tree oil.

Even after being diluted and refined, eventually becoming the so-called "non-flammable oil fumes," its scent is still overwhelmingly strong, akin to the corpse of a decaying rat.

Wizards rarely encounter this extraordinary material; it’s typically used for creating undead-related items or refining Ghoul Potion.

At least, the Honey Badger had never heard of using such tree oil as a primary ingredient in distilling essential oil.

Not just Fragrant Conifers, the subsequent Dead Butterfly Arum Lily and Ghost Bells Mushroom are also very famous Demon Plants of the Southern Domain, known notoriously for their stench. Even diluted versions have a special odor that Fragrance Alchemists hesitate to extract.

While the mottled bark oil of Swamp Cypress is not stinky, it can be quite fragrant when diluted, yet Fragrance Alchemists seldom extract it because it’s a heavy scent—and long-lasting. Moreover, its origin compels discomfort among many.

Swamp Cypress, as the name suggests, grows in swamps and is carnivorous, unlike other trees.

It manipulates vines to pull creatures on the shore into the swamp, flaying skin and dissolving bone, nourishing the tree with flesh and blood.

As the killings accumulate, skeletal remains heap upon the swamp floor, naturally creating a layer of faint black corpse oil on the surface, which is absorbed by the bark of Swamp Cypress and mixed with its tree oil, termed "mottled bark oil."

Primarily used in the production of "Spirit Summoning Broth," designed to attract the undead.

Anyway, the Honey Badger never thought these could be used to distill essential oil.

The last primary ingredient—Ten Thousand Leaves Gourd Peel—is actually the most normal among them, enjoying great acclaim in the Fragrance World. It’s one of the few Demon Plants without scent normally but becomes increasingly pungent as more diluted.

Extracting its scent to use as a catalyst for other fragrances is commonplace.

But using it directly as a primary ingredient to distill essential oil... was unheard of by the Honey Badger until now.

In sum, the primary ingredients list is quite outlandish.

"Whether it’s usable, I don’t even know," Angel shrugged in response to the bewildered glance from the Honey Badger and Shariel, stating, "This essential oil formula was obtained unintentionally, and I’ve never refined it, so its usability is unknown. Moreover, the formula seems incomplete, noting only the quantities of the first few primary ingredients, while the rest lack any measurements."

"Whether it can be distilled depends on your talent, Honey Badger..."

"But even if it turns out unsuccessful, it doesn’t matter. I just want to find out if this essential oil formula is genuine, just to try it out."

Hearing Angel’s explanation, understanding dawned on Shariel’s face.

So it turns out, Lord Pat merely acquired a mysterious formula by chance and wants to experiment with distillation.

This behavior is quite normal in the Wizards’ Realm; the more peculiar a formula is, the more wizards want to replicate it. The peculiarity of the formula alone likely drew Lord Pat’s interest.

Perhaps previously Lord Pat failed to find someone suitable for distillation, leaving it dormant until now, upon meeting the extraordinarily talented Honey Badger in oil blending, thus bringing forth the formula.

With this thought, Shariel, who initially wondered about Angel’s sudden interest in essential oil, simply saw it as curiosity.

How could such materials possibly distill a pleasant essential oil?

Meanwhile, the Honey Badger continued to feel incredulous towards the formula, doubtful of its feasibility, but since Angel mentioned it wouldn’t matter if distillation didn’t succeed, his apprehension eased considerably.

So... Why not give it a try?

"There’s ten thousand Magic Crystals here." After issuing his instructions, Angel retrieved a Spatial Capsule from his bracelet: "You can use these Magic Crystals to purchase materials, allocate them as you deem necessary."

"Strive to acquire materials of the highest quality, and if the Magic Crystals fall short, you can return and ask me."

Shariel accepted the Spatial Capsule, nodding affirmatively: "Understood."

Angel: "Then you’d better get going."

Under Angel’s gaze, Shariel and the Honey Badger departed the silent chamber.

Once they left, Olao approached from the side, his eyes flickering, seemingly intent on inquiring something.

Angel, meeting Olao’s gaze, spoke flatly: "Are you wondering why the first time the Honey Badger saw me, I was unclothed?"

Olao’s gaze was clear, but curiosity couldn’t help but surface despite its clarity.

He was in the freedom period following a millennium of confinement, curious about everything, particularly towards his overt "master" Angel.

Angel: "This matter isn’t secret."

Olao’s eyes lit up, indicating perhaps he might be informed.

Angel paused momentarily, continuing: "Although it’s not a secret, what are you thinking, having the principal tell you directly?"

... Despite his words, Angel ultimately explained.

Mainly because, while not secretive, such matters are easy to misconstrue over time, clarifying sooner avoids Olao hearing rumors in the future and subsequently questioning Angel.

However, although explained, information regarding the Nightmare Realm was certainly withheld. His account was that Sanders identified a marking from some Magical Creature on Angel, leading to subsequent events.

Having satisfied Olao’s curiosity, Angel then returned to the deep silent chamber to first usher out those few little guys engrossed in watching dramas.

Just as Angel shifted according to the Wood Spirit and Dangross, Olao approached once more.

But this time, instead of asking Angel, Olao brought up another topic: "The formula you just wrote for the Honey Badger, sir, after thinking about it, I seem to have seen something similar before."

Angel did not appear surprised: "Where did you see it?"

Olao pondered for a moment and said: "It seems that I saw it at Miss Margaret’s place. That formula was crafted by the most famous Fragrance Alchemist in Naraku City at the time at the request of Miss Margaret... However, I only glanced at that formula and saw three main ingredients: the non-flammable oil froth of Aromatic Perilla, the Mottled Bark Oil of Marsh Juniper, and the Sea Calla of Dead Butterflies."

Since he only glanced at it, Olao did not pay special attention to remember it, nor did he know the other main and auxiliary ingredients. So, Olao couldn’t determine whether the formula Angel took out was the same as Margaret’s.

If it weren’t for the Honey Badger reciting those main ingredients just now, Olao would have almost forgotten this memory.

Angel: "You said Margaret specially got someone to craft this? Why did she want to make this essential oil?"

Olao wasn’t sure if the formula belonged to Margaret, but Angel was quite certain that this formula indeed came from Margaret’s room... or rather, the room in the Nightmare Realm associated with Margaret.

In the secret room of Margaret’s chamber, there wasn’t just the "Enchantment Compendium," but also many other alchemical books, including "An Annotation on the Extraction Methods of Precious Materials", "Floating Powder Collection", "Alchemy Summary",...etc.

The one that recorded this essential oil formula was precisely the "Floating Powder Collection". This is a book related to scents, but it doesn’t record too many fragrance formulas, instead, it primarily includes Margaret’s experiences with various aromas.

Olao: "I’m not too sure, but the essential oil seemed to have finally been crafted into a special scent that was later used on the master. But the strange thing is, after the master used this scent, I couldn’t smell any fragrance on him."

"It seems... only Miss Margaret could smell it."

Hearing Olao’s account, Angel was quite sure he was talking about this essential oil formula.

Indeed, the essential oil alone doesn’t have much effect, but when combined with some special materials, it could be refined into a scent called "Lighthouse".

The effect of the Lighthouse scent is just like its name: in the boundless night, a person who applied this scent becomes like a lighthouse, allowing them to immediately find the direction of light, no matter where they are.

In simple terms, the Lighthouse scent can emit an extremely distinct acrid smell. However, this smell cannot be detected by others, only by the person who crafted the scent themselves.

Moreover, this scent involves a level of special energy, making it possible to detect its smell even from a distance.

Currently, Angel plans to refine this scent, and the intended use is... for the hat made for Dong Liz.

The reason is quite simple, not because he has thoughts about Dong Liz, but rather because he wants to conduct a small experiment.

Once Dong Liz obtains the hat, his next step is to take up a long-distance mission and finally enter the Reincarnation Casket.

Angel definitely won’t go to the Reincarnation Casket, but the special energy of the Gate of Void is already fully charged, and he plans to find another opportunity to explore the Gate of Void once more.

During his last visit to the Gate of Void, he encountered Ivor, who is also Alex.

Angel doesn’t think that the next visit to the Gate of Void will allow him to meet Alex again, but he does want to check out Alex’s situation in the Reincarnation Casket.

Yet, he lacks a way to pinpoint the location.

Thus, he thought of the "Lighthouse" scent.

Dong Liz is surely heading to the Reincarnation Casket. If the next time he uses the Gate of Void, he happens to catch the scent of the Lighthouse on Dong Liz’s hat, wouldn’t he be able to lock onto Dong Liz’s coordinates and re-enter the Reincarnation Casket with an Illusion Body?

Of course, this is just a small experiment by Angel.

Ultimately, Angel doesn’t have much hope whether it can be realized.

After all, though the smell of the Lighthouse scent spreads widely, there’s still a range. And the Gate of Void, in all likelihood, traverses through a high-dimension passageway, making the probability of catching the Lighthouse scent in such a scenario significantly low.

But, since it’s just an experiment, it’s worth a try.

Angel smiled at Olao: "Perhaps, the reason only Margaret can smell it is a little playful affection between her and your master?"

After finishing the sentence, without giving Olao much time to ponder, Angel continued: "I’m planning to head back to the Deep Quiet Room for a rest now. What about you, are you going to stay outside with them, or are you heading to the Heart Space?"

Olao thought for a moment and said: "I’ll stay and accompany the Wood Spirit for a while."

Though the Wood Spirit was currently immersed in the Shadow Box of the "Anomalous Fire Alchemist," it would occasionally lift its head to look around, seemingly not at peace.

It appeared that after taking a walk around the Signal Tower and receiving surprise visits from Shariel and the Honey Badger, the Wood Spirit was still unable to calm its nerves.

Even while catching up on a show, it still seemed on edge.

Olao did desire to head to the Heart Space and dredge up some actual objects from the Sea of Void Mirror, but thinking of the Wood Spirit, he decided against it.

Better to soothe its little heart first.

Angel didn’t say much else, nodding at Olao, then walked into the Deep Quiet Room.

After closing the door, he found a comfortable spot to sit down, closed his eyes, and entered the Wilderness of Dreams.

After half an hour of debate, he wondered if Broi and Guy had reached a conclusion.

With this thought, Angel arrived at the task center of New City.

When Angel went offline, Broi and Guy were still in a heated debate, and even after half an hour, the argument hadn’t ended. However, the sheet music in front of them had undergone a subtle change.

At that time, they were still engaged in an intense tug-of-war with twenty sheets of music, and now, the music sheets in front of them were reduced to just three.

The other music sheets had been tossed aside, clearly indicating that these three were their final points of contention.

Angel did not interfere but sat quietly on the side, listening to their conversation.

From their discussion, it was evident that they were quite certain Uriel had a preference for the last Chapter of the "Three Chapters of Sobro".

Each Chapter of the "Three Chapters of Sobro" tells the story of a foreign businessman arriving at the Sobro market and being deceived by the local tyrant, with varying outcomes.

The first businessman chose submission and sought protection, but with unfavorable results; the second businessman opted for alliances and tried to maneuver outside of the box and gamble with the local tyrant, only to eventually fail.

In the last Chapter, it narrates the story of the final businessman who engages in a battle of wits and counterattack against the local tyrant.

This Chapter, arguably, is the most gratifying one of the "Three Chapters of Sobro".

Yet, thrill, too, has its nuances, and currently, Broi and Guy’s debate revolves around which kind of thrill Uriel prefers.

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