"If the result is good, that's all that matters." That's right.
Through farming, I acquired a considerable amount of mana stones.
Through experience distribution, I instantly obtained the Mana Detection skill and improved my overall stats.
I even discovered a problem with my body that I wasn't aware of.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Smash, and smash again!
I'll destroy all the junk that's sneakily stealing my mana!
Wielding a work hammer, I dismantle the hunter equipment I clumsily made in the past, one by one.
"Now I can see the mana strings with my own eyes."
As soon as I returned to the dormitory, dozens of mana strings revealed their forms.
You have to get this close to properly see the mana strings, so it's no wonder the Academy teachers didn't notice the abnormality in my body.
Now is the time to put an end to it.
Clang!
"Hoo."
About twenty-five pieces of junk.
I put down the hammer and took a deep breath.
After smashing the heads of the old equipment I had stashed all over the dormitory room, I felt much lighter.
But why are there still mana strings left, even after cutting off so many?
Three or four translucent mana strings, looking like cable wires, were stretching out of the dormitory room.
'…What else did I make?'
While pondering, a memory suddenly came to mind.
Ah. That's right.
"Ah, damn it! I had commissioned items too!"
I smacked my forehead with my palm.
Why did I forget that!
It's a simple problem.
The scholarship given to a dropout like me is meager.
Naturally, I had no choice but to earn a living by taking on commissions with my hunter title.
But look at me. How could I get proper work at my level?
The only commissions I got were all shady ones. Only the Residents of Nocturn Town occasionally gave me work.
Starting with crude items made as hunter equipment, I had experience making artifact imitations, and even adult products like onaholes and dildos.
I had a knack for making things look plausible, so I remember taking on various odd jobs. Thinking about it now, it's a past so embarrassing that my face burns…
Most of the items are probably broken, but the remaining mana strings are still holding onto 1% of the mana, damn it.
"I have to… retrieve them, right?"
Anyway, I needed to visit Nocturn Town to get mana potions for the exam.
Nocturn.
Nocturn Town.
A place considered an open secret in the hunter society. If the Academy is located in the south of Tartaros, Nocturn Town is a giant black market district nestled in the maze-like alleys of the central metropolis.
An average of 50,000 people come and go every day.
Not to mention the Academy instructors, the Association, as well as the city's police and civil servants, have virtually given up on crackdowns.
'It's also where villain organizations from games, like Gray Ash and Black Sun, have their nests. In the game's story, if something went wrong, half of it was due to problems here.'
Above all, because it's such a gray area, you can easily find many things in Nocturn Town.
Rare materials banned by the Association, illegally modified magic tools, and even dark requests such as assassinations or contract killings.
It means you can buy anything if you have the money.
'Conversely, you can sell anything too.'
Nocturn Town is divided into a total of 8 districts along the city center.
Starting with auction houses, black magic districts, spy guilds, gambling houses, and arenas, etc. Among them, the first place I'll head to is the alchemist district.
'The location is identified by the mana strings, so I can worry about retrieving the dildos later.'
There's only one thing I need to get in the alchemist district.
Of course, it's a mana potion.
I've removed a lot of the mana strings that were suppressing me, but the more, the better. The more mana I have, the better.
But the problem is money.
Generally, mana potions are something that only intermediate hunters or higher, or B-rank hunters according to the Association's ranking, can afford to buy.
The price is enormous, so it's not something a low-level hunter can dare to touch.
But as I said before, there is a way.
'The alternative recipe.'
Alternative recipe.
A convenience patch for beginner training introduced in Dominant Evil's 2.0 update.
A method of manufacturing the lowest-grade potions that greatly reduces the effect and cost of high-grade potions. In the game, this was called the 'alternative recipe.'
"Thirty goblin galls, please."
"Two casks of stout, please."
"Two bags of frozen herb mix, please."
Goblin gall instead of an orc's heart.
Stout instead of holy water.
Frozen herb mix instead of the energy of nature.
Combining alternative recipe ingredients like this results in the lowest-grade mana potion.
It seems like an absurd combination, but it's an official formula set by the game company.
The manufacturing method itself is the same as regular potions, only the ingredients are different, so I clearly remember the recipe.
However, there are conditions here too.
First, have Alchemy skill level 5.
Second, have the Eccentric skill.
Only alchemists who meet these two conditions can manufacture potions according to the alternative recipe.
And among the alchemists I know, there is only one person who meets all these demanding conditions.
'Doris Finch.'