Hurricane

Lizer gently stroked Felina's glowing long hair...

She nestled in his arms, her fingertips tracing the flowing alchemical runes on his wrist.

They were secret runes weaving machinery and witchcraft together, like some slumbering living creature, growing slightly hot at her touch.

Their foreheads pressed together, their intertwined breaths whispering the palpitations of their hearts. The lingering halo of witchcraft in the air spread warmly across the study, like a gentle cocoon blocking all outside dangers beyond the window.

After a few hours of tender intimacy...

Lizer, still full of energy, slipped into the workshop next to the apartment.

That was his laboratory, housing the specimen of the Dreadbeast he hunted last time:

Sealed with Felina's specially made Ever-wax, the beast's eyes still gleamed with a residual eerie green light. The monster's energy particles circulated within the wax layer, like a storm trapped in amber.

Most wizards had a habit of collecting specimens; they were the tombstones of knowledge and the sparks of civilization.

Legend had it that a wizard once ended up in a magic-less world, and relying on the monster cells in his specimens and his knowledge of life sciences, forcibly created a miniature wizard ecology, ultimately becoming the overlord of that world.

Lizer touched the Dreadbeast's fangs, eager light burning in his eyes:

When I get a bit stronger, I'll build my own Wizard Factory.

The tools in the workshop were even more complete than those at the town academy.

This was thanks to Old Patiff's funding and Felina's five-finger discount (like the witchcraft chisel stolen from the academy laboratory, which carved runes three times faster than ordinary tools).

He no longer had to sneak into the academy late at night with Felina to do experiments using the mentor's perks.

Recently, he had been practicing firearm manufacturing and had already forged over a hundred Silver Lightning revolvers.

His firearm manufacturing skill had long reached max proficiency at the entry level, and then he paid to upgrade it to the proficient level.

Now, making ordinary revolvers no longer granted him any proficiency; he desperately needed new nourishment to feed his skill bar.

Firearm Manufacturing (Apprentice Tier) Proficient 0/100

Note:

Your fingers have memorized the shape of every part. The explosive power, reload speed, and durability of the firearms you forge are 5 percent higher than those made by ordinary craftsmen.

Coupled with the bonus from Mechanical Alchemy, the total enhancement reaches 10 percent.

This is like installing a Witchcraft Engine into the gun; every bullet flies carrying your will.

But Lizer did not plan to use old materials this time.

He had just analyzed the Metal Refining Method and Witchcraft Machine Tool Manufacturing Technology sent by Felin, gaining two new skills:

Metal Refining Entry 15/100

Note:

This is a divine skill exclusive to Mechanical Alchemy specialization witchcraft!

It shattered and reconstructed your original metal smelting skill, changing it from increasing purity by 10 percent to increasing purity by 25 percent plus 10 percent alloy performance.

The 60 proficiency points you previously accumulated are all gone, but in exchange, you broke through the mortal limit:

You can now turn ordinary metal into metal with energy.

Witchcraft Machine Tool Manufacturing Entry 0/100

Note:

You can now build witchcraft machine tools:

Those rune-bearing gears and self-adjusting drill bits act like a group of obedient metal servants.

Once you learn more esoteric knowledge, alchemical runes, and mystical mechanical structures, you can combine machine tools with mystical power to create an automated production line.

By then, you will be able to mass-produce witchcraft firearms and arm the entire town's police force into Wizard Shooters.

Lizer discarded the old materials.

Because he found that the Black Tough-Iron used in the police department's standard Silver Lightnings had an energy level limit of only level 2. According to the energy level decay theory, its actual effective energy level was only 1.6.

This was unworthy of his Mechanical Alchemy; he needed better materials.

In his new Material Science knowledge, there was a low-tier witchcraft alloy called Black Magic Iron.

Its limit energy level was 5, with an actual effective level of 4, and he had long prepared the required ore.

Its main metal component was Magic Iron Ore. The surface of the ore gleamed with a dark purple light and felt like red-hot coal to the touch.

[Focusing on Mechanical Alchemy - Metal Refining, Synthesizing Alloy Black Magic Iron (Good)]

Mechanical Alchemy Proficiency +1, Metal Refining Proficiency +2

The Metal Refining Method sent by Felin was indeed a treasure.

Following the method obtained through paid analysis, Lizer placed the Magic Iron Ore into the witchcraft furnace, chanting the Impurity Separation incantation while holding a Purification Talisman in his left hand.

The talisman paper burned in his hand, turning into a wisp of blue smoke that drilled into the furnace.

Impurity Separation was a unique witchcraft recorded in the Metal Refining Method, its circle level growing alongside the wizard's rank:

When Lizer was a witchcraft apprentice, the spell was a Zero-Circle Glimmer; when he advanced to a Level One Wizard, the glimmer would transform into a First-Circle Witchcraft.

This witchcraft was similar to the decomposition spell attached to the Mechanical Alchemy skill, yet it added more of the mystery of witchcraft.

At the entry level, this witchcraft could filter out 70 percent of impurities, increasing material purity.

After paying to temper it to the proficient level, the magic energy sieve became finer, compressing the residual impurities down to 22.5 percent.

And the Purification Talisman was a disposable witchcraft item recorded in the Metal Refining Method, condensed from monster skin:

Right after a monster died, wizards would use a knife dipped in silver water to peel off its fresh skin, mix cinnabar with the monster's blood, and engrave Purification alchemical runes onto the monster skin.

Every stroke of the runes absorbed the monster's remnant soul.

Once carved, the talisman would let out a demonic cry like a baby's wail. That was the monster soul yearning for purification, craving to devour the foul air of impurities.

An entry-level talisman would release the monster soul upon touching metal.

They would pounce on the impurities like cats starved for three days, gnawing at them with a sizzling sound, raising the metal's purity by 20 percent.

In a proficient-level talisman, the monster soul within the runes was stronger, pushing the purity up another 5 percentage points to 25 percent.

The core of the Metal Refining Art was using the ancient secret arts from the Metal Refining Method to coordinate the resonance between the Impurity Separation witchcraft and the Purification Talisman.

The ore in the furnace began to boil. Black impurities were pulled out as if by invisible hands, floating to the surface.

The remaining liquid metal glowed with a dark purple light, resembling a melted starry sky.

The finally refined Black Magic Iron (Good) reached a limit energy level of 5.75, with an actual effective energy level of 4.56.

It was even higher than what the book stated!

Touching the piece of metal, he could feel the magic energy flowing inside, like holding a ball of slumbering lightning.

Material is the materialized soul of a witchcraft item.

Lizer recalled the records from the alchemy books:

Witchcraft tools made from garbage materials, even if covered in runes, can only fight minor monsters; witchcraft items made from good materials, even without runes, can blast through the bones of evil spirits.

He placed the Black Magic Iron on the forging anvil and picked up his witchcraft hammer...

The hammer head was carved with runes that assisted in forging. When striking metal, it would let out a ding, like some ancient summons.

He quickly swung the witchcraft hammer, executing the Ancestral Forging Secret Art that had already been paid-to-upgrade to the proficient level:

Ancestral Forging Secret Art Proficient 0/100

Note:

You have reached the limit of mortal forging.

Your hammer flawlessly draws out the full potential of the materials, ensuring not a single trace of magical energy is lost from the metal.

Furthermore, for every ten strikes, there are two chances to trigger a Burst of Inspiration, elevating the component's performance to the next tier.

It is as if your hands are conversing with the metal itself; it guides your strikes, telling you exactly how to forge it into something even stronger.

[Focused on Mechanical Alchemy - Forging: Crafting a Gun Barrel]

Mechanical Alchemy Proficiency +1, Forging Proficiency +1