Chapter 291: Successor
After sending off Monty and Ryan, Leon returned to the alchemy lab once more. This haul from Four Seasons Gorge was simply astonishing—he’d gathered seven or eight varieties of rare magical materials, each one a true treasure. In a place like Seaview City, you’d never see such things; even in the heart of the kingdom, Auckland, they only appear at the grandest auctions.
Especially the Requiem Gem among them—it was a once-in-a-century find. The gem was a dark red, about the size of a thumb, glittering and radiant in the sunlight. Even more remarkable, a mere touch of mana would set it singing a sacred hymn!
The sacred hymn sung by the Requiem Gem naturally possessed the power to pacify restless spirits. For all ghostly undead, it was an absolute nemesis. If Leon had worn a magic item crafted from a Requiem Gem when he ventured into the Ghostriver, at least a third of the wraiths would have evaporated under its hymn.
However, handling the Requiem Gem was notoriously difficult. Unlike ordinary gems, it could never be cut or carved—each Requiem Gem was a single, unbroken whole. Even the slightest damage would ruin the integrity of its sacred hymn.
Honestly, if that were all, it wouldn’t be so bad...
The problem was, a natural Requiem Gem’s hymn could pacify the dead, but lacked the power to suppress evil. That meant it had to be magically processed, then amplified with an array, to unlock its true potential. Only then could a Requiem Gem become a genuine magical relic.
That meant the alchemist had to be extremely careful during magical processing—any damage at all would ruin the Requiem Gem. That’s the hardest part: every gem is most vulnerable when being magically altered.
It took Leon a whole week just to turn this Requiem Gem into a pendant, replacing the Lava Sanctuary he’d used before.
Just one Requiem Gem had cost Leon a week—so the other magical materials hardly bore mentioning. It had been over twenty days since Leon returned from Four Seasons Gorge, yet only a third of the work was done. Aside from the Requiem Gem, most of the rare materials from the vault had only received basic processing. To truly make use of them would take much, much longer.
And then there’s Lathite Mithril...
Lathite Mithril’s nearly limitless adaptability is something most people would kill for, but when it comes to magical processing, it’s just a nightmare. I used a Soul Mana Crystal to infuse it with mana, but the effect was barely noticeable. More than twenty days have passed, and I’ve only managed to finish half the magical treatment...
On top of that, I still have to deal with the Parasitic Tree and the Obsidian Bloom, concoct a Mana Vortex Restoration Elixir for Salomon, figure out how to repair that Sky Rank Alchemical Golem, and...
Anyway, there’s just way too much to do...
Leon hadn’t had a moment’s rest since returning from Four Seasons Gorge over twenty days ago.
There was just too much piled up waiting for Leon to handle...
And every single one of them was important.
Compared to all this, the Monty Family was nothing...
At first, Leon only wanted to trouble the Monty Family because he wanted to do something for Matthew Merlin. Since he’d taken over Matthew Merlin’s body, a lot of things that should’ve been done by him now fell to Leon—including uncovering the truth behind Roger Merlin’s shipwreck...
Back then, Leon really did think the Monty Family had orchestrated Roger Merlin’s shipwreck just to seize control of Seaview City’s alchemy market.
But later, as Leon gradually adapted to this era and learned more about the powers in Seaview City—and about Roger Merlin himself—he realized the Monty Family probably didn’t have the means...
Roger Merlin was a lot more formidable than anyone realized...
The Plane Path in the Bone Plane, the legacy of the Merlin Family, and that figure who could stand against Solan...
To most people, Salomon was the top archmage, Lance the best alchemist, Monty the richest merchant—but few realized that Roger Merlin, starting from nothing, had quietly amassed enough power to shake all of Seaview City. Even Matthew Merlin probably had no idea.
Trying to eliminate Roger Merlin with a shipwreck? The Monty Family back then really didn’t have the means. In fact, even Solan Monty, who stood behind them, probably couldn’t have pulled it off...
Of course, Leon wasn’t blind—he knew Monty probably wasn’t as innocent in that shipwreck as he claimed.
There was definitely a leak somewhere...
But whatever—Monty didn’t have any more clues to offer. If Leon really wanted to get to the bottom of that shipwreck, he’d have to go to Auckland and talk to Solan Monty himself, that once-in-a-century genius. Maybe then he’d find something new...
As for the Monty Family...
Just have Monty hand over the family headship to Mason...
Honestly, it was a pretty ruthless move.
Everyone in Seaview City knew what kind of person Mason was. If he took over the Monty Family, it’d probably be less than ten years before the thousand-year-old family fell into decline—and who knows how many decades or centuries it’d take to recover.
Of course, Leon didn’t come up with such a ruthless plan just to get back at the Monty Family.
He was really thinking more about the Gilded Rose.
[Irrelevant passage skipped: navigation prompt for web novel.]
The Gilded Rose was at its peak in Seaview City, but it still lacked the depth of time. Just the talent pool alone couldn’t compare to the other top powers. For now, Leon could keep the expansion going thanks to his own tricks, but sooner or later, that lack of history would catch up.
Eventually, the Gilded Rose would have to slow down and start building up its foundations.
Leon didn’t want to see the Gilded Rose slow down, only for the Monty Family to suddenly rise up. That would be a joke.
So, while Monty was bowing his head, Leon pushed Mason into the family head’s seat.
And, just for good measure, he hit Ryan with a Fireball as a warning.
That Fireball was basically Leon’s way of telling Ryan not to resist his arrangements—otherwise, next time, it wouldn’t just be a Fireball.
When Leon worked in the alchemy lab, he usually only let Faro assist him. Today was no different: after Faro finished adjusting the mana emitter, Leon placed the Lathite Mithril onto the alchemy array and continued the magical treatment he’d left unfinished.
"By the way, Faro, how’s your practice going with those formulas I gave you last time?"
Honestly, Leon was pretty satisfied with Faro.
When Kadghar first sent Faro over, Leon had already decided to hand the Gilded Rose’s technical work to him, making Faro the chief alchemist. Leon always insisted he was a mage, not an alchemist. The Gilded Rose’s expansion had only just begun, so Leon could handle the technical side with his 'cheat' of a brain—for now. But in the future...
Sooner or later, the Gilded Rose would keep expanding, and Leon would keep moving forward on his magical path. Eventually he wouldn’t have the energy to juggle the technical side himself.
So, he had to find someone to replace him.
As far as Leon was concerned, that person was Faro.
Honestly, Faro wasn’t much of a genius in alchemy. Compared to the true prodigies Leon had met, Faro’s talent was pretty average at best.
But Faro had two strengths: diligence and eagerness to learn.
Of all the alchemists Leon had seen, Faro was the most hardworking. Leon often saw him in the lab late into the night. Most of the problems Faro struggled with weren’t even worth mentioning in Leon’s eyes, but that kind of diligence was one of the most important qualities for a great alchemist.
Leon had watched Faro step by step go from a regular alchemist to a master, and then keep climbing steadily toward the peak of the master’s realm. If you charted Faro’s progress, you’d see a nearly straight upward line.
The slope wasn’t steep, but it was steady.
That meant Faro almost never hit bottlenecks—his alchemy rarely stalled.
That’s no joke...
Looking at all the alchemists in Northend, how many haven’t stalled at some point? Even Nolan, master of the Tower of Mercury, and Osul, the future Saint, have been driven mad by bottlenecks...
Of course, it’s not really fair to compare Faro to them—their levels are worlds apart.
But what about those so-called genius young alchemists?
The Tower of Mercury was packed with all the kingdom’s alchemical prodigies—there were several masters in their twenties, and according to Caron, there was even a top master under thirty. But even those geniuses got stuck, sometimes for years, unable to make any progress at all...