Pale green metallic smoke billowed through the passage, completely shrouding the four black panthers.
Almost instantly, the lifelike stone beasts seemed like they had become the strongest magnets, drawing in nearly half of the metallic smoke. Then, their movements froze in place.
Crack—
The panther closest to the archway, having made the largest motion, lost its balance and crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Allen blinked in surprise at the sight, then quickly opened his monster-hunting journal.
[Monster "Construct Stone Statue" Lv.75 Defeated!]
[Reward Calculation: Victory Against the Odds – Base Grade D, +3 Grades for Outnumbered Win → C]
[Final Grade: C]
[Loot Obtained: Construct Stone Statue's Magic Core ×4, Experience Orb ×6, Construct Stone Statue Treasure Chest ×3]
The four Panther Statues… had truly been destroyed just like that.
He had only intended to test the dimeritium bomb's effect, then finish them off while they were weakened.
He hadn't expected a single dimeritium bomb to settle the matter.
Level 75 wasn't exactly low—how could they be so fragile?
Whoosh—
A sharp sound from his side interrupted Allen's thoughts.
An icy spike shot in from beyond the other archway, but the moment it entered the pale green smoke from the dimeritium bomb, the lingering metallic dust clung to it.
Its speed rapidly slowed.
Then, shrinking visibly before his eyes, it was neutralized entirely.
Before it even passed through the bomb's smoke, it vanished in midair.
But by then, the metallic dust had also been completely expended.
The passage fell silent.
Tap tap tap—
Ida Emean entered with a grim expression. "This is the dimeritium bomb you just mentioned?"
"That's right," Allen nodded honestly. "First time using it in real combat—I didn't expect it to work so well."
Ida Emean nodded, crouching by one of the black panther statues to examine it.
Allen, curious as well, crouched beside her and watched her turn over its limbs.
Constructs, while sharing some overlap with alchemy in a broad sense, actually belonged to a much more advanced discipline known as Construct Summoning–Activation–Integration Ritual Studies, or simply Construct Studies.
From the name alone, it was clear the field was closely tied to alchemy, ritual magic, summoning arts, and elemental activation.
Allen knew little about it.
When Ianna from the Melitele Temple had taught him ritual magic, she had once mentioned a master-level ritual—creating a golem. But she hadn't taught it to him, as she herself didn't know the ritual.
It was a trade secret of the Rissberg Group's Civil Cooperative Organization.
Of course—
The panther statues before them hadn't reached the level of true golems. They were likely a simpler type within Construct Studies, probably made personally by Tomas Moreau.
Allen lacked the knowledge to glean much from their seamless design.
"Look here."
Noticing his difficulty, Ida Emean pointed under the panther's neck.
Allen focused—there, made up of a series of finger-sized scorched runes, was a small magic circle. It was barely noticeable, and he didn't recognize any of the symbols.
"These are activation runes, soul-binding runes, and ritual link runes…"
Ida Emean explained without preamble: "Tomas Moreau's guardian statues are crude. They rely on a hidden ritual array in the ground to detect human activity within the circle, but he didn't conceal them from magical interference."
"Your dimeritium bomb amplified the magic-suppressing effect of the blocking metal, directly destroying these exposed runes—so the results were excellent."
"This isn't the sort of caution one would expect for defending against a sorcerer. Tomas Moreau probably only intended to deal with tomb robbers who wandered in by accident."
"Otherwise, he would've paid the price to hide the runes inside the panther's body…"
In other words—it wasn't that the dimeritium bomb was overly powerful, but that Tomas Moreau had left the construct's weak point exposed, like a monster's heart hanging unprotected outside its body.
Even the smallest strike would cause heavy damage, let alone a highly specialized weapon like the dimeritium bomb.
Allen pondered. "And if Tomas Moreau had hidden them?"
Ida Emean considered. "If he'd concealed the runes inside, the dimeritium bomb probably couldn't destroy the construct outright. But since the detection ritual array is external, the construct would still be paralyzed for a time."
"After the bomb's effect wore off, there would likely be lingering side effects."
"These constructs essentially rely on the ritual array for movement and sensing—concealing the runes would still reduce their responsiveness compared to what you just saw…"
-----------------------------------
"Ding, clue for skill [Construct Studies] discovered."
"Spend 300 experience orbs to unlock this skill?"
300 experience orbs?!!
Allen raised his eyebrows — Alchemy had only cost 100, and this was three times that.
Even if it followed the same pattern as Alchemy or Ritual Studies, where learning could cut the cost in half at most, it would still take 150 experience orbs.
Not affordable… not affordable at all.
"Allen?"
"Sorry," Allen apologized. "Go on…"
Ida Emean paused for a few seconds before cautiously asking, "You're interested in Construct Studies?"
"In theory, even though you're a witcher, with your talent and achievements in alchemy, you should also be able to learn Construct Studies."
Hearing this, Allen withdrew his gaze from the stone panther and met her eyes.
"You know Construct Studies?"
"All of humanity's achievements in Construct Studies come from the Mountain Folk, and I am a scholar of the Mountain Folk," the elf said calmly, but with absolute confidence in her voice.
Allen was indeed tempted.
The School of the Wolf, in truth, was much like the Free Elves — their greatest weakness wasn't combat ability, but population.
An organization with fewer than a hundred members, no matter how skilled, could hardly compete with nations numbering in the hundreds of thousands or millions, or with forces like the Rissberg Group's Civil Cooperative Organization, which had nearly a thousand extraordinary combatants.
Even Ban Ard, in its current weakened state, could, if war broke out, send apprentices into battle as usable forces.
Simple ice spikes and wind blades were still deadly weapons.
They could still field a few hundred extraordinary fighters.
But the School of the Wolf? Even if the death rate for the Trial of the Grasses dropped to zero, and the Trial of the Mountains became easy to pass, their numbers still couldn't grow quickly.
The Trial of Choice could take five or even ten years — at that rate, reaching two hundred witchers at Kaer Morhen could take two or three years at best.
And freshly minted witchers couldn't match the battlefield utility of even apprentice sorcerers in ranged combat. So increasing the school's extraordinary combat strength was critical.
Merging with other witcher schools was one path; taming a giant griffin or rock troll was another. Now, construct creatures seemed like an even better supplement — perhaps more valuable than the first two options.
Allen wasn't short on money — his sword oil brought in a steady stream of income. He wasn't short on materials either — the famed alchemy master Vera had wide-reaching supply channels across the Northern Continent.
So as long as he learned Construct Studies, it wouldn't take long to amass considerable combat power.
The only obstacles were experience orbs and time.
Before rescuing Hen Gedymdeith, he had already been short on both — lacking the orbs to unlock "Beast Roar: Forbidden Sky" and the time to train or hunt monsters.
150 orbs was still out of reach now, but that didn't mean he couldn't work toward the 300 needed, and then pay half.
Construct Studies was traditionally the domain of mages — specifically, the Rissberg Group's Civil Cooperative Organization.
Miss this chance with Ida Emean, and it would be very hard to find another teacher.
As for time — well, that could be carved out somehow, even if it meant studying through the night. So, only one question remained.
"What price do I need to pay?" Allen asked evenly, meeting the elf's gaze.
"The formula for the Demeritium Bomb," she replied without hesitation.
As expected… Allen glanced at the shattered remains of the construct.
The Free Elves didn't need to worry about constructs — such lumbering things were rare on the battlefield.
But they bordered Ban Ard, and Francesca's recent summons likely meant the academy was stirring up trouble again — perhaps to show force for a new sorcerer kingdom, or at the request of both Ortolan and Rissberg Group's Civil Cooperative Organization.
The Demeritium Bomb was also highly effective against mages.
But earlier, after testing with an ice spike, Ida Emean had intentionally avoided bringing that up.
"Not enough," Allen said, shaking his head and lying through his teeth. "Knowledge of Construct Studies might be precious, but for me — for the School of the Wolf — it's not essential."
"And I'm a witcher — I might have learned alchemy, but I'd probably have a hard time mastering Construct Studies."
She fell silent.
Because she thought he had a point — a thing's high intrinsic value didn't guarantee it could sell for a high price.
Construct Studies truly could be optional for him.
And though Allen was the so-called Child of Miracles, she doubted he could really master Construct Studies, at least not beyond animated elemental magic.
Allen, for his part, relaxed inwardly.
It seemed that while Ida Emean knew some of Sol's secrets, Vera had kept a few things from her.
At least she didn't know about his awakened magical talent.
Which meant there was room to negotiate.
"What do you want then?" she asked after a moment. "Knowledge? Money? Wealth? A magical item?"
"The Free Elves may have fallen on hard times, but we still have some reserves."
Her willingness to let him name his price was tempting.
Allen thought of asking about a Ard Gaeth fragment or a Guidestone, but decided against it after a moment's thought.
Ida Emean was a true thousand-year-old schemer — one question and she would guess too much.
"I can't think of anything I urgently need," Allen said after a moment's hesitation. "But…"
Her eyes brightened instantly. "But what?"
"What the Free Elves actually need isn't the formula — it's the bombs themselves, isn't it?"
"If I give you the formula, you'll have to learn it and free up people to make them."
"You could just buy the bombs from us — as allies of the School of the Wolf, at cost."
Allen looked at her with all sincerity.
She blinked, caught off guard by his reasoning, then stared for a few seconds, her expression complicated.
"What in the world did Vera and Sol give birth to?"
"Are you really only fourteen?!"
Allen just smiled and stayed silent.
"Fine," she said with a nod. "But no need for cost price — the Free Elves aren't short on coin. We'll pay double, but quickly. I want Vera's alchemy workshop working at full capacity."
"I'll speak to Vera when we return," Allen replied, the corner of his mouth curling upward at the thought of another big deal closed.
"Still calling her 'Vera'?" she said slyly, narrowing her eyes.
Allen's smile didn't falter, but he said nothing.
"All right," she said, shrugging when he didn't bite. "Since we have an actual specimen here, let's begin with the basics."
She pointed at the stone panther on the ground. "In terms of classification, this is a ritual construct…"
[Spend 293 experience orbs to unlock skill?]
"Another type of construct doesn't have such obvious flaws…"
[Spend 286 experience orbs to unlock skill?]
"…Golems are the most unique among constructs…"
[Spend 279 experience orbs to unlock skill?]
-----------------------------------
Due to the rush, Ida Emean didn't speak much. She only gave a rough explanation of the classification of constructs, linking it with the materials found on the surface.
Even so, when the brief lesson ended, the original requirement of three hundred experience orbs dropped straight to two hundred and fifty-one.
The result was remarkable.
Allen estimated that once he got back, it would only take half a day's work to reach the limit of one hundred and fifty experience orbs needed for unlocking—a good sign.
After the lesson, Allen and Ida Emean continued on their way.
They ran into a few grave hags of unknown origin. The two worked together to easily take them down, and then once again encountered the panther statue.
This time, Allen didn't use a dimeritium bomb, nor did he strike directly at the panther's neck to destroy the runes. Instead, he tried to deal with it using a combination of Signs and regular swordsmanship—only to find it more difficult than expected.
Balmur's blade didn't chip, but it also didn't activate to unleash the devastating force it had shown when piercing the archway barrier. It was as if it were merely a very sturdy ordinary steel sword.
The recoil from the hard stone made Allen's hands go numb.
Moreover, perhaps because it was an artificial creation without the favor of elemental forces, even after activating Monster Hunt, the progress bar barely moved. In the end, he used Balmur as a blunt weapon, relying on his extraordinary strength to smash the black panther's limbs and cripple its movement.
This made Allen's heart tighten. He resolved that before rescuing Hen Gedymdeith, he would make sure to produce elementa oil.
.....
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