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In the Divine Space, Cedric sat in his chair while being dumbfounded.
He recalled he had just begun his acting and increased his size to shock everyone.
Then, midway through his speech, Cedric got an idea and decided to summon a thunderstorm to show more of his might.
But before he could finish speaking, the space around him has been destroyed and the mental power he used to control the body in Dream Space has been swallowed by the destruction.
"Damn! I know there is only a little energy left in the [Divine Intervention: Dream]. But, I never expected it to be this little!" Cedric summoned a stick of ice cream and angrily bit it.
He initially wanted to say 'In this war, don't cause misery or unnecessary death to the people'. But he knew the amount of energy was too low, so he decided to remove 'in this war' and 'to the people'.
Who knows the amount of energy is not enough to even say - 'Don't cause misery or unnecessary death.'
Cedric took a deep breath to calm down and tried to call down. "The most important thing right now is to make sure those people have understood my message."
In case those people fail to get his message, Cedric has decided to grit his teeth and buy another [Divine Intervention: Dream] to pull them all into the Dream Space once more. Or at least he'll send a warning through [Divine Intervention: Word] to the people that misunderstood.
Although giving the same warning twice might hit his reputation and cause the aura of mystery around him to decrease, Cedric doesn't give a hoot about it.
Once his mental energy began to recover, Cedric immediately sent a strand of mental power to check the situation in the Crystal Cube world.
He first checked Lacius and found he had just woken up and looked thoughtful.
A short moment later, he ordered the guards to gather all of the nobles in Winter City.
As it still took some time for Lacius to finish gathering the nobles, Cedric quickly moved his mental power to check the situation on one of the substitute city lords.
The one he first found is the substitute city lord of Brown Oak City.
Brown Oak City is one of the nearest cities to Winter City, so checking them after observing Winter City is a bit more convenient than the other cities.
Cedric controlled his mental power to move toward the city lord's mansion and quickly found the substitute city lord he had invited to the Dream Space.
Currently, the city lord is sweating while heaving loudly and grabbing his heart. Occasionally, he would mutter something like 'Creator, threat, and destruction of the world.'
Cedric felt a bit embarrassed as the thing he had done seemed to cause the city lord to have a misunderstanding and several panic attacks.
Luckily, that city lord began to calm down after a moment and called one of his subordinates.
Once his subordinate arrived, the substitute city lord quickly ordered, "Quickly go and ask the city to cease their battle preparation! Also, return those militia we have recruited recently to their family."
The subordinate was a bit confused and asked, "Why? We have spent so many resources on this battle preparation."
The substitute city lord frowned, "Just go! It's a revelation - no, It's a warning from the creator!"
In the Divine Space. When he heard the city lord's words, Cedric nodded his head. "It seems my intention is correctly understood."
Although the substitute city lord seems to be extremely traumatized after the meeting, Cedric doesn't care about such an unimportant thing.
"But, checking just one of them isn't enough." Cedric rubbed his chin and began observing the other city lords, merchants, and the three people that Tsukiko had duped as her pawns.
He found all three city lords had stopped gathering their armies and forcibly recruiting militias from the populace. Meanwhile, the merchants contemplated his words for a bit longer and most began to stabilize the price of foods and stopped inflating them.
The few that haven't stopped have felt their competitor's move and quickly connected the dots between Cedric's warning to not cause misery and their competitor's move to stop gathering food and weapons.
Soon, the price of necessities began to stabilize.
Coupled with the adult male that's forcefully conscripted has been sent back to the field to continue their work. The Sacred Kingdom has somehow barely evaded its first great famine.
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As for the people that Tsukiko has duped, they also started to calm down and stopped causing trouble. Instead, they began to take a wait and see approach.
When he saw the reaction from everyone, Cedric seriously wanted to bury his face. Now that he has calmed down, Cedric feels just the act he has done is already standing in the border of his cringe limit.
But, those people seem to misunderstand that what he has done is actually threatening them.
Those people basically think the collapse of the dream space is intentional. They thought the last 'or…' that he hadn't finished saying was just giving them an example of what would happen if they didn't follow his word.
"This is quite awkward." Cedric rubbed his nose and shuddered.
At last, Cedric can only accept his fate and goes along with it.
While sitting comfortably on a super soft couch that he had just created, Cedric sent his mental power into the Crystal Cube world and checked the situation.
Inside the Crystal Cube world, Lacius finally has free time from all the administration work he needs to do.
Currently, he sat inside his laboratory and gently tapped the armrest of his chair rhythmically.
"My gut feeling tells me that the Sacred Kingdom can't last any longer," Lacius muttered as he watched Hars boiling an alchemical potion. "Even if the problem with the four substitute city lords is fixed, a new problem will definitely come out soon."
"Luckily, what I need is not the status of a king. But only the resources and convenience that this status brings to my research for eternal life. So, I should still have a way out." With that idea, Lacius's mind began to wander around until recalled his latest meeting with the creator.
From what he listened at that time, the people around him seemed to be humans that came from the Sacred Kingdom.
Although their name has been censored by Cedric because he wants those people's attention to be focused on him. But Lacius has overheard some of their conversations and heard them mention familiar cities like Winter City and River Stone City.
Lacius didn't know the exact identity of those people. But, at least he knows that some, or even all of them are from the Sacred Kingdom.
For them to be called by the creator should also mean they have quite a high status.
Then, Lacius began to combine several facts like Cedric's warning, the sudden price stabilization, and other clues before concluding that the people Cedric invited should be people who were involved in the imminent war that almost caused famine in several areas.
Once war and famine happen, the people will definitely enter a hard time and their daily life becomes full of misery.
He isn't sure why the creator warned them to not cause misery. But the creator's goal isn't important for now.
What Lacius cares about is that except for him, the main character in this war is the four substitutes city lords.
With that logic, he is certain that those four are among the people who have seen the creator's warning. Except for those four, the people who are involved in causing the price of necessities to inflate should also be there. After all their action at that time will cause the price of food to increase and the people will be too poor to afford food.
That means, unless those people wish to defy the creator, the situation will be in a peaceful state and Lacius will have enough time to make several moves without fearing too much backlash. That is as long as he follows the creator's warning to not cause misery.
'So… what kind of step should I take to keep the amount of resources on my hand while not being affected by the chaos that'll definitely happen soon.' Lacius stopped tapping his finger on the chair and looked around the laboratory.
His eyes glimpsed through the laboratory before pausing on a glass cylinder containing Tsukiko's corpse.
Even with the solution Lacius has created, the corpse has slightly rotted away and there are many traces of dissection on the body that's caused by his study.
While staring at Tsukiko's corpse, Lacius somehow recalled the temple of the creator god and the influence it had over the people.
As the only organization that has successfully taken over a city and even has its influence on many other cities. Lacius must say he actually respects how far Tsukiko could bring that organization.
He is also amazed by Tsukiko's technique which has caused the faith in the creator god to stand strong until now. Even though the temple has been extremely weakened and the core led by Tsukiko has been destroyed.
'This is indeed a path I can use. Maybe I can try to control the creator god temple and push it to greater heights while I am still the undisputed king of the human race. At that time, even if the kingdom split, I can use faith to meddle with the kingdoms controlled by others.'
The more Lacius thought about it, the more he felt this idea was quite suitable. 'But, being the high priest of a religion isn't enough. I need an even higher and transcendental status that'll allow me to meddle with things unhindered.'
He still remembered that the main reason those four city lords gathered their army was to place some pressure on him.
They might not make a move for now because the creator has just sent a warning. But, it doesn't mean they'll never pressure him with different means.
So, he needs an extremely high status and control. A status so high that those four will be forced to bury the hatred. The kind of status that others won't dare to usurp unless the creator god showed another miracle and willed it to happen.
Suddenly, Hars's voice broke his thoughts, "Lacius, I've finished gathering the alchemical data. It seems we need to catalyze the reaction with different materials. I've tried everything, but whether it's the magic deer horn that's usually used to catalyze healing potions, the blue moonflower, the crystalized grass, or other materials used to catalyze potions, all of them are ineffective for this upgraded health nurturing potions. Perhaps we should try to …"
At first, Lacius listened to Hars's report intently. But, he suddenly focused on the failed health nurturing potions in Hars's hand.
It reminds him of the time those civilians called it a miracle from the creator god after he fed his wives that potion and allowed all of them to safely give birth to healthy children.
"Miracle… god… Wait a moment! " Lacius widened his eyes. He finally knew what step he needed to take now, and what kind of status could allow him to research the way to extend his lifespan in peace.
Lacius suddenly shouted, "Hars, I want to be a god!"
Hars who's been busy reporting the result of the experiment immediately fell dumbfounded. "Pardon? Have you overworked yourself too much? I think it's time for you to take a rest."
"I am not tired! I've just been thinking about what kind of status can make our research for eternal life unhindered no matter what kind of chaos happens in the Sacred Kingdom."
Hars nodded. "Then, how come you suddenly want to be a god?"
"After mulling over it, I concluded that the person with the highest status in this world is the creator. Especially since Tsukiko has somehow succeeded at spreading the belief in the creator god."
Lacius continued, "Of course, I am not thinking of calling myself the creator god. But, I am thinking of turning myself into the creator's subordinate god. That status should be high enough and can directly extinguish the thought of fighting against me from everyone's mind."
Hars asked, "Then, how are you going to make the people think of you as a god?"
"First, I'll spread the story of how, under the order of the creator, I have descended from the sky to lead mankind into prosperity after defeating the tyrant. Then, we'll use miracles that can't be explained by mortals to make them accept me as a god."
Lacius grinned while pointing at some finished potions stored in the laboratory, "Furthermore we already have a suitable miracle ready for use."
"As long as I played it right, these potions are enough for me to make most people believe I am a god!"
Then Lacius rubbed his chin. "Also, to differentiate me from the god of creation, let's call me the god of alchemy, a subordinate god of the creator that has been ordered to spread the knowledge of alchemy."
Hars asked. "Are you really going to spread the knowledge about alchemy to the people?"
Lacius nodded, "Of course. This is actually one of the most important steps. Just like how the creator is said to be the one granting everyone blessings and allowing humans to control the force of nature. I'll be the god of alchemy that introduces a power that comes from studying nature so even normal humans can control a power similar to blessed."
"But, we'll only introduce the formula for simple alchemical potions like basic healing potions. With the buffer time due to the lack of alchemy materials that can be used for training, I believe we can constantly be several steps ahead of every alchemist in the world."
Hars nodded and fell into thought. After a minute, he said, "If you truly want to be the god of alchemy that introduced a power from studying nature, I suggest we better not limit alchemy to potions."
"For example, just like what Yuma has once mentioned while talking about alchemy. We can also include the study of changing the properties of items into alchemy. After all, the grander your achievement is, the more awe those people should have."
Lacius asked, "You mean like how the genius from Red Leaf City crafted glasses, mirrors, and wine from different materials?"
Hars nodded, "indeed."
Lacius rubbed his chin, "But many people already knew those items like papers, pens, glasses, and others were invented by Yuma, Tsukiko, or Kame from Red Leaf City."
"Just say you're the one who has granted the inspiration to craft those items to them. Thanks to Miss Tsukiko's hard work, everyone knew that the creator god had often sent oracles to humans. So, as the god of alchemy, you should also be able to do the same thing."
Lacius is pretty convinced. But he still asked an important question. "Then, what if someone questioned why am I not the one to introduce it if I am the god of alchemy? Why must I send an oracle to another person?"
Hars smiled mysteriously. "That's when we'll borrow the word from the sacred scripture that Miss Tsukiko has created, and reply to it with - the gods always work in mysterious ways - and shut everyone."
"After all, you're the one that spreads the most important knowledge about basic healing potions that will allow normal people to utilize power equal to a blessed."
Lacius thought about it and felt some of Hars's plan could be used. So, he nodded to show his agreement.
Then, the two of them continued to discuss the plan to make everyone believe Lacius is a god.
***
Meanwhile, in the Divine Space.
While Lacius and Hars discuss their plan, all Cedric can do is scratch his head while applauding at just how awesome both of their brains are wired. The way they think is unlike normal creatures at all.
When people seek higher status, normally they'll try to get an achievement or something similar. But this guy immediately decided he wants to be a frickin god!
Cedric continued to retort Lacius's ridiculous idea in his mind before pausing and asked the System. "Hey, this won't cause any problem right?"
"I've read some fantasy novels where the main character is a god of something and can strengthen their power by gathering believers. Lacius won't suddenly turn into a god from gathering beliefs right?
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[...]
Seeing the System only responded with ellipses, Cedric's body tensed slightly. "Why the ellipses? Will what Lacius do cause me trouble?"
[No. It shouldn't cause any trouble. The current amount of people in your world isn't enough yet.]
Cedric relaxed his tense muscles upon seeing the System's first sentence. But the second sentence made Cedric confused.
"Why do you suddenly mention there aren't enough people in my world?"
[The System can't give further details as you haven't met the condition to receive basic information regarding the general energy.]
Cedric looked at the System's replies and became speechless.
Although the System said it won't give any further details. But, what it says is already enough for him to conclude something. "Does the nonsense I previously spew is actually true, or at least contain some truth?"
[The System can't give further details as you haven't met the condition to receive basic information regarding the general energy.]
Cedric continued to ask, 'Is it possible for someone to turn into a god from gathering believers?"
[The System can't give further details as you haven't met the condition to receive basic information regarding the general energy.]
Unwilling to lose against the System, Cedric keeps asking, "Are beliefs a general energy?"
[The System can't give further details as you haven't met the condition to receive basic information regarding the general energy.]
After that, Cedric continued asking several more questions. But no matter what question he asked, the System seemed to break down and always replied with the same answer.
At last, Cedric decided to give up testing the System.
Although it always replied to his questions with the same answers. At least Cedric already knew that Lacius's plan to become a god wouldn't cause any trouble to his world.
The System's seemingly intentional blunder has also allowed him to find a clue regarding another general energy after virtuous energy.
Although he still hasn't understood how to fully utilize virtuous energy. But as people said, the more the merrier. The more general energy he has under his belt, the better it is.
Anyway, the gains from conversing with the System have already satisfied him. So, Cedric once again focused his attention on Lacius and sent his mental power to observe the situation in Winter City's palace.
In the Crystal Cube world, Lacius has long since finished discussing his plan together with Hars and began to take action.
Using his status as the king of the Sacred Kingdom, Lacius ordered the creator god's temple in many cities to be repaired and sent some manpower to take over those temples.
Once he had finished the preparation, Lacius placed Hars as the high priest of the temple and helped him solidify his status as the high priest.
Although there is opposition from most priests, the current temple isn't the same as the one during Tsukiko's time where their power is equal to two or three cities combined.
When he saw some priests' resistance, Lacius took a heavy handed measure and expelled or assassinated them while slowly filling the temple with his trusted subordinates.
He also added the children with earth or water element blessings that he had gathered previously to be a member of the temple knight.
As the knight under the temple's control, those children will be required to kill some demons that threaten human civilization.
Although the training method he shared can indeed increase their level and even help them break through the limit of their own potential. Lacius knew that increasing one's own power through killing demons is much faster in the early stage.
Under the lead of several strong blessed, those children are sent to hunt for demons while spreading the temple's name.
After doing all that, many people have taken notice of Lacius's action. But, most of them decided to only silently watch the situation.
The warning Cedric gave to those high ranking humans still caused everyone to rethink every step they took, just in case they accidentally caused an irreparable problem and attracted Cedric's punishment.
The lack of intervention from others is also exactly what Lacius needed.
With the temple completely under his control, Lacius began to allow it to encroach into the kingdom's decision making.
Whether it's the Winter City or other cities, traces of the temple's influence are slowly but surely growing.
While the temple's influence keeps on growing, Lacius and Hars spend their time researching a healing potion that's cheap enough to make and merely requires basic technique.
This potion will be one of his main weapons to stabilize his status as a god in the hearts of civilians.
Previously, Tsukiko has gathered close to half of the healers in the Sacred Kingdom and several doctors to open many clinics to heal the people. Which should be one of the reasons the temple she leads can reach such a high level of influence.
Using those cheap potions, Lacius basically wanted to repeat Tsukiko's technique. But this time he'll be depending on the miracle-like healing potions instead of healers and doctors.
***
Amidst his research, three years unknowingly passed.
At this time, the influence of the temple in the Sacred Kingdom had reached an extremely high level.
At the same time, the four substitute city lords felt something was wrong and quickly gathered their courage to pressure Lacius into returning the city lord for the last time. But, all they received was a cold shoulder from Lacius as he answered with a seemingly logical excuse.
Lacius's response caused the substitute city lords to be dissatisfied. Most of them even suspected the city lord had long been killed by Lacius.
This made the four city lords band together and gather their own army once more.
But this time, they won't forcefully conscript nor gather food from the civilians in fear of punishment from the creator.
Amidst that turbulence, Lacius and Hars have finally completed the formula for the cheapest healing potions they can make.
The ingredients required to craft the potions mostly consisted of normal plants, with a bit of low leveled magical beast's blood and a low leveled magic plant as the main ingredients.
Although the effect of those healing potions is even weaker than the weakest healer. But, the sheer amount of potions that can be produced in a day is enough to make Lacius to ignore that weakness.
Now, as long as he can monopolize the main ingredient of that potion, the cheap healing potion will be the miracle granted by the god of alchemy that he just made up for the temple.
After close to two months, the city lord has almost finished gathering resources and people to start the war.
Inside the laboratory in Winter City's palace, the originally empty laboratory has been filled with people.
Except for Lacius and Hars, there are now eight additional children. The youngest is only fifteen years old, while the oldest has just recently turned nineteen.
After Lacius decided to spread the name of alchemy, he has chosen some of the children that he had brainwashed as subordinates and taught them how to craft some alchemy potions.
Together with Hars, he imbued the idea that he is a god who has brought the gift of alchemy to mankind in those children.
Within less than two months, those children's love for alchemy and awe of Lacius can be seen increasing at an alarming speed.
Their knowledge about alchemy has also reached a point he is satisfied with.
Seeing how those children can already be of use, Lacius decided to launch his plan.
Before the city lords decided to start an all out war and cut off any connection with the Sacred Kingdom and the temple he had planted in their city. He decided to spread his name as the god of alchemy and started a plan to raise his status to a greater height.
Lacius motioned to everyone who was busy crafting potions, "Stop crafting those potions. I want you to start the plan we've prepared before those city lords could launch a war.
Hars and the children nodded. They quickly finished crafting the potions in their hand before storing them in a container.
Lacius said, "Hars, you'll handle one city alone. Bring an earth element blessed and two sculptors to proceed with the plan."
Then Lacius looked at the eight children, "The eight of you will spread into three groups and visit the temple in the remaining three cities. Like Hars, each group will be accompanied by a strong earth element blessed and two sculptors."
Lacius stared at them with a deadpan expression. "I want you to bring glory to my name and make the miracle I granted be known far and wide."
They excitedly nodded their head and brought several containers and filled them with healing potions and ingredients required to do alchemy.
Mounting those containers on their horses, Hars and the children exited Winter City with their companion and traveled toward the four city lord's cities.
As for Lacius, he also didn't rest and began to concoct alchemy potions while occasionally checking the war preparation.
Whether transporting excess food from other cities as rations, or gathering well bodied men as soldiers. The amount of time required to make the preparation has greatly increased because of Cedric's warning.
Although Lacius felt he had been slightly more favored by the creator than the others. But he won't dare to take a bet and test the creator's bottom line.
***
By the time Hars arrives inside Brown Oak city, one of the cities whose city lord has prepared for war. He went straight toward the temple together with the high leveled earth element blessed and the sculptors that accompanied him.
Once all of them arrived in the temple, Hars warmly greeted the priests that met him before stopping one of the priests he's familiar with. "Please ask some people to bring the containers placed in the horses to my room. Remind them to do it gently, otherwise the thing inside will break."
The priest nodded his head rapidly, "Yes, high priest."
Leaving the priests to unload his containers filled with potions, Hars went towards the main hall.
Looking at a five meter tall statue of the creator enshrined at the end of the hall, Hars ordered the earth element blessed and sculptor next to him. "There are three four meter tall blocks of marble that have been prepared. I want you to build a statue of His Majesty the king according to the previous design within three days. The statue will be three meter tall and placed next to the creator's statue."
One of the middle aged sculptors who has some white beard gently combed his beard while looking at the lifelike statue of Cedric that's also made of marbles.
When he heard Hars's request, the middle aged sculptor shook his head. "It's impossible to make a lifelike one within a month. Let alone three days."
"I don't need a lifelike statue. As long as people know it's His Majesty the king, then it's enough. Just do as best as you can for three days" Hars said.
He then looked at the earth element blessed, "Furthermore we have a high level earth element blessed to help you with the sculpting. He'll listen to the two master's requests."
The earth element blessed with a huge build smiled at the two sculptors. "The two masters can depend on me."
The two sculptors paused and began calculating in their mind, then both of them discussed with each other for a minute before nodding.
The white bearded middle aged sculptor gently slapped the earth element blessed in his back. "Then what're you waiting for? Quickly help us bring the three marble block."
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The earth element blessed nodded and went towards the room where the marble is stored. He controlled the floor under the marble to envelop the bottom part of the marble to make sure it won't accidentally fall. Then, he controlled the ground under the marble to move toward the hall.
With his ability, the marble glided through the floor as if it's ice.
Once the marble arrived next to Cedric's statue, the two sculptors pointed at many parts of the marble block, "Help us make a rough outline."
The earth element blessed wiped the sweat on his forehead and began using his ability on the marble to create some crack following the two sculptor's commands.
Seeing the three of them are already getting busy, Hars left the hall while checking the container that's currently unloaded.
Hars accompanied the people that's holding his containers into a room in the temple and checked the things held inside.
After taking away the cottons that work as cushions for the potion bottles inside the container, Hars found that two potions had shattered.
Luckily he has brought close to a hundred cheap healing potions and many processed potions ingredients.The two cracked bottles won't cause too much problem nor delay the plan.
While Hars checked the status of the temple while listening to the report regarding the city lord's movement, he told the priests under him to proceed with the plan to introduce the god of alchemy to the people. "Spread the word, in three days the god of alchemy shall grant their miracles in this temple."
Those priests have been warned ahead about the god of alchemy and his miracle. So, they aren't too shocked by what Hars said.
Instead, they began to methodically spread the news of a god's miracle throughout the city.
Three days after Hars arrived in Brown Oak city, he checked the progress of Lacius's statue and praised the two sculptors and the earth element blessed.
Although not as lifelike as the creator's statue. The statue depicting Lacius still has a lot of resemblance to him even though some details are a bit blurry.
'Let's proceed with the next step.' Hars exited the hall and saw many people had gathered in front of the temple.
Without much nonsense, he asked several priests to bring people that had some injuries on their body.
From hunters that have just been injured during a hunt to guards that have been injured from stopping magical beasts from entering the city, Hars brought them to stand above a platform in front of the temple.
Seeing the injuries on those people, Hars thought, 'Luckily not all people blessed with healing power are as selfless as granny Maude and Rinya.'
'The only blessed with healing power in this city should be under the command of the city lord and has only healed the city lord's subordinates. Otherwise there wouldn't be this many people with light injuries that the potions can work with.'
When there were already dozens of people, he stopped the priest from pulling more people and brought several potions. "The god shall show their miracle."
He applied those potions on their wounds, and soon all of the wounds began to heal.
To achieve a better effect, Hars has even pulled an expensive healing potion to heal a guard whose arms seems to have been bitten by a beast.
After many people had seen how Hars healed wounds without using blessed powers, he shouted, "The god of alchemy has descended into the world and took the form of His Majesty Lacius to bring a new dawn on this world."
"Not being blessed isn't the end. Under the creator's will, the god of alchemy has taken pity on the humans and taught the art of the gods, alchemy, to us!...." Hars continued his passionate speech for a few minutes and left.
Before leaving, Hars shouted, "Spread the word! The temple will accept a few chosen people to receive the blessing from the god of alchemy and study the art of alchemy. Those interested may talk to the priests in the temple"
Once he exited the spotlight, Hars reminded a priest that has long become his subordinate, "Proceeds according to the plan, try to prioritize accepting doctors and hunters with experiences. Except for those two, focus on children with a certain education level. Teaching this group of people will be easier and will show results faster."
The priest in charge of accepting people nodded his head as Hars continued, "Tomorrow morning, gather the people that met the criteria in the temple's back garden."
Once the priest left, Hars switched his attention toward the hall where Cedric and Lacius's statue was erected. In the previously empty hall, many people who already accepted Lacius as the god of alchemy have begun their prayer.
Upon seeing it, he knew this part of the plan had been completed. After praying in front of Cedric's statue for a moment, Hars returned to his room.
Now, he needs to prepare for the next part of the plan to teach the selected people knowledge about alchemy.
When the next day arrived, Hars entered the temple's back garden together with a few priests and the earth element blessed he brought from Winter City. There, he saw twenty people of varying age and gender.
Twelve of them are tanned male with many wounds on their body, while six are teenagers wearing expensive looking clothes. Those teens should be children of someone rich or a noble's child.
Except for them, there is a pair of elderly couples wearing plain white robes. A faint smell of herbs can be smelled from them.
As someone whose body has also been filled with smells of herbs from doing alchemy, Hars is familiar with the smell those two exudes. 'They should be the doctor that has been successfully recruited.'
Standing in front of them, Hars smiled, "Greetings, I have arrived here to share the miracle that has been granted by the god of alchemy, His Majesty Lacius, to mankind."
After his greeting, Hars immediately went into action and pulled a knife to open a large wound on his hips. He even widened it with his knife while gritting his teeth and let a few groans escape his mouth.
Ignoring the surrounding people's bewildered and shocked look, Hars allowed the blood to drop out of his hips before pouring the most powerful healing potion he had.
While most of the teenager's faces paled upon looking at such a wound, the tan skinned hunters and pair of doctors focused on the wound in Hars's hips.
Not long after the potions are applied to that wound, the deep wound quickly heals while leaving only a small scratch that soon closes.
While the priests next to him are wiping the blood on Hars's hip. He drank a health nurturing potion and his skin that has turned pale from blood loss immediately regained its vigor.
Seeing such a miracle, the twenty people in front of him are in awe. Especially since most of them knew that high priest Hars is someone who has been blessed with water element power instead of healing power.
That means the wound has been healed because of the potions in Hars's hand!
Although most of them had seen the miracle yesterday, seeing it at such a close distance still amazed them.
Soon, everyone became excited at the notion of receiving a blessing from the god of alchemy and being able to create similar miraculous potions.
Hars saw everyone is already convinced. But he still pulled another potion from his pocket and called a priest. "Bring the things I've requested here."
The priest nodded and immediately left the garden.
While the priest exited the room, Hars spoke to the people in front of him, "Everyone will soon accept the blessing from the god of alchemy. But you must understand that the power of alchemy isn't only limited to healing."
The priest soon returned while being accompanied by three blessed. Each of the three blessed held a living boar that has been tied with vine.
While the three blessed brought them, the boar kept on struggling to escape while letting out many weird screams.
Hars pointed at an empty space and told the blessed to place the boar there.
While the boar are moving around trying to free themself from the vine's restraints. Hars threw the potion in his hand into the boar.
The glass bottle shattered upon impact and caused the contents within to spill on the ground nearby the three boar.
After breathing a few times, those boar stopped struggling and their breathing turned calm.
Seeing everyone's curious look, Hars explained, "That is the sleeping potions that can cause creature who inhaled them to enter a state of sleep"
Then, Hars took another flask of potion that has a cloth extending from it's mouth.
After creating a flame by knocking two stones, Hars burned the cloth that extended from the potion flask before throwing it at the boar a few meters away.
The moment the bottle shattered, a burst of flame appeared and burnt the boar.
As the boar is currently asleep after inhaling the sleeping potions, they silently get burned without much resistance.
By the time they wake up from the pain, those boars can do nothing but scream and die.
Amidst the boar's dying scream, Hars explained. "The last potion I threw is called fire potion."
If one of the transmigrators saw it, they'd definitely roll their eyes and scream 'Molotov!' upon seeing the fire potion that Hars had thrown.
This fire potion is Hars's own achievement and also his masterpiece in the study of alchemy.
Unlike Lacius who focused on potions that's related to the body for the sake of achieving eternal life. Hars focused more on creating powerful force through the use of alchemy.
Hars knew that unlike Lacius, he didn't have such a strong wish to achieve eternal life. What he wanted is simply to make sure Lacius is safe and happy.
Shaking his head gently to discard his useless thought, Hars summoned a ball of water and extinguished the fire that had burned the boars.
After the demonstration was completed, Hars told a few priests to bring alchemy materials he had brought and began to explain the method of doing alchemy.
"Alchemy is the art of the gods that mortals may mimic by studying the things in natures…" While explaining, Hars has also crafted a healing potion on the spot. His smooth and delicate movement amazed even the pair of old doctors who had been involved with medicines for a long time.
After Hars finished concocting the healing potion, he asked. "Does anyone have a question?"
Everyone looked thoughtful before an old feminine voice sounded.
Hars turned his head and heard the old female doctor ask, "The sleeping potions that the high priest previously threw. Is it created by using Lullaby Flower?"
This time, it's Hars's turn to be surprised. He didn't expect that someone could actually guess the main material for sleeping potion just from his explanation.
The Lullaby Flower that the female doctor mentioned is a precious magical plant with the effect of causing sleepiness upon being eaten. It's also the main material for the sleeping potions that Lacius often created.
Hars quickly calmed down from his surprise and began thinking.
He knew that it's not like no one has ever thought of using magical plants found in the wilderness to concoct a medicine. But the difficulty of gathering those magical herbs is incredibly high.
Furthermore, even when eaten raw, those herbs also have their own magical effect like warming the body or increasing their stamina for a short time. So, they're extremely precious.
Those facts make anyone unwilling to waste so much money and energy by using precious plants on an experiment that might not even bear fruit.
Only Lacius, who has the power of an entire kingdom is mad enough to collect magical ingredients from every part of the kingdom for an alchemy experiment.
So once the people who often concoct medicines like these female doctors knew about alchemy, they indeed should be able to guess some things.
After a short moment of silence, Hars contemplated his choices and how to respond to the question.
He didn't let them wait for long and quickly came to a decision.
The first step he took will be to praise that woman and set her ability to know it as a blessing from the god of alchemy that Lacius has made up.
So, while nodding several times toward the female doctor, Hars said in appreciation. "As expected of someone that has entered the god's sight, you should be incredibly talented in alchemy."
Then, he replied to her question in a calm voice. "The sleeping potion indeed used Lullaby Flower as its main ingredients. It is one of the potions that has been recently invented after His Majesty Lacius, the god of alchemy, has granted the miracle of alchemy."
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In his mind, Hars can only hope his explanation is good enough and this doctor will still accept alchemy as a real miracle that can be studied due to the grace of the god of alchemy.
Otherwise he might need to dispose of a talent like her, which is such a pity.
After all, Lacius's goal is to be accepted as a god by the people. For it to be achieved, every person needs to accept alchemy as a miracle from the god and retain their awe to him.
***
Inside the Divine Space, Cedric already knew a bit about Lacius's plan since he discussed it with Hars a few months ago. But that doesn't stop his bewilderment upon seeing Hars who seems to be selling snake oils to the people.
The scene yesterday when the people in Brown Oak City actually took the bait and began to worship Lacius as the god of alchemy is already beyond the limit of what Cedric can understand.
"The humans here are utterly insane!" Cedric said while his mouth was twitching uncontrollably.
Then the System chimed in.
[Yeah, just like their creator.]
Hearing the System's word, Cedric wanted to get angry. But he recalled something and soon smiled, "Are you trying to make fun of me?"
"It seems you forgot that you're the one creating the humans in my world. Previously, all I did was give my GP and let you create those humans. So if their creator is insane, then the crazy one here is you!" Cedric grinned.
He finally got the chance to one up the System after being verbally abused for a long time.
[...]
[The System indeed forgot about it. Most of the gods usually won't purchase any humans from the system store. Only a phony god like you actually bought one from the store.]
[Anyway, the humans the System created have a normal and sound mind. If you think the humans in your world are crazy, that must be from the influence of your intervention.]
Cedric rolled his eyes and continued his useless banter with the System.
Even as a god with the ability to check on the events in his world. Staying in the Divine Space alone is pretty boring sometimes. So, Cedric is glad the System existed as someone he can chat with.
Of course that doesn't mean he'll be nice to it. That blue floating shiet has been taking a jab at him every chance it got. It's rare for it to take such a massive blunder.
Now that he thinks about it, didn't the System introduce itself as the embodiment of the universe's will?
At first he truly believed it. But the longer he talked with the system, the more he felt that might be nonsense the System just randomly spouted.
[Whether you believe it or not is up to you.]
The sudden appearance of a screen shocked him.
"Privacy please! Has your parents never taught you to respect others privacy?!" Cedric said while waving his hand on the blue floating screen in attempt to close it. Of course it's all for naughty as his hand simply pass through them.
[The System never met its parent.]
'Oops.' The System's answers make Cedric feel quite awkward. "Sorry about it."
[Apologies not accepted. Please purchase a Divine Item worth 100 GP to heal the pain that you have just inflicted to the System's fragile heart.]
The guilt Cedric felt immediately disappears upon seeing the System's response.
After this banter, Cedri felt his need for social activities has been fulfilled. Now he felt he can return to be a NEET stalker god and continue following the creatures in his world.
With his new found enthusiasm after one upping the System once. Cedric silently observed the humans and found the situation in the Sacred Kingdom has been advancing rapidly.
After Hars began to train natives in Brown Oak city about alchemy while spreading the god of alchemy's glory. The other eight children Lacius sent have also started the plans and successfully implanted the existence of the god of alchemy to the people.
With the power of beliefs, healing potions, and the hope of being granted a divine blessing from the god of alchemy. Soon, most of the people in those four cities have already accepted the story that Lacius is the god of alchemy as a fact.
While things seem to proceed smoothly for Lacius's group. The four city lords finally finished their preparation and officially launched an attack on Lacius.
Every city has successfully gathered three hundred fully armed armies. In total, the four city's army has a combined might of one thousand and two hundred soldiers. Among them, ten percent are blessed with various abilities.
Actually, the number of blessed under the four city lord's direct command is only half the amount.
But they knew that Lacius's army had a lot of blessed, which is why the four cities willingly spent a lot of money to invite some blessed from other cities.
Once the army from the four cities had been deployed, news soon spread that their city lord had started a war against Lacius.
When the news arrived to the civilians in those cities, everyone soon entered a riot. Everyone felt their city lord had just blasphemed against a god by attacking him.
Although Lacius has just spread his existence as the god of alchemy recently. But the miracles he has shown are innumerable and his kindness has been accepted by the people.
As the riot that started from simple criticism against the city lord slowly turned into a serious upheaval, Cedric decided to make a move.
In the Divine Space, Cedric immediately took his [Divine Intervention: Word] and sent nine warnings.
One of the warnings went to Lacius, four went to the city lords that had gathered their armies, while the remaining four were sent to the people with highest status in the four city's temples.
Inside Brown Oak city.
While Hars has just completed his daily prayer and arrived at his room to study alchemy. A screen appeared in front of him.
Written in a language he had never seen before, Hars found he somehow understood the meaning of the unknown word.
[Restore order and stop misery from spreading in the world.]
Hars opened his eyes wide upon seeing the message. "Hars has met the creator and has received your will."
Then, he looked thoughtful, 'Is this a warning from the creator? Perhaps it's the right moment to start Plan 21.'
Hars exited his room and gathered the priests in the temple.
Once they had gathered, he commanded them, "Send a messenger to the city lords alliance and ask them to cease their attack against His Majesty Lacius. In exchange, we'll stop the riot from happening in the city. Also sent a messenger to the three other cities to ensure the people in those temples knew about the change of plan."
Then he turned toward another group of priests and commanded "Go and calm down the chaos inside the city. Don't completely stop it but don't let the situation turn worse. Simply follow the rules and punish everyone who tried to take advantage of the chaos to do unsightly things."
When most of the priests had left, Hars sighed.
At first he wanted to wait and see the chaos happening in the city. At that time, the city lord will be too busy calming down their own city and will be unable to launch any attack for a long time.
With that spare time, they should be able to finish the last step of their plan and allow Lacius to be acknowledged as a god by every human in the world.
Once that happens, his mission is complete and both he and Lacius will be able to gather resources without a care in the world. At that time, Lacius's chance of achieving his dream will increase by a miniscule amount.
What a pity, the creator's sudden order has disrupted the plan.
Luckily Lacius has expected an intervention from the creator and prepared multiple plans in case they actually hit the creator's bottom line while implementing one of the steps.
Now the expected warning has occurred, Hars simply needs to follow the plan and hope no more surprises will happen. Otherwise, they'll waste too much time on this mess and it'll become a loss.
Inside the Divine Space, Cedric watched the situation in the Sacred Kingdom while sitting on the edge of his seat.
Another war has almost happened and this time involving a lot more lives and powerful creatures.
If NE gathered due to this war, who knows just how powerful the new demon king will be.
If it's only at level 2, he can still try to bribe Yuma to help him clean the mess.
But if the NE somehow spawned a demon king at level 3 or above. Then he'll need to waste his GP and summon another hero with higher talent or push Yuma to level up and reach the limit of his potential.
If he's lucky and found a suitable hero, then that means he'll need to waste at least 200 GP for a visa and to summon the hero to his world.
If he's unlucky and an accident happens once more or he fails to find a hero with a high potential level, then the cost might inflate even further.
Cedric simply wished the Sacred Kingdom could split into several kingdoms without causing NE to gather and create a demon king.
Thankfully, after Cedric sent the warnings, he found out the city lord alliance had entered a dilemma and debated whether to continue the fight or give up.
When the debate between the city lords was at its most intense moment, a few messengers arrived to inform the city lord regarding the chaos happening in their cities.
Not long after those messengers arrived, the messengers from Hars followed suit. The moment they arrived, they immediately informed the city lords of Hars's intent.
Although it pains them that the money spent to gather the army has been wasted without seeing their enemy's forces. The creator's warning and the danger of their cities have forced them to return.
Once the city lords separated and returned to their respective cities to calm down the riot in their cities, Lacius also returned to Winter City.
When Cedric saw it, he immediately celebrated his success instopping the war.
Walking outside the house he created in the Divine Space, Cedric used his power to create several gigantic fireworks.
For a whole hour, the sky was full of blooming fireworks before Cedric felt tired and changed it into auroras that spanned the whole sky above the Divine Space.
He silently gazed at the aurora before dispersing them and returning the sky in Divine Space to normal.
With a more relaxed feeling, Cedric once again observed the situation in the Crystal Cube world with his mental power.
Following Lacius with his mental power, Cedric saw him returning to the palace in Winter City.
While the four cities are still in chaos, Lacius sent three messengers to inform the eight childrens he has sent to spread the glory of the god of alchemy in the four cities.
He ordered five of them to return to Winter City together with the high leveled earth element blessed and the sculptors that had accompanied them.
Once they arrived in Winter City, Lacius let them rest for a day before assigning each child to visit the temples in the five remaining cities and spread his glory.
Just like before, they're accompanied by a pair of sculptors he has invited from the city and earth element blessed. But now instead of being guarded by a single high leveled earth element blessed, Lacius sent ten blessed led by a Level 1 blessed.
Now, every team consisted of a child that have learned alchemy, two sculptors, one Level 1 blessed, and 10 Level 0 blessed
He added ten more blessed to the group because he expected that it'll be more difficult for this group of people to spread his name in the remaining five cities.
After all, the city lords there have already seen the chaos in the four city alliance because they ignored the spread of the god of alchemy's existence.
If it's him, he'll definitely try some trick to stop the temple's influence from increasing even further.
That's why he decided to increase the number of blessed guarding the group visiting those cities.
Unless they're incredibly useless, this amount of force should be enough to handle most problems.
And just like Lacius expected. The moment the group that's going to spread the name of alchemy arrived at their destination, some of them immediately met with trouble.
Among them, three city lords accepted the change silently. River Stone city which is the headquarters of the temple and also Lacius's hometown are among them.
As for the remaining two, the city lord tried to stop the beliefs of the god of alchemy by using tricks to discredit the temple and even attempted to suppress the temple with force.
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But thanks to the trick Lacius learned after studying Tsukiko's means, he has learned some methods to manipulate public opinions and incite chaos, which he taught to the group of childrens.
The two groups that met with resistance immediately used the tricks and caused the civilians in those cities to fall into two camps. One camp supported the god of alchemy, while the other thought Lacius was just a heretic trying to defile the title of a god.
With the group and some people from the temple adding fuel, the people from different camps began to dislike each other.
This causes the city to fall into turmoil as fights occurs everyday.
Even while purchasing vegetables, the vegetable seller might ask which camp you're in and decline to trade with you upon realizing you're in a different camp.
Situations like that aren't isolated as the amount of similar cases keeps on increasing each day.
The mess has caused trades to get lower and made the city lord's balding line move even backward.
After a few days of struggle, the city lord finally surrendered and acknowledged the god of alchemy. Even so, the situation in their city will still take time to calm down.
***
Inside the Divine Space, Cedric looked at the events happening in utter speechlessness.
He must say Lacius's method is incredible.
Just by learning some tricks Tsukiko used, he somehow created a method to sow discord and cause two cities to fall into turmoil.
If Lacius isn't too focused on seeking eternal life, Cedric believes he can stabilize the situation in the Sacred Kingdom after spending enough time.
What a pity that Lacius felt managing the kingdom and doing a thorough reform is a waste of time and he has been focusing on a way to attain eternal life.
Cedric shook his head and stopped thinking about Lacius.
Instead, he now focused his attention on the table next to him.
On it lies a small octahedron crystal that has lost its luster.
He actually has many similar empty crystals which is the waste result from Divine Items he has used. But this one is different from the others.
Previously, when Lacius was spreading the name of the god of alchemy, Cedric decided to lend a helping hand while also experimenting with a divine item he had been curious about.
At that time, he purchased one [Divine Intervention: Urge] for 10 GP.
[Level 4 Consumable Divine Item, Divine Intervention: Urge.
Cost: 10 GP
Details: Give a creature the urge to do something. The complicatedness of the urge is limited. There is a certain chance for the target to ignore this urge. The higher the item's level, the more complicated the urge that can be set and the more irresistible it is.]
He is curious about how powerful and in what kind of form the urge takes shape.
So before the people Lacius sent had reached the city. Cedric has targeted one of the city lords that he felt would greatly resist the change Lacius created and urged him to accept it.
He doesn't know what kind of mental gymnastics that happened in the city lord's head after he used [Divine Intervention: Urge} on them. But the result must be said to be utterly terrifying.
The city lord who is initially extremely against the spread of the god of alchemy quickly turned sides and silently accepted it. This [Divine Intervention: Urge] is also the reason why only two city lords resisted the temple's movement.
Compared to other divine intervention items, which only allow him to talk with creatures in his world. The effect of [Divine Intervention: Urge] is more akin to a subtle but forceful mind control.
Every time he remembered the city lord who felt the idea to cease his resistance came from himself, Cedric couldn't help but feel guilty.
To stop feeling guilty, Cedric switched his focus on another thing that's been tormenting him - His poverty.
Opening his status window, Cedric checked the details written in it.
[Name: Cedric Hills
Level: Pseudo Lesser Divinity (Actual level: 0)
Law: None.
World: Crystal Cube World
World Level: 1
World's Average Potential: Lower Level 0
GP: 12.039
Annual GP income: 0.9]
Just like before, his GP has been constantly decreasing.
Not only his GP but also the amount of annual GP income he got has once decreased by 0.1 GP a few years since the demon king's death.
He suspected the decrease in annual GP was caused by the decrease in the amount of demons and their strength. Which in result affected the average level of creatures in his world
Luckily the amount of annual GP income slowly increased until it reached 0.9 GP.
If this goes on, Cedric believes once the people who have learned the training method begin to die off, the amount of annual income he has might reach 1 GP or even above.
Once he has 1GP annual income or even more. Then, each hero summoning will only cost him less than 100 years of income!
Such growth makes Cedric feel a bit happy.
The amount might still be far from being able to return his 100.000 GP debt, but that's still a small step forward.
While a smile slowly crept on his face from imagining a bright future with a lot of GP, the System chimed in.
[Sorry to burst your bubble. But the System forgot to mention something. For Level 1 World, the maximum amount of GP that can be annually converted by a world is only 1 GP. Once your annual income reaches 1 GP, any extra death won't cause your world's annual GP to increase unless your world leveled up.]
"Huh?" It took a moment for Cedric to process the information he had just received.
The moment his brain understood what the System meant, the smile on his face began to twist.
When the System saw Cedric's expression that looks like he was getting constipated, it continued.
[Don't take it to heart. With your world's current progress, the System expects it to reach Level 2 within less than 1.000 years. Which is counted extremely fast among every world in the universe. Which is why you have been included among the list of potential high level customers.]
[Once your world reaches Level 2, the maximum amount of annual GP that can be processed by your world will increase to 10 GP. Once your income reaches 10 GP per year, that means you'll only need 10.000 years to repay your debt!]
Cedric felt his liver hurt from hearing the System's word. He regrets recalling his poverty as the System actually took his weakness to deliver a killing blow.
Not in the mood to do anything else, Cedric checked the situation in the Crystal Cube world.
Amidst the chaos caused by Lacius spreading the name of the god of alchemy, every city tried its best to calm down the turmoil while keeping an eye on Lacius or the temple's movements.
Every city lord, especially the four city lords that have tried to attack Lacius, is afraid that he might take this moment to carry out an attack or further worsen the situation.
But unexpectedly, Lacius has been silent the whole time, while the temple simply focused on spreading the name of alchemy toward smaller villages.
At most, they'll receive a request to send magical plants and other precious resources as tributes to the king.
When a few months passed, yet Lacius hadn't made any other moves, the four city lords calmed down and prepared another scheme to avenge the city lord before them. Which they suspected to have been killed by Lacius.
As a simple civilization whose history hasn't even lasted for two hundred years, the scheme those city lords could concoct is quite crude.
They simply gathered another army to launch an attack toward him. But this time, they gathered it in a slightly more subtle way.
Nevertheless, such a huge movement is still detected by the people in their city.
Before they could even gather enough resources and people. The civilians who overheard their city lord's plan to attack the god began to riot.
It must be said that Lacius's idea to turn himself into a god has succeeded.
The civilians that have become believers of the god of alchemy have turned into a burden that blocked the city lord from attacking Lacius.
Meanwhile, as the eye of the storm. Lacius, who has completed most of his plan, has been busy with his experiment and recruiting some alchemists with high talent.
As a person who understands his own mediocrity, he knows the limitations of a single person more than anyone.
He knew that unlike Alan, who is a genius capable of creating a training method out of nothing. Or Tsukiko and Yuma, who could reach Level 2 simply by killing demons. His talent is simply average.
Even the only reason he could discover alchemy was due to multiple coincidences.
Whether it's the story about alchemy that he heard from Yuma, his status as a king that could make him to disregard the amount of resources consumed for experiments, or his will to achieve eternal life so he can remember every relative he has that has been killed by Gratian and let them life forever in his memory.
Every single thing contributed to his current achievement.
That's why Lacius has decided to take some genius alchemist to join his laboratory. Of course, he'll also test their loyalty first.
For those who failed his test or those without much talent. He planned simply left them in the temple to produce cheap alchemy potions or grow some magical plants that's used in alchemy.
Only those who successfully passed his tests will come with him to his laboratory in Winter City.
With that decision, Lacius traveled to the temple in every city.
Together with thirty blessed, Lacius left Winter City and began his journey.
In every city he visited, the civilians went festive while the city lords were tense and constantly full of sweat.
Luckily, Lacius didn't stay long in each city. He simply checked the temple, observed for a few days, before finally leaving the city with some people and the children that he had sent to spread the name of alchemy.
Just from how much the city lord has been sweating when Lacius stayed in their city, some city lords might have died from a heart attack if Lacius stayed any longer.
After three months of journey, he passes through Brown Oak city, which is his second last city to visit.
Bringing a few people and Hars to leave the city and join his group, Lacius visited another city before returning to Winter City.
By the time they returned to Winter City, the group that initially consisted of thirty people had doubled to more than sixty.
That too, is due to Lacius's decision to only bring the alchemist along.
If he has asked the blessed and sculptors that have been sent to sculpt his statue to join his group. The amount of people would've reached beyond 100, and rations will become a problem.
With the addition of twenty two alchemists, plus the children and Hars. Lacius found that the Laboratory he created actually wasn't wide enough.
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So he simply purchased more custom laboratory equipment from Red Leaf City, who has slowly become the center of commerce in the kingdom, and transformed a part of the palace into a laboratory.
It's not like alchemy is still a secret that can't see the light of the sun. Now that he has spread the existence of alchemy, he isn't too afraid of information leakage.
With a bigger alchemy laboratory, the people that have been recently introduced to alchemy excitedly played with the tools inside.
Among them are the old doctor couple who Hars met in Brown Oak city.
Compared with the other alchemist, the couple toyed around with the tools for a moment and quickly got a gist on how to use them.
Soon, everyone began to calm down and started their respective experiments.
While Lacius is busy managing the kingdom, doing alchemy experiments, training, and managing the new alchemist, a year has passed.
Among the alchemists Lacius has recruited, only the elderly doctor couple has successfully invented something.
They have discovered health nurturing potions with an even better effectiveness than the one Lacius has created. The potion they created through using rare herbs can allow even someone on their deathbed to regain some energy.
Although it didn't have the effect of extending lifespan like Lacius wanted. But, the effect of that potion is still powerful enough.
Lacius has seen the couple's talent and awarded them with the training method he has.
What a pity that the female doctor actually isn't a blessed, while the male doctor is only a low leveled wind element blessed.
He initially only wanted to grant them Alan's wind element method that can be practiced up to Peak Level 1 as a reward. But after he thought about it, Lacius decided to also give them the earth element method that can be practiced to Level 2.
The elderly couple thanked Lacius profusely, while he simply nodded before returning to his busy schedule.
The next time he heard something regarding the couple was when the female doctor died three years later.
After hosting the burial of that female doctor as his sign of respect, Lacius held a tube full of red colored liquids. It's a potion called strengthening potions, and also the masterpiece of that old doctor.
Although it uses extremely precious herbs to create. But, it also has an incredible effect of greatly increasing a normal person's strength to the point it could rival a newly awakened blessed with divine strength.
What a pity that it has no effect on someone at his level, whose body has been strengthened upon reaching Level 2.
Soon, Lacius returned to his daily schedule of endless training and managing things.
He only stopped one year later, when the old male doctor had also died from old age.
Unlike the female doctor, the old man doesn't leave any alchemical masterpiece. Instead, he has slightly optimized the wind element method that Lacius granted him.
After being optimized, the amount of mana that can be contained with each circulation slightly increases, which results in a slight increase in training speed.
With that optimized technique as a base, Lacius spared some time to optimize his earth element training method and Hars's water element training method into his already busy schedule.
Days turn to years as more and more people Lacius knew of kept on dying.
Even the nobles that often reported the kingdom's condition to him have all changed.
Every single one of them is unfamiliar faces, unlike the one he usually see when he first took the throne.
Just like that, more than fifteen years pass by in the blink of an eye.
This also marked the twentieth year since Lacius and Hars had reached Level 2.
After living for so long, Both Lacius and Hars knew they didn't have much time left. And this time, they won't be able to depend on raising their strength to increase their lifespan.
Both of them could feel their strength is still far from reaching the next level. Furthermore, there is still no news about Yuma nor anyone else who has reached the next level.
The situation is simply hopeless.
***
Inside the Divine Space, Cedric opened his Divine Sight and observed Lacius's status.
[Life Level: Mid Level 2
Potential: Peak Level 1]
Fifteen years since he reached Level 2, Lacius's Life level has actually risen by a small level and reached Mid Level 2. But, they've been stuck at Mid Level 2 since then.
If his training speed didn't increase any further, Lacius definitely won't have enough time to reach Level 3 before he runs out of lifespan.
Cedric has once asked the system regarding the amount of lifespan that can be increased upon reaching Level 2 in his world, and it said they'll only gain twenty years of additional lifespan.
That means, even without an accident, Lacius will only live for around ten more years. As for Hars, who is a few years older than Lacius, he can at most last for another one or two years. That too, thanks to the Lifespan Fruit he has given them.
It's not like Cedric hasn't tried to help them.
For the past few years. Except for observing the creatures in the Crystal Cube world, he has been spending time researching the training method for blessed with earth and water element power.
Yet even after so long, the most he could do is to increase the training speed by around 10% from the original method.
He has also searched through the Divine Items sold in the System and indeed found something that can increase Lacius and Hars's lifespan.
It's a Level 2 variant of the Lifespan fruit that he has purchased for Lacius and Hars before.
[Level 2 Consumable Divine Item, Lifespan Fruit.
Cost: 20 GP
Details: Increase lifespan by 2 years. Note: lifespan increasing items of the same level is only effective 3 times.]
Different from its Level 1 variant,. The Level 2 Lifespan Fruit can only be consumed by someone at level 2 to increase the user's lifespan by 2 years. It also cost 20 GP each, which is frickin expensive
Just like the Level 1 variant, a single creature can only consume 3 fruits.
That means Lacius can only increase his lifespan by 6 years. While Hars, who has only eaten 1 Level 1 Lifespan Fruit, can increase his lifespan by 8 years if Cedric decided to purchase 2 additional Level 1 Lifespan Fruit for him.
But after a simple calculation, Cedric knew that a few additional years won't be enough for them to reach Level 3. Which is why he decided not to waste his GP to share the slightly improved training method and Lifespan Fruits.
Although deep down, he disliked such a calculative method. But there is nothing that a poor wretch like him can do. Especially considering his 100.000 GP debt that must be repaid within 10.000 years.
So, he can only pray that some genius will somehow appear in the Crystal Cube world and create a new training method that'll allow Lacius to reach Level 3.
***
Inside the Crystal Cube world.
Lacius, Hars, and close to a hundred genius alchemists that Lacius has invited throughout the years are busy doing their own experiments in the palace that Lacius has turned into a laboratory.
In the midst of their experiments, Hars suddenly fell unconscious.
Lacius who saw it quickly approached him.
When he felt Hars's laborious breathing, Lacius fed him a few bottles of healing potions while shouting, "Call the healers to Hars's room! Some of you, come and help me bring Hars to his room!"
Although unwilling, hearing Lacius, the god of alchemy's command, the surrounding alchemist stopped their experiment and brought Hars to his room.