Chapter 39

Returning home, Jaeha smiled and played with the spirits. Then, through Ji Cheolmin, he procured various herbs and byproducts.

The ingredients weren’t just one or two kinds, and not all materials could be obtained right away, so it inevitably took quite some time.

Once he had gathered all the materials, Jaeha began the crafting process. A total of three things were required to create a homunculus.

‘First, the elixir. Second, the Philosopher’s Stone. And finally, the power and level of the spirits and the creator.’

And among those, aside from the elixir and the Philosopher’s Stone, the power and level of the spirits and the creator were already prepared.

So in the end, Jaeha had to make the elixir and the Philosopher’s Stone. The problem was that making those two was no easy task either.

The ingredients required were enormous, and even the slightest mistake would prevent a perfect product from coming out. And without a perfect product, the homunculus made using those two would naturally be impossible to create. That was why Jaeha was crafting the elixir with considerable focus.

“Hoo.”

As the first process—refining the blood of various monsters using the spirits’ energy—came to an end, Jaeha slowly loosened his tension-stiffened body.

Then he moved on to the second process. The second process was about removing impurities from the result of the first process, which involved using fire to burn them away.

Breathing in sync with the spirits, Jaeha cleared the impurities from the elixir and was able to complete it halfway.

Gazing at the breathtakingly beautiful blue elixir, Jaeha smiled. After resting for about 30 minutes, he immediately moved on to the final process.

The final process was combining numerous herbs into the half-finished elixir using the spirits’ power. As he melted the herbs into the half-finished blue elixir with the spirits’ power, the elixir’s color soon began to shift to red.

And when Jaeha, having poured all his energy into it, withdrew his hands, the now-red elixir burst with light for an instant.

[Congratulations. You have crafted an item.]

“Hoo.”

Realizing it was done, Jaeha relaxed his hands and checked the elixir.

[Elixir]

[Rank: Legendary]

[Upon consumption, increases lifespan by 50 years]

[0/3]

“Hm?”

The effect was far more impressive than he had expected. It extended a person’s lifespan by a whopping 50 years.

‘But what does that 3 at the bottom mean?’

<Probably the number of times.>

Just then, Salamander flew over to Jaeha and flopped down onto his head.

<Comfy.>

“Number of times?”

<Yeah. The elixir extends your lifespan, but there’s a limit on how many times you can drink it.>

“Ah, so one person can drink it up to 3 times, is that it?”

<Yeah. That’s right.>

At that, Jaeha nodded and looked at the elixir.

‘Honestly, it’s a bit disappointing, but if I ever need more, I can just make it again.’

Thinking that, Jaeha smiled and put the elixir into his Inventory. Then he began crafting the Philosopher’s Stone. He started preparing the ingredients from the ground up and finished the preparation before long.

Then he began compounding the ingredients using the spirits’ power. An enormous number of ingredients were fused into one over a long period with the spirits’ power. Once the compounding was done, Jaeha smiled and spoke.

“Alright. Let’s do it after a short break.”

<Okay!>

At that, the spirits flew around to relieve their fatigue. After resting for about 30 minutes, Jaeha called the spirits and poured his energy into the compounded ingredients. With that, he was able to complete the Philosopher’s Stone.

[Congratulations. You have crafted an item.]

[Philosopher’s Stone]

[Rank: Legendary]

[When transmuting using the Philosopher’s Stone, non-metals can be transmuted into metals, or metals into non-metals, and all other kinds of matter can be transmuted as well.]

[If this Philosopher’s Stone is consumed, body transformation or life transmutation becomes possible.]

[0/50000]

‘This time it says 50,000. Seems like it’s the number of times you can transmute into other substances.’

<That’s right!>

At Sylph’s words, Jaeha smiled and said,

“Hoo, well, I’ve made both of them.”

Smiling, Jaeha began cleaning up. And before long, he moved on to crafting the homunculus.

* * *

“Wow! It’s done!”

Crafting the elixir and the Philosopher’s Stone had taken at most about three hours each. But crafting the homunculus took a whopping week and a half.

In fact, during that week, he’d barely gotten two hours of rest. Fortunately, having learned the internal energy method, he could control his body properly, so it wasn’t too much of a burden.

After all, he could handle everything during his break time. Thanks to all that effort over such a long period, Jaeha succeeded in crafting the homunculus.

[We are in awe. You have crafted an item worthy of going down in history for the first time.]

“Oh?”

Jaeha was a little surprised that the congratulatory message had changed. Then he checked the item’s effects.

[Homunculus]

[Rank: Ancient]

[Recognizes its master, and once it recognizes its master, it will never resist or betray its master under any circumstances.]

[The homunculus’s abilities change according to the level of the Elixir and Philosopher’s Stone used in its creation.]

[The homunculus’s appearance and personality can be changed or reset by its master at any time.]

[Additionally, the homunculus inherits all of its creator’s talents.]

Jaeha, having completed the homunculus, quietly reviewed the description. Then, gazing at the completed round sphere, he muttered to himself.

“It looks a bit mysterious, doesn’t it?”

The sphere was covered in all sorts of patterns on its surface, like a machine that aliens in a sci-fi movie had built with their advanced technology.

Jaeha lifted it up, and as the sphere began to glow, his eyes widened slightly. Before long, the sphere floated up into the air. Then, several windows appeared before Jaeha.

[Homunculus (tentative name)]

[Traits: None]

[Total Ability: 999]

[Skill: Alchemy]

‘Hoh, its Total Ability is higher than mine.’

However, since it only had Alchemy as a skill and no traits, it didn’t seem like it would be all that great in combat.

‘Of course, assuming it can learn additional skills, that’s not bad.’

Thinking that, Jaeha looked at the other windows. Besides the homunculus’s info window, there were several others.

“This is like……”

Jaeha’s eyes lit up as he looked at the windows.

“Isn’t this a game customization window?”

What was there was similar to the customization you’d use to set a character’s appearance in a game. Jaeha stared at it and pondered for a moment.

‘Ah, so this is what they meant by the master being able to change or reset the appearance and personality at any time.’

Thinking that, Jaeha deliberated for a bit. Unfortunately, Jaeha didn’t have much talent in this area. After fiddling with the settings window for a while, he discovered he could also set things randomly. So he kept pressing the button that randomly selected an appearance.

Before long, a beautiful look that blended East and West was completed. And after setting a figure so stunning anyone would gasp in admiration, Jaeha tried to finish the settings when a window popped up.

[Do you wish to complete the settings?]

“Yeah.”

[Are you sure you wish to complete the settings as they are?]

“What the. You said I could change the appearance however I want, so why are you being so picky?”

With that, Jaeha confirmed his intention to finalize the settings, and soon the sphere began to radiate light. Before long, the homunculus took on the body and face Jaeha had configured. Then, opening its eyes, the homunculus looked at Jaeha.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Master.”

“Nice to meet you too. Do I need to give you a name?”

“Yes. I have no name.”

“Hmm, a name……”

As Jaeha was pondering, the spirits approached him.

<Jia!>

<No, make it Jea!>

<I like Sea.>

<I think Sia would be nice.>

“They all sound pretty similar.”

Jaeha smiled and thought for a moment. Then he said,

“How about Sia?”

<Too bad. I liked Jia.>

<Hehe~!>

Jaeha smiled and set the homunculus’s name to Sia.

“What can you do?”

“While you were creating me, Master, I absorbed all the knowledge you possess through your energy.”

“Really?”

“Yes. So anything you can do, Master, I can do as well.”

“Oh ho, so combat too?”

“It’s possible. However, in the case of combat, I will need time to get used to it.”

“Amazing. Alright, then for now…… let’s head home and take care of the backlog of housework.”

“Yes.”

Sia nodded in response.

“Well, I’d appreciate it if you could cook and such, but if it’s skill derived from me, don’t expect anything too impressive.”

Jaeha smiled as he said that. Sia smiled back and replied,

“I’ll do my best.”

Watching that, Jaeha opened the settings window and softened her personality.

“I’ll work hard!”

Nodding, Jaeha told Sia to wait a moment and began tidying up the thoroughly cluttered blacksmith shop. Just then, Penny, who had returned to the shop, spotted the suddenly appeared Sia and spoke.

“Whoa, that’s amazing. What is this?”

“Hm? Oh, you’re back.”

Penny went out from time to time. Not frequently, but she did step out occasionally. Having come back from outside, Penny had watched the entire process of Jaeha creating the homunculus.

“Wow, so Hunters can do stuff like this too.”

With that, Penny looked at Sia, who stood there naked and still. Then she began poking and prodding various parts of Sia’s body with her hands.

“Whoa, she feels real. But instead of making something like this, why don’t you go meet some real women?” Jaeha turned his head at Penny’s words and looked at her. Then he shifted his gaze to Sia. Sia’s eyes met Jaeha’s, and perhaps because of the personality change, she blushed and lowered her head slightly.

“So…… that’s why you created me?”

“Eek, eek!”

When Sia, whom she’d thought was a doll, spoke, a startled Penny screamed, and Jaeha looked at her without much reaction and said,

“You’re loud. If you have any clothes, lend her a few sets.”

“Ah, th—this…… I thought she was a doll?”

“A grown adult making a lifelike doll like this instead of having a job, what would be the point.”

“Whoa, no way. So you created a person?”

“Not a person, more like a magical lifeform.”

“Nice to meet you. My name is Sia.”

“Ah…… yes. Nice to meet you. I’m Penny.”

“Yes.”

Sia’s bright smile was extraordinarily beautiful. Watching Penny stand there dumbfounded, Jaeha tidied up the blacksmith shop. Then he looked at Sia and said,

“Borrow some clothes and then come to the house. You know where it is, right?”

“Yes.”

And so Jaeha headed home with the spirits.