Ashen God
Chapter 527 - 526: Dark Purple Artifact [Maka Bagga’s Alchemy Set]

Chapter 527: Chapter 526: Dark Purple Artifact [Maka Bagga’s Alchemy Set]

After all, there are plenty of things in this world that can be done but don’t need to be done, like killing people. Every physically developed adult has the ability to kill, but does that mean they should? No, people with sound minds generally don’t do things that would significantly reduce their expected lifespan.

"Originally, I had hoped to rely on the Alchemy Crucible, which could increase the success rate and enhance the refining effect, to salvage my refining process and prevent the situation where all the materials were consumed but still nothing useful was produced. But now, it seems that this plan has utterly failed."

Zhang Yanhang let out a soft sigh and then clicked on the next item.

[Item Two]

[Option One: Heart of Maka Bagga, Purple Quality, Material]

[Option Two: 500 Soul points]

[Option Three: 1000 Soul points]

"Hmm? The most valuable part of Maka Bagga’s body is the heart? I thought it would be the right arm like a common Goblin Shaman. So, the question is, why is it specifically the heart?"

Since Zhang Yanhang had never checked Maka Bagga’s attribute list before, he could only guess at the truth of the matter. He speculated that Maka Bagga might also have a Lightning Heart skill.

However, compared to the Lightning Heart skill of Goblin Chief Nu Shan, it might be a weaker version, which is why his heart appeared in the treasure box.

"No, that’s a bit contradictory. If Maka Bagga also had a Lightning Heart skill, then how could he die from metal shards destroying his brain? Shouldn’t the life extension effect have activated to restore his Life Value?"

Zhang Yanhang felt that the Lightning Heart didn’t quite hold up, so instead, he tended to believe that Maka Bagga might have enhanced his own heart with some special Alchemy Potion during his lifetime.

After all, from a biological perspective, increasing the vitality of the heart could boost overall strength. Whether it’s Strength or Agility, both could improve due to increased blood flow speed. This could perhaps explain why the heart was the most valuable part of Maka Bagga.

By the way, the reason Zhang Yanhang found this explanation plausible was that he had closely scanned Maka Bagga’s body before. From the perspective of an Alchemist and part-time Mage, he did observe some obvious signs of enhancement by alchemy potion on certain parts of the body.

"Ah, why did it have to be a useless heart? I’ve already got one in my Waist Bag. It would be great if I could pull out Maka Bagga’s Alchemy notebook instead. After all, if I really could, I might also get some useful Alchemy Potion formulas."

It was precisely because Zhang Yanhang had noticed signs of alchemy potion enhancement on Maka Bagga’s body that he hoped to get something related to alchemy from its Drop treasure box.

But now, with two Item slots having yielded nothing useful, and with only three slots left—one fixed as either Equipment or an Artifact, and another more firmly set as Talent—only one chance remained to possibly draw useful alchemy items.

It must be said, the hope of drawing alchemy formulas or related items had indeed become incredibly slim.

But as slim as it may be, as long as there was hope, it was definitely impossible to give up directly.

"Speaking of which, as a Second Tier Second Star Elite Monster, Maka Bagga’s soul points are indeed much higher in value than those of an ordinary Goblin Shaman of the same tier. One option could actually yield 1,000 soul points. So, by that calculation, the three soul point options combined would amount to three thousand soul points."

Even without comparing it to the embarrassing zombies in Raccoon City, but to the Big Saber Goblins on the Goblin Plain, the soul points earned from Maka Bagga’s treasure box would be the same as the combined earnings from seventeen Big Saber Goblin’s drop treasure boxes.

"But it’s a pity that there’s only one Maka Bagga. If there were a few more, aside from the benefits in soul points, I could have obtained some more useful materials."

After checking Maka Bagga’s heart, Zhang Yanhang proceeded to open the next item.

[Item Three]

[Option One: 100 soul points]

[Option Two: Goblin Dancer, Blue quality, Pet]

[Option Three: 1,000 soul points]

"Goblin Dancer? And it’s a Blue quality pet? What kind of odd thing is this? Could it be a higher-level, more anthropomorphic Goblin? Since it’s Blue quality, it should at least be a Second Tier Monster, so it is indeed possible that we encounter a more humanoid female Goblin."

Interested in the new variety of Goblin Dancer, Zhang Yanhang immediately checked its thumbnail, only to be sorely disappointed.

He had expected something similar to what’s often seen in comics: a slightly green-skinned female with a height around 1.6 or 1.7 meters, features close to human, and a figure that aligns with human aesthetic standards. Unfortunately, none of these characteristics applied to the Goblin Dancer in question.

Aside from both being female Goblins, the one Zhang Yanhang liked and the one in the thumbnail seemed like two different races.

To describe its appearance specifically, the female Goblin in the thumbnail had a green face, sharp fangs, pointed ears, and puffy cheeks, plus a body full of robust muscles. If not for the unnatural development of the chest muscles that didn’t allow them to form a streamlined shape, there would be virtually no difference from a male Goblin.

"This thing can serve as a dancing girl? Apparently, the Goblins’ sense of beauty greatly differs from that of humans."

Zhang Yanhang then continued to review the Goblin Dancer’s attribute list and found that, as expected, it was a Second-tier Monster, and just like the Big Goblins, it was an ordinary Second Order One Star Monster.

At first glance at its attributes, he couldn’t see why it was called a Dancing Girl, since it looked almost identical to the Big Goblins on the Goblin Plain, except for the absence of scales on its body.

Even though it was supposed to be a dancer, it seemed ill-suited for Agility and was more adept at Strength and Constitution attributes, which gave a misleading impression.

However, upon viewing the skill list, Zhang Yanhang finally understood why it was called a Goblin Dancer—it turned out to be a performer of Battle Dances, similar in style to the traditional dances of African tribes, mainly functioning to provide buffs to other ordinary Goblins during battle.

Besides the basic morale boost to prevent escape, it could also slightly increase Attack Power and defensive power, acting as a downscaled version of a Goblin Shaman.

"This Goblin Dancer really is as unappealing inside and out as can be."

After looking at the Attribute list of the Goblin Dancer, Zhang Yanhang could only say that he was even more disappointed. At first, when he saw the name, he was actually quite excited.

He was prepared to choose one to keep, if she looked decent enough by Human standards, and then train her to do some otaku dances or pole dances to enrich his skill list, while also helping him relieve some pressure.

But now, he felt like instead of watching dancing, he should be doing something more serious like studying spells and Alchemy.

"Of course, compared to the Goblin Dancer, what makes me even more upset is not being able to get the Alchemy notebook..."

Zhang Yanhang really did want Shaman Maka Bagga’s Alchemy notebook, but now, after three consecutive items were hopeful options to get the Alchemy notebook, not a single one brought it forth.

With this, his hopes were completely dashed because the last two options had been fixed; one was definitely Talent, and the other was definitely Equipment.

"Forget it, if it can’t be found, then it can’t be found. Anyway, if I try to figure it out by myself, I could probably concoct similar medicines. It’s just that without knowing the exact proportions, the effects might decline, or perhaps it’s certain that there will be a significant decline."

Having no confidence in personally concocting Alchemy potions, Zhang Yanhang silently clicked on the fourth item.

[Item Four]

[Option One: Thin Dragon Vein (Mixed), Quality E, Talent]

[Option Two: Dragon Vein Goblin (Chief Shaman Goblin Maka Bagga), C-level, Talent]

[Option Three: Dragon Vein Goblin (Goblin Shaman), D-Level Quality, Talent]

"As expected, only a Dragon Vein Goblin of Second Tier Three-Star Power like Maka Bagga would have a Talent of C-level Quality. Plus, with the Crimson Iron Ant King as an example, C-level Talents are most likely indeed only possessed by monsters with Second Tier Three-Star Power or above.

If that’s the case, for the short term, I might only be able to pursue those Talents that start with a D-level Quality, which should be relatively easier to find."

Originally, Zhang Yanhang had thought about upgrading Talents to SSS Quality or above using the amount required for SS Quality, but now it seemed he would have to be content with just barely getting Talents to SSS Quality with that amount, which was quite upsetting.

Because Zhang Yanhang had speculated that if he could raise the Talent Level to SSS or higher, perhaps it would greatly strengthen like the SS level did. But now, since he couldn’t take a shortcut with C-level Talents, he probably wouldn’t be able to verify this for a long time to come.

"So now, the question arises, where should I go to find Ordinary Monsters with initial Second Order One Star Power to obtain D-level Quality Talents? Go to the forest to the north? Or perhaps the mountain range to the south? Or even the great wall to the east?

Forget it, let’s wait and think about these things later. After all, it’s something that needs to be dealt with the next time I come to the Ashen World."

That being said, Zhang Yanhang had already made plans in advance. The next time he came to Raccoon City, he intended to head to the Forest first and try hunting a few monsters to test the waters. If they didn’t meet his standards, he would then go to the mountain range to the south to hunt for monsters.

And if the monsters in the southern mountain range still couldn’t reach an initial Strength of First Tier Three Stars, then he would proceed to the great wall to the east – he refused to believe that in so many areas there wouldn’t be monsters with at least First Tier Three Stars of Power.

And if the monsters in the northern forest met the standard from the beginning, what should he do? Of course, he would just start hunting there.

"Next is the final item spot. If nothing unexpected happens, this spot should yield new Equipment made by the Alchemists under the Red Dragon Salcano, and it would be Dark Purple Quality Equipment at that."

Zhang Yanhang silently prayed before directly opening the last item.

[Item Five]

[Option One: Maka Bagga’s Alchemy Set, Dark Purple Quality, Artifact]

[Option Two: Shaman Totem Pole, Blue quality, Weapon]

[Option Three: Lightning Totem Pole, Purple Quality, Equipment]

"Holy shit! Maka Bagga’s Alchemy Set? And it’s a Dark Purple Quality Item?"

Feeling somewhat ambivalent about the strange Artifact that replaced the expected Dark Purple Quality Equipment, Zhang Yanhang’s mood was a bit complex. Without seeing the specific Attribute list of Maka Bagga’s Alchemy Set, he couldn’t tell if he had lost out or gained.

"I initially thought my bond with Maka’s Alchemy would end there, but unexpectedly, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Although I haven’t started looking at the Attribute list, my intuition tells me that this item most likely includes something like the Alchemy notebook."

Zhang Yanhang immediately started to check the Attribute list for ’Maka Bagga’s Alchemy Set’.

[Maka Bagga’s Alchemy Set]

[Quality: Dark Purple]

[Type: Artifact]

[Origin: Ashen World, Goblin Plain, Nu Mountain Tribe, Maka Bagga.]

[Usage Effect: After use, you can obtain a total of seventeen pieces of Equipment and Artifacts related to Alchemy, including Maka Bagga’s Alchemy notebook, Maka Bagga’s Alchemy Crucible, Maka Bagga’s Stirring Stick, Maka Bagga’s Reagent Bottle, Maka Bagga’s Measurement Device, Maka Bagga’s... etc.]

[Usage Requirements: Possession of Alchemy Skills and other related Alchemy capabilities.]

[Score: 260 (Dark Purple Items have scores between 151 and 260.)]

[Introduction: Although the Chief Shaman Goblin Maka Bagga of the Nu Mountain Tribe on the Goblin Plain spends most of its time dealing with tribal issues, it often runs back to its Alchemy workshop after work to vigorously use various materials from the Goblin Plain to develop Alchemy potions, dreaming of one day enhancing its Power with the help of these potions.]