Chapter 53

After reading about every single diary he has found out most of the mysteries in the story. Seolim didn't want to make a plant of the gods with his experiments but a plant that can produce the most foods in as little of a resource as possible.

The most important ingredient of his experiment was the Purple-Spiked Spiders' sternum which was where their poison was located. However, at that time, the Purple-Spiked Spiders were very few and the only known location was at the core of Goryeo's richest and most dangerous forest.

This didn't stop Seolim as he read about a document where the spider's poison was used to be a very efficient fertilizer as it contained condensed energy that can overwhelm a human's nervous system in minutes.

After catching somewhere he almost died, he tried to look for some people that can take him in. But that's when he learned that he was labeled as a crazy alchemist and a fugitive. This also leads him to live in isolation especially when he found the Ruins of Thousand Traps which became his base.

He also wrote down all the traps he encountered which many injured him, almost killing him. Luckily for him, he knows some healing spells and he managed to survive.

For months to years, he dedicated all his time to experiments, and his only company, the spiders became his only company. The population of the spiders grew from less than a dozen to hundreds. Given their poison, he first thought of killing some of them but he learned to sympathize with them as he lived more and more with them.

The spiders even became his pets and he gained the skills to command them which Hisashi found extraordinary. Whenever he would harvest a sternum from them which would usually kill them, he would heal them with his healing flame. He even disabled almost all of the traps except for the arrows in fear of them activating one and dying.

In normal terms, Seolim has indeed become crazy. However, in Hisashi's eyes, everything that Seolim has become was the result of his desire to not only survive but to live the way he wants to.

As for the soldier's story, there was nothing. Aside from the details of them looking for the crazy alchemist, it was but a diary of one misled soldier. But if there's one thing that Hisashi thought more about… was why did the Alchemist Association deny Seolim's idea even with his significant achievements?

Well, he thought of one answer… It was the people above them. The rich people don't want such a convenient thing that can help the poor people affected by famine. They also fund the projects of the association so it was easy for them to control what can be accepted.

It wasn't stated in the diaries but there was no one else that can persuade the bests of alchemists to abandon a great discovery other than their survival. Or in their case, the association's survival.

The only thing missing was the torn pieces of the experimental notes and what happened when the soldiers all finally attacked. There was also another question…

"Who was Matie? Seolim mentions him… was it her? Whatever. He mentions it on one of the diaries but I can't think of anyone that can be that. He doesn't seem to have a family, a relative, or even a close friend other than some small acquaintances. But in the diary, he talks about him… or her in a very fond way. As if it was someone close to him."

Due to this weird mystery, Hisashi wasn't able to keep himself and look around the library or even other parts of the dungeon for any sign of a diary hoping it can tell him about it more. But alas, it was fruitless as there was no other diary that Seolim has slipped in one of the shelves or tables and cabinets.

Wanting to distract himself, Hisashi collects all the diaries and notes and heads to the laboratory. With all of Seolim's notes, Hisashi thought about trying to achieve what he may or may not have completed given the incomplete ending of Seolim's story. After completing it, he can then go on and explore the ruins around the country.

However, stepping into the laboratory, Hisashi's brain snaps. Purple-Spiked Spiders… are said to be extinct. In other words, the spider's poison, which was the main ingredient for the experiment, is no longer available.

Hisashi was shocked at how dumb he can be to forget such a crucial detail. He marvels at how he can be so dumb and massages his head with his two hands. All his fingers moved and pressed on his head independently to each other as if relieving some phantom pain for being an idiot.

But… suddenly, Hisashi froze as his brain snaps again. This time, he was even more dumbfounded about how he missed it and had not thought of it. Matie, the only companion Seolim has described and talked about wasn't a man or a woman… but a Purple-Spiked Spider.

And if his hunch was right…

Hisashi immediately thought of it as he ran and went to the room that he has yet to look at. As he face and stand against a huge door by his face, he thought of something.

Dungeon cores are said to contain and store a lot of mana. They use this to be energy and fuel the functionalities of a normal dungeon. Dungeons that have a destroyed core becomes ruins. But that's for another day.

Said cores restore the used mana by absorbing natural mana from nature but the creation of dungeon cores is said to be only known by dwarves, ancient dwarves to be exact.

Now, to Seolim's project. The only thing and energy that can cause an immediate growth to a plant and at the same time, kill a human… is mana. A Purple-Spiked Spider's poison isn't poison, but a mana-dense fertilizer. Dense enough to overload a normal person's capability to hold mana, thus, killing them.

That being said, with Seolim's time being constrained after being found, even if he can't complete his initial idea, there's something he can do and is willing to do. That is to save the spiders. The spiders that accompanied him in his loneliest time.

As Hisashi thought of this, he also thought of how easy it is for Seolim and his brilliance to modify the project to save innocent spiders from the invasion of the soldier's looking for him. To modify it to take in mana from the core instead of the spider's poison giving the spiders, herbivore spiders food, while he surrenders and sacrifices himself to them.

With all this in mind, Hisashi puts his hands on the door and started to push. He kept his brain on detecting the presence inside of the mana-dense place as the core room while the ground rumbles from the friction of opening the door.

As he stood there, Hisashi was finally able to see it. Covered in thick layers of web, is a larger-than-usual female Purple-Spiked Spider. Beside it, is the dungeon core that has a weak, dim light. Around the two are remains of what seemed to be dead plants.

'You are quite an amorous person, Seolim.' Hisashi thought to himself while looking at the sleeping spider.