Disciple of Immortal

Act 2: Chapter 16: Substitute

After going through and confirming all the ores and metals stored in 《Mithril’s Cane》, I was struck with the bitter reality that I wouldn’t be able to find the 《Adamant Ore》 that I was looking for here.

Pomera, Philia, and I decided to leave 《Mithril’s Cane》 after seeing Gannet’s complexion, who seemingly had overdone it by giving us a tour.

Since we felt strangely mentally tired on top of having walked around Manarak all day, we decided to have a meal while taking a break.

We entered a bar which caught our eyes.

「A bar, huh…」

Pomera muttered quietly.

I raised my guard the moment I heard her remark. I absolutely must prevent her from drinking liquor.

「I… am a lightweight drinker, Pomera… I think it’s for the best if you don’t drink too.」

「U-Uhm… w-was Pomera really that bad the last time she got drunk?」

Pomera asked with an anxious voice.

I replied with a wry smile on my face, looking at the horizon upon recalling those moments.

「That reaction hurt Pomera the most….」

「I think… it’s for the best for you to not know the answer.」

「P-Pomera… is that bad when she is drunk? No, since Kanata-san said that it’s better to not know the answer, Pomera thinks it’s for the best if she doesn’t ask further… And, uhm, sorry for the inconvenience that time…」

Pomera hung her head down.

I couldn’t help but recalling Pomera figure as she said 『Kanata-sha~n』 while rubbing her cheek on the desk back then when she drunk.

… Let’s not tell Pomera about that sorry figure from back then.

「Well… since we failed to find the ore, does that mean you’re going to give up on finding it?」

I nodded to Pomera.

「Yeah, I noticed something after my search. It seems the best item we can buy in this city is a C-rank item. Item with grading above those are either privately owned by other adventurers or something that I have to find by myself…」

I pressed the palm of my hand against my forehead.

I should’ve treated 《God’s Blood; Ether》 more carefully.

Maybe my greatest mistake here was mistaking the value of items in this world.

「Ah… as expected, you had no idea huh…」

Pomera spoke while looking toward the faraway sky.

「Sorry, Pomera should’ve put more effort into telling Kanata-san about these matters… I mean, Pomera should’ve known that Kanata-san must be misunderstanding something with item rankings after seeing Kanata-san’s confidence…」

… Yup, my common sense about items and levels are screwed up after all.

I guess it might be better if I stop using common sense from 《Cocytus》 on the surface. Something that’s regarded as trash there might actually be more expensive than a country on the surface.

Maybe I’ll have to go around again after scrapping my misunderstandings.

「But, what should I do now if I can’t get 《Adamant Ore》… I want to raise Pomera’s level a bit more after we have more ether, but… this problem might delay my training plan.」

「… Uhm, Pomera gets the feeling that Pomera’s already high level isn’t actually up to Kanata-san’s standard…」

Pomera tried to convey something to me.

「Kanata, do you need something?」

Philia who sat beside me asked that question.

「Yeah, I’m looking for a certain ore but… it seems to be far rarer than my expectations. I’m afraid that I can’t get my hand on that ore in this place.」

Philia swallowed the food in her mouth at once, and then tapped on her chest with a confident face.

「Then, Philia will give it to Kanata! Kanata! Tell Philia the name of the ore that you want to find?」

「Give it… to me?」

「C’mon, tell me quickly!」

Philia urged me, who was still confused by her remark, to say the name of the ore that I needed.

「It’s called 《Adamant Ore》, it’s an extremely tough, violet colored ore…」

「Understood! Leave it to Philia!」

Philia clapped her hands together with an 「Ey!」, and then opened them.

And then, an ore that released violet light appeared from between the gap of her hands.

Its appearance did resemble the 《Adamant Ore》 that I’m familiar with.

「E-eh… EEH!?」

I shouted out loud due to the shock, forgetting the fact that we were still inside a bar.

「Philia is so amazing, right? Praise Philia! Praise Philia!」

Pomera, who sat beside Philia who puffed her chest proudly, was looking at the latter with a dumbfounded look on her face.

「K-Kanata-san, this… c-can you tell me what is this all about?」

「… Originally, Philia’s body is like a lump of 《Dream Sand》.」

《Dream Sand》 was the ultimate catalyst for alchemy. It could be used as a catalyst for anything.

In addition, it also has the power to grant wishes of the human heart.

So far, I knew that she was in full control of that power and could use it to create a progenitor dragon, copy my power, and even created several copies of me.

But… I never expected that it could also be used to create any kind of ore.

It was way too convenient.

「May I ask you to lower your voice, my dear guests.」

The waitress of the bar came to warn me who shouted in a loud voice.

「… Ah, my apologies.」

Even though I was apologizing, my head was already filled with plans over what to do with 《Dream Sand》.

After finishing our meal, we decided to check the 《Adamant Ore》 created by Philia in our room.

Inside the room, we prepared a lot of pots which we brought from the tool shop. Every single pot had fragments of Philia’s 《Adamant Ore》 to make it easier for me to analyze it.

「Well? How’s the result? Is Philia useful to Kanata?」

Philia came to ask with an excited look on her face.

「… Yup, I can’t use this ore after all.」

「I-Is it… no good?」

Philia staggered back upon hearing my remark.

Pomera propped her body in hurry.

「W-Why you can’t use it? You say that Philia-chan has the power to create so many things…」

「It seems that power comes with a lot of limitations, definitely not an omnipotent power. It seems that the ore created by Philia is… a degraded copy of the real thing. In addition, the ore created with her power would turn back into 《Dream Sand》 once it’s broken down to a certain size, as if it’s trying to fuse back with Philia-chan…」

On top of that, since it is literally Philia’s copy, anything made with her power couldn’t be turned into a drug.

It seems that 《Akashic Record》 regarded the ore created by Philia as 《Dream Sand》 instead of an ore.

「But, with this 《Dream Sand》, we might be able to create 《Adamant Ore》.」

「Really? Does that mean Philia can help Kanata!?」

Philia’s gloomy expression shone again upon hearing my last remark.

Though I’ve yet to try it… It should be possible to create 《Adamant Ore》 using lesser ranked ore and utilizing the 《Dream Sand》as a catalyst.

《Dream Sand》 was originally the ultimate catalyst in alchemy after all.

Even if it was already out of Philia’s control, depending on how it was used, it could greatly alter the property of materials.

Even if I failed to create 《Adamant Ore》, as long as I could create an ore with similar property, it could be used to create  《God’s Blood; Ether.》

I finally found the solution to my problem.

Our biggest concern right now was the fact that we… lack of money to do alchemy.

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