The Primal Hunter 8: A LitRPG Adventure, page 66
However, what she cared most about was the gaze of the Chosen. It lingered for longer than it had to, making Irin very pleased. Still, she had a job to do and showed professionalism despite the gazes of the two other women, which were certainly less friendly than the Chosen’s. One gaze was from Meira, the assigned slave for Lord Thayne. Irin was a bit surprised he asked if she wanted to join the Order too, indicating he wanted to release her. On-brand, based on what Irin had learned of Lord Thayne. If he wanted people to treat him as an equal, the thought of having a slave forced upon him must have been less than ideal. Irin had also learned about Earth from the human called Reika and come to understand a bit of their planet’s history—including how slavery was not popular in their part of the world. Downright hated, even.
The other gaze was naturally from the snake woman. A piercing one, Irin had to admit. Luckily, she saw neither of them as threats to her goals, even if they were on good terms with Lord Thayne. She also got a feeling that her goals and the goals of the slave elf were somewhat similar, if very different in approach. Both of them wanted to stay integrated with the Chosen, one way or another, to secure their own futures.
With the two girls evaluated, Irin answered some questions and led the prospective member, Scarlett, away. A bow towards the Chosen was only proper, and once more, his gaze lingered for a moment before Irin and the snake girl left. Irin, of course, knew what she was doing.
Was she what humans would call a gold-digger? Yes, though the term in the multiverse tended to refer to parasites who forcefully tried to associate themselves with powerful individuals and feed off their Records. She wasn’t ashamed of it either.
Lord Thayne wasn’t stupid and most certainly not unperceptive. He knew what she was doing and allowed it. If the parasite and target both enjoyed and found benefits in the relationship, it could only be called synergistic, couldn’t it?
Finally alone, Jake could relax. Meira had gone off to her own residence to tend to her studies after their lengthy talk, and with Scarlett and Irin also gone, Jake had the main mansion all to himself. Free of the "drama" he had just been a part of, he felt relieved. Jake was a bit dense, sure… but even he could see that the three women were interested in him. Or at least interested in his status.
However, it was honestly easiest to just act like he didn’t know. Things were just too complicated. Meira was still his slave, making it break at least a few moral lines to respond to her feelings, and Jake wasn’t even sure she actually liked him, even though she thought she did. He had helped her, and she clearly felt indebted to him. Confusing gratitude with stronger emotions was not uncommon at all.
Scarlett was just… no. She reminded Jake of a teenage girl, and she also revered Jake to an unhealthy level. With both her and Meira, the power imbalance in their relationships was all out of whack too. So… yeah, better to just ignore it.
Then there was Irin. That one felt the most complicated to Jake. So complicated he didn’t want to think too much about it, and thus proceeded to working on his checklist.
Jake had two goals for now. Sagacity of the Malefic Viper and the entire situation with sim-Jake and their joint attempt to create a skill. For both of these, Jake had some issues he needed to overcome. After some consideration, he ultimately decided to take on Sagacity first, as he wanted to fully dedicate his attention to the potential mythical skill. Also, the extra Wisdom would be nice.
With no need to delay, he got to work and sat on the sofa in the living room. There, he leaned back and stared at the ceiling while gathering his thoughts.
He already had some insights into the topic of Sagacity, especially after the last vision. For a long time, Jake had wondered what the point of the Sagacity skill even truly was. For a good reason, too.
[Sagacity of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] – To hold just a fragment of the Wisdom of a Primordial is more than most ever achieve. Much less to be personally taught that knowledge directly by the god himself. Allows the alchemist to peek into a fragment of the Malefic Viper’s Records to seek his knowledge. Grants the alchemist of the Malefic Viper a far better understanding of mana and of most affinities. Allows the Alchemist to make creations he does not have the associated crafting skill for. (Does not receive stat effectiveness bonuses without associated skill). Passively provides 1 Wisdom per level in Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May your search for knowledge be as inexhaustible as the Malefic One.
Sure, it did help Jake in some ways, but it was minimal. It had two primary passive elements: a better understanding of mana and the ability to craft without associated crafting skills. The first part had some value, but it was just a small passive bonus that he barely noticed.
Then there was the thing about not needing a crafting skill. It sounded nice, but… Jake had these crafting skills. He had all he needed, and his evolutions tended to just give the skills, whether he wanted them or not. Also, if Jake could choose, he would want the crafting skill anyway for the stat effectiveness bonus that Sagacity did not offer.
To summarize, Jake only really got anything out of the extra Wisdom and the mana thing. Which seemed really subpar compared to all his other Malefic Viper Legacy skills.
Okay, there was one final active part of the skill: peering into the Record Fragment of the Viper. This part had been pretty useful, but… Jake couldn’t see why he needed a skill for that. He had stolen the drop of blood without a skill, hadn’t he? And he’d also restrained it within his Soulspace quite easily.
Overall, Jake found little value in the Sagacity skill and even wondered what its primary function was and why the Viper had it, as the blood-peering part was clearly not a part of the Viper’s version. At least, Jake had wondered this until the latest vision. He had kind of misunderstood the core of Sagacity from the beginning, not realizing that the reality was… the skill wasn’t made for the enlightened races. It was made for monsters.
Jake had seen the Viper try and craft without the required crafting skill, noting how difficult it was. It was, without exaggerating, a hundred times harder than crafting with a skill. The Viper had struggled to make health potions even after he found the issue, and that was while in C-grade. Jake could only imagine the pain of having to do this entire process of figuring out a "manual" approach to every new alchemical method. But Jake had a feeling the Viper had done exactly this and then condensed it into this one skill. A skill that was now part of his Legacy and could be obtained or taught to other monsters, allowing them to benefit from his trial and error.
It was a catch-all skill for alchemy crafting. A way for monsters to still be alchemists and compete on a far more equal playing field with the enlightened races. The things about affinities and mana were just passive elements gained from a better understanding of the fundamental principles of how alchemy worked. Or, perhaps, an added bonus, as the system knew the significantly reduced value the Sagacity skill had for someone like Jake.
He felt like he was on the right track, but some things still bothered him… and while he tended to prefer to avoid it, he decided to approach the source of the skill itself to confirm his theory.
"Hey, Villy…"
"Yeah?" a voice answered as a smirking god stared straight down at Jake’s face, obstructing his vision of the nice ceiling.
"I thought you were busy?" Jake said without moving.
"I am. That is why you are talking to this avatar and not the real me." Villy jumped over the back of the couch and sat on it. "Can you tell the difference?"
Jake stared at the so-called avatar for a moment and tried to find any indications of it not being the real thing. The aura was vast and powerful as usual, but in its muted state, Jake had a hard time getting a read on it. "No, not really," he admitted.
"No need to be embarrassed—you weren’t meant to, and this avatar can exert a good ten percent of my full power if push comes to shove. But this is not why you asked for me. What seems to trouble my little Chosen this time around? Oh, if it is love advice, then sure, you have fun with the succubus. You are both consenting adults. Plus, she seems like a fun one, and—"
"I wanted to ask about something with the First Sage," Jake interrupted loudly.
Villy shut up but still smirked. "He didn’t strike me as your type, so not love advice, I see. What do you want to know?"
"It is actually more about Sagacity than it is about him, but I have a feeling they are related. Firstly, the name Sagacity was not chosen randomly or decided by the system, was it?"
After a few moments of thinking, the Viper sighed. "No, it was not. As you probably already guessed, the skill is named after the First Sage. Tell me, what else have you concluded about this peculiar little skill?"
"It was made as a way to allow monsters to do alchemy without the crafting skills by creating one that does it all. It relies on your experiences and what you learned to fill in the gaps left by not having the many alchemical crafting skills.”
"Partly accurate. Yes, it is good for monsters and primarily used by them. Shit, Sagacity is one of the main reasons why monsters who specialize in alchemy prefer the Order over other places like the Altmar Empire, and Sagacity is one of the few Legacy skills that can be taught; the Records are easily obtained to get the skill during a skill selection. But you missed that certain enlightened races with only a profession or a class can make great use of it. Plus, it is a skill tied to my Legacy and not necessarily to the alchemy profession, meaning even those with a profession utterly unrelated to alchemy can get it and become part-time alchemists.”
"Was it your or the First Sage’s idea to make this kind of all-encompassing skill?" Jake asked. He still felt a bit bad for not telling Villy about what he had felt at the end of the last vision, where the First Sage had clearly been aware of him before the Viper knew. Which made Jake wonder if what the Viper had done—learned to craft without a crafting skill—was one of the reasons the First Sage had wanted to take him in.
"Hm, a bit of both," Villy answered. "He did tell me one of the reasons he wanted to teach me was to also learn from me. He was interested in all sorts of ways one could perform magic without any skill or system assistance, as well as how one could make use of the peculiarities of the system. His teachings were part of the reason I advised you to practice mana the first time we met."
The Viper smiled a bit to himself. "The old man used to have a saying about how experiences gained by he who knows nothing are infinitely more valuable than he who follows a false truth, as the true essence of reality can only be found by an unspoiled mind. In other words, the potential truths one can learn alone without guidance are worth far more than those merely taught. Think of your arcane affinity. If I had told you about how to find an arcane affinity and how you could try and create one, I doubt it would have ever manifested. In some ways, your ignorance led to it appearing, as its very nature is rooted in your basic understanding of mana."
"I do remember you mentioning something like that before," Jake said, nodding. "But Sagacity strikes me more as a skill that is heavily tied to prior experiences and not new discoveries."
"True, true. Partly. Sagacity is, as you said, the result of a combined effort of the First Sage and me to make a methodology for those who cannot gain the alchemy profession. At least, that was the initial core of the skill, but it has, from there, expanded. The core now revolves around my experience and knowledge more than simply crafting methods. Your version also has some elements related to mana, and you got a drop of blood that contains Records, right? Those are now also tied to it. So, to sum it up for ya, Sagacity is knowledge incarnate."
Jake opened his mouth to ask something, but he instantly forgot it when a lightbulb went off. "I… think I have an idea of what to do…"
"Then my job here is done," Villy said, smiling.
"May need you for something else if you are up for it later," Jake said.
"Then I guess we will see each other again soon," the Viper answered as he popped out of existence.
Jake didn’t delay, instantly getting himself comfortable and entering meditation. Once more, Jake felt like he had missed something very obvious…
Chapter 76
The Library of a Sage
Alone again, Jake had time to think. As Villy had said, then the core of Sagacity was knowledge, also reflected by it granting Wisdom. Yet Jake had not really received any instinctual knowledge when he got the skill about anything related to alchemy. It had added knowledge through the drop of blood, but Jake didn’t count that, as it was just another potential source. The knowledge of mana affinities did kind of count, but that was more just another way to identify things… which led to Jake’s realization.
Jake had learned a lot since he became an alchemist, especially in recent times after joining the Order. He had gone through so many damn books, studied the drop of blood quite a bit, and eaten like a madman for Palate. Yet even if he had done all of this, he had not been given a single upgrade to the two skills he had that dealt with alchemical knowledge: Herbology and Toxicology.
[Herbology (Common)] – Grants knowledge of herbs found throughout the multiverse. The most numerous source of natural treasures comes in the form of herbs found throughout existence. The knowledge of plants and their effects is, therefore, essential to any alchemist. An alchemist must know what he works with in order to create his products, after all. Grants the ability to recognize herbs at a glance and correctly Identify their properties.
[Toxicology (Uncommon)] – The knowledge of all that is toxic. Be able to recognize poisonous substances at a glance and correctly Identify their properties. To concoct the deadliest toxins, one must know what to mix, after all.
Jake had had these skills since the very beginning of his journey as an alchemist, neither of them upgrading or even showing signs of getting upgraded. Not getting one upgraded in E-grade was kind of understandable, but how could he not have upgraded one of them at D-grade? Especially Herbology, which was stuck at common rarity? Toxicology, too, should have at least shown some signs of upgrading. That, or Jake should have at least had an idea of how to improve them.
Now, Jake realized that these two would never upgrade. Not because Jake sucked so bad at learning things about toxic materials or herbs, but because the Records required to upgrade the skills went somewhere else: Sagacity of the Malefic Viper.
The Legacy of the Malefic Viper was a complete system for alchemy. With those nine skills alone, a monster or even a member of the enlightened races could become an exceptional alchemist in no way inferior to more traditional ones. At least, not when it came to poisons. To achieve this, the usual skills alchemists got from their profession had to also exist in some shape or form within the Legacy, including the knowledge-related skills that allowed him to know what he was looking at. Would it not only make sense for Sagacity to be where this knowledge was focused?
In fact, wasn’t this logic also true with other passive skills or even active skills Jake had? Cultivate Toxin was already heavily related to Palate of the Malefic Viper, and Jake could also see Touch being related to Alchemist’s Purification… Maybe even the Alchemical Flame, though Jake had a suspicion that one was a bit different. Stuff for later. Focus on Sagacity now.
Jake believed that Toxicology and Herbology had both become obsolete, yet they still remained skills. Which led him to the most obvious conclusion: have Sagacity absorb them. He had tried two skills seemingly unrelated to the Malefic Viper’s influence and even formed a Malefic Viper skill before, so he knew it was possible. One had to remember that Sense of the Malefic Viper had come from the merging of Sense Herb and Sense Poison all the way back in G-grade. However, back then, it had happened by itself, making Jake think there was more to upgrading Sagacity than merely merging the skills. Or maybe he didn’t know how to merge them?
As he kept considering the skill, he went in the direction of what Sagacity was linked to. Sagacity was a bit like the focal point of all knowledge his other skills gave him. It was fed by Palate and Sense all the time. All he learned went into the Records of Sagacity, but also things he didn’t know went into it. That was when another light bulb went off.
Back when Herbology and Toxicology had been gained, another skill had been affected. A skill that was even mentioned in both their descriptions: Identify. Jake slapped his knee and grinned as he activated his Path of the Heretic-Chosen skill. He hadn’t been sure, but the system thought he had considered the skill enough to be granted a vision.
Do you wish to experience the Legacy of the Malefic Viper? Uses remaining: 1
It was the final use, and Jake smiled to himself as he was whisked away.
"The system is limitless in possibilities," the old man said with a smile. “Even an immortal could spend an infinite lifetime to try and learn everything, yet after countless years, the immortal would only come to learn that he has not progressed at all. For as he learns, new knowledge appears. This very same folly is what you are pursuing right now.”
In front of him sat the Malefic Viper, deep in thought as he considered the words. Jake had appeared as usual, and predictably, he had popped in with the First Sage present. Jake was sure by now that the system wanted him to keep seeing this old man… That, or he’d had so much influence on Villy’s formative years that seeing him was unavoidable.
"So you are saying I need to change course?" Villy asked with a deep frown.
"You misunderstand, for omniscience does exist; it is merely reserved for the system itself,” the First Sage replied. “It knows all, and sometimes the key is not to learn everything yourself, but to find a way to make the system give you the knowledge you require. To prove yourself worthy and entitled to the knowledge you demand. Your approach so far has been good, but it is not sustainable. You seek to learn of all herbs or toxins yourself, developing general skills based on your experiences, but as you progress, you will come to learn how unfeasible this is.”
