Chapter 678 - Hot Bath

With only one month left until he would be called into mission, Emery had no time to test the lower-grade body tempering option. Hence, of course, he took the best option available.

"Heavenly body-tempering for one day!"

The red-bearded dwarf was so excited that he personally dragged him again, this time toward the nearest room available.

"You will not be disappointed! The liquid in this cauldron is concocted using the most precious ingredients for one year. Only the best for you, an acolyte from the lower realms," Master Dulin proudly explained with a wide smile on his face.

Emery was then brought in front of a massive black cauldron and told to enter the cauldron.

Apparently, it was just as he feared, he really would be turned into a human potion.

It was actually self-explanatory. As Emery was studying apothecary as well, he quickly understood what the dwarf was planning to do to his body. His body was going to be the main object being concocted into. 

Before Emery could even say a word of question about the process, the dwarf rushed him to undress and enter the black liquid in the cauldron.

As his whole body needed to be submerged inside the liquid, he was given a small tube to breathe. Emery did not refuse since he needed to stay submerged for 24 full hours without getting out, his water breathing spell was not really an option.

The moment Emery entered the black liquid, he could feel the heat almost scalding his skin. Thankfully, it did not pose a problem as his body quickly adapted to the temperature.

As Emery put more of his body into the black liquid, he also felt the thickness of the liquid slightly hindering his movement. The combination of the thickness and the temperature of the liquid vaguely reminded Emery of the liquid that came out of a burning mountain.

Just before he put his head inside, the dwarf had a wicked grin on his face as he reminded Emery.

"As I said, it will be very painful. No matter how painful it gets, don't get out until it's over. If you do, the tempering will not be as effective."

After saying such a thing, Master Dulin ordered two of his staff members to put a heavy lid on top of the cauldron. Apart from the very small hole on the lid for the tube, there was no other opening.

Clank!

At first, Emery did not feel worried at all. He even began to feel that it was somewhat comfortable. But after a while, he felt the temperature slowly rising, and after about 10 minutes, Emery started to regret agreeing to this.

Emery was beginning to get the urge to cast a spell to protect himself. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to cast any spells nor use his battle art. He had to allow the liquid and the heat to enter his body.

Urrrggghhh!!

Emery's brows tightly furrowed. It felt like his whole body was in a sea of flames!

An hour passed, and just when he thought that the heat was already at its maximum, he was instantly proven wrong.

At that instant, the black liquid turned twice hotter than it was just a moment ago. If the previous temperature made him feel as if his skin was burning, he now felt like his internal organs were also burning.

Being fully submerged in such a hellish liquid, he was unable to scream and could only resist. He could not even clench his fists due to the heat; the muscles of his entire body felt as if they were going to rip apart.

Three hours passed and it finally reached its maximum heat, but at this point, Emery felt all of his skin and parts of his flesh already torn apart. Just when he was on the verge of passing out from the pain, new skin and flesh grew all over his body.

It was as if the liquid had the capability to push his regeneration ability

6 hours later, Emery felt as if his newly-grown skin was once again burning and regenerating at the same time. 

Emery desperately wished he could just get out of this cauldron now, but a notification suddenly popped up in his mind.

[Battle power increased by one.]

Seeing the message, his resolution became more firm. The excruciating pain was almost unbearable, but he endured.

Another six hours passed.

[Battle power increased by one.]

Two points of battle power increased permanently within 12 hours. It was not the time to stop at all.

[Battle power increased by one.]

At this point, 20 hours had passed and Emery had already gotten used to the pain. Just as he was looking forward to the next notification, the heat began to cool down.

"No… no… no…!"

A few hours later, Emery could see light slowly coming from above. When the lid was finally opened, Emery got out of the cauldron in a bad mood.

The dwarf, however, was waiting for him with a smile.

"It looks like your body's condition was worse than I thought. It managed to absorb the essence like a sponge… So, what do you think? Do you want extra days?"

The knowing wicked smile Master Durin had on his face irritated Emery even more. However, he had to admit, the dwarf promoted his product really well. One day was certainly not enough, there was no way he was going to stop now.

He had 20 days left until the end of the month to compete for the rank.

Thinking about the 450 thousand contribution points that he had,  he decided.

"10 days! Give me 10 days!" he told the dwarf.

Although it was expensive, the tempering was the real deal. 3 points of permanent battle power in one day was definitely amazing.

"Excellent!" The dwarf's eyes were beaming with satisfaction.

While the cauldron was being prepared by the staff members, an individual in gray uniform came approaching him.

"Ah, that's right, this guy has been waiting on you for hours."

The man, who was a magus, did not speak much. As soon as he made sure that the person receiving the item was correct, he immediately left. When Emery opened the box, he found that the item inside was the [Soul Tempering meditation - Book One] he ordered not long ago, delivered in person by the magus.

'Perfect timing.'

The book came at the perfect time. Now that the technique book was here, he could bathe in the body-tempering liquid for 10 days with something to do.. Hopefully, this technique would help him keep his mind off the pain.