WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈

Chapter 139: Combination (2)

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The Adult Mandrake had turned blue, as if it had absorbed the Ice-Snow Flower.

The Adult Mandrake looked even scarier because it really resembled a person.

Its eyes were wide open, and its mouth kept opening and closing like a goldfish. It looked like it was on the verge of freezing to death.

I wondered what I should do, then decided to leave a comment first.

Starlight Princess would probably know something about this phenomenon.

└ [Wild Grylls]: (video of blue Adult Mandrake) It ended up like this. What's going on?

└ [Starlight Princess]: Huh? Why does it look like that? Why did it turn blue?

└ [Wild Grylls]: Hello??

└ Uh. Why'd it turn blue?

└ Did it become an assistant moderator too?

└ Looks like it's just dead. What assistant moderator?

Even Starlight Princess sounded flustered. If she didn't know, I was screwed.

Still, they said there was always a way out, even when the sky fell.

Before long, Starlight Princess commented again and explained the cause.

└ [Starlight Princess]: It looks like the Adult Mandrake absorbed the Ice-Snow Flower... First, we need to confirm whether it's alive. Could you press it with chopsticks or a twig?

└ [Wild Grylls]: I pressed it, but it just moves its mouth and that's it.

└ [Starlight Princess]: Does it scream?

└ [Wild Grylls]: It does, but not continuously. It stops every so often.

└ [Starlight Princess]: It really seems the Adult Mandrake absorbed the Ice-Snow Flower. I never expected this.

└ [Wild Grylls]: What should I do now?

└ [Starlight Princess]: This isn't necessarily a bad situation. It means their energies have mixed together. Eating it raw would be dangerous, so I'll tell you how to extract it.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Can't I just send this directly to you? You could probably extract it right away.

└ [Starlight Princess]: That isn't a bad option either, but I'm worried the Ice-Snow Flower's effects might disappear if we do it wrong.

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Can't you just turn that into alcohol? That'd probably be better.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Be honest. You just want it for yourself, don't you?

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Was it that obvious? If you've got more, give me just one.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Sheesh, lol. You're so obvious.

└ They're trying to soak everything in the Forest of Four Seasons in alcohol lol.

└ Next thing you know, they'll be making snake wine lol.

I casually ignored the alcoholic dwarf and waited for Starlight Princess to explain the method.

The combination of an Ice-Snow Flower and an Adult Mandrake was apparently as new to Starlight Princess as it was to me.

Neither was an herb you could buy with money, yet I had combined both.

It was an idea and method only I, someone living in the Forest of Four Seasons, could attempt.

'The Adult Mandrake might be one thing, but the Ice-Snow Flower will be hard to find.'

Honestly, if this experiment failed, I had no idea when I would find another Ice-Snow Flower.

Unlike Adult Mandrakes, they didn't grow in colonies.

I prayed this wouldn't fail. This might be my first and last chance.

└ [Starlight Princess]: (image of Mandrake anatomy) As you can see in the picture, Mandrakes resemble people, so their vital points are similar too. You have a syringe, right?

└ [Wild Grylls]: The one I got before?

└ [Starlight Princess]: Yes. Fill it with Elixir, then stick it directly into the Mandrake's mouth.

└ [Wild Grylls]: This feels like torture.

└ [Starlight Princess]: Exactly. Keep pouring it in until its stomach swells up like you're force-feeding it.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Got it.

└ Poor Mandrake...

└ Sorry about us shitty humans...

└ Just shoving it in so it can't even scream lol.

└ Why not just grind it into juice? This is so cruel lol.

└ [Starlight Princess]: Then put it in a mortar and grind it finely. That should extract a highly concentrated essence.

└ [Wild Grylls]: That's a really primitive method.

└ [Starlight Princess]: There isn't another way. Do you need a mortar?

└ [Wild Grylls]: No. I can buy one from the Auction House.

I didn't know anything, so I had no choice but to do as I was told.

Following Starlight Princess's instructions, I filled the syringe with Elixir.

Then I shoved it into the blue Adult Mandrake's mouth.

Pshk!

“Guhk?! Guh! Guoooh!”

The moment I inserted the syringe, the Mandrake desperately tried to scream.

But I forced its mouth shut, so its struggle was pointless.

Maybe because it looked like a person, it even thrashed its arms and legs.

It even grabbed the needle with its hands, trying to pull it out of its mouth.

Thud! Smack!

“Guh?! Guhp!”

So I hit it a few times to make it stay still.

It was annoying, but this was part of extracting the essence, so I endured it.

After that, I injected all the Elixir in the syringe into the Adult Mandrake.

Its body was still blue, but it had begun to glow faintly.

It had probably absorbed the Elixir's energy.

“Kkyo...!”

Thud!

“Guek! Kkyoooo...!”

Smack! Smack!

“Kuuek! Kkyoooot...!”

“...”

“Kkyoooot! Kkyooo!!”

“Seriously. Stop.”

Had this thing taken drugs instead of absorbing an Ice-Snow Flower?

The moment I removed the syringe, it started making bizarre screams. They weren't the usual Mandrake screams.

Instead, it sounded like something that had gotten absolutely blasted on drugs. Even punching it didn't calm it down.

It seemed to be recovering in real time because I had injected it with Elixir.

Even its face had gone slack, reacting like a real drug addict.

Elixir was technically medicine, so it seemed to have affected the Mandrake strangely.

Thud! Smack! Thump!

“Guek! Kek! Kkuek!”

So I hit it a few more times. The Mandrake went limp like a corpse.

I had used half a bottle of Elixir, then prepared the mortar.

I didn't forget to wash both the mortar and the Mandrake with water for hygiene.

'She said to grind it finely and collect the juice, right?'

According to Starlight Princess, the juice was the essence.

By the way, it may be late to mention it, but Starlight Princess had been prioritizing safety this whole time.

There was a more certain method, but it would put my survival at risk, so she emphasized safety instead.

I had no intention of betting my life just to gain power, so I willingly followed her instructions.

Crunch! Grind! Crunch!

I finely ground the Adult Mandrake in the mortar.

It wasn't some small bowl-shaped mortar. This was a full-sized mortar, the kind used for grinding grain.

I bought it to extract as much essence as possible.

'Should that be enough?'

After grinding it for quite a while, the Adult Mandrake was completely crushed. It was still blue.

I tilted the mortar slightly and poured the essence into the clean, empty Elixir bottle.

There were only a few drops, but that wasn't the end.

Squeeze!

I tightly wrung the ground Mandrake with my hands.

I used every bit of grip strength I had, enough for the veins on the back of my hand to bulge.

Drip. Drip.

Juice fell in drops.

After repeating that several times, I managed to fill about half the bottle.

The Elixir bottle was tiny, so it wasn't a lot, but it was enough.

Shhhh-

Maybe because it contained Elixir too, the essence wasn't an ordinary blue.

It was a beautiful color, with icy white and blue blended together perfectly.

It shone like Elixir, and even at a glance, it looked like a precious medicine.

└ [Wild Grylls]: (photo of glowing blue essence) I extracted all of it. I drink it now, right?

└ [Starlight Princess]: Yes. Just in case, I'll give you another Elixir. It's packed with yang essence, so it should be enough for emergencies.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Thank you.

Now that I had even received an emergency Elixir from Starlight Princess, all that remained was drinking this.

I stared at the shimmering blue essence and took a deep breath.

Essence was a liquid containing powerful energy. It was easiest to think of it as an Inner Core turned into liquid.

So if I calmly controlled the energy while reciting the second set of mnemonic verses Heavenly Demon had taught me, it should work.

'It even has Elixir mixed in to make it safe. It'll be fine.'

The first time was always the hardest. I swallowed, then drank all the essence in one gulp.

From my mouth to my throat, it felt beyond cold, almost painfully freezing.

It was also extremely bitter. Bitter enough to twist my entire face.

The bitterness was so intense that I nearly failed to use my cultivation method.

'Th-the sky becomes me... No, that's not it?'

On top of that, my head tingled like I had wolfed down ice cream too quickly.

The double combo of bitterness and brain freeze left me dazed, but I somehow managed to recite the mnemonic verses.

It didn't hurt, but the sensations rushing over me were nearly comparable to pain, making it incredibly difficult.

Still, I kept trying. I had to accept the energy instead of losing consciousness and being overwhelmed by it.

As Heavenly Demon had taught me, to control the energy of the heavens, I first had to understand it.

I tried to feel every strand of energy within the essence completely.

Whoosh!

The results of the safety-focused method and my efforts gradually began to appear.

The essence started flowing along the pathways mana followed under the cultivation method.

If I kept it up like this, I would absorb all the essence before long.

It felt as though there were a solid block of ice inside my body, but it was bearable.

Whoooosh!

How much time passed?

I absorbed the essence completely.

After practicing the cultivation method a little longer, I slowly opened my eyes.

Fast Sloth was staring blankly at me.

“Phew...”

“...”

The fact that I could see Fast Sloth meant I was still alive. I let out a long breath.

White vapor escaped from my mouth.

'Did it... work?'

After absorbing all the essence, I checked every part of my body. Nothing had visibly changed.

The cold was the same. I was still cold.

It seemed I hadn't gained the cold resistance that had been my original goal. What a shame.

'Well, it can't be helped. Starlight Princess wasn't certain either.'

That didn't mean I could ignore safety.

To tell them the results, I made a post in the Gallery.

[Post title] First Preparation Results

[Author] Wild Grylls

[Post] I don't think anything changed. It seems like everything was completely neutralized.

└ [Starlight Princess]: What a shame. I'm so sorry that I wasn't good enough.

└ [Wild Grylls]: No. You didn't do anything wrong, Starlight Princess. It'd be stranger if it worked on the first try, wouldn't it?

└ [Starlight Princess]: We may need to research the Adult Mandrake more. Could you give me one later?

└ [Wild Grylls]: Sure. You gave me Elixir too, so I'll send you one.

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Told you making alcohol would be better.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Nah, that's nonsense.

└ [Starlight Princess]: It isn't completely nonsense. Snake wine and ginseng wine are basically like drinking essence too.

└ [Passing Dwarf]: See? Lol.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Still, alcohol is a little...

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Humor me and try making it once. I'll give you something amazing.

└ [Wild Grylls]: If I can make it, lol.

I'd need another Ice-Snow Flower before I could make it again.

I checked the time, trying to shake off my disappointment. There was still some time left.

Building a stone icehouse would take too long, but I probably had enough time to chop wood for getting through the night.

Fwoosh!

“Hm?”

I ignited aura on my axe to make chopping easier, then noticed something strange.

My aura had originally been nearly colorless.

But not now. It was an intense, icy blue.

'No. It really is cold?'

It still flickered like a flame, yet it emitted cold energy. It was a bizarre sight.

Out of curiosity, I held my hand to the aura, but I was perfectly fine.

'Did it just become cooler?'

Was this just a pretty facade with no substance? I let out a small laugh.

What mattered now was chopping wood. Even if its color had changed, aura was still aura.

I swung the axe, putting my back into it.

Crunch!

The axe blade sank right into the center of the tree.

Crack, crack, crack!!!

From the point of impact, the entire tree froze solid.

“...”

I could only stand there with my mouth hanging open at the unbelievable sight.

'What the hell did I just eat?'

I couldn't decide whether I should be happy about this or not.

One thing was certain, though.

'Th-this is awesome...!'

I had unintentionally gained an incredible ability.

Ice-Snow Flower, Adult Mandrake, and finally Elixir.

Each one was rare, so maybe this was only natural after mixing all three together.

'...What would happen if I mixed that with a sword?'

A pointless thought suddenly crossed my mind.

Footnotes:

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