Arcane: Winds of Change

For more chapters (10+) or if you want to support me, visit https://www.patreon.com/FFAddict. Thank you!

Chapter Five: Alchemical Reagents

To align with the "Skin Master" system, Phil purchased a vast number of books—both on technology and magic. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge, which reminded him of his senior year in high school from his previous life. At times, Phil imagined himself on the battlefield, fighting a hundred enemies at once, but in reality, he became a research scientist. Phil's system was quite inconvenient as it couldn't manifest equipment directly. This was just for a simple shotgun; if he managed to get something like a Galactic Mecha God or a Kingdom Machine God, he'd be sitting on a fortune but unable to spend it.

"This is the payment for this transaction; let's inspect the goods," a tall man handed over a box. "Alright, give them the goods," instructed Phil, wearing a mask, to the large black man behind him. The other party inspected the goods and then said, "This is our last transaction, right?" As time went on, the scale of Phil's weapon production grew, and the quality improved. They were now producing more than just shotguns. He had become a well-known underground weapons dealer, and Baron Wufield's demand for weapons was gradually reaching saturation.

"I look forward to our next cooperation, sir," Phil said, also opening the box. His brows furrowed slightly, "Is this Baron Wufield's idea?" The box was filled with stones. "This is my idea. You're making too much; I just want a taste," the tall man said, pointing a shotgun at Phil. Phil smiled at the brute. In the weapons trade, he naturally had a contingency plan, but he couldn't figure out why his opponent seemed so composed. Was it because of the shotgun in his hand?

"Sir, I wouldn't recommend doing that." "Damn it, take the stones and scram..." The big man was about to pull the trigger, but before he could finish, "Boom," Phil gestured a blast, pulling out a remote from his pocket and pressing it. The poor giant didn't even finish his words before he and his companions' weapons were blown sky-high. This was a mini-bomb Phil had crafted from the knowledge he extracted from the skin of Ziggs, the Mad Scientist. After drawing a Ziggs skin trial card last time, Phil chose to use it immediately. The knowledge from Ziggs' mind provided Phil with great assistance, although it left him with a headache for three days afterward. 

Seeing that the opposing side had no backup, Phil lamented, "What a shame, our last transaction ended our cooperation on an unpleasant note." "Check if any of them are still alive; if they are, find where they hid the gold bars," Phil instructed briefly before leaving.

Boys grow fast at this age, and Phil was no exception. His once youthful frame had become tall and robust. It had been two years since he arrived in this world. He hadn't wasted these two years. With the aid of skin trial cards and crafting blueprints, he could rightfully call himself a scientist now. After countless battles, and in a place like Zaun rife with conflict, he developed the habit of always having a backup plan.

Phil glanced at his system's skin cards [Tokens*839] (different from League tokens in purchasing power). Tokens could be used to directly purchase skin trial cards, which was convenient, but the number of tokens was currently limited. It had been a long time since he received a rare reward from the lottery. He obtained the following skin fragments: [Skin Fragment: Program Camille's Hookshot], [Skin Fragment: Blood Moon Yasuo's Mask], [Skin Fragment: PROJECT: Lin Yi's 098X Dissolver Blade], [Skin Fragment: Hired Gun Lucian's Dual Pistols]. Except for the PROJECT blade, which he hadn't yet crafted, Phil had already created the others to enrich his weapon factory. To successfully craft this blade, extensive knowledge was required, along with a stable and efficient energy source.

Phil had already used several skin trial cards, and when facing research difficulties, he even exchanged for a Creative Inventor Workshop trial card, which cost him a hefty 230 tokens. Now, he only had these left: [Lionheart: Braum] and [Warlord Ares: Garen]. After completing the transaction, Phil went straight to the lab, where he saw a young boy with blond hair being pressed into a chair by someone. "You should have just followed them and not intervened," came Silco's deep voice from afar. "I'm sorry, I didn't know they fought so well... And that kid actually had a gun," the boy with the blond hair stammered, struggling with his grasped neck.

"He wants to gather information about you. You're not worth provoking him for," Silco said slowly. "Those kids, it was all of them! They're the ones responsible for the explosion uptown! The uptown folks are in a frenzy, and they'll surely root out those four kids," the blond boy said anxiously. "Oh?" Silco seemed a bit surprised. "Vander is in trouble."

"What happened, Silco?" Phil asked. "Just some petty matter. I recall you're not too fond of coming here," Silco said, then instructed others, "Give him a meal and don't let him go back there." Phil briefly recounted the day's events to Silco, who didn't mind once he heard Phil had resolved the issue, even though Phil had killed Baron Wufield's men. Silco wasn't afraid of Baron Takeda Saito's wrath; he had enough confidence behind him, especially since Phil had been the victim in this matter. "There was an explosion uptown, and the culprits were those kids under Vander's watch." "You can retaliate against Vander now," Phil shrugged.

"No, Vander still has his uses. This is an opportunity for Zaun. We must seize it," Silco said. "How's the experiment going?" Phil inquired. "Show him," Silco wanted to showcase the research results to Phil. The doctor released the potion into a tank with a rat and then threw in a fierce cat into the cage. The rat, after ingesting the potion, mutated to the point where the cat's blood splattered inside the experimental cage. "Is that a success? It's just a rat. Can humans use it? Will it cause death?" Phil asked, seeing the potion Silco had painstakingly worked on finally yield results, feeling a sense of excitement.

"It's not stable yet, child," said the doctor beside him. "We will stabilize the potion in the coming days. Once successful, the rise of Zaun will be imminent," Silco said slowly. "Oh, alright then. I look forward to that day," Phil bid farewell to Silco and left the lab. As for his opinion on the potion? It's merely a product of overdrawing power. No matter how much it enhances, he would never use it. However, it must be said, it's a powerful artifact that can boost Zaun's precarious strength.