The Runic Alchemist

And so began Damian's never-ending mimicry spell tests, conducted on hundreds of animals and monsters at a time. Capturing and transporting these creatures to the capital was an expensive endeavor, but the court's decision-makers were deeply invested in his experiments. They issued a royal decree, compelling the lords of each region to participate. Each lord was required to supply at least two monsters from the dungeons within their seats of power. For regions without dungeons, the task was to capture three creatures from the wild.

An official list of acceptable monsters was maintained, updated weekly with details of which had been procured and which were still outstanding. This initiative inadvertently generated numerous jobs for mercenaries and scholars specializing in the study of animals and monsters. Basically making his name as an eccentric researcher in the eyes of common civilians.

How these creatures were obtained and brought to the capital was not his concern. However, the decree sparked protests among the nobility, as many saw it as a potential threat to the secrecy of their dungeons. To mitigate backlash, the Queen limited the requirement to two monsters per dungeon—reasonable, given that even the smallest dungeons housed more than a dozen creatures.

Damian meticulously tested every part of each beast and monster delivered to him. For each test, he created a detailed mimicry spellbook, complete with diagrams of their runic circles. These circles, he discovered, varied slightly depending on the creature and even among different parts of the same creature. Documenting these differences, along with noting down their unique IDs, was crucial. Unfortunately, some creatures perished during transportation or after, and some died coming out of their natural habitat, so that was completely useless. Thankfully, replacements for the most valuable specimens were relatively easy to acquire.

After months of exhaustive research, Damian compiled a finalized list of spells he intended to transform using his Arcane Synthesis into consumable forms.

---

Beast Derived..

Gorilla Grip - Enhanced grip strength obviously derived from their most common ancestors.

Leapfrog - The human musculoskeletal system could be enhanced to support high jumps; derived from frogs copying their climbing and leaping abilities to some extent.

Night/heat Vision - The same night/heat vision spell often used by him.

Scent Tracker - Enhances the sense of smell for tracking. Source: Wolves and bears.

Sonic Hearing - Can hear high and low frequencies to some extent. Source: Bats.

Chameleon Cloak - Cannot change skin color, but mimicking dynamic camouflage was possible. Source: Chameleon species.

Monster Derived..

Fangbearer Strength: Temporarily boosts muscular power. Source: Dungeon beasts Fangbears, humanoid bears with extreme upper-body strength.

Featherlight - Reduces body weight for enhanced mobility and slower falls. Source: Harpy dungeon monsters with humanoid traits.

Skybound Fall - Grants temporary wing-like appendages for gliding or limited flight. Source: Wyvern-kin monsters, small, winged creatures with humanoid forearms.

Burrower's Might - Enhances arm strength for digging or navigating underground. Source: Mole-like dungeon creatures with humanoid forelimbs.

Lifesprout Elixir - Accelerates natural healing and restores stamina. Source: Humanoid plant monsters, Floran Dryads with regenerative sap.

Frostfang Cold - Reduces body heat to protect against extreme cold. Source: Ice wolves with humanoid thermal adaptations.

Some which were too risky which Damian kept as a secret from others.

Viperstrike Venom - Adds venomous properties to bites or scratches. Source: Venomous snake monsters with humanoid upper bodies, like Naga.

Explore stories on empire

Flameburst - Allows the user to expel a burst of flame. Source: Fire drakes with human-like rib cage structures.

Voidstep - Allows brief teleportation over short distances. Source: Shadow Wraiths dungeon creatures with humanoid leg structures adapted for phasing through custom wormholes.

Abyssal Strength - Temporarily multiplies physical strength but at a stamina cost. Source: Ogre dungeon monsters, renowned for their brute force.

Mana Pulse - Briefly boosts magical energy and concentration. Source: Arcane Wyrms humanoid dungeon monsters infused with mana.

---

Now he had to choose which one he wanted to waste the royal money on. However after thinking a lot about it, Damian decided to level his Arcane synthesis to max before doing this. Who knew, maybe he would get some additional skill adjacent to it… And so he copied one spell after another with his Arcane Synthesis, using it on himself to level it faster. He had no shortage of spells with hundreds of beasts to do mimicry spells on.

Finally it reached level 9 for the first time and then changed to Arcane Synthesis V2. That was new, never before had any of his skills just changed versions and called it a day. Even the description was the same, the only thing that had changed was the exact thing Damian needed from this upgrade. While keeping the Arcane synthesis active now he could record two spells. As if there was just an addition of an extra slot in his mind for recording data of a spell.

Damian was tempted to level up to max and get his third job just so he could further level up Arcane synthesis, but he wanted to update all of his skills first. And in doing research, he had neglected the sword and spear training a bit. Damian somewhat felt like acquiring more knowledge should be his priority here and when the day came when he would have a block in his research, he would get the third job. Right now he was plenty strong and felt like consolidating his strength should be more important than going out in the wild and finding monsters to level up. That would be a huge waste of the resources and library access he had here.

Meanwhile, Sam and Einar, had reached their third jobs after three years of relentless training. The leveling was easy for them, since they had access to a small dungeon in the nearby town of the capital, but they were also determined to do it only after maxing out all their skills. They also practiced more refined swordsmanship techniques that were passed down in Eldoris royal knight's academy. When the instructor knights and the princess informed the others how dedicated and talented they were, they also got called into the meeting with the queen and others to discuss their future. Damian had not asked much since they didn't meet as often, and they spent a lot of time outside the palace and he was inside the underground lab all day. They did meet once in a while though, when Sam came to complain about Einar and the Princess, who were getting closer and closer by the day.

For the first giant mimic spell Damian finally selected the Featherlight spell and Voidstep spell to store in his Arcane Synthesis data slots. Of course the Featherlight spell was to show his results in public and the Voidstep spell was for his own personal use, Damian didn't think he would ever change that one with another, if it could make potent enough potions to help him make small spatial jumps like wormhole. One slot was enough for the experiments. He had already given craftsmen instruction to build giant storage units with fire tools, connected to each other with pipe-like structures with opening and closing functions. Custom giant tools for drying and crushing the plants into a powder. In short he had made the whole potion making process to industry standard, he would only have to add his unique mimicry spell oils to the mix and he would get ready to use potions.

He had even sent schematics for vials and glassware he needed to use to be made by a noble house recommended by the head researcher and the butler, they were famous for custom glass work and they had also delivered some samples. Damian used up all the dark mana stones leaving only a little amount to keep in his personal storage, he had made two giant runic circles for both mimicry spells. He told others one had failed but instead used it for storing Voidstep spell and then used another to get the Featherlight spell.

With that he started manufacturing his first batch of industry standard speed potion vials, it wasn't proper mass produced for commercial or army usage yet, it was just a batch to show the royalty he had succeeded, and what his spell could truly do. For the army he would only mass produce support effect potions, on that point he was determined to not allow any compromises. But even just support type potions would be well worth double of what they had invested in him for all this research. That much they had earned from him.