Inside the Forbidden Forest.
Lucien reclined against an auspicious cloud, while another cloud held a golden gourd aloft in front of him.
Moments later, Lucien's figure emerged from the mouth of the gourd.
He held a transparent box in his hand, and suspended in its center was a grayish-brown solid that, at first glance, resembled a lump of dry earth.
"Phew, the Delayed Truth has been refined. Fortunately, nothing went wrong."
He used magic to fix the substance securely in the middle of the container, making sure it didn't touch the sides to prevent any accidental detonation from impact.
"Let's test its effect first."
Lucien raised his wand, separating a fragment no larger than a fingernail from the grayish-brown solid.
"According to the book's description, this amount should produce an explosive effect equivalent to…"
After estimating the distance, Lucien flicked the small fragment about twenty meters away.
It landed lightly on the ground without any noticeable change, looking no different from an ordinary clod of mud.
The grayish-brown fragment bounced slightly, then fell again.. and in the next instant, it expanded violently, swelling into a massive sphere nearly two meters in diameter.
Boom—!
A thunderous explosion echoed through the Forbidden Forest, sending flocks of birds and beasts scattering in alarmed cries.
When the noise finally subsided, Lucien approached the site with Lumen at his side.
A deep crater, about five or six meters wide, had formed in the ground.
"Hmm, the effect is quite good," Lucien remarked.
He noticed that the pit's surface was still coated with a strange grayish-brown liquid that continued to corrode the soil.
"Is this because of the properties of Billywig Sting Extract? This explosion also seems to have a dissolving effect."
"It doesn't just blast things apart like Diffindo—it can directly dissolve them."
"For thicker protective layers, it should break through even faster."
"Lumen, help me check again."
After instructing the little Quilin, Lucien re-entered the golden gourd, which served as his dedicated Alchemy workspace.
This time, he didn't keep Lumen waiting for long.
With the most critical component already completed, all that remained was to load the Delayed Truth into specially crafted bullet casings.
The slightly more troublesome parts were preventing accidental activation and figuring out how to trigger detonation after firing—but Lucien had already worked out a design concept for both.
Besides, magic made everything far more convenient, allowing him to construct the mechanisms with ease.
When he emerged again, Lucien was holding a box of grayish-yellow bullets.
With his other hand, he drew out his transforming pocket watch.
As magic flowed through it, the pointer stopped at the revolver icon.
In an instant, the pocket watch transformed into a brass-colored revolver.
He loaded a bullet to test it, then aimed at a large tree in the distance.
Bang—!
The gun fired, and the moment the shot struck, a large bulge appeared on the tree trunk..
Boom!—and then, part of the trunk simply vanished into thin air.
"That's pretty good."
As the great tree collapsed with a crash, Lucien glanced at the remaining bullet in his hand.
"Hmm, let's call them Truth Bullets."
After storing away both the bullets and the transformed pocket watch, Lucien reached out to pat Lumen's neck.
"Let's go—one more trip to that Mooncalf cave from last time."
"Okay, Master, but I have something I want to tell you."
"Oh? What is it?"
Lumen suddenly looked a little shy.
"Uh… I think I'm about to shed my scales!"
Lucien turned to stare at the little Quilin, momentarily stunned.
"You said… shed scales?"
At the same time, he quickly communicated with the system.
"System, do Quilins shed their scales?"
[Yes. Especially during their growth period, Quilins shed scales quite frequently—about once a month.]
[Each shedding is a sign of physical growth.]
Hearing the system's explanation, Lucien felt relieved.
So it was just a normal physiological process.
He couldn't help but wonder what the shed Quilin scales would look like…
"Eh, Qilin scales… the body tissue of a magical creature."
Lucien suddenly thought of something and pulled a relatively thin book from his pocket, its cover embossed with a gilded letter "P."
Relying on memory, he quickly flipped to a certain page.
"That's it—using the body tissue of magical creatures as the main material to amplify and harness their traits."
It was a type of Alchemy recorded in the Potter family's magic book.
"Hmm, could I use the scales shed by Lumen to create special Alchemical tools?"
"Well, if they're already shed, it'd be a waste not to."
"Besides, Qilin scales naturally possess magic resistance."
"Turning them into protective gear or something similar should be quite practical."
"Or maybe… I could try integrating them into the transforming pocket watch to add new functions?"
As Lucien was deep in thought, Lumen's voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Oh, right, Master—I think I'm about to shed my horn too!"
Shed… horn?
"System, Qilin shedding its horn—"
But before Lucien could even finish his question,
Clatter—
A short, branched horn fell to the ground.
Lucien instinctively looked down at it. The horn was warm and smooth like polished jade, with a rounded tip.
Then he glanced at Lumen—only a single, lonely short horn now remained on the little Qilin's forehead.
"Master, my head feels itchy!"
"Uh… how is this… like a deer?"
Lucien couldn't help but recall the deer he'd seen during shedding season.
They often ended up with only one horn for a while, and some even lost their balance because their antlers were too large and heavy.
"Fortunately, Lumen's horn isn't too big—just looks a little odd."
"Hmm, I guess this is the awkward phase."
"Lumen, you dropped a horn."
"Ah, oh."
Lucien shook his head helplessly and waved his wand, summoning the horn from the ground into his hand.
He pointed his wand at it again, but the Qilin horn remained still, completely unresponsive.
"Hmm?"
"Did the spell go wrong?"
"No, the magic flow feels perfectly normal."
"Could it be that, like the Qilin scales, the horn also has magic resistance?"
Lucien tried again, but the Qilin horn still didn't move an inch.
"Interesting."
He bent down and picked up the horn, its smooth, white glass-like surface still radiating gentle warmth despite having fallen off.
Placing the short horn on a large boulder, Lucien lifted his wand once more.
A series of spells followed one after another—wind and fire swirled together, and crackling arcs of lightning danced wildly across the surface.
When the aftermath finally faded,
only the base of the boulder remained. The Qilin horn lying at its center was completely unscathed.
Not a single mark marred its smooth, white glass-like surface.
"It seems its resistance to magic is even stronger than the scales," Lucien murmured.
"At least some spells could still leave a mark on the Qilin scales."
An idea suddenly struck him.
He waved his wand, casting a Shield Charm around himself.
A transparent magical barrier enveloped his entire body—a standard protective spell designed to deflect or dissipate physical and magical attacks within a certain range.
With his hand still protected by the shimmering shield, Lucien reached out and touched the Qilin horn.
Crack—
As the caster, Lucien distinctly felt the invisible sound of something shattering.
__________
11 Advance Chaps- P@treon/DarkDevil1