Nightmare Paradise : Starting as a Doctor

Chapter 164: Toxicology and Alchemical Arts

As night reluctantly loosened its grip, the first light of dawn crept over the silhouette of the mountain ridge. The moon hung low in the sky, fading like a phantom overtaken by the warm hues of morning.

Golden beams of light sliced through the tangled web of branches, dappling the forest floor with a patchwork of shadow. In the distance, a faint smoke tendril curled from the mouth of the tunnel.

Barely noticeable, it made its way upward, thinning until it blended with the haze clinging to the treetops, a momentary reminder of what transpired in the hidden depths below during the dark hours.

Once teeming with frenzied chaos, the underground labyrinth had fallen eerily silent. Where masses of writhing arachnids and violent clashes filled every crevice, an unnatural stillness now pervaded.

Even the blazing inferno that engulfed everything had fully extinguished, consuming all available fuel material inside. With its sustenance spent, the last heat dissipated into the chilling air.

However, the issue was that not a single spider cadaver or a trace of charred remains were left. It was as if someone had painstakingly gathered them all, erasing any evidence of the massacre.

All that lingered was a thin layer of ash clinging to the scorched stones, hinting at the tumultuous events within these corridors. Even at the heart of the intricate maze, the scene was eerily similar.

The extraordinary ore deposits in the walls showed no hint of existence. Where vibrantly throbbing nodes of spiritual energy had glowed previously, only dull, lifeless surfaces remained.

The culprit responsible for this transformation sat alone in the defiled lair. His expression was impassive but concentrated, fixing a makeshift table of rocks before him that served as his workspace.

Across its surface, a clutter of items sprawled out—flickering candles, half-drawn diagrams, scattered notes, and more. But the most prominent was the dissected body of the colossal monster.

Expertly carved open, Lynn meticulously studied its anatomy, his gloved hands moving with practiced precision, revealing layers of chitinous plates, muscles, and strange organs that appeared almost alien.

A puddle of sickly greenish liquid slowly oozed from the severed sections, staining the cold floor. The acrid scent of decay mingled with the earthy dampness, thickening the air with a suffocating heaviness.

"The night's work has been fruitful," he murmured to himself, the corners of his lips curling upwards. The words echoed slightly in the stillness, mixing with the occasional blood drip hitting stones.

After emerging victorious from the brutal confrontation against the colossal underground ruler, he wasted no time and promptly set to work, harvesting the spoils of his hard-fought triumph.

First, he turned his attention to the lifeless bodies of the smaller spiders that had fallen during the conflict, swiftly collecting them before they could disintegrate into ash, preventing their loss.

They were valuable research materials for his skills and class, providing him with a trove of genetic information and class experience, steadily increasing his aptitude as a [Flesh Stitcher].

Although the individual specimens were of relatively low value, their grand number more than compensated for it. Consequently, this task was one of the two that consumed most of the nighttime.

His [Mimicry Heart] skill eagerly devoured their data, but the process was not as smooth or effortless as the ordinary snake. Because of the extraordinary biology, it presented a significant challenge.

Despite the difficulties, he persisted, driven by an insatiable curiosity. Through arduous trial and error, he managed to uncover and add two new powerful capacities to his arsenal: