Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“This place…” Lin Li’s finger lightly glided across the crystal ball, and finally landed on the base that was cast from brilliant thorium. “I wonder if I can add a Countercurrent mageweath at this place…”
“Countercurrent mageweath?” Moke was in a daze again when he heard it. Of course he knew the Countercurrent mageweath. It was one of the high-level mageweaths that had the simplest structures. It included a total of 13 magic nodes as well as an element amplifying circuit. Most of the times, the Countercurrent mageweath would be in a hibernation state, but once it was triggered by mana, the Countercurrent mageweath would amplify that mana and release powerful magical elements instantly.
Moke was all too familiar with the Countercurrent mageweath. Out of 10 magic staffs, at least nine would use the Countercurrent mageweath. As for the magic staves that Moke had dealt with so far, he could not even remember how many of them there were. However, Moke could not understand why Felic would suddenly have this request.
Could it be that he did not know that the Countercurrent mageweath should not even be placed at the base of a crystal ball? The unique property of the Countercurrent mageweath was to suddenly increase mana and use that instantaneous explosive strength to injure opponents. But if it were to be inscribed on the crystal ball’s base, what could it harm other than the crystal ball itself?
“Let me try…” Of course, Moke was not stupid enough to remind the other party of it. In fact, to be able to see the other party make a big fool out of himself was all Moke wished for. Don’t like you playing games? Ok then, I’ll help you inscribe the Countercurrent mageweath. When the crystal ball can’t bear the burden and explodes, I’ll see how you’ll apply for another one from the Supreme Council. This is hundreds of thousands of gold coins. You will not be able to pay for it even if you sell your pants…
“Then I’ll thank you in advance, Mr Moke…”
“You’re welcome…” Stimulated by the idea of gloating over Lin Li’s imminent misfortune, the smile on Moke’s face widened significantly. He incessantly asked Lin Li what he wanted from the Countercurrent mageweath while asking somebody to bring his tools over.
Moke’s tools were not complicated—a glittering and translucent crystal pen and a bottle of sky blue ink. For a Master of Inscription, this seemed rather scrubby, but Lin Li did not see it that way. The crystal pen did not seem special when scanning it, but if it was closely inspected, it would be easy to realize that there seemed to be some mist revolving around the tip of the pen.
Lin Li knew that most likely it was a Twilight Crystal that was associated with a few mineral veins. Crystal pens made from the Twilight Crystal had one big advantage, and that was that they could distribute mana with great accuracy. Inscription itself was an art that was meticulous in every way. A successful mageweath did not tolerate a single mistake, especially so when the Inscriber was distributing mana. Just a single deviation would result in a completely different result.
Thus, Inscribers used crystal pens to draw mageweaths. It was because crystals themselves were the most sensitive magical crystalloids. Any small changes in mana would appear in the most representative visual manner. As for Twilight Crystal, it was the most sensitive type among all of the crystals. With crystal pens made from Twilight Crystals, one could almost completely eradicate any mistakes in mana distribution!
The Supreme Council is indeed wealthy… Looking at that Inscription pen made from Twilight Crystal, even Lin Li could not help but silently gasp in admiration. This was not something that was commonly seen. Even in the Endless World, Lin Li only saw it twice. Once, it was already made into a crystal pen, and was being held in the hands of the Inscriber Apprentice Altolia. The other was at the cave of the Dragon of Destruction, Azardas. After a dragon blood adamantine mineral vein had been dug up, a piece of Twilight Crystal was sitting amongst the rocks. It’d almost made Lin Li salivate on the spot…
It seemed like monsters that had survived since the Dark Ages like the Supreme Council were not something any normal forces could be compared to. Ignore their monstrous strength that was like something from myths and the influence they had over thousands of mages. Just the wealth that had been accumulating for 1300 years was sufficient for most forces to give up all hope of contending with them.
This was no longer a matter of a sum of money. Something as precious as the Twilight Crystal could not be bought with money. The Mannes Family was rich, right? The Marathon Family was rich, right? But, who among those two families would be able to take out a piece of Twilight Crystal? Of course, even if they had one, they did not have the guts to take it out, either. It was fine to be rich, but once they held a treasure that could only be found by luck, who knew whether it would cause some powerhouse to cast greedy eyes on it. An Archmage might not be able to snatch it, but a Legendary-mage should be able to, right? Anril had countless powerhouses, but not all of them were as polite as Andoine…
However, Moke was definitely not afraid of anyone snatching it…
It was because one of the two strongest forces of Anril—the Supreme Council—stood behind him!
Hence, he could peacefully take out the Twilight Crystal pen and draw outlines on the brilliant thorium base. No matter whether Lin Li liked this middle-aged man with a stiff tone, he still had to admit this time that Moke’s attainments in Inscriptions had already reached the Master level. He held the Twilight Crystal pen in one hand and gently dipped it in the sky blue ink. After that, he hastily started drawing. In an instant, he had announced that the Countercurrent mageweath has been completed.
“This time was really too sudden, I was not prepared. President Felic, why don’t you take a look first. If there is any unsatisfactory place, please let me know…” After drawing out the last element amplifying circuit on the brilliant thorium base, Moke gently placed the Twilight Crystal pen on the table and looked at the young guild president proudly.
Moke understood himself very well. He knew that he did not have any incredible talent in magic. He was already in his forties, and he had only just broken through to the Archmage realm. But in the field of Inscriptions, Moke did not believe there was anyone that could surpass him. Even if it was the first universally accepted Inscriber, Alanna Guild of Magic’s Aldwin, he only became a Master of Inscription in his sixties. Compared to the current Moke, he was only better in terms of experience. In terms of comprehending Inscriptions per se, he was not Moke’s equal…
Although Moke had asked Lin Li to point out any errors, his gaze towards the other party was totally different. Today, Moke had contentedly vindicated himself. The Countercurrent mageweath that he just drew was definitely one of the few proud works he had recently. Not only did he use the Twilight Crystal pen that he did not usually use, he also added a few skills that he created during the process for drawing. Moke believed that even if Aldwin were to be present, he would not even able to find any faults.
“Mr Moke really likes to crack jokes. You are the person of authority for Inscription in the Supreme Council. How would I, a young junior, dare to point out what is unsatisfactory…” Lin Li’s face still had a smile that was brimming with enthusiasm, but as he spoke, he frowned slightly. “But Mr Moke, isn’t this element amplifying circuit too near to the source of mana?”
Moke was so confident that he almost thought he misheard when Lin Li really pointed something out…
He, he, he… He was actually giving directions to Moke? Moke simply could not believe that this young brat actually wishfully thought of trying to point out his faults!
“What’s wrong, Mr Moke? You do not look well, are you sick?”
“…” Moke almost choked on his breath. If it was not because Herza was at the side, Moke would already spit his saliva. All of this was in a mess, and it was too near to the source of mana. Moke really could not imagine how clueless a person had to be to say such things…
Anybody that possessed general knowledge about Inscription knew that under the circumstances where the mageweath’s structure allowed it, the nearer the core circuit was to the source mana, the better it was. It was because only through that the avoidance of depletion was at its highest. Damn it, so this fella does not know anything. What Ward of Bad Luck, what Countercurrent mageweath. God knows where he heard of these. No wonder he’s so stupid, stupid enough to inscribe Countercurrent mageweath on to the base of the crystal ball…
In an instant, Moke really did not know if he should cry or laugh. A Master of Inscription’s time had actually been wasted by a brat that did not know anything. Moke had even held his breath and displayed the Inscription skills that he was most proud of just to subdue the opposition. But, he did not think that the opposition was just a layman who did not even know the basic general knowledge. The Inscription skills that he was proud had entirely been seen as “unsatisfactory” in the other party’s eyes…
“Thank you, President Felic. I am very well!” Moke seemingly completed this sentence in blocks.
“Oh, that’s good. That’s good…” Lin Li only then heaved a sigh of relief. He sized up Moke thoroughly with concern while saying, “I thought that it was because Mr Moke just arrived in the Breezy Plains and fell sick because of not being acclimatized…”
“…” Moke almost choked on his breath again. This time, he held in again and again before he finally held back the impulse to curse and swear. It was just that although he squeezed out an awkward smile on his face, he had already started swearing in his heart. Only you are f*cking unacclimatized, your whole family is unacclimatized!
“Oh yes, Mr Moke. I seemed to have heard it from someone, but Brilliant Thorium tools have the property of warping mana. I’m not sure if that affected the Countercurrent mageweath that you inscribed just now?” After Lin Li showed concern with a face of sincerity, he walked around the crystal ball again.
The words that Lin Li said were asked in a very casual manner. It was just like asking “have you eaten” or “how’s the weather today”, but when it fell on Moke’s ears, it immediately scared him till he started having cold sweat.
Indeed, the Brilliant Thorium did have the property of warping mana. Usually, this property was not an issue, but when a Countercurrent mageweath had been inscribed on Brilliant Thorium, this property would suddenly become fatal…
