Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“I’ll write to Gerian right away!” Macklin stood at the door of the smithy and looked at the Frostfire Sword with a glazed expression on his face. After staring at it for more than half an hour, he finally said, “I must have a good talk with that fatty Gerian…”
“There’s no need to write…” Aldwin’s face was also glazed, but as President of the Alanna Guild of Magic, his vision reached farther than Macklin’s. “Gerian will not let him go. I just learned two days ago that the Emerald Tower has unified the whole city of Jarrosus, and all this happened in two months. Just think, didn’t Felic complete his level certification in Jarrosus Guild of Magic two months ago? Gerian must be clearer about Felic than us. With his character, how could he easily let him go…”
“Gerian, this darned fatty…” Macklin thought for a moment, and knew that the President was telling the truth. It had not been a year or two since he knew Gerian. How could he not know that this arrogant-looking, seemingly unscheming fat man was actually more cunning than a fox?
Macklin could even be sure that the reason why Felic participated in this trial as a level-seven mage was mostly Gerian’s idea.
Why a level-seven mage? Wasn’t it because the fat man was worried that Felic was so outstanding that the Alanna Guild of Magic, and even the Supreme Council, would covet him?
Damn it, letting a level-12 Magic Shooter disguise as a level-seven mage—this darned fatty was indeed despicable to think of such thing…
Macklin really wanted to ask Gerian: why didn’t you just let him come as a mage apprentice instead?
“Is there really nothing you can do about it?” Macklin kept thinking about it; he refused to give up. Felic was simply too outstanding—there might not be another such talent like him in hundreds of years. No matter how, Macklin was unwilling to see him slip away from his own hands.
“It’s very difficult…” Aldwin stared at the Frostfire Sword—which was emitting a faint magical wave—in the smithy; there was some helplessness in his expression. “To be honest, compared with the Emerald Tower, we have no advantage at all…”
“Why not? We are the top Guild of Magic in the Felan Kingdom. We can offer the best treatment to the members of the guild, including magical equipment, research materials, spells, and even the opportunity to receive guidance from the Supreme Council. Can the Emerald Tower afford these things?”
Aldwin shook his head. “The question is, do you think these advantages are of any significance?”
“…” Macklin opened his mouth and wanted to refute Aldwin, but after pondering it over, he suddenly realized that Aldwin was right. These things, which an ordinary mage longed for, seemed to be meaningless to that freak.
Magical equipment needn’t be mentioned—he was a pharmacist-cum-blacksmith. He could just move his hands, and innumerable gold coins would be pouring down from the sky. He could just spend all the money he wanted for any magical equipment; was there still a need for the guild to provide it?
The same was true for research materials. As long as you had money, there would naturally be a lot of adventurers willing to contribute to you. What research materials were beyond your reach?
Of course, the top-level ones were certainly not possible. After all, those things had gone beyond the scope of money.
The problem was…
The Alanna Guild of Magic was similarly unable to provide the aforementioned top-level equipment and materials that had gone beyond the scope of money…
As for the various kinds of spells… Don’t even mention it. What was his relationship with Andoine? The old fellow was the authority on High Elves relics. He probably held more lost spells than the whole of Alanna Guild of Magic combined…
“Damn…” Macklin mulled it over for a long time, and had to admit gloomily that compared to the darned fatty’s Emerald Tower, the Alanna Guild of Magic really had no advantage at all.
“However…” Hearing Macklin’s curse, Aldwin’s face revealed a hint of smile. “Frankly speaking, it’s not true that there’s no way around this matter at all…”
“Oh?” Macklin started, and asked eagerly, “What ways are there?”
“Felic has been in Alanna for about ten days, right? You are his trial mentor. Think carefully about what he has done in these ten days…”
Macklin listened with a blank face. He couldn’t understand why Aldwin had suddenly asked such a question.
In his opinion, the question was too simple. What the kid had done in the past ten days could be summed up in two words—”terrifying” and “provocative”…
A trial mentor for this kid was like audience of horror stories—he was in a state of shock from the beginning to the end.
For the past ten days, the kid had been doing the same thing—constantly using various abnormal ways to frighten everyone who knew him.
… In particular his two poor teammates. Macklin really sympathized with the two little fellows. They had taken part in the trial together with such a monster. If their psychological qualities were slightly weaker, they would have been frightened out of their nerves long ago.
Apart from this, what the fellow loved to do was to stir up trouble.
This bizarre hobby of his troubled Macklin.
He was only in Alanna for ten days, but had crippled two men—it was more atrocious than Gerian back then…
Needless to say, Darian’s nephew was inexplicably beaten into a cripple, such that Darian had come to him every day, wailing and demanding him to give an explanation, especially while they were in the Shadowglen the past few days—this fellow was only short of moving his sleeping bag into Macklin’s tent.
Oh, right. Then, there was Matthias…
Compared with Darian’s useless nephew, breaking Matthias’ limbs was a greater headache to Macklin.
This matter could be said to be quite troublesome. Matthias himself was not very outstanding, but his family held considerable power in the Felan Kingdom. At first, the Guild of Magic went through a lot of trouble to calm this matter down. Eventually, even Aldwin himself had spoken up, so the matter was finally suppressed for the time being. But, it was only temporary; Matthias knew that this matter was far from over…
“This kid is really…” Macklin thought over it for a long time, and even startled himself. Why hadn’t he noticed before that this kid was such a troublemaker?
“Whether it’s Madrick or Matthias, the reason why Felic clashed with them is the same…”
Macklin’s eyes brightened suddenly at these words.
Yes, both conflicts were in full view of the public. As his trial mentor, he had also inquired witnesses about it. Madrick had attacked Felic’s attendant, while Matthias had attacked Felic’s teammate. From these two events, it could be concluded that this kid was someone who would shield the shortcomings of his acquaintances—he would dare to kill anyone who dared to lay a hand on his friends.
Macklin picked at a few strands of his goat-like beard. After pondering for a long time, he asked doubtfully, “Do you mean we should start with Felic’s friends?”
“No, no, no… That’s too obvious.” Aldwin shook his head, and a hint of smile loomed on his face. “This young man is smarter than you think. This apparent rope-in is meaningless to him. We need to be more implicit…”
“What kind of implicit?”
“Emerald Tower.”
“…” Macklin almost spat out a mouthful of blood. After half a day’s work, it was still Jarrosus—what was the difference between that and not saying?
“In fact, it is very simple. What we have to do is to strive for the interests of the Emerald Tower as much as possible and win the favor of this young man in this way.”
“Aren’t we benefitting that darned fatty too much?”
“There’s nothing benefitting or not. Do you think people like Felic will stay in the Felan Kingdom all the time? The Felan Kingdom won’t be able to keep him. Young people like Felic will come into contact with the larger world sooner or later. By that time, there will be no difference whether he belongs to the Emerald Tower or the Alanna Guild of Magic. All we have to do is to win his friendship before that. That’s enough…”
“But, with this kid around, will other benefits interest the Emerald Tower?”
“No one would dislike having too much benefits. When Isaac came back the other day, he mentioned to me that the Emerald Tower was entangled with a force called the Shadow’s Nest. Maybe we can think of something about it.”
“Alright, I will handle this matter.”
The two most important figures of the Alanna Guild of Magic stood outside the smithy and talked for almost two to three hours before deciding on the whole matter. When Macklin left, there was a glimmer of a smile on his grim face.
…
Lin Li held the crossbow bolts made with two Vampire fangs and walked slowly all the way back to his dormitory. Just as he opened the door, he saw three guys gorging on their food.
“What are you doing…” Lin Li was appalled. Forget about Sean—he was a bear, anyway. But when did Mason and Orrin, these two genteel and refined mages, learn to eat so crudely?
“Felic…” Mason shoved two pieces of bread into his mouth. Then, he raised his head in a hurry and gave an ambiguous greeting, “Come quick, I’ve left you something to eat…”
“Why are you all so hungry?” Lin Li remembered that everyone had eaten something before returning from the Shadowglen. How had they all turned into hungry ghosts in just a few hours?
“We must hurry.” Orrin tore up a small piece of bread and put it into his mouth. It seemed very gentle, but the frequency with which he delivered food to his mouth was a little frightening. In the duration of this sentence, he had eaten more than Mason. “The Omniscient Tower is closing.”
“…” Lin Li then remembered that the Omniscient Tower was only opened from 9 am to 9 pm; and looking out at the sky, it seemed that there was not much time left until 9 pm. No wonder the two guys were eating so ferociously… But why was Sean following them?
“Sean, you have some matter too?”
Hearing Lin Li’s inquiry, Sean quickly put down his food, and answered honestly, “No, Mr Felic.”
“Then, why are you eating so ferociously as well?”
“I’m hungry…”
“…” Lin Li shook his head, then grabbed a piece of bread from the table and went back to his room.
“Felic, you’re not eating?”
“I’ll just eat some bread. Remember to call me when you’re going out.”
Lin Li closed the door gently. He fumbled about in his pocket, and took out the crossbow bolts made of the two Vampire fangs.
At first, he wanted to use the Vampire fangs on the crossbows, but when he finished studying the crossbow blueprint, it suddenly occurred to him that they were all long-range weapons anyway, so it was better to simply make them into bolts.
So, the original plan was changed again. Two high-level Vampire fangs became two bolts that could absorb the enemy’s power. But, at present, these two bolts were only half-finished products. They had to be charted with a mageweath before they could be considered complete. Lin Li shut the door, intending to do so.
The two bolts were placed at the head of the bed. Lin Li opened the Ring of Endless Storm and took out a bottle of navy sand and a thin crystal pen from inside.
Because it was made with Vampire fangs, the power of these two bolts had to be sufficient. Once the power was absorbed, even the most powerful enemy would inevitably become weak. Therefore, Lin Li did not need to use mageweath to enhance the power of bolts. What he needed to consider now was how to properly utilize this absorbed power.
It was definitely not possible to transfer it directly to oneself.
First of all, it was too complicated. The transfer of power itself was a huge and complex process. Moreover, the direct acquisition of power from equipment as it was currently would not necessarily produce an ideal result even if it was a mageweath of the guru-level.
Secondly, it was too dangerous. The power absorbed by the bolt had to exist in various forms. Perhaps it could be magic, or combat energy; its attributes varied as well. From light to darkness… there were all kinds of attributes. If he were to combine the various attributes of this power, he would surely end up in a miserable situation. It was like a certain eminent monk who had integrated the power by force. At the end of the day, he was possessed, and had to find someone to help him purge it out. What was the point of it?
Lin Li mulled it over, and still thought it safer not to make rash decisions.
Since it was the power absorbed by the bolt, it was better to keep it for himself.
He had bled a lot in order to achieve this goal.
It was no exaggeration to say that this was the most severe bleeding after he had transmigrated.
In order not to waste the two fangs of the high-level Vampire, Lin Li gritted his teeth and used the Divinity Metal from the nest of the Dragon of Destruction.
Although only a layer was plated on the bolt, that thin layer had used up nearly one-third of his Divinity Metal.
Lin Li’s hands were shaking when he was plating the Divinity Metal on the bolt; this was something that would deplete with every use. It was totally a different concept from herbs. Herbs could be collected from many places. With his mastery knowledge of herbs, Lin Li had never worried about the source of his herbs. Even for the legendary black lotus, at least he knew that it could be found at the Fire Plume Ridge. Although the cave sounded troublesome, it was not impossible to get it with some good planning.
But, where could the Divinity Metal be mined? It was found in the nest of the Dragon of Destruction, Azardas. Devil knew whether there’d be another Dragon of Destruction in Anril. Besides, so what if there was another one? Back then, the Hunter was armed with the legendary weapon, the Stars of Fury; it was only by chance that the Dragon of Destruction was killed. Now that he had transmigrated into another world, who could guarantee that he still had such good luck?
However…
After a thin layer of Divinity Metal was plated, the level of the two bolts was raised almost instantaneously. There was a leap forward, whether in terms of destructive power or absorbing power. And, the most valuable thing was the growth brought about by the Divinity Metal. With the help of two high-level Vampire fangs, this growth had been maximized.
This growth might not be reflected in the beginning, but as the number of battles it’d been in increased, the power drawn by the Vampire’s fangs became larger and larger, and the Divinity Metal would gradually show its tremendous power. These two bolts were bound to become stronger and stronger. In the end, perhaps even Lin Li himself wouldn’t be able to figure out how far they could grow…
What Lin Li had to do at present was to set a direction for their growth.
The power drawn by the Vampire’s fangs would ultimately determine the direction of growth for the two bolts.
And this direction would be determined by the mageweath that Lin Li would soon chart.
Lin Li gently pinched the crystal pen and dipped it in a little star sand. After staring at the bolt thoughtfully for a moment, the first line was drawn on it.
The three adjacent magic nodes in the central position formed an inverted triangle, and beside the inverted triangle were six magic circuits. The significance of their existence was to ensure the normal operation of the three magic nodes. This was the embryonic form of the Mass Energy Ward.
With only a few strokes, Lin Li had outlined the embryonic form of the Mass Energy Ward. In the meantime, it was also decided that this bolt—plated with the Divinity Metal—would become magical equipment with strong elemental power.
The significance of the Mass Energy Ward lay in converting power into mana and purifying it in the process of conversion. After the conversion by the Mass Energy Ward, any form of power could be stored in the form of elements. It only required a trace of mental strength to be stimulated, and then it would erupt into a mighty power.
The most common use of the Mass Energy Ward was a mage’s magic staff. Only through the Mass Energy Ward could the power contained in the magical crystal be converted into the purest form of mana.
And what Lin Li was going to do was 100 times more complicated than this.
He would draw a complex mageweath on top of the thin bolt. The difficulty of it was similar to dancing on a needle tip. Lin Li held the crystal pen, and his wrist was quivering gently. It looked like he was having a convulsion. Only careful observation could reveal that he had drawn a series of lines amidst the weird tremors.
“Phew…” Lin Li breathed a long sigh of relief after laying down the last magic circuit. As a Mass Energy Ward was laid down, Lin Li could clearly see a faint halo flowing over the bolt. This was the power of the high-level Vampire fang itself. As more and more power was absorbed in the future, this halo would become more and more intense.
After relishing in contentment, Lin Li was about to pick up the other bolt when he suddenly heard a knock at the door.
“Felic, hurry and open the door. We’re about to leave!”
After hearing Mason’s voice, Lin Li suddenly remembered that there was still work to be done. It seemed that the mageweath on this bolt could only wait until he returned at night.
“Coming.” Lin Li kept the stuff into the Ring of Endless Storm before coming out from the bedroom.
He saw Mason and Orrin waiting outside as soon as he opened the door.
Lin Li pondered, and called Sean over again. “Sean.”
“Yes, Mr Felic?”
“Remember, you’re still sleeping in my room tonight. Don’t run into the living room to sleep, or you’ll be in trouble, do you understand?” Lin Li warned Sean again before going out. He was afraid that the kid would sleep in the living room on his own initiative seeing that he had returned. Then, there would be no protection of the Ward of Secrecy. His earth-shaking snoring could possibly lift the whole building.
“Orh…” Sean nodded honestly, but his face was full of confusion. He could not understand why Mr Felic would attach such importance to this matter.
“Remember, don’t sleep in the living room…” After reminding Sean once more, Lin Li went out of the door with his two teammates. They walked all the way to the guild hall along the path lined with sycamore trees.
The Omniscient Tower was definitely the core even in the entire Alanna Guild of Magic. The three of them soon felt the position of the core building when they came out of the guild hall and walked down the corridor to the Omniscient Tower. They were questioned at least ten times in less than ten minutes. On average, the time spent on the road was not as long as the time spent being questioned…
After passing through a long corridor, the three people suddenly saw light ahead. In front of them was a mass of flowers and greenery. The environment looked even better than the place where they lived. Before them, a tall tower shot straight into the clouds; it looked majestic and imposing from afar, filled with a dignified yet mysterious aura. Just beside the tower, there was another huge building, which occupied almost half of the surrounding space. The three of them had just approached when they felt a strong magical wave.
According to Mason, this was the Alanna Research Institute, where the core magic research in the guild was located.
It was said that the person who presided over the research institute was a legendary mage with strength not below Aldwin’s.
However, this legendary mage had been lying low as he did his research. He had never appeared in public for decades. No one, including Mason’s resourceful uncle, knew how the Dean really looked like.
The three of them crossed the lush, green lawn, and very soon arrived before the high tower.
Two middle-aged mages in black robes were stationed at the gate of the tower.
Lin Li was startled as he approached the gate. The two middle-aged mages stationed here actually possessed the strength of an Archmage each…
They were again interrogated by the two Archmages. The interrogation was more detailed than the ones they met on the way here. Finally, after Mason displayed their identity certificates, the three of them were able to enter the legendary Omniscient Tower.
“This is your pass. It is valid for two and a half months. In the next two and a half months, you can freely enter and exit the Omniscient Tower with this pass. However, there are several things I must remind you about. The Omniscient Tower is open from 9 am to 9 pm.” After handing over the three metal nameplates to the three of them respectively, a middle-aged mage repeated the matters needing attention. “In addition, the place where you can freely enter and leave is only between the first floor and the fifteenth floor. Beyond the fifteenth floor, you must gain permission from Dean Baron personally.
“Also, within the Omniscient Tower, there must be no loud noise, no magic, no physical conflict, no destruction of books, no…” The middle-aged mage mentioned a dozen of “nos” in succession, and the three of them could not help but feel their scalps turn numb.
