Salvatore was hesitant after hearing this.
After thinking for a while, he still said to Annan, “Then can you give me a copy of the magic in contacting you?”
No way, I want to give it to you too.
But I can’t…
Annan shook his head with a wry smile and explained, “This won’t work. They have a contractual relationship with me… the one you’ve seen before.”
“The contract that can be used for resurrection?”
Thinking of Yiyi, who suffered terribly that day, Salvatore suddenly said, “Is that still effective when you are so far away?”
“It will work as long as I’m not dead, but that resurrection could consume a lot of curses if they’re too far away from me. Also, that will be put me in a vulnerable state for a while.
“But if it’s really dangerous, you can ask him to scout the path for you.” Annan reminded Salvatore, “They don’t die after all.”
…Or rather, it was a reminder to Salvatore’s shadow.
Annan was well-aware in his heart that even if he told Salvatore that the players could be resurrected and could be utilized to tank the damage at a critical moment, Salvatore still wouldn’t do it.
Annan had a clear understanding of this idiot’s personality.
Salvatore was an idiot.
He was different from Annan.
If Annan did a good deed, it was only because he did it without hesitation or regret based on his morality, common sense, and judgment. At the same time, the outcome was attributed as a form of kindness.
Salvatore, like Annan, didn’t care about the mundane compass of justice and evil or right and wrong. This might also be the reason why the two of them could quickly become friends.
But what separated Salvatore from Annan was that he had strong compassion, and he didn’t like to trouble others.
As long as he noticed others encountering trouble, it would be difficult for him to just leave. He belonged to that kind of people who still donated money to the beggar even if he was aware that shady groups were manipulating the beggars in the dark.
Of course, he wouldn’t give too much, but just satisfy the quota for the beggars that day. He wouldn’t root out the criminals either because he didn’t know if his actions would screw things up further.
All of it was mainly because of Salvatore’s inferiority complex.
He always thought that he lacked talent, so he never fantasized that he could be a hero or that he could save others. Thus, he didn’t meddle or do what he thought he couldn’t. Instead, he would only do what he could and protect those with his limits.
He didn’t want to see other people suffer because of him.
As for how those who he had saved would view him and how those who he didn’t save would view him, it didn’t matter much to Salvatore.
However, the situation was different from the shadow.
Shadow was the opposite of Salvatore, a selfish personality.
She wouldn’t take the initiative to hurt others because it was meaningless — just like what Salvatore had always pursued, “meaningless kindness that treats the symptoms but not the root cause”. But this “meaningless” became meaningful in front of the shadow.
Because of this, she could only pursue “meaningful” evil.
Apparently, Salvatore was unaware of his true talents.
In other words, he hadn’t yet noticed now that the state and character of the shadow would change at any time according to his state.
After all, the shadow was his “reflection”.
Based on the restriction that “what you do must have meaning”, she could only abuse others to accomplish her purpose.
Efficient, selfish, confident, and without entrusting anyone like a lone wolf playing a high-rating game.
Annan believed that the shadow would be able to make good use of “Longjing Tea”, an immortal player at a critical moment.
This was the tacit understanding between Annan and the shadow.
Even if a person were mediating between the two, even if they weren’t talking directly, they would still be able to exchange information.
Indeed, Longjing Tea was the “moving eye” that Annan infiltrated into Swamp’s Black Tower. He could be regarded as the “spy” who stole knowledge from the wizard tower’s library.
At the same time, Longjing Tea was the danger detector and bodyguard Annan gave to Salvatore to save his life.
If something happened to Annan, Longjing Tea would find a way to inform Salvatore too.
However, Salvatore never thought about what if something happened to him.
At that time, the shadow would need to make the right choice for him.
Whether it was to let Longjing Tea buy time… or let Longjing Tea ask Annan for help.
“Then, I shall go, Annan.” With the help of Annan and the players, Salvatore quickly packed up.
“Don’t you need to bring Sage’s Stone? There is only one left.” Annan asked, “You crafted the item yourself. It’s the proof that you made Sage’s Stone while you’re still in Bronze Rank.”
“It’s only half-finished. It’s not yet a Sage’s Stone…” Salvatore smiled bitterly, “Even if I take it back, I’m afraid they won’t believe it easily.”
“How can they not believe it?” Annan raised his eyebrows, “If you do it again in front of them, won’t you be able to prove everything?”
Hearing this, Salvatore shook his head again and again, “Forget it. It’s still meaningless. Also, I don’t have the confidence to duplicate the process again perfectly. I managed to do it that time with external help. It’s all my luck. There’s no need to waste materials.”
When Salvatore mentioned “external help”, he just brushed through it.
But Annan still knew what he meant.
These three Sage’s Stones were all the Alteration products the shadow produced.
After all, the material of Sage’s Stone was the wizard’s bone marrow.
Whether these materials came from the deceased of those wizards from the same tower, or the remains left by the executed Black Wizard, each material represented a human life.
Salvatore didn’t dare to use these materials without the confidence to complete Sage’s Stone.
This was also the reason why his previous research was in a deadlock. Although he had done his best in the theory aspect, he still felt that there could be a problem with his formula. So he didn’t dare to combine the materials… until he fell asleep.
The shadow used his body to synthesize Sage’s Stone.
Once the shadow was summoned again, it was possible to craft Sage’s Stone again.
Salvatore’s self-esteem, responsibility, or something else stopped him from relying on the shadow’s outstanding achievements to be recognized by others.
Salvatore was adamant in separating himself from the shadow and was still wary of the shadow’s presence.
This showed that even though Salvatore had successfully cooperated with the shadow once after injecting Sage’s Stone, he was still wary of the shadow and still intended to seal his own shadow.
“You should take this Sage’s Stone.” Salvatore instructed Annan, “It’s likely that Nicholas Flamel is in Gold Rank. After living for so long, his strength is expected to surpass the ordinary Gold Rank. If he used Sage’s Stone to live until now… The Sage’s Stone in your hand may save your life in critical moments, no matter you use it against him or to flatter him.
“Besides that, I have an intuition that you will advance again after being a Transcended for a month. I know it sounds baffling… Here is what I have summarized in the past few days, and you may be able to use the stone for advancement.”
Salvatore handed Annan a piece of paper, “Be careful, Annan. Don’t die.”
Annan didn’t even look at the paper and put it away solemnly.
He nodded earnestly to Salvatore, “I will.”
“…I’ll try my best to finish the exam in May, and then I’ll go to the capital to find you. Goodbye, Annan.”
“See you in May then, Salvatore,” replied Annan softly.
Watching Salvatore and Longjing Tea leaving, Annan sighed lightly.
After some preparation, I should get ready to advance into silver.
The remaining availability of Nightmare: Gallery was running out. The players’ adventure group had almost finished exploring the nightmare.
At that time, Annan had to reserve at least one more entry into the “gallery” to advance into the Silver Rank.
After all, Annan was quite familiar with the dungeon. It was best to use this nightmare to fulfill the requirements of the advancement mission.
The players were about to use up the entries into the beginner dungeon instance.
Then, it’s almost time to let the players out.
