Pond of Lamentation

“It’s all your fault, Narsha! Didn’t you say that as long as we make use of the Lava World’s coordinates as a trap, we can get rid of them and make them disappear into a spatial rift? You said nobody would know!”

The moon rune on Zegna’s forehead dimmed as he narrowed his eyes.

“How would I know that three Morning Star Warlocks, when teamed up, were as powerful as a Radiant Moon Magus...” The mysterious female voice sounded like that of a spoilt little girl.

“Are you calling me useless?” Veins surfaced on Zegna’s forehead.

“What? How could I do such a thing? You’re my student, after all!” The little girl’s voice was suddenly replaced by a mature one.

“All we have is a trade, an exchange of benefits.” Zegna was breathing heavily as he stated this fact.

“Alright, alright! I know what you want. Wayde is fighting you over the Lava World, and Leylin is challenging your might in the central continent... But all this does not matter. As long as we succeed in our plan, you can advance to Breaking Dawn and become a King! Even wiping out the entire Warlock Union would be a piece of cake, let alone just them.” Her voice was very gentle and extremely easy to be caught into it.

With the comforting words from the female voice, Zegna gathered his composure and returned to a dark secret chamber in his Magus Tower.

Passing through layers of restrictions, one would find nothing in the room except a circular fountain in the centre. A large amount of turbulent black air was boiling within it, and a few expressionless, pale human faces were floating on the surface.

“Wuuu Wuuu!”

A little white stream of air rose up, before forming into a few tall human figures that moved slowly around Zegna.

“How is it? I spent all my treasures for this, and even...” Zegna’s voice lowered.

“It’s looking good. The Pond of Lamentation configuration is almost complete, all that’s left is a few last steps...” The female voice turned a little cold.

......

[Beep! Reserves of the Sun’s Child bloodline imprint strengthened!]

[Beep! Host’s fire elemental resistance has increased!]

Along with the timely prompts from the A.I. Chip, Leylin’s mind wandered off for a bit as he stared at the sun-shaped runes on the back of his hands.

‘I prepared this specially for Zegna, but he didn’t even show up!’ Leylin had to admit that he hadn’t predicted the opponent’s reaction. Zegna was a narrow-minded villain, but he had remained composed under such provocation. This was out of Leylin’s expectations.

‘Or maybe someone else persuaded him not to act!’ Leylin stroked his chin, ‘If that’s the case, it must be someone holding a prestigious status in Jupiter’s Lightning. Which one is it?

‘Eh, it’s better like this anyway. We got back all our territory, and I didn’t even have to use one of my bloodline imprints...’ These bloodline imprints were almost as strong as rank 6 spells. They were definitely a trump card of Leylin’s, and it was best that he continued to hide them.

Also, Leylin could feel that the bloodline imprint in his skin resonated with the modified Fireplume, and they complemented each other. With the passage of time, this resonance became more and more obvious.

‘Could it be that the ancient Sun’s Child was related to the phoenix?’ Leylin dismissed his own thought with a laugh.

“Mentor! These are all the documents related to the body tempering in the Ouroboros Clan!”

The door to the study opened, and Snoopy entered with tons of black documents and crystal ball recordings.

All the documents had been piled up on Leylin’s desk, forming a small hill.

“Mm, great job!” Leylin nodded his head in encouragement to this handy student of this. He sent him off as he started on the documents.

There were many different types of recording apparatus in the Magus World, and they came in different shapes, sizes, and materials. Books made of real paper were very scarce. In fact, Leylin had even seen a book made entirely out of bronze before, as well as books made of bone.

After all, the Ouroboros Clan was one of the top organisations in the central continent, and the very first thing Leylin had thought of after browsing through the documents was to find a way to improve his vitality.

The side effects of the massive increase in his soul force had yet to be resolved. Moreover, judging from his current health, there were very few spells and refining methods that would be of use to him.

Leylin casually flipped opened a thick dictionary-like book. On the pale yellowish page was a brightly-coloured rose, the leaves and petals seeming to tremble a bit.

“Ah...Dearest Trivish! I adore you, adore your eyes which are so pearl-like, and...”

As he flipped through a huge amount of mixed content, he found what seemed to be like short lines left behind by a bored bard. The phrasing was poor and the text somewhat incoherent.

Yet, Leylin browsed through the thing without much thought. He placed his fingers on a piece of paper with raised markings on it, gently sliding across every letter. It was then that something bizarre happened.

A line of fire appeared at the part Leylin touched, and the rest of the letters started to twitch. There were even little black feet growing on them as they started to rearrange themselves.

“The following text contains information on the initial stages of the reformation of Hodo Worms. Only official Magi and above can attempt to...”

Another instructional line appeared, and the A.I. Chip sounded at the same time:

[Beep! Object letting out inductive radiation detected, based on the activity rate of the detected radiation, it can be transferred into the Host’s vitality. Probability: 0.000000001%!]

Leylin closed the book, feeling rather speechless.

Such hidden techniques and methods of induction could only be created by those at rank 3 and above. Rank 1 or 2 Magi who practised this would have their vitality stimulated, and would begin to improve.

However, such a thing was way too weak for Leylin.

“Reform through Hodo Worms? There’s a maximum increase of 3 vitality, and added resistance against poison!” Leylin’s eyes glowed blue as he stroked his chin, “But the new look would be simply too ugly... And it’s useless for me currently anyway...”

He shook his head and moved on to the next source.

With his position in the Ouroboros Clan, he could use any resources he wanted. He’d finished browsing through all the documents in a few days.

No other Magus would have been able to accomplish much after one quick browse through. They would have to spend time to understand and memorise the information. Unlike them, however, all the information was now in Leylin’s memory, never to be forgotten.

“A.I. Chip, scan through the new data and look for methods that can improve my current vitality,” Leylin ordered.

Not only had he looked through all the documents about body refinement spell formations, he had also organised all the rumours and legends that related to improvements in vitality, giving it all to the A.I. Chip to analyse.

Even though he did not have much faith in the Ouroboros Clan’s library, just a few clues were good enough for him.

[Beep! Search complete. Found 3 methods that suit the host.]

Along with its report, the A.I. Chip projected some information into Leylin’s mind.

[1: Conversion into Adoforke. Will result in a one-time increase of 40 vitality.]

[2: Acquire the title of Virtuous Sky Sage and come in contact with the Endowing Scepter. Will assist in advancement of host’s physical strength by two ranks at once.]

[3: Consume the Giant Dragon Potion together with Hades’ Blood Sacrifice. Will result in an approximate increase of 10 vitality.] These were the three methods the A.I. Chip had found, the methods most suited to Leylin himself.

Of course, they were deduced from rumours and scientific content. Leylin would have to do his own work to get all the resources required to proceed with them.

Even so, it was much better for him than for those Magi who were clueless when they encountered problems, having to try all methods one by one.

“Conversion of Adoforke? Where on earth am I going to find such an ancient spell formation for the conversion of vitality?” Leylin smiled bitterly.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

“Let’s leave that aside for now. As for becoming a Virtuous Sky Sage...” he muttered as he touched his chin, sinking deep into thought. The Sky Castle was under the control of the Monarch of the Skies, but it was open to all scholars. The title of Virtuous Sky Sage was an honorary title in that place.

For strictness of the Magi, those were able to get the titles, were all the masters of the scholars. Coming into contact with the Endowing Scepter would be the benefit of the entitlements. Rumours had it that it could increase Magus’s physique without any side effects.

Of course, with the help of the A.I. Chip, Leylin was quite confident in passing the tests. However, the Sky Castle was located in a Monarch’s territory, and he was not sure of the attitude of the Monarch of the Skies held towards bloodline Warlocks. Hence, he wasn’t confident in that plan.

“As for the last thing, the Giant Dragon Potion and Hades’ Blood Sacrifice are quite simple to get. I can use a bunch of kobolds to refine some dragon blood, and I also have a spell formation for Hades’ Blood Sacrifice...”

Leylin’s eyes flickered with light. “The increase is a little on the low end, but it’s good enough!”

He had finally realised how hard it was for Magi to advance. His vitality was already great as a Warlock, and he still faced so many difficulties in advancement. Imagine how hard it would be for Morning Star Magi?

There were probably many Magi stuck in the Morning Star realm due to a stagnation in their soul force and vitality.

“Let’s do this for now. I’ll prepare the Giant Dragon Potion, use it to increase my vitality, then proceed to the Sky Castle!” Leylin had made up his mind.