East Capital East Blade City, with the end of the Enchanters Guild appraisal contest, the number of people coming and going in the guild’s main hall had decreased. However, this did not affect the bustle of East Capital at all.
“So, that type of copper is called ‘magic copper,’ one of the associated minerals of the magic stone mine, with colors including gray and red. The gray is less common, and both can be used for mixing ‘magic copper ink.'”
After searching in the Guild Library for several days, Ivan found the relevant information on the raw materials for making Black Magic Wind Fire Pearls.
A long time ago, he had bid on a damaged item ‘Gate of Netherworld Blood’ at the Floating Clouds Square auction. The material extracted from it was gray magic copper.
He had used that magic copper to make nine Black Magic Wind Fire Pearls.
Now, the Black Magic Wind Fire Pearls needed to be refined again, which required a significant amount of magic copper as raw material.
“Magic copper is often used for making enchantment ink, and the guild isn’t lacking in such materials. I should be able to find a way to get a batch.”
“However, the Black Magic Wind Fire Array has only been extrapolated to 16 runes bundles. It’s still far from the intermediate runes sorcery array’s 24 runes bundles. Since the Windy Fire Beads need to be refined, it’s best to complete it in one go to avoid significant adjustments later on.”
Thoughts aside, the specifics needed to be adjusted according to the actual situation. It was only after consulting with others that Ivan realized that the situation was different from what he had expected.
Mendenez had been on duty at the guild headquarters recently, and Ivan naturally went to him for consultation.
In the same simple research room, Mendenez told him that even an elder could not exchange so much magic copper ink. He then offered a suggestion.
“The method is simple. You could submit a research proposal to the guild and state that a large amount of magic copper is needed for the topic. If the proposal is approved, you could then obtain a considerable amount of magic copper.”
“There must be a catch, right?” Ivan hesitated for a moment, instinctively feeling that things were not so simple.
“Of course, it’s not for nothing. At the end of the project, the guild needs to see the product of your research. Depending on the situation, if the product is astounding enough, not only could you get all the raw materials for free, but you could also receive a reward from the guild,” explained Mendenez. Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire
“And in the worst-case scenario?” Ivan immediately asked.
“You pay the going rate. You won’t be at a loss.”
Mendenez showed a meaningful smile, paused for a few seconds, and then his tone shifted, “However, this would have another negative consequence. It will be much harder for you to get research proposals approved in the future.
If it happens multiple times, you could even be expelled from the guild, and eventually, your reputation would be widespread for the worse.”
“That makes sense,” Ivan nodded, having heard the explanation.
After getting to know more about the Enchanters Guild, one could see that the guild highly valued research and invention, as evident from the decennial appraisal contest.
Moreover, when he first reported for duty, he had shown Mendenez the Ant King Sky Shield he had figured out. The change in attitude was undoubtedly based on this.
“As long as you understand.”
“Would I have to hand over the blueprints of the product?” Ivan pondered before asking.
“That depends on your willingness. If you don’t hand them over, you must promise to provide the guild with a certain number of finished products, again depending on the situation,” Mendenez replied, not finding his question shameful. Some research involved personal strength of the Enchanter, and nobody would want to leak their own situation.
What to do if someone finds a personal weakness and targets it?
If it were leaked and targeted, it could be a disaster for the individual, and the guild wouldn’t want that to happen.
“In fact, elders in the guild are ranked differently. Those with inventions have higher status. Take, for example, Sorcerer Barny, who produced the ‘Flashing Token.’ His current influence is not lesser than that of the Vice President.
With status and influence, what kind of materials wouldn’t be approved? As long as he is willing to make the request, the guild will find a way to satisfy it, and they won’t worry about the failures in the final results. A little magic copper is nothing to him, really.
Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Mendenez spelled out the guild’s inner workings while looking at him with expectation.
“I understand.”
So it was. Essentially, this was no different from research projects in his previous life. The more accomplishments, the higher the status and the easier it became to apply for funding.
Ivan thought of the Black Magic Wind Fire Array, which actually had a remarkable effect – helping apprentices to become official sorcerers.
Although it had its flaws, it could bring about a large number of Level 1 Sorcerers, enough to shake the entire East Capital and even the entire sorcerer world.
However, the Black Magic Hand, closely related to the Black Magic Wind Fire Array, was a powerful spell he frequently used. If it were thoroughly researched by others, it wouldn’t be good for him.
“You might want to look elsewhere, to see if you can obtain magic copper. Don’t limit your perspective to within the guild,” advised Mendenez.
“Thanks for the guidance.” Ivan did not make a decision immediately. He needed to consider some issues more carefully.
After leaving the Enchanters Guild, he inquired about the situation with the Five Leaves Spear and, sure enough, there was a similar mechanism within it.
You could prepare the documents and plans, apply to the headquarters, and once approved, Five Leaves Spear would also provide a certain number of resources.
After the project ended, all you needed to do was record the entire project process in detail and summarize it into archive information.
“The Enchanters Guild wants the finished product, while Five Leaves Spear wants the information and knowledge, which is more lenient than the former and offers greater support.”
After comparing the two, Ivan could feel that both organizations were rich and generous, but their priorities were noticeably different.
The Enchanters Guild focused on innovation and invention.
Five Leaves Spear focused on revolution, colloquially speaking, ‘making waves’—waves that fit the organization’s purpose. Eventually, the Vernon Millennium Archive would have a new file added.
“In short, the more one strives and achieves, the higher their status becomes,”
“Just like the experience with the ancient castle, if Ivan and Doug were willing, they could treat it as a novel project, but that would expose the existence of the Life and Death Cocoon.”
Before transforming the Life and Death Cocoon into the Secret Method Body Double, Ivan would not let slip this experience, and Doug certainly wouldn’t either, since he was there to repay a favor, not to make enemies.
There wasn’t much information about the Life and Death Cocoon in the records of the Enchanters Guild.
As for spiritual bodies, without exception, all said they were very tricky and difficult to deal with, and their numbers were slowly increasing, especially on the sorcerers’ territory.
In the following days, Ivan spent a lot of time in the Vernon Millennium Archive.
Within those vast records, he looked for information on the Life and Death Cocoon; soon he confirmed Doug’s judgment—what he had brought back was indeed the rare Life and Death Cocoon, no doubt about it.
This made Ivan breathe a sigh of relief.
…
While Ivan was busily engaged, the very thing he worried about still happened.
The spiritual body of the ancient castle did not choose to keep the peace but instead, through some connection, silently sent messages to various gathering places of spiritual bodies, informing them of the events at the ancient castle.
“Outrageous, that fiend has really gone too far, damn sorcerer.”
“Deserves to die! Die! Die! Die!”
“Curse him to death! Without his death, our anger cannot be quelled.”
As soon as the message was sent out, it stirred up a huge commotion in every gathering place of spiritual bodies, with curses and hatred voiced one after another.
What Ivan and Doug did not know was that the Life and Death Cocoon was transformed from a spiritual body from death to life, and once it emerged from the cocoon as a new life form, it would surely become the king leading the rise of the spiritual bodies.
If the process of emerging failed, other spiritual bodies would have the opportunity to take possession of the remains and replace the former one.
For the spiritual bodies, both outcomes were immensely fortunate events.
Yet someone had brazenly snatched away what they considered a treasure, such wicked acts incited great resentment and hatred among the spiritual bodies—how could they possibly let it go and make peace?
The spiritual body of the ancient castle, knowing full well that its power was insufficient, immediately reached out to other gathering places, vowing to kill the one who dared snatch food from the tiger’s mouth and to prevent the treasure from being desecrated.
In a few days’ time after responses were received, the spiritual body of the ancient castle began the next step.
Under the moonlight, a clearing was made in the ruins of the ancient castle, on which were drawn crooked and slanted lines, forming a pattern about three meters square that looked very eerie.
“Hurry up, hurry up!” urged the butler, standing beside the pattern.
One by one, the spiritual bodies stepped forward, extruding a small amount of transparent liquid from within themselves, clearly containing black threads like poisonous worms.
As the liquid dripped onto the pattern and the task was completed, the spiritual bodies’ faces turned even paler.
Their breaths had clearly weakened considerably.
If outsiders were to see it, they would be shocked, realizing that spiritual bodies also had blood, blood filled with ominous curse power.
“Montaida la, Xitaida la, Dala dana—-“
Once everyone had offered their blood, the butler chanted archaic curses and manipulated the special force field permeating the ancient castle. This caused the ground pattern to emit a faint black glow, even devouring the moonlight that fell upon it.
The surroundings grew darker, while twisted smiles appeared on the faces of the spiritual bodies.
At a certain moment, the ground’s radiance peaked in brilliance, and a dark ink-like glimmer shot up from the pattern into the sky and disappeared into the atmosphere.
“Go, curse him to death.”
Meanwhile, at every secret gathering place on the fringes of the Chanay Continent, spiritual bodies were conducting similar rituals, each transforming into a dark ink-like glimmer that rose into the atmosphere.
Only in a certain mountain range on the border between the Chanay Continent and the Botta Blood Plain, an even larger black cocoon was undergoing transformation, surrounded by many spiritual bodies, each prostrating on the ground, utterly unable to respond to the distant communication.
If any sorcerer had been able to observe what was happening, they would be astonished to find that there were many more spiritual bodies than had been accounted for.
Meanwhile, Ivan returned to Rapid Wood Tower from the Vernon Millennium Archive and felt an inexplicable sense of irritation.
“Is this—a curse?”
Indeed, long illness makes the patient the doctor; he knew all too well the power of the curse that had suddenly carried over to him.
With the aura of spiritual bodies, he guessed that these beings now knocked on the door in such a way that one could not avoid answering.
“Truly bizarre.”
“But compared to that deer antler man, it’s still far behind.”
Faced with the precisely targeted curse power, Ivan’s expression remained unchanged, realizing that he was, in a sense, accustomed to it—compared to the Curse of Demon’s Resentment, the new affliction was like a minor witch doctor facing a great sorcerer.
While these spiritual bodies were indeed mysterious, their means were nothing to write home about.