The ship arrived at Lothmire City a day later, jolting Maximus from his engrossing read. The token in his pocket vibrated, reminding him of their arrival at the central continent.
Although he still had a few days to spare on the ship, he decided to abandon his reading and disembark.
Stepping outside, he was greeted by a crowd of thousands of people pouring out of the .ship
Fortunately, he made his way to the VIP lane, ensuring a smooth exit.
Just as he was making his way through, a familiar voice called out his name.
“Maximus!” Griffin’s voice echoed across the bustling crowd.
Maximus turned his attention to Griffin, who approached him with a group of companions.
“How are you? I didn’t see you for the rest of the trip,” Griffin complained.
“Oh? It’s none of your business,” Maximus dismissed him, refusing to indulge in his drama.
Griffin pouted like an aggrieved girl, causing Maximus to suppress a shiver.
It was unsettling to see a young man with a rugged face and muscular physique act like a little girl.
“Who is this, Griffin? Care to introduce us?” one of Griffin’s friends inquired.
“This is Maximus, the one I met on the ship,” Griffin introduced.
“Maximus, these are my cousins—Lorna, Timothy, Bart, and Wesley,” Griffin informed him.
“Hello,” Maximus greeted them with a nod, not wanting to appear impolite.
They replied with a distant hello, maintaining a certain distance.
“By the way, where are you headed?” Griffin asked.
“I plan to explore the city for a while before proceeding in the Origin Domain. And you?” Maximus inquired.
“Well, we’re heading straight to the Origin Domain as well. The enrollment starts in six months, so we need to find a place to settle down before then,” Griffin explained.
“Then I’ll see you there,” Maximus nodded and bid them farewell.
“See you!” Griffin said with a smile.
…
He had no urgency to reach the Origin Domain, as his primary goal was to earn money.
Heading towards a hidden location, he retrieved a magic pendant that could detect prying eyes or surveillance arrays in the vicinity.
The pendant vibrated, indicating the presence of a monitoring array in operation.
He was dumbfounded, realizing that there was already a monitoring array outside Lothmire City.
It seemed excessive, as monitoring arrays were typically used to track abnormal mana fluctuations and gather detailed information.
Just like a CCTV camera in the modern day but it detects mana.
He also had this set up in Moonshadow City.
Although the monitoring array wasn’t overly expensive to set up, using it even outside the city seemed like a waste of resources.
Using The Mask of Grimoire here will undoubtedly alarm the monitoring array.
Gazing at the sea, he considered using the Mark of Grimoirse to change his persona before entering the city.
However, upon observing the chaotic winds, he dismissed the idea.
While the chaotic wind was milder here and he could withstand it with his strength, he decided it was best not to tempt any unknown dangers lurking in the endless sea.
Lacking a solution, he turned to the system mall, recognizing its near-omnipotence as long as one had money.
After several minutes of browsing, he found a solution.
[Array Deceiver: A Tier 5 magic item that conceals abnormality in mana fluctuations for a few seconds. Price: 18 million.]
This item appeared incredibly powerful, as deceiving an array wasn’t simply about changing his mana signature using the Mask of Grimoire and hiding the fluctuation.
It had other possible applications, such as gaining access to places with limited strength requirements, like inheritance sites or opportunities.
For instance, if the strength limit of a particular inheritance was only tier 1 official mage, he could enter as long as the restrictions in that place didn’t exceed Tier 5.
Buying the Array Deceiver diminished his funds from 30 million to 12 million, nearly bringing him back to his original budget of 10 million.
Activating the Array Deceiver, he donned the Mask of Grimoire, altering his entire being—from his mana function and spiritual signature to his physical body.
His tier was raised to Tier 5 Mystic Mage, and he appeared more aged, akin to an experienced alchemist, knowing that alchemical items were more expensive than others.
Once he finished his transformation, he confidently walked through the city gate.
…
Feeling the strength of a Tier 5 mage, Maximus was led into a special lane by the guard upfront, bypassing the need to wait.
Upon entering the special lane, he was greeted by a receptionist.
He realized that entering the city was more cumbersome than he had anticipated.
“Sir, do you have an identification token?” the guard asked.
“No, I just came from the Curse Continent,” Maximus replied calmly, although inwardly he was puzzled as to why the guard asked about an identification token.
The guard was taken aback, as it was rare for a Tier 5 Mystic Mage powerhouse coming from the Curse Continent.
Most of them would have migrated to the Central Continent when they were only Tier 3 Nascent Mages or Tier 4 Elemental Mages.
“Ah, I see. In that case, we need to get you registered and issue a token,” the guard explained and led him to another room.
‘Although Curse Continent lacks mana it’s a continent after all so it’s not that surprising to produce Tier 5 Mage’ thought the guard
“What is this token for? Can’t I just register and enter?” Maximus asked, perplexed by the process.𝓞𝑣𝐞xt.𝗰𝑶𝑚
“Sir, the identification token is required for the entirety of the Arcane Continent. It will be recorded in the Continental Array.”
“If you’re not registered and rashly enter any other city apart from the harbor city in the Arcane Continent, you will be attacked by the Continental Array,” the guard patiently clarified.
This revelation shocked Maximus to the core and disrupted most of his plans. He couldn’t help but swear in his heart—this was the Arcane Continent for you.
To cover the entire continent with an array, what resources were needed for such a work?
It wasn’t just a shoddy array like the one in the Curse Continent that merely monitored if you conquered an island.
This was a comprehensive defense and attack system and complete one-on-one monitoring.
It couldn’t be described as extravagant; it was a waste of resources.
Moreover, Maximus was certain that it possessed even more astonishing functions that he was unaware of.
Fortunately, it seemed that the monitoring array was weaker in the periphery; otherwise, the Array Deceiver wouldn’t have worked.
“Here, sir, you need to register a strand of your mana and spiritual signatures,” the guard led him to a room with a large crystal ball floating in the air.
Maximus looked at the guard, puzzled.
Usually, only the mana signature was required, as it was relatively harmless compared to the spiritual signature.
Who knew that when he put his spiritual signature in the ball, he would be cursed or, worse, enslaved?
Noticing Maximus’s confusion, the guard explained, “Don’t worry, sir. This is the Crystal of Origin. All Primordial Mages and Cosmic Knights have sworn to the laws of the world not to tamper with the stored spiritual signatures and to protect it from anyone.”
Swearing to the laws of the world carried immense gravity.
Violating these laws would lead to severe consequences, and one could only hope for a swift death rather than face the punishment that awaited them.
While mages studied and manipulated laws that governed the world, swearing to the laws of the world meant acknowledging the overarching authority that governed the entire realm.
Just like in his previous life, the wealthy could manipulate government laws as long as they avoided being caught red-handed.
However, swearing to the laws of the world was an entirely different matter—it was akin to constant surveillance by the government, a watchful eye monitoring every action that could violate the oath you made.
Knowing this, Maximus felt reassured and presented a strand of mana and spirit.
As for the Crystal of Origin, the possibility of it discovering that the mana and spiritual signatures he provided were fake was out of the question.
The signatures he sent were condensed by the Mask of Grimoire, using top-grade magic crystals worth a staggering one billion gold points if converted.
Of course, he didn’t possess that kind of money, so he had to settle for dust particle-sized top-grade magic crystals, each worth one million gold points, which pained his heart.
Just condensing the mana and spiritual signatures had cost him two dust particle-sized top-grade magic crystals.
After sending out a strand of mana and spirit the guard asked him some more questions.
“What’s your name sir?” He asked standing in front of a jade-like monitor ready to input his information.
“Edward Williams” Maximus made up.
“Is it convenient to say the rank of your profession?” The guard assumed that he has a profession as he can’t advance to tier 5 mystic mage without one.
“I’m A tier 5 Alchemist,” Maximus said seriously.
Although his plan to resell system products using multiple identities had been thwarted, Maximus was determined to continue with a revised strategy.
However, now that he knew the importance of registering before entering the city, he couldn’t be as unscrupulous as before.
He knew that it would be suspicious if a large number of Tier 5 Mystic Mages suddenly appeared from the Curse Continent within a short period of time.
Therefore, he had to exercise caution and impersonate himself as a Tier 3 or Tier 4 mage for the time being.
This meant that the potential earnings from reselling system products would be reduced.
After all Tier 3 Nascent Mage wouldn’t be able to sell a large quantity of resources above his strength.
Therefore, he needed to be strategic and operate within the limitations of his disguise.