This cloak, notorious in the shadow realm, was made from the skin of a great demon. It allowed its wearer to completely vanish into darkness and could negate many powerful spells. Legend had it that anyone who donned this cloak would be cursed by demons and meet a violent end.
Felix drew his fine iron dagger and stabbed it with all his might onto the Doom Robe. The dagger embedded into the stone beneath, but the robe remained unmarked. Just as the legends said, this cloak possessed absolute resilience. The number of weapons capable of piercing and damaging this artifact was surely limited.
Felix opened the cursed Doom Robe, intrigued by the magical web patterns inside, crafted with strange rune threads. These were magic patterns popular in the legendary era, significantly different from today's magic web patterns.
A masterpiece of an epic shadow alchemist, for Felix, its research value far exceeded its practical use. He stored the Doom Robe in the Blue Crystal and then turned to walk towards the library in Felendia.
Felix couldn't guess what the mysterious dark elf wanted to convey, so he stopped speculating. Rather than wasting time on guesses, he decided to wait for her to appear in person. She had said she would come again.
Emperor Jupiter was buried the day after his death. The funeral was almost rudimentary, far from the grandeur typically associated with the demise of an emperor. Only thirty thousand citizens spontaneously came to pay their respects, a turnout less than that for some minor duchy kings.
On the same day, Emperor Jupiter’s edict was spread throughout the land, passing the throne to the Crown Prince and appointing Princess Helen as the Regent. To the outside world, this was almost equivalent to handing over power to the legendary Princess Helen.
Everyone in the empire knew that the useless Crown Prince, Jupiter's son, was still in a coma, with no sign of awakening anytime soon.
With the loss of awe for the once Son of God’s Might, all ambitious conspirators were likely starting to make their moves. Felix heard troubling news of a riot among the refugees.
All these national affairs seemed distant to Felix. He had no interest in them, focusing instead on personal relationships. Spellcasters existed both in and out of the mundane world.
They weren't like knights who needed a direction of faith or a king to serve. Spellcasters were more like powerful scientists, spending long periods unraveling the mysteries of life and the universe.
The existence of the magic towers provided them with a space exclusively for themselves. If possible, they preferred not to get involved in politics. Regardless of who was in power, they could always possess authority, wealth, and glory!
Emperor Jupiter's mourning period was seven days. Out of respect for the king who once wrote glorious history, Felix prepared mourning attire for himself.
These days were busy and fulfilling for Felix. Apart from visiting Saint Erde Cathedral and checking on the mother and daughter he had purchased, he spent all his time in the library of Felendia.
Perhaps because he hadn't done anything to the beautiful mother and daughter recently, their attitude towards Felix had warmed considerably, the daughter even showing a faint affection towards him. Felix admired them more than desired them.
Every time he saw them, it was like gazing at a beautiful scenery, a feeling that relaxed his tired mind and body from long hours of magical research. He didn't want to ruin this feeling yet; once a scenery became a plaything, it might lose its original charm.
Creating a taste of life under limited conditions was something he learned from the Fairmuth family.
During this period, Felix's research on the crystal shard in his palm made little progress, but he made significant headway in deciphering the Old Testament of the Bible.
Deciphering the hidden teachings of the Holy Light arts from the original Old Testament, during the church's golden age, was not as difficult as Felix had imagined.
By attaching his mental energy to the pages of the Old Testament and translating the attached magical patterns into rune letters, he could unlock most of the Holy Light arts from that era.
The only disappointment was that Felix had yet to find any trace of the Divine Descent technique.
In seven days, Felix roughly completed his translation project. Including the current Holy Light art for purifying evil he was working on, he had translated several mid to low-tier Holy Light magics.
With the Holy Light power suppressed in his heart, Felix had temporarily lost the ability to use it, so he handed over all the translated Holy Light arts to the twelve nuns left to him by Lady Ireland of Saint Erde Cathedral.
After finishing the current Holy Light art translation, Felix poured himself a glass of red wine and took a break from his intensive work.
Once he completed the pre-determined workload, he again closed his eyes to feel the deep grey crystal shard in his palm. The shard, having absorbed the dispersed Plague power, was growing darker, but its surface became more crystalline.
Felix tried to use his vast mental energy to peer into the space within the crystal, but unfortunately, the energy barrier on the crystal's exterior remained formidable, impervious to all his efforts. He had noticed its unique property of being a one-way sink for the Power of Pestilence while absorbing it — it only allowed entry but no exit.
The crystal shard was like a bottomless pit; no matter how much of the Power of Pestilence was absorbed, there was no elemental reaction. However, it seemed only interested in absorbing the Power of Pestilence, showing no interest in the life energy drawn out by the Power of Pestilence, instead directly channeling it back into Felix’s body.
Apart from reacting strongly while absorbing the Power of Pestilence, the crystal shard was usually very calm, only reacting once at noon and midnight each day. At these times, it would release a surge of deep grey Power of Pestilence into Felix’s body.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
This power would circle around his body, passing through three magic storage points on his forehead, chest, and abdomen, and assimilate the icy energy flowing in his blood.
The amount absorbed was not substantial, roughly one-tenth of the icy power, precisely equal to the elemental power Felix replenished daily.
The only downside was Felix's enormous appetite during this time, reminiscent of his days in the Land of Bones. His high consumption of meat and fast digestion left him very hungry after completing magical records.
As usual, after a half-magic hour break, Felix began to concentrate his mental energy into a highly condensed point, using his body’s magic power to slowly assault the crystal shard in his palm.
When his mental energy reached the crystal, it encountered a strong resistance. The Power of Pestilence’s unique absorption trait began to devour the magic energy he was applying to the crystal at an incredibly fast rate. In a few seconds, Felix’s first wave of exploratory magic energy was completely devoured.
The two forces were at a stalemate until, ten minutes later, Felix had to stop the assault as his magic power was exhausted. Just ten minutes, yet his body was drenched in sweat. With his magic power depleted, Felix’s face appeared excessively pale in the mirror, his reflection resembling a vampire who had lived through many years.
For Felix at this stage, whether or not he could break through the crystal’s energy barrier was secondary.
He was well aware of his own strength; if this object truly was a fragment of a godly essence, it would be surprising if a novice Gamma Master like him, just stepping into the Silver Domain, could manipulate it. His persistent attempts were primarily because it could devour his magic power.
Yes, devour magic power!
What better way to temper his spirit and improve his magical foundation than by depleting his own magic power? None.
From the first attempt, Felix distinctly felt that each time his magic power was exhausted, the total amount accumulated through meditation saw a considerable increase.
This was faster and safer than using magic, as depleting magic power through spellcasting could severely strain the body. The former directly consumed magic power, while the latter involved invoking elemental forces into the body.
Moderation was key, as the body, subjected to excessive negative energy, could easily transform into a dark species due to the sedimentation of negative elements.
The fundamental reason was that negative energy too easily triggered corrosive elements floating in the air. The two were symbiotic elements, and their collision greatly increased elemental activity. This was also a key reason why most dark magicians looked neither human nor ghostly.
After a brief rest, Felix removed his robe, now drenched in sweat. This was when the convenience of magic became apparent. "Water Sphere." "Purification."
With a few basic spells and Felix’s ingenuity, he quickly crafted a “Bath Spell” – summoning a water sphere to wash his body, followed by a Purification spell to remove stains, and a gust of Natural Wind to dry his hair. In just a minute, Felix had completed his entire bathing process.
After bathing, Felix looked around, then casually tied his dark brown hair at the back of his head with a rune thread from the table. Standing naked by the window, he took several deep breaths in front of the tranquil moonlight, before putting on a large nightgown from his wardrobe.
Falling into bed, Felix, holding a glass of wine, began to stare blankly at the crystal magic lamp above him.
Having undergone deep mental conditioning for self-hypnosis, Felix automatically entered a deep meditative state while sleeping, so he was in no rush to sit cross-legged and meditate to recover the magic power exhausted from his body.
After watching for a while, Felix found the crystal magic lamp a bit too bright. With a wave of his hand, he lowered the magical energy output, dimming the light considerably.
He felt physically exhausted, but his mind was somewhat excited. This was a common instinct in males, especially after experiencing certain exhilarating activities. He gave a flick to his ‘little brother,’ reminiscing about the warm and soft embrace of Lady Elizabeth.
The night breeze entering the room brought sleepiness, and Felix slowly closed his eyes.
The next day, early morning, light rain. When Felix opened his eyes, the magic clock on the wall showed 9:01 AM.
Outside, a fine rain fell, and looking out the window, he could see the bustling crowd in the imperial city. The storm was brewing, but for now, it wouldn’t reach the imperial city, the power center of the entire Titan Empire. Until the last moment, no ambitious person would dare bring the war here.
A week of intensive spell translation work had left Felix extremely tired, so he decided to give himself an extra day off today.
Perhaps because of the positive response to his gift-giving yesterday, Felix even suggested to the succubus sister to go out with him. However, the proposal was met with a disheartening answer. Upon hearing Felix's suggestion, the succubus sister paused for a long time and then for the first time, showed a bitter smile in front of him:
"My master has placed a binding on me. Unless it's removed, I cannot step out of Felendia."
This response left Felix momentarily stunned. So, she had been confined here for nearly a hundred years. For the first time, he felt a hint of sympathy for the succubus.
But he quickly realized that without the binding left by the mysterious Gamma Master, the first thing the succubus might do upon his departure would be to twist off his head – a thought that dampened the mood.
So, leaving a promise to buy her a gift, Felix turned and left Felendia.
Although Felix had planned to relax today, there were still some matters that required his attention. His first stop was the Adventurers' Guild. A week had already passed, and by his calculations, the first batch of ogre materials should be nearing arrival in the imperial city.
Due to a shortage of experimental materials, his puppet-making project was temporarily on hold. The translation of the “Bible - Old Testament” was a lengthy process. If the materials arrived, Felix’s primary focus would be the creation of ogre battle puppets, as these could be directly converted into power.
After completing his first ogre battle puppet, Felix quickly identified several flaws in his initial design. For example, the Stone Skin and Transparent Gas Shield spells had minimal effect, yet they occupied a significant portion of the rune allocation.
If he could replace these with spells like Lighten Body or Levitation to enhance mobility, the ogre battle puppets' explosiveness could become even more formidable!
Another challenging task was to find a small alchemy furnace. Relying solely on purchasing rune equipment would be financially unsustainable. With his own furnace, he could attempt to make rune equipment himself and fully equip the ogre battle puppets.
Though his skills in equipment crafting were mediocre, his proficiency in rune inscription was top-notch on the continent.
The totem poles he intended for the ogre battle servants were still missing. To inscribe them with magic patterns, Felix needed to incorporate a significant amount of enchanted metal into the initial iron rods. Only then could the totem poles absorb and integrate the attached elemental forces.
Thinking about all these requirements, Felix couldn't help feeling overwhelmed. There was so much to prepare, so little time, and even fewer shimmering Caesar gold coins.
The head of the Adventurers' Guild provided Felix with the latest update on the ogre capture task. He said that the first batch of ogres, including a powerful blade ogre warrior, would be delivered to Felix within three days.
After receiving the latest update on the experimental materials, Felix headed to Saint Erde Cathedral. However, the middle-aged nun shared disheartening news with him. The Saturn Empire had begun amassing troops at the border!
"Is war finally about to break out? The giant, who has sharpened his sword of hatred for twenty years, is he now seeking revenge after the demise of Emperor Jupiter?"
Felix’s only hope now was that the Saturn Empire's offensive wouldn't catch Lady Elizabeth off guard; otherwise, all their schemes and plots would be nothing but a joke.