The next spell they replaced was Antimage's Blade. Given Sorin's ability to penetrate defenses and access a good weapon, they settled on Veridian Spell Sword, a weapon enchantment spell that allowed for efficient poison application through melee weapons.

Normally, the spell required both a poisonous medium to draw spell runes with and poison mana to cast. Luckily, Sorin's blood qualified as a high-grade poison medium, making the spell especially versatile since he could change the composition of his blood and mana at will.

The spell cost 30,000 gold, but Sorin gladly paid the price. This was because he wasn't just limited to his weapons, but Lawrence's swords and daggers and Stephan's metal-enhanced claws as well. Regrettably, it could not be applied to arrows or Lorimer's fangs. A surprise rat bite to the leg would work wonders on many opponents.

"You already have Spear in a Haystack, and you're using it quite proficiently, from what I can tell," said Daphne. "In fact, the spell is performing much better than it should on paper. The only thing you're really lacking now is a burst spell centered around yourself. Naturally, you'll want to cast that sort of thing when you're far away from the rest of the team."

"Why can't I just lob something from afar like you do?" asked Sorin.

"I mean, you could," said Daphne. "But how often are you going to use that? Conversely, how often do you find yourself surrounded by enemies?"

It was hard to refute such a reasonable argument. "What do you suggest?"

"Five Poison Apocalypse," said Daphne with a grin. "It's definitely on the upper end of A-Tier, but given your S-Ranked Mana stores and variable mana, it'll be a huge addition to the team. If you want to wipe out dozens of two-star demons rushing at you from all sides in a short amount of time, that's the spell you use."

Fortunately, most plague mages fought from a distance, so the spell only cost 25,000 gold. This was fortunate because the spell ate up most of Sorin's savings over the past two months and took a bite out of his capital. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to invest in his offensive potential. These spells would greatly improve their odds of succeeding in the Shrine Descent, which was said to be dangerous but lucrative regardless of the format.

Having addressed his immediate concerns with spells, Sorin asked Daphne about another area of interest: spell-breaking. While he had no intention of breaking magical barriers, spell-breaking was a crucial component in applying the Bone-Unsealing Tinctures.

"I'm generally considered pretty good at spell-breaking, but that's only using a fire-based approach," confessed Daphne. "Fire-based spell-breaking is all about hijacking the spell circuitry and overloading it, but poison-based spell-breaking relies on principles of solvency and dissolution. It's not explosive like my approach and can't succeed by ruining a single component."

"So you can't help me?" said Sorin regretfully.

"I didn't say that," answered Daphne. "All I meant was that you shouldn't expect detailed instructions from me. Moreover, you have to accept that a poisonous approach to spell-breaking will be much more complicated than mine. You have to attack the entire spell formation at once, making the required counter-arrangement much more complex.

"This approach is much more effective against high-level spell circles since they don't tend to have many flaws to begin with. The downside is that it takes much more time than fire-based spell-breaking. It could take me five seconds to break a spell that takes you thirty seconds to break. Conversely, it could take you minutes to break a complicated spell formation that I, with my superior knowledge and vast magical prowess, can't even shake."

In the end, it all came down to books and knowledge. The introductory knowledge would only cost him 5,000 gold per month and would allow him to read for several months, even with Sorin's eidetic memory.

Though Sorin was annoyed by the amount of study required, there was no way around the topic. Barrabus Abberjay Kepler's research notes assumed those unsealing bones would have a working knowledge of spell-breaking. Physicians also studied such subjects, as they came in handy for certain treatments.

When they finally finished, it was dark out. A thick stack of books was safely stowed away in Sorin's Hero Medal. He and Daphne were sitting at a café enjoying one last cup of coffee for the evening while Lorimer was playing with another mage's armadillo familiar, who was said to be impervious to damage.

"I'm sorry for being such bad company," Sorin said after a few minutes of silent sipping. "We've mostly been focusing on my needs and my spells. How about you, Daphne? How have you been holding up?"

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Daphne shrugged. "I didn't want to bore you with subjects you don't care about."

"Try me."

Daphne raised an eyebrow. " I'm currently researching the incorporation of multi-element frameworks into incendiary spells using non-standard spell catalysts to promote merging via spell-diffusion reorganization."

It took a minute for Sorin to understand, but he was used to such complex wording as the same format was used in medical research papers. "You're trying to mix non-fire spells with fire spells by changing up the catalyst. Was this inspired by the staff you received at the Wish-Fire Festival?"

Daphne's eyes lit up. "Indeed, it was. At first, I thought applying poisons through spells was a strange concept. Even in Delphi, where the most poison users are concentrated, it's a relatively novel concept.

"Fortunately, I found an elder who was interested in the topic, and our research has already produced seven new spells. Two of them were even created entirely by me! On that note, I'll have to trouble you to supply ten liters of your blood to the guild weekly—for science."

"And here I thought I was done with blood donations until the Shrine Descent," Sorin grumbled. "But since it's for science, I can only oblige. I'll have Percival deliver it in two-star anti-corrosion glassware." Thankfully, his blood did not yet exceed the scope of two-star anti-corrosion measures. When it did, things would get extremely troublesome.

"What about your writing? How's that going?" continued Sorin.

"My writing? It's coming along. It's just…"

"Writer's block?" volunteered Sorin.

"Not exactly. More like a lack of source material to draw on. You see, this current story is about the descendants of a deceased clan master. He was once the clan's darling child but was forced to pursue forbidden power and dangerous occupations to make a place for himself in this wretched world."

Sorin's eye twitched. "That sounds very… relatable."

"Doesn't it?" said Daphne. "The outer layer of the story isn't relatable, but the hidden story is. You see, the main character made a pact with Hope and gained forbidden powers—powers that begin to kill off those closest to him.

"The character struggles at every turn. He can't bear to see them die, so he bottles everything up and secludes himself to protect those he loves. And yet… it has the exact opposite effect. In the end, he has to accept his cursed power to truly control it."

"That sounds very fanciful," said Sorin. And unrealistic, he added mentally. The moment I accept Violence is the moment I start rampaging and killing all those closest to me. He was pretty sure there was more nuance to the topic, as Hope had penned a book on the topic, but his corruption wasn't so bad that he needed to risk reading it.

"See, that's what I'm struggling with," said Daphne. "That expression of yours. You think it's corruption, don't you? That I'm sympathizing with corrupted individuals. You're worried that my work will just draw the Spanish inquisition on our team and spur the Government and the Night Hawks to condemn the novel."

"Shouldn't they just outright ban the books?" asked Sorin. "Wait, I recall hearing something about this. The government these days is against book bans. The practice is seen as barbaric and backward, and there hasn't been a book ban in decades."

Daphne's expression was thoughtful. "That's actually a good point. No matter what I write, they won't ban the book and would probably try to avoid giving me attention. And no matter what, its presence would whip up controversy by expanding on a socially forbidden topic.

"And then it would have a deeper meaning for a large audience, such as those who cultivate dangerous techniques, fire mages who can't quite control their spells, and people who can't control their temper."

"Poison cultivators in physician families," Sorin added.

"Indeed," said Daphne. "See how universal the story becomes? You'd almost think the author was writing it just for you." She winked at Sorin.

"I think it has potential," admitted Sorin. "But can you balance the workload with your research?"

Daphne shrugged. "At most, I can write maybe 2,000 words a day before running out of inspiration. People these days are asking for long books, so it will probably take me at least four months to finish up. Then there's beta feedback, editing, proofreading, and all that fun stuff."

"To your success," said Sorin, raising his coffee mug.

"To our success," said Daphne, clinking her mug against his. "Because we've both got tough projects to work on. Spell-breaking is something people become professors studying."

Before leaving, Sorin had Daphne look over the communication devices Elder Marik had given him. She confirmed that they weren't tampered with but would take them to her research supervisor to be sure. She would then deliver them back to Sorin so he could give them to the rest of the team.

When he left the guild, it was dark. Lorimer trotted happily alongside his master, still fully energized from the copious amounts of caffeine he'd consumed and very happy to have tussled with an armadillo familiar—the only one in the province, or so his master said.

They were just rounding the corner and heading towards the New Castle District when both Sorin and Lorimer froze. The rat bared his teeth and screeched while Sorin took out his dagger.

Just ahead of them, a cultivator in a black cloak walked out of an alley. Before they knew it, the cultivator was in front of them, observing them with cold, piercing eyes.

"Sorin Abberjay Kepler," said the cultivator in a distorted voice Sorin couldn't quite recognize. "My master has requested your presence." The cultivator's tone and aura made it clear this wasn't a request.

Sorin looked around and noticed dozens of people on both sides of the street. The street lamps were still shining brightly, but their light bent around them, leaving them invisible to the average cultivator.

More importantly, this was a Flesh-Sanctification cultivator. If required, they could end Sorin and Lorimer in seconds. "Lead the way, and we'll follow," said Sorin. If it was a trap, it couldn't be avoided.