Chapter 18: Black-Robed Archmage Vernal

“…Kid! Constantine?… You… are you alive?”

He shook his head. Those lines began to gradually fade from the young man’s vision, while the Lich’s voice simultaneously grew louder in his mind—still rigid, low-pitched, only the speaking pace had increased quite a bit. This great mage, though knowledgeable, did not seem very skilled in certain aspects, especially in concealing himself. However, this made Constantine feel a bit more at ease.

“Did you feel something just now?” The Lich’s voice paused. “Though only for an instant, a certain power did indeed cut off our mental connection abruptly. I could barely sense that it belonged to a powerful being, but I couldn’t discern more details.”

“I don’t know what it was either. He claimed to be my deity… very arrogant… well, anyway, at first he demanded my faith, but I didn’t agree… After arguing with him for a few sentences, he said he bestowed some things upon me… and then just vanished like that.” Constantine shook his head. He was now almost certain that he had established some connection with a powerful something… He chose a simpler way to describe this encounter. Because in his field of view, that strange black-robed mage was already walking over.

“You refused?” After a brief silence, the Lich spoke in a slow, bass tone—the dual-soul state seemed to allow Constantine to somewhat guess the Lich’s amazement. “That is strange. Generally, mental connections established through such rituals do not allow you to make a choice, let alone refuse…”

“So, can you guess what his true nature is?” Constantine was not in the mood to delve into those magic theories now.

“During that momentary contact, I could sense the immense power of this being… It wasn’t just mere ability or so-called magic… In fact, I can’t even tell you what it was. I only know that mysterious power could shatter your mind at any moment, drive you mad, make you lose yourself…” The tone in the Telepathy gradually lowered, as if Hartdiel entered some state of contemplation. “At that time, no one could help you. You could only rely on your own Mental Power… But to resist it was very difficult—in fact, if you hadn’t woken up just now, or if you had woken up as a monster without self-will, I wouldn’t have found it strange at all… And yet you are unharmed… No, for someone like you, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised…”

“That’s saying nothing! Whatever… So what is this ability he gave me? Everything I look at is covered in lines now…” In reality, only a short time had passed during the internal dialogue. Constantine found the sensation in his eyes growing stronger. The surrounding light shimmered with increasingly dazzling colors. Eventually, he even had to close his eyes to barely stop himself from feeling dizzy.

“What you see is probably the Magic Aura. Green for protection… red for evocation… purple for conjuration… Well, anyway, that guy’s so-called vision should be an effect similar to true sight. However, this effect is probably permanent…” The Lich pondered. “As for dispelling it, you just need your own will to control it. It’s not difficult.”

So the young man began to squint and blink. But this spell didn’t seem easy to control. By the time the black-robed mage reached his side, the colors in his eyes still hadn’t completely faded. It was only blurred.

“It seems you succeeded… You are lucky. As a Sorcerer, you haven’t had the chance to worship that old fellow Boccob, or that foolish woman Vecna…” The black-robed mage looked Constantine up and down, speaking with a “kindly” expression. At the same time, the young man felt his body loosen; the invisible shackles that had bound him disappeared.

“I wouldn’t say so…” Constantine moved his limbs, then picked up his Spellbook… Though he knew this person before him was not someone he could afford to provoke, the young man couldn’t help but vent his internal anger. “Or does the so-called luck your honor mentioned refer to me not being disfigured or suffering similar harm?”

“You also have no need to worry. I merely found you a rather economical faith…” The scar-covered face didn’t even twitch, as if not understanding the sarcasm in Constantine’s words. The black-robed Archmage said leisurely, “I know you might feel terrible right now… But rest assured, it’s only a matter of faith. As a mage, you shouldn’t need to worry about this—we mages are users and guardians of knowledge. We should rely on our own power to uncover the mysteries of knowledge, the mysteries of the world.”

The young man inwardly curled his lip. He certainly wouldn’t tell this guy that he hadn’t pledged faith to any deity or spirit… Right now, it was best to leave this cave safely and quickly. The less trouble, the better.

Unfortunately, things in the world never go as you wish…

“As payment for assisting me with the experiment, you are now my assistant…” Whether the facial injuries affected his thinking or not, this great mage named Vernal seemed to have no interest in whether the young man could accept his twisted reasoning. He simply turned toward the row of experiment tables on his own. “I am Vernal, Archmage of the Purple Star. Well, this ranking standard is from the Rael Empire; it’s not used in Phoenix… Let’s set aside useless matters. Now, you! Distribute these potions evenly for me!”

“A mage’s power comes from his wisdom. A mage with an abnormal mind has his power reduced by at least half…” The Lich suddenly let out a cold laugh that sounded like scraping metal. “This fellow doesn’t pose much of a threat…”

“Right… You know it, I know it, maybe even a child knows it, but he might not know it…” Constantine reluctantly followed the Archmage’s steps. “But at least he remembers he is a mage. That level of danger is enough to intimidate me!”

Though Constantine still held hostility toward this guy, under the current circumstances, if he didn’t obediently comply, he might encounter more trouble. The young man could only suppress his anger for now and step forward to start working according to the other’s instructions. Fortunately, he was a university student from the 21st century after all. Though not a science major, he had some experience with experiments and such. The scales in this world weren’t much different from what he remembered, except the weight was in pounds. Even the tray’s markings were similar to his memory.

Being the black-robed mage’s assistant was clearly no easy task. Before the young man even steadied himself, the mage issued a string of commands. Constantine had to scramble to take various things from the surrounding cabinets, categorize them, begin weighing, and hand them over. Luckily, having a Lich inside his body helped; he didn’t mistake the names of any items. This clearly pleased the black-robed mage. At first, he specifically pointed out where things were needed, but later he simply reached out his hand.

“This guy is actually an Alchemist… and seems quite experienced… Rare, rare…” The Lich’s emotionless voice sounded in Constantine’s ear. It seemed the professor’s teaching itch was acting up again.

Though he had carelessly lost within Constantine’s mental world, becoming the young man’s servant and encyclopedia, Kotelo de Hartdiel had indeed never been unworthy of his many titles: member of the Mestalia Mage Association, elder of the three-leaf violet, Morningstar Archmage, etc.—After the young man inquired about the forms of several spell materials a few times, Hartdiel deduced some conclusions from the usage amounts of these materials that Constantine didn’t know.

“Alchemist? What’s that?”

“That’s a general term, a name for mages who study the Transmutation School… Oh, you’re a Sorcerer; you don’t need to consider school issues. I hadn’t mentioned these general terms before…” Hartdiel’s professorial hobby made him answer any question. And communicating directly through the Soul was quite convenient for information transfer, not even slightly affecting Constantine’s speed in handing over materials. “So-called spells, according to common theory, are called schools of magic. There are eight schools: Abjuration, Conjuration, Evocation, Necromancy, Illusion, Enchantment, Transmutation, and Divination. Each type of spell has a common characteristic.”

“However, magic from different schools follows different principles and methods of energy control. Sometimes there are serious conflicts or even direct opposition between them. So, most mages, based on thousands of years of accumulated experience, choose a specific school as their specialized focus of study, while consciously cutting off learning magic from one or two other schools. Mages skilled in various schools have different general names. For example, I am a specialist in the necromancy school, called a necromancer. I typically master spells that manipulate, create, or destroy life and life force. This guy probably uses Transmutation School magic, also called Alchemy. They are most adept at transforming and altering the state of things. Of course, some mages believe in learning broadly and consider that the right path…”

“Get to the point!” Knowing that once this expert touched upon his field, he would often ramble on and stray far from the topic, Constantine felt a headache from the series of explanations flashing in his mind. He could only stop the Lich’s excessive knowledge dump with a grinding-teeth rebuke.

“Simply put, mages specializing in the Transmutation School are most skilled at scribing Scrolls and brewing magic potions…”

“That doesn’t seem very rare?” Though he hadn’t been exposed to magic for many days, Constantine also clearly knew that for mages, brewing magic potions was a basic skill; almost everyone could do it.

“Fool, let me finish! Alchemists… they are more excellent in this aspect. You need to know, brewing many complex magic potions also requires very profound skill. But the most famous aspect of Transmutation School magic is not brewing potions, but creating various Golems and puppets. Next is crafting various Magic Items! Though other mages can also scribe scrolls and make simple magic items, compared to professional Alchemists, it’s the difference between a copyist and a master craftsman…”

Crafting Magic Items? The young man’s mind was undoubtedly pricked a bit by this term…