“A fifth-tier dark magic stone, five million Thalers. This is in its golden state, meaning its tier can still be improved. Sir, you don’t seem like a fifth-tier Archmage; are you buying this for someone else?”
Inside a private room at the tavern, the Ghoul Merchant, wearing a human skin mask, opened an exquisite treasure box. A purple magic stone gleamed brightly.
magic stones are essential tools for mages to cast high-tier magic. Mil shook his head and said,
“I don’t want the golden state; I only want the residual state.”
“Only the residual state? Oh, for temporary use, right? One million. This is top-grade; besides not being able to improve its tier, it’s no different from the golden state.”
magic stones are divided into tiers one to nine. Beyond that, the super-tier is generally known as the “Philosopher’s Stone,” which is also the entry ticket to immortality.
The Ghoul Merchant switched to another box and opened it. Mil picked up the slightly dim fifth-tier magic stone and began to channel magic into it…
“It doesn’t work. Give me a fourth-tier one to try.”
“For yourself? You… don’t you know what tier you are?!”
“My innate magic stone has been sealed.”
“Oh? That’s rare. I spoke out of turn… A top-grade residual state fourth-tier dark magic stone, six hundred thousand.”
Saying this, the Ghoul Merchant switched to another treasure box. Mil picked up the magic stone and tried it, but it still didn’t work.
Mil originally had no magical talent…
A week ago, the seal on the chaos holy stone loosened. As Mil was chosen by the chaos holy stone, memories flooded into his mind like a tidal wave. In just a few seconds, it felt like an eternity—
He saw himself born in a world of towering buildings and advanced technology, experiencing nine years of compulsory education, then continuing his studies. After ten years of hard work, he successfully graduated from university, and then transmigrated…
Afterward, Mil discovered that he had a magical affinity for the dark attribute.
The Ghoul Merchant changed box after box. Mil tried them one by one, and finally found that he could only use a second-tier one…
Feeling like he had been played, the Ghoul Merchant’s face fell and he said,
“…188,000.”
“Isn’t that expensive? It’s almost as much as the bride price in my hometown.”
“Are you genuinely stupid or just pretending? This is contraband!”
The power of the dark attribute comes from chaos and is listed as forbidden by the church, only available from Black Market Merchants;
Normal people do not have dark attribute affinity, but the dark attribute is also the most inclusive. Any magician can use the dark attribute and break through bottlenecks with its help.
The Ghoul Merchant’s human skin mask on his face was trembling with anger, but Mil calmly pulled open his money pouch and counted out eight gold coins, each worth ten thousand:
“Just round it down. I’m a student.”
“Not even if you were a virgin!”
“How do you know my teacher is Mister Klama, a judge from the Tribunal?”
The Ghoul Merchant took the money, grumbling, and slammed the door as he left.
The Lyata Family is a renowned noble family after all. Although Mil is an adopted son, he still receives 20,000 allowance each month.
However, Mil couldn’t save money…
The rest of the family do not live in the holy city. The mansion here only has Mil and Alice, along with the butler and a few servants, so he couldn’t borrow from family members;
It was like a crab with its claws cut off—nothing to pinch with.
So, this money was quietly taken from Alice.
As long as she doesn’t find out, he can just get money later and quietly return it…
It’ll be fine!
Why didn’t he just borrow from her directly?
A daily interest rate of 5% was 50 times the usury rate in his previous life, and this was even Mil’s exclusive family price…
The key was that the repayment cycle was calculated daily. If he was even a second late, she would start calculating compound interest.
Before, when her father got drunk, he borrowed 100 Thalers from her, promising to return 110 Thalers the next day. He forgot, and three months later, when he suddenly remembered, Alice demanded 580,000…
It was a good thing Alice was her biological daughter, which was why she dared to play like that.
Alice, who loved money more than her life, Lyata.
…
Stepping out of the tavern’s private room, the noisy and chaotic environment of the main hall made one’s ears ache.
Most of the people in the tavern were adventurers, mercenaries, and demon hunters. There was also a blue-haired madwoman who couldn’t hold her liquor, claiming to be the Water God incarnate, performing a palm fountain.
Mil was not in a hurry to leave. He put on a mask, found a random seat, and prepared to try his luck to see if he could find new “teammates.”
It seemed his luck was good—at that moment, in a corner not far away, there were two secretive people talking in low voices, one of whom was a magician…
Although he had activated a sound-proofing magic gem, it was useless against Mil’s perception.
Mil’s lips curled into a slight smile, ready to go over and strike up a conversation, but the person in a black robe sitting opposite him suddenly pulled out a flyer…
More accurately, it was a letter, a letter for a demon race lecture.
“The time and location of the lecture are all on it. The secret code is ‘Sunny?’ ‘Cloudy turning clear!’ Remember it well, bring trustworthy colleagues, and do not fail the demon god’s expectations for you! apopis was, apopis is, apopis will be forever!”
“apopis was, apopis is, apopis will be forever!”
After speaking, the magician devoutly nodded, took the flyer, and left with excited steps.
Mil was dumbfounded…
That voice just now must have been his sister, Alice, and what she was using as a flyer was the letter Mil had prepared;
This letter would only be handed out by Mil, inviting the recipient to his lecture, once he confirmed the other party’s identity as a high-ranking member of the organization.
After all, in this era, information exchange had barriers, and the time and location on it needed to be highly confidential.
Little did he know, Alice had used magic to print over four hundred copies in one go, even running to the plaza to distribute them…
“Sir? May I have a word…”
Without him realizing it, Alice had already sat opposite Mil. Her youthful voice could not hide her highly seductive tone. Mil came back to his senses and took off his mask:
“Alice, what are you doing? How did my letter get to you?”
“Oh! It’s Brother Mil! Hmm… Alice wanted to help you, so I made the decision on my own, but Alice did a good job helping you complete the plan!”
Upon hearing this, Mil’s blood pressure was already soaring:
“Are you eyeing the church’s bounty?”
Alice narrowed her eyes and smiled, trying to cutely muddle through…
Naturally beautiful and mischievous, she had been Mil’s little shadow since childhood, and Mil doted on her immensely;
Moreover, her status as a Saintess was still of great use to Mil, so Mil sighed helplessly and said,
“…You can’t make decisions on your own after this. These heretical Cultists and demon spies are hidden very deeply. We need to cast a long line to catch a big fish! We absolutely cannot let the Holy Knights and the Tribunal know, understood?”
Cast a long line to catch a big fish. As for when to reel them in? That would be when he had enough martial prowess;
If Klama of the Tribunal found out that he was actually organizing Cultists and holding a lecture, the Tribunal would surely set up a dragnet…
Then it would backfire.
After listening to Mil, Alice’s expression became a little nervous:
“No, we can’t tell the Holy Knights? Why not?”
“What if there are heretical spies among the Holy Knights and the Tribunal? Wouldn’t all our efforts be in vain? When they know that this lecture has reached the church’s ears, who would still dare to attend?”
Makes sense! Alice’s eyes darted around twice, and she nodded somewhat guiltily.
The three people this afternoon were all old Holy Knights; there wouldn’t be any spies. She just needed to remind Uncle William later…
It’ll be fine!
“Oh, by the way, brother, the Pope held a Sages’ meeting today and talked about the sleeping magic.”
Upon hearing this topic, Mil’s eyes lit up!
In the expansion pack “Heart of the Abyss,” the girls’ sleeping incident was the beginning of the story and a major reason directly leading to the unsealing and the fall of the holy city.
Finding allies also had a priority. Mil’s primary task now was to find the caster of the sleeping magic—
The Black Magician, Theron.
Alice lowered her voice and continued,
“I heard the Great Sage say that this is a Black Magic that spreads through dreams. It’s now basically confirmed that the first victim is Duke of Paradiso’s daughter, Lilith.”
Lilith? Mil rummaged through his memories for a moment before suddenly remembering that she was Duke Charlie’s daughter:
“Oh… Lilith? The genius girl from Sibyl Magic Academy?”
Duke Charlie is the supreme ruler of the Paradise Duchy, and the holy city is the only city-state within the Duchy.
And his daughter, Lilith, as a magical genius, was an unparalleled existence among all her peers on the Atla Continent;
At the same time, with her enchanting figure, she became the holy city’s biggest dog-owner. Every time a meteor streaked across the night sky, everyone wished to be Lilith’s dog.
“Yes! Uncle Charles was also there today. He promised a reward of five million Thalers to anyone who can wake Miss Lilith!”
Is he trying to fool beggars?
The Grand Duke clearly hadn’t realized the seriousness of this sleeping incident.
Alice’s eyes glowed, but Mil’s mind wasn’t on that. His mind was full of how to find the caster behind it through Lilith.
Mil pondered the relevant settings and the characteristics of the magic system, and he had a rough plan for finding the caster of the sleeping magic…
He had to start with Lilith.
However, he would need a Black Magic item…
Mil was a man of strong action. He immediately stood up and went to chase after the Ghoul Merchant he had just dealt with.