The gloomy ancient castle, candlelight dim and yellow.
Amberser used his skeleton-like fingers to tear open the envelope, breaking the vermilion wax seal with a crisp sound, shattering along with the magic seal on the envelope.
Unfolding the sheepskin letter inside, the ghostly blue flames in Amberser's eye sockets flickered a few times.
"Respected Master Amberser, after our review by the editors at 'Legendary Spells' Publishing, we regret to inform you that your paper 'Research on the Non-Humanoid Form Modification of Undead Creatures' is unsuitable for publication in our monthly magazine. We suggest that you submit your work to a magical academic journal with less stringent review requirements."
A burst of ghostly blue flame erupted from the tips of Amberser's fingers, reducing the rejection letter to ashes as he said frustratedly, "My paper has detailed data and innovative viewpoints. How could it not meet the standards? It's nothing but discrimination against liches, discrimination against undead magic, isn't it?!"
'Legendary Spells' is the world's highest standard magical monthly magazine, founded by the Nine Great Kingdoms and thirteen Legendary Mages, open for publication of magic theories by spellcasters of any race and nationality.
Since its creation, 'Legendary Spells' has made significant contributions to the development of world magic, with the foundational theories of over twenty Legendary spells published in this magazine.
All spellcasters take pride in having their papers published in 'Legendary Spells', and even the Court Mages of the Nine Great Kingdoms are judged by their number of published papers, with less than three papers disqualifying them even for an interview.
Yet Amberser, a once frequently published and famed scholar, had his submissions rejected three times in succession over the past two years.
Amberser believed the reason was simple; he had recently reincarnated as a lich. And the new chief editor of 'Legendary Spells' was a staunch Light Priest who harbored an extreme prejudice against the undead.
"There are so many ways to eternal life. What's wrong with reincarnating as a lich?"
Dissatisfied, Amberser waved his hand, sweeping the ashes from the table onto the floor. A nearby skeleton with a bizarre design scuttled over and quickly swept up the ashes.
The design of this skeleton was rather macabre, with only the upper body resembling normal human bones, while the lower half consisted of eight spider-like bone legs, enabling it to scuttle about swiftly. Its arms, however, seemed to have fixed joints which only allowed limited movements, making them appear stiff, yet its cleaning actions were incredibly precise and swift.
With a low profile, it was agile enough to climb walls and scuttle under tables, a "specially-typed" skeleton clearly designed for cleaning purposes.
This was Amberser's "Non-Humanoid Form Modification of Undead Creatures," his specialty in alien skeletons, undoubtedly more useful than the staggering, clumsy movements of humanoid skeletons.
However, this modification wasn't cheap. Just the preliminary experiments had emptied his wallet, and now Amberser was somewhat regretting becoming a lich.
But the Youth Magic Potion was simply too expensive, and Silvermoon Tribunal had recently banned the export of two of its main ingredients, driving the prices of the potion sky-high.
Even Legendary Mages didn't have spare grain, and Amberser, upon ascending to Legendary status, had received 'Pseudo-Soul' as his Legendary Grace. With it, he could use some simple materials to create something akin to a soul, seemingly identical and functionally nearly indistinguishable.
With such a talent, it would be a waste not to become a lich.
Thus, when the price of the Youth Magic Potion soared to five hundred thousand Gold Coins a bottle, Amberser decisively chose to reincarnate as a lich.
To hell with the Elf Goddess and her Silvermoon Tribunal; those Elves, flaunting their longevity, were hoarding life itself. Amberser vowed that once he had enough money, he would short the Youth Magic Potion and bankrupt those sprouts.
But back to the problem of the returned papers. As a Legendary Mage who seldom went out, Amberser's main source of income came from the fees for papers published in 'Legendary Spells.' After the continuous rejections, he began running out of money.
Although a lich didn't need food or drink, experiments with undead magic cost money, maintaining the ancient castle cost money, even the upkeep of the Life Casket was all about money!
Amberser needed to find a way to make some money; otherwise, he would indeed become so poor that he couldn't afford to replace his Mage's robe even if it developed holes.
"How can I make money?"
Amberser couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Ordinary mages could find nobles to serve as magic consultants and earn a handsome salary. However, at the legendary level, they would need to apply to the royal courts. Ordinary nobles couldn't afford a Legendary Mage, and the same went for a Legendary Lich.
Only two of the Nine Great Kingdoms were willing to accept a Lich, and they were far from where Amberser lived. As a newly reborn Lich and a seasoned Legendary Mage, Amberser acutely understood that sometimes the gap between legends was even wider than that between mortals and legends.
His mastery of Undead Magic was merely average, so his employment was not guaranteed to succeed; if it failed, the cost of opening a continental portal would be a huge loss. Damn that Silvermoon Tribunal! It was those sprout-like Elves that had driven up the cost of the continental portals!
Moreover, being far from home meant not only facing the potential loss from travel expenses, but also possibly losing himself. Even the weakest legend was still a legend; no one would refuse the opportunity to enslave a Legendary Lich.
Amberser had also considered selling his "Pseudo-Souls" for money, but his peers had made it clear that a human slave was worth only a handful of copper coins, and that was for genuine souls. Why would anyone pay three times the price for your fake ones?
That left Amberser speechless, increasingly feeling that his "Pseudo-Soul" Legendary Grace was a useless skill.
"I need to consult some liches on how to make money."
Amberser waved his finger, and a hefty magical tome flew from beside the desk. The cover was inlaid with a delicate skeleton bas-relief—this was the Necromancy Codex he received from the Elegy Poetry Society after rebirth as a lich. It listed many foundational pieces of knowledge for liches, including the most important "One Hundred Taboos after Reincarnating as a Lich."
Reminders such as not to habitually throw back the curtains upon waking, not to use daylight spells as candles, and not to keep dogs were indeed very helpful to Amberser.
But Amberser was not currently reviewing these pieces of common sense. He flipped the pages to the end and condensed magical energy at his fingertip to write down this sentence: "Friends, may the Soul Fire within you burn eternally. I am a bit short on money lately. Can you advise on how a lich should make money?"
The magical words coalesced, quivering on the page like waves of light.
Moments later, new text appeared.
[Withered Rose: Isn't your royalty fee quite substantial? After turning into a lich, you should be saving more money; undead experiments are the cheapest.]
This Withered Rose signature belonged to a senior lich, a core member of the Elegy Poetry Society.
The Elegy Poetry Society was mysterious. Every lich who had just been reborn would receive a Necromancy Codex from the enigmatic society president. To this day, Amberser had no clue who the president was, nor could he detect who had placed the Necromancy Codex beside his remains.
The rebirth process was when liches were most vulnerable. If this president had harbored even a shred of ill-intent, Amberser would have become his puppet long ago.
There were not many members of the Elegy Poetry Society, and they usually communicated through this Necromancy Codex, addressing each other by code names.
And Amberser's nickname within the Elegy Poetry Society was Diga Ultraman.
[Diga Ultraman: "Don't get me started. The new editor-in-chief of 'Legendary Spells' has already rejected me three times. This racist bastard is driving me to the brink of bankruptcy. Lady Rose, how do you usually make money? Give me some leads."]
[Withered Rose: Oh, I heard their new editor-in-chief is a Light Priest, so they're starting to openly discriminate against undead now, huh? Unbelievably prejudiced humans. In Gloomyland, I usually extract benefits from the Drow Elves; they are the best gold mines, whether it's their spiders, their collections, or their corpses.]
Amberser replied helplessly, "Lady Rose, the kingdom I'm in might have frequent racial conflicts, but the Alchemy Council won't allow me to capture other races in large numbers for experimental materials."
Before Withered Rose could offer a new suggestion, another member of the Elegy Poetry Society entered the conversation.
[Crown of the Headless Knight: Brother Diga, I urgently need a vial of Living Mercury Solution. If you can help me get one from Alchemy City, I'll buy it from you at a high price.]