From the plump merchant, Greene received only a cryptic response: "Who told you I only sell at the Blackthorn Tower?" That was the end of the discussion. Without dwelling on how the merchant intended to recover his costs, Greene signed the Seven Rings Contract without hesitation.
The contract, created through the immense power of the Seven Rings Holy Tower, was, to Greene's knowledge, unbreakable without the strength of a Level 4 sorcerer. As for the existence of Level 4 sorcerers? That realm was far beyond Greene's current reach.
Armed with a spending capacity of 5,000 magic stones, Greene showed no restraint. Under the merchant's pained gaze, he helped himself to a series of rare and valuable resources, and then, with mock politeness, thanked the man. Ecstatic, Greene returned to his small hut, marveling at the treasures he had never dared to dream of possessing.
The Eternal Earring was immediately worn on his right ear, its golden curls casually concealed beneath his hair. This top-tier sorcerer's artifact, worth 600 magic stones, not only offered excellent resistance to curses and illusions but also absorbed free energy from the air, keeping the wearer's body at a comfortably constant temperature.
A piece of Chirping Branch also hung from Greene's person. If he ever encountered an irresistible curse, the branch would emit a piercing shriek to momentarily solidify the curse, granting the afflicted valuable time to respond.
Red-Eared Mushrooms, a rare alchemical material for sorcerer apprentices, could be brewed into a potion with minimal preparation. Consuming this potion could stimulate one's spiritual power, typically increasing it by at least one point, and in some cases by as much as three—a boon that could save years of meditation.
The Notes on Fire Sorcery Magic Array Reconstruction was a sorcerer's handwritten record. While it only covered insights into the morphing of fire spells, even this partial knowledge was invaluable. A complete version of such a notebook would be worth a fortune.
A Pearl of Gemshell was another of Greene's acquisitions. Holding it in one's mouth enabled underwater breathing, a vital survival tool.
Finally, Greene acquired two mid-grade magic stones.
Three days later, Greene arrived at the library with a weary face and dark circles under his eyes. Any trace of wildness or mystique in his appearance had long vanished. Now, if anything, his demeanor could only be described as endearingly pitiable.
Asked what he desired most at that moment, Greene would answer without hesitation: a good night's sleep.
In the library's VIP section, Sorceress Elaine sat in quiet elegance, sipping aromatic coffee. Delicate pastries adorned the table before her, so exquisitely crafted that one might wonder whether they were meant to be eaten or merely admired.
Dragging his fatigued body, Greene managed a proper sorcerer's salute before placing a box containing thirty bottles of perfume on the table.
The sorceress, however, refrained from sniffing the fragrances. The perfumes, tailored with a base of feminine hormones, might evoke pleasant memories in older sorcerers but were unlikely to appeal to another woman.
"Ha! Judging by your dark circles, it's clear that crafting these little wonders wasn't an easy task," Elaine teased. "Still, they're remarkable creations. They even awaken certain... nostalgic memories in us sorcerers, memories we thought long buried."
Nostalgia? So that's the reason.
In that moment, Greene gained a new understanding. Perhaps the perfumes' allure lay in their ability to remind sorcerers of a time before their long, monotonous lives had dulled their senses. What might seem like the ultimate comfort to the uninitiated was, to these sorcerers, nothing but tedium.
For instance, to Greene, the sight of Elaine enjoying coffee and pastries appeared to epitomize elegance and contentment. Yet, to the sorceress, centuries of unchanging coffee and pastries had stripped them of all flavor. She didn't even want to touch them.
To sorcerers like her, it was the memories of struggling to attain such "luxuries" that remained precious—the very essence that Greene's perfumes rekindled.
Elaine, noting Greene's unease, smiled knowingly. "Relax. Here's your reward. These are items I no longer need but should prove useful for your trials. After all, it would be a shame to lose the genius who created such marvelous perfumes."
With that, she presented three items.
"This necklace, which I call Fountain of Joy, increases a sorcerer apprentice's spiritual power by two points. Of course, it becomes useless once you reach the critical threshold, but you're far from that limit."
Greene knew this threshold well: to advance to a full-fledged sorcerer, an apprentice needed a spiritual power of at least forty points.
Elaine then introduced the other two items. One was a crystal vial containing a tiny insect called a Phantasmal Wasp. Given sufficient corpses for nourishment, it could transform into a monstrous creature equivalent to a legendary knight for one day's protection.
The final item was a seed known as Earthbud. When cultivated, it grew into a massive flower capable of enveloping someone. The flower would then retract underground, providing a relatively safe resting space.
Elated, Greene gratefully accepted the rewards. Elaine then produced a mirror, placing the perfumes within its reflection.
"Sealing magic?" Greene exclaimed in surprise.
Elaine glanced at him, slightly amused. "I didn't expect you to recognize it." With that, she left without further comment.
Greene, of course, knew of sealing magic. Without exceptionally rare spatial sorcery tools, only sorcerers skilled in sealing could store physical objects within dimensional folds or illusory realms for convenient transport.
His thoughts drifted back to his first sorcerer aptitude test in Bisser City. The eerie and terrifying phenomena he had witnessed then had long made him suspect an innate talent for sealing magic. Sorcerer texts speculated that the entities existing between reality and illusion were forms of life inhabiting higher or lower dimensions, their perceptions of space and time utterly alien to human understanding.
Anticipation welled within Greene. As a rare apprentice whose spiritual power naturally grew to twelve points without meditation, he knew he possessed unique talents. Though not as immediately apparent as those of others, like Yomlee or Bibiliona, his gift would reveal its full potential upon reaching the sorcerer level.
Yet, for most apprentices, the journey to sorcererhood was a near-impossible feat, with countless aspirants remaining apprentices until the end of their days.
...
Half a month later, thanks to his aptitude for elemental sorcery, Greene had developed a solid grasp of the Notes on Fire Sorcery Magic Array Reconstruction. By his estimates, it would take him two months at the least—or half a year at most—to refine the spiritual solidification array.
Once improved, even with the same amount of magic power, Greene's ability to manipulate the world's rules would greatly enhance the impact of his spells. Having witnessed Elaine's firebird adaptation, Greene naturally sought to replicate her technique.
For now, however, his immediate priority lay with the creatures in the wild crane's gullet. He had prepared an entire process for these organisms, just waiting for them to mature.
On that day, as the wild crane let out a final wail, Greene drained its blood with surgical precision and extracted the vital stomach sac. The acrid stench from the sac was magnified dozens of times by his acute senses, forcing him to temporarily disable his olfactory function. He then separated the digested remnants from the rice-sized parasitic worms within, transferring them to a prepared solution.
"Heh... come here, my precious ones..."
With a twisted grin, Greene collected the white parasites into another container. To the average person, his fondness for these creatures might seem disturbingly perverse. It was clear that, in just over two years at the Sorcerer's Academy, Greene had lost all awareness of how grotesque his actions appeared to outsiders.
Moments later, Greene brought the matured Twist Snails to his lab. After creating an environment suitable for their survival, he picked up one of the tiny creatures and placed it on a crystal sphere.
Chanting a spell, Greene felt his soul resonate. The Twist Snail emitted an almost imperceptible sound, a sign of successful bonding.
Minutes later, perspiration beaded on his forehead. Breathing a sigh of relief, Greene cradled the snail, now bound to him. With a swift motion, he swallowed it whole—or, more precisely, stored it within his own stomach sac.
Thus, this Twist Snail became Greene's first symbiotic parasite, as much a part of him as any other organ. This was the essence of a sorcerer's symbiotic creatures.
"Whew... soul refinement truly is exhausting. Purifying five snails a day is my limit. With nearly three hundred snails to process, it'll take two months of relentless effort to complete the task. A true test of patience..."
Sighing, Greene resumed purifying the snails. He dared not consume the unpurified ones for fear of unintended parasitism.
By now, Greene had long forgotten his earlier disdain for Elaine's centipede-swallowing ritual. Here he was, eagerly devouring parasites that most would consider abhorrent.