Chapter 327: The Upgraded Formation |
Dusk. Mountain forest. Lakeside cabin.
At this moment, Saul had already closed the door to the secret chamber and reactivated the concealment formation on it.
Now he was sitting on the only wooden bed on the second floor of the cabin, carefully examining the copied magic formation he had just transcribed.
To his left lay the notebook that contained the original soul extraction formation.
“Why would there be such a formation here?” Saul was certain this new soul extraction formation had been expertly improved.
It could now extract souls not only from ordinary people to create vengeful spirit, but even from wizard apprentices.
“If a vengeful spirit were created using this formation, with suitable materials, it might even be possible to stably produce true wraiths. My initial guess was wrong. I thought some disheartened, banished apprentice had clung to life around the Wizard Tower. But now, it seems clear—this place is a base for someone, perhaps even a faction. Tsk…”
Saul stood up. He heard movement outside and immediately went downstairs. As soon as he opened the door, he saw the mushroom coachman had returned, holding a scroll in his hands.
Upon seeing Saul, the coachman said immediately, “My lord, I brought the contract.”
Of course, mundane contracts held no binding power over wizards, and the House of Wayfarers clearly understood this, so they never attempted to verify a wizard’s identity.
And since most wizards weren’t short on money, their leases typically lasted ten years. After ten years, if the wizard was still around, someone would come to renew or terminate the contract.
After reading it, Saul nodded in satisfaction and told the coachman, “Go find a place to stay in town. Just come by every three days with food.”
The mushroom coachman looked up, cautiously saying, “My lord, I can stay in the carriage. That way, if you need anything, I’ll be right here.”
But Saul shook his head firmly. “No. The experiments I’m doing here could easily hurt you by accident.”
The coachman didn’t argue further. He nodded neatly and, seeing Saul had no other orders, left with his carriage.
What Saul didn’t know was that the coachman hadn’t actually gone to the outpost town. Instead, he settled down in an uninhabited forest about a mile away.
He even planted a few white mushrooms nearby.
Though he was originally just an ordinary person, after several trips to the Black Castle Forest, the influence of magic power had slowly started pulling him beyond the bounds of normal humanity.
Saul, scroll still in hand, walked back into the house and casually tossed it into a corner.
For a brief moment, he had considered leaving—fleeing even. There might be many hidden troubles lurking in this abandoned lakeside cabin.
But after seeing the scroll, Saul changed his mind.
He knew the hidden formation beneath the cabin was an upgraded version of the one in Grind Sail Town. And this formation had been obtained years ago by the wandering apprentice Sherry.
After that, Sherry began using living young women to create vengeful spirit in a desperate attempt to advance.
But clearly, someone had deceived him.
Saul suspected the person who misled Sherry was the creator of this formation. That person had probably told Sherry the formation could help him ascend to Second Rank—just to use him as a test subject for the formation’s effectiveness.
Saul took out the improved soul extraction formation again. “The person behind all this likely discovered flaws through Sherry’s experiments and then modified it. But there’s one thing that’s odd. This improved formation, while capable of extracting souls from wizard apprentices, is so inefficient in terms of material cost that it’s not even as good as the original.”
“Could it be that the improved version was abandoned because the cost outweighed the gain?”
Whether it was truly abandoned or merely left as a cover, Saul planned to act as though he hadn’t discovered anything—to see if someone would sneak back.
So for the next two days, Saul didn’t begin any experiments. Instead, he had Little Algae reestablish a branch in the lakeside cabin.
He also set up a defensive magic formation, making it look like he was settling in for the long haul.
Meanwhile, during it's subterranean exploration, Little Algae burrowed into the nearby lake. Though it looked shallow, the lake was actually quite deep and seemed connected to some underground waterway.
At the very bottom, Little Algae dragged out several corpses—including the remains of two wizard apprentices.
This confirmed that someone had used the formation in the lakeside cabin to extract the souls of apprentices.
While Little Algae was expanding it's territory, Saul was also preparing for his own experiment.
He reassembled the Mental Realm formation in the largest room on the second floor of the cabin.
After two days of renovations, the new lab now featured a desk, chairs, and several cabinets lining the walls.
Some of these Saul had asked the mushroom coachman to purchase from town; others he crafted himself using local materials, with Little Algae assembling them.
Now, the Mental Realm formation was ready. The new experiment could begin.
Saul stood at the center of the formation and took out a vial of potion. “This is the last of the Grinding Sound Fruit extract. If I can’t find more, or a substitute, the Mental Battlefield’ research will have to pause.”
He raised his head and downed the potion.
Within the mental realm, the familiar sight returned—an endless black starry sky surrounding a vast circular platform.
Four souls emerged from the diary in Saul’s hand, landing before him and bowing in unison.
“My lord!” *4
Each one performed a different gesture of respect...
Saul’s emotions had long been pressed to their limits.
Expressionless, he let them pay their respects. “After this, the mental realm formation may be unusable for a long time.”
The four souls wore four different expressions.
Saul ignored their moods and swept his icy gaze across them. “So this time, I will attempt to bring one of you out.”
“Bring one out?” Agu’s eyes lit up. “Master, do you already have a plan?”
Saul turned to fix his gaze on Agu. “No. Just an immature idea. And since this is the last of the potion, whoever I bring out this time must be prepared to never return. And the rest of you won’t be able to access the platform for a long while.”
Silence fell over the platform. Whatever restless thoughts had stirred were now stilled.
Just as Saul was considering whom to bring out, one person stepped forward voluntarily.
Herman took a step forward. “Master, if this is a trial run, I recommend you take me. That way, should anything go wrong, your loss will be minimized.”
Everyone looked at him in surprise.
Herman was a little nervous. He understood that by stepping forward now, he was volunteering to be the test subject for a brand-new experiment.
The risk was incredibly high!
But he had no other choice.
Though Saul had never said it outright, Herman knew he had survived purely by chance.
Saul kept them mainly as knowledge repositories. Maybe he had plans for them later, but for now, Herman was clearly the least useful.
Agu had once been the librarian of the Wizard Tower—a title that meant access to an immense amount of knowledge.
Morden had even been a Second Rank wizard a century ago. Even though his power had drastically diminished, the knowledge of a Second Rank wizard was still unimaginable.
As for the previously insignificant An, after merging with the wraith’s consciousness, she was gradually awakening—and Saul clearly intended to keep extracting secrets from her.
But Herman—he hadn’t specialized in dark elements and was only a Third Rank apprentice. Even the one secret he knew about the Land Drifters had already been completely divulged.
His only remaining value was contributing to the construction of the “Mental Battlefield.”
Yes, the experiment was dangerous. But danger held the seed of opportunity.
If he could seize this chance…
Meeting Saul’s gaze, Herman declared, “Master, I will carry out your will to the fullest. Even if my soul is spent, I will not take a single step back!”
(End of chapter)
Comments 1