Another World’s Versatile Crafting Master c1-1074

by Zhuang Bifan

  "Sorry to trouble you."

  On the way down, the two of them chatted from time to time and gradually became familiar with each other.

  The fat old man was right, this young mage Kevin was indeed a nice person. Lin Li had asked a dozen questions along the way; if it was someone else, they'd long be annoyed, and only a good-hearted person like Kevin would answer each and every one of them—without losing patience, no less. He would explain twice if Lin Li couldn't comprehend the first time, and only when Lin Li finally understood did he stop the explanations.

  "That is to say, after the level certification, I'll be a member of the Jarrosus Guild of Magic?" After listening to Kevin's introduction of some general knowledge regarding the level certification, Lin Li finally understood the reason behind that fat old man's sheepish laugh earlier on. It turned out that there was another meaning behind having this level certification.

  "On paper, at least." Kevin nodded and continued, "But the Guild of Magic is a relatively loose organization. Strictly speaking, mages have far more rights than obligations in the guild. After the level certification, you will have the right to use all the guild's facilities like the library, laboratory, and the meditation spot. If you make a significant contribution to an area of study, the guild will also provide you with a large amount of money."

  "Sounds pretty good… Then, what obligations do I have to fulfil?"

  "Obligations… Other than admitting that you are a member of the Jarrosus Guild of Magic, there seems to be no other obligation. At least in Jarrosus Guild of Magic, the President won't force you to do anything. Even if he does, you have the right not to agree. After all, the guild is a loose organization, there's no subordinate relationship between the mage and the guild."

  "Then, why do I feel that you seem to be afraid of the President?"

  "He's my uncle…" Kevin smiled bitterly. "Not just kicking my door, even if he beats me, I can only bear with it…"

  "…"

  The certification procedure was easier than expected. It was considered done once the form was filled out.

  The questions on the form were almost all about magic. Other than the name and age columns, there were no questions on the family or address. Lin Li had spent half the day worrying over it, and revised the fake identification Andoine had made for him once more.

  After filling out the form, Kevin brought Lin Li up to the third floor. They passed through a few corridors and finally saw Gerian, who had long been waiting for them.

  The old man was incensed. His hands were making exaggerated gestures as he swore.

  Not far in front of him, a middle-aged mage was listening in silence, his expression aggrieved and frightened. He nodded while retreating carefully at the same time, as if afraid that the old man's rage would fall upon him.

  "Go and tell that fool from the Merlin Family to scram this instant. If they dare to make such requests again, I'll burn their nest down with a torch!" The swearing old man showed a slight restraint in anger when he saw Lin Li approaching and spared the poor middle-aged mage for the time being. "Go now!"

  "Yes…"

  As if being granted an amnesty, the middle-aged mage turned and ran faster than a hare could. He only shot Lin Li a curious glance as he brushed past him on the way out.

  "The Merlin Family?" Lin Li frowned at the mention of the familiar name. But after thinking for a long time, he still failed to recall where he had heard that name.

  Lin Li had yet to recognize the name when Gerian had stepped forward to meet him. He wondered which year the old man was born in as his mood changed from one moment to another. A while ago, he was still swearing in a towering rage, and with a turn, he reverted to the amicable smile on his chubby face. "How was it, Felic? Have you processed the doc.u.ments?"

  "Yes, it's done."

  "Great!" Gerian's face beamed with delight. Without any further questions from Lin Li, he hurriedly brought the two of them to the hall on the third level.

  A crystal ball was placed in the middle of the hall. Around the crystal ball lay two kinds of mageweath.

  As an Inscription guru, Lin Li knew too well about the mageweath. One of it was the magical shield field, used to weaken the power of magic; the other was the elements annihilation field, used to reduce the conflict among elements. When these two high level mageweaths were used at the same time, they would produce an effect similar to keeping demons away.

  "Impressive…" Despite being an Inscription guru, Lin Li could not contain his surprise when he saw the mageweath. High level mageweath was complicated by itself, but there was someone who could actually set up two mageweaths at the same time. The difficulties faced in the process were not as simple as a basic mathematical equation.

  "From now on, we will begin the level certification. You don't have to care about anything else, just transmit your powers into the crystal ball." Gerian could hardly wait once they entered the hall. "Don't be afraid of breaking the crystal ball. Just focus on the output, I'll deal with the rest."

  Lin Li nodded and placed his hands on the crystal ball.

  He was not afraid that the crystal ball would break. With the protection of the two mageweaths, even if Andoine had been here, he probably wouldn't have been able to break the crystal ball as well.

  The power gushed out like tide water, and the crystal ball began to glitter.

  As the light on the crystal ball glowed brighter, so did the smile on Gerian's face.

  Five minutes had passed, and Lin Li had no intention of stopping.

  At ten minutes, sweat began to break out on Kevin's forehead…

  At fifteen minutes, Gerian's pupils began to dilate…

  At twenty minutes, both of them had the impulse to hit the wall. Was this a human or a monster?

  The hall was eerily quiet, and only the sound of Gerian and Kevin's breathing could be heard. The crystal ball was giving off a dazzling glow, lighting the whole hall into brilliance. Both Gerian and Kevin were astounded. Before this horrifying performance, they could only stare at the crystal ball, and the thought of recording Lin Li's data slipped right out of their minds.

  The horrifying performance went on for almost thirty minutes before Lin Li finally let out a long sigh and stopped the transmittance of power into the crystal ball.

  He found both of them dazed when he turned his head back.

  "What happened?"

  "You… You… Are you a human or a monster?" Kevin asked cautiously, as if afraid that Lin Li would turn into a demonic beast and pounce on him.

  "Twenty-eight minutes…" Gerian stared at Lin Li with his eyes and mouth wide open. With a confounded look on his face, he mumbled to himself repeatedly, "Miracle… Miracle!"

  Any mage would know what it meant to have a magic output that lasted up to twenty-eight minutes. Most spells, with the exception of a few channel spells, required only an instantaneous burst of energy. In other words, it was only at the moment of unleashing spells that magic output was needed. A minute of continuous output could be converted into at least a hundred instantaneous bursts of power. The mental strength of a human was limited, after all; even a top mage like Gerian could only maintain five minutes of magic output at the time he had been advancing to the Archmage.

  He would never have imagined there'd been such a monstrous character like Lin Li in the world.

  Twenty-eight minutes of continuous output meant a few thousands of low-level magic spells. Even if they were legendary spells, this would be enough to unleash a dozen of them. Gerian had really wanted to ask Lin Li whether he was truly a human.

  What was the scariest of all was that even after twenty-eight minutes of continuous magic output, Lin Li had shown no signs of fatigue at all. The kid had even approached them in great spirits and asked, "How was it? How did I do?"

  Gerian was about to answer when Kevin, who was standing beside him, slapped his hand against his forehead and let out a cry. "Oh no!"

  "What?"

  "I forgot to record hi
s mental strength!" At the moment, Kevin wanted to drop dead. It was his responsibility to record the data, but he had been so engrossed in watching that he had forgotten about doing his job. Kevin wanted to hit his head against the wall. He was so doomed; something so important had gone wrong in his hands. With Uncle Gerian's character, even if he didn't die this time round, he'd probably still have to get skinned.

  "Fool!" Gerian, however, did not throw a fit—not physically. Instead, he scolded him in a fit of rage. "Record for what! A mental strength that can support an output of twenty-eight minutes… Even if you did record it, no one would believe it."

  Then, he took a look around and made sure no one was eavesdropping on them. With a menacing stare directed at Kevin, he threatened, "Destroy all other evidence except the magic level. Also, do not reveal the things that have happened today no matter who asks about it—and that includes your father. If news is leaked, let's see how I'll deal with you!"

  Kevin hurriedly agreed. He was so scared that he broke out in cold sweat.

  In the end, Lin Li's level in magic had become the least important of things.

  With a stroke of the pen, Gerian filled in an "8" under the column for magic level. With that, a level eight mage certification was considered complete.

  "Mage Felic, on behalf of the guild, I officially welcome you as one of us. From now on, you are a member of the Jarrosus Guild of Magic. If there are things you don't understand, do ask Kevin," Gerian announced with a smile of satisfaction on his face as he gathered the level certification records.

  Chapter 15 - Private Discussion

  For the next few days, Lin Li was up to his ears in work.

  Gerian had arranged Kevin to run his errands, but he still had to do a lot of work by himself, for example copying spells in the library.

  Looking at the mountainous pile of magic books in front of him, Lin Li finally understood why that old fellow Andoine always said that there was no end to the world of magic. With so many books, it would take him a few years just to read the table of contents, not to mention studying the spells that were recorded in them.

  Lin Li had been sitting in the library for two days. There were about twenty or thirty spells recorded in the magic book, all of which he thought were useful.

  He had only two criteria when it came to choosing the magic books. One, the spell had to be short; two, the magical elements had to be simple.

  Most mages would have scoffed at these criteria.

  Among the same level of magic, the longer the spell and the more complex the structure, the greater the power. Since it all consumed the same magical power, who wouldn't choose the one with greater power? It was just like playing a game of mahjong—with a good set of tiles in hand, who wouldn't want to give pure hands or something a shot?

  But to Lin Li, the intensity of power was not important at all.

  "I don't wish for the best, but I wish for the most!" With the support of an enormous mental strength, Lin Li never had to worry about exhausting his magical powers, much less about his mental strength being unable to hold out.

  Instead, the prolonged recitation of spells might put him in more danger. Since he couldn't solve the problem of his recitation speed in a short time, Lin Li simply chose the easier magic to learn. His powers wouldn't be exhausted anyway; if one didn't work, he'd use several more. With dozens of magical powers blasting down, what wouldn't be knocked down?

  Gerian took time off in between to look at what Lin Li was doing. After witnessing his weird selection criteria, the fat old man couldn't help feeling the jitters on his back…

  Look at what the twenty or thirty spells were about.

  Mind control, warlock's eyes, arcane missile, fragility, paralysis, power shield, power amplification, hysteria, delirium, fossilizing…

  Other than a few purely offensive spells like the arcane missiles, everything else was ruthless control spells.

  Gerian said nothing, touched his nose, and slipped out. Once out, he muttered to himself, "Is the kid really the disciple of Andoine?" He didn't know Andoine had a taste for such things…

  Copying the spells was a burdensome thing to do, particularly for a dabbler like Lin Li who had a poor foundation in the local language. Other than the lingua franca of this world, all other languages were Greek to him. So, he had to go through different language guides as he wrote the spells down into the magic book.

  He had spent almost two days on those twenty or thirty spells.

  When he looked up from the pile of books the next day, it was already evening.

  Lin Li did a long stretch and returned the books to their original positions. He was about to leave the library when he saw Kevin walking in.

  "Felic, are you done with copying the spells?" Kevin saw Lin Li packing up the books just as he entered. "Right. President Gerian wanted me to tell you that he's waiting for you in the hall on the ground floor and would like you to go to him once you're done with copying the spells. He looked like he had something to tell you."

  "What's so urgent?" Lin Li was all ears. The fat old man had just come to the library in the morning, why hadn't he said anything then?

  "He didn't say why, just asked you to come."

  "Oh… Sorry to trouble you."

  Lin Li left the library. Very soon, he found Gerian in the hall on the ground floor.

  The fat old man, who was in a good mood today, was instructing two young mages.

  "Fools! Can't you all be any dumber? You couldn't even complete such an easy elemental sequencing, what is in your minds all day?" Of course, his approach was out of the ordinary as always.

  The two young mages were bruised from all the lecturing, but they had not the courage to speak up for themselves. They could only lower their heads in grievance and listen earnestly to the lecture of the fat old man. They seemed to have found their savior when they saw Lin Li coming down, and quickly threw him glances that called for help.

  "President Gerian, I heard you were looking for me?" Lin Li shook his head seeing those two poor fellows, but he began by greeting the fat old man.

  "Felic, you've come." It had indeed helped the two mages out of their predicament. Gerian had no time to lecture them seeing that Lin Li had come. "Come, come, I have something to discuss with you."

  "You two…" Halfway in his strides, Gerian seemed to recall something, but after a moment of hesitation, he waved at the two unlucky mages. "Forget it, scram as far as you can…"

  For reasons unknown, Gerian seemed extra cautious along the way. He brought Lin Li to the reception room so that no one could interrupt them.

  If one were to ask where the safest place in the whole of Jarrosus Guild of Magic was, it would undoubtedly be the reception room. There were seven Warlock's Eyes at the door, providing an all-dimensional surveillance of each and every occurrence in the surrounding. Behind the tightly shut door was a magic probing mageweath, emitting a faint wave of magic. Under the influence of the mageweath, any magical spying activities would never go unnoticed by Gerian.

  Lin Li knew it wasn't a trivial matter upon seeing how serious Gerian was. He pulled a chair and took a seat, quietly waiting for Gerian to start.

  Gerian was looking extremely cautious today; even in the reception room, which was the safest of all places, he couldn't seem to be at ease. He cast another Life Sensor Spell, and after making sure that there were no living people around, he started whispering, "Tell me, when did you offend the Merlin Family?"

  "The Merlin Family?" It was the second time Lin Li heard Gerian mentioning the name; the previous time was a few days ago, when he was going through the level certification. He remembered the fat old man throwing a huge tantrum, threatening to do something to the Merlin Family…

  Lin Li was still in a daze when he suddenly recalled someone.

  Cromwell! That's right, it's Cromwell!

  When they had first reached Jarrosus City, the zealous mage had mentioned the very same name. If Lin Li had remembered correctly, his e
xact words were… "If you need help, do feel free to ask me. The Merlin Family does have a say in the Jarrosus' Guild of Magic."

  "You mean… Cromwell?"

  "That's right, it's him." Gerian nodded. "Do you still remember the day you came?"

  "Yes."

  "That day, after you went with Kevin to process the doc.u.ments, someone working under Cromwell had come calling. Hmph, this fool had put in a request for me to kick you out of the guild. He must be blind!

  "I didn't have the time to care about it, and only sent Colin to warn them that they had better not find any trouble with you." At this, Gerian let out a muffled groan. "But this idiot doesn't know where to stop. This morning, he sent someone else here again, and this time, he dared to threaten me, saying that if I don't do according to his wishes, he'll convince his family to terminate all business contracts with the guild."

  Lin Li did not say anything. He watched Gerian with a grin on his face.

  Gerian had been in charge of the Guild of Magic for decades; he was no ordinary character. He would probably have been devoured long time ago if he couldn't even deal with someone like Cromwell.

  Since he had brought this up voluntarily, he had to have a plan in mind.

  From what Lin Li saw, the fat old man's rage was merely just an attitude, an attitude of support for himself.

  So, Lin Li did not utter a word, and waited for Gerian to speak.

  "Hmph! He must be blind, not even looking at whom he's threatening." Sure enough, Gerian then announced in a towering rage, "Although Jarrosus Guild of Magic has been facing some difficulties these few years, we are not that down-and-out to be threatened by others! Since I was the one who got you into the guild, I will take responsibility for it. Whoever dares to touch you will have to ask for my permission!"

  "Thank you, President!"