Another World’s Versatile Crafting Master c1-1074

by Zhuang Bifan

  "Well…" Adelo hesitated before he nodded quickly.

  He was a man of reason, after all, and he knew very well that they were all in this predicament together. If this young mage was to meet with any harm, Adelo's life would not be smooth sailing, either. Even though he had the Teleportation Scroll that could protect him, he would not be able to face Teacher Cheyenne if he failed his task…

  Moreover, this young mage was a worthy partner indeed—capabilities aside, the 20 Death Knights alone were the strongest amongst the advance party, and the success of his mission depended on them.

  Hence, Adelo did not hesitate for long.

  "Alright, Mage Felic. If you insist, I can tell you the truth…

  "I'm here at the Scar of Death to complete a task given to me by my teacher. My teacher is called Cheyenne. He is the Legendary Mage of Aminya City, but not many know that he was the previous patriarch of the Malfa Family. He had already been to the Blackstone Mountains many years ago; after that, he would return every year to stay here for some time…"

  "I knew it…" Lin Li was not really surprised to hear this, as he had long guessed that the Malfa Family had close relations to a Legendary Mage. Now, Adelo was merely confirming his suspicions. However, he was not expecting this close relation to be of such a level—if Cheyenne was the previous patriarch of the Malfa Family, wouldn't that make him that idiot Harvey's grandfather?

  Chapter 403 - Cycle

  When he thought of this, Lin Li began to feel somewhat cautious. According to what Adelo said, Cheyenne was already a powerful mage of the Legendary-realm, and there were few things in the world that could make him visit the Blackstone Mountains every year.

  Could it be the Gloomy Dark in the cave…

  It was not good news that he had his eye on the same thing as a Legendary mage…

  "Oh, right. Mage Felic, I wonder what you think of the Scar of Death?" After giving a simple introduction of his teacher, Adelo did not continue, but instead changed the topic abruptly.

  "The Scar of Death?" Lin Li frowned. "I think that there is a strange energy flowing through this place, it seems capable of fueling an endless supply of Undead creatures, and…"

  "…And Undead creatures fueled by this energy will be stronger than ever." Adelo smiled as he finished the sentence. "Mage Felic, you share the same thoughts with my teacher. He was here 20 years ago, and said the same thing you just did…"

  "Is that so?"

  "We met with two fights the other time we went into the Scar of Death. During the first fight, we had to deal with a lot of Skeletal Warriors, and barely made it out by escaping through the cave from last night. The second fight was in the cave, but unfortunately, I was already unconscious, and did not witness the fight. I only knew that I was back in Aminya City when I woke up; my teacher had brought me back. His magical wave became very weak after that, not much different from that of an Archmage…"

  "Oh?" Lin Li was surprised, though he knew that it was possible. Wasn't that just like what had happened to Ujfalusi? After the battle in Syer Town, he'd dropped from a Legendary Lich to a level-18 Archmage, but this was because of the powerful Holy Light that was used to destroy the Humerus Domain, causing Ujfalusi to drop from the Legendary-realm.

  But what had happened to Cheyenne?

  Lin Li was filled with questions, but he did not ask anything, merely nodding his head as he listened quietly to Adelo. He knew very well that since Adelo had started his story with this incident, he'd definitely explain everything to him later.

  Truth was that Lin Li was right about that. After heaving a gentle sigh, Adelo continued, "Teacher Cheyenne did not tell me much about what happened in the cave. The only thing he told me was that he met a very powerful enemy there, the strongest he had ever met, and the fight was a really tough one. My teacher did win in the end, but it was a marginal win, almost negligible, and he realized that this opponent's power was very strange, just as though it was linked to the Scar of Death. It could not be killed no matter what my teacher did, and in the end, he had to sacrifice his Legendary power to seal it temporarily. Even then, he has to come back every year to reinforce that seal."

  "That's a very interesting story…" Lin Li smiled, and then asked a strange question. "Isn't that great? Why send the advance party to the Scar of Death, then?"

  "Because a few years later, my teacher found something about the Scar of Death in some of the ruins left behind by the High Elves…"

  "Oh?"

  "It was a diary written by a High Elf noble. Maybe because it is too old, most of the writings have become blurry… The only discernible portion was about studies on Necromagic. A large number of High Elven nobles had allegedly been swayed by the idea of a 'living god', and started looking for ways to pursue immortality. Hence, Necromagic appeared on their radar, and they thought that this was the only way to immortality.

  "Some of those High Elven nobles set up a base in the Blackstone Mountains to conduct research. Unfortunately, they only just got started before the war broke out, and they had to devote their limited resources to the fight while putting their research on hold…" Adelo paused for bit here. "As for what happened after that, it was all written in the books. The allied army defeated the six Sky Castles and killed the High Elves' Queen next to the Tree of Eternity, ending the dark and cruel rule of the High Elves. The research base remained hidden in the Blackstone Mountains, lost forever in the river of time…"

  Lin Li listened quietly as though it had nothing to do with him. If anyone saw how calm he looked, they would never guess how emotional this young mage actually was…

  Lin Li took a long breath before he finally managed to somewhat calm himself down, but Adelo's words continued to echo in his mind.

  His words immediately brought a person to Lin Li's mind—or, should he say, a High Elf. Indeed, it was Norfeller's previous master, the half-brother of the Highlord, the one who had turned himself into a Lich in the underground palace at the Demon Fall Valley, Giovanni!

  Lin Li did not know much about Giovanni. All he knew was that he was the first one to study Necromagic amongst the High Elves, and he was the first person to treat Necromagic as the way to immortality. According to Norfeller's memory, this was all because Giovanni had stumbled upon the grave of the Immortal King…

  As for the location and the secrets hidden in the grave, Norfeller knew little of it. The existence of the Immortal King itself was a mystery that the High Elves had had yet to uncover, and even the unlucky Lin Li who was mistaken for the Immortal King twice in a row only heard something about it from Ujfalusi after he made a Soul Contract with the Lich…

  The Immortal King had probably appeared somewhere between the Dark Ages and the prehistoric times, when the fights between the Dragons and the Titans had just ended and the High Elves born from the Tree of Eternity had just risen. In the tales of the High Elves, the Immortal King was said to be the strongest existence in the whole Anril, and even the High Elves Dynasty was established because they had the Immortal King's help…

  Only, for some reason, there were very few accounts about the Immortal King in the High Elves' records. Even very important incidents had merely been sloppily recorded, and thus, scholars in the Dark Ages had debated endlessly over the origins of the Immortal King.

  Some thought that the Immortal King was the last surviving Titan, while some thought that the Immortal King was the incarnation of a deity. Some even thought that the Immortal King was another persona of the Queen herself. All their views differed, but none could convince the others due to the lack of evidence.

  Their debates continued for a long time, all the way until the High Elves Dynasty was destroyed, and humans occupied more than 80 percent of Anril. The Immortal King's name also became lost in the passage of time.

  Perhaps Giovanni knew something…

  Of course, he could not possibly have known much, or Norfeller would not have mistaken Lin Li for the Immortal King in the underground palace at the Demon Fall V
alley. The powerful soul from the Shadowglen was probably misguided just like Giovanni had been…

  Lin Li always thought that this was merely a coincidence, but now, he started feeling some doubts. If this was all a coincidence, wouldn't that be too much of a coincidence, then? They were both High Elven nobles who were looking to Necromagic to achieve immortality, and both had one of the seven pieces of debris of the stars. The Immortal King appeared here as well. It looked like he'd have to study this thoroughly…

  Thoughts were running wild in Lin Li's mind, but Adelo continued his story. "But my teacher realized that all of this has not ended. The High Elves nobles have left, but the research base continues to run."

  "What?" Lin Li was thinking of something when he heard this, and it scared him suddenly. "M-Mage Adelo, surely you're not trying to tell me that a High Elven noble is still running that place after 1,300 years?"

  "No, no, no, the one running the place is not a High Elf noble, but the altar at the center of the research base camp…"

  "The altar you spoke of at the start?"

  "That's right…" Adelo nodded, and continued, "According to my teacher, the design of the altar was at the state-of-the-art level then, and would surely leave anyone in awe. The Scar of Death is covered in a strange energy because of that altar as it holds the power to turn living spirits into Undead spirits. Every time a living spirit is turned into an Undead spirit, it provides power for the altar in the form of a sacrifice, and this power allows the altar to continue working…"

  This convoluted chicken and egg logic confused Lin Li to no end, and he really wanted to curse at Adelo now.

  Of course, Lin Li did not do so, as he could somewhat comprehend everything Adelo had just said…

  Adelo's words were a mess, but the idea was there. To put it simply, the altar created a cycle between living and Undead spirits, a cycle that never ended…

  Chapter 404 - The Humerus Wyrm in the dark

  The worst thing was that Lin Li realized from Adelo's words that this was not an unchanging cycle. Rather, it had a snowballing effect, and the Undead creatures created by this Gloomy Dark would become increasingly powerful, and one day overpower the restraints of the Gloomy Dark. They'd walk out of the Scar of Death and turn the Blackstone Mountains into the land of the Undead. They might even head down the Blackstone Mountains and attack nearby villages and cities…

  If things got to that state, then the Malfa Family would be in for a ride. The Blackstone Mountains were only half a day's journey from Aminya City, and if the Undead creatures left the Blackstone Mountains, their first target would definitely be Aminya City. It'd then be too late, for the Undead creatures were not like the army of the Ledin Kingdom, where negotiation was an option if they could not beat them—once these Undead creatures attacked a city, even the most prosperous one would be turned into ruins overnight.

  Aminya City was the root of the Malfa Family's existence, and if it was destroyed, so was the Malfa Family.

  The Malfa Family would never allow such a thing to happen, and even though not many things in the world could attract the Legendary-realm Cheyenne, even he was concerned over this matter, and was trying all sorts of ways to stop this tragedy before it became too late.

  "Let me think…" Lin Li's mind was in a mess now. He had already sorted out his thoughts earlier, but was now confused again by Adelo's words.

  It seemed like this whole thing about the Scar of Death was much more complicated than he had originally thought. Initially, he'd thought that the Gloomy Dark was the ruler of the Scar of Death, and once he had control over the Gloomy Dark, he would be able to control the whole Scar of Death, but that did not seem to be the case anymore.

  The altar that Adelo spoke of seemed to be the one that truly controlled the Undead creatures, and it was the true core of the research base. The Gloomy Dark was at most a source of power for the research base, just like Wyrm Magical crystal in the Eternal Furnace.

  Lin Li was well aware that the power of the Gloomy Dark was nowhere beneath that of the Wyrm Magical crystal, and that this research base powered by the power of the Gloomy Dark was probably comparable to the Eternal Furnace as well. How could the altar at the center of it be easily destroyed?

  And not to forget, there was a powerful being sealed in the research base, one that was able to battle it out with Cheyenne…

  "This is so complicated…" Lin Li massaged the place between his brows in anguish as he could not think of a solution at all. In the end, he gritted his teeth, and took out the Holy Light from the Ring of Endless Storm.

  Honestly, Lin Li did not want to use the Holy Light at all. It was too dangerous, for once Light and Darkness came in contact, the explosion it'd cause would be comparable to that of Legendary magic's power. Back in the Endless World, the explosion caused by the Holy Light and the Gloomy Dark had blown off nearly half of the Sun Palace. If that happened in the cave now, the dozen of people in the advance party would be blown to bits.

  But, he had no other choice…

  There were too many Undead creatures in the cave, and every step they took was strenuous. It had been an entire afternoon, but they could not even cover 10 percent of their journey. And this was only the start. Who knew what lay ahead of them? Especially after they entered the research base, unimaginable dangers could await them there—everybody knew that the High Elven aristocrats were sadists. The group could only counter whatever they'd left behind with an even more sadistic method, the Holy Light.

  This was all they could do now—they'd blast their way through these Undead creatures using the powerful Holy Light so that they could enter the research base and destroy the altar before getting their hands on the Gloomy Dark.

  Lin Li was hell-bent on getting the Gloomy Dark this time!

  It was not just because the Gloomy Dark was very powerful…

  The Gloomy Dark held something more important to Lin Li.

  Coincidence after coincidence from the Daylight Square to the Scar of Death made Lin Li feel something—the seven scattered pieces of the debris of the stars and the Immortal King whose name was the only thing he knew about him were both intricately linked to him. However, he could not say for sure what was the relationship between them. The only thing Lin Li knew was that the only way he could solve this mystery was to find the seven pieces of the debris of the stars as well as the long lost Stars of Fury. The moment this mythical weapon was in his hands once again would probably the moment everything was revealed.

  Light filled the cave when the Holy Light was taken out. It was like the sun was rising in the east, finally escaping the restraints of the dark and bringing warmth to the earth. The entire cave lit up suddenly as every corner and crevice of the cave was filled with the Holy aura. All the Undead creatures, be it the brimming Skeletal Warriors or the cowardly Liches, melted like snow in the sun in front of the Holy Light.

  "This… this is?" Adelo was stunned. He'd never thought that this unbelievably difficult fight could have been ended in such a way. After all, every Skeletal Warrior here was close to level-10, and the Liches hiding in the black fog were all at least level-16. Even the 20 Death Knights would have a hard time against them.

  But they did not even last a second in the face of the Holy Light…

  With a sizzle, the world descended into silence.

  It was all like a dream. Perhaps even an Archbishop of the Brilliance Shrine would not be able to create such a miracle in this battle.

  Adelo was not the only one baffled. Besides Ujfalusi and Norfeller, who had witnessed the power of the Holy Light themselves, everyone was in a daze. Even the 20 Death Knights he had just conquered revealed looks of fear.

  And the one who was most surprised was no doubt Rina…

  As a Paladin of the Brilliance Shrine, she knew better than anyone else what the ray of light meant. That was Divine Power even stronger than the Great Prophecy. Perhaps even Rosario would not have been able to cleanse all the Undead creatures so easily li
ke this young mage had done.

  Could it be… Rina suddenly thought of that meeting—that time when Rosario had used three Great Prophecy spells.

  "Till now, the only thing I know is that he is in the Breezy Plains, and is around 20 years old. He is also a mage…"

  That was what His Holiness Rosario had said…

  Could it be that this self-deprecating guy who spends all his time with Undead creatures is the Son of the Holy Light that His Holiness Rosario spoke of, the only incarnation of the Holy Light on earth? Rina stared at Lin Li for a long while, feeling incredulous. As they spent more time together, Rina gained a deeper understanding of this young mage that her teacher thought highly of. Honestly speaking, she had to admit that this fellow was not as infuriating as she'd thought. At least he did act like a true Paladin when Black Clouds Town was attacked by the Crimson Python.

  Of course, that did not mean that Rina agreed with his ways. For example, she could not stand the fact that he had two Undead creatures as servants. She had received the teachings of the Holy Light since she was young, and could not accept the fact that a human had two Undead creatures serving him.

  Rina found it absolutely insane that a human with two Undead creatures as servants was the Son of the Holy Light that Rosario spoke of and the only incarnation of the Holy Light on earth. It was even recorded in the writings of the Brilliance Shrine.

  If this was what the incarnation of the Holy Light was, he was better off insane…

  But Rosario's words rang true in her ears, and so was the Holy Light she had just seen. She could not refute this; all of a sudden, the young and beautiful Paladin was at a loss. After she debated with herself for some time, the decision she made was to ask her teacher Englos about this after she returned.

  The sudden appearance of the Holy Light cleansed the world in a moment, and there was no longer any trace of black fog before them, nor a sign of any Undead creature. There was only a long and dark tunnel leading to God knew where…