by Zhuang Bifan
"So I think that Legolas had brought this branch out of the Emerald Forest then, and always carried it with him." No wonder Sarde was an excellent assassin. Before assassins went on any missions, they would always design a well-thought-out plan in detail. After thoroughly considering all kinds of scenarios to prevent accidents, they would then finally arrive at a conclusion.
Everyone nodded. With regard to why this treasure would land in this auction, there were just too many possibilities. Maybe it was lost, or maybe Legolas had already been killed by somebody.
"President Sarde, what you've said makes sense, but how can you be so sure that this branch came from the Elves?" Cole asked all of a sudden. Everyone turned and stared at him like a fool.
"Whom are you kidding? How can you doubt Master William's abilities so easily? Look at the appearance, feel that purest magical energy! If you can't judge by yourself, listen to the master appraiser!" someone mocked. After hearing Sarde's analysis, some people immediately changed their attitude from doubting to firmly supporting William.
Out of almost 2,000 people in the seats, Sarde wasn't the only one who'd thought of Legolas. After all, Legolas was too well-known as a Legendary-mage; some people even found some so-called evidence from poetry that proved Legolas once held on to a treasure in the shape of a branch.
"What a joke! Those people dare to say anything!"
Upon listening to the report of his subordinates, Tedya sneered at the people downstairs with contempt. He had originally wanted to see if anyone could recognize this branch, yet he couldn't imagine these people would bring Legolas into this.
Although the Dark Blade hadn't been established when Legolas had got famous, there was still the Darkness Shrine which had a history as long as the Brilliance Shrine's.
In order to learn necromagic spells, Tedya had visited the Darkness Shrine several times, and stayed there for quite a while. This kind of information about hearsay and events was open for everyone to read in the Darkness Shrine. Thus, Tedya was confident that he knew Legolas' life story more accurately and with greater detail than anyone else.
If it had been about anyone else, maybe Tedya would have briefly contemplated it. However, it was absolutely impossible that an Elven Legendary-mage named Legolas had owned the branch.
There was indeed some aura of the Elves on this branch, and the magical energy it contained could be considered rare and precious, but this treasure would be useless in the hands of Legolas.
When William opened the box himself, Wilkinson suddenly felt a pure stream of Elemental Power overwhelming the entire theater. He originally was not interested in this last item, but this branch got all his attention.
Wilkinson was very familiar with the aura of this last item. However, he was unsure what this branch really was.
Just then, the discussion downstairs got louder. Wilkinson could vaguely hear someone mentioning the Elven Legendary-mage Legolas. He thought he had heard it wrongly. However, after listening carefully, he could make out what they were talking about from the bits and pieces he could hear.
Hearing the buzzing sounds of discussion, Wilkinson found it rather funny. It seemed like these locals of the Breezy Plains were worse than an outsider like him. Although Wilkinson had always been at the Pharmacist Guild in Alanna until he had finally seen the outside world after being sent to the Tower of Dusk for training, it was important to note that the kind of people the Pharmacist Guild interacted with were all Legendary powerhouses like Legolas whom people looked up to.
Chapter 548 - Specializing in Fire Magic
Wilkinson had never met Legolas. Yet, as the student of the Pharmacist Guild's President, Balbo, he frequently heard conversations between his mentor and other Legendary powerhouses. Hence, he naturally had knowledge of many random things. One of them was regarding the Legendary elf mage.
Legolas first entered the human world many centuries ago. He was a diplomat for the newly established Elven Kingdom who wanted to negotiate matters regarding an armistice as well as the issue of hostages.
All the kingdoms suffered significantly in that prolonged war. Hence, when they heard that Legolas from the Elven Kingdom was there for negotiation, they wanted to establish their dominance. How could an elf be any threat to them without his forest?
A bandit organization made up of elites planned to ambush the elven delegation by hiding along the path they would take. The initial plan was to take those arrogant elves hostage, and bring them to the king even if they did not manage to eliminate them.
Although the different kingdoms had suffered great losses in the Emerald Forest, they were not interested in the elves' plans to discuss foreign affairs. To them, since they could not invade the Emerald Forest, they were going to ensure that the elves did not leave their sanctuary.
The bandit organization was formed by people from different occupations of above level-15. They did not belittle the abilities of the elves. However, when fire that dyed the night sky red erupted in the bandits' chosen place of ambush, an elf with a silver-colored ear walked out of the blazing flames slowly. There were no shrieks to be heard, only the cracking sound of fire that erased the team of bandits.
It was then that all the kingdoms realized that the Elven Kingdom had only sent one diplomat on the quest—Legolas, an elf mage. When the friendly Legolas politely greeted and graciously informed the council that he had helped the humans to get rid of a bandit organization, the king of Felan nearly spat blood.
The king of Felan arranged for Legolas to tour the Alanna Guild of Magic, the Pharmacist Guild, and other notable places during his visit. Apart from showcasing the ability of a human kingdom, it was part of a plan to gauge Legolas's ability as well as the strength of the Elven Kingdom.
The couple of catastrophes that brought the species near extinction had caused them to be more vigilant and wary. Legolas gravitated between exaggerating the ability of the Elven Kingdom and staying silent. That confused everyone. Yet, he did not conceal anything about his powers when he conversed with the Legendary-mages at Alanna Guild of Magic.
Only then did the king of Felan understand the intentions of Elven Kingdom in sending Legolas for the negotiation. Legolas was not only a freak amongst the elves, but also a freak in the magic industry.
After getting the protection from Monferra, the Goddess of Forest, the love the elf species showed for nature surpassed that of anyone else. However, Legolas that came from the Elven Kingdom was not only a powerful Legendary-mage, but also a Legendary-mage that specialized in fire magic. Anyone who had heard of this news would find it hard to gasp. It was a miracle for Legolas not to burn the Emerald Forest when he progressed from a mage to a Legendary-mage. It was no wonder that their kingdom would send Legolas here to kill time.
In fact, it was not rare for elves to study fire magic. Elves had natural talent for magic, and mages were naturally knowledge seekers. Regardless of whether one was a human or an elf, he would want to learn everything related to the seven main elements.
It was even more so for Legendary-mages. In order to study the origin of the laws, they had to thoroughly understand the Combat Energy used by Warriors as well as the spiritual force and force of curse used by the Necromancers. To the Legendary-mages, all the forces in the world could be related to the seven major elements. The understanding of the source of any of the forces would mean a better understanding of the fundamental laws.
Hence, any Legendary-mage would definitely have a sea of knowledge. The vastness of their mind was not something anybody could imagine. Legolas was the only Legendary-mage who could specialize in a magic attribute 1,300 years after the Dark Age.
In fact, mages would usually focus on a particular set of magic spells even when they reached the Archmage-realm. However, after they got into the Legendary-realm, they would naturally grasp the magic spells from other attributes. The forces had similar essence. Spells which the Legendary-mage had not handled before would become familiar to them as if they had studied them
for a decade.
The ultimate goal of magic was the essence of the different forces. The deciding factor was whether Legendary-mages could have the ability to understand and use the fundamental Rules of magic without a recitation.
Normally, Legendary-mages were free to specialize in anything. Instead of specializing in any magical attribute, they might first be enlightened by the elemental laws that would then be demonstrated in their magical domain. For example, most Legendary-mages would first use the laws of ice to create their magical domain. However, that wouldn't be their ultimate goal. They would strive to comprehend more elemental Rules and push their magical domain to the extreme.
Yet, Legolas was different. Not only could he eliminate the entire team of human elites with just a blow of fire, he was also able to demonstrate his competence in his interaction with human Legendary-mages. Legolas created an illusion that he had already reached the peak of the Legendary-realm, and shocked everyone with an undwindling set of fire element in other type of magic spells.
No one had seen such use of magic. Legolas was able to display the seven major laws with fire element as the basis. Legolas was as competent as any Legendary-mage in the foundation of elemental laws.
No one knew how and why Legolas did it. They only knew that in one of his records, there was a very long prefix in front of his name that read: 'Legendary-mage, Specialist of Fire magic'.
It had been said that there was a Legendary-mage that asked Legolas that question during their interaction, and Legolas did not give a very clear reply. He gave a totally unrelated explanation, saying he'd already lived for more than 470 years. By living for more than 470 years, it meant that Legolas had lived through the war at the end of Dark Age and the catastrophe that nearly eliminated all of the elves.
No matter the reason, it was clear that although Legolas was a Legendary-mage, he always used fire element to cast all of his spells—just like a magical beast with a fire attribute. Hence, if that tree branch on the stage could emit such a strong and pure force of fire element, it was very likely for it to be an important treasure that Legolas carried with him.
In fact, the tree branch with tender leaves had been emitting a refreshing magic aura ever since William opened that exaggerated box. The peaceful atmosphere created made people neglect the presence of the strong and pure force. They thought that the tree branch was too ordinary to be auctioned. If not, there might not even be audience after William opened the box.
Although it could be certain that the tree branch was not a treasure used by Legolas, the refreshing scent emitted by the object really made it seem like a treasure from the age of the High Elves.
Wilkinson and the other Pharmacists looked at the unsightly tree branch on the stage. Although they weren't sure of its origin, they knew that the aura it emitted was not least bit artificial. The powerful aura was especially good to people like Wilkinson, who were soon to become Masters in pharmacy.
Pharmacists had always been working with many types of herbs. While they attempted to formulate different types of potions with those herbs, their pursuit was never wealth. To the Masters of pharmacy, as well as a high-ranking pharmacist like Wilkinson, creating potions would not only help them practice their skills and raise their standards, but also enable them to be more knowledgeable in the field of pharmacy. Their end goal was similar to that of Mages and Sword Sages.
Of course, there were still the other pharmacists who were of a lower level, and had lost all hope of improving. For them, they'd rather invest their time in creating low-grade potions to make their living. They were just like any other less-able people in the other occupations. There were Mages who joined adventurer teams, Warriors who became explorers, and the others who chose to work as soldiers or thieves.
Wilkinson and the others, however, were not pharmacists without ambitions. Their goal ever since they received training from Lin Li at the Tower of Dusk was to become Masters in pharmacy. The Origin Potion Wilkinson put on auction alone was a Master-level potion. Yet, being a Master of pharmacy did not mean that one's knowledge had reached the maximum.
Chapter 549 - Debris of Rebirth
Although pharmaceutics Masters stood at the top of the pyramid that was the profession of pharmacist in Anril now, one must not forget the existence of pharmaceutics Guru and even Divine Smiths, who were above the pharmaceutics Masters. Actually, a pharmaceutics Master was just a beginner in pharmaceutics as that was when one had the right to start truly researching. Though there was a big difference in social status from a disciple to a high-level pharmacist, it was still only a stage of foundation building.
Precisely because of this reason, pharmaceutics Masters usually owned a private farm. They didn't grow crops or vegetables, but rather all kinds of rare herbs. For example, President Balbo of the Pharmacist Guild, chief pharmaceutics Master Burnside, and some other pharmaceutics Masters all had their personal farms which grew precious herbs for their research.
Wilkinson could be considered half a pharmaceutics Master now. He absolutely had the right to own his own herb farm like his teacher Balbo. It was also necessary for him to own a personal herb farm as a pharmaceutics Master.
And this was why Wilkinson and his companions were so interested in the branch on stage. Although they didn't know what the branch was, or what it was fundamentally used for, they already had an idea what to do with it.
Merely judging from the natural fragrance of the branch, Wilkinson could see that this treasure would be hugely beneficial to the growth of his herbs just by putting into his future farm. Especially for those herbs that were hard to grow, such fragrance filled with vitality would certainly largely increase the chances of these herbs' survival, and might even increase the effects of potions made from them. Just this alone was enough to entice a pharmacist, not to mention that if the branch possessed immense vitality, maybe it possessed some powerful effects?
While the discussion downstairs continued, Wilkinson unwillingly turned his eyes away from the branch, and respectfully asked Lin Li, "Master, what is this branch exactly? I have never heard anything about it before, but just from its fragrance, could it really be an Elven treasure like William said?"
Wilkinson started by asking Lin Li what the branch was, and not if he knew what the branch was, because Lin Li had left an impression of being very knowledgeable in Wilkinson's mind after this period of interaction. Not just in the field of pharmaceutics, either—Wilkinson thought that this young mage about the same age as he knew about everything.
Master Felic could answer any question that Wilkinson could think of—from any domain and any aspect. Sometimes, Wilkinson even wondered if there was anything in this world that Master Felic didn't know. Perhaps the feeling of childbirth was the only thing Master Felic didn't know.
Of course, if Wilkinson had really asked, Lin Li would immediately tell him that the pain of childbirth was about level-12, the threshold of human pain tolerance, etcetera…
However, Lin Li didn't answer Wilkinson immediately this time. He just stared at the branch and its young leaves. Pure and powerful magical elements radiated from the branch, and every young leaf seemed to contain vitality. He could even smell the slight tinge of mud. This smell was so familiar Lin Li felt he had gone back to the Endless World.
Indeed, this was another piece of debris of the stars—Rebirth, which contained the Rules of earth and nature.
Legends said that when the world was first formed, one of the two saplings which sprouted first was made into the Stars of Fury bolt by the gods, and it contained the purest vitality in the world. The other sapling grew into an enormous tree—the Tree of Eternity, which the High Elves identified as their parent.
When talking about magic that applied the seven elemental Rules, people usually thought of heftiness when mentioning Earth magic. They would then think of the attack techniques in the form of boulders. Very few people would think of the earth beneath their feet which bred all lives in the world. In traditional mag
ic classifications, Earth magic was more often characterized by Earth-moving skill, Wall-building skill, Earth-breaking skill, etcetera. Out of all types of Earth magic, the usage of vitality was known as Nature Magic, and the Elves were the true masters of this type of magic.
This piece of debris of the stars known as Rebirth contained the complete Rules of earth element and nature which bred all lives. If Lin Li were to choose only one from the seven pieces of debris of the stars, other than Origin which contained the power of chaos, he would definitely choose Rebirth.
Though every piece of debris of the stars except for Origin was similar in strength, their different properties meant that they would hold different places in Lin Li's heart.
Speaking of healing, most people would think of light and water out of the seven elements. However, the healing abilities of magic from these two elements were actually very limited. Light possessed strong dispelling properties. The so-called healing was actually a dispelling spell which would dispel the effects of harmful magic and some illnesses. Meanwhile, water's healing ability was more limited than light's as it could only speed up the healing of wounds, or rather, stop bleeding by freezing the wound.
People commonly knew about the healing effects of light and water magic because these two kinds of low-level healing magic were well liked by explorers, especially water healing magic. Hence, people from other professions and even some low- or medium-level mages wouldn't associate healing with the hefty earth magic. Only people who had touched the essence of earth magic would know that the healing ability of earth magic was incomparably superior to that of light or water magic.
Rebirth, which possessed the Rules of earth and nature, represented the purest form of life and vitality. Holding onto Rebirth was equivalent to having an undying body. No matter how serious one's injury was, he would recover under Rebirth's light. Even people suffering from incurable diseases could recover after bathing in the light of Rebirth.
