NOVPUB
Chapter 34: 001: The Savings of the Black Wizard Apprentice
Lynch brought the ring up to his eyes for a closer inspection.
The ring was silvery white, but not the bright silver of mithril; rather, it was a bit dull and grayish. Its surface was covered with fine, scale-like patterns, and the center featured a snake’s head with its mouth open, biting down on its own tail that encircled the ring.
Ouroboros pattern.
This was a fairly common magical symbol in the Wizard World, favored by both Black Wizards and White Wizards. Many witchcraft items bore similar patterns, with origins said to trace back to the early days of wizard civilization thousands of years ago.
"A ring-type Space Witchcraft..."
Generally speaking, the more portable the space witchcraft, the more expensive the materials required for its creation, and the more complex the craft and the requisite knowledge, resulting in naturally higher prices.
Take the Space Pocket in Lynch’s hand for example. For the same storage space, a ring-type space witchcraft would cost much more; a Space Pocket may cost one hundred Magic Stones, while a Space Ring could be three to five hundred Magic Stones.
"I wonder about the capacity of this Space Ring?"
As he pondered, Lynch released his spiritual power and let it permeate the Space Ring. What he immediately saw was a space much larger than his Space Pocket, by visual estimation at least exceeding five cubic meters.
"It’s huge!"
Lynch’s eyes brightened; prices of space equipment increase linearly with each added unit of space. With such a large space in a ring-type space equipment, the price wouldn’t be less than a thousand Magic Stones.
A thousand Magic Stones...
Suddenly, Lynch felt that his previous experiences might not have been so bad. He eagerly slid the ring onto the middle finger of his right hand, leaving his spiritual imprint on it.
With this spiritual imprint, it was akin to locking the ring. In the future, no one but him would be able to open it, unless he shared Richard’s fate of death, at which point the spiritual imprint would naturally dissipate.
Lynch then proceeded to check the contents of the ring.
The inside held many items, a mixed assortment that Lynch inventoried, roughly categorizing them into three sections.
Firstly, the Magic Stone resources.
Among them were about three hundred Magic Stones, which was expected since Low-level Apprentices are generally not wealthy, and any Magic Stones they earn are typically spent on cultivation. For Richard to have saved three hundred Magic Stones was a testament to his financial acumen.
A heap of resources occupied a major portion of the space, with many strange bones, jars of various body parts preserved in Formalin, Spiritual Grass, Netherworld Flower, Corrosive Mucus, Bone Powder, and other miscellanies.
Although numerous, their value was only moderate; Lynch estimated the total to be worth a few hundred Magic Stones.
The second section comprised knowledge, which interested Lynch the most.
This section contained a dozen or so books, scrolls, and handwritings, all related to Undead Magic. Items like the creation of Soul Devices, methods for crafting Undead Servants, and several spells Richard used were contained within.
"More stuff to grind experience with!"
Lynch was pleased.
Undead Magic wasn’t a taboo subject among White Wizards. Many Wizards studied it, but deep research into these types of spells often required shedding moral constraints and breaking ethical codes and some rules, which were deeply rooted in the orderly mindset of White Wizards, restricting their actions. Consequently, their academic level often fell short of the unrestrained Black Wizards.
It wasn’t just with Undead Magic that the studied knowledge content was the same between White Wizards and Black Wizards; both sought truth and eternity. The difference lay in the White Wizards’ more rational and gradual understanding of matters, whereas Black Wizards were more obstinate, heedless of consequence.
This discrepancy was a major point of ideological conflict between Black Wizards and White Wizards.
The last section was an unknown category.
This section included only a single book, which Lynch found among the pile of knowledge resources. He separated it because he couldn’t determine what it truly was.
The book was meticulously crafted, with a cover made from the hide of a certain demon, showing clearly defined textures. The corners were adorned with delicate metal book corners engraved with intricate hollowed designs.
The contents were not written in the Rune Language but rather in some peculiar symbols, interspersed with numerous illustrations depicting alchemy parts Lynch had never seen before.
The metal book corners exhibited signs of elemental corrosion, and the pages within were slightly faded; such pages were made from special wizard Rune Paper, theoretically unchanged for thousands of years.
"Could it be that Richard really explored some ruins?"
Lynch recalled that Richard had previously lured other apprentices with the excuse of exploring ruins. Now, that excuse wasn’t as baseless as it seemed, and perhaps he indeed had such an encounter.
This wasn’t surprising; according to the divisions in the Wizard World, the region they inhabited was known as the land of Ancient Ruins, once home to a genuine wizard civilization called ’Acadia’ millennia ago.
Although this civilization had perished, many of its relics still remain hidden in various secret corners. Discoveries of such ruins were not uncommon.
"I should check the library in the Inner Ring later to see if I can find any clues."
After sorting, Lynch rearranged the Space Ring, taking out all the undead materials and storing them separately in his previous Space Pocket. The ring would now exclusively hold important items.
Next, Lynch picked up Yuri’s Space Pocket.
The contents here were much simpler: 26 Magic Stones and materials that consisted of a few Star Silver Flowers and Red Mandala, and such, totaling assets amounting to less than fifty Magic Stones.
"And he thought he could put on airs to buy someone a Magic Wand!"
Lynch pursed his lips, feeling Yuri’s actions weren’t worth it. If Yuri were alive, he’d surely punch him, even at the risk of losing the friend, just to knock some sense into him about seeing others clearly.
Though meager, there was something Lynch found appealing.
It was a small booklet, made from common sandpaper in the Mortal World and bound by hand with hemp rope. On its cover, written in the common language on the continent, were large characters: "Knight Training Manual."
"Knight..."
Lynch’s eyes brightened. Yuri’s muscular physique during the journey had left a deep impression on him. If he hadn’t been a burden, they might have shared the same physical fitness, allowing them to escape Richard’s pursuit sooner, avoiding the subsequent troubles.
Though aware that this possibility was nearly nonexistent, Lynch still felt some regret because he had yet to come to terms with Yuri’s death.
In both past and present lives, Lynch hadn’t experienced much life and death parting, especially not with comrades fighting alongside him. Witnessing them perish right before him carried a significant emotional impact that required time to process.
With these sentiments, Lynch opened the linen-bound booklet...
