Chapter 213: A very cunning draconic spirit

The more I examined it, the more I had the impression that this staff had been made specifically for me.

I held the Staff of the Brightest Light with both hands, turning it from side to side as my eyes traced every detail of its structure.

The staff was divided into three main parts: the socket, the body, and the head.

Its body was approximately one meter long and entirely made of a white material. It wasn’t merely a matter of appearance. I could feel an extremely pure elemental light energy circulating inside it.

At the lower end was a large attribute-less magical gemstone. Judging from its structure, it was obviously not merely an ornament. It was a mechanism designed to allow the staff to be placed upon an Altar of Light.

As for the head of the staff, three intertwined crowns of light had been carefully engraved into it. At the exact point where the three crowns met, there was a small crystalline structure containing a Light Lord’s Heart.

It was simply an extraordinary combination.

I couldn’t help but imagine how much an Official Mage would pay for this.

With this weapon, there was no doubt that I could enter a pool of blazing sunlight located atop a mountain of solar crystals and still not suffer any damage.

After playing around with it for a long time, I finally had to force myself to put it inside my storage belt.

I did so almost reluctantly, and thinking about it more carefully, it was hardly surprising that the Mosquito had kept this object stored away without using it.

The elemental spectrum of this staff was completely different from hers. After that, I quickly turned my attention back to the enormous pile of gemstones.

There was still a lot to analyze.

I ran my hand through the jewelry, and this time, my fingers found something different.

It was a book.

Its cover was thick and dark, with the face of a horrifying red dragon drawn upon it.

The moment my eyes landed on that image...

A red mist slowly began to spread from the book itself.

I immediately became alert.

The head of the red dragon within the mist began to move.

It wasn’t a simple illustration.

It was alive.

The ghostly face seemed to be hiding within the shadows, partially obscured by the mist. Even so, those invisible eyes seemed to be staring directly at me.

Then a strange voice appeared inside my mind.

— According to the ancient will of my creator, strictly following the principle of equivalent exchange!

— Little human boy who walks upon the path of a Mage, do you wish to obtain the powerful and mysterious knowledge of the ancient Mages?

— Then open me quickly!

I was slightly surprised. After all, this was a magical book with a consciousness of its own.

I had already heard of such things.

Most of these books had been created by Mages from the ancient era. Within them, it was entirely possible to find unique spells, mysterious knowledge, and information that had completely disappeared from the modern world.

Of course... There was also the possibility that this was merely a prank left behind by some ancient Mage with an extremely questionable sense of humor.

There were even real stories of Official Mages being deceived by books like this.

For that reason, I wasn’t willing to open this book rashly in the slightest.

Books protected by draconic spirits were especially dangerous.

To open them, one normally had to obey the will left behind by the former owner while simultaneously fulfilling certain requirements imposed by the draconic spirit itself.

In other words...

It was a type of agreement that depended heavily on luck.

I narrowed my eyes.

— Honored draconic spirit, if I really want to read the contents of this book, what kind of price will I have to pay?

I didn’t let myself be swayed by those beautiful words.

The spirit had spoken of powerful and mysterious knowledge, trying to awaken my curiosity and greed.

But I had already studied enough information about this type of item.

I knew exactly what could happen.

Some Acolytes, upon encountering a draconic spirit book, became so excited by the possibility of learning an ancient spell that they simply opened it without thinking.

They only discovered the true price after reading its contents.

And by then, it was already too late.

The price demanded could be something they simply had no way of paying.

There had even been cases of Acolytes losing their own lives this way.

Therefore, one of the fundamental rules for any Acolyte was to exercise extreme caution when encountering intelligent creatures or draconic spirits in the outside world.

Once someone fell into the trap of one of these creatures’ words or became bound by a compulsory contract, being killed might only be the simplest consequence.

The true horror was having one’s own soul captured.

Turned into a trophy of war.

These draconic spirits were experts at playing with the souls of others.

In that regard, they were not far behind a powerful existence such as an Official Necromancer.

That thought alone was enough to make me even more cautious.

Perhaps realizing that I hadn’t fallen for its little trick, the ghostly face completely lost its friendly expression.

— As expected, you’re such an annoying and boring fellow!

— Aren’t you excited to know that you can learn ancient magical spells and mysterious knowledge?

— Why are you worrying so much?

— You just need to open me quickly and read the contents. How about it?

I didn’t even blink.

— Honored ancient draconic spirit, please answer my question.

— Fine, fine!

The spirit’s voice began to grow quieter.

— If you wish to read this book, you need to give me twenty points of your Vigor...

The final words became so quiet that they almost sounded like the purring of a kitten.

And my face immediately turned pale.

A cold sweat ran down my forehead.

I almost threw the book away.

Twenty points of Vigor?!

Damn!

I looked at the book as if I were staring at an extremely dangerous creature.

Now I perfectly understood why the Mosquito had left this book untouched.

She had probably also considered that price far too outrageous.

As for me...

I only had three points of Vigor.

If I had impulsively opened that book and the compulsory contract had taken effect, I would have been finished.

There would have been no way for me to fulfill that requirement.

I raised the book, determined to simply throw it against one of the cave walls.

But before I could do so, a stream of data suddenly appeared in my mind.

The Biochip had intercepted and processed the information.

The data was restored, expanded, and reorganized several times.

Then the vague final words spoken by the draconic spirit appeared clearly before my eyes.

["...or replaced with something of equivalent value!"]

The sentence had been spoken in an ancient language known as Lotar, with a deliberately strange and low tone.

It was an obvious loophole.

Perhaps most of the people that spirit had spoken to had fallen for that trick.

I almost laughed.

The ancient Mages had created extremely strict rules to force draconic spirits to protect their inheritances.

As long as someone fulfilled the requirements necessary to access the knowledge, the spirit was obligated to provide the contents without hiding anything.

But those spirits were old, cunning, and extremely dishonest.

Even when faced with strict rules, they always found some way to exploit the loopholes.

I then looked directly at the ghostly face.

— Honored draconic spirit, tell me what the substitute requirements are.

—I want to seriously consider this possibility.

The dragon’s face immediately changed.

It became furious.

A fierce expression appeared within the red mist, and the spirit let out a threatening roar in my direction.

I didn’t retreat.

In fact... After already discovering its trick, the whole thing seemed almost amusing.

I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes.

— Go on, you winged lizard.

—I want to see how far you’re planning to take this act.

The spirit realized it.

Its threat no longer worked.

And, even worse, its little trick had already been discovered.

If it kept stalling, it might end up triggering some terrible clause in the ancient contract it had been forced to sign with the Mage who owned this book.

The ghostly face twisted, and it finally revealed the true conditions.

— With twenty points of Vigor, you can obtain complete control over this magical book.

— With ten points of Vigor, you can read the entire contents of this book.

— With five points of Vigor, you can read any content below the Mage rank.

— Three points of Vigor allow you to learn one specific magical spell.

— One point of Vigor grants you a random Acolyte-level magical spell.

I remained silent for several seconds.

Then my eyes flashed. That damned lizard was still trying to steal my Vigor.

— Substitute objects.

— I’m asking about the substitute objects!

— What kind of things can be used in place of Vigor?

— Magical gems, magical materials, any mysterious knowledge that isn’t contained within this book... anything. As long as it is related to magical spells, it can be used as a substitute. But the amount required will be enormous!

— Is that so?

I smiled.

I picked up a black diamond from the pile.

It was approximately the size of a human heart and would be worth at least two hundred and thirty magical crystals on the Mages’ market.

I carefully placed it on top of the book’s cover.

— And this diamond?

The spirit immediately replied:

— 0.3 Vigor.

My smile disappeared.

— ...0.3?

I quickly did some calculations in my head.

Twenty points of Vigor.

If that ratio remained the same, then obtaining complete control over the book would cost something close to twelve thousand magical crystals!

Perhaps that wouldn’t be much for an Official Mage.

But for an Acolyte... It was at least a small fortune.

We constantly needed resources to cultivate, study, craft items, and purchase materials.

Spending such an amount just to control a book was almost painful.

The corner of my eye began to twitch.

I looked at the enormous pile of gemstones that, only a few minutes earlier, I had considered practically an inexhaustible treasure.

Now... It seemed much smaller, but I soon picked up the book and placed it on the ground.

Then I began placing a magical gemstone on top of it.

— How much is this worth?

The spirit answered every time I placed a gem on the book.

I continued stacking them.

With each stone, I carefully observed the amount of equivalent Vigor that the spirit reported.

After some time, the pile reached eleven points.

The gemstones that remained were all of the highest quality.

And honestly... I was far too reluctant to hand them over.

....

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