Chapter 229: Item completed

—I've already fulfilled my part of the agreement and released you from the Spirit Restriction Sphere.

—What happens next is not part of the contract.

A faint smile appeared on my face.

It was merely a simple play on words.

Mages were extremely intelligent beings.

That was why magical contracts had to be drafted with extreme care.

A poorly worded sentence, an ambiguous word, or an incomplete condition could be used against either party.

But that acolyte was different.

His spiritual body had transformed into a vengeful spirit, and his intelligence was far from comparable to that of a normal human being.

Furthermore, during the time he remained trapped in that laboratory, I had deliberately used various methods to wear down his mind.

Little by little, I reduced his ability to reason, making him more confused and impulsive.

All of this had a purpose, which was to interrogate him.

And, just as I had predicted, even when his intelligence partially recovered in the face of the threat of destruction, he continued to be manipulated by me.

In the end, he gave me exactly the information I wanted.

I looked at the spirit, which was now furiously writhing inside the formation.

The spirit began cursing me.

I paid no attention.

The most important part of creating my Life Shield Cube was finally about to begin.

After deciphering the contents of the page from Karn's diary with the help of the Biochip and cross-referencing that information with the engineering diary found on the corpse of that acolyte, I had managed to reconstruct the correct procedure for synthesizing the artifact.

Ever since I had advanced to a Level 2 acolyte, I had devoted an enormous amount of time and effort to creating that object.

That was why I began studying souls.

In Distant Wind City, I searched for a large number of living bodies belonging to Viscount Probel and used them as observation materials.

I could confidently say that, within the Arcangrove Tower, I was probably the first acolyte to reach such a high level of knowledge in the field of soul research.

Perhaps I could already surpass even many Mages in this specific aspect.

If I could complete the Life Shield Cube, that artifact would become one of my greatest trump cards against the Total Massacre.

A low-grade magical artifact was still limited to a strength that did not completely exceed the realm of an Official Mage.

For an acolyte, however... That was already frighteningly powerful.

It was extremely difficult for an acolyte to directly destroy the defense of a magical artifact of that level with a single spell.

If I combined the Life Shield Cube with my own defensive spells...

My survivability would increase drastically.

—Let me go!

The spirit screamed.

I ignored it.

—You promised!

I continued preparing the materials.

I picked up a small container containing a silvery liquid.

I poured its contents directly onto the Life Shield Cube.

Sssiiiii!

White smoke immediately rose from the cube.

The mist began twisting in the air.

My eyes narrowed.

It began to take shape.

First, a jaw appeared, followed by teeth.

The spiritual formation had created a creature resembling a monstrous mouth.

The spirit realized what was about to happen.

—No!

The enormous jaw lunged forward.

Ka-cha!

The spiritual body was swallowed.

The mouth closed.

For a moment, it remained suspended in the air, slowly chewing as if savoring the taste of that soul.

The spirit completely disappeared from my sight.

I began reciting the incantation.

The runes drawn across the table began to glow.

—Seal!

The final runes were absorbed.

Then I pointed toward the enormous white mouth that was still floating in the air.

Pop!

The mouth burst apart like a bubble.

Threads of white spiritual matter were released.

They slowly fell, and all of them were absorbed by the Life Shield Cube.

I did not look away.

—In my name!

—George Gill!

I held the cube.

—Life Shield Cube...

I bit the tip of my finger.

A drop of blood emerged.

—Merge!

I let my blood fall onto the cube.

Bang!

A powerful suction force suddenly appeared.

The surface of the cube began to spin.

A small vortex formed around it.

All the remaining gaseous compounds were sucked inside.

The white mist grew increasingly denser.

Within a few seconds, the cube disappeared inside a luminous sphere formed from that color.

I carefully observed every change.

—And so far, everything is proceeding without any problems.

Then I heard the familiar sound inside my head.

[Bip!]

[Low-grade magical artifact.]

[Life Shield Cube successfully synthesized.]

[Instant activation when the host is attacked.]

Normally, a Level 3 acolyte's attack could reach approximately thirty degrees of strength.

Beyond this limit, most attacks had already entered the domain of Official Mages.

Of course, there were exceptions, such as Pseudo-Mages and monstrous acolytes.

But for the majority... Thirty degrees was already an extremely high limit.

Now I possessed the Life Shield Cube.

As long as there was enough energy stored within the artifact, attacks from Level 1 and Level 2 acolytes would practically pose no threat to me. Only attacks from Level 3 acolytes and above could drain the artifact's magic.

It was practically a simplified version of an Official Mage's defensive force field.

The more I studied that artifact, the greater my admiration became for the Mages who had come before me.

The World of Mages possessed an extremely long history.

The magical tradition we currently knew had little more than a thousand years of continuous development.

But before that... There had been even more ancient eras and glorious periods.

I took a deep breath and then put the small silver cube into my pocket.

I still believed the information I had obtained from the spirit. The existence of advanced meditation techniques was far too important to ignore.

But that did not change my immediate plan. I still needed the Black Rainbow's Crystallized Aura.

And the Total Massacre remained my best opportunity. Under the pressure from the Tower and the professors, I would still be forced to enter the Secret World.

I closed my laboratory, and some time later, I returned to my room.

As soon as I entered...

Dong!

Dong!

Dong!

Knocks sounded on the door.

I stopped.

I still had some traces of my work in the laboratory on me, so I quickly straightened my clothes.

—Come in!

The wooden door opened.

Then Lina entered.

She was wearing a green dress.

A gentle fragrance accompanied her entrance and reached me.

She held a small white flower between her fingers, absentmindedly playing with its petals.

—George!

She smiled.

—My mentor asked me to come and register you for the school's next competition.

Several competitions were being held, and simply participating was enough to receive rewards.

But for me... That wasn't particularly appealing.

I wasn't lacking in magic crystals.

I could also prepare my own potions and engineering items in general.

I looked at Lina again.

She was still holding the little flower.

I approached her.

I placed one hand on her waist and pulled her slightly closer.

—You look very beautiful.

—You seem even more mature than before; I wonder if your pussy is tighter since the last time I filled it with my cum.

Lina blushed.

She looked away for a moment.

Then she smiled.

—I'm going to get married.

I blinked.

—Married?

She nodded.

—I found a talented acolyte who agreed to become my husband.

My expression changed slightly.

For several seconds, I thought about many things at once.

I had already slept with Lina several times. She had also asked me to marry her before.

At that time, I had refused.

Now...

She had finally found someone willing to make that commitment.

Deep down, I didn't see it as a loss. If another man took Lina, he would only be taking used leftovers, a foolish idiot... Hahahaha.

Obviously, I didn't let those thoughts show on my face.

—Who is he?

I asked.

Lina smiled brightly.

—His name is Katsu!

That name isn't unfamiliar; he's a famous acolyte Lina had a bit of a crush on before I entered her life and turned her into a milk repository.

—Seriously?

—Congratulations.

...

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