Chapter Twenty-Six: The Transcendent Eye
Takebitori and the others likely won’t be returning. The Temple of Tyrion, the sole entrance to Amber City, is buried deep underground, only projecting a mirage-like illusion onto the surface at specific times. Local residents who were fortunate enough to witness it called it Saint Talerian, though most believed they were merely mistaken or intoxicated.
Li Wen’s “Fourth Solution of Leonart” lockdown function was precisely to prevent the temple from escaping. It was a pity that her own mana was too low; the magic circle’s duration was only enough for them to enter the temple the first time.
After catching her breath, Li Wen rummaged through the fire mage’s belongings, feeling a sense of joy akin to looting treasure after defeating a boss. However, she hadn’t expected that, as a mage from the Forbidden Institute, he wouldn’t even have a magic pocket.
A magic pocket was a magical creation that typically had a capacity four to five times larger than its physical form, with its weight always maintained around ten pounds. It was a storage item highly favored by mages, with some even creating magic specifically to produce magic pockets. The fact that the fire mage lacked even this suggested that, as he had claimed, he was indeed not well-regarded within the Forbidden Institute.
The fire mage’s belongings, or rather, his drops, were numerous. They included a black-red wooden staff, a ring imbued with mana, a key of unknown purpose, a shattered spherical gem, a Scroll of Levitation, a Scroll of Colorful Mist, a small amount of spellcasting materials, and some potions of unknown effect.
A staff was one of the means by which a mage cast spells. Not all mages needed to hold a staff to cast, but a staff could significantly enhance the stability and safety of magic. Therefore, mages always encouraged those just starting to learn magic to hold their staffs tightly.
The fire mage’s staff was likely made from the branches of a plant that grew in a volcanic crater. Such a staff possessed no other special abilities, but when used to cast fire-related spells, it made the process smoother. The reason the fire mage hadn’t used it in the recent battle was simple: like the mage robes he wore, it was a standard magical item of the Forbidden Institute. If he had cast magic with it, he would have most likely been tracked by the mages of the Forbidden Institute.
The ring was a magical item the fire mage used to dispel the Dark Word Curse. It was called the Ring of Passionate Fire and was likely produced in an alchemy workshop affiliated with the Magic Committee.
[Ring of Passionate Fire]
[Accessory – Ring – Magic (Blue)]
[A magic ring crafted with modern alchemy, allowing the casting of a Fire Heal spell once.]
[Fire Heal: Consumes 1 mana, recovers a certain amount of life while dispelling curses and frostbite. Requires 3 natural days to recharge after each use.]
Li Wen noticed that something seemed to be engraved on the inner circumference of the ring. M.L.? Could it be an abbreviation of the fire mage’s name?
Li Wen couldn’t use the staff or the ring. The staff was for mages only, and while the ring was a good item, Li Wen’s Prayer could fulfill the roles of both healing and dispelling, without requiring any recharge time. Keeping them for someone in need or selling them would be their best fate.
Li Wen then looked at the remaining items. Magic scrolls were valuable goods; they only required mana to be used, not a mage’s class. The Scroll of Levitation could temporarily make a person’s body lighter, allowing them to jump higher and run faster. It differed from the Scroll of Flight by only one word, yet its effects were vastly different. The Scroll of Colorful Mist was a second-tier magic that could create a cloud of colored mist to confuse enemies, possessing hallucinatory effects, essentially an enhanced version of White Mist. Both scrolls were not particularly powerful but had wide applicability, so she didn’t need to worry about how to sell them; keeping them for her own use was sufficient.
What remained was the key of unknown purpose and the shattered gem. Li Wen looked at the gem. If she wasn’t mistaken, this gem should be a Shattered Eye of the Transcendent.
The Eye of the Transcendent was a very rare and powerful magical item, with its crafting method almost nonexistent in the present day. Mages more often considered it a naturally formed mana item, or even a base material for crafting certain Divine Artifacts. It was a magical item that could affect space. Some mages attempted to mount it on their staffs to cast long-distance teleportation magic over a wide area, or even to open dimensional rifts.
Shattered did not mean it was broken or incomplete; a Shattered Eye of the Transcendent often possessed a random, powerful beauty. It tended to produce unexpected effects in unexpected situations.
Could this be the secret treasure the fire mage had mentioned? Li Wen was somewhat puzzled. While the Eye of the Transcendent was rare, to call it a secret treasure of the Sun Cultivation Institute felt like using a golden hoe to farm. As the most powerful magical society in the Kingdom of Arthur, even ten Eyes of the Transcendent would likely not be worthy of the Forbidden Institute’s attention. Perhaps the fire mage’s vision was simply too limited, mistaking any slightly rare treasure for a secret treasure? It was indeed possible. If the fire mage had truly stolen a secret treasure from the Forbidden Institute, the high-ranking old mages there would surely have been unable to sit still and would have already pursued him to the Black Dragon Territory, leaving no room for Li Wen.
Li Wen stuffed these items into her bag. She had initially considered taking the fire mage’s robes, but the mage robe was tattered and stained with various bloodstains, so she abandoned that idea. At this moment, Li Wen recalled the fire mage’s actions before his death, so she searched his corpse again and successfully retrieved a letter from a hidden pocket in his mage robe. The envelope was addressed to “Miss Melina at 21 Hackenlo Street.”
What was this? A love letter? A letter home? Or a will? Li Wen considered for a moment and then decided to take the letter. Perhaps it could be a crucial clue.
The only remaining item was the fire mage’s corpse. This was Amber City, the eternal kingdom. If left here, the corpse would not decay but would remain in its current state forever, even if nothing was done. So, she would leave it here. After all, there was no land here for him to be buried honorably. Perhaps she should throw him under the bridge instead?
Li Wen glanced under the bridge and saw only a dark abyss. It turned out that the abyss was a deep chasm that divided Amber City into inner and outer districts, and the stone bridge of the spire was the only passage connecting the two districts. Li Wen then looked towards the end of the stone bridge. A cold, black city stood there. The warm light from the dim yellow sky cast down, but it did not bring warmth to the city. Instead, it created a eerie contrast that was particularly penetrating.
Li Wen took a deep breath and began to walk across the stone bridge towards Amber City.