章 66: Chapter 66
The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy is only a smaller faction, and while it was more powerful than the many small families, even the ones with a magus backing them, it remained a rather rural faction on the South Coast.
There was a distinct hierarchy of power on the South Coast. At the bottom were the independent acolytes; they often had no real territories, just some mansions and houses here and there.
After that came the organized families with multiple acolytes. They had very small territories but belonged to a bigger faction. For example, Bicky's Taylor Family was such a faction under the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.
Families with a Magus backing them came above that, though there were massive differences between them too. Some just had a magus that gained Grine Water and advanced but managed to stay independent.
They were similar to the Acolyte families, belonging to a bigger family.
At the peak of that level were families that owned advanced meditation techniques, the true backbone of any bigger organization.
Examples of this were the Lilytells, the Liliels, and the Redbuds. The three main families support the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.
Above this stood the different organizations, for example, an academy. They were made up of a combination of the different lower-ranked Factions. There was simply power in working together.
Of course, these larger Factions, like the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, had different levels of power too.
To actually be able to hold a territory that could be split up amongst the many smaller Factions that were part of an organization, one needed at least a rank 2 magus. For the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, this was the principal, Siley.
And even then, this only qualified the Academy as a mid-ranked faction.
A high-ranked faction on the South Coast had multiple Rank 2 Magus backing them.
And lastly, at the peak, the de facto leaders of the South Coast, which was split into two territories, Light and Dark, were the Rank 3 Magus.
Every smaller faction was basically under their influence and followed their command in the larger picture. While these factions were independent, they would still obey and work together under the rank of magus.
For example, if the light and dark sides went to war against each other,.
What kind of faction was Neela part of?
Well, her Welter family was backed by a Rank 1 magus, but only one that had used Grine Water to advance. He wasn't under a contract for another family because he had acquired Grine Water during special circumstances in the past.
But of course, they were part of the Abyssal Bone Forest Territory, focusing on trade and business. While their main focus was spread out in the Poolfield Kingdom, they also had connections within other territories. Exactly the influence Harry needed.
The Poolfield Kingdom was a kingdom under the control of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.
To be precise, if you considered the academy to be at the center, then the Death Sea between the South Coast and the Chernobyl Isles lay to the south. To the north were the Mountain Plains of Death, a deadly region even for a Rank 1 magus. To the west was their border with Sage Gotham's Hut, another organization at their level. Lastly, to the east was the Poolfield Kingdom.
Magus didn't seem to be very creative when it came to naming things some times. Every time something was dangerous, it contained death in it's name. Wooh, Danger, let's call it Death Place.
———
"Woah, it's so big. I never seen one so big!" Neela exclaimed with wide eyes.
"It's just a room." Harry replied, "Well, I may have gotten a bit of preferential treatment because of my talent, but you are a Grade 4 talent yourself and have some backing. Shouldn't yours be similar?"
"I have similar furniture, but it's no way that big."
"Probably because I share with Bessita." He added.
"Lucky Girl, anyway, you said you have an offer for me? You sure don't want to have some fun? We could play a lot together!" Neela replied teasingly.
"Not for now. I already told you I am greedy, and I don't share. If I make you mine, you remain mine." Harry replied honestly; that was how he felt.
Was it unfair and selfish? Yes.
Did he care? No, he doesn't force himself on anyone.
"Yeah, yeah. We will see." Neela replied noncommittingly, "So what is the offer you have for me? Are you interested in joining my family as an alchemist? We can even provide you with Grine Water and a Spell Model once you need to advance."
"Hmm, nice offer, but how about you sign this first?" Harry said as he pulled out a piece of paper that he had prepared before.
"What is this?"
"A Non-Disclosure Agreement. You won't share what we talk about with anyone. This contract can't be broken. It will literally render you unable to say what we will discuss in the next hour." Harry explained that if she didn't accept, he would just wipe her mind of this discussion and be done with it.
"Is it like a contract under the trial's eye? How did you get one of them as an acolyte?" She asked with astonishment.
The universe of 'Warlock of the Magus World' was quite big and powerful. Harry's current true strength was around Rank 2, and his official strength was Rank 0 as an acolyte based on the ranking system used by Magus.
Meanwhile, the Trial's Eye was an ancient being, also falling into the very same ranking the Magus used. But it was a Rank 8 existence, a being of multiple conceptual laws.
How powerful it was in comparison to other worlds was hard to tell. But laws were on a conceptual level that could be really broken.
The Trial's Eye has mastered the laws of trial and contract and was basically offering something similar to his contracts. Just with the difference that Harry's contracts were on a higher level. Though it also watched over spoken vows, if one were to invoke their names, they are not as binding as a written contract.
"Similar concept. But this one can't be broken, even by the trial's eye himself." Harry replied, "Read it. It will exactly do what it says. I would sign it. You won't regret it." Neela looked at him seriously. His statement was unbelivable. A contract that couldn't be broken? Even by a higher-level magus?
She still didn't understand him and read through the contract.
Harry gained nothing from lying to her. There was no need to trap her; he wouldn't gain anything. Even if this was a contract under the trial's eyes, the terms were absolute.
If this wasn't, but the contract was as powerful as he said, why go through the effort to trick and acolyte?
In the end, she signed it. Her gut told her she should take the gamble.
"There! I signed it. So what is this all about?"
"First try to lie. The contract clearly states that we can't lie to each other for the next hour."
"My hair is B-" Her eyes widened. She couldn't finish the sentence. Something was stopping the words from coming out.
"See, it's real." He grinned. "So, Neela, I am planning to create an organization under me. Right now, I only have one other person in this world besides myself who is part of it. Another one I am considering recruiting. How about you join me too? I could really use the connections your Welter family brings to start out."
"You are just a rank 2 acolyte! You may be a genius, even a genius alchemist. But even then, right now, you have nothing that you could bring to the table beyond a few Potions." She replied in disbelief.
"Hmm, you may see me as a Rank 2 Acolyte. But my real strength is already at the level of a Rank 2 official magus. I am strong enough to support an organization like Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. I will tell you more about it if you agree. If not, you won't be able to share that information." Harry replied unbothered, "As for what I offer you, Besides my backing?Do you really want to use Grine Water to try to advance to the level of an official magus? Are you aware of the prize? You won't get older than a regular acolyte, even if you are more powerful."
"And what other choice? Wait, you mean to tell me you have an advanced meditation technique?" She asked in shock.
"I have a few Rank 1 ones." His mastery over legilimency had become good enough to enter the minds of the acolytes belonging to the different, more powerful families. They only had the first level; it seems like the families were careful enough not to share the second level if they had one. "I know the location of a Rank 4 meditation technique. In the future, I will get more of them. I guarantee you, I will get you one that will make you stronger than anyone on the South Coast right now."
"That's—is the contract also working on you?" She asked, disbelieving.
"Yes, it is. It is hard to prove, since you can't be certain whether I am acting if I lie, but it is." Harry chuckled. "So what are you saying, Neela? Do you want to reach beyond your current world?"
She did.
———
"A Potion Formula to Increase Your Spiritual Force?" Kroft raised an eyebrow as Harry had come to his with that request: "Are you sure you need it? You are already exceptionally fast, even for your level of talent, and you should be aware that any potion leaves residue in your body, making the path ahead harder."
Harry already knew that, but Kroft wasn't finished yet. "Also, the success rate for these kinds of Potions is too low. And the necessary ingredients are far too expensive. Many of them have died out for thousands of years or have become very rare. A lot of Magus families have bankrupted themselves trying to get such Potions."
Without a doubt, Harry was a genius. But Kroft still had the opinion that he was trying to bite off more than he should.
"Professor, I know the chances of completing such a Potion are low, but if I don't try, I will never know it. Also, it is a valuable learning experience, even if I don't succeed. And a younger acolyte has a higher chance of becoming a magus; I would like to take the gamble." Harry replied, though he knew he would succeed.
He already knew a substitute ingredient for one of the potions that the original MC had used. It was actually pretty common in the Poolfield Kingdom; all he needed was the recipe.
Harry had no need for such a potion; his talent and supportive magic were enough to not land in the bottleneck most other acolytes were having.
Commonly, acolytes had two bottlenecks the whole time while being Rank 2 acolytes because they would build up a too high resistance to the Elementary Meditation Technique for it to be effective.
And one at the Peak of Rank 3 Acolyte, which was because the Elementary Meditation Technique couldn't break into the level of a magus.
These bottlenecks didn't really affect Harry; he could just use the spiritual force inside his magical core to train his sea of consciousness. It was a crude but effective way, and it didn't cause any lasting damage since it was his own spiritual force.
But for his subordinates, it was a different matter. Since he was planning to create an organization to aid him in his goals, he needed qualified personnel he could trust. Neela has been a Rank 2 acolyte for a while, and Bessita felt the full force of that bottleneck.
Such Potions would make it easier to train up his core power; after all, in what kind of organization would the leader do everything because his people were too weak?
They would also help a lot once he completed his immediate big goal and found a way home. No way; he wouldn't train more Magus on Skagos.
It was a path that could train beings at least up to planet level (someone able to destroy or create a planet), and that was only his rough estimate based on feats he had read in the original novel.
A lot of the later chapters had become conceptual and theoretical about nature, so it wasn't exactly clear if Leylin had become someone who could affect whole universes or even more.
But in the last chapter, he could devour a whole planet. Earth, to be precise, where he killed his past self...
"Sigh. The student is just like the master." Kroft sighed. "I have a few formulas, but because of contracts binding me, I am unable to share them with you. As for my personal formulas, you won't be able to afford them."
'Doubt. Neela allowed me to make a ton of magic crystals by selling my massive stock of potion, but of course I can't explain where I got them from. And I still need to return to the academy in the future... Harry sighed iternally while asking, "How much do they cost?"
"5000 magic crystals, and just because you are my student." Kroft replied honestly.
And he wasn't exaggerating. Potions that could help bypass the bottlenecks were valuable. Often, they were well-guarded family secrets.
"Is there really no other way?"
"Each such recipe requires a potion master to research for several years. The price I offered you is very low." Kroft explained patiently, "But there is another way."
That's what Harry had been speculating about.
"What is it, Professor?"
"While I am unable to give you my personal Formula's cheaply, I had a similar idea during my youth and collected several formulas from Ancient Magi." Kroft said carefully.
"The Ancient Magi?"
Magi in ancient times had reached the peak of Magus culture; they had founded an empire that spans amongst millions of worlds in this universe, the Byron Empire.
But for some reason, it suddenly collapsed overnight. Nobody really knew why. A lot of legacies and techniques were lost. Well on the surface.
In truth, only the lower-ranking Magi remained, and of course they had no idea why.
But Harry knew why; he had spoilers after all. The Ancient Magus had conquered the world for the world, constantly progressing and expanding for more resources and knowledge until they reached a bottleneck at rank 8.
They had encountered another civilization on their level, with an equal number of Rank 8 beings as themselves. If both parties gained the knowledge and resources of the other side, they could break into rank 9 themselves.
And so war broke out. A devastating one spanning across worlds until the other civilization realized there was no point, and they would only wipe out each other.
This civilization created a powerful barrier around their world, so the Magi could never pass through it in force.
Without a path forward, the ancient Byron Empire split into their own factions, eyeing each other and fighting each other. Each has their own interests.
Many ancient magi were still out there, ruling and controlling their own worlds or parts of the magus world. They were just no longer united.
But of course, a desolate small part of the formerly powerful Empire, like the South Coast, was not aware of that.
Peak at the South Coast was Rank 3, and each rank had a massive difference in power; the difference between Ranks 3 and 4 and Ranks 6 and 7 was even more massive.
Basically, ranks 1 to 3 are the lowest parts of the Magus world. The fodder. At rank 4, you barely qualify as an actual power, and only from rank 7 onwards do you truly become a peak power.
All the powers on the South Coast combined were nothing more than ants in the larger picture.
The South Coast was just in a lucky or unlucky position; they didn't matter enough for someone powerful to conquer them. It simply wasn't a rich region.
"Yes, the Magi were most prosperous back then. But unfortunately, it disappeared over night. Many of the ingredients from back then don't exist anymore. But some of their knowledge remains, like a few formulas I managed to collect." Kroft sighed.
"So you have formulas for which the necessary ingredients don't exist anymore?" Harry realized.
"Perceptive, like always. Their effects are powerful, but without the ingredients, it will be hard to brew them. But maybe you can use them as a base for your own formulas or find a substitute ingredient. Still, you should know how much work this is, and there is no way to tell if you will succeed." Kroft warned him. But Harry knew he would.
"I have a feeling that I will manage it, Professor!" Harry nodded enthusiastically; it isn't just a feeling. He already knows a substitute ingredient for one of them.
"I am certain you will, but be warned that the success rate is extremely low!" Kroft said as he rumaged through his storage space, pulling a few scrolls out, "Here are the formulas I collected."
These scrolls were very old, but they were made out of an unknown material that still kept them readable.
Harry read through the different ingredient lists and names in order to find the ones he was looking for. And, of course, to record the ingredients.
While Kroft concealed the actual recipes, with the right ingredients, it may be possible to reverse engineer some of the formulas without paying for them.
About 10 minutes later, he had found the two he had been looking for. "I'll take these two. Tears of Mary and the Azure Potion."
"Alright, they will cost you 150 magic stones each." Kroft nodded.
After paying for them, Harry asked, "Do you have any other such recipes?" Like for healing potions, body-strengthening potions, and similar."
"Quiet greedy, are we? But in fact, I do have quite a collection of such recipes. Take a look." Kroft chuckled as he pulled an even larger stack out of his storage.
Harry took the opportunity to record the ingredients for all of them and bought a few of them, almost spending 1500 magic crystals overall.
He had acquired two healing potion recipes he felt were interesting: one purification potion that was able to lighten the damage of potion residue from the body; a constitiution strengthening potion that makes the body stronger; and a few other miscellaneous potion for different purposes.
Mainly, he wanted to gain a bit more references for his database in order to have an easier time creating his own potions.
He would have purchased more, but it would be hard to explain how he got so much money.
On his way out, he actually ran into Bicky. "Oh, Harry, you are here!"
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