Chapter 1485
We’ve already seen several of these before. If Alonzo has all of those, then maybe he also has another, rather obscure magical artifact—one that only became famous after the Curse of Misfortune rose to notoriety. Alonzo might just have it too...
"Lord Alonzo, do you have the Voodoo Doll with you?"
Alonzo was startled and instinctively glanced at Agalon. Then, on his already gloomy face, an even more twisted smile appeared.
"Your teacher told you about it? That’s rare. That old man has always looked down on my magical artifacts..."
Agalon remained expressionless. He didn’t bother to correct Alonzo or reveal that he’d never actually mentioned any of this. But seeing Alonzo’s smug grin, he felt a surge of irritation and turned away with a cold snort.
As soon as Leon heard Alonzo’s words, he knew for sure that Alonzo had already crafted the Voodoo Doll.
"I’ve always been interested in the Mysterium branch of magical artifacts. I’ve admired the mysterious magical artifacts crafted by my grandmaster for a long time..."
That wasn’t a lie—Leon genuinely admired Alonzo. In this era, mysterious magical artifacts aren’t valued much. During the early and middle stages of the Plane Colonization Era, the most effective tools were elemental magical artifacts; every obstacle was simply due to a lack of mana or insufficient spell power.
As long as the mana is strong enough and the spells powerful enough, every obstacle is swept away. That really was the best choice during the Plane Colonization Era. By contrast, mysterious magical artifacts mostly offer special abilities that, honestly, are nowhere near as useful for conquering planes as elemental magical artifacts.
Especially after the emergence of mana warships, elemental magical artifacts became the stars of plane conquest—a true milestone. As for the Mysterium branch, even fewer people bother to study those artifacts anymore.
Moreover, below the level of Essence Relics, Mysterium artifacts are almost useless—this is especially fatal.
Alonzo didn’t know all this, but he could tell Leon was being sincere. His smile grew even brighter, and the tattoos on his face clustered together, forming a strange and terrifying pattern.
Agalon’s disciple, interested in Mysterium artifacts and full of respect for him—this felt even better than outshining Agalon himself. The more Alonzo looked at Leon, the more agreeable he found him.
He might not be able to beat his old rival, but having his rival’s prized disciple admire his philosophy? That was even more satisfying than victory.
"Leon, I did craft a Voodoo Doll. It’s a Mysterium artifact that can affect luck, but it’s a pain to use. Its power is nowhere near that of the Curse of Misfortune—they’re on completely different levels.
Most importantly, we still don’t know that damn lich’s true name..."
Alonzo looked regretful. He’d thought of the Voodoo Doll before, but knew its power couldn’t compare to the Curse of Misfortune. Against someone like the Blood Lich, it might be useless. Besides, without knowing the Blood Lich’s true name, there was no point in trying.
Technically, using the name ‘Dekrise’ would work, but it’s just a fragment of the Blood Lich’s true name—the simplest version, really. The effect is far weaker than using the real thing.
Even though he knew the Voodoo Doll was useless, Alonzo patiently explained to Leon. The fact that Leon brought up an artifact Alonzo himself barely valued showed just how much he understood the Mysterium branch—and Alonzo himself.
The stranger Alonzo’s personality, the more he acts on impulse. Now, the more he looked at Leon, the more he liked him. On a whim, Alonzo handed Leon three Essence Relics, and even gave him the branch from the Eternal Tree.
"All of these are Mysterium artifacts personally crafted by your grandmaster. They’re just practice pieces—not very powerful, but you can study them for inspiration. If you have time, come stay at the Mysterium Academy for a while. We’ll have a proper discussion..."
Alonzo was in a great mood, almost forgetting the crisis at hand. But after speaking, he couldn’t help but shoot Agalon a provocative look...
Leon gave a wry smile, at a loss for words. These two old men had probably faced so much danger and hardship that nothing fazed them anymore—not even death. The only thing that still brought them joy was outdoing each other. Maybe that was the only thing they’d ever truly care about.
Looking at the three Essence Relics in his hands, plus the branch from the Eternal Tree, Leon couldn’t help but think Alonzo was truly eccentric. One was an Iodine Crystal, capable of forcibly altering the physiology of living beings, turning their bodies into blocks of iodized salt.
Another was the Squid Courier, which looked like a squid sculpture. As long as you set a destination and recipient, it could deliver magical messages instantly across any distance—even between planes. Within a plane, it was faster than a Sky Rank mage’s teleportation gate; even crossing planes, it was much quicker than traveling by planar pathways. Most importantly, it’s reusable and absurdly cost-effective.
This thing is incredibly convenient, and in the future, it’ll probably be developed to have even more abilities. It’s a must-have in many places.
The last was the Mana Corridor, a palm-sized donut-shaped Essence Relic. It’s extremely practical—used for restoring mana.
Before the Azure Mana Elixir from the Gilded Rose appeared, this was hands-down the most popular Mysterium artifact for mana restoration.
The Mana Corridor can store mana, and in the heat of battle, if you run out, you can instantly replenish yourself from the reserves inside. Usually, it’s enough to fully restore your mana in a flash, and you can even draw directly from the Corridor for combat—it’s no different from using your own mana.
Its function is similar to the Alchemical Vortex, but those are Soulbound Relic tier. Only something like Alonzo’s personally crafted Mana Corridor can truly be called a Mysterium artifact.
The mana stored inside this artifact is enough for a Sixth Rank Sky Mage to fully restore themselves. But the real magic happens once you’ve used it all up—the Mana Corridor’s true special ability kicks in.
No matter how much mana you stored before, once it’s depleted, you can borrow the same amount from the Void through the artifact. After a fierce battle, you just have to pay back what you borrowed.
In the heat of battle, this ability is a game-changer. For a Sixth Rank Sky Mage, owning a Mana Corridor is like having triple the mana—sometimes, it’s the difference between life and death.
You do have to pay back the borrowed mana, but there’s no time limit. Outside of combat, that debt is basically negligible for a Sky Rank mage.
For Sky Rank mages, mana becomes less important as you rise in rank. Most of the time, you can spend it freely without worry.
This technique of borrowing mana from the Void will be used in many places in the future—especially in mana warships, where mana reactors all rely on it.
Then there’s the branch from the Eternal Tree. Alonzo probably didn’t care much about it; it’s still alive, but normally, if you plant it, it’ll only grow into a Great Tree of Life. However, if you have a Natural Semi-Plane, and its owner personally channels its power, there’s a real chance it could become an Eternal Tree...
The Eternal Tree is the pinnacle of all plant life—it can directly give rise to the top-tier elven plants. If placed in a Natural Semi-Plane, it could spawn a whole chain of life that’s nearly impossible to fully catalog.
Life in a Natural Semi-Plane is always difficult to cultivate, but with a branch from the Eternal Tree, growing a Great Tree of Life is a sure thing. Evolving it further into an Eternal Tree isn’t that hard, since the rules of the Natural Semi-Plane are still developing and the plane itself is still growing...
Leon glanced at the pile of Essence Relics in his hands. After a moment’s thought, he accepted them without protest.
Seeing Leon accept the gifts so readily, Alonzo’s smile grew even more unsettling. When he wasn’t smiling, he just looked a bit grim; but when he did, he seemed almost grotesque...
With the Voodoo Doll in hand, Leon felt a surge of confidence about what was coming next.
"Grandmaster Alonzo, I’ll leave the Voodoo Doll to you. It might not be able to seriously hurt the Blood Lich or affect his luck much, but if we use it to link all our luck together, and combine it with his true name, at least we’ll be starting on equal footing..."
As Leon spoke, Alonzo’s eyes lit up with a terrifying gleam, as if a door to his heart had suddenly swung wide open.
A low-level curse from a Voodoo Doll is just a prank. But the one crafted by Alonzo, Dean of the Mysterium Academy, could genuinely be used as a Curse of Misfortune—though it’s still nowhere near as powerful as the Blood Lich’s version.
But this Voodoo Doll is a top-tier Essence Relic. If Alonzo uses it himself, he could easily doom any mage below Third Rank Sky Mage to a streak of fatal bad luck.
It also has another strange use: you can distribute people’s luck among others, subtly lowering their luck. In some situations, if a group is competing, one person could link everyone’s luck together.