Chapter 276: Crimson Crystal
What kind of concept is this...
This means that these two Luminous Gems are essentially dispensable—their existence merely amplifies the staff's power. The truly important part of these two staves is the staff itself!
As a top-tier craftsman, Leon could say with certainty that the damage was limited to the gems—the staves themselves hadn't suffered much at all.
This time, Leon was done with courtesy—he had no intention of holding back anymore...
The alchemical array etched into the staff was extraordinarily intricate—even with Leon's knowledge, deciphering it was a struggle. Just from this, he could tell that when these staves were at their peak, they were almost certainly True Spirit-grade magical weapons. Only the Luminous Gems that served as components had been destroyed, and after countless millennia, the magical incarnations of the weapons had long since dissipated into the void, causing them to fall from their True Spirit status...
Still, a True Spirit weapon is a True Spirit weapon.
As long as the core alchemical array remained intact, these True Spirit weapons had a chance to regain their former power—though the price would be steep...
He'd already laid his hands on them—there was no way Leon was letting such treasures slip away.
Under the control of his spell, the vines coiled tightly around his legs whipped again. Leon brushed past the Silver Dragon's corpse once more. Seizing the moment before the body decayed, he grabbed a staff in each hand and yanked hard—both staves came free with a crisp sound.
After finishing all this, Leon didn't linger. He uttered another spell, controlling the vines to send himself back toward the Plane Path.
Almost at the exact moment the two staves were pulled free, the Silver Dragon's corpse decayed just like the previous three Golden Dragon corpses—scales falling, bones rotting. Before Leon could make it back to the Plane Path, the Silver Dragon's body had already turned to dust in the void...
"I really have no idea what happened back then..." As Leon retreated quickly toward the Plane Path, he couldn't help but marvel inwardly. One of the mighty Five-Colored Dragons, a being who mastered all magic, ended up so fragile after this battle that even its corpse didn't remain...
"Damn it!" Just as Leon was lost in thought, a sudden flash of light streaked past him.
That flash of light was far too strange...
You have to understand, this is the endless, pitch-black void. Even the faintest glimmer here would be as glaring as the midday sun—there's no way you'd miss it.
But now, Leon truly hadn't noticed that flash of light. From start to finish, there was no sign, no trace—only when it was right upon him did Leon suddenly realize.
Then, instinctively, he tried to dodge...
This was no joke. In this Void Graveyard, Leon and the others were as fragile as ants. If not for the protection of the Plane Path, even a stray fragment drifting in the void could easily kill them.
Especially now, as Leon neared the edge of the Plane Path, the protection was at its weakest. If anything struck him at this moment, there'd be no saving him.
However...
At that moment, Leon forgot one thing...
Right now, his movement depended entirely on the vine coiled around his legs. Though his control over it was as natural as moving his own arm, there was still a layer of separation—he had to command the vine to whip, and only then could he move through the void. That process inevitably introduced a slight delay...
And that tiny delay was enough to screw Leon over...
Just as Leon willed the vine to whip his legs, it hadn't even finished the motion before a sharp pain struck his chest...
"Shit!" Leon cursed out loud.
At that moment, Leon realized exactly what had gone wrong.
But knowing didn't help much...
That flash of light, without any suspense, struck Leon squarely in the chest. Instantly, a stabbing pain shot through him—as if he'd been hit by a boulder. Every bone in his chest felt shattered. Leon grunted, coughing up a mouthful of blood...
"Goddamn it..." Leon instinctively reached for his chest. Thankfully, he didn't feel a wound, just something cold and hard. He didn't have time to study it—he spat out another spell, commanding the vine to get him back onto the Plane Path.
"What happened?" Seeing Leon return injured, Saruman and Lays grew anxious. This young Archmage was the linchpin of their entire journey—if anything happened to him, none of them would make it out alive.
Forget everything else—just figuring out how to get back to Northend World would be an insurmountable problem...
"I'm fine..." Fortunately, after coughing up some blood, Leon's face looked much better and his breathing steadied. To be safe, he drank a recovery potion and, after resting for nearly ten minutes, his injuries were mostly healed.
Still, thinking back on the experience, Leon couldn't help but feel a lingering dread. Luckily, his luck held—what struck him wasn't a shard of weapon or armor, nor anything carrying a powerful force. Otherwise, he'd either have a hole blown through his chest or be blasted to pieces...
With that thought, curiosity got the better of Leon. He took the cold object in his hand and examined it closely...
"What is this...?" Lying in Leon's palm was a crimson crystal. It looked like a gemstone, but nowhere near as hard. Leon squeezed it experimentally—it actually changed shape.
Good thing it could change shape...
Otherwise, with the speed it hit Leon's chest, it wouldn't have been much different from being struck by a weapon or armor shard...
Just one hit like that, and his chest would have ended up with a gaping hole—no saving him.
But if it's not a gemstone, then what is it?
Leon held the crimson crystal in his hand, turning it over and over, unable to figure out what it was...
He didn't even know where this thing came from.
You have to understand, at that moment he had his Mana Harness running at full power—within several hundred meters, nothing escaped his notice. So how did this crimson crystal get close to him?
Unless... this crimson crystal came from the Silver Dragon's corpse...
That would explain how, at the moment the Silver Dragon's body decayed, it flew over, evaded the Mana Harness's detection, and struck him in the chest...
Yes, that's the only possibility.
But if it really did come from the Silver Dragon's corpse...
The aura of this crimson crystal felt off...
That much was beyond doubt. All Leon had to do was compare it—he still held a glass vial in his hand, containing a single drop of Silver Dragon's blood. The blood's aura was the true essence of the Silver Dragon; compared to it, the crimson crystal's aura was completely different.
"Enough of that..." Leon couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried, so he decided to drop it. Just as he was about to head back, he suddenly remembered the two staves in his hand. He quickly stood up and handed one to Saruman and one to Lays: "Gentlemen, this journey might be ending here. Take a staff each."
"I couldn't possibly..." Saruman tried to feign modesty.
"If I'm not mistaken, these were True Spirit weapons long, long ago..."
The moment Leon said that, Saruman dropped all pretense. In fact, the ninth-level magus practically lunged at him like a beast spotting prey, snatching the staff set with a sun-shaped Radiant Gem as if his life depended on it...
...Leon could only shake his head speechlessly and handed the remaining staff to Lays.
"Merlin, we didn't really do much..." Lays was steadier; his hands trembled as he accepted the staff, but he managed a couple polite words.
"We agreed long ago, President Lays—whatever we gained on this journey, you'd both get a share. And while these staves were almost certainly True Spirit weapons at their peak, you can see the Radiant Gems at their tips are destroyed. To use them, you'd need to replace the gems, and there's another thing—the magical incarnations are gone. Restoring them won't be a quick process..."
"Well... thank you." After a moment's thought, Lays accepted the staff set with a moon-shaped Radiant Gem.
He really hadn't done much on this trip—mostly just sightseeing while the young Archmage handled everything. If a True Spirit weapon were placed in front of him, he wouldn't have the nerve to take it.
But since Merlin said the magical incarnations were gone, taking the staff wasn't a big deal...
The most important thing about a True Spirit weapon is always its magical incarnation...
A True Spirit weapon that has lost its incarnation isn't much stronger than a Sentient weapon, so it's a fair reward for tagging along.
Of course, that doesn't mean these two staves are worthless...
In fact, it's quite the opposite—the value of these staves is absolutely staggering!
They were once True Spirit weapons...
And the alchemical arrays etched into the staves are completely intact. If Saruman and I can replace the Radiant Gems, these staves will be transformed—at the very least, they'll regain half of their original power!
Half the power of a True Spirit weapon—what does that mean...?
It's like having half a titled Magus fighting for you. In the Alchemists' Guild or the Sage Tower, that would be considered one of the most powerful magical weapons around. No exaggeration—just with these two staves, the Alchemists' Guild and Sage Tower could crush every force in Thousand Sails City except the Gilded Rose, including the Silvermoon Mercenary Company...
And...
Even after a True Spirit weapon's incarnation has dissipated, it's not impossible for a new one to manifest—it just takes luck and opportunity. Maybe Saruman and I won't see it in our lifetimes, but what about the next generation? Or the one after that? After several generations, who can say that luck or opportunity won't come?
All it takes is one chance, and these two True Spirit weapons could manifest new incarnations, restoring their terrifying power from their prime.
At that point, those two factions would truly have True Spirit weapons to command—who in Thousand Sails City would dare oppose them?
On the surface, it looked like Leon was just giving them two damaged magical items, but Lays knew that what the young Archmage had really given them was decades, maybe centuries, of peace for their factions...
It was this realization that made Lays thank him so earnestly.
"Haha, President Lays, you're too polite..." Leon didn't mind. He really did intend for these two staves to bring them decades, even centuries, of security.
But for Leon, it was just a favor along the way.
Both staves were once True Spirit weapons, and if Leon kept them, he was confident he could restore their incarnations within ten years.
But so what?
Leon already had a True Spirit weapon, the Soul Walker, plus an upper-tier Magic Flame Sprite that rivaled any True Spirit weapon, and the Doom Staff, destined to become the strongest of them all. His wealth already far surpassed most titled Magi.
And Leon was still just a ninth-level Archmage.
Every mage relies on magical items, but that doesn't mean the more, the better.
A mage should always trust in their own magical power first. Countless mages have learned the iron law: the more you rely on magical items, the slower your own growth. That's why Leon deliberately avoided using them—most battles he solved with his own magic, only resorting to those powerful items when truly necessary.
Leon always thought the ideal mage was someone like Bain.
One Death Tome, and he could travel all across Northend World...
That's the true ideal for a mage.
Besides, restoring the incarnations of these two True Spirit weapons isn't easy. For Lays and Saruman, it's a matter of luck and opportunity. For Leon, it's a matter of wealth and effort—requiring astronomical resources and years, even decades, of work.
Wouldn't it be better to spend that wealth on the Doom Staff?
Wouldn't it be better to put that effort into magical cultivation?
Looking at it that way, these two staves really are pretty dispensable...