Chapter 1089: Qualitative Change
The Spellbook of Ages could make Theo even stronger, and in turn, Theo could further amplify the Spellbook’s power—this was true synergy.
Once Leon broke through to the Sky Rank, the Spellbook of Ages would reach new heights of power. Only then would its true potential as a Mythic Artifact be unleashed.
Theo returned to the Spellbook of Ages to continue researching both the tome and the devouring flames—this was the simplest way to deepen his control over the artifact.
Leon put away the Spellbook of Ages. His subordinates were already clearing up the corpses of the three Pseudo Sky Rank Beasts, while Leon turned to glance into the distance.
It looked like a casual glance, but Morgan—standing far away and already scared witless—felt a chill run straight from the crown of his head to his heels.
Only when Leon turned away did Morgan realize he was drenched in cold sweat...
Damn it, damn it, damn it...
Shit, how—how is this possible? It’s over, it’s all over. That bastard Matthew Merlin is actually this powerful now? That’s a Sky Rank!
Mother of god, what did I just see? A Sky Rank was burned alive!
And it was Shark, that bastard. Even before he broke through to Sky Rank, he was like a damn turtle with impenetrable defenses. I saw him take a direct hit from an eighth-level spell on the battlefield—barely even flinched.
Now that he’s reached Sky Rank, his defenses are absolutely terrifying. The bastard must have poured all his transcendental power into defense.
Matthew Merlin’s spell torrent is the most terrifying magical offensive I’ve ever seen. Hundreds of advanced spells every second—even a true Sky Rank would have a headache facing that.
Casting hundreds of spells per second—only a Sky Rank powerhouse could pull that off. But just now, against Shark, it was completely useless.
But now, how did he just get burned to death? What the hell were those black-gold flames?
Damn it, I knew it! I knew Matthew Merlin never showed his full strength—never revealed his true power.
Look at this—just as I thought. That bastard—no, that monster—has been hiding his real strength from the very start!
Good thing I never tried to go head-to-head with him. So what if I had to hand over a fifth of the Pseudo Sky Rank Mana Crystals? Fine, whatever. I didn’t lose out—I got his method for dealing with those Pseudo Sky Rank Beasts. Even after giving him a fifth, we still ended up with way more crystals than before.
Most importantly, the danger’s dropped drastically. Now, fighting those Pseudo Sky Rank Beasts is barely risky at all...
“Morgan, Morgan? What do we do now?”
Morgan stared in terror at the charred crater hundreds of meters wide in the distance, nearly wetting himself. Arno, standing beside him, was pale as a sheet, looking lost as he asked a question.
As soon as Arno spoke, Morgan shot up from the hillside like a beast had bitten his ass.
“What do you mean, what now? Matthew Merlin is this strong—he’s definitely already noticed us. No way we can keep hiding. We have to show ourselves, fast! Someone like him is way stronger than Dida La.
Actually, taking out Dida La would probably be easy for him. We can’t afford to piss him off—let’s go!”
With that, Morgan dashed down the hillside like his pants were on fire, hurrying toward Leon.
Leon sensed people rushing up behind him but didn’t care. Even before the battle ended, he knew the Henry Family was hiding over there.
He couldn’t sense Shark’s whereabouts, so he released a Spirit Serpent to search. But before it found Shark, it found the Henry Family instead.
Leon was perfectly clear about their intentions, but didn’t bother worrying. Morgan jumping out now was exactly what he expected...
Morgan rushed over, sneaking a glance at the massive charred crater and feeling the lingering aura of destructive flames inside. His heart nearly leapt out of his throat.
Before Leon could say a word, Morgan hurried to explain.
Leon glanced at the crystal ball, then tucked it away.
Morgan, standing to the side, let out a subtle sigh of relief.
Archmage Leon’s strength was simply overwhelming—even true Heaven-tier beings weren’t safe from him. The fact that he accepted the crystal ball meant that, should we encounter powerful orcs again, he’d surely come to our aid...
Those damned orcs—actual Heaven-tier powerhouses among them! Hell, there’s no way we can handle that, especially since they can wield transcendent magic right here on the Blazeforge Battlefield. Wasn’t this place supposed to suppress Heaven-tier mages? Useless intelligence...
With business concluded, Morgan felt out of place. He’d spent over an hour buttering up Leon, only to realize that any pseudo-Heaven-tier magical beasts they encountered were dispatched almost instantly. Of course, the magic crystals and materials from those beasts were never theirs to claim.
Morgan and Arno led the Henry Family’s people away, while Leon resumed his hunt.
After leaving that fragmented world, Leon upgraded the Spellbook of Ages to the level of a transcendent artifact. Xuban, Reina, and the others all experienced significant breakthroughs, and even the mage legions made great strides—every member who hadn’t yet reached the rank of Titled Magus now had.
The mage legion’s top commander, Kurum, was now a Level 3 Titled Magus; there were nine Level 2 Titled Magi, and the rest had all reached Level 1.
Individually, these mages might only match Titled Magi a level or two above them. But when fifty legion mages gathered together, something fundamental changed.
Morgan breathed a silent sigh of relief when he realized Leon wasn’t going to hold it against him.
Damn, that scared me half to death. Thank the stars Archmage Leon isn’t petty—he didn’t hold a grudge. Who could’ve guessed his strength would be this terrifying?
Heaven-tier—a true Heaven-tier powerhouse. And not just any Heaven-tier, but one wielding transcendent power. Even that Bronze Orc, famed for his defenses, was killed...
Wiping cold sweat from his forehead, Morgan didn’t dare dwell on it. He hurried to answer Leon’s question.
"Archmage Leon, we haven’t encountered any other orcs, nor anyone from other factions..."
Leon nodded thoughtfully.
"Have you been back to the temple lately? Isn’t it possible to exchange these pseudo-Heaven-tier beast crystals for items there? Did you manage to trade for anything?"
Morgan shook his head again.
"No, we’ve hunted too few magical beasts. Just opening a temple gate used to cost over a hundred crystals. Now, you don’t need to open the gate—you can exchange right at the entrance—but it still takes a lot of crystals.
With so few, there’s no way we could get anything good. We’re planning to wait until we’ve hunted more pseudo-Heaven-tier beasts before seeing what we can trade for.
Oh, right—these are the crystals we’ve collected over the past few days. As agreed, these two are yours."
Morgan handed Leon two pseudo-Heaven-tier beast crystals. He didn’t even feel bad about it—truth was, the Henry Family had only hunted seven such beasts in recent days.
Originally, they’d planned to wait until they’d hunted ten before giving Leon his share. The contract said he got one-fifth, but when the math worked out to less than a whole crystal, they rounded up.
Seven crystals or ten—either way, Leon got two. But handing them over now, with only seven, obviously left them short...
Morgan just wanted to settle things quickly, hand over the crystals, and move past the earlier awkwardness...
Leon accepted the crystals without another word...
Seeing Leon take the crystals, Morgan finally felt sure Leon really didn’t care about the earlier incident, so he dared to speak up.
"Archmage Leon, with true Heaven-tier orcs showing up, we should set up a way to contact each other. If we run into more orcs, it’d be good to summon allies nearby for help.
Next time you encounter orcs, just activate this crystal ball. We’ll sense the direction and approximate distance, and will rush over to support you..."
As he spoke, Morgan produced two crystal balls, handing one to Leon.
Morgan tried channeling a bit of magic into one crystal ball. Instantly, the one in Leon’s hand displayed an arrow pointing the way and a fluctuating number showing the distance.
Leon glanced at it, then put the crystal ball away.
Morgan, standing nearby, let out a subtle sigh of relief.
Archmage Leon’s strength was simply overwhelming—even true Heaven-tier beings weren’t safe from him. The fact that he accepted the crystal ball meant that, should we encounter powerful orcs again, he’d surely come to our aid...
Those damned orcs—actual Heaven-tier powerhouses among them! Hell, there’s no way we can handle that, especially since they can wield transcendent magic right here on the Blazeforge Battlefield. Wasn’t this place supposed to suppress Heaven-tier mages? Useless intelligence...
With business concluded, Morgan felt out of place. He’d spent over an hour buttering up Leon, only to realize that any pseudo-Heaven-tier magical beasts they encountered were dispatched almost instantly. Of course, the magic crystals and materials from those beasts were never theirs to claim.
Morgan and Arno led the Henry Family’s people away, while Leon resumed his hunt.
After leaving that fragmented world, Leon upgraded the Spellbook of Ages to the level of a transcendent artifact. Xuban, Reina, and the others all experienced significant breakthroughs, and even the mage legions made great strides—every member who hadn’t yet reached the rank of Titled Magus now had.
The mage legion’s top commander, Kurum, was now a Level 3 Titled Magus; there were nine Level 2 Titled Magi, and the rest had all reached Level 1.
Individually, these mages might only match Titled Magi a level or two above them. But when fifty legion mages gathered together, something fundamental changed.