Crystal Mask
Celine herself had only just advanced to become an official Magus.
Compared to Skrill, she was obviously lacking. In addition, all the Magi that were on good terms with Nature's Alliance were not willing to offend a semi-converted Magus just for this small matter, as with their responsibilities in their respective guilds, they had to consider many more things than most other Magi.
Even if Celine were to win over a few Magi by using her body, those she could win over would at most be regular official Magi that would be much weaker than Skrill.
This was what had allowed Skrill to be so unreserved with his actions.
The smile on Celine’s face gradually became more forced as Skrill made things more difficult for her along every step of the way. At the same time, she also sent warnings to Obo and Ilya, telling them not to do anything that might provoke Skrill.
Obo and Ilya felt as if their hearts had been slashed, as they were only able to clench their fists at this scene.
Celine continued, “The reason I’m here is to welcome a famed professor into my guild. He wishes to enter the icy caves.”
“Famed professor?” Skrill’s brows furrowed.
“Is it Wagrin or Noah? With just their measly amount of strength, they’ll just be a burden…”
Skrill sneered.
“No! The professor we’ve invited is a travelling Magus from the eastern capital. In fact, I myself was rather surprised that he actually agreed to enter Nature’s Alliance.”
A grin surfaced on Celine’s face. “Anyways, he’s already here!”
“Hehe… how powerful can a travelling Magus be? Celine, I hope you didn’t get cheated!” Skrill’s disdainful expression was still on his face. “Hm, he’s here? Where is he?”
“Here!”
Leylin’s cold voice sounded from behind Skrill.
Skrill’s body stiffened. How powerful was this official Magus to be able to escape his detection and sneak behind his back without any trouble?
If not for the greeting, it would have been an easy task for Leylin to kill him with just a spell.
He turned around rigidly to the sight of a young Magus in black standing behind him with a gentle smile on his lips.
However, the aura he was giving off was terrifyingly strong!
The moment he appeared, dense dark elemental particles permeated the area, repelling the elemental particles revolving around Skrill.
“The aura of an elemental essence conversion… A p- peak rank 1 Magus!” Skrill had even begun to stutter.
Oh, great Gaia! A peak rank 1 Magus was basically a tyrant in the Twilight Zone. Why would one choose to enter a small guild such as Nature’s Alliance to be a professor?
Skrill could not make sense of this situation.
“Looks like you aren’t very respectful to the guild master of our Nature’s Alliance, huh?” Leylin stared at this Magus with interest.
“Surgical transplants? Or meditation techniques that can alter the body shape? I really want to explore further with that research…”
Though his words were indirect, Leylin’s gaze was enough to cause Skrill to shiver in trepidation.
“My lord, you’re such a joker! We of the Eight-Claw Spider Guild and Nature’s Alliance have always been friendly with each other, so why would I be trying to make things difficult for guild master Celine? Haha… haha…”
Skrill bowed towards Leylin, lowering his head and smiling apologetically.
“Is that so?” Leylin shot Celine a glance.
“Yes, Lord Leylin!” Celine glared coldly at Skrill until an imploring look appeared in his eyes, and then spoke.
“In that case, go back first. I still have some matters that I wish to discuss with Celine!” Leylin instructed.
“Of course, of course. Many thanks, my lord!” Skrill immediately ran back to the fort as if he had been granted an official pardon, not daring to overstep his boundaries.
“Celine! It looks like your Nature’s Alliance isn’t doing that well.”
Leylin looked at Celine, and then slightly eyed the two level 3 acolytes, both of whom were gradually flushing red.
“My apologies!” Celine gave a wry smile.
“Ever since my mentor passed away, we of Nature’s Alliance have not seen anyone advance to an official Magus in a long time. All that’s left is me working alone, which has caused our situation to go downhill. However, with my lord joining us, I’m sure the situation will improve.”
A peak rank 1 Magus was the trump card of middle-scaled guilds. With Leylin, Nature’s Alliance would obviously be able to develop more.
“Whatever. However, I hope you remember our arrangement. If not, I won’t actually help you if you cause some trouble that’s difficult to deal with.”
Leylin reminded Celine. What he had agreed on was that in exchange for her high-grade meditation techniques, accumulation of information regarding Magi as well as easy access to the icy cave, he would be a professor in name.
In fact, Leylin would only be joining the Nature’s Alliance in name. Though he had other plans, he did not wish for Celine to use his name to create trouble outside.
“Don’t worry!” Celine guaranteed. She was an intelligent woman and knew not to touch Leylin’s bottom line.
“Obo and Ilya, quick, greet my lord!” She called out to the people behind her.
Upon hearing her words, Obo and Ilya bowed, looking dazed.
“We give our greetings to our lord!”
Their heads were low, and they did not dare to look at Leylin. However, from their voices, their admiration was apparent.
A peak rank 1 Magus! Obo and Ilya had never imagined that such a Magus would appear in Nature’s Alliance.
Now, with a top-notch Magus like Leylin in charge, Nature’s Alliance seemed like it would once again emerge as a top power.
Obo and Ilya were immeasurably emotional. Ever since they were young, they had been taken in by Nature’s Alliance and naturally had developed very deep feelings for the guild, hoping that it would become more powerful.
Even their resentment from Celine almost being snatched away had lowered considerably.
“Alright! Celine, where are the things I wanted?”
Leylin gestured with his hands, getting the level 3 acolytes to leave, and then spoke to Celine.
Seeing that Obo and Ilya were not enough to catch Leylin’s eye, Celine could only sigh in her heart. She then produced a light gold-coloured leaf and a sheet of dark yellow parchment paper.
“This is a map! In the other hand, recorded on this gold leaf is the only high-grade meditation technique that we have: the original Crystal Mask. I hope you can take care of it!”
Celine’s expression was very sincere
This attitude was rather surprising to Leylin.
He immediately took the map and took a look. Within were numerous potholes and markings; it was obvious that Nature’s Alliance had been exploring the icy caves for a long time.
Even so, they had not explored the deepest level of the cave, which went to show the immense size of the cave. This was the reason why Leylin had wanted the map.
Otherwise, wouldn’t it mean that he would need to blindly explore the icy caves for months or even years before he could gather enough of the Icy Jade Scorpion Breath?
“Also, this Crystal Mask?”
Leylin naturally knew the significance of Celine passing down the original high-grade meditation technique to him. To some extent, this was a symbol of Nature’s Alliance. Celine’s actions were like she was handing over much of her authority to Leylin.
In addition, handing out the original meditation technique allowed Leylin to see that she did not do anything suspicious to the technique.
……
Celine was unafraid as she met Leylin’s gaze, her eyes filled with a fervent hope and… pleading?
Leylin pursed his lips and extended his hand to take the gold leaf, and a trace of silver spiritual force entered it.
[Discovery of spiritual force, permission to allow transmission of information?] The A.I. Chip prompted.
“Permission granted!” Under Leylin’s orders, large amounts of data entered his brain, which also answered the question of why Celine had been so generous as to pass him the original.
“There are only two levels to the Crystal Mask?”
Leylin found it hard to believe as he looked at Celine. “Shouldn’t all high-grade meditation techniques have at least four levels?”
In ancient times, high-grade meditation techniques were not just any simple techniques. They represented a route that could allow one to enter the ranks of the Morning Star Magi!
In other words, high-grade meditation techniques had at least four levels of information, allowing Magi to train until they became Morning Star Magi!
“The second half of the technique is lost, my lord!” Celine looked bitter.
“To be honest, most of the high-grade meditation techniques in the Twilight Zone are incomplete. There is no way to advance further.”
After listening to Celine’s narration, Leylin suddenly thought of Siegfried’s meditation technique, Gaia’s Might.
The high-grade technique of the Earth Fire Association seemed to only have three levels, allowing Magi to train until rank 3. There was no another way for them to advance.
“Even in ancient times, high-grade meditation techniques were not staple goods, and there were a few wars in Twilight Zone. Though the inheritances were successfully passed down, we now lack a lot of the information regarding sub-topics and other information.”
Celine explained to Leylin.
“In addition, even though we have two levels of the Crystal Mask, none of the Magi in Nature’s Alliance have successfully trained in both levels. The contents of the second level need to be supplemented with Mirage Crystals from the Fog World, but unfortunately, these materials have been gone from the Twilight Zone for over ten thousand years.”
Seemingly afraid that Leylin would think of this meditation technique as having little value, Celine quickly handed out something else.
“These are the spell models that Nature’s Alliance has been accumulating until now, within which are our research materials on four rank 2 magic spells.”
She produced a crystal ball and passed it to Leylin. “In addition, we can increase our offerings to you to a million magic crystals per year!”
“Rank 2 spells?” Leylin was inwardly exhilarated, but his expression remained stolid. “Don’t worry. I’ve made my promise to you, and I definitely won’t go back on my words.”