Chapter 174 Writing Ancient Magic Script

After being promoted to the Fourth Tier, Shaoke was now capable of chanting and writing Ancient Magic Script, so he added the task of writing ancient magical characters to his daily studies once again.

A sheet of high-quality white crystal paper, a white goose quill pen inlaid with blue crystal, and a bottle of pseudo-dragon blood ink engraved with dozens of magic scripts—these three simple writing tools formed the basic setup on Shaoke's writing desk. Some scattered items on the desk were swept onto the floor by Shaoke, and those scattered items would need to be tidied up by the maid.

After calming his mind slightly, Shaoke dipped the pen tip into a bit of pseudo-dragon blood. Ink made from this pseudo-dragon blood was far more precious than ordinary magical ink. It was said that a bottle the size of a baby's fist was worth nearly a thousand common gold coins. Of course, what Shaoke was using now was obtained for free from this Death Mage Corps outpost, as he was still a mage belonging to the Death Mage Corps.

Twisted characters slowly began to appear on the crystal paper as Shaoke expended a large amount of mental and magical energy. With each stroke, Shaoke continuously shifted between several meditation fluctuations contained within the character in his Meditation space, imprinting these fluctuations into the character. Otherwise, his writing would fail.

The peculiar characters, under the influence of the high-grade magical ink, took on a state of flowing red light. As the strokes progressed, the red glow grew increasingly dense. When Shaoke completed the final meditation fluctuation in his space, the writing of the character was about to conclude—all of this was the result of his previous practice.

If the character could not be completed by the time the final meditation ended, failure would await him.

When the last stroke ceased to extend, Shaoke could no longer maintain his intense concentration. The massive expenditure of mental and magical energy made him feel that writing this character consumed more than casting a third-tier spell. More importantly, the drain on his vitality gave him a severe headache. It turned out that this simple character, representing "floating, irritable, and frenzied flames," had consumed nearly one-tenth of Shaoke's vitality, meaning he could only write this simplest magical character ten times.

Of course, he still didn't know how much more complex characters would consume, but he estimated they would undoubtedly require even more. According to the records in books, when a character represented more meanings, the consumption in all aspects would increase rapidly, especially in terms of vitality. This consumption left Shaoke feeling quite helpless, even though he had already increased his vitality through over a decade of meditation.

Looking at the red ancient magical character, Shaoke couldn't help but feel pleased. Although successfully writing this magical character had consumed a great deal of vitality, he still felt it was worthwhile. Not only had he formally gained the ability to write ancient magical characters through this exercise, but he could also use the magical fluctuations imprinted in the character he wrote to gain insights. After all, these fluctuations were a special fusion of power through the character, and by comprehending them, he could enhance his understanding of certain spells.

The red ancient magical character did not linger on the pristine crystal paper for long. After Shaoke briefly contemplated the fluctuations represented by the character, it began to slowly burn. The high-quality crystal paper, usually impervious to water and fire, was quickly reduced to ashes by the flames brought forth by the character.

Seeing this result, Shaoke was not surprised, as he had anticipated such an outcome before writing. This time, the issue lay with the magical ink. Pseudo-dragon blood ink could not be used to write ancient magical characters that would be preserved long-term on ordinary magical paper. It could only achieve lasting preservation when used to write ancient magical characters in a spellbook. Of course, even that preservation required some auxiliary magical characters. After all, even the most powerful entities fade with the passage of time, let alone these ancient magical characters.

Quickly recording his recent insights in Chinese on his Spell Record, Shaoke began to meditate to recover from his earlier expenditure. After completing this, he took another sheet of high-quality crystal paper and resumed his process of writing ancient magical characters. Of course, he rested periodically during his practice, and his exercises were measured. When he felt he could no longer endure further vitality consumption, he would stop and either speak or chant the ancient magical characters.

Chanting ancient magical characters did not consume too much of the Spellcaster's vitality, but it did require a significant amount of mental and magical energy. After several days of practice, Shaoke chanted the Scorching Ray spell using the Ancient Magic Language and found that the spell's consumption had doubled. However, the spellcasting time was reduced by two-thirds, and the spell's power increased by more than double. If Shaoke's hand-sealing techniques were not so rudimentary, the spell's power would not have been much weaker than that of a normal Blazing Ray. Of course, this inference would still require Shaoke to verify in the future.

When Shaoke attempted to write or speak some slightly more complex ancient magical characters, he failed due to his limited ability. But he was not angered by this, as being able to write and speak even a few ancient magical characters was a good start. He believed that as his rank increased, he would definitely be able to write all ancient magical characters completely.

On this day, while Shaoke was attempting to replace some ancient magical characters with ancient magical script in his incantations, a familiar guest came to disturb him.

"Mage Xueye, congratulations on your promotion to the Fourth Tier. The Mage Corps has issued an order. If it is convenient for you now, please come with me to meet some High-rank Mages. They have some matters to discuss with you." The mage, who often came to Shaoke's place to deliver mission rewards, glanced at the crystal papers and pseudo-dragon blood bottles scattered messily on the table and immediately understood what the mage before him was doing.

He hadn't expected the other party to start practicing ancient magical characters so early, and it seemed he had succeeded. After all, not every mage above the Fourth Tier could write and speak these ancient magical characters, as it depended not only on strength but also on personal talent. Some High-rank Mages could write and chant most powerful magical characters but had no success with these ancient magical characters. Of course, other scripts also depended on individual talent.

Looking at the Third Tier Mage who had come to deliver the message, Shaoke quickly noticed the other's poorly concealed surprise and envy, which secretly pleased him. After summoning the maid to tidy the room, Shaoke followed the other mage away. After passing through several large spaces, they reached their destination.

In a vast space nearly a hundred meters high, dozens of wide, long tables, each hundreds of meters in length, stood sparsely arranged. The tabletops were covered with black silk embroidered with patterns of gems or high-quality magic materials. The high-backed chairs on either side were also draped with the same black silk, though in smaller pieces.

The mage led Shaoke to the other end of the long table, where several High-rank Mages sat in chairs, quietly awaiting Shaoke's arrival. After Shaoke paid his respects to the mages, he sat on a chair draped with black silk.

The seemingly randomly embedded gems of various colors, once Shaoke sat down, brought him a comfortable sensation, as if a maid were gently pressing certain points on his body with her small hands. After a short while, warm currents emanated from the gems, slowly flowing across his body, making Shaoke almost moan in pleasure. Fortunately, the proper etiquette expected of a mage prevented him from such impolite behavior.

"Mage Xueye!" A Seventh Tier Mage seated in the center flipped through the black paper in his hand, which recorded all of Shaoke's important information within the Death Mage Corps. "First, congratulations on your successful promotion to the Fourth Tier." The other mages also expressed their joy at Shaoke's promotion. Of course, this was merely the customary courtesy among mages and didn't signify anything deeper.

After Shaoke thanked each of the mages according to etiquette, the Seventh Tier Mage in the center continued, "Do you choose to remain with the Death Mage Corps? Or will you return to your original legion?" He then added, "If you leave the Death Mage Corps, you will lose access to many benefits, though the promises made in the initial agreement will still be strictly honored by us." The Seventh Tier Mage then fell silent, awaiting Shaoke's decision.

"I wish to return to the Blizzard Legion," Shaoke stated without hesitation, offering an apology to the Seventh Tier Mage. However, the mage paid no mind to Shaoke's choice and merely smiled politely, as any proper mage would. "If you heard about the treatment of Fourth Tier Mages serving here, I believe you would never consider leaving the Death Mage Corps again." With that, he handed Shaoke a scroll of black paper detailing the duties and benefits of Fourth Tier Mages within the Death Mage Corps. Of course, Shaoke did not open it to read at that moment.

Seeing that the mage before him had firmly decided to leave, the Seventh Tier Mage said nothing more but sighed softly. "No matter the time, place, or rank, as long as you express to the military your desire to join the Death Mage Corps, you will always be welcome here." He then handed over the black paper filled with Shaoke's information.

"There are only two copies of such records here. One will be kept here permanently along with the records from when you first arrived, and the copy in your hands is for you to handle as you see fit."

Looking at the document written in modern magical script, Shaoke, with the mage's permission, used the flame at the tip of his staff to burn it. "Thank you!" After reading the document, Shaoke offered another simple word of thanks to the Seventh Tier Mage.