Chapter 47 Predicting the Future
The development of the matter was beyond Amber's expectations, and he could only drag the headless brother back to his castle.
Having his drinking mood interrupted, the headless man could only turn his attention to the paladin Alan Watson, under the pretext of "seeing if the new generation of paladins has become more powerful."
Amber Xiu only had time to remind him: "Don't kill him." Then he started to get busy.
According to the custom of the Alchemy City, after the unfortunate administrator reported the news, it would take at least five hours for the members of the Alchemist Council to receive the news. Then, it would take another hour or two for them to decide who would negotiate with Amber.
Amber still has seven hours. If he wants to get the most benefit during the negotiations, he needs to be prepared during this time.
Amberxiu moved out a large pile of magic materials, and even captured Harvey, the wizard apprentice who was locked in the cell, and forced him to do hard labor.
Harvey, with a confused look on his face, helped Amberxiu and began to set up a huge magic circle.
At the beginning, he didn't know what Amber was doing, but as the magic circle slowly took shape, Harvey recognized several functions of this magic circle.
“Sacrifice… predict the future… magic channel… materialize…”
The more he knew, the more cold sweat broke out on Harvey's forehead.
This is a magic ritual unique to the prophecy school, and Harvey has only read about it in books. The effect of the ritual is simple and direct. After offering sacrifices, the future can be predicted to a certain extent. The more precious the sacrifices, the more specific the predicted future.
Harvey just felt his hands and feet stiff.
What could be more precious than sacrificing a life? Obviously, he was the sacrifice to be sacrificed. The lich finally lost his patience and was not going to let him eat, drink and read magic books for free in the castle.
So, do you want to resist?
Harvey began to hesitate.
Harvey had been locked up in the castle for the past few days, and he had thought about escaping. He had been reading books to improve his spellcasting ability as much as possible. It was not surprising that Harvey had gained a lot.
The School of Prophecy is a niche within a niche, but there is a lot of relevant information in Amber's library, which makes Harvey fascinated. Compared with when he was just captured, Harvey feels that he has been reborn.
So, can we struggle a bit?
Every magic ritual is very precise, and any mistake may cause the ritual to fail, and then cause a severe backlash. Perhaps, this can be used to your advantage, and if you are lucky, you can even severely damage the lich.
Harvey didn't want to kill Amberhu. The lich would not die until the life box was destroyed. He only wanted to destroy Amberhu's current body and escape from the castle when he was reborn.
"Calm down, I can do it. The key point of this magic ritual is... here... if I modify it a little bit..."
While Amber was not paying attention, Harvey quietly changed the structure of the magic circle.
The tiny change was not enough to destroy the entire magic ritual, but it was just the beginning. Harvey began to make various small moves, leaving a lot of "flaws" in the magic circle.
If Amberxiu hadn't discovered it and really used this magic circle to perform a sacrifice, he would definitely encounter severe magic backlash. Even if his body couldn't explode, the magic power in his body would be able to run wild, and that would be his chance to escape.
Everything is ready, and Harvey is mentally prepared, just waiting...
"Hey, why are you standing at the place where the sacrifices are placed? Stand at the place where you host the ceremony." said Amberxiu.
Harvey: “Huh?!!!”
Amber continued, "What? I asked you to preside over the ceremony. You have read so much information about the prophecy school these days. You can't even see the effect of the magic circle? That would be very disappointing to me."
Harvey asked in disbelief: "Could it be...could it be that I am not used as a sacrifice?"
Amber Xiu said in a mocking tone: "What are you thinking? Of course, the more precious the sacrifice, the better the effect. You are not even worth 10,000 gold coins. The cost of my magic circle is close to 200,000 gold coins. Isn't it a waste to use you as a sacrifice? Recognize your own value, little guy!"
Harvey: ...
Although he didn't have to die, Harvey still felt a little insulted. Not much, but very unpleasant.
No, now is not the time to think about this.
He had just tampered with the magic circle so much. If he were to preside over the ceremony himself, he would be the one to die.
Harvey suddenly felt like a clown in a circus.
Amber looked at Harvey who was hesitating until his legs became weak with fear. Then he sneered and said, "Okay, stop pretending. Do you think I don't know what you did just now? Don't worry, stand up. You won't die."
"Ah? You know everything?" Harvey said in surprise.
"Nonsense, your ability is far from enough. I had already readjusted it when you made your move."
Harvey was even more surprised and asked curiously: "Why did you do this? Isn't it just to make me look like a clown?"
After this period of contact, Harvey felt that Amber was not the kind of undead with bad taste. Every action of his was so... economical, and he would never waste anything if he could. The cost of this magic ritual was so high, and he would never let him mess around just to tease him.
Harvey felt that he needed to ask clearly, even if it might anger this strange lich.
"Of course it's for testing. You are a magic apprentice of the School of Prophecy, right?"
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
Harvey admitted frankly, "I never thought of hiding this matter. Besides, Master Ultraman, you are also a wizard walking on the path of the School of Prophecy, aren't you? There are so many books related to the School of Prophecy in your collection, and they are all unique copies that can't be found anywhere else."
Amber shook his head and said, "No, I have given up."
"Why?" Harvey's face was full of confusion.
Amber Xiu did not answer, but asked: "Let me ask you, if you predict that you will die tomorrow, what will you do?"
"This..." Harvey hesitated for a moment, then said, "I might take advantage of this last day to record down as much of what I have learned as possible."
Amber smiled and said, "You see, this is the difference. I can't accept my fate calmly, so I just give up."
Harvey seemed to be thinking about something, then asked, "But I'm just a prisoner. What do you want me to do?"
"Of course you have to work for me. Your lord has clearly refused to pay the ransom. You must work for me to repay your debt. Now that you are in charge of this ceremony, I can give you two gold coins as wages to offset one day's food expenses."
Harvey: ...
Two gold coins for that little bit of bread? That's worse than robbery! Amber Xiu didn't care whether the price was appropriate or not, and continued, "Okay, let's get back to the point. I allowed you to tinker with the magic circle before just to see how much you knew about it. Now I am very satisfied.
"Harvey, you are no longer an apprentice. You are already a formal wizard of the School of Prophecy."
When Harvey heard what Ambershu said, he couldn't help but get excited. No matter what his position was, it was definitely something to be proud of to be recognized by the Ultraman Master in front of him.
Amber ordered, "Okay, get to work."
After saying that, Amberxiu reluctantly poured a large amount of gold coins into the high platform where the sacrifices were placed. At least 300,000 gold coins splashed out, making his ribs ache. Most of the previous payment made by Withered Rose was gone.
Harvey: ...
It turns out that gold coins are the sacrifice. It doesn't seem reasonable, but seeing that Amberxiu's soul fire is trembling, there seems to be nothing wrong with this sacrifice.
Harvey stopped being distracted and began to preside over the ceremony seriously, while asking, "Master Ultraman, what do you want to divine?"
Amber Xiu said very seriously: "About the secret of the sewers of Alchemy City."
(End of this chapter)