918 Outwitting One Another Part 1 (1/2)
Saleen made a decision in his mind. It seemed that the Star Gathering Needle worked like magic books of mages, which was something capable of storing constellation powers and casting attacks.
Saleen hardly used magic books himself, and it was a personal habit more than anything else. In actuality, a mage who had complete magic books would probably have not even considered using magic staffs.
The Star Gathering Needle of astrologers was just like magic books were to mages. It was equipment best suited to their profession.
The elder inspected the magic tower carefully for Saleen and said slowly, ”There is nothing wrong with the magic tower, but it lacks magic arrays. The magic power furnace alone will not do.”
”I know, and that is why I need your help.” Saleen sounded way more polite after hearing the elder's words. It was the normal attitude to take when making trades. Being trapped for eighteen-hundred years, the principle of equivalent exchange was only honored when he helped with the repairs of the magic tower.
”With the original magic arrays installed in the tower being completely destroyed, I cannot even begin duplicating them,” the elder said while feeling insecure within. It was possible for him to duplicate the original magic arrays but doing so would come at a great price. To take constellation power from the astrology tower's core would have required far more energy than expected.
The astrology tower was the very thing that rooted his existence. If he spent too much energy on it and was unable to regenerate the energy lost, there would have been no need to wait for Saleen to return, as he would have died sooner than those in the cemetery.
”How could I possibly ask a great astrologer for something like that. Sir, I only needed a small favor, and that would be to refine this mass of elementite, upgrading it to grade-18.”
Saleen's words made the elder let out a bitter laugh. There was no way he could refuse. While it would still take a lot to refine the elementite, it was nonetheless something he could easily do. If he was a mage, he would have rejected such a proposal and agreed to craft magic arrays for Saleen instead. As he was not a mage, the crafting of magic arrays, which should have been something simple, would have cost him more than refining the elementite.
While the drain for refining the elementite was great, it was fortunate that the process would yield some extra energy, which would be able to be absorbed by the astrology tower and make up for some losses.
Saleen felt overjoyed. With the elementite upgraded to grade-18, he would then be able to have grade-9 sorcerers craft magic arrays within, when he brought the tower back home.
Grade-18 elementite was something incredibly pure. Crafting magic arrays became comparatively easy, and it would have also been easy to rewrite them. As he already had the knowledge regarding the workings of the magic power furnace, he would be able to make the Magical Element Tower into a flying equipment. That would prove crucial, as enemies would not allow one to simply build magic towers. With a tower capable of flight, Saleen would have been able to drop mages on any battlefield any time.
Having such a magic tower also ensured the safety of mages, as they could easily make their escape when battles were lost.
After putting away the Magical Element Tower away and feeling satisfied, Saleen said, ”Sir, you are indeed sincere. Please tell me then, how will we be signing our contract next?”
The elder moved his lips about like a living person. Saleen had not signed any contracts with him in any of the actions taken. He thought Saleen would have mentioned it, and so he did not dare undermine the mage in any way when he was working. Saleen had chosen to simply forget about the whole thing instead and opted to sign only one contract with him.
Astrologers believe that the fate between people were interconnected. The higher the number of contracts Saleen signed with him, the tighter the entanglement of fate between him and the mage. With the signing of the contract being proposed by Saleen instead of him, it would not have had much effect on Saleen. He was wondering if Saleen actually knew the rules to such matters, or if the mage was just lucky.
Saleen was composed throughout. Even the astrologer, who was hundreds of thousands of years older than him, was unable to see any openings to be exploited from the mage's expressions.
He did not know that Saleen had one instinctive reaction, which was to sign as little number of contracts with the astrologer as possible. The initial request he asked was indeed to deceive the elder somewhat, to have the elder believe that he would have asked about contracts.
Saleen was gambling back there, making a bet that the elder would not dare to do anything underhanded to his equipment, for the sake of signing their second contract. Astrologers were different from mages, as they greatly feared the power contracts posed as they believed deeply in fate. The contracts of astrologers were something specialized in damaging fate.
The elder's soul was housed in the figure, and the reactions of his face were all deliberately made up. While he was frustrated, he nonetheless talked about the contract with Saleen with a smiling face.
”Little mage, we can now exchange names. I'm Gaine, the astrologer.”
”Saleen.” Saleen did not say his surname. There was no need for the exchange of surnames in a contract signed with the astrologer. He wanted as little deep connection with people of that profession as possible.
”Alright, Saleen. Here is my plan. You will learn the script of the astrologers here. I can only teach you the rudiments of astrology. You will need to learn the rest yourself. This won't be difficult for a mage, and you wouldn't need to be too powerful of an astrologer yourself. Grade-10 should suffice.”
”And the reason being?”
”Grade-10 astrologers aren't great combatants, but they are able to read signs of the future. That will help a lot in avoiding untoward incidents.”
”What would I need to do next?”
Gaine took the constellation ring that Saleen had returned to him and said, ”When you reach grade-10, you will be able to open this ring, which will provide you with protection. When the ring is opened, you will not suffer attacks when you are back in the Imperial City of the Abyss. The defensive magic arrays in the city will acknowledge you as an astrologer from this place.”
”What happens then?”
”Then you shall head back to the city and release the heroic spirits from the cemetery.”
Saleen was silent and Gaine continued, ”they no longer have the ability to survive on this plane. As soon as they leave the imperial city, they will all die. No need to worry. They can't hurt you.”