Chapter 23 (1/2)
Chapter 23: The Treasure of the Academy
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Lower Magic Academy of Flemmings.
Some Dark Elf Assassins still milled around the academy, but Celine disposed of each of them with just a swipe of her sword.
Then, she and Link foraged through the entire academy. They searched the library, the dean’s tower and all the other mysterious towers around the school. Yet they found not a single piece of valuable gear. Even the low-level magic wands in the Apprentice Dorm were nowhere to be found.
“We’re really unlucky. The Dark Elf Assassins took everything,” Link sighed.
Almost everything of value was gone. Throughout their search, all they had found was a stack of basic magic books and a small pile of around 1300 gold coins.
They had found more than 50 magic books and more than 20 pounds worth of gold coins. Link couldn’t carry all that, so he just left them in the care of Celine. The demon princess had dimensional storage items, and so could hold as many items as she wanted.
This world had dimensional storage items that could be used as portable storage, but such gear was extremely expensive. The most basic dimensional storage ring cost 3000 gold. Link didn’t even dare to think about such a thing at this point.
They left the Alchemy Tower for last.
The doors to the Alchemy Tower had been broken down. When they walked in, they saw a mess and several corpses lying on the ground. The Dark Elves hadn’t managed to take most of the alchemy equipment as they were too large and heavy, so they had just destroyed it instead. The cabinet that stored the alchemy materials had been left in disarray, excluding the valuable materials, which were all gone.
But since the Dark Elves hadn’t had much time, they’d left some things behind in their haste.
One of the drawers in the potions cabinet was only half open. Link walked over, pulled it out, and saw a crystal vial containing a light blue liquid.
The interface showed its information:
Low-level Mana Potion
Quality: Normal
Effect: Raises a Magician’s Mana by 100 Points after drinking it.
(Note: The potion is slightly toxic. Do not consume more than 1 vial per day.)
Link took a vial out, pulled off the cork, and chugged it down.
He felt some discomfort in his stomach once he swallowed it, a side effect of the potion. But at the same time, a cool sensation spread across his body and finally concentrated within his head. His mind instantly felt much clearer.
He checked his stats again. He now had 145 Mana Points.
Not bad. It was enough to deal with just a few opponents, but far from enough to slow the advance of the Dark Elf Army. Link foraged further and found another crystal vial full of a light green solution.
Low-level Mana Recovery Potion.
Quality: Normal
Effect: After drinking, Mana Recovery Speed doubles for two hours.
(Note: Drinking multiple vials does not further increase effect.)
Link drank it without hesitation. His Mana Recovery Speed became 27.6 Points per hour.
But it still wasn’t enough!
The alchemy hall only had basic potions. Flemmings Magic Academy was a Lower Academy that only served to provide introductory studies after all.
But no matter how inferior, all magic institutions had treasures of their own!
The Alchemy Tower held the Flemmings Magic Academy’s prized possession, Link’s target and ultimate objective of returning here!
He walked around inside the Alchemy Tower, finally stopping before a tapestry. A smooth wall stood behind it. If his senses weren’t wrong, it was probably a magic door!
Magic Door
Level-3 Magic
Effect: Creates a flawless, solid screen—the ideal way to seal a passage.
The Magic Door was cleverly concealed. It blended perfectly into the walls beside it. Finding it would have been an impossible task for one not familiar with magic.
The Dark Elves were all outsiders to magic, so the magic door had been left untouched. This made Link rather relieved. The door being intact meant that the academy’s Magicians hadn’t had time to use what was behind it.
“Celine, can you open this door?” Link asked.
“Of course. Not a problem,” she smiled. Taking out her crystal, blue sword, she strode over and swung it at the door.
With a loud boom, the jade-like, smooth magic door leading to the hall on the second floor was forced open.
With Celine’s power, destroying the Level-3 Spell protecting the door had been as easy as crushing an egg.
A spiral staircase appeared behind the door. Link strode in and followed the stairs up into a small, secret room on the second floor.
The room was empty except for a square cabinet three feet wide, sitting in the middle. The cabinet was dark purple, the color of precious mahogany, and had gold wire embellishing its edges. It looked extremely grand.
Link heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the cabinet. Despite the game having been made much more crudely, it looked as if the crucial details were still the same.
He had read about the treasure chest in the game forums.
There was a novice Magician who had somehow managed to break down the hidden, Level-3 Magic Door and found the secret room behind it. There had been a grand chest in the room.
When the game player had opened the chest, he had found an incredible potion inside it. After drinking it, the game player’s strength had increased exponentially, allowing him to defeat and slay all the Dark Elves on the academy grounds, including the Magician Holmes!
Link quickly walked up to the chest and tried to open it, but the thin, clear film of light indicating the presence of a magic seal enveloped it. There was no way he could open it with his current powers.
“Let me.” Celine walked over, preparing to break it open by force.
“Don’t!” Link stopped her hastily.
Though he didn’t recognize the seal, he could feel the Mana flowing within it. He had the feeling that if they destroyed it with brute force, the Mana in the seal would explode. The explosion wouldn’t be strong, but it would be enough to destroy the contents of the chest, leaving him with nothing.
“Then what should we do?” There was no way such a beautiful chest didn’t contain anything.
“Let me see.”
Link closed his eyes and made a mental map of the flow of Mana within the chest. After about five seconds, he used his wand to tap three of the magic runes. “These three runes are probably the key to it. If we can destroy them at the same time, the magic seal should disappear.”