End of the Magic Era - Chapter 1196
Chapter 1196: Competition
‘Hell, if I weren’t afraid that Sir Mafa would suddenly burst out in anger and eliminate these two morons, why else would I be helping those idiots of the Hardward Family? No, if we were somewhere else, I would have definitely approved of Sir Mafa getting rid of these two fools.’
Stebe and Watby’s expressions changed. The Merlin Family was the strongest force in the Odin Kingdom at the moment. Even the Cloud Tower and the Black Tower couldn’t compare to the Merlin Family.
And the mastermind behind it was the famous Mafa Merlin… Even the Hardward Family knew about it.
Stebe paled as he thought of that huge, deathly pressure and immediately understood that it hadn’t been an illusion.
‘Heavens, this is Mafa Merlin… He is even younger than portrayed in the rumors. As an Archmage, he killed the Patriarch of the Charlotte Family, a Demon Overlord, and a Magic Tool Incarnation that could display the power of the Heaven Rank all on his own.
‘It turned out to be this guy… My sight isn’t what it used to be…”
Watby’s expression slightly changed, but he instantly sneered and stood up, even if he didn’t look very confident. All the forces of the Andlusa Kingdom knew of Lin Yun’s achievements before becoming the Patriarch of the Merlin Family.
“It turned out to be Sir Mafa Merlin. We came to attend a gathering, but it is an alchemist gathering. Only Artisans received an invitation, no one cares about one’s strength.
“No one cares about wealth either. Those with the most wealth are walking on the wrong fork of the alchemy path. They can’t be considered pure alchemists!”
Watby and Stebe didn’t dare to say too much and only expressed their opinion of Lin Yun in terms of alchemy. Just like Sky City, he was walking on the wrong path.
They didn’t mention anything outside of alchemy. After all, after Lin Yun became a Patriarch, rumors started spreading wildly in the Andlusa Kingdom. He was bad-tempered, had strong fighting power, was extremely young, and was the sharpest blade of the Merlin Family within the past millennium.
Everything Lin Yun had done spread far and wide and was summed up to one thing: Never provoke him or you will die.
Raphael didn’t know what had just happened. Lin Yun hadn’t resisted at all. He had only glanced at Stebe, and the latter paled.
But hearing Watby bringing up alchemy, Raphael sneered and took out his flying shuttle.
“Sir Watby, everyone knows about Sir Mafa being an Artisan. Moreover, he has been invited by the Starry Sky College. Are you calling into question the decision of the Starry Sky College?
“This is the flying shuttle that Sir Mafa helped me remodel. Do you even have this kind of power?”
Watby’s expression turned serious as he saw the shuttle that Raphael took out.
The magic patterns on the shuttle were gorgeous and powerful. The layout looked wrong, but as a whole, it seemed perfect.
There were even things that he couldn’t completely understand. But at that instant, a sneer could be seen on Watby’s face.
“These aren’t the methods of a pure alchemist, but the power of a mage. It cannot show his strength on the alchemy path. Moreover, there are powerful Artisans, but also weak Artisans. There are still a couple of Artisans trying to sneak into the Starry Sky College even though their strength is lacking, and they only know one or two Artisan-level tricks.
“Let me say this… The true strength of an alchemist is reflected in their foundation. Only alchemists with the strongest foundations can have true alchemy methods!
“Moreover, as an alchemist, I only believe what I see. Truth can never be found in rumors.”
Watby was firmly focused on Lin Yun’s alchemy skills. Gurud was about to say something, but Raphael immediately stopped him while smiling. He squinted and waited on the side, not saying anything.
‘That foolish Watby is actually questioning Sir Mafa in the field of alchemy? And on foundations? How could he even compare?
‘What a joke. Sir Mafa isn’t just a very powerful alchemist. His alchemy foundations are unimaginably deep and stable. If his alchemy foundations weren’t extremely solid, how could Sir Mafa have such high proficiency in potioneering, puppeteering, refining, and in the field of arrays?
‘Watby is courting death. So even the rumored pure alchemist family can be afraid of Sir Mafa? Sir Mafa’s legend has already spread far and wide in the Andlusa Kingdom. These two guys are clearly afraid that Sir Mafa might burst out in anger and suddenly get rid of them.
‘Didn’t you say something about sacrificing your own life for the sake of truth? How come you are afraid now and want to challenge Sir Mafa in the field of alchemy?
‘Idiots. The Hardward Family is truly a family of idiots…’
Watby saw Lin Yun remaining silent and suddenly sneered.
“Sir Mafa Merlin, are you afraid of challenges? Artisans should never be afraid of challenges. Challenges are also a way to find the path of truth.”
‘This Mafa Merlin is really powerful and irascible. As long as he had an excuse, he would unhesitantly kill someone with no regard for the others. He is an extremely cruel guy.
‘However, it is also said that he is an Artisan. The alchemists of the Merlin Family’s alchemy businesses were all under his care. But it is said that none of the potions of the Merlin Family were compounded by Mafa Merlin. The rumor that he is most proficient in potioneering might not necessarily be true.
‘Then I should challenge him to calculate the ratios of ingredients and the configuration of the medicinal ingredients in a potion. That’s a very complicated calculation, and the higher grade the potion, the more different the ratio of ingredients. But it is a fundamental skill in alchemy.
‘And that fundamental skill has to be gained through experience. Relying on pure calculation ability won’t work. It relies on the patterns and experiences that an alchemist gains through countless calculations. This Mafa Merlin is so young, yet so powerful. He must have spent most of his time increasing his magical abilities and researching magic. He definitely shouldn’t have much alchemy experience. Moreover, his abilities can’t have been tempered for too long. They are definitely not good…’
“Since it’s Sir Watby’s wish, then let’s get on with it. As per the customs, you issued the challenge, so you can pick the theme.”
Lin Yun originally didn’t want to bother with the grudges of the Hardward Family and Sky City. Even if they crushed each other, it wouldn’t have much to do with him, but these two Hardwards were trying to stomp on Lin Yun and arrogantly pressured Raphael and Gurud. They shouldn’t blame others if they ended up being humiliated.
Watby sneered as he took out a crystal table from his spatial ring. He then took out a big pile of materials and put them on the crystal table one after another.
“Sir Mafa Merlin, I purchased these materials on the outside. Let’s calculate the ratio of materials needed to craft the potion. I believe I don’t need to tell you what potion these materials can be compounded into?”
Watby took out a quill, ink, paper, and made his preparations on the side. As for Lin Yun, he calmly took out his calculation tools.
“Gurud, can you inspect the materials? These materials have yet to be processed.”
Gurud was an upright person. To put it rudely, he was heartless. There was only space for alchemy in his mind.
After inspecting the materials, he straightforwardly nodded.
“There is no issue with the materials.”
At this time, Stebe suddenly said, “It would be boring if there was no real reward in a match between Artisans. I have a Hurricane Core Gem from a small Wind Elemental Plane. Will someone dare to bet with me? I’ll bet on Sir Watby’s victory.”
Raphael looked at that gem and his eyes immediately shone brightly. He then silently took out a piece of ore that looked like a chunk of earth but flickered with a metallic luster.
“Sir Stebe, I have a piece of Dalaran Ore. I believe its value is definitely not below your Hurricane Core Gem. I’ll bet on Sir Mafa’s victory.”
Watby glanced at Stebe and rebuked him, “Sir Stebe, how could you pollute a pure alchemy contest with other things… Well, let’s forget it since Sir Raphael doesn’t mind.
“I wonder if Sir Mafa is willing to gamble… I just obtained a bud of Holysong Blood, and it was successfully transplanted. As long as it blooms, you can obtain the most perfect raw materials.
“I wonder if Sir Mafa is interested?”
Lin Yun squinted as he looked at the potted flower that Watby took out. It had dense green leaves and a blood-colored flower bud at the top. Small runes were roaming the surface of the flower bud, and a faint singing voice could be heard.
‘Watby is really lucky, he still managed to find that material. This is a peculiar plant that can only be watered by the blood of a Holysong Elf. It’s already extinct in this era.
‘Seeds can’t be found, but this guy actually found a living one. Such dumb luck… To actually get a bud…
‘But from that guy’s words, the Holysong Blood is only a medicinal material and can only be used once…
‘It’s of little value if it can only be used once, but that doesn’t influence how precious it is. He said so much because he wants me to take out something of equal value.’
“Sir Watby, this is a Molten Rock, which can only be produced in the Abyss. It should be more or less comparable to that Holysong Blood.”
A trace of amazement flashed in Watby’s eyes before he nodded.
To alchemists, Molten Rock was the best tool to control flames. After being made into alchemy devices for controlling fire, the temperature of the flames could be controlled with shocking precision.
Each time it appeared in Noscent, it would make a large number of potioneering alchemists go crazy.
But Watby didn’t know that Lin Yun had hundreds of those in his Demiplane. This rock could only be found in the den of a Flame Demon Overlord, or when the saliva of a Flame Demon Monarch fell onto the ground and solidified.
Thus, Lin Yun had as much of it as he wanted, and every top-notch alchemist of the Merlin Family possessed a compounding device made out of Molten Rock.
Once the two of them settled on the bet, Gurud announced the start of the duel.
Hearing that, Watby immediately immersed himself in calculations. These materials all belonged to him to start with. He didn’t need to use mana to probe their state and could directly start the calculations.
Lin Yun indifferently glanced at Watby and casually released a few probes. He grasped the source of these ingredients and the rough medicinal deviations before slowly picking up his quill.
Both sides rapidly moved their quills and wrote down dense and complex sets of data.
On the side, Stebe was overflowing with confidence.
‘That impetuous Mafa Merlin is actually an Artisan. What a joke… Alchemy isn’t something a violent guy can grasp. And he still dared to agree to Sir Watby’s bet involving the calculation of ingredients’ ratios. He is really naive.
‘These medicinal ingredients were carefully chosen by Sir Watby, and he knows every slight deviation in them as if they were parts of his body. Look, Mafa Merlin is so slow. Could it be that he already gave up since he knew he would lose?
‘Ah, I’ll be able to obtain that Dalaran Ore as long as he loses. That’s something really valuable and troublesome to obtain. It’s worth more than the Hurricane Gem Core I obtained.
‘Once we arrive at the Starry Sky College, I must let everyone know about this. We shall see if he has the courage to join the alchemist gathering after that!
‘Mafa Merlin’s reputation will be completely sullied in the alchemy world. Hmpf, once we return to the Andlusa Kingdom, let’s see who will still dare to cooperate with the Merlin Family!’
On the other side, Gurud was slightly worried, but he had to uphold the fairness of alchemy under these circumstances.
Next to him, Raphael was squinting and was trying to cover up his smiling expression.
‘That Watby is pretty good in the field of alchemy, but that depends on who he is compared to.
‘Sir Mafa could definitely compare to my teacher in the field of alchemy. He is even better than my teacher when it comes to some details.
‘Sir Mafa’s Magic Tools and his mage army’s Magic Tools were crafted by none other than himself, and those are definitely very powerful. He also has a powerful puppet army. His abilities in the puppeteering field are not inferior to his abilities in the field of arrays.
‘But whether it’s Sir Mafa or people close to him, they all say that he shines the brightest in the field of potioneering. It’s just that Sir Mafa usually publicly made potions that weren’t too advanced, with the best being the Health Potion.
‘Sir Mafa never speaks empty words. If he says something, he means it. He is even too modest sometimes. But since he acknowledges that his potioneering skills are the best, then getting rid of that Watby ought to be child’s play, even if that Watby pulled a trick.’
Watby rapidly wrote on the pieces of paper, while on the opposite side, Lin Yun’s writing speed had greatly slowed down, only writing a few pieces of data each second. Watby had already filled a dozen sheets of paper, while Lin Yun had yet to finish writing two sheets’ worth.
Watby raised an eyebrow as he saw this. He then felt even more confident and his writing speed greatly increased, as did his calculation speed.
After fifteen minutes, Watby dropped his quill and wrote down the last part of the final result.
Lin Yun also put down his quill and organized his sheets of paper.
“Sir Mafa Merlin, this is the result of my calculations, you can come take a look.”
Watby was extremely confident as he put his answer on the crystal table while Lin Yun casually put down five sheets of paper.
Gurud, as the judge, checked the answers of the two. When he finished, he looking at Lin Yun as if he was a monster.
Watby smiled with confidence.
