58: Chapter 58 Cultivation and New Equipment

Richard took the notebook from her hand and flipped through a few pages.

The contents were indeed as she had said. The first half contained detailed techniques for Charm and Polymorph, while the second half detailed the crafting and usage methods of the Lesser Soul-Binding Flask, as well as Lucius's own "feeding records."

Every single entry represented a human life. He closed the notebook and placed it back into Cecilia's hands.

"I think you should learn Charm and Polymorph," he said.

"As for the Lesser Soul-Binding Flask... we can make one if the opportunity arises in the future, but only use it to absorb enemies and those who deserve to die."

"For example, those chaotic monsters on Golden Island. I believe absorbing the souls of those monsters wouldn't be considered an evil act; instead, it would be a form of release for them."

Richard, on the other hand, did not think of it as something evil. As long as he could become stronger without indiscriminately killing the innocent, it was fine.

Cecilia looked down at the notebook in her hands and remained silent for a long moment.

She looked up, the light in her blood-red eyes no longer evading his gaze.

"I will start practicing Charm and Polymorph now. As for the soul binding bottle... let me think about it some more."

She paused, shifting her gaze from the notebook to the dimensional bag in Richard's hand.

"The dimensional bag and the things inside are your spoils of war. After all, you were the one who killed him."

"Don't worry, I'll distribute them reasonably." Richard tied the dimensional bag shut again and stuffed it into his backpack.

Richard continued, "As for the members of this Holy Blood Court organization, we still need to remain vigilant."

Cecilia, however, was very calm, explaining her reasoning logically:

"I don't think they'll come looking for me anytime soon. That male Vampire seemed quite capable, yet you killed him in a single blow. It will definitely strike fear into their hearts. Not to mention, this organization was recently suppressed by a coalition of temples."

"Mhm, that makes sense." Richard nodded.

He handed the blood plasma bottles and the notebook to Cecilia, while the remaining gold coins, pearls, blood amber, and the bag of soil of unknown use were sorted and put away.

When Appraisal swept over the blood amber, it provided a description: this was blood solidified by Vampires into amber-like crystals for easy long-term storage and trade, and it was highly valuable.

The Appraisal result for the soil was "coffin soil," a spellcasting material used by Vampires to cast certain special spells. It held no value for him, but perhaps Morpheus would be interested.

There was nothing else of particular value.

This was the first true spatial equipment he had owned since crossing over. Killing someone and taking their treasures really felt amazing!

He packed the corpse's ashes into an empty potion bottle, told Cecilia to go back and rest first, and took some time to visit the city guard.

The duty officer of the city guard was a clean-shaven middle-aged man who initially expressed skepticism at Richard's claim of having "killed a Vampire."

But once Richard submitted the ashes in the potion bottle and his adventurer badge, he quickly accepted Richard's story.

After writing a formal report, he handed Richard a bronze medal.

The city emblem of Blackwater City was engraved on the medal, and on the back, a line of small text was written in the common tongue: Badge of Honor.

The officer told him that with five such medals, he could apply for honorary citizenship in Blackwater City, which granted the eligibility to purchase property, property discounts, and other tax benefits.

"Of course, most people don't live long enough to collect five."

The officer added in a matter-of-fact tone, then pushed the medal toward him.

Richard pocketed the medal and turned to head back to his lodging.

The next half-month was the most fulfilling yet torturous period he had experienced since crossing over.

By day, he continued to forge iron alongside Balun at the blacksmith shop. At night, he returned to his lodging to sit cross-legged on his bed and practice his meditation method. Once finished, he would relentlessly study one of the [Mage Armor] scrolls.

Mage Armor was a low-level spell. According to Bartok, a novice Mage Apprentice under a mentor's guidance could typically master it within three days.

Richard had no one to guide him. Although he had transcribed the runes written on the scroll, he had not truly mastered the application of the spell.

The only thing he could do was study the arrangement of the runes on the scroll over and over again.

Using his casting experience with Firebolt to reverse-engineer the casting logic of Mage Armor, he repeatedly attempted to guide mana from his fingertips into the surrounding air.

He failed time and time again.

The flow of mana always fractured between his fingertips and the air.

He could feel the mana taking shape at his fingertips, but the moment it left them to enter the air, it would dissipate.

His mana was insufficient; after every few attempts, he had to stop to meditate and recover his mana before trying again.

After repeating this hundreds of times, his head felt as if a bucket of paste had been poured in through his ears. It was groggy, and his temples throbbed violently.

Finally, late one night half a month later, as he sat cross-legged on his bed with his eyes closed, guiding his mana, the mana at his fingertips did not dissipate.

It adhered to the surface of the skin on his forearm, then spread along the contours of his skin.

The mana formed a translucent forcefield around his body that was so thin it was almost invisible.

The forcefield clung tightly to the contours of his body like a completely transparent film.

One wouldn't even notice it without looking closely, but his skin could feel its presence, as if wrapped in an extremely thin layer of cool water.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the faint, barely perceptible shimmer on his arm.

Then, Richard actively deactivated the magic, and the forcefield quickly dissipated.

Leaning back against the wall, he let out a long breath, a rare smile finally appearing on his face.

[Spell learned: Mage Armor. Releases an invisible armor of mana that manifests around you, capable of blocking a certain amount of damage. Cost: 1 mana.]

He opened his status panel. In the mage skills column, a new line had appeared:

[Mage Armor lv0 (1/50)].

Just like Firebolt, he needed to repeatedly cast it to increase his proficiency, but at least he had mastered the spell, giving him an extra means of protection.

Next, he sold all the blood amber at a gemstone shop owned by the chamber of commerce.

The buyer was a lean old man wearing a monocle. He inspected each piece of blood amber a full three times before making an offer: a total of three hundred and twenty gold coins.

Combined with his previous savings and the hundred-odd gold coins from the dimensional bag, his total assets had surpassed the thousand-gold-coin mark.

He returned to Balun's blacksmith shop and selected an excellent steel breastplate. The steel plate was thick, and its surface was polished to a dark silver, mirror-like sheen.

An embossed ridge extended from the collarbone to the costal arch down the center of the breastplate's front.

This design not only increased structural strength but also dispersed the impact force to both sides when struck from the front.

The pauldrons featured a three-piece layered structure, ensuring his range of motion would not be restricted.

The sides of the waist were slightly tapered to fit the body's natural curves, ensuring it wouldn't pinch uncomfortably when worn.

The entire breastplate weighed dozens of pounds, which to the current Richard felt no different from wearing a thin jacket.

It cost a whopping four hundred and twenty gold coins, carving out a huge chunk from his savings before they could even get warm.

Next, he picked out a horned steel helmet.

On both sides of the top of the helmet, there was a short, backward-curving horn.

The surface was given a matte, frosted texture, preventing any reflections that might give away his position.

The metal nasal guard extended down to just above his cheekbones, and the eye slits were wide enough not to obstruct his field of vision.

From its appearance, this helmet would make anyone at first glance peg him as a "brawny warrior charging into battle" rather than a spellcasting mage.

This horned helmet cost him another thirty gold coins.