Chapter 35: Artifact

Chapter 35: Artifact

A hat flew to a passageway near the hall amid a Magic Spell.

The hat then grew larger and larger, merging with the passageway.

The passageway seemed unchanged at first glance, but when Louis perceived it in four dimensions, he found it had turned into a ‘Klein bottle’.

Anyone who walked in would feel like entering a maze. Unless they were very skilled at Apparition, it would be hard to get out.

This hat belonged to those three people. They knew how to remove it and were also skilled at Apparition. Yet they did not escape.

Those four people were actually quite capable—at least better than the two unlucky ones from the daytime.

After being hit by the Nightmare Curse, they managed to break free and even launched a counterattack.

At first, they were toying with Louis, but after a few spells, they realized something was wrong.

They discovered the faceless man was learning their Magic!

And he was using it more and more powerfully!

Even more terrifying, their killing moves were either casually deflected or weirdly landed somewhere else (Four-Dimensional Inversion).

That person was clearly just playing with them!

The four of them turned and ran.

But the maze seemed to have changed. The Klein bottle was twisted beyond recognition. Even the owner of the Artifact did not know how to undo the maze.

One of them was quite good at Apparition. His movements looked very skilled.

But who knew what sinister trick that faceless man used? The fleeing wizard found himself still in the same spot after performing Apparition!

And his body was piled together messily, like building blocks.

What was even more horrifying was that after checking his body, he found nothing wrong with himself!

Then, they were all gathered together by Louis and taken down with a single blow.

At the last moment before death, they saw a sky full of dancing snakes. Many black snakes were aiming at the sky, but they exploded inside their own bodies.

This tall hat was the spoils of this encounter.

It was a mid-level Magical Artifact with decent effects. If one did not understand four-dimensional structure, it wouldn’t be easy to detect.

After playing with it for a while, Louis put the tall hat back into his pocket and pulled out a bunch of other random small items.

First were Magic materials. They were all quite good and very expensive.

For example, the silk of a Nether Spider. A small ball was worth over thirty Gold Galleons. There were five or six balls here. And there was the venom of an Eight-Eyed Spider. One pint (500ml) was equivalent to two months’ salary of an ordinary professor, about one hundred Gold Galleons. There was a whole big jar here, about two pints.

There were quite a few other various materials as well.

There were also many good Potions. One special medicine for healing was very effective, capable of regenerating lost limbs. There were also some antidotes and curse-breaking Potions.

Additionally, there were many kinds of Magic Powder, such as Floo Powder, Forgetful Dust, Sleeping Powder, etc. Among them was a type of exorcism powder called ‘Severed-Head Toad Warbler’. This was a Potion made using a living Magical Creature as material through a cruel refining process.

When this exorcism powder was scattered, it would produce a warbler’s cry and could ward off evil. Those four people had even thrown this useless stuff at Louis.

These items basically covered all the essentials a Wizard might need.

After organizing these things, Louis took out some small accessories. They were all Magic tools or low-level Artifacts. Louis kept the interesting ones and tossed the ones he didn’t fancy into the Mirror.

The ‘Louis’ inside the Mirror organized the items thrown into it for a while and said: [Master, if we go through the channels of the Dark Domain, these things would be worth about two hundred Gold Galleons. However, the prices they offer in the Dark Domain are a bit shady. In my opinion, just these few Wands are worth more than two hundred Gold Galleons.]

“Mm, their skills weren’t great, but they used nice stuff. Help me deal with them.” Louis looked up and asked: “What about those four prisoners?”

“They are all wanted criminals!” Stuart sounded excited: “The total bounty exceeds eight hundred Gold Galleons. Later, I will claim it for you in my name.”

Eight hundred Gold Galleons. This surprised Louis a bit. If he could get eight hundred Gold Galleons every week, he would make a Fortune!

One had to know, the salary of a department head professor was only about 60-80 Gold Galleons per month! And being a professor at the Holy Icon Tree was a well-paid job for sure.

“An eight hundred Gold Galleon bounty.” Louis stroked his chin: “It seems these guys did quite a lot of bad things?”

“Exactly! One of these four had even been in prison before. He was known as Spade 7 in the Magic Prison’s Black Prison. His name is ‘Ferne’. I definitely wouldn’t mistake him. Many years ago, he was the Dean of Teaching Affairs at the Holy Oak Academy.

Later, he got into trouble and started committing crimes outside. He became a notorious villain! His life story is very interesting. I can’t wait to see his soul.”

Louis nodded. This ‘Ferne’ gentleman was probably the one who was very skilled at Apparition.

He was the only one among them who had some ability to fight back.

“Spade Seven? What kind of wanted criminal is that?” Louis asked curiously.

Stuart said: [This is an assessment by the Wardens of the Hexagon Magic Prison’s Black Prison for Wizards outside. We don’t just assess prisoners; we also assess those more famous Wizards who have been in the newspapers.]

[Among all Wizards, many have numbers. But only a small handful qualify to be called Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, or Clubs. And the J, Q, K are the Kings.]

Hearing this, Louis nodded. In this world, the images of J, Q, K were all famous Kings and Queens from history. However, the J represented a younger image, and the K represented an elder.

Stuart continued: [The J is an uncrowned king, someone who earned the title purely by their own strength. Q and K belong to Great Noble Families that have once produced a Witch Queen or Sorcery King. They often possess their family’s secret techniques, each one extraordinary. Among these, only the most famous few have all four suits.]

[As for the A, they are important leaders of the Magic Council, Congress, and various academies. And the Jokers… you understand what they are.]

Stuart went on. It seemed except for A and the Jokers, the other rankings often changed, especially in the Black Prison of the Hexagon Magic Prison. Today a Wizard might be a Club 3, tomorrow, if he took down a big shot, he would move up.

But Q and K were rarely challenged because they came from prestigious families or held high positions, with countless followers.

Therefore, the J was called the uncrowned king. Most came from common backgrounds. Being able to carry this title made them remarkable figures, and their strength might not be inferior to a K. Especially the current few Js—no one had challenged their positions for over ten years. Any one of them could make all the Wizards in places like Blackhorn Alley tremble in fear.

After hearing this, Louis understood somewhat. The higher the rank, the stronger the power and influence. Those with lower ranks might have less power and fame, but their strength was not necessarily weak.

[Sir, Wizards with numbers are all famous. Those with suits are even more famous, and their bounties are very high.]

[And according to reliable information, there is currently a vicious Dark Wizard active in Blackhorn Alley, one who qualifies to be locked in the lowest level prison. Many of our people have already died by his hand. If you can catch him, the bounty is very rich.]

“Stuart, you guys go yourselves if you want to.” Louis started counting the coins from those people.

No kidding, this guy sounded like a big Boss.

He was just here to play with Magic Spells—fighting with small fries increased his Mana, fighting with a big catfish also increased his Mana, why bother picking a big fish?

Currently, Louis didn’t have a clear understanding of the Wizards’ levels. He planned to find the Voodoo Gang to play with soon. He would wait until he had played them all out.

Stuart was not bothered by Louis’s refusal. This guy in front could even turn a dragon into a sieve. And that Magic that could turn a person into building blocks was so strange that Stuart couldn’t understand it at all.

Stuart believed that the super shark known as Diamond J, ‘Magician Harold’, would eventually be gathered together by the Boss and taken down with a single blow.

Compared to Magician Harold, Stuart was more curious about what his Boss had done before. If the Boss ever ended up in prison one day, Stuart would definitely, just like he did for that kid who slaughtered the thousand-year-old dragon named ‘Sguim’, give the Boss a single cell in the lowest level prison.