Chapter 98: Connections

Chapter 98: Connections

The servants freed from their suffering hugged each other and wept. The butler wiped his tears and ordered some servants to go out and inform the others to prepare the evening banquet. Then he stood silently by the master’s side.

Earl Crowley was still staring blankly at the dome.

On the other side, after chatting with Louis for a while, Bishop John also got into work mode, comforting the servants. He sprinkled holy water and led everyone in prayer. After his skilled handling, the emotions of the many survivors gradually calmed down.

Seeing that the situation was now stable, Louis and Helen walked over to the three Mages.

The three Mages looked at Louis as if they had many things to say, but Louis did not say much. He directly handed the heavy ‘Spellbook’ they had written together back to Ron and the others.

The three Mages looked at each other in surprise, then opened the book to search for the real mystery.

Just as they had guessed, the Magic Spells in the book were different from what they had written before.

Although the handwriting was still their handwriting and the runes were the runes they had written, the Incantation Texts were shorter, only one-tenth the length of the original spells. Moreover, a few more runes had been added to each Magic Spell, and several runes had been modified.

—He removed a few sections of runes and changed a few runes, and the Magic Spell became completely different!

What excited the three even more was that the spells Louis had not recited today were also all changed—this entire thick ‘Magic Enthusiasts Association book’ had now become a ‘real Spellbook’.

In a moment of realization, the three Mages suddenly understood something. They abruptly looked up and gazed at Louis with profound shock and excitement—this was a true Magic master!

“Gentlemen, thank you for letting me witness real Magic today. Previously, I thought there was no more Magic left in ‘this’ world.” Louis nodded gravely and said, “Today, you showed me all this.”

Louis spoke from his heart. He originally thought that all the Magic in this world had been taken back into their own small circle by the Wizards.

But he never expected that the small Englen City Magic Enthusiasts Association, despite lacking resources, had created real Magic through their own research—although it was so flawed that it was almost unusable. The path they took, however, was correct.

After his modifications, they became real spells. Among them, powerful spells of the ‘Demon-Banishing Charm’ level numbered as many as eighteen!

In the past decade or so, how many powerful spells had the over two hundred thousand Wizards of the entire Holy Icon Tree Academy City innovated in total?

They were practically two hundred thousand pigs who knew nothing about innovation!

The difference between valuing innovation and exploration and not valuing it was simply too great.

They were true Mages!

The three did not understand Louis’s meaning and looked at each other in some confusion.

Louis patted Ron on the shoulder and said no more. He looked over at Earl Crowley, the butler, Kate, John, and the others who were now walking over.

Earl Crowley first expressed his sincere apologies and gratitude to Louis and the three Mages.

His words were earnest. He felt that many things he had done, both over the years and today, had let down his wife and were unbecoming of a noble’s demeanor.

The butler also bowed to Louis to apologize, then sincerely apologized to the three Mages.

This whole family seemed to have quite a bit of noble dignity.

Louis did not take these small matters to heart at all, and neither did the three Mages—they had heard the word ‘fraud’ too many times. They had also heard too much praise and slander.

They walked their path for their own ideals and did not care about others’ looks or words at all. So they expressed their forgiveness. It was very graceful.

After this, the knot in the Earl’s heart was finally loosened. He revealed a genuine smile from the heart and sincerely invited everyone to join the evening banquet.

Before leaving the hall, Louis glanced at the Demon-Sealing Array over there—a purple mist of fire, invisible to ordinary people, had now appeared on it. It was devouring the powerless shadow trapped within the Seal.

“Mr. Louis, should this Dawn Demon-Sealing Array remain here?” the butler asked cautiously.

“Seal off this hall for now,” Louis bluffed. “The Demon has gone to hell, but some negative energy remains in this hall—no need to panic, the Demon-Sealing Array will purify it. Just keep the door locked. When you see a soft glow emanating from the door from the outside, then it’s time to open it.”

This source of calamity wasn’t something Stuart could devour in three to five days; it had to be slowly pulled into the Dream World, so he needed to come often.

Moreover, he had to help it digest—it couldn’t consume all that Mana alone.

After digestion, Louis’s Mana should reach around 80.

This was practically Louis raising a Demon.

As for Stuart, the Mana it could absorb might be less than Louis’s—for one, it could digest less than the Boss, and its physical constitution was a major reason. Also, a large portion of the power Stuart absorbed would supplement its Agility. So its Mana wouldn’t increase as much as Louis’s.

After it grew again, its Mana should recover to around 90. Agility around 60, Strength around 20.

It could probably provide Louis with an extra 6 Agility and 9 Mana (both 10%).

It seemed his Agility would approach around 20.

If Louis pulled Stuart onto himself for a Demon possession, Louis’s three attributes would exceed triple digits. Then, activating a Celestial Armament and adding Mana to Strength, slapping people around wouldn’t be as simple as it was today.

“Oh, right,” Louis said. “Place a full-length mirror in the hall. Facing the Demon-Sealing Array.”

The butler listened with a solemn expression and hurriedly gave the order.

After giving his instructions, Louis went with everyone to the banquet hall.

The banquet hall was very large. On the highest platform was a long table. Most of today’s main guests sat here—all in a row, facing the lower area.

Below were also several long tables, with seats for the Bishop and others, as well as seats for the Knights, castle scholars, and others—they were all attendees.

As the main guest among the main guests, Miss Kate sat by his side, accompanying him in place of her father who did not drink alcohol.

At the long banquet table, the Earl, who drank water instead of wine, spoke many words.

The shrewd Earl had actually seen some clues. He knew that the one who truly understood Magic was this ‘Priest’ Louis. Some rumors about Your Highness Ocris might also be true—Holy Icon Tree was not purely a theological college, but a knowledge The Sacred Land for studying the occult.

At the same time, Crowley also expressed his respect for the three Mages.

This respect was different from the initial superstition and worship; it was a sincere respect—the Earl understood that although Louis solved the problem today, these three Mages were also great heroes who stepped forward at the critical moment—they were just a bit lacking in ability. But he was deeply moved and grateful for their actions.

They had practically risked their lives for the Crowley Family.

During the banquet, Louis truly learned about the backgrounds of these three Mages—they were long-renowned Archmages in the Kingdom of Sorrento. Before the King and ministers at the Royal Court, they spoke with their heads held high. Others had to be careful around them.

This status wasn’t just because of the title Mage, nor just because of their families, connections, and the title ‘Sorrento Royal Archmage’ they held.

It was because they had indeed solved problems that ordinary people, even Divine Officials, couldn’t handle before—they had even dealt with terrible great Plagues and floods!

It could be said that these three Mages, besides Magic, were exceptional in medicine, flood control, knowledge, the occult, martial arts, history, and more.

So their status and reputation were well-deserved; they were among that small handful of people standing at the pinnacle of the pyramid in this era.

Bishop John and the other Divine Officials were also people at the pyramid’s peak—the kind that great nobles befriended and flattered, and that the King valued highly.

Governor Crowley was even more so—and he had real power, with an army. He carried significant weight in the kingdom. Many of his opinions were highly valued by His Majesty the King.

In the Sorrento United Kingdom, an overseas colonial governor was practically a king in his own region. Many small overseas countries had to treat him like a grandfather. Although Crowley had stepped down and returned to his somewhat special position as captain of the Seventh Fleet, the Three States Province was still his territory.

According to the Storybook, after today, Louis’s network of connections had increased significantly. His Presence had reached 900—with the energy and influence he now had in terms of power, even Lufield and Tyrus combined couldn’t catch up if they tried.

He could already be considered among the people in Lufield’s father’s social circle.

Although Lufield’s family wasn’t QK, it was still a distinguished noble family with many relatives.

It might even happen that with some slight confusion in seniority later on, Lufield would have to call Louis uncle…