"This staff comes with five built-in spells:
Necromancy's Page of the Dead, Abjuration's Lich Barrier..."
"Pyromancy's Explosive Fireball, Summoning's Summon Fire Beetle..."
"And finally, an Electro spell—Black Hole."
Albedo accepted the staff with disbelief.
"So this staff contains five spells by itself, and even includes compound elemental magic?"
Ryen spread his hands.
"More importantly, this staff's casting ability doesn't require the wielder to have innate elemental power or mana."
"You should be able to sense it—the staff itself contains immense magical energy. To use these spells, all that's consumed is the staff's own stored mana."
Albedo nodded heavily.
This... had already surpassed the limits of his imagination.
A staff that required no personal elemental affinity, yet could autonomously release spells—
How should one even describe such a thing...?
Albedo had never heard of such an artifact existing in this world.
It practically overturned the most fundamental rules of reality.
"So, Mr. Ryen, you intend to..."
Albedo looked at him thoughtfully.
"Just lend it to you for one night of research. Return it to me tomorrow."
Ryen smiled softly.
"Of course, I know a single night isn't enough to reach any deep conclusion. I only expect you to record some data."
"Later, when we head into the Twilight Forest, we'll obtain more of these staffs. You can keep one for yourself to study."
At that, Albedo exhaled in relief, smiling wryly.
"To be honest, with something like this... I doubt I could ever discover its secrets. It's wrapped in laws unbreakable by any ordinary means."
"To research it—to probe into it with alchemy—you'd first have to shatter the very laws that bind it."
"Even my teacher could not achieve that."
"To tell you the truth, I'd love to study this staff. But my ability is limited... I can only make surface-level records."
"If it's just gathering some data, however—that I can manage."
Ryen nodded. He didn't pressure Albedo to uncover its mysteries.
He only reminded him:
"This staff is far too powerful—especially Black Hole and Explosive Fireball. Casting them carelessly could lead to disaster."
"So, for now, don't attempt either of those."
"And that necromancy spell, Page of the Dead—don't use it on humans. It's far too cruel."
"But the Lich Barrier... that you should study carefully. Its effect mirrors one of the Four Great Artifacts: the Aegis Scepter."
"The barrier it summons can forcibly nullify any damage, up to five times."
Albedo nodded solemnly, speaking softly:
"I understand. I'll give it serious thought."
With that, he glanced at the table—at the heap of weapons, and the precious Naga scales he had once treasured.
Now...
Another absurdly powerful staff had appeared.
And tomorrow, they still needed to explore things like the Tree of Time…
Albedo gave a wry smile.
"Looks like my work is going to be busy again."
Ryen spread his hands cheerfully.
"The capable ones always shoulder more! Besides, for research this fascinating, isn't it something you should be glad about?"
Hearing this, Albedo chuckled and nodded.
"That much, I can't deny."
Ryen didn't plan to linger further and led the group out.
"In that case, I'll leave it to you. Tomorrow, remember to come by my place. And if you want Sucrose to join, just send a message through someone."
Albedo nodded. He watched them leave, then turned back to his workbench.
Laid out before him was a mountain of weapons, with Ryen's staff being the most eye-catching.
After a moment's thought, Albedo took out the Naga Scale again.
In an instant, the entire alchemy workshop was flooded with overwhelming magic. Albedo sighed bitterly.
"So many things… where do I even begin?"
In the past, his research required painstaking effort just to find a topic, and only then could he start.
Yet such topics that truly interested him were rare.
Previously, he had worked on that weapon which clearly didn't belong to this world—the Festering Desire.
But now…
There were far more powerful weapons than that, and all of them had come from other realms.
Compared to these, the Festering Desire felt almost trivial. He had once considered giving it to Lumine.
But then he realized that in her hand was an artifact bestowed by Morax himself—
She wouldn't think much of the Festering Desire.
So he had simply hidden it away. As for giving it to Ryen…
Albedo had already seen Ryen's Radiant Blade—
A spatial artifact, far stronger than the Festering Desire could ever be.
With so many projects waiting, Albedo almost wished he could clone himself.
After a long pause, Albedo let out a sigh and picked up the Thunder Staff.
"Let's start with this one… I'll just record some data for now."
The staff radiated the power of laws themselves.
As he had said before, to make any changes or conduct any research, he would first need to unravel the laws.
But unraveling laws—
Even gods couldn't achieve that, let alone him.
So ironically, the most impossible research subject was, in practice, the simplest.
After all, all he could do was record data.
Tonight, Albedo's main task was to probe the Naga Scale just a little.
Later, once they returned from Ryen's world and things grew quieter, he would study it in depth.
He had a strong feeling—
This scale wasn't limited to the uses he could imagine now.
It ought to be something far more powerful and effective than that.
~~----------------------
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