The process was somewhat perilous, but fortunately, the outcome was favorable.
With the assistance of his intelligent teammates, Martha and Gilru, Lynn successfully navigated through Grand Wizard Yude's interrogation.
Ultimately, the information they provided was: "After eliminating the Star Hunters' members, the mysterious wizard vanished without a trace."
Grand Wizard Yude had no choice but to accept this account. After all, the fact that these three minor wizards had survived an encounter with such a formidable being was already a miracle.
Expecting to extract the exact whereabouts of that mysterious wizard from three first-level wizards was nothing short of wishful thinking.
After all, if a wizard of that caliber wanted to leave, not even Grand Wizard Yude himself could track them down he could only watch helplessly from afar, or worse, be obliterated with a single strike.
With no further questions, Grand Wizard Yude accepted the information and ended the communication.
Martha and Gilru didn't linger either. After briefly coordinating their statements with Lynn, they each took their share of the battle merits and departed.
Lynn felt deeply grateful to them. Not only had they refrained from selling him out, but they had also actively helped him conceal the truth.
Out of gratitude, Lynn proposed an equal division of the battle merits. However, both Gilru and Martha firmly refused, insisting that Lynn take 50% while they each received 25%.
With no way to change their minds, Lynn had no choice but to accept the distribution.
In the battle merit system, the base unit was the "Zero-Ring Mage."
In the civilization of the Gods, this was the weakest combat unit, and one Zero-Ring Mage equated to one point of battle merit.
A First-Ring Mage was worth ten points, a Second-Ring Mage twenty points, a Third-Ring Mage thirty points, and so on, increasing exponentially with each tier.
Meanwhile, members of the Star Hunters were valued at five times that of regular church mages.
In this operation, the three-member squad had slain:
Five Second-Ring Mages
Three Third-Ring Mages
Two Fourth-Ring Mages
One Fifth-Ring Mage
After tallying the numbers, their total battle merits amounted to 2,100 points.
Based on their agreement, Lynn received 1,050 points as his share.
After seeing Gilru and Martha, Lynn made his way directly to his laboratory.
The night was tranquil. Under the moonlight, the fortress appeared cold and solemn, the occasional gusts of wind brushing through the corridors, carrying a chilling whisper.
Within the fortress, the laboratory was the safest and most concealed place.
The heavy iron door remained shut, a faint glow of wizardry formations flickering through its narrow seams.
Lynn pushed open the door and ignited the crystal lamps along the walls. The warm orange glow gradually spread, casting long shadows across the scattered instruments and apparatus.
Standing in the spacious center of the room, Lynn flicked his fingers gently, calling out in a low voice:
"Yfgríd."
In an instant, vibrant green light pulsed like the rhythms of life, rippling through the air.
Yfgríd manifested itself, as a towering illusory tree stretching across the entire laboratory.
Leaves rustled, and the tree's crown extended into the void, its emerald foliage adorned with flickering firefly-like motes of light, encasing the entire space in an aura of absolute safety.
Lynn turned his gaze toward the shadowed corner of the laboratory.
A silver-masked woman stood motionless in the dim light, the cold sheen of her mask reflecting the flickering lamp glow. She remained utterly still like a statue forgotten by time.
Lynn fixed his eyes on her, countless thoughts swirling through his mind, eventually condensing into a single deep sigh.
He stepped forward, gently raising his hand, his palm brushing against the edge of the mask.
"Click"
The mask came loose, revealing a face both familiar and unfamiliar.
It was a face crudely stitched together, the seams of its assembly etched deep into the skin, a grotesque patchwork of different human flesh.
Yet, amidst the disfigurement, her eyes remained the same those bright yet empty eyes, devoid of any spirit, reflecting only a void-like hollowness.
Lynn's fingers traced lightly across the stitched face, his emotions an intricate tangle of bitterness and regret.
"I never thought… our reunion would be like this."
His voice was quiet, tinged with sorrow.
Memories flooded back like an unstoppable tide, pulling him into the vortex of the past.
When he first entered the Spirit-Eye Furnace, Lynn had still been a naïve freshman, escorted by Mentor Rosalind into the potion gardens. It was there that he first met Sonya, who had tended to him.
Later, during the Furnace Wars, they were assigned to the same squad, sharing life-and-death struggles.
Then came the war against Landscape.
For the sake of gathering resources to become a Formal Wizard, Sonya had risked everything, fighting desperately for battle merits…
Until that fateful day.
Lynn still remembered it clearly the moment he stood in Sonya's chambers, watching as she drank the Amber Heart Elixir.
In that fleeting moment, he had felt her determination and longing her unwavering desire to ascend as a Formal Wizard and break free from the chains of fate.
But fate was merciless.
Sonya failed in her ascension. Instead, she was left on the brink of death and oblivion.
"I never imagined… that the Furnace's teleportation would send you into Landscape… and that its unique properties would keep you alive…"
Lynn murmured, emotions flickering through his eyes.
"Still, it's better this way. So many apprentice wizards died in the Furnace Wars, even Formal Wizards fell… My so-called mentor and senior brother barely managed to cling to life inside the Azure Sky Spirit."
He sighed deeply, reflecting on his journey.
Escaping the Spirit-Eye Furnace and becoming a Formal Wizard had been a stroke of luck.
Afterward, he joined Mechanized City, thinking he could finally enjoy a stable life.
But reality had proven otherwise.
Once again, he was swept into another storm…
"Sigh… I'm still too weak. Like a sapling struggling in the wind and rain, swayed at the slightest gust… If I ever want true freedom in this wizarding world, I need far greater strength."
Lynn shook his head, suppressing the distracting thoughts in his mind, and turned his gaze toward Sonya.
By all accounts, Sonya being alive should have been a good thing.
At this moment, she was even radiating energy particles, a clear sign that she had reached the rank of a First-Level Wizard.
The threshold to becoming a full-fledged Wizard, which she had long sought to cross, had been broken with the help of Landscape's unique properties.
Yet, how was she any different from the dead now?
Her eyes were hollow and lifeless, devoid of any soul fluctuations as if she were merely a vessel carrying the remnants of consciousness.
Lynn vaguely recalled that within Landscape, the otherworldly being known as Qi had placed Sonya onto the balance scale, forming some kind of connection with her.
Perhaps Sonya's current state was that of the balance scale's artifact spirit.
Not just her perhaps the black dragon, Aestry, and the others were also lingering in a similar half-alive state.
Lynn raised his hand and looked at the ring on his finger.
The ring flickered slightly, deep blue light swirling within. A moment later, a tattered bell materialized in his palm.
"This feels just like Little Green from back then… even the controller for Little Green can manipulate them," he murmured.
Shaking his head again, a wave of complex emotions surged within him. In the end, he extended the mask back to Sonya.
With a gentle shake of the bell in his hand, a crisp and ethereal chime echoed through the air, like a lingering whisper in the wind.
Sonya trembled slightly. Her stiff hands slowly rose as she put the mask back on.
The silver mask once again concealed her stitched-up face, and faint glimmers of light flickered across its surface.
Lynn watched her mechanical yet natural movements, letting out a long sigh before flipping his palm over. The bell vanished without a trace.
As his thoughts wandered, he found himself recalling his parting with the otherworldly being Qi.
A Golden scale floated in the void vast and enigmatic. The slightly tilted balance plates were engraved with intricate, indecipherable runes.
Through this Golden Scale, Lynn and Qi had signed a pact.
From that moment on, Lynn no longer had to worry about losing his life at Qi's hands.
After all, Qi's existence was far beyond his current level.
Lynn was merely a First-Level Wizard, while Qi was at least a Morning Star Wizard a gap of several major realms.
To be targeted by such an enemy was utterly nerve-wracking for Lynn.
That sense of despair was even worse than when he had faced the Morning Star Wizard Aquila.
Back then, even though Aquila was overwhelmingly powerful, Lynn could still rely on the power of Azure Sky Spirit to conceal himself, escaping into the depths of The City of Machines, where he would be nothing more than a grain of sand in the vast ocean, difficult to track.
However, Qi was entirely different.
As long as he possessed a fragment of the Golden Scale, Qi could harness that mysterious power to lock onto his position with ease.
For now, making peace with Qi was the best choice for Lynn.
Although they had signed a pact ensuring there was no enmity between them, and under the balance's constraints, neither could harm the other this was the absolute baseline.
Their connection had not been severed.
Several fragments of the Golden Scale remained sealed within Lynn's Azure Sky Spirit.
Qi had mentioned that now was not the time to reclaim those fragments. One day, Qi would reach out to him of his own accord, and the medium for that contact… was the very person standing before him Sonya.
Thinking of this, Lynn couldn't help but chuckle bitterly.
Before they parted ways, Qi had looked at him with a half-smile and asked, "Would you like to take Aestry back with you?"
Lynn immediately understood the implication behind Qi's words. After all, the grudge between him and Aestry ran deep.
At this moment, Aestry's soul was bound by the balance, making her nothing more than a puppet. Lynn could do whatever he pleased with her.
It was the perfect chance for revenge.
Lynn certainly wished to have a "thorough discussion" with the former princess of The Furnace. Unfortunately, the timing was far from ideal.
The current stage was the Plane Expedition. If he were to take Aestry a Wizard with no clear background back with him, it would undoubtedly cause a great deal of trouble.
Sonya, on the other hand, was different. She had entered this place through Qi's exclusive channel, backed by an official endorsement, so her presence wouldn't raise any suspicion.
If Lynn had brought Aestry back, he probably wouldn't have been able to pass Grand Wizard Yude's scrutiny.
He could already imagine himself being arrested and sent straight to the War Fortress. Forget earning war merits he wouldn't even be able to enjoy his peaceful days in the laboratory.
Reflecting on this, Lynn felt a sense of relief that he had made the right choice.
He rubbed his temples lightly, but Qi's figure still lingered in his thoughts.
"I wonder how Qi will contact me when the time comes..."
Lynn furrowed his brow slightly, his heart filled with unease and confusion.
That powerful otherworldly being was deep and unfathomable, making it impossible to discern his true intentions.
Lynn didn't even want to be entangled with Qi any further. He only hoped that when the time was right, Qi would simply take back all the fragments of the balance scale and sever all ties with him once and for all.
Only then could he finally breathe easy, focus on accumulating war merits, exchange them for the cultivation resources he desperately needed, and steadily advance toward higher levels of wizardry?
"First, I need to secure the permafrost."
Lynn murmured to himself, his gaze falling on the panel before him.
Fortunately, permafrost wasn't particularly valuable. With the 1,050 war merit points he had accumulated, he could easily purchase a large batch of it.
"Besides permafrost, I also need some cultivation resources…"
As he pondered, his path forward became increasingly clear.
At the moment, his mental strength had reached a bottleneck. Meditation alone was far too slow to make any meaningful progress only with the aid of magic potions could he break through this barrier.
However, magic potions were expensive, and with the ongoing war, their prices had nearly doubled.
"Not to mention, the Grey Hawk Armor also needs repairs."
Lynn raised his hand, his eyes sweeping over the battle-worn armor. It had sustained severe damage in combat and could no longer provide adequate protection.
Repairing it would require a significant amount of metal materials, particularly rare ores with magical conductivity.
Thinking about all of this gave Lynn a headache. His war merit points seemed ample at first glance, but when divided among his needs, they suddenly felt woefully insufficient.
"I'll have to take it one step at a time…"
Taking a deep breath, he opened the war merit panel and carefully marked down the necessary supplies, calculating their costs and prioritizing them to make the most of his hard-earned points.
However, just as he was deep in his calculations, Sonya who had been standing motionless like a puppet suddenly trembled slightly.
Lynn's eyes widened in surprise, his vigilance immediately rising as he turned toward her.
A faint golden glow emerged from Sonya's body, flowing around her with an eerie rhythm.
A moment later, her cold and emotionless voice rang out, devoid of any human warmth:
"Confirming your surroundings are secure."
The words were spoken in an otherworldly language.
Lynn's heart tightened he instantly recognized it as Qi's voice.
Cold, imposing, and carrying an undeniable sense of command.
Lynn frowned. He hadn't expected the powerful otherworldly being to contact him at this moment.
They had only just parted ways he had assumed it would be a long time before he heard from Qi again.
But reality had proven otherwise.
Still, there was no choice but to respond to the situation at hand.
"Secure."
The moment his voice fell, Sonya's body suddenly radiated an intense golden light.
It was pure and dazzling, akin to the rising sun, brilliant beyond measure.
Lynn felt a tremor in his soul as he faintly sensed the energy fluctuations of the Golden scale.
Within the golden radiance, a shimmering portal gradually formed before Sonya.
It appeared to be made of liquid gold, flowing and shimmering with an indescribable sense of mystery.
Through the portal, Lynn saw a breathtaking sight.
A magnificent starry sky, with celestial light cascading like a waterfall, weaving through the void like an exquisite painting.
At the edge of this cosmic expanse floated a grand Golden scale, its golden radiance rippling outward like waves, enveloping the space around it in an aura of divinity and mystery.
This was the very same scene Lynn had once glimpsed within Landscape.
Standing beside the Golden Scale was Qi, his deep, unfathomable gaze locking onto Lynn.
Then, Qi spoke a sentence that completely caught Lynn off guard.
"As per our contract, I will provide you with Azure Sky Spirit energy and assist in strengthening your mental power. However, the extent of improvement will depend on your performance."
"Azure Sky Spirit energy?"
"Helping me enhance my mental strength?"
Lynn stood frozen in place.
Was this… happening?
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