The three-day deadline to complete this task was already the biggest concession Blaine could make. Moreover, it was reasonable, considerate, and humane. He believed that not only the system, but even the Ancient One, could understand it. There was nothing unreasonable about it.
Seeing that Stephen Strange was still busy by himself, Blaine also felt bored. According to the development of the plot, if Kaecilius was dead, then apart from Dormammu, who had yet to arrive, there should only be one dark sorcerer left who could threaten Stephen Strange's time.
In that case, there was no need for Blaine to keep watching Stephen Strange. Anyway, if Dormammu came to Earth, he should be able to know immediately.
Besides, if the dark sorcerer came to kill Stephen Strange, even if Stephen Strange could not defeat him, he should still have some ability to protect himself. Blaine still had Stephen Strange's spiritual seed with him. If he sensed that Strange was in danger, he would definitely come here as soon as possible. So there was no need to worry.
Now, everything was ready, and only the east wind was lacking. Oh no—as soon as the three-day period ended, Blaine could return home with a fifth-level star core in peace.
With nothing else to do, Blaine simply entered the Hunter Space directly. During these days in Kamar-Taj, Blaine had been immersed in the many magic books in the Ancient One's library. To be honest, at this moment, Blaine felt so swollen with knowledge that he thought he was full of learning.
If there were degrees in magical knowledge, and the Ancient One was a university professor, then Blaine felt that he himself had to be at least a doctorate-level figure.
However, as the Ancient One had said, no one could become fat with a single bite. Therefore, it was impossible for Blaine to significantly improve his magical ability just by reading books.
Judging from Blaine's experience across two lifetimes, practice was the only criterion for testing truth. Instead of obsessively indulging in the golden house hidden within books, it was better to experiment by himself.
Moreover, what Blaine was most interested in was the magic-technology integration book that only had its first half remaining. Blaine always felt that the answers he had come to Kamar-Taj to find were hidden there. In other words, the answer to turning other Universe-level magic or skills into spells had to begin with this book.
Although it was only half a book, and a very incomplete one at that, fortunately, half a book also meant less content. Blaine had already memorized it completely.
As for the second half of the book, Blaine could slowly explore it by himself. He believed that with the blessing of the God of Luck, he would succeed after trying a few times. No matter how bad it got, if he pushed the idea to the extreme, then at worst, he would be like someone inventing the light bulb—trying a thousand and one times.
In the pale and empty Hunter Space, Blaine stood motionless, as if thinking about where to begin.
Suddenly, Blaine opened his eyes and raised his head. Then, then, and then he began releasing some magic?
Oh, it seemed Blaine should first familiarize himself with his skills and practice magic, so that he could be more precise in the following experiments.
Sure enough, after Blaine tried some elementary and high-level magic, he released other Universe-level magic or skills. Such as the arbitrary transformation of cosmic skills, time stillness, and instant movement—Blaine was very familiar with all of them.
After warming up for about an hour or two, Blaine finally stopped. Then he fell into deep thought again. He seemed to be recalling the similarities and commonalities among all the magic he had released just now. Perhaps he was also dissecting their composition, structure, and properties, so that he could find inspiration for integrating them or injecting them into objects.
After closing his eyes and resting his mind for a while, Blaine was not only thinking about where to start, but also replenishing the mental and physical strength he had consumed by releasing magic and skills earlier.
When Blaine recovered again, something had appeared in his hand at some point. It looked like a piece of metal with a silvery luster and a hard texture. Wasn't it vibranium?
That's right. There was still so much vibranium left after the last upgrade, and now it was just right to use as material for making magical tools.
This piece of vibranium was about ten centimeters long and shaped like a solid cylinder. It seemed very suitable for holding magical energy.
With the material in hand, Blaine naturally prepared to begin directly. However, because Blaine only knew the general idea and did not know how to operate it, he held the vibranium in his hand and felt like a tiger trying to gnaw on Quill—there was simply no way to start.
"System."
"Do you have the second half of the integrated magic book?"
"Or something about crafting artifacts?"
There was no other way. After thinking about it, Blaine felt that the only option was to ask the system for help. Instead of staring at it here, it would be better to ask the system. Maybe there really was something.
"Yes."
See? Hearing the system's affirmative answer, Blaine immediately raised his eyebrows.
"How do I put it?"
Blaine could not wait to know what kind of answer the system would give.
"Two hundred billion."
"Aha, right—"
"What the hell?"
"I just asked a question, and it costs two hundred billion?"
This time, Blaine was completely speechless. In the past, let alone two hundred billion, even if it had been one trillion, Blaine would have been willing to pay it in order to solve such a big problem. But now, looking at his balance—five billion, not even six billion, not even a quarter of what he needed—it made Blaine feel too ashamed to continue asking.
"Hm?"
"Right."
"Didn't I just get a fifth-level star core?"
"Exchange it into rice knives for me."
For this knowledge, or rather, for the answers Blaine wanted to know, he was extremely eager at this moment. If Blaine had money, he would definitely scrape together all his wealth to buy it.
"The star core is invalid."
"What's the situation?"
"It was obviously a normal task."
"I didn't steal it or rob anyone. How can it be considered invalid?"
If Blaine had merely been angry just now, then this time, the system truly stunned him. It could even be said that it made him feel a little uncomfortable. Originally, there was only one path left: exchanging the star core. But the system had simply said it was invalid.
What was even more infuriating was that the origin of this fifth-level star core was completely clear. It had been obtained by Blaine through completing a real mission. If the system did not give him a proper explanation…
Wasn't this the system denying the rules it had established before?
"The star core was indeed obtained through the host's mission."
"But the task has not yet been completed."
"So it will not be included in the system for the time being."
Well, with the words "for the time being," Blaine was immediately discouraged. Who the hell could do anything about that? He was already so poor, and now the star core could not be used either. That left him with only one path: slowly groping his way forward by himself.
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