Chapter 293: The Future of Those Without Magical Talent
As the Chairman of the Magic Council, Ace convened all the Advanced Wizard Apprentices, Advanced Knight Squires, and Advanced Warlock Apprentices in the High Tower Territory to hold a Magic Council Committee Meeting.
Ace looked around at the crowd in the hall below the stage and spoke in a resonant voice:
“Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, I am honored to announce to you that after fifteen years of development, today, in the summer of the 15th year of the Magic Calendar, the Magic Council possesses one Formal Wizard, five Quasi-Formal Wizards, and two Formal Knights.
“Our path has achieved a qualitative change from 0 to 1. Those below the Formal level are collectively referred to as Level 0 Life. Starting from the Formal level, which is equivalent to the existence of a Hero, they are called Level 1 Life, such as a Level 1 Wizard. Those equivalent to a Grand Hero can be called Level 2 Life, such as a Level 2 Wizard.
“Going further up, we will explore even more mysteries regarding supernatural power. Perhaps one day in the future, we Wizards can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Deities!”
The crowd below looked envious and cheered. Warren whispered to Sulu, “Caruso is really amazing. When we were in Milne, I didn’t even realize his strength was already approaching the limit of an Advanced Wizard Apprentice.”
Sulu looked at the few people on the stage with envy and jealousy, whispering back:
“We control the Appearance Preservation (anti-aging) Potion now. Sooner or later, we can pile up resources to boost our strength just like Caruso and Polina. We aren’t like that old man Bayen; his body is too decayed. Even with more resources, it would be difficult to change his current situation.”
The newly promoted Advanced Wizard Apprentice Eddie looked at Polina with a gaze full of admiration. He had developed according to the route explained in Polina’s paper and could now simultaneously and freely control eight Stone Gargoyles equivalent to Advanced Apprentices, making him extremely powerful among the Advanced Apprentices.
The purpose of this meeting was singular: to elect the eight Formal existences—Ace, Daina, Betty, Ollie, Polina, Caruso, Ancestar, and Arno—as Councilors of the Magic Council, forming a higher decision-making body for the Magic Council: the Council of Councilors.
The election went smoothly; or rather, the Advanced Apprentices did not possess any will to resist the stronger individuals within the organization. The Council of Councilors was successfully established and passed a resolution.
Any newly promoted Quasi-Formal Wizard, Quasi-Formal Warlock, or Formal Knight of the Magic Council would automatically become a member of the Council of Councilors. This Council would serve as the highest decision-making body, deciding all matters regarding the entire High Tower Territory and the Magic Council.
After completing all this work, Ace set about researching the subject of obtaining supernatural power for mortals without magical talent.
Ace announced this project in the High Tower Territory and recruited volunteer test subjects to participate in the experiments.
This was a form that had emerged in the territory in recent years. Wizard research inevitably involved the study of the human body, but the number of convicted slaves was limited, so this form of recruiting volunteer test subjects gradually appeared.
According to the difficulty of the experiment, the experiments volunteers participated in were divided into three tiers: Common, Dangerous, and Fatal. Different tiers offered different remunerations, and standard contracts were signed.
If a volunteer died accidentally, the Wizard conducting the experiment had to compensate a strictly agreed-upon amount of Lesser Magic Stones.
The population of the entire High Tower Territory was approaching one hundred thousand, and more than four thousand people made a living by serving as test subjects annually. This was a “sunrise industry” fraught with danger.
Various stories within it were talked about with great relish—some gained immense strength due to Wizard Apprentice modifications, while others died miserably due to experiments. To regulate this industry and prevent Wizard Apprentices from maliciously killing people through experiments, the Magic Council established the Volunteer Association to regularly inspect and evaluate the Wizard Apprentices conducting experiments.
As for the project Ace was working on, a team in the High Tower Research Institute had already started relevant research in recent years. This team was the famous Caruso Research Institute.
The subject they studied was Monster Flesh Implantation, attempting to implant supernatural monster flesh into mortals to modify their bodies, allowing mortals to possess supernatural power.
Ace did not oppose this kind of research and even funded the relevant team at the Caruso Research Institute. However, personally, he believed there was another form that could allow mortals to obtain supernatural power.
Ace recruited over two hundred people, all healthy young men and women. He set the standard for this experiment as “Dangerous.”
After dividing the more than two hundred people without magical talent into eight groups and using different Mimicry Virtue Runes on them respectively, Ace concluded that the effects of any Mimicry Virtue Rune were roughly the same: they would permanently improve the test subject’s physical fitness and willpower.
However, this improvement was a one-time event. When Ace tried to use a Level 1 Virtue Rune to improve a test subject’s strength, the subject died on the spot.
“Even using Mimicry Virtue Runes, the strength improvement only reaches the physical fitness level of a Lesser Apprentice. Such improvement is too limited. I should try other approaches.”
Ace calmly cast Virtue Runes on Monsters. He knew that Virtue Runes were like fierce floods and savage beasts to Monsters, causing a strong rejection reaction with the Mana in the Monster’s body.
What Ace wanted was the heart of the Monster after death—a heart containing Virtue Runes and Heart Power.
After ordinary mortals consumed this kind of heart, their bodies would improve significantly, and there was a certain probability of birthing a kind of vitality power, which Ace called Blood Qi.
“The power of Blood Qi is essentially a type of vitality power. Virtue Runes have a certain possibility of causing a mortal’s heart to mutate, possessing the possibility of generating Blood Qi. This mutation is unstable. Finding a way to stably generate Blood Qi is the problem I need to solve.
“Virtue Hearts created from Monsters have a catalytic effect, but the cost is still too high.”
In the afternoon, Ace found Logan.
“Logan, I want to entrust this arduous research to you. You have a rich understanding of various Monsters and Magic Plants. I hope you can find an effective catalyst to help mortals without magical talent stably generate Blood Qi.
“This research is similar to the research you did before; both are studies on vitality power. The focus is to enhance the test subject’s vitality power and break through the limits of mortals.”
Logan took off his oversized hat, revealing a wrinkled face. He chuckled, nodded, and said, “Lord Ace, I have extensive experience in mixing vitality-enhancing nutritional elixirs. You can’t go wrong entrusting this research to me. As for how they cultivate after generating Blood Qi, that’s not my forte.”
Ace replied, “You don’t need to worry about that problem. I will conduct the experimental research.”
Ace gathered the thirteen people who had generated Blood Qi and tried to teach them to use meditation methods. Without a doubt, it failed. They possessed Blood Qi, but they could not meditate. In other words, this group of people had physiques with extremely poor Mana Affinity and were fundamentally incompatible with Mana.
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