Wizard, I have a game board.

Chapter 282 At All Costs

December 9, 5320 in the Wizarding Calendar.

Milton Continent, Magical Artifact Research Institute, a large research room.

"Whoosh—Sizzle—"

A middle-aged man dressed in a red four-ringed councilor's wizard robe released red, white, blue, and green flames that continuously burned a ball of black liquid about ten meters in diameter that was suspended in mid-air, causing it to evaporate.

A moment later, when the black liquid was burned down to only seven meters in diameter, the middle-aged man suddenly withdrew his four-colored flames and took out a large bucket filled with dark blue liquid from his spatial ring, pouring it directly onto the black liquid that was still suspended in mid-air.

"Fuck-"

The thick white fog filled the entire laboratory almost instantly, to the point that it was pitch black to the naked eye.

"call--"

A ring of red flames suddenly appeared around the middle-aged man, rapidly spreading outwards.

Wherever the firelight passed, all the white mist vanished.

The black object in front of him had disappeared, replaced by a piece of dark black metal, five meters long and three meters wide, with an uneven surface.

The metal surface reflected the light from the magic lamp, creating a somewhat beautiful effect when viewed from a distance.

"boom--"

The middle-aged man withdrew his levitation technique, allowing the metal to fall freely with a dull thud.

"After nearly six hundred years and scouring tens of millions of posts from civilizations skilled in forging, we finally managed to create this thing." The middle-aged man let out a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of relaxation. "With this, I estimate that I'll have accumulated more than half of the contribution points needed to advance to the position of Speaker."

The Energy Furnace Research Institute kept complaining that the materials were substandard, and he couldn't do anything about it before.

It wasn't until Speaker Francis handed him the Second World Entry Certificate that he gained some inspiration from the exchange posts about forging civilizations, and forcibly fused a pile of fifth-order ores into a sixth-order metal with extremely high ductility and flexibility.

He took out his mainland communicator and reported his findings directly to Amy. Then he took out a chair, sat down, and waited for a reply while resting.

After a while.

"Boom boom boom——"

There was a sudden knock on the laboratory door.

"So fast?" The middle-aged man raised an eyebrow, stood up, and activated the fire element in his sea of ​​consciousness, transforming it into a giant fire elemental hand that opened the laboratory door from a distance. At the same time, he said, "Assistant Amy."

However, he had barely uttered the words when he suddenly realized that it wasn't just Amy standing at the door.

Ahead of Amy were the two Speakers, Asen and Vincentia.

"Greetings, Speaker Yassen, Speaker Vincentia. What brings you two here?" The middle-aged man immediately changed his address and bowed to the two speakers.

Normally, Amy would handle the handover with him, while the other speakers were mostly focused on researching the Seventh Ring Road.

He thought this would be the same as before, but two people actually showed up.

He wasn't surprised by Vincent's arrival, but what surprised him most was the arrival of Arsen, the sixth-rank councilor.

"The sixth-order fire elemental magic array at the Energy Research Institute can't do anything to this sixth-order metal you created, so naturally I had to come."

Arsen glanced at the black metal in the center of the laboratory and said with a smile, "As for Vincent, he just came to see the thing that Ernie and the others have been looking forward to for so long."

"By the way, this piece of metal doesn't have a name yet, right? Don't you want to give it one?"

"Hmm, how about calling it Zander Metal?" The middle-aged man suddenly realized, and without thinking, he named the metal after himself.

As he spoke, he led the three of them to Zander Metal.

“Alright.” Arsen nodded noncommittally, pointing to the piece of Zand metal and asking Vincent, “What do you think of this metal? Can it support your breakthrough to the sixth ring?”

If it were just about manufacturing a sixth-order small energy furnace, there wouldn't be so many requirements, but Vincenta's breakthrough to the sixth ring is of great importance and must be handled with caution.

If this person doesn't think it's good enough, they might have to send Zander Metals back to the furnace for a complete overhaul.

"I'll give it a try." Vincentia appeared beside Zand Metal in a flash, extended his right index finger, and a wisp of elemental energy containing a terrifying aura of destruction quietly emerged on his index finger, slowly pointing towards Zand Metal.

The moment that wisp of destructive element appeared, everyone present, including Arsen, felt a chill run down their spines, as if they were being pricked by thorns.

"No wonder this person is so highly regarded." Zander looked at the element of destruction at Vincentia's fingertips and admired him.

Since the War of the Abyss, there have been four Wizards Alliance members who have risen to the position of Speaker after reaching the fourth ring.

Speaker Lor's promotion was the least controversial, and his subsequent actions and powerful abilities almost convinced all the other speakers and members of the council.

Speaker Domenico was initially somewhat controversial, but that disappeared after the Battle of the Silver Wolves.

The soul magic he unleashed in the misty shadow plane passage, in full view of everyone, truly astonished too many wizards.

As for Sanchez...
Since becoming speaker, he has never concealed his power and has managed to win over the public.

Vincentia, on the other hand, was incredibly low-key.

Although no one dared to openly criticize him, many members of parliament privately disapproved of him, including Zander.

If it weren't for the contribution points, he wouldn't bother helping this person research special metals.

However, after truly seeing that wisp of element representing destruction and experiencing the terrifying power it contained, his resentment inexplicably vanished.

Because he knew very well that if that wisp of destructive element landed on him, the power of origin would absolutely not be able to save him, just like Speaker Lor's Great Disintegration Technique.

"puff--"

The element of destruction merged into the Zandalari metal, splitting it in two without any resistance.

It then transformed into two circles, each encircling one of the two corners of the Zand Metal, stretching them in opposite directions.

The Zander metal, which was originally only five meters long, was easily extended to nearly a kilometer long by this stretch.

Vincenta carefully observed the changes in the metal as it was stretched using his senses, and finally discovered that apart from changing its shape, the metal was completely unchanged, without even the slightest crack.

"Haha, it really is a good product." After confirming that there were no problems, Vincentia turned to Zander and said with a smile, "Councilor Zander, thank you for helping me build the first step on the road to the Sixth Ring."

He had no resentment whatsoever that his path could only be paved with the help of others.

There really isn't a single bit!
If Speaker Lor hadn't proposed the idea of ​​the mechanical wizard, his best outcome would have been to leave behind a child with unknown talent more than three thousand years ago, who would eventually die of old age as a bountiful wizard apprentice.

He had absolutely no talent in forging, potions, or energy.

The only thing worth praising is their control over the elements.

The mechanical wizard's many flaws are, in his eyes, advantages.

He only needs to wait for one exceptionally talented wizard after another to build the ladder of growth, and then use his unique talent as the driving force to climb to a higher level.

In his mind, there was nothing better than this.

He would do anything to ensure that this beautiful thing continues, or even to make it even better.

Anyone who dares to destroy this beauty will be his mortal enemy.

Whoever wants to make this good thing even better will be its most loyal supporter. "I don't deserve such praise," Zander waved his hands repeatedly, "It's all for the Wizarding Alliance."

“Yes!” Vincentia’s smile widened. “It’s all for the Wizarding Alliance!”

“Since there’s no problem, I’ll send this Zande metal to the Energy Research Institute.” Arsen said with a smile, “After delivering the materials and setting up the magic circle, how about we have a celebration banquet?”

“Of course!” Vincentia quickly chimed in, “I’ll host the banquet, and remember to invite Ernie and the others too.”

"Alright, I'll head over first." Arsen nodded, having no intention of competing for the limelight of the banquet. He put away the Zand metal, which had already been split in two, and transformed into a wisp of red light, disappearing from the laboratory.

Inside a private room in a large library at the Energy Research Institute.

Ernie frowned and slowly began to write on the thick parchment scroll.

However, after drawing each line of dense runes, he would cross it out and write a new line of runes below, then cross it out again.

He had been doing this for nearly ten days, and he had wasted almost half of the parchment scroll.

"Damn it, why is it so hard to get in sync with the spatial rune array?" Ernie threw down his pen and kept rubbing his temples after crossing out another line of runes.

At that moment, he only felt a headache, a very bad headache.

If the difficulty of constructing an energy loop on its own is 1, then the difficulty of making the energy loop fit into the spatial rune array is 20.

The difficulty increased twentyfold, making it extremely difficult for him to even construct a three-ring energy loop. As for anything higher, it was simply out of the question.

Lawson is only good at rune drawing; he only comes up with a direction and then stops there. The construction of the energy loop still needs to be done by him and Aaron.

Aaron recently couldn't take it anymore and went to rest, leaving him the only one still persevering, which is very difficult for him.

"Boom boom boom——"

Suddenly, there was a gentle knock on the door of the private room.

"Please come in." Ernie took a deep breath, suppressing his anxiety, and said to the door.

"crunch-"

The small door to the private room was pushed open, and a figure that was completely unexpected came into his view.

"Greetings, Speaker Arsen." Ernie stood up and bowed with a look of surprise on his face.

"No need for formalities." Arsen waved his hand and said cheerfully, "What? Are you surprised by my arrival?"

"To be honest, there is a bit of that," Ernie nodded honestly.

"I've come here today with good news."

Arsen said, "Just now, Councilor Zand of the Magic Weapon Research Institute forged a sixth-order metal that perfectly meets the requirements of you and Speaker Vincentia, and it is called Zand Metal."

"It's not convenient to take it out here. Please take me to a laboratory first."

"Oh, and remember to take me to a bigger laboratory, preferably one with expanded space. I also need to set up a decent sixth-order fire magic array for you."

“Yes, please follow me.” Upon hearing that it perfectly met the requirements, Ernie’s eyes immediately lit up, and he led Arsen toward a super-large laboratory.

He never wanted to study that damned reconstruction method again; it was pure torture.

Now it seems that he really doesn't need to do any more research.

November 5, 5471 in the Wizarding Calendar.

Inside a large laboratory at the Energy Research Institute.

"Click——"

"Done." Lawson finished the last stroke on a small energy furnace, looking at the intricate and beautiful energy loops covering its surface, making it resemble a work of art. He felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"This thing is really difficult to make. Even with a complete energy circulation system, it took us 150 years to create one like this," Aaron remarked from the side.

“Let’s go and see if it works.” Ernie picked up the small energy furnace and walked toward the sixth-circle charging magic circle as he spoke. “If it goes wrong, it won’t be a matter of 150 years to fix it next time.”

"I hope it works." Lawson followed nervously.

“It shouldn’t be a problem, after all, we’ve already verified it on a sixth-order large energy furnace,” Aaron replied.

As the three chatted, Ernie walked to the center of the sixth-circle charging magic circle, placed the sixth-order small energy furnace in the core area, poured in 100,000 magic crystals, and started the energy furnace.

"Om-"

With a soft hum, the energy circulation patterns on the sixth-order miniature energy furnace lit up rapidly from top to bottom, completing the startup process almost instantly.

The next instant, the six-ring charging magic circle located below the energy furnace was also lit up, and nothing unexpected happened.

“It’s done.” Ernie said with a faint smile.

He was equally pleased with the successful creation of the sixth-order small energy furnace, but not as excited as he was when he successfully created the sixth-order large energy furnace, because this was within his expectations.

Failure would be the only thing that would surprise him.

"We've finally paved a section of Speaker Vincent's road to the Sixth Ring Road."

"I must tell Speaker Vincentia this good news."

Lawson and Aaron were equally delighted. Aaron even took out his mainland communicator and started searching for Vincentia's contact number.

“Yes, I also need to report to Speaker Francis.” Ernie nodded and took out his Continental communicator as well.

"Then I'll go and issue the announcement." Lawson didn't sit idle either, and simply started editing the announcement for the entire Wizarding Union.

On this day, the good news from the Energy Research Institute surprised all the speakers, including Lorre.

Everywhere there were celebratory banquets, which brought great benefits to countless wizards.

The next morning.

The top floor of the Mechanical Wizard Tower on the continent of Milton.

Francis, Domenico, and Vincentia gathered in a large training room.

"Are you really sure you want to break through to the sixth ring right now?" Francis advised with some concern. "Actually, there's no need to rush. It's okay to wait a little while. After all, there's still plenty of time."

He feared that Vincentia had made the decision on a whim.

If any irreparable mistake were to occur, the Wizarding Alliance would lose a major pillar.

"do not worry."

Vincentia smiled calmly: "Perhaps I'm not very talented in forging or energy, but when it comes to controlling the elements, I'm absolutely confident."

"Regarding this breakthrough, I'd like to borrow a phrase from Speaker Lor: the chances of success are 99%, with the remaining 1% left to chance. After all, no one can guarantee absolute success, right?"

His words were completely truthful; he possessed absolute confidence in his area of ​​expertise.

(End of this chapter)