Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 351 The Blocked Path to Promotion
In the independent office of the Academy of Magical Sciences, Harvey and three high-level undead spellcasters were sitting together and exchanging research experiences.

Although necromancy is a faction with closed theories and slow development, it has also produced some outstanding talents. At least in Harvey's opinion, the three necromancers in front of him are enough to be regarded as representatives of this spellcasting faction today.

Although Councillor Prall is a descendant of a branch of the Lambert family, he is slightly older than the other two Lamberts. He was successfully promoted to a high-ranking position twenty years ago with the help of a special ritual of the Necromancer Cult.

Patriarch Arturo was even more gifted in the art of necromancy. At the age of just over forty, he inherited the magical legacy left by the previous Speaker of the Cult and became the youngest high-ranking Speaker of the Lambert family and the Cult of the Dead in over a hundred years since its founding. If he had not forcibly tried the lich transformation ritual in an attempt to climb to the legendary level by taking an alternative approach, his future development potential would have been limitless.

What surprised Harvey the most was actually Elder Sirius, who looked the most ordinary among the three. Although he was actually less than sixty years old, he had been deeply eroded by the energy of death due to his long-term obsession with necromancy experiments, resulting in an extremely old appearance. His hair was sparse and pale, his skin was dry and wrinkled, and his face and hands were covered with striking age spots. He looked even more vicissitudes of life than the Federation's chief, Lord Sarath, who was already over one hundred and fifty years old.

But his eyes were very strange. They were completely different from the azure blue that was unique to the Lambert family. Instead, they were a deep, dark grey, as if they carried the infinite wisdom accumulated through countless years.

"Elder Sirius used to be in charge of guarding the corpse cave and keeping the legendary magic tools of the esoteric sect in the family's ancestral land. Therefore, his body was most severely eroded by the projection of the temple. His eyes were actually replaced through the secret method of flesh and blood. They are not the original pair that were injured and blinded..." Arturo took the initiative to explain when he saw Harvey frequently casting curious glances at Sirius.

Harvey asked curiously, "Is it the legendary artifact you used in the Lich Ritual Cave in the Undersea that could materialize the projection of the Temple of the Dead?"

Arturo nodded and said frankly, "Yes, but this legendary artifact called the Afterglow of the Dead wasn't originally used to create protective arrays or seal projections... It's actually a rare amplification artifact."

An amplifying... legendary artifact? It sounded rather useless. Harvey had seen and heard of the fame and effectiveness of many legendary artifacts in the spellcaster forums over the years, such as Chief Sarath's "Storm Furnace" and Chief Gallagher's "Shapeshifter." Harvey had personally seen the former and even had the good fortune to borrow the latter.

In his understanding, legendary magic weapons were either extremely powerful and capable of both offense and defense, or like the "Shapeshifting Eyes" and the "Dragon Chaser's Crown" he owned, they had extremely strange and unique auxiliary effects. If they only had an amplification effect, it would be difficult to call them legendary.

"But the Afterglow of the Dead clearly possesses a terrifying protective effect. If I hadn't used some special means, Black, White, and I would have been trapped within it and had all our vitality drained away."

Sirius smiled bitterly and said, "This is one of its greatest drawbacks. Although the projection automatically covers the entire area after the magic weapon is activated, while defending against enemies, the holder's vitality will also be continuously drained. It can be said that in addition to magic power, the body's flesh and blood, mental strength, and life essence will slowly disappear."

Besides magic? This legendary magical weapon doesn't even crave magic? Instead, it's powered by the holder's own flesh and blood essence and mental strength... How bizarre.

"But why do you call it an amplification weapon?" Harvey became more and more confused as he listened, and couldn't help but continue asking.

As Sirius's vitality was exhausted and his magic power was declining, the task of possessing and keeping the magic weapon naturally fell into the hands of Senator Prall. After asking for Arturo's permission with his eyes, he took out the exquisite and compact model of the bone castle from the storage ring and handed it to Harvey with both hands.

"This is because... ever since the passing of the first Speaker of the Esoteric Cult, undead spellcasters of the human race in the southern region who have wanted to advance to higher ranks for nearly a hundred years... have had to rely on its power as assistance. There is no other way."

What? Harvey's eyes widened in disbelief. But thinking back, back in his time at the Academy of the Dead, he'd never heard of a necromancer from a legitimate academy successfully ascending to a high rank and publicly revealing their identity. Even the academy's dean himself was a shadow caster, not a true necromancer specializing in necromancy.

It's really sad to think about it. Most of the apprentices who chose this spellcasting faction voluntarily or were forced to do so probably never thought that their only path in magic had been blocked at the very beginning, and their future was almost in sight.

"Most necromancers with extraordinary talents, after failing to reach higher levels on their own, discovered that no matter how hard they tried, they simply couldn't engrave or condense the magic rings of a high-level spellcaster within their magic patterns. Naturally, some gradually discovered the key to the problem."

"This definitely isn't a natural law of magic... Otherwise, how could those high-level necromancers of ancient times, who could turn even powerful beasts into corpse puppets, successfully ascend to the pinnacle of legend?" Harvey muttered to himself. "So... the path to advancement for the necromancy faction... has been artificially blocked?"

Patriarch Arturo sighed softly and shook his head. "We have no idea what the cause is. Perhaps it's the natural fading of the death magic within the magic network... In short, everyone knows that this spellcasting path is inevitably dying out."

Elder Sirius, who had been engaged in experimental research for many years, felt the same way. "If it weren't for Lord Harvey's proposal to open up a new direction for the development of the faction, we would probably continue to take risks and attempt the lich transformation ritual. If the Speaker fails, it will be my turn... If I fail too, then it will be Prall's turn..."

As long as someone is lucky enough to reach the legendary level and establish a deep connection with the magic network's alien space, the truth behind why this casting path was inexplicably cut off may come to light, and successors will have hope of moving forward.

"Advancing to a higher level with the help of legendary magic tools is not the worst option. You don't have to be so depressed." Harvey said comfortingly.

As far as he knew, other orthodox spellcasting factions also had many rituals and secret methods to assist in promotion, which could greatly help spellcasters successfully complete the leap in spellcasting rank. Mr. Son of Flame once mentioned to Harvey that he had originally followed the example of Chief Gallagher, simulating Teacher Sarath's original nine-ring technique, and used secret medicine to forcibly advance to a higher level in battle.

The Afterglow of the Dead can help the necromancer condense the magic circle during the promotion process, and it can be regarded as a very powerful amplification tool.

Sirius and Prall exchanged a glance, both revealing a wry smile. "I'm afraid Sir Harvey has misunderstood. Although the three of us appear to have advanced to higher levels, in reality, the magic patterns within us haven't condensed into the magic auras of a high-level spellcaster."

Arturo took over the conversation and said calmly, "Yes, the function of the Afterglow of the Dead is to simulate a new magic circle within the magic pattern, bypassing the original shackles and allowing us to successfully condense original or improved necromancy."

However, simulated magic circles are always inferior to those truly born from magic patterns, so in terms of true rank and strength, the three of them are simply not as good as spellcasters from other orthodox factions who have been promoted normally through original magic analysis.

This is completely a bug, a forced cheat method...

(End of this chapter)