Becoming a god starts with enhancing fire arrows.

Cassandra continued, "Once you reach the Chief level, you will feel your magic or strength gradually approaching its limit. At this point, you will no longer need to 'accumulate' but rather seek to 'adapt'."

"What about those at the chief level and above?" Rhodes asked.

"Beyond the chief level, it's a process of accumulating magic or energy, leading to a qualitative change from a quantitative one."

"These energies will transform your body, making it more capable of withstanding them. Therefore, the process from level five to level six is ​​extremely difficult, and the body can collapse if you are not careful."

"Once you reach the sixth level, also known as the Crown level, your physical body will undergo a tremendous transformation, making it very difficult for ordinary people's weapons to kill you."

"It's a very magical transformation."

After Cassandra finished speaking at length, she stared at Rhodes, as if trying to see how much he had understood what she had just said.

"So, your factory is related to the breakthrough to the Crown-level?"

“That’s right.” Cassandra stroked the brass sphere again with her gray hand. “I only came to understand these things after I advanced to the chief level. Combining some historical knowledge with my previous travel experience, I came up with the idea of ​​establishing a forging factory.”

"But to be honest, I don't know what this factory, built at such a huge cost, is actually going to forge."

"After all, I have never succeeded, and as far as I know, no force has ever succeeded."

"But the results and data from each failure show that my plan was feasible, until recently when I researched the bottlenecks."

As Cassandra spoke, she pressed several buttons near the brass sphere with her right hand, and white magical patterns suddenly lit up on the sphere.

Then the sphere slowly opened, revealing a palm-sized, prismatic crystal.

She casually tossed the thing over, and Avira caught it first.

Avira looked at it, shook her head, and handed the crystal to Rhodes.

The surface of the crystal is smooth, and the upper half is quite clear, with only a few air bubbles inside.

The lower half of the exterior is uneven, and the inside is covered with dense cracks like silk threads.

【name:?】

[Type: Alchemy Material]

[Quality: Deteriorated]

[Description: A fragment of matter containing immense energy, seemingly capable of modifying living organisms]

It seems to have some basis in reality, but unfortunately it's only a half-finished product.

Rhodes returned the crystal, speculating about its purpose:

"If this thing is completed, could it directly modify the body, allowing people to bypass the level 5 to 6 barrier?"

"Pretty much. I call it the Ascension Crystal." Cassandra nodded.

"It can alter the structure of life forms, allowing top-level powerhouses with sufficient strength or magic to effortlessly break through to the crown level, without any threshold restrictions."

Cassandra looked at the crystal in her hand as if it were her own child, her eyes filled with affection.

"The raw materials used to make it are expensive, and it takes hundreds or thousands of people to forge just one piece. In essence, it is the crystallization of your humanity."

That sounds somewhat ironic.

"Unfortunately, this is only a half-finished product and cannot be used for practical purposes right now," Rhodes interrupted.

"Yes, that's why I need you, Rhodes." Cassandra placed the crystal back into the sphere.

"I've always misunderstood something. I thought that as long as there were excellent alchemists and blacksmiths, we could create perfect upgrade crystals. But I realized I was wrong when the purity of the crystals just kept stagnating no matter what we did."

"This thing itself is a creation of magic."

"I need a subordinate who is extremely talented in improving magic to help me complete the final step of this forging."

"That way, maybe I'll be able to see a truly perfect ascension crystal."

Unfortunately, I'm not the kind of person you're looking for.

Rhodes shook his head inwardly.

The system did all the magic improvements; I myself am just a half-baked mage who can barely learn spells even by looking at spell scrolls.

He took a step back and asked, "Is it really appropriate for you to just openly tell us the details of such an important project?"

"What's wrong with that?" Cassandra had regained her composure. "Most people in the factory are just following orders, but a handful know the whole story."

"They signed a contract with me, and the contents will not be leaked."

"Once I master the correct method of use, everyone except those who signed the contract will be buried deep underground along with the factory."

She spoke the terrifying words casually, as if it were as simple as discussing what to eat tomorrow.

"Is it a magical contract used to bind both parties?"

"Rhodes asked."

I signed something similar when I first met Orion.

Cassandra did not answer, but took two contracts out of her pocket.

The contract emitted a blood-red light, slowly floated up, and came before the two of them.

Rhodes clearly sensed that this contract was different from any he had seen before.

It's surprising that in a place where paper is already widely used, there are still contracts written on parchment.

The contract scroll was yellow and hung down to the ground from right in front of me.

The blood-red lettering above is unsettling.

Title: Georg's Contract

[Type: Magical Item]

[Quality: Epic]

[Description: A contract personally crafted by a great demon from hell, possessing the power to bind the soul deeply.]

"This is a contract I traded from the devil Jogg in hell. I've already drafted the contents of the contract; you just need to sign it."

"What a joke!" Avira asked, her expression displeased.

"You must be joking, Your Highness the Elf Princess." Cassandra took a step forward, and a terrifying aura emanated from her.

This oppressive feeling seemed to materialize, and the surrounding air became thick, making it difficult to breathe.

"I don't think you have the right to negotiate with me."

Her calm red eyes suddenly turned dangerous and ruthless, as if this was her true nature.

Despite her physical discomfort, Avira gritted her teeth and stared intently at him.

Rhodes, who was rapidly reviewing the contract, suddenly interrupted the standoff between the elf and the drow: "Isn't this a binding contract?"

He initially thought it was just a "labor contract" from a ruthless boss, but it turned out to be more like a "betting agreement".

"That's right. Jogg's contract is not meant to forcibly bind one party. Its main purpose is to conduct a relatively fair bet." Cassandra's aura subsided.

"That's why its binding effect is exceptionally powerful. I heard that a Crown-level mage once signed this agreement with Jorg and tried to break it, but in the end, his soul was still devoured by the demon."

While she was speaking, Rhodes had already quickly finished browsing the contract and was extremely surprised.

The betting details mentioned in the contract were actually related to the town of Phil.

Cassandra spoke up: "Rhodes, haven't you always abhorred human trafficking and the suffering of your fellow countrymen? Well, I'll give you that chance."

"You have ten days to prepare for a large-scale attack on Phil Town that I have planned and launched by the alien alliance."

"If you fail to protect the town of Phil in this war, then your body and soul, and the body and soul of the elf beside you, will forever be subjugated to me."

"Similarly, if the alien alliance fails to invade Phil Town during this war, the contract will be void."

This was a rather unequal contract, but even so, Rhodes still looked at Cassandra with suspicion:

"If you merely want to bind us with the power of this contract, wouldn't it be more efficient to simply write a wager: 'If Rhodes doesn't become a god within a day, his body and soul will forever submit to me'?"

"Why use these contractual terms?"