Chapter 138: The Depths of the Council! First Update
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A portal of light appeared.
Gloria looked at Soren gently, then nodded slightly, saying, “Follow me.”
The two stood up and walked into the portal. As Soren entered, he frowned slightly, as the previous scene made him think of many things. Firstly, the wizard towers of the Northern Witch Council were all interconnected, forming a large maze-like array with significant power. Although Gloria was the master of this wizard tower, it seemed that the Eye of the North also had control over it and possibly held higher authority than Gloria.
This was evident from how casually she had activated the teleportation array of the tower!
In other words.
This wizard tower still belonged to the Witch Council, merely managed by Gloria.
It also seemed that the Eye of the North had considerable control over the Witch Council and commanded great respect in Gloria’s heart. As a legendary witch who had presided over the North for hundreds of years, the identity and status of the Eye of the North had an astounding influence. If he could win her favor, it would essentially mean gaining the support of the Witch Council, which was crucial for Soren, who currently lacked strong allies. Additionally, the Pirate King Asrold was backed by the Naga Royal Family, and the Ocean Priestess worked for the Church of the Ocean Goddess; Soren needed forces outside the Southern Coast to serve as his allies.
Moreover, it would not hinder his growth in the Overseas Islands!
Although it was just an inconspicuous little matter, Soren deduced a lot from it and came up with another reason to invite Gloria.
The wizard tower of the Witch Council.
Although managed by Gloria, it was not her personal possession after all.
…………
The two stepped into the teleportation array.
As expected, the Northern wizard towers were connected to each other, and there were basically portals that linked them. By the time Soren arrived, many members of the Northern Witch Council had already gathered here, all beautiful women, and it was hard to judge their ages based on appearance. Although there were high-level male wizards in the Northern Witch Council, only women qualified to enter the council, and the status of high-level male wizards was akin to a guest elder, unable to access the core of power.
As Soren arrived, the other Northern witches looked at him with curiosity, but there was no hostility.
Several of them smiled and nodded at him and Gloria, and the witches greeted each other with slight nods, creating a harmonious atmosphere without the sense of competition found in other organizations. This indicated that under the management of the Eye of the North, the members of the Northern Witch Council were quite united, and this unity could transform into formidable combat power when faced with outsiders. Therefore, when Soren saw numerous witches looking at the Eye of the North with respect, he couldn’t help but elevate his evaluation of her.
No wonder she had stood as a legendary witch for centuries.
Not only did she have powerful strength, but her ability to govern the council was also top-notch!
Such wisdom was worthy of respect; however, Soren preferred to be feared rather than respected. Therefore, he would never be loved or respected by others like the Eye of the North. Instead, he liked to be revered and feared by his subordinates. It was hard to say which was better, but winning respect was unavoidably much harder than winning fear; Soren still preferred straightforward and brutal things.
“Sit down!”
The Eye of the North looked slightly aged, and after living to her age, some aging was inevitable. She gazed at the other witches with her white pupils. Then she tapped her staff on the ground, and when her gaze fell on Soren, she paused for a moment before saying, “Quiet! I know you all want to know what’s going on. I will now tell you what happened to let you know why the Gisz attacked us!”
A silvery light appeared.
In the palm of the Eye of the North, a dagger-sized shard of a blade materialized. As the silvery shard appeared, everyone present sensed a surge of power. They couldn’t help but show a hint of surprise, exchanging glances as if communicating secretly; all thoughts converged on two words—“Artifact”!
Soren and Gloria exchanged glances.
Although neither spoke, they could guess each other’s thoughts through their eyes.
That was, indeed everything was for the artifact!
Artifacts possessed incredible power; although many had appeared throughout history, very few had actually fallen into the hands of mortals. Just looking at Soren’s gear revealed that despite his life-and-death struggles, he had only encountered legendary items, and artifacts were something unattainable and equally deadly!
Because artifacts could be pinpointed by spells.
What lay before them was an artifact, or rather a fragment of a powerful artifact; even a fragment elicited a feeling of the power contained within.
Moreover, Soren sensed a peculiar aura!
It seemed to come from some evil deity.
Among all the people present, he was the only one who felt this way, as the others all showed surprise; only Soren frowned, his expression revealing a mix of unease, dislike, and rejection. Artifacts were naturally linked to deities, but the Gisz Silver Sword seemed related to only a few deities, and Soren remembered that it had more interactions with certain evil gods.
“They came for this!”
The Eye of the North surveyed the others present and then raised a hand to cast a separation of spiritual light to the others, saying, “About one hundred and fifty years ago, this item fell into our possession, and since then, I have been in charge of safeguarding it. There are some other pieces of such artifact shards scattered in various places, but the two largest ones are held by us and the Wizard City.”
“For all these years, we have been secretly studying its secrets.”
“The Gisz Silver Blade was forged in a very ancient era, and the Spirit Sucking Monster Empire was another period of arcane prosperity equivalent to the Silver Era. Therefore, we have been trying to study some secrets from it, as well as the special divine powers it contains. Unfortunately, our research progress has been very slow, and some ancient knowledge has already been lost. Over the past hundred years, we have only completed one and a half research topics.”
The Eye of the North gestured behind her.
Then two more older-looking witches stepped forward; they glanced at the noticeably younger witches present before taking out two pieces of special silvery metal.
The members of the Witch Council serve for fifty years; if they do not ascend to legend, they can only fade into the background, while legendary witches can continue to serve.
“Look!”
The Eye of the North raised her hand and brushed over the silvery metal, then said slowly, “This is our first research topic we have cracked, which is the secret of the Gisz Silver Blade. It is a shape-changing silver metal with special memory capabilities; what you see with your naked eyes is a silver flowing liquid, but in fact, its true form is a powerful memory metal that can self-repair!”
“In legend,”
“High-level golems from the Arcane Empire era could self-repair, and no matter how serious the damage, they could not be completely destroyed. Moreover, they could change their shapes; many grand archmages could transform them into a type of weapon known as [High-level Arcane Armor] for their own protection. We have always believed that the material for [High-level Arcane Armor] is closely related to these astral metals!”
The Eye of the North waved her hand over the silvery metal block.
Then, a faint spiritual light appeared, and the silver metal began to change form on its own, first transforming into a shape resembling the Gisz Silver Blade, then into a beheading sword, and finally into a style resembling a pair of gauntlets. Eventually, it even formed a toy model that was about twenty centimeters tall and looked similar to an iron golem. This transformation had a strong impact on many witches present, leaving them all momentarily stunned, even Soren was slightly taken aback.
So advanced!
He had encountered relics left behind by the Arcane Empire in the past, but seeing something this advanced for the first time left him impressed.
“Although we have cracked part of the secrets,”
The Eye of the North glanced at the others, thinking for a moment, then continued, “For example, its shape-changing ability, the recovery ability of the memory metal, and its compatibility with elemental energy, etc. But we have not been able to apply it elsewhere; at most, we can only recreate the Gisz Silver Blade, which is undoubtedly not of much use to us.”
“We lack the most essential knowledge.”
“Thus, this research topic entered a deadlock thirty years ago and has since been sealed in the Witch Council’s cutting-edge laboratory.”
A brief silence.
The Eye of the North glanced at Soren and continued, “As for the other half of the topic, it relates to the study of divine power. The Gisz Silver Blade has previously ended the lives of three evil gods, two of whom were true gods with divine status, and one was a slightly weaker demigod. Therefore, this shard of the artifact always retains residual divine power, and we are trying to use it to unlock some secrets. There are many secrets regarding this topic that I cannot disclose to you; once you reach the legendary domain, you can come to me to learn new knowledge.”
“From today onward, if anyone is interested in conducting research on the first topic, I will also open the library access for you regarding this.”
“If there are no issues, everyone else, please withdraw.”
“Gloria.”
“And your friend, stay behind; I have something to discuss with you.”
…………
(PS: There will be three updates today. Two more to go.) (My novel “Abyss Master” will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, along with a 100% lottery gift for everyone! Now open WeChat, click the “+” sign at the top right, search for the official account “qdread,” and follow it quickly!) (To be continued ~^~)
