Chapter 395: What are the Benefits of Spending Money in the Game? (Part 1) (Patreon)

In DC World With Marvel Chat Group : Table of Content/Chapter List

XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX

The weather in late winter had become unpredictable. Although it was bone-chillingly cold the night before, the morning brought a sunny and bright day.

At the peak of the Himalayas, the blue sky resembled thick paint splattered on a white canvas. Except for a few clouds that occasionally revealed white gaps, the rest of the sky was a vivid and almost surreal shade of blue.

A wisp of smoke rose from a bird's nest, and in the distance, the sound of a horn was low and distant. A traveler leaning on a cane looked out at the mountain, but what he couldn't see was a mysterious and ancient temple standing quietly in the farthest reaches of his sight, overlooking everything in the mortal world.

On the eaves that were full of ancient Eastern charm, there were still remnants of ice crystals from the night before. Ice edges also hung from the roof, and in the window frame of the main hall under the eaves, a hand held three incense sticks and inserted them into the incense burner.

When the slightly rough hands were withdrawn, the face of the Kamar-Taj butler and sorcerer, Wong, was revealed.

Wong clasped his hands together and closed his eyes, meditating quietly. However, in this peaceful and serene scene, there was suddenly an untimely sound of hurried footsteps.

A young sorcerer wearing a yellow sorcerer's robe ran up the steps in front of the door with a "thump, thump, thump." Wong heard the sound but did not turn around. He just sighed and said, "An, I've told you many times to be gentle when entering the temple. You have to learn to be calm like water to better experience the mystical power's calling to you."

The young sorcerer looked about seven or eight years old and looked embarrassed when he heard Wong's words. He could only slowly walk into the temple, bow, and say, "Something's wrong, Grand Sorcerer. The Supreme Sorcerer has gone to the pond in the backyard to watch the cranes again!"

Wong opened his eyes with a start and turned around to face the young sorcerer. He asked anxiously, "The cranes? What does he want to do again?"

As he spoke, Wong became more and more agitated. He swung his arms and opened a portal, then stepped in.

When he reached the lake, he saw Strange standing on the pergola by the lake, studying a crane.

Although Kamar-Taj was a holy land of magic, it also had many animals, including cows, sheep, horses, deer, wild ducks, swans, cranes, geese, eagles, and two sizable fields in the back mountains. Many sorcerers came here to cultivate crops while practicing their magic.

Wong hurriedly ran up to Strange and asked, "Supreme Sorcerer, what are you doing again? My god! Put it down quickly! The feathers are all wet!"

Strange stroked the crane's long neck and said, "Nothing much. I just want to see if it can deliver a message. I caught an eagle a few days ago, but it was too unruly and couldn't carry the envelope..."

As he spoke, he looked at the crane in his arms and said, "It seems pretty well-behaved, but I don't know if it can fly well..."

Wong sighed. When he turned his head, he saw the pile of wood that Strange had stacked up earlier and asked, "Supreme Sorcerer, what are you trying to do? If you want to make something, you can give it to the great sorcerer who specializes in making magical tools. Even if you want to practice on your own, you don't need so much material. Besides, I haven't heard of any magical tools made of wood. Generally, special metal with magic affinity is better."

Strange put the crane down, stood up, and walked to the pile of wood, saying, "I'm just conducting an experiment, Wong. Do you know if there are any sorcerers in Kamar-Taj who specialize in studying material properties?"

"Material properties? What do you mean? Do you mean which materials are better to use?" Wong asked.

Strange sighed and said, "I mean their hardness, density, flammability, magic affinity, magic-bearing capacity, magic output capacity, and so on."

"The great sorcerers would read some books on making magical props, which contain many experiences summarized by their predecessors. Generally speaking, we would use the formulas in those books, because the probability of failure is too high if we use other materials."

Wang sighed and showed a nostalgic expression. He said, "Although we are now wealthy, we still have to use it sparingly. Maybe one day the energy will run out, and we will have to borrow it."

"Borrowing power comes at a cost. We must carefully manage every bit of power and use it on the blade."

Strange listened and felt heartbroken. He said, "So, is it because the cost of trial and error is too high that we cannot develop magical materials?"

"That's about right. Besides, there are already many types of materials available. There are four types of metals in total, and there are more than ten types of fabrics, which can be used to make armor, robes, cloaks, and jewelry."

Strange took a deep breath and sighed, saying, "Do you know? I got a new idea somewhere else. They use a type of wood and another material to make a wand, and then they can use it to cast magic."

Wang frowned, seemingly pondering the possibility of what Strange said. After thinking for a while, he shook his head and said, "It's unlikely. Magic doesn't come out of thin air. It can only come from the power of Space itself."

"But, human life forms cannot directly use the power of Space itself, so we have to borrow from demon gods."

"Unless the wand you mentioned can transform humans into life forms that can directly use the source energy, it is impossible for ordinary people to learn magic."

"I don't want ordinary people to directly use magic. I want to reduce the difficulty of using magic for novice sorcerers."

"For example, storing the power we borrowed in this wand and letting them use it. This way, they can borrow this energy to study magic techniques without having to learn how to store and use energy themselves."

Wang stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "If that's the case, it's possible, but a wand made of wood...I haven't seen any wood with good magic affinity."

Strange turned to look at the pile of elm, walnut, peach wood, and other woods beside him and muttered to himself, "Well, that was just Schiller's dream. It's really not reliable to use it in reality."

Then he looked at Wang and asked, "What about using metal? Didn't you mention that there are four types of metal with good magic affinity?"

"It is possible to make them, but processing and manufacturing these four metals take a lot of time."

"I'll give you an example. Something called 'Mithril' in the magic world is actually a kind of silver that has been specially refined. During the refining process, magic energy needs to be constantly used, and more than 40 materials need to be added..."

"What's the output?"

"If all the great sorcerers in Kamar-Taj start participating in the refining of Mithril, we can get about 50 grams of Mithril in about a month."

"Too little." Strange shook his head, obviously unsatisfied. Wang explained, "When we make magical items, we don't need to use Mithril for the entire thing. We just need to use it for the key parts."

"For example, the suspension ring we often use has a brass and iron alloy shell, which presents a golden or brown color. Of course, if dye is added, it can also show other colors, but the really working part is its core Mithril and gemstone."

Wang sighed and said, "Of these four materials, the only one that doesn't require too much refining is Vibranium. Its magic affinity is also good, but the only problem is that it is too expensive."

"But I heard that there is a new material called 'Molten Steel' recently. I don't know how good its magic affinity is. It would be great if it could be cheaper than Vibranium."

"Kamar-Taj is not too wealthy. Most of our funds come from donations from the World Security Council and various super security organizations in different countries, such as S.H.I.E.L.D. and SPEAR. They give us money every year."

"Sorcerers are very frugal. We are self-sufficient and can even live here without using human society's currency. The only place where we need money is to purchase various expensive materials."

The butler has a lot of say in this matter. He frowned, and all his facial features gathered together. He said, "The great sorcerers have achieved success in their practice and have a peaceful state of mind, but recently, there are sometimes disputes over this. Everyone wants more materials, but the money is limited."

Strange and Wang walked together and started walking around the lake. As they walked, Strange said, "I must change this situation. It's not like before."

"Before, we treasured our magical power because we had to pay a price to borrow power from demon gods. But now, we have enough magic, but not enough materials. It's not a good situation."

Strange was right. Simply put, it's like adding more flour when there's too much water, and adding more water when there's too much flour. In the past, borrowing power from demon gods was harder because there was less magic and more materials. But now, there's enough magic and not enough materials.

Strange walked to the railing by the lake and pounded on the pillar of the railing, saying, "Self-sufficiency...we must be self-sufficient."

"Whether it's Mithril or Vibranium, they are all under the control of others. If these materials are gone one day, will sorcerers no longer be able to make magical props?"

As they walked and discussed various possibilities, they came to the farmland on the back mountain after passing the lake. Strange looked at the fallow field and suddenly had an idea, "What was originally planted in this field?"

"This field was planted with wheat, and some vegetables were planted next to it. There are also fruit trees over there. Everything we eat every day is produced here."

Wang looked at his hands and said, "You haven't been here long, so you may not know that farming is a tradition of Kamar-Taj. The previous supreme sorcerer, The Ancient One, was also a farmer. She liked to cultivate the land here before."

Strange touched his chin and said, "What about the seeds? What kind of seeds do you use?"

"Seeds? Of course, it's wheat and vegetable seeds."

"Have you ever tried to use magic to transform these seeds? For example, infusing magic energy into them or simply enchanting them?"

Wang widened his eyes and said, "But...is that possible? Can we still eat what we grow?"

"How do you know if you don't try?"

"And we don't necessarily have to grow food." Strange looked at the fruit trees over there and said, "The wood I brought before almost didn't react with magic at all. This is also normal, after all, my inspiration only came from a dream."

"People there can use wood and some strange materials to make wands, but we may not be able to. The problem may not be with our technology, but with the materials themselves."

"Since the fully grown wood can't react with magic, what if we modify it when it's still a seed? Can we cultivate a type of wood that can be used for magic?"

Wang shook his head and said, "Sorry, I haven't learned the knowledge of ordinary people, so I don't have much concept in this area..."

Strange, however, thought he had a good idea and said, "It's okay. I know someone who is good at this."

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, without ads and support the work.]

XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX

Next Chapter>>Chapter 396: What are the Benefits of Spending Money in Games?