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Chapter 292 - Hatching (6)

The wizards of the Magical Spire had been trained from an early age at the academy, which meant they all had a lot of experience in assisting senior wizards, having done that quite a lot before officially becoming mages of the Magical Spire.

Besides, Henry had promised the wizards that he would increase their Circles, so he had to move things along as fast as possible.

Because of this, the wizards had to break a sweat through collective labor, something that had never been done in the history of the Magical Spire.

However, no one dared to complain.

It wasn’t just one or two people, but all the wizards in the Snow Spire, both mages and Archmages, were working hard, so how could any one dare to complain?

Besides, this was to their benefit.

Evolving a Circle was a matter of individual talent, so some wizards were bound to be stuck to the 4th-Circle for the rest of their lives. But since the disciple of the late god-like 8th-Circle Archmage offered to help them overcome their limitations, they welcomed it with open arms and with no complaints whatsoever.

Gathering the ingredients took three days in total.

The ingredients available in the market were scraped off the shelves, and if there was something they couldn\'t buy with money, they rolled up their sleeves and went out to gather it themselves.

This was especially true for the ingredient for the Black Tear, which could be obtained from the tails of the demonic lizards.

The wizards didn’t need to ask permission from a fortress official like Iselan to enter the Demonic Beast Forest for the lizard’s tail because Henry had previously installed a teleportation gate, namely the Caliburn Gate, that led to the Demonic Beast Forest.

As a result, they had finally gathered more than enough ingredients for all the wizards of the Snow Spire.

Stan looked at the pile of ingredients and exclaimed excitedly to Henry, “Archmage! Now all you need to do is tell us the recipe and we’ll start making it right away!”

“Great, but first, I have someone to introduce.”

“Someone to introduce?”

“That’s right.”

Stan and the other school heads couldn’t hide their confused expressions because all the wizards of the spire had to be here already, so who else did Henry have to introduce?

The person Henry had brought was none other than...

“A-Archmage...! Who are these people...?!”

“These are all the wizards of the Snow Spire who are under my command. Oh, Sir Torian, maybe it’d be more familiar for you if you called them the wizards of the previous Magical Spire.”

Henry had brought Torian and the Crimson family slaves that Torian had supervised, to the Snow Spire.

The reason Henry had brought them here was simple.

No matter how skilled the wizards were, they couldn\'t rival the expertise of the masters of Black Tear production. After all, they produced the Black Tear incessantly, their only reprieve being when they ate and slept.

Moreover, Henry was trying to be as efficient as possible with this project, so he wanted the masters here so that everyone got the formula right.

Having spent three days gathering all the ingredients, they only had about a week left.

‘We have to make all the elixirs in two days.’

A week was not a lot of time.

Therefore, Henry had to make all the elixirs within two days and then spend another two days to get the wizards to evolve their Circles. Following that, he would be left with just three days to prepare for the confrontation against Arthus.

That was why Henry had appointed those for whom creating the Black Tear was second nature as special supervisors for the brewing operation.

Seeing the pile of Black Tear ingredients in the first-floor lobby of the Snow Spire, Torian asked with a hint of amazement, “Archmage, is this really all for the Black Tear...?”

“Yes. We’ve gathered as many demonic lizards as we could, but if we need more, I think it’ll be best to heal the lizards and regenerate their tails to get more ingredients.”

“Ha... Hahaha!”

Torian and the slaves laughed in disbelief at the mountain of Black Tear ingredients. However, the sheer amount of ingredients didn’t discourage them. Quite the contrary, it made them more determined than ever.

Torian was determined because of the thought that he would be helping Henry, and the slaves were determined because they would receive partial freedom if they accomplished this task.

This was the inauguration of the Black Tear factory in Salgaera.

***

Two days later, the wizards of the Snow Spire, under the directions of Henry and the special supervisors, barely managed to meet the deadline.

There were thousands of units of the Black Tear and pure Miracle Blue. The wizards were overjoyed to see their final product neatly bottled, ready for use. Henry praised all of them for their hard work, adding to the overall hopeful atmosphere.

Henry tested some of the elixirs, and judging that they were up to his standards, he urged the wizards to spend half the day resting.

Stan turned to Henry during his break and said, “Um, Archmage. We’re obviously happy to have half a day off, but... Are you sure this is okay? Given the situation, we can’t afford to waste a single second, right?”

“It’s okay. You guys will need to rest up in order to proceed to the next step.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You guys said you’re willing to endure any kind of pain, didn’t you? I’m sure you guys have vaguely noticed during the process of making the Black Tear, but... that thing is deadly as a poison.”

“That’s right. We were quite curious about that as well, but we didn’t dare ask, since this was something you planned.”

“All power comes at a cost. After all, there aren’t many 7th-Circle wizards, a level that’s considered higher than that of a normal Archmage. There still isn’t a proper title for this rank to this day. So you guys better prepare for the worst. Reaching the 7th-Circle isn’t exactly a glamorous process.”

Gulp.

Henry was smiling as he said that, but he was being sincere, without any exaggeration or sugarcoating. After all, if it weren’t for Elagon, Henry himself would’ve died an excruciating, agonizing death after drinking the Black Tear for the first time.

“Anyway, have a good rest while I go bring some people who are going to help us with the next step.”

“...Alright.”

As soon as Henry gave his order, the wizards who had worked two days and two nights straight all fell asleep immediately.

Exactly half a day later, the wizards woke up one by one at an alarm spell, and as they did so, they saw people before them that they had never seen before.

“You’re all...?”

Still not fully awake, some of the school heads looked at the strange visitors with sluggish eyes and asked who they were.

The representative of the visitors smiled and replied, “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Irenae. I’m a saint from the Holy City of St. Hall, and I have come here to heal you all at the request of the Archmage.”

“The Saint!”

The strange visitors were none other than the high priests of St. Hall, and among them was also Henry’s one and only high-level spirit, Elagon.

- Khu!

Having already familiarized himself with the Saint, Elagon approached and acted friendly toward her. The Saint found Elagon’s affection pleasant and gently stroked his head in return.

The rest of the wizards also woke up at the sudden appearance of the priest, then they turned their attention to Henry.

“There’s no need to be surprised. They’re here so that you guys can awaken the next Circle without dying.”

Henry spoke in a relatively calm voice, but it was still clear to the wizards just how dangerous this process was going to be.

Even so, they had come too far to back down now.

Henry snapped his fingers.

Snap!

Swoosh!

With a snap of his finger, the elixirs needed for each wizard’s respective level were delivered to them.

Once the elixirs were in their hands, Henry started to explain.

“First of all, those who take the Miracle Blue will suffer excruciating pain. However, this elixir of my master has been passed down in the Magical Spire for a long time now, and it’s a miraculous elixir that greatly enhances one’s level by simply consuming it. I’m sure you’re all familiar with how powerful this elixir is, right?”

The wizards nodded.

Most of the intermediate to advanced wizards here had grown up drinking Henry’s diluted Miracle Blue ever since they were young.

“However, what I’ve just given you is not the diluted, but the original, concentrated form. Thus, the pain will be significantly more intense than that from the diluted version. However, you must endure it! If you can manage that, you’ll grow beyond what you were before!”

Henry’s concise explanation sent shivers down the wizards’ spines, amplifying their hunger for more power.

However, Henry’s speech didn’t end there.

“And immediately after drinking the Miracle Blue, make that elixir that\'s swimming in your body your own. This will be the fuel for the immense progress and growth that you all desire. Do you all understand?”

“Yes, sir!” all the young wizards answered in unison, their expressions stern and full of determination

“And this...” continued Henry.

Henry picked up the second elixir, the Black Tear. He had made a lot more of this than of the Miracle Blue. The reason for that was the fact that the Black Tear, unlike the Miracle Blue, was a multipurpose elixir that amplified the mana of intermediate and advanced wizards as well, and so the more he had, the better it was.

Of course, Henry had concentrated the Black Tear to suit the amount of mana each wizards had when they were all asleep.

‘It was a lot of work, but there’s no way around it, is it...?’

It had been a terribly tedious process, but Henry had done it nonetheless because he knew that the growth of these wizards would greatly fuel his own growth. He had no problem doing all the tedious manual labor if it meant increasing his chances against Arthus.

When Henry picked up the Black Tear, the wizards who had to drink this instead of the Miracle Blue stared at him in awe.

They were excited because they were expecting Henry to also give them a speech that would send shivers down their spines, just as he had done with the younger wizards.

“Those who have to drink this, just suck it up,” Henry said tersely.

“...?”

That was his explanation.

Everyone, from all the school heads to the intermediate and advanced wizards, frowned in confusion.

However, Henry remained indifferent.

“What are you waiting for? You guys have already had the Miracle Blue, so you should drink the Black Tear and hold on for dear life. This is going to be far more painful than you think.”

That was the conclusion to his speech, or rather, warning.

Lore coughed in disbelief at the rather hollow explanation and asked Henry, “Umm, Archmage... Shouldn’t you still offer some words of encouragement?”

“Encourage you guys? Sure, why not? Clench your jaws and hang in there, for only then will you be able to see the light. And you guys are the reason I brought the priests here, so make sure not to die and be a burden to them.”

“...”

“...”

This was the end of Henry\'s encouragement.

However, he was just being honest with them. The Black Tear didn’t have to be catered to an individual’s Circle. Everyone would drink the same elixir, and they all had to do their best to endure the mind-numbing pain and not succumb to the elixir.

Henry then commanded, “Okay then, everyone take the elixir!”

Pop!

As Henry’s command, the wizards popped corks of the elixir vials in unison.

Then, the Saint also shouted, “Everyone get ready!”

“Alright!”

- Khu khu khu!

Oong!

As the priests chanted the prayer, the healing Holy Code took effect.

A pure white light filled the interior of the Snow Spire.

At the same time, the terrifying elixirs made in the past two days flowed down the wizards’ throats.

Finally, just when the last wizard emptied his vial...

“AGH! Aaa... Aarghh!”

They were hit with a pain that seemed to tear through their flesh and bones.

Horrible screams that seemed to come from the deepest pits of hell echoed throughout the Snow Spire.

“Good, good. Everyone, grit your teeth and endure it!”

Henry was the only wizard not screaming in agony.