Free Web NovelChapter 10: Chapter 10: A Generous Gift
Mo Ning was slightly taken aback.
’Could there be another reward?’
A new stream of information immediately poured in:
[To support your subsequent research, the Rose Council will sponsor you with an additional basic research-support Witchcraft Item: ’Dawa’s Grocery List.’ The item will be delivered to your residence shortly. Please be prepared to receive it.]
Mo Ning was momentarily stunned.
’Dawa’s Grocery List?’
The name sounded strange and mundane, even a bit plebeian—not at all what a "Witchcraft Item" should be called.
But one thing was certain: it must have been invented by a Wizard named Dawa.
Only a moment later.
"KNOCK! KNOCK!"
The abrupt knocking shattered the room’s silence without warning.
Mo Ning was a bit surprised.
’That was fast.’
After a brief hesitation, he stood up, walked to the door, grasped the handle, and gently pulled it open.
The sight outside the door instantly made every hair on his body stand on end.
What met his eyes was not the quiet dormitory hallway he remembered.
Instead, there was a boundless, inky-black, and desolate void.
There was no floor, no walls, no concept of up or down, left or right—only absolute emptiness and silence.
In the far distance, faint specks of starlight hung suspended, cold and detached, as if they were projections from another dimension.
At the threshold between the void and his doorway, a soul-shuddering creature was quietly ’standing’ there.
It was unmistakably a Skeleton Warhorse. Its frame, large and complete, was the color of time-weathered, grayish-white bone.
Every one of its bones was wreathed in pale, cold flames.
The flames quietly licked the contours of the bones, illuminating the steed and making it look like a nightmare straight from the Netherworld.
It had no pupils. Two clusters of the most condensed, pale flames danced within its empty eye sockets.
Though it lacked visual organs, Mo Ning had the distinct and powerful sensation of ’being watched’.
Even more terrifying was the aura emanating from those pale flames.
Even from several meters away, a primal fear of utter annihilation—a fear born from the very instinct for survival—pierced him to the marrow like an icicle.
His Spiritual Intuition screamed a warning: if he were so much as licked by the flames’ halo, his flesh, bones, and even his very soul would turn to ethereal ash in an instant.
Just as Mo Ning’s breath caught in his throat, the skeletal horse suddenly moved.
It lowered its head slightly, its mandible opened, and it coughed up a simple, unadorned, dark brown wooden box.
"THUD!"
The wooden box landed lightly in the doorway, making a soft, muffled thud.
The next second, the skeletal horse turned without hesitation, its four burning hooves striding into the boundless gloom.
"CLOP! CLOP!"
With every step it took into the void, its footfall would ’bloom’ into a fleeting pale spark, leaving a trail of brief, unearthly markers in the darkness.
Within a few breaths, both it and its pale trail melted into the darkness, as if they had never appeared.
Mo Ning slammed the door shut. Only then did he realize that the back of his clothes was soaked through with cold sweat, a chill seeping into his skin.
"This creature... it’s at least a Second Level Magic Creature, right?" He took a few deep breaths, his heart pounding wildly.
So-called "Magic Creatures," also known as "Magical Beasts," are a category of Spiritual Creatures.
But not all Spiritual Creatures can be called Magic Creatures.
A Spiritual Creature is any organism that contains Spiritual Power—it could be an animal, a plant, or even something bizarre and strange.
Magic Creatures are born with special bloodlines and an extremely strong affinity for Magic Power. All adult Magic Creatures can cast Witchcraft of at least Level Zero.
Their power is typically classified roughly, corresponding to the levels of Wizards.
The sense of dread this skeletal horse inspired far surpassed what he’d felt from the First Level Magical Beast, the "Iron-Horned War Rhinoceros," he had seen at the academy gates.
Though a lingering fear remained, a smile touched Mo Ning’s lips. "Using a Second Level Magical Beast as a ’courier’... it seems the Rose Council is even more powerful than I imagined."
This was a good thing.
Because it meant he’d latched onto a very powerful backer.
In the treacherous and brutally competitive Black Tower Academy, having the protection of such a force meant he wouldn’t be easily trapped and killed by someone like Lai Te, a Second Level Apprentice.
Mo Ning crouched down, his gaze falling on the wooden box by the door.
The box was made of dark wood and had no adornments. It looked ancient and plain, a stark contrast to the shocking manner of its delivery.
Mo Ning reached out. His fingertips paused for an instant just before touching the lid, then he carefully lifted it open.
A square, brass-cast picture frame lay quietly on the dark velvet lining inside the box.
It was about the size of an adult’s palm. The frame was polished smooth, its edges etched with intricate patterns.
Set within the frame was not canvas or paper, but a sheet of thin, perfectly flat, reflective, dark-gold copper foil.
The surface of the copper foil was completely bare—no words, no patterns, not even a single scratch from its crafting was visible.
Mo Ning blinked, somewhat bewildered.
’This is Dawa’s Grocery List?’
It looked more like an unfinished craft.
He reached out and carefully pinched the edge of the frame, lifting it from the wooden box.
The moment he took it, he let out an involuntary sound of surprise.
Light!
Impossibly light!
The heavy, solid feel that brass should have was completely absent. The weight in his hand was scarcely more than that of a single, light feather.
He instantly understood. The Quality of this Witchcraft Item almost certainly far surpassed that of the Guiding Ring.
Joy, along with a hint of sweet frustration, welled up in Mo Ning’s heart.
The joy came from getting his hands on another true Witchcraft Item.
The frustration stemmed from this "burden" of riches. Once, there had been precious few supernatural items for his Eye of Truth to analyze.
Now, the situation had completely reversed. The number of analyzable targets was rapidly increasing, while his Eye of Truth could only perform one analysis every half-month.
Mo Ning collected his thoughts and refocused his attention on the brass frame in his hand.
He soon sensed the Spirit Seal within it.
His Spiritual Power formed a probe and gently touched the Spirit Seal.
"BOOM—!"
The instant his consciousness connected with it, a massive, chaotic torrent of information surged into his mind like a bursting dam.
His Spiritual Strength was only 0.52. The sudden, direct impact of such a massive amount of information almost made him pass out on the spot.
He barely managed to withstand it, but he was still hit by a wave of intense dizziness, and his vision began to blacken.
Several seconds passed.
The peak of the information surge finally passed, and the dizziness slowly receded like an ebbing tide.
Mo Ning gasped for breath a few times before he began to browse the information stream that had been forcibly ’downloaded’ into his brain.
As he began to understand more, the pallor on his face gradually gave way to shock.
’This is clearly a Wizard version of an "online shopping platform"!’
’This... How could this be a simple "grocery list"?!’
The copper foil contained a categorized list of tens of thousands of items.
From items for ordinary people to all kinds of Spiritual Materials, and even to items imbued with supernatural power like Magic Scrolls, Witchcraft Items, and Magic Potions—the dazzling selection had it all.
Each item came with a written description, a vivid three-dimensional image, and a corresponding price marked in Black Tower Points.
In the Wizard World, it was a universally acknowledged fact that information, just like knowledge, was a form of wealth.
The information on this many items was, in itself, a priceless treasure.
Dawa’s Grocery List wasn’t just a list; it also included the authority to purchase from it, and this latter part was immensely more valuable.
The value of this item was definitely far beyond 300 Black Tower Points.
He had to admit, the Rose Council had truly given him a generous gift.
The information stream also included the specific method for ’online shopping’: an order could be placed by using one’s Spiritual Power to lock onto the desired item and ’confirming’ the purchase.
As long as the delivery location was within the bounds of the Black Tower Academy, or in a Safe Zone marked by the network within a hundred-kilometer radius, the goods would be delivered to the designated spot within half an hour.
The ingenuity of the Wizards and the magical nature of their Witchcraft Items were a true eye-opener for Mo Ning.
More importantly, Dawa’s Grocery List represented more than just a whimsical idea; it was a microcosm of just how highly organized Wizard society had become.
Or rather, this was—Wizard Civilization!
Mo Ning whispered once more, "Praise be to the Rose Council!"
He placed the brass frame into the wooden box, a realization dawning on him. ’The Black Tower Academy’s emphasis on Secret Divination Talent is even greater than I anticipated.’
After such a long and eventful day, Mo Ning was truly a bit tired.
He quickly washed up and lay down on the single bed.
The bedding was incredibly soft and exuded a pleasant, clean scent. Before long, he had fallen into a deep sleep.
*****
「Deep within the Black Tower.」
「In the Observation Room.」
Nasha, the sharp-eared Female Apprentice, was once again overwhelmed by jealousy.
"I completed several difficult tasks for my mentor, earned the right to purchase it, and spent 2,000 Black Tower Points just to get Dawa’s Grocery List.
"That kid got Dawa’s Grocery List on his very first day at the Black Tower Academy. It’s so unfair!"
Nasha grumbled resentfully, "What’s so great about having a Talent for Secret Divination?!"
She was almost certain this was a personal sponsorship from her mentor, Yi Lin, to that boy.
’In other words, it didn’t come from the lab’s ’public funds,’ but from her mentor’s own pocket.’
’The academy had regulations, so ’public funds’ couldn’t be spent frivolously. But no one could say anything if her mentor used her own money.’
She had followed her mentor for decades and never received such treatment, yet that boy got it on his first day at the academy.
How could Nasha accept that?
The sharp-eared Female Apprentice fumed for a moment before a new theory formed in her mind. ’It seems my mentor has hit a major roadblock with a Divination problem.’
’It was a logical guess.’
’Otherwise, why would her mentor pay out of pocket to ’bet big’ on a newcomer?’
’So her mentor must have encountered a major challenge in the Divination Domain.’
’Out of desperation, her mentor was trying to cultivate a newcomer, hoping the boy could help solve her problem in the future.’
Nasha sighed in exclamation as she came to this conclusion, "What a lucky brat!"
’At any other time, if her mentor hadn’t been plagued by a difficult Divination problem, she absolutely wouldn’t have been so ’extravagant’.’
