Rays of light shot through the window. In the hell of the god’s punishment, there was no day or night, so the light was always greyish and obscure. The setup of the room on the ninth story resembled that of an average person. The bed was placed beside the window, and a desk and bookshelf were on the other side. Leaning against the wall was an enormous cupboard. There was no alchemy bench at the center of the room, and in its place was an antique cabinet which was frequently seen in the rooms of nobles. The upper part of the cabinet was mosaicked with crystals. These crystals were different from the ones on the first story, possessing attributes which allowed magic arrays to be carved directly into them.
There were few decorations in the room, making it appear spacious. Saleen walked to the window and looked outside. From the window, Saleen could observe the forest in the distance. When he looked from top to bottom, the rules of the arrangement of the trees in the forest became even more obvious to him. Each and every spot where the trees were growing was in line with the rules of arrangement of the elements.
Saleen then made his way to the cupboard. It was filled to the brim with clothes when he opened the doors. However, even after opening all the doors of the cupboard, Saleen never saw a proper magic robe. In fact, these clothes were not in the style of the Fourth Dynasty. They were ancient, and apart from their special materials, their style was extremely simple.
There were eight antique cabinets in the center of the room, positioned into a circle. Saleen stood in the center of the room and used a Fluorescence spell. Through the crystal, Saleen could see the objects inside of the cabinets.
The objects were antiques and there was no magic equipment. In comparison, the materials of the antique cabinets were more valuable than the objects themselves. If it had not been for the airtight crystal cabinets, the antiques inside of them would have been rotten by now.
Saleen then went over to the desk. The desk and chair were alchemical items so they were very sturdy. He sat down and began studying the gigantic desk. It seemed like it could fit into the spatial equipment. There were a few pieces of paper made from beast skins and an ink bottle. Even though the ink had dried up, it still gave off a faint fragrance. A magic pen was placed in the ink bottle, and beside the ink bottle was an miniature obsidian water tub which was used to wash the magic pen.
A few magic books were also on the desk, and Saleen was most attracted to one book containing magic notes.
This book had a black cover with dark gold magic patterns, and was buckled to the desk. Beneath the illumination of the Fluorescence spell, the dark gold patterns on the cover seemed to flow about.
Saleen held those magic notes in his hand and flipped to the first page. And on the title page, there was a phrase:
The existence of a mage is to gain insight into the truths of this world. Raphael Jabba.
Practically every mage had heard of this motto before, but very few knew where it had truly come from. When Saleen saw the signature after the motto, he then realized that it was indeed Raphael who had owned this ten story magical tower.
"Ah!" Nailisi exclaimed, causing Saleen to snap out of his thoughts. When Saleen turned around, he saw that Nailisi had pulled the curtain of the bed away. Nailisi stood rooted to the ground stiffly and gave a deadly stare at the bed as though someone had cast the Fossilization spell on her.
Saleen then put away Raphael’s magic notes into the Ring of Gifts and made his way over to the bed. He lifted the curtain and cast a Fluorescence spell, exposing a skeleton lying on the bed. The bones of this skeleton gave off a pale green glow, and it was lying on its back.
These had been Raphael’s magical tower, Raphael’s room, and Raphael’s bed, so it must have been Raphael who was lying on the bed. A mage eventually passed away. That was not surprising. Saleen was astonished because in the legend, had Raphael not been burned to death by the Holy See in the Glorious Square?
Saleen’s throat twitched, and he cast icy sight. Saleen’s control over his body had already exceeded that of Grade 3. Once his icy sight was activated, every single detail of the skeleton would be displayed in his vision.
The strength of the bones was terrifying, and Saleen could not imagine how a mage had managed to accomplish that. He also knew how to harness the power of elements to transform his body, but the transformation needed to abide by the rules of nature. Currently, the strength of Saleen’s body still had not reached the standard of a swordmaster. However, lots of improvement would be needed to be stronger than a high-level swordsman.
Despite that, the skeleton on the bed possessed a level of strength that had already exceeded that of a grand swordmaster. A grand swordmaster used their sword aura to train their body, hence the toughness of their body could easily withstand low-level spells, but training like that could not extend their longevity. A Grade 9 grand swordmaster’s life would never be able to be two hundred years long unless they broke the limits of Grade 9.
The strength of a mage’s body was constrained, but the advantage that was gained was an extended lifespan. The skeleton lying on the bed had obviously ruined that balance.
Nailisi’s saliva nearly dripped out of her mouth. She quickly licked it up using her tongue, and a grunt came from her throat.
"Nailisi!" Saleen’s voice was low, and he put a stop to Nailisi’s plans. Obviously, Nailisi wanted to devour that skeleton. If the skeleton was truly Raphael, then Saleen would not want a dead Grade 10 mage to be disrespected.
"Master, a mage does not care about what happens after they die," Nailisi argued. There was still energy flowing within the skeleton and it could be absorbed by her.
Saleen looked back and saw Lex standing by the window, gazing outside. Saleen then said softly, "You cannot eat this."
Seeing that Nailisi was annoyed and had a childlike expression about her, Saleen softened a little. Many mages chose to end their lives in an extreme manner when they knew that their time was up. For example, using fire elements to incinerate themselves or drown themselves. On second thought, mages really did not care about their remains after they died.
But Saleen was reluctant, he was hoping for Raphael to be buried. Since he had gained Raphael’s assets, Raphael could also be considered half a teacher to him.
"Don’t destroy his bones." Saleen tried his best to make his voice sound gentler.
Nailisi’s eyes lit up and she said, "Master, are you saying that if I don’t destroy the bones, then I can…"
"Mm, don’t destroy it."
"Then I shall bring it back to the Myers Mainland and look for a place to bury it, okay?" Nailisi said thoughtfully.
"Alright, wait a moment." Saleen stopped Nailisi and gingerly removed a black ring from a finger bone of the skeleton. The ring did not have any magic patterns and was extremely rustic. There were no muscles around the finger, making the ring appear big. Other than that, the skeleton did not have any other magic equipment on it.
"Keep it." Saleen put the black ring on his finger, now having four rings. If he had one more ring, he would reach the limit of a mage’s control capacities.
Magic equipment could not be stacked indefinitely. Currently, Saleen had the Ring of Gifts and the demonic ring. With the white crystal ring that his teacher had given him, there were no more slots for equipment on his left hand. Saleen named the new ring Raphael’s Ring and put it on his right hand.
Nailisi cautiously moved the skeleton and prepared to put it away. When the skeleton was touched by Nailisi, a crack resounded and the ribcage of the skeleton broke. Nailisi covered her mouth and looked at the broken skeleton in complete horror.
The strength of the bones was terrifying. Even if Nailisi wanted to break it, she would need to use her teeth.
"Master, it was not me."
Saleen ignored Nailisi. He was stunned when he saw an object roll out of the skeleton’s chest. This object was a pale gold seal. The seal was very unique and was like a short arrow. On one end, there was a sharp arrowhead, and on the other end was a ring. The arrowhead had four sides, and there was holy prose carved on the seal.
This arrow-shaped seal looked just like any other ordinary object, yet it had penetrated Raphael’s chest and stayed inside. What was more unbelievable was that the position where the seal had stopped was where Raphael’s heart had been.
Saleen took the pale gold seal. The seal was unusually heavy and was flawless to the touch. The holy prose which looked like it had been carved on was only an illusion. It was an illusion that had avoided the detection of his icy sight.
"This item belongs to the Holy See. You won’t be able to use it," Lex’s voice came from behind.
Saleen did not even turn around, only fiddling with the special seal. He then held onto the circular end of the seal and asked, "Do you recognize this object?"
"Of course. Most mages would not do research on this, but I am a Grukos."
"What is it?" Saleen secretly speculated as he waited for Lex’s revelation.
"The Seal of Divine Power, one of the three weapons that the pope possesses." Lex’s answer was astounding. Fortunately, Saleen had not tossed the seal away.
"It’s fine. The seal is in a slumber. In this interdimensional space, it will not be able to respond to the commands of the Lord of Glory," Lex consoled Saleen.
Saleen took a deep breath and said, "Don’t scare me. I have a great deal of conflicts with the Holy See. If this is a divine weapon, then I’d better destroy it."
"We do not possess that kind of power." Lex regretfully looked at the Seal of Divine Power in Saleen’s hand. This item could only be wielded by holy masters who were at least at Grade 9, and it was an item symbolic of the pope. Even though the seal contained formidable power, it was a bad item for a mage.
Saleen thought for a moment before putting the Seal of Divine Power into the Ring of Gifts. The Ring of Gifts had been crafted by the Myers Goddess, so as long as the Lord of Glory did not descend upon the Myers Mainland, no one would be able peek into the secrets of the ring. The goddess might have fallen, but her divine rules would not be violated so easily.
Since this item could not be destroyed, it would be best to put it away. The Seal of Divine Power could not be considered completely safe in this interdimensional space either, as there was always the risk that the people of the Holy See would be able to find the coordinates of this space. When Saleen and Lex returned, this interdimensional space would not hold as many secrets as it had before.
"No wonder the Holy See had not made any big moves all these years. It was because they had lost one of their divine weapons." When Lex saw that Saleen had put away the Seal of Divine Power, she could no longer feel the existence of that weapon, so she did not stop Saleen.
At this point in time, Saleen understood something. The Holy See had not killed Raphael back then. They had only dealt a heavy blow to Raphael, but the Seal of Divine Power was then lost, so in order to maintain stability, the Holy See had not exposed their own failure. Either way, Raphael had taken a fatal hit, so he would certainly die. It was a safer move to look for a scapegoat to die in place of Raphael and then cover up all of the news regarding the lost seal.
Since this item had fallen into the possession of Saleen, the Holy See would never get it back. If Saleen could not destroy this divine weapon, there was surely someone out there who could.