End of the Magic Era

Even if Lin Yun appeared to have no defense and was only less than ten meters from Layford with his back facing him, Layford could only watch helplessly.

Seeing Lin Yun’s behavior, anger rapidly surged in Layford’s eyes.

‘He is less than ten meters away and isn’t on guard… Just one Dark Arrow and I can get rid of him. No one can stop me, but I can’t make a move… Does that guy really think that I wouldn’t dare to make a move?

‘That damned guy, just you wait! I’ll make you regret once the gathering starts. I won’t let you off lightly, I’ll curse your soul and make your soul fall in hell to suffer eternal torment.

‘I’ll ruthlessly torture you to death. Mafa Merlin, just wait you damned guy, not only will I plunder everything you own in the Raging Flame Plane, I’ll also plunder everything else.’

“Damn guy, let me see what an idiot from the countryside could bring to this gathering. Trashes will always be trashes. It’s pointless no matter how much you try to hide it. This is a gathering of Artisans… An Archmage Artisan? What a joke, I really don’t know how you managed to get in!”

Layford couldn’t find an opportunity to attack so he started using the Starry Sky College’s gathering as an excuse to attack Lin Yun.

Unfortunately, Lin Yun just ignored him and directly moved towards Raphael.

Raphael had a dark complexion. Layford didn’t just attack Lin Yun with that statement, Gurud was also an Archmage Artisan. It’s just that everyone knew that Gurud was an alchemist truly fascinated by alchemy and that he was still a 9th Rank Archmage because he spent most of his energy on alchemy.

But Gurud’s alchemy abilities were not inferior to any of the alchemists present here, he was even a bit better than most of them.

Layford gritted his teeth as he cursed at Lin Yun, regretting that he hadn’t got rid of him last time. In the distance, Watby Hardward remained silent.

Although the Hardward Family was a secret alchemist family, they also belonged to the Andlusa Kingdom, and as Layford belittled Lin Yun, he unconsciously offended the Watby Family along with them.

Watby sneered, ‘That idiot Mafa Merlin is really making enemies everywhere. He just arrived in the Odin Kingdom yet he already provoked a powerful enemy. The Jackson Family isn’t a weak force in the Odin Kingdom, that guy is screwed.

‘But Layford is even more stupid, he actually targeted Mafa Merlin in the field of alchemy. He is so stupid and useless. Mafa Merlin has already reached an unimaginable realm in the field of alchemy.

‘Damn, I really don’t know how that guy could possess such profound knowledge before 30. His alchemy proficiency might already be at the peak of the Artisan realm, especially when it comes to potioneering.

‘That fool Layford doesn’t know sh*t, he is only shouting and belittling Mafa Merlin, not noticing that the two Artisans of Sky City are looking at him as if he was an idiot.

‘How could the Starry Sky College not have a good understanding of Mafa Merlin’s alchemy skills before sending him an invitation?

‘Fight, it’s best for these two idiots to die together. It would be the best show of respect for alchemy. These idiots only think about other things all day long and are still Artisan… Damnit, you should just die…’

The people present had different reactions, but they all just watched. After all, Artisans invited by the Starry Sky College weren’t just from the Odin Kingdom. Aside from the Odin Kingdom, there was also the Andlusa Kingdom and the Sten Kingdom’s Artisans, as well as some Artisans drifting throughout Noscent.

It’s just that most of the Artisans here were from the Odin Kingdom. As the most powerful Kingdom in Noscent, the Odin Kingdom far surpassed those other two kingdoms.

Thus, most of them didn’t react to Layford’s words. After all, with that many people here, it wasn’t weird for some to have issues or even hatred. That’s why the Starry Sky College specially dispatched people to deal with conflicts or warn these guys to not cause trouble inside the Starry Sky College.

But it was normal for people who had conflicts to curse at each other a few times.

Layford gritted his teeth and felt even more regret before giving up on offending the Starry Sky College to get rid of Lin Yun.

Lin Yun met up with Raphael and Gurud. After all, Raphael and Gurud were the only people he knew there and had a good relationship with.

Sky City was a force that mainly relied on alchemy and they dispatched three people this time. Apart from Raphael and Gurud, there was also a 3rd Rank Heaven Mage who was also an Artisan.

Sky City could be said to have the most Artisans, the other forces’ Artisans didn’t rely mainly on alchemy and at most two came together.

Gurud was enthralled by alchemy and Layford’s vicious words didn’t even phase him. Instead, he pulled Lin Yun over to discuss alchemy right as he saw him.

Raphael barely managed to save Lin Yun from his apprentice brother.

“Sir Mafa, the two dozen people here are all Artisans from various forces. Only Artisans can join the upcoming gathering, others can’t follow.

“Let me do the introductions. You don’t need to worry about that fool Layford, he won’t dare to do anything during the gathering. The Starry Sky College attaches a lot of importance to this gathering and definitely won’t let anyone wreck the gathering.

“I don’t need to introduce the Hardward Family who came from the Andlusa Kingdom alongside you.

“You also don’t need to bother about the guy over there, he is crazy and intolerant.

“Do you see those two guys with mechanical left arms?” Raphael said while guiding Lin Yun’s gaze in a certain direction.

Lin Yun nodded. He had noticed them when he just arrived. Their left arms were clearly mechanical, and it wasn’t just a layer covering their hands, but rather, their entire arms had been cut off and replaced with mechanical arms.

In Noscent, there was a theory that flesh and mana could influence experiments’ results. Thus, these guys sliced their own arms and exchanged them for mechanical arms, guaranteeing perfect manipulation and eliminating all influence on experiments.

And a mechanical arm could accomplish a lot of things a human arm couldn’t. Moreover, without mana, their accuracy were a lot higher in many experiments.

Only the Mosh Family would follow that principle, replace their left arms with mechanical arms, and participate in the Starry Sky College’s gathering.

It wasn’t a pure alchemy force. On the contrary, it was a force focused on spellcasting. It’s just that something happened very early on and an alchemy branch appeared in the Mosh Family.

This was something Lin Yun already knew, because the Mosh Family’s machine alchemy would become very famous in the future. The Mosh Family was number one when it came to producing complicated yet very accurate things in large quantities.

And their left arms being chopped off and replaced by a mechanical arm was something very specific to this era. Over two millennia later, the Mosh Family’s alchemists would find a way to fuse flesh and machine, perfectly balancing the benefits of both sides. This was also when the Mosh Family’s alchemy branch thoroughly pressured the main branch and became the ruler of the Mosh Family.

“They are Artisans of the Mosh Family. They are very good at crafting elaborate puppets and Magic Tools. Moreover, the Magic Tools they craft are extremely accurate measuring Magic Tools used by alchemists. All the elaborate Magic Tools of the Odin Kingdom’s Alchemist Guild are crafted by the Mosh Family.

“They are terrifying. But the way they fight is very different from ordinary mages since they cut off their left arms. Their battle style is more like a mix between a puppet’s and a mage’s. They are very powerful, and so is their Family.

“Even if the Mosh Family still mainly rely on orthodox mages while the alchemy branch is only a small part of the Family, many people already expect that it wouldn’t take long before the Mosh Family turned into an alchemy Family. After all, the Mosh Family’s best industries all rely on the support of the alchemy branch.

“These two are Reed Mosh and Kate Mosh, they are two of the three Artisans of the current Mosh Family. The alchemy branch might rely on them in the future…”

Raphael looked fairly certain of his judgement as he made this conjecture. Lin Yun remained silent, only nodding.

2,200 years truly wasn’t a long time…

Mage forces mainly relied on mages. As long as the top powerhouses of the Mosh family remained pure mages, the alchemy branch would never be able to reverse the situation.

And according to the path of history, the Mosh Family wouldn’t have someone very gifted in the field of alchemy within the next two millennia. At the same time, their mages would have pretty good talents. Magic was the foundation of their Family, a 5th Rank Heaven Mage powerhouse wouldn’t listen to a 1st Rank Heaven Mage’s command unless the other side was a Saint Alchemist. And that would obviously not happen.

After introducing the members of the Mosh Family, Raphael introduced a man with grizzled hair. That person was wearing a light green robe with numerous kinds of plants and ores embroidered on his robe. These were all potioneering’s raw materials.

He was also wearing a thorny hat which was made from brambles and could calm one’s mind while also protecting the wearer against poisons. This was an outstanding item for potioneers.

“This person is Gurrig House, his hair looks silver white but he is in fact merely over five hundred years old. And with his 2nd Rank Heaven Mage’s strength, coupled with his proficiency in the field of potions, his lifespan is only at its start. It is said that he has some Forest Elf bloodline, which explains his silver white hair, as well as his proficiency with plants and potions.

“He is most proficient in potioneering, and the plants and ores embroidered on his robe are all ingredients he could refine into potions. He is very powerful. One of the deans of the Starry Sky College once conveyed that he wanted to recruit Gurrig to do research for the Starry Sky College.

“He was even offered some precious research materials, but he still refused. His research is done in the wild, he seeks all kinds of medicinal materials and he has a deep knowledge of plants. I even heard that the House Family possesses a Forest Plane producing all kinds of medicinal plants specifically used by Gurrig in his experiments.”

Lin Yun nodded, suddenly remembering a certain matter. It had been written in the notes that many formidable alchemists proficient in potioneering had participated in the process of creating the Mana Baptism Potion. And among them, the figure with the highest authority was an alchemist with the surname House. That person had a Forest Plane used to research plants, and every single plant that could be found and hadn’t gone extinct, could be found in that Forest Plane.

But later on, that person destroyed the Forest Plane’s Planar Origin and the entire plane was destroyed alongside him, but his research played a big role in the emergence of the Mana Baptism Potion.

Seeing Gurrig House’s appearance, Lin Yun noticed some subtle characteristics of the Forest Elven Race, and the Forest Elven Race was well-known for their longevity. Ordinary Forest Elves might live over a millennium… This person had the bloodline of Forest Elves and was a 2nd Rank Heaven Mage powerhouse. He might still look as young as he does now after a few millennia…

Lin Yun was a bit dazed as he kept thinking about the future, but Raphael clearly misunderstood.

“Sir Mafa, although Sir House has a bad temper, he would respect anyone with achievements in the potioneering field. With your ability in the field of alchemy, if you want a specific plant, I believe Sir House wouldn’t be stingy.

“Ah, and there is also Albert! Do you see that old mage holding a book and who seems to have half a foot in the grave? He looks like an ordinary person, but he is the most powerful Artisan in the field of Array here. It is said that he has already personally deployed some Low Heaven Grade arrays!”

Lin Yun turned his head towards the direction shown by Raphael. An old man, with wrinkles so deep that they could squish flies and messy white hair, was holding a magic book in one hand and a crystal ball in the other. A circle of law runes were hovering around the hand holding the crystal ball and several pieces of data and runes were frantically flickering within the crystal ball.

That old Artisan named Albert was clearly doing some kind of calculations and was completely absorbed into his own world. He wasn’t paying attention to anyone around him.

Respect flashed in Raphael’s eyes.

“Sir Mafa, Sir Albert was previously a teacher of the Starry Sky College specialized in teaching array knowledge. He was called the array foundation encyclopedia by the seniors. He knows any knowledge linked to Low Grade arrays like the back of his palm.

“Sir Albert is currently touring the entire Noscent, as well as the endless planes and the Endless Sea, in order to seek a breakthrough in the field of alchemy. And Sir Albert’s Family, the Einstein Family, is a family that produces many powerful mages. Their family’s bloodline would make them talented in one specific thing.

“It was a certain type of spell for some, while it could be a certain alchemy field for others. As for Sir Albert, he is the most talented Einstein in the field of arrays for the past millennium. He is also the most accomplished one.”

Raphael introduced three other people, but this time he only gave a casual introduction. As for the others, he only gave their names and where their force was located, only using a few words as an introduction.

“You only need to remember one thing about these people. They are very powerful and have a very high status in their family. Their alchemy mastery is just as outstanding as their strength.”

After Raphael was done with his explanation, he directly skipped over the Jackson Family and the Hardward Family. The Jackson Family couldn’t compare to Sky City, and Layford couldn’t represent the entire Jackson family. Even if Sky Cty and the Jackson Family went to war, the one destroyed would definitely be the Jackson Family.

Sky City was a pure alchemy force and no one knew exactly where Sky City’s main city currently was. That was a huge war fortress which was the biggest reason behind their confidence. It’s just that the consumption of every attack was extremely high. Thus, they almost never used Sky City’s main city.

But at the same time, no one wanted to become enemies with Sky City. Not to mention, Sky City’s businesses were linked to alchemy items and it was a vassal force of the Starry Sky College. No one would like to have them as a mortal enemy.

As for the Hardward Family, at least half of the Artisans found them unpleasant to the eyes.

Raphael finished his introduction there. Noticing Lin Yun’s gaze on the ten-stories mage tower, he immediately gave an explanation to Lin Yun.

“Sir Mafa, you know about the unwritten rule about mage towers? About how only a 5th Rank Heaven Mage should be allowed to have a ten-stories mage tower? This meant that there is a 5th Rank Heaven Mage here.

“And from the mana fluctuations exuded by that mage tower, the owner should be present. Since we are gathering here, it means that the person in charge of this gathering should be the master of this mage tower, one of the assistant deans, Sir Zeith, a 5th Rank Heaven Frost Mage who is also an Artisan proficient in puppeteering.”

As Raphael spoke, a layer of mana fluctuations appeared on the entrance of the mage tower and the seemingly ordinary wooden door slowly opened. The mana fluctuations emitted made everyone know that even if a powerhouse below the 4th Rank attacked this door for an entire year, it might still not explode.