This Lich Requests More Remuneration

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Foretelling the Future Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Foretelling the Future The turn of events was beyond Amberser’s expectations, and he could only drag Headless Bro back to his castle.

Headless Bro, who had his drinking interrupted, could only shift his attention to Allen Watson, the Paladin, under the pretense of “seeing if the new generation of Paladins had become stronger.”

Amberser had just enough time to warn, “Don’t kill him,” and then he busied himself with other things.

According to the custom of Alchemy City, after that unfortunate Governing Officer reported the incident, it would take at least five hours for the members of the Alchemist Council to receive the message, and then another hour or two for them to discuss who would negotiate with Amberser.

Amberser had seven hours, and if he wanted to gain the most advantage during the negotiations, he needed to make preparations in that time.

A heap of magical materials was brought out by Amberser, and even Harvey, the Mage Apprentice locked in the cell, was dragged out to do the grunt work.

Harvey, bewildered, assisted Amberser in setting up a huge Magic Array.

At first, he was unclear about what Amberser was doing, but as the Magic Array slowly took shape, Harvey recognized several of its functions.

“Sacrifice… predicting the future… Mana Channel… Manifestation…”

The more he knew, the more cold sweat formed on Harvey’s forehead.

This was a ritual exclusive to the School of Prophecy, something Harvey had only read about in books. The ritual effect was simple and direct: offer the sacrifice and then one could predict the future to some extent. The more precious the sacrifice, the more specific the future that was predicted.

Harvey felt his hands and feet go stiff.

What could be more precious than the sacrifice of life? Clearly, he was the sacrifice about to be offered, and the Lich had finally run out of patience, no longer willing to let him freeload in the castle, eat and drink for free, and peruse magic books.

So, should he resist?

Harvey started to hesitate.

During the days he’d been locked in the castle, Harvey had thought about escaping, and he read books continuously to improve his Spell Casting Ability as much as possible. And to be fair, Harvey’s gains were not small.

The School of Prophecy was a niche within a niche, but Amberser’s library had quite a few relevant materials, which captivated Harvey to the point of obsession. Compared to when he had just been captured, Harvey felt he had been reborn.

So, could he struggle a bit?

Every magic ritual was extremely precise; any mistake could lead to its failure and result in a violent backlash. Perhaps this could be used to his advantage. With a bit of luck, he might even severely injure the Lich.

Harvey did not aim to kill Amberser, for a Lich wouldn’t die until its Life Casket was destroyed. He only wanted to destroy Amberser’s current body and make his escape from the castle while the Lich was regenerating.

“Keep calm, I can do this, the key nodes of this magic ritual are… here… if I slightly modify this…”

Harvey quietly altered the structure of the Magic Array while Amberser wasn’t looking.

It was a very minor change, not enough to destroy the entire ritual, but this was just the beginning. Harvey began to make various subtle alterations, leaving a multitude of “flaws” within the Magic Array.

If Amberser did not discover them and actually used this Magic Array to perform the sacrifice, a violent magical backlash was certain. Even if it couldn’t blow up his body, it could cause the mana within him to run wild, and that would be Harvey’s chance to escape.

Everything was ready, and Harvey was mentally prepared, just waiting…

“Hey, why are you standing at the place for the offering? Stand at the place for conducting the ritual,” Amberser said.

Harvey: “What?!!!”

Amberser continued, “What what, I’m telling you to conduct the ritual. You’ve looked through so much data on the School of Prophecy these past few days, you wouldn’t fail to see the effects of the Magic Array, right? That would be a huge disappointment.”

Incredulous, Harvey asked, “Are you… Are you not going to use me as the offering?”

With a mocking tone, Amberser said, “What are you thinking? Of course, the more precious the offering, the better the effect. You’re not even worth ten thousand Gold Coins, and the cost for this Magic Array is close to two hundred thousand Gold Coins. Using you as an offering would be a waste, wouldn’t it? Recognize your own value, kid!”

Harvey: …

Although he no longer had to die, Harvey still felt a slight insult, not much, but it was irritating.

No, this was not the time to think about this issue.

He had just tampered with the magic array so much that if he were to conduct the ritual himself, wouldn’t he be the one to die?

Harvey suddenly felt like a clown in a circus.

Amberser watched Harvey hem and haw, right until his legs gave out from fear, then scoffed and said, “Enough with the pretense, do you think I didn’t know about your little tricks just now? Stand up there with confidence, you won’t die.”

“Ah? You knew?” Harvey said in surprise.

“Nonsense, you’re still far from it, I had already readjusted everything here by the time you started meddling,” Amberser retorted.

Harvey was even more astonished and asked incredulously, “Why would you do that? It can’t just be to make me look like a clown, can it?”

Through their interactions over this period, Harvey didn’t think of Amberser as the kind of undead who delighted in malice. Every action he took was so… economical, never wasting anything needlessly. The cost of this magic ritual was so high; there was no way he’d let him mess around just to make a fool out of him.

Harvey felt it was necessary to ask clearly, even if it might anger this quirky lich.

“It’s for a test, of course. You’re a mage apprentice from the School of Prophecy, aren’t you?” Amberser inquired.

Harvey openly admitted, “I’ve never thought of hiding it. And besides, Master Ultraman, you are also a mage who follows the path of the School of Prophecy, aren’t you? Your collection contains so many tomes related to the School of Prophecy, all of which are unique and can’t be found anywhere else.”

Amberser shook his head and said, “No, I’ve given up on that.”

“Why?” Harvey said, his face full of confusion.

Instead of answering, Amberser questioned, “Tell me, if you divined that you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do?”

“Well…” Harvey hesitated, then said, “I guess I would try to document all the knowledge I’ve learned as much as possible on my last day.”

With a smile, Amberser said, “You see, that’s the difference. I can’t accept my fate with equanimity, so I simply gave up.”

Harvey pondered, then asked, “But what exactly do you want me to do, since I am just a captive?”

“Of course, it’s to work for me. Your lord has clearly refused to pay your ransom, so you must work off your debt to me. Now by conducting this ritual, I can count it as two Gold Coins of wages for you, offsetting a day’s food expenses.”

Harvey: …

Two Gold Coins for that hard bread? That’s more outrageous than robbery!

Amberser didn’t care whether the price was right or not, and continued, “Alright, back to the point, I allowed you to fiddle with the magic array earlier because I wanted to see how much you understood about it, and now I’m quite satisfied.

“Harvey, you are no longer an apprentice. You are now a fully-fledged mage of the School of Prophecy.”

Hearing Amberser’s words, Harvey couldn’t contain his excitement. Regardless of their positions, being acknowledged by the Master Ultraman in front of him was certainly something to be proud of.

Amberser commanded, “Alright, get to work.”

Having said that, Amberser reluctantly poured an enormous amount of Gold Coins onto the altar for the offerings, at least three hundred thousand, making his ribs ache with pain as the hefty upfront payment from the Withered Rose vanished in an instant.

Harvey: …

So the Gold Coins were the offering, it seemed somehow unreasonable, but seeing Amberser’s Soul Fire tremble, it also seemed there was nothing wrong with the offering.

Harvey no longer got sidetracked and began to conduct the ritual earnestly, simultaneously asking, “Master Ultraman, what do you wish to divine?”

Amberser spoke with utmost seriousness, “The secret of the Alchemy City’s sewers.”