Chapter 23

"Reward? No problem!" Dorn snapped his fingers, and a bundle of yellowed scrolls appeared in his hand. It seemed that this young noble also had some kind of spatial storage item, and it was much more advanced than Gorden's dimensional bag; otherwise, it would not have been possible to retrieve the items so quickly.

Dorn spread out a total of thirteen scrolls: "These scrolls are over two thousand years old, from the Netherduran Magic Empire period of the Third Epoch, created by a great arcanist named Olor. These scrolls record many lost spells and Olor's exclusive magical insights."

Gorden's fingers traced the surface of the scrolls, and the bright silver Netherese script shimmered with a wondrous light at his fingertips. The unique texture of the parchment rubbed against his skin, and Gorden seemed to feel the ancient and distant historical aura.

It was once a powerful magic empire, an era of great arcanists who moved mountains and filled seas, built floating cities, and incorporated the sky and earth, the Material Plane, and countless demiplanes into their rule.

The system also provided the specific attributes of the scrolls: "Book Intelligence Requirement: 19. Intelligence check passed, can read. Current reading progress: 0%. Final reading benefits: Arcane Knowledge +10, Spellcraft +10, Concentration +10, Use Magic Device +10, Planar Knowledge +20, Nature Knowledge +5, Experience +6000, Gain Feat: Netherese Meditation."

However, strangely, one-third of the text on the scrolls was obscured by a hazy magical aura, making it impossible to read the entire content.

Dorn explained: "The merchant who sold me these scrolls said this is a special encryption spell that can only be removed with a unique passphrase. The spell was cast on the scrolls to ensure that only the buyer could read the content, guaranteeing the uniqueness of the valuable knowledge."

"Then, if the knowledge recorded in these scrolls is so precious, why don't you learn it yourself?" Although the experience and skill bonuses from the scrolls were considerable, Gorden did not lose his head.

"This..." Dorn clearly did not expect Gorden to ask this question.

Gorden continued: "Let me answer for you. Because these scrolls, to be precise, for anyone who relies on the Weave to cast spells, are of greatly reduced value. In the ancient Netherduran Empire, the goddess Mystra had not yet been born, and naturally, the Weave did not exist in this multiverse. The arcanists of the empire directly extracted and stored the source energy, using it as the power for casting spells."

Although the ancient Netherduran Empire had long been lost to history, any mage had some knowledge of that glorious era, and Gorden was no exception. He knew that the great arcanists of the Netherduran Empire did not rely on the Weave to cast spells and did not have spell slots. They quantified the source energy they could manipulate and named it 'arcane energy.'

For example, casting a Fireball spell did not cost a third-level spell slot but rather four points of arcane energy.

In a sense, this was similar to how Gorden cast spells using mana points.

The magic system of the ancient Netherduran Empire was entirely different from the current system based on the Weave. Therefore, ordinary mages could gain very little from these ancient scrolls.

But Gorden was different. He had the system and cast spells using mana points, making these scrolls almost tailor-made for him.

However, Gorden would not reveal the true situation to Dorn. On the surface, he had to pretend that the scrolls were useless to him.

"Ah, my friend," Dorn sighed, rubbing his nose in frustration, "If I had half your clear-headedness at twelve, I wouldn't have believed that scoundrel's lies and spent all my pocket money on these useless scrolls."

"I sympathize with your childhood experience," Gorden said, "But that doesn't mean you can trade these thirteen scrolls for the two Enhanced Vigor Rings I made."

"Mr. Gorden, I apologize for my previous deceit," Dorn stood up and gave Gorden a formal noble bow. He then took out a light blue hexagonal ring and said, "This is a Wind Elemental Ring. It houses two wind elementals. Wearing this ring, you can command the wind elementals to do your bidding."

Dorn put on the ring and whispered the passphrase.

A gentle breeze stirred in the room, and his robes fluttered.

Two medium-sized creatures appeared before Gorden. They had no facial features, only vague outlines of heads and limbs, looking like light blue humanoid wind masses.

Wind elementals are fey creatures born from the natural winds, the crystallization of wild spirits and free-floating energy. They are among the lowest-level fey creatures, with low intelligence and only understanding a few basic commands. However, they are loyal and obedient.

"These wind elementals don't seem to be of much use to me," Gorden said. If they were two beautiful lake nymphs or two powerful stone golems, they might have impressed him.

"Don't jump to conclusions, my friend. These wind elementals are different," Dorn said proudly. "Aldo, Al, show Mr. Gorden what you can do."

Dorn Lannister took out a complete set of alchemical equipment and some materials, then had the two wind elementals start working.

Gorden watched from the side, his expression changing from calm to astonishment. He witnessed the two wind elementals efficiently complete the entire process of making a potion of vigor.

Dorn drank the potion of vigor in one gulp: "Aldo, Al, your alchemy has improved."

The two wind elementals made a "huffing" sound, seemingly responding to their master's praise.

"How is that possible? How can low-intelligence creatures like wind elementals complete such a complex task as potion-making!" Gorden felt his common sense being overturned.

Dorn blinked: "Dear Gorden, don't forget I'm a Lannister. My family has some special methods to enhance the intelligence of wind elementals and train them to be the best mage assistants. They are loyal, diligent, tireless, and work without complaint, assisting mages in inscribing runes, drawing magic circles, and making potions. Compared to humans, wind elementals don't make small mistakes like misremembering data, misplacing materials, or breaking glass bottles. They are perfect mage assistants!"

Gorden was deeply moved. The Wind Elemental Ring was incredibly important to him. With two wind elemental assistants, the production of the Enhanced Vigor Rings and future magical potions could be greatly increased. He could earn more gold and free up a lot of time to study spells and improve his personal strength.

"Great arcanist Olor's scrolls, plus this Wind Elemental Ring, we have a deal."

"Sure," Dorn agreed readily. The ancient Netherduran scrolls were useless to him, and the Wind Elemental Ring was not a rare item for a Lannister family member.

"By the way, I have one more condition," Gorden added, "The material cost for making the two Enhanced Vigor Rings is estimated to be two hundred gold coins, and I hope you can cover this cost."

"Of course, just two hundred gold coins," Dorn patted his chest, acting as if he was poor but had nothing but money.

After the deal was made, Gorden left the Amber Mask with the two hundred gold coins Dorn paid for the materials.

He deeply understood the meaning of the proverb "A blessing in disguise." If it weren't for Hao Lin's interference, he wouldn't have made a deal with Dorn and obtained two items far more valuable than "Dasson's Transmutation Spells Insights."

Back home, Gorden went to bed early, needing to rest up to make the two Enhanced Vigor Rings.

The next morning, he used the silver brooch's communication spell to have Duro deliver the materials worth two hundred gold coins. Since the two rings he was making were not for sale at "Duro's Treasure Box," he had to pay for the materials even as a partner.

Making a magic item enchanted with a single spell was not too difficult. However, making a magic item with multiple spell effects simultaneously would increase the difficulty exponentially.

Gorden's concept of the Enhanced Vigor Ring not only had the effect of Enlarge Person but also included the spells Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, and Cat's Grace. The difficulty of making such a ring was unimaginable for ordinary enchanters.

Fortunately, Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, and Cat's Grace were only second-level spells, and with Enlarge Person, all four spells belonged to the Transmutation school, with no conflicting energy properties. This objectively reduced the difficulty.

Gorden first bought magic scrolls for Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, and Cat's Grace. After learning and mastering the spells, he began crafting the two rings.

He buried himself in the magic workbench for seven days. During this time, the small house in the cemetery that had been burned down was rebuilt, and Gorden had to resume his duties as a gravedigger. Time became tight, forcing him to devote all his time, except for eating, drinking, and sleeping, to making the rings.

The first Enhanced Vigor Ring, after several failures and the waste of over fifty gold coins worth of materials, took five days to complete.

With experience and the assistance of the "Item Creation and Enchantment" subsystem, he completed the second ring in two days.

Gorden, with the two rings in hand, returned to the luxurious suite at the Amber Mask where Dorn was staying.

This time, the woman in bed was a forest elf named Belando, but Dorn Lannister still had the demeanor of a young noble.

"Here are the finished rings. You can choose one to try out," Gorden showed Dorn the two finely crafted Enhanced Vigor Rings.

"I can't wait," Dorn casually picked up a ring and recited the activation passphrase. Then, four different magical auras emanated from the ring, enveloping his body.