Chapter 46

For several days, Andzej spent his time in fear, often being startled awake from nightmares, terrified that he would wake up to find himself the public enemy of all the mercenaries in Thousand Sails City.

After three days of such torment, Andzej was completely worn out, his hair turning gray. On the fourth day, he could no longer sit still and walked alone from Lion King Street to Triumph Street, waiting at the door of the Gilded Rose for the entire afternoon.

It wasn't until evening that Lin Yun arrived from his home.

"Good... evening, Mage Merlin." Andzej, who had been cold and hungry for the entire afternoon, quickly forced a smile and greeted Lin Yun.

"Good evening, Captain Andzej." Lin Yun didn't stop walking, just nodding his head in acknowledgment.

The problem was, Andzej didn't come today just to exchange greetings...

So, Andzej had to hurry to catch up, forcing another ingratiating smile. "Mage Merlin, business at the Gilded Rose is really thriving..."

"Ha ha."

"..." Originally, Andzej planned to use the topic of good business to steer the conversation towards magical materials. Once they talked about magical materials, Andzej could naturally propose continuing their cooperation, even if it meant admitting his mistake. Losing some face was nothing compared to being expelled from Thousand Sails City by Sas...

But Lin Yun just gave him a "ha ha"...

This "ha ha" made Andzej's head spin...

How could he continue the conversation? How could he steer it?

Brother, don't play with me...

Lin Yun wasn't really playing with him. He had just finalized a cooperation with the Silver Moon Mercenary Group, and there were many things to do. He was so busy that he didn't have time to play. After a casual "ha ha," he turned to walk into the Gilded Rose...

"Mage Merlin, please wait a moment." Andzej, seeing the situation, hurriedly caught up.

"Captain Andzej, is there something you need?" Lin Yun stopped, looking at Andzej with surprise.

"..." Andzej was almost sweating. If he could, he would really like to ask, do I look like I have nothing to do? Why would I come to the Gilded Rose and wait for an entire afternoon, cold and hungry, if I had nothing to do? Do you think I have nothing better to do?

But thinking of the possible consequences, Andzej didn't dare to ask...

Not only did he not dare to ask, but he also had to force out an ingratiating smile and ask carefully.

"Y-Yes, Mage Merlin, I came today to ask if the Gilded Rose still needs magical materials? Our Frostwolf Mercenary Group has completed several missions recently, and we have accumulated quite a bit of magical materials. I wonder if the Gilded Rose can help us with this?"

Actually, the Frostwolf Mercenary Group didn't have any accumulated magical materials...

But now, he had no choice but to say this. To mend relations with the Gilded Rose, Andzej was willing to accept any harsh conditions. If necessary, he would buy a batch of magical materials from the market...

"Helping you with this isn't a problem, but Captain Andzej, the Gilded Rose is currently facing some financial difficulties. So, regarding the price, I hope Captain Andzej can be more understanding. How about this, I'll talk to Uncle Pavie, and we'll continue to purchase magical materials from the Frostwolf Mercenary Group, but the price will be half of the market rate."

"Half... half the market rate?" Andzej almost couldn't catch his breath.

If he could, Andzej would really like to spit in the other's face.

This was really too shameless. He had already humbled himself, waiting cold and hungry for an entire afternoon, saying all the nice things and smiling all the way, and Lin Yun just said half the market rate, and even called it symbolic. Damn, is this how you do it symbolically?

But after struggling for a while, Andzej still swallowed his spit. There was no choice. The situation Andzej faced was one where he could be easily manipulated. Who could blame him when the other was a partner of the Silver Moon Mercenary Group? If he said the wrong thing, the other wouldn't even need to do anything; just a word to Sas would be enough to make him suffer...

Stay calm, stay calm!

Andzej took a deep breath, wiped away a tear, and forced out a stiff smile. "T-Thank you, Mage Merlin..."

"You're welcome." Lin Yun politely said "excuse me" and then turned to walk into the Gilded Rose.

"..." Andzej stood there in a daze. The "you're welcome" felt like a slap in the face, just like "you're a good person."

Lin Yun didn't care what Andzej thought.

Because Lin Yun had more important things to do...

Three days had passed, and the mana baptism had completed the transformation of his body. Now, Lin Yun was no longer troubled by the physical defects left by Mafa Merlin. In other words, Lin Yun could now challenge the rank of Archmage at any time.

That's why Lin Yun came to the Gilded Rose.

The alchemy laboratory of the Gilded Rose was meticulously designed by Lin Yun. The corridor had three magical traps, the entrance had two solidified Mage Eyes, and the door had two alchemical arrays engraved on it. This setup was virtually impregnable, and even a regular Archmage would have to ask Lin Yun's permission to enter.

Here, Lin Yun could focus on advancing to Archmage without worrying about being disturbed.

After entering the Gilded Rose, Lin Yun greeted the old butler and casually mentioned Andzej's matter, then went into the alchemy laboratory alone.

Lin Yun checked the traps at the entrance, activated the alchemical arrays inside, and added another Mage Eye when closing the door. After doing all this, Lin Yun found a secluded spot and began the longest meditation of his life as a mage...

Lin Yun estimated that this meditation might last more than three days. This was different from regular meditation. Advancing to Archmage required breaking through the limits and shattering the mana vortex. Only after shattering the mana vortex could one possess a magic rune, which was the most important thing for an Archmage. To some extent, the magic rune was the life mark of an Archmage, not only possessing immense power but also evolving with the Archmage's advancement.

Therefore, before advancing to Archmage, one had to undergo an extremely long meditation to purify the mana vortex.

Some mages might use alchemical potions, such as the three bottles of multicolored potions Lin Yun had once taken out, or the multicolored potions that Raymond had seen, which could purify the mana vortex.

But Lin Yun wouldn't do that...

Lin Yun, coming from the end times, understood better than the mages of this era that a mana vortex purified entirely by oneself would be ten times more powerful when converted into a magic rune compared to one purified with alchemical potions.

Purifying the mana vortex was a painful process. The mage had to extract the impurities from the mana vortex bit by bit, which was like extracting something from the soul, filled with pain and torment...

As Lin Yun entered the meditative state, the mana vortex in his body began to slowly rotate. Time passed, and Lin Yun's calm face gradually turned pale, with beads of sweat forming on his forehead...

And this was just the beginning...

One day passed, two days passed...

By the third day, Lin Yun was in an extremely weak state, his face pale and haggard, and the magical fluctuations emanating from his body gave a sense of restlessness, as if they could go out of control at any moment.

But his eyes were brighter than ever.

Lin Yun knew he was in the strongest state he had been in for months. His mana reserves had reached their limit, and the mana vortex, after purification, could only be described as perfect. The restlessness of the magical fluctuations was not due to a lack of control but because the mana vortex was on the verge of shattering.

Lin Yun was standing at the door of the Archmage, and all he needed was a gentle push...

After confirming his state, Lin Yun took a deep breath, and the mana in his body began to flow slowly. At first, the flowing mana was gentle and soothing, like a trickling stream, almost indistinguishable from regular meditation except for its purity.

However, unlike regular meditation, the mana that entered the mana vortex did not form a mana cycle but silently merged into the vortex.

At first, there was no significant change, but as Lin Yun continued, the flowing mana began to change, becoming faster and more urgent. Eventually, it surged like a turbulent river, roaring and surging into the mana vortex.

Originally, when Lin Yun advanced to mage, he had created a nearly flawless mana vortex with his strong control. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to easily defeat a fellow ninth-level mage from the Viper's Nest, nor would he have been able to forcibly cast an Archmage-level elemental avatar in the Bone Plane.

But now, this nearly flawless mana vortex was being stretched and deformed by the continuous influx of mana...

If this happened to a regular mage, they would probably be scared to death.

For a mage, the mana vortex was the most important. Only a stable mana vortex could allow the accumulation of mana through meditation and the casting of spells. In the Noscent world, almost every mage taught their disciples how to care for their mana vortex as the first lesson.

Because if the mana vortex had problems, it meant the end of the magical path...