Chapter 160: Monetary Incentive (Part 3)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The fourth floor of Herrera's Mage Tower.
There were a total of 66 tarot cards in Elin's deck. She divided them into two separate rows, one with 22 cards and the other with 44 cards. They were placed face down on the table in a fan-shaped formation.
As Elin needed a drop of blood for her spell and clearly meant no harm, Link stretched out his hand. She skillfully pricked Link with a silver needle and a drop of blood appeared at his fingertip. The blood then floated in the air and dispersed into a cloud of mist the moment it was directly on top of the tarot cards.
Elin closed her eyes and flailed her hands randomly within the blood mist. From time to time, she would vocalize a few words with a trembling voice. "A…ba…salo...ji..."
If one were to ignore the increasing intensity of the mysterious aura surrounding her, she would look downright insane.
After half a minute, the blood mist hovering on top of the tarot cards split into two portions as though it was alive, each charging straight into a separate row of cards. Elin then opened her eyes. She looked slightly drained and the soft green glow in her eyes seemed to have dimmed greatly. Before she flipped open the tarot cards, she said, "The cards can predict your future. I have heard that you have chosen a barren land as your territory. If you are indeed the Chosen One, the Yabba race would offer you some help in the development of your land."
"What if I'm not?" Link smiled. If the Yabba race was willing to help, it would exponentially speed up and improve the development process.
The Yabba people were the most outstanding magic mechanics in the world. They had ridiculous achievements in the area of architecture, building a large number of buildings that were magnificent enough to be termed as wonders. Their help would not only improve the quality, but also the speed of Link's territory construction.
"If you aren't then the deal is off." Elin gave a cheeky smile before pulling out the cards selected by the blood mist. She then avoided Herrera's and Link's gaze before checking them carefully.
As she flipped open the cards, she explained, "The power of fate is extremely delicate and mysterious. Any minute changes may affect the result drastically. Therefore, I am the only one who can look at this. Wait a minute, this is…" Elin eyes suddenly widened, her gaze alternating between the cards in her hand and Link, who was right in front of her. She looked as if she had seen something incredible.
She had two cards in her hand.
The first card was the main card, showing a bright sun in the middle. This was the best main card anyone could hope for as it symbolized hope, light and inner peace.
The second card was the auxiliary card. This card showed a king holding a scepter, representing authority, passion, sincerity and creativity.
This was also the best auxiliary card!
From all the prophecies Elin had done, these cards were only chosen in extremely rare cases. Even if they were, only one of them would appear, while the other accompanying card would usually be something extremely poor.
Elin, who specialized in the power of prophecy, knew very well that it was almost impossible for these two cards to appear at once. This was due to the innate contradictory properties of these two cards.
If a person had great authority, he was bound to be absorbed into the vortex of power struggle. Coupled with his passion and creativity, it would be almost impossible to achieve inner peace.
This was merely one aspect of the contradiction. A wise person might be able to reconcile the differences between these two cards and find the fine balance. However, there was another important reason that prevented the concurrent appearance of the two cards.
That was the hidden meaning behind this pair of cards.
When the sun, the scepter and the king appeared simultaneously in a person's fate, it only meant one thing—they would become the Savior!
What was a Savior?
Even when the entire world was on an unstoppable trajectory towards the abyss and every living creature was suffering a tragic fate, the Savior would be the only person that possessed the power to put a stop to the madness!
It was important to maintain inner peace when practicing prophecy spells. Elin had been trained to never show her emotions no matter the results she saw from the cards.
Even when she was predicting her own fate which showed that she would go through great suffering and even the destruction of the entire Yabba race, she only frowned ever so slightly and felt a twinge of sadness in her heart.
However, this was an exception. When the person destined to be a Savior was right in front of her, she could no longer stay calm. This was because her fate, the tragic fate of her entire race could be altered!
After a full 30 seconds in shock, Elin suddenly moved and quickly mixed the cards in her hand into the rest of the tarot cards on the table. She then hastily shuffled the deck to make it impossible for anyone to tell the two cards she had just picked out. Even though he was the Savior, his power still had not fully matured. She had to keep the results of this prophecy to herself in order to protect him!
"What's the matter, Elin?" Herrera was clearly shocked by her exaggerated actions. What kind of prophecy would make a Level-6 Magician this flustered?
Elin had slightly regained her composure and gave a slight cough before continuing, "I'm sorry, Link. The cards showed that you are not the Chosen One."
"That is not possible!" Herrera was puzzled. She had seen the brilliance of God in the depths of Link's soul. "Elin, could you be mistaken?"
Elin was immediately enraged. She shouted with a flushed face, "Do not insult my prophecy magic! It is never wrong!"
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," Herrera hurriedly apologized.
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Elin did not pursue the matter any further and turned to look at Link, "However, since we are friends, the cooperation might still be possible if you are willing to pay. When I return back to the Yabba Mountains (The hometown of the Yabba race, North of the Norton Kingdom, Adjacent to the Dark Elves Forest), I can still afford to send you a batch of our finest engineers."
Link thought it was an extremely good plan. He was totally not concerned about the issue of the Chosen One. To him, it was nothing more than a title.
Even if he was the Chosen One, the God of Light would not be able to descend onto the World of Firuman to aid him in battle. If he wasn't, the game system would still continue to help him navigate through this unfamiliar world. In any case, Herrera was already certain that he was the Chosen One. It was enough to see that the result of Elin's prophecy was not sufficient to affect her judgment.
As for Elin's offer to help with the construction of his territory, Link was extremely elated. He nodded in excitement and said, "Money is not a problem. I can fund the construction with my enchanting skills."
Herrera nodded as well. "Link has outstanding talent in enchanting magic. His enchantment speed is extremely fast and he never fails to create exquisite designs. He is very skilled."
Elin had no doubt about Link's abilities at all. She immediately nodded and said, "If that is the case, I will start selecting the engineers the moment I return."
"Thank you." Link was satisfied.
"Just a small gesture," Elin replied. She then fell silent and stared blankly into her deck of tarot cards, huddling in the chair.
Elin's actions were definitely out of the ordinary. However, Herrera chose to leave her alone and turned towards Link. "You are back early this time. Did anything happen?"
Link nodded and took out a sword, staff and a dagger from his dimensional pendant. They belonged to the Dark Elf Warrior Norisa, Magician Parsons and Assassin Hedel respectively. Lastly, he took out Parsons dimensional bracelet and placed them on the table.
Dark Elves equipment were extremely recognizable by their characteristics. They were always black or bright red in color and would be enchanted with a layer of dark aura.
Herrera's eyes widened upon seeing this equipment. She asked, "What's going on?"
Elin, who was in a daze, also took a glance at the equipment before staring back at her deck of cards. However, her tiny ears were already erected, clearly interested in the background of these weapons.
Link then explained in detail his trip back to the Morani castle. As he mentioned about the Black Moon Conspiracy, Herrera already had a tight frown on her face. By the time he reached the part about Demon Tarviss, Herrera was unable to contain her fear anymore and covered her delicate mouth with her hands.
"Tarviss? Didn't he get banished by the Legendary Magician Bryant?"
It was Link's turn to feel perplexed. There was a discrepancy between the history he knew and the current timeline. In the game, Tarviss was merely sealed in an unknown area within East Cove Higher Magic Academy. Had he truly been banished in this timeline?
They were two completely different scenarios.
However, it didn't take him long before he understood. The incident happened over 100 years ago and the story had been passed down through many generations. There was bound to be some deviation from the original. As Herrera had not entered the core layer of leadership in the Magic Academy, it was natural for her to not know the truth.
Link then said, "Why don't we convey this message to Dean Anthony?"
"We have to; I will go now!" Herrera was flustered. Demon Tarviss was a Legendary creature. If the Dark Elves were successful in releasing him, it would definitely be a catastrophe, probably one that could destroy the entire magic academy.
She immediately stood up and left before turning back to collect the Dark Elves equipment Link had brought back with him. She then turned to Elin and said apologetically, "Elin, I have something urgent to attend to. I cannot accompany you anymore."
Elin simply smiled and started putting away her tarot cards. Then she jumped down from her chair and said, "That's fine, please get busy. I should also be returning to the Yabba Mountains as Link probably needs my engineer team soon. Can you let Link send me off?"
"Of course. Link?"
"Yes, master." Link stood up and respectfully ushered Elin out of the hall, with Herrera following behind. When they reached the first floor, Link saw the merchant, Warter drinking at the bar. He seemed to be enjoying himself.
Link ignored him and continued walking towards the entrance.
When they exited the Mage Tower, Herrera made a beeline for the Heaven's Thorn while Link accompanied Elin as they walked along the path leading towards the Griffins Railing.
Elin had restored her previous cheeky and cheery demeanor. She smiled at Link and said, "Link, I've heard that the Ferde Wilderness is extremely barren. Apart from having no natural resources, there are also all kinds of heinous criminals hiding in the area. Isn't it very expensive to develop the land there?"
Link threw his hands out helplessly and said, "That is a fact."
"Do you want me to help you?" Elin looked at Link with a haughty expression. She seemed to think she had a vantage point over Link.
"I think I have the solution to the problem." Link pretended not to hear her.
Elin pouted, "You're such a boring man. After all, I am still your senior. It is only polite to give you a gift on our first meeting. This is for you! It can probably sell for some money."
She made a slight action with her hand and a glowing red metal enveloped by a red mist appeared in her hands. The metal was almost as large as a fist and would occasionally sparkle under the sun.
"This is…a Fire Star Thorium!" Link was shocked.