Events had unfolded contrary to Anbaixiu's expectations, leaving him no choice but to drag Headless Bro back to his castle.
With his mood for drinking ruined, Headless Bro turned his attention to the paladin Alan Watson, framing it grandly: "Let's see if the new generation of paladins has gotten any stronger."
Anbaixiu only had time to offer a single warning: "Don't kill him." Then, he threw himself into work.
Given the habits of the City of Alchemy, after that unlucky administrator reported the news, it would take at least five hours for members of the Alchemists' Council to receive word. Then, another hour or two would likely pass while they deliberated on who to send to negotiate with Anbaixiu.
Anbaixiu had seven hours. If he wanted to reap the greatest possible benefits during the negotiations, he had to make proper preparations within that window.
A massive pile of magical materials was hauled out by Anbaixiu, and he even dragged Harvey, the apprentice mage locked in the dungeon, to serve as coolie labor.
Completely bewildered, Harvey assisted Anbaixiu in laying out an enormous magic circle.
At first, he had no idea what Anbaixiu was doing. But as the magic circle gradually took shape, Harvey recognized several of its functions.
"Sacrifice... predicting the future... mana conduit... manifestation..."
The more he recognized, the more cold sweat beaded on Harvey's forehead.
This was a magical ritual exclusive to the School of Divination, something Harvey had only ever read about in books. Its effect was simple and direct: offer a sacrifice, and one could foresee the future to a certain degree. The more precious the sacrifice, the more specific the predicted future would be.
Harvey felt his limbs go stiff.
What could be more precious than sacrificing a life? Clearly, he was the sacrifice about to be offered. This lich had finally run out of patience and was no longer willing to let him freeload food, drink, and magic books in the castle.
So, should he resist?
Harvey began to hesitate.
During these past few days locked in the castle, the thought of escape had never truly left Harvey's mind. Reading constantly day after day had been an effort to improve his spellcasting abilities as much as possible. And truth be told, Harvey had gained an immense amount.
The School of Divination was a niche among niches, yet Anbaixiu's library held a substantial collection of relevant texts, which Harvey had read with rapt fascination. Compared to when he was first captured, Harvey felt reborn.
In that case, could he put up a struggle?
Every magical ritual was extraordinarily precise; any error could cause it to fail and trigger a violent magical backlash. Perhaps he could exploit this. With any luck, he might even heavily wound this lich.
Harvey did not harbor hopes of killing Anbaixiu—a lich would not die until its phylactery was destroyed. He only wanted to destroy Anbaixiu's current physical form and use the time it took for the lich to regenerate to escape the castle.
*Stay calm. I can do this. The key node of this magic ritual is... here... If I modify this part slightly...*
Taking advantage of Anbaixiu looking away, Harvey quietly altered the structure of the magic circle.
It was a minuscule change, not enough to wreck the entire ritual on its own, but it was only the beginning. Harvey began slipping in various subtle maneuvers, littering the magic circle with hidden flaws.
If Anbaixiu failed to notice and actually used this circle to perform the sacrifice, he would inevitably suffer a violent magical backlash. Even if it did not blow his body to pieces, it would send the mana inside him rampaging, providing Harvey a chance to escape.
Everything was set, and Harvey had braced himself mentally, waiting only for...
"Hey, what are you doing standing where the sacrifice goes? Get over to the conductor's spot," Anbaixiu called out.
Harvey: "Huh?!!!"
Anbaixiu continued, "What are you 'huh'-ing about? I'm having you conduct the ritual. You've read so many materials on the School of Divination these past few days—don't tell me you can't even tell what this magic circle does? That would really disappoint me."
In disbelief, Harvey asked, "Am... am I not the sacrifice?"
Anbaixiu sneered mockingly. "What are you thinking? When offering a sacrifice, naturally the more precious the offering, the better the result. You're not even worth ten thousand gold coins, whereas this magic circle alone cost nearly two hundred thousand. Using you as the sacrifice would be an utter waste! Learn your own value, kid!"
Harvey: "..."
Although he didn't have to die, Harvey still felt a slight sting of humiliation. Not a lot, but thoroughly unpleasant. Wait—no! This was not the time to dwell on that!
He had just tampered with the magic circle in so many places. If he conducted the ritual, wouldn't he be the one to die?
Harvey suddenly felt like a circus clown.
Watching Harvey dither until his legs turned to jelly from fright, Anbaixiu sneered, "Alright, drop the act. Did you really think I didn't notice your little tricks earlier? Go ahead and stand on it with confidence. You won't die."
"Ah? You knew all along?" Harvey asked in astonishment.
"Nonsense. Your skills are far from sufficient. While you were tampering with it, I was already readjusting it on my end."
Harvey was even more astonished. Perplexed, he asked, "Then why did you do that? Surely not just to make a fool out of me?"
Through their interactions over this period, Harvey felt Anbaixiu was not an undead of malicious whimsy. Every single one of his actions was so... thrifty. He never wasted anything if he could help it. The cost of this magical ritual was so exorbitant that he would never let Harvey mess with it just to play a prank.
Harvey felt the need to get a clear answer, even if doing so might anger this eccentric lich.
"To test you, of course. You're an apprentice mage of the School of Divination, aren't you?"
Harvey admitted frankly, "I never tried to hide it. Besides, Master Ultraman, you're also a mage walking the path of divination, aren't you? Your collection contains so many classic tomes on the School of Divination—rare, unique copies that couldn't be found anywhere else."
Anbaixiu shook his head. "No, I've already abandoned it."
"Why?" Puzzlement was written all over Harvey's face.
Anbaixiu did not answer directly, instead posing a question: "Tell me, if a divination revealed that you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do?"
"This..." Harvey hesitated for a moment before answering, "I would probably spend my final day recording all the knowledge I've learned as thoroughly as possible."
Anbaixiu smiled faintly. "See? That is the difference. I cannot serenely accept fate, so I chose to give it up altogether."
Harvey grew thoughtful, then asked, "But I'm merely a captive. What exactly do you want me to do?"
"Work for me, of course. Your lord has already explicitly refused to pay the ransom, so you must work for me to pay off your debt. Having you conduct this ritual today earns you two gold coins in wages, which offsets one day of food."
Harvey: "..."
Two gold coins for that tiny bit of rock-hard bread? That was worse than highway robbery!
Anbaixiu couldn't care less whether the price was fair or not. He continued, "Alright, back to business. Earlier, I allowed you to tamper with the circle because I wanted to see how well you understood it. Now, I am very satisfied.
"Harvey, you are no longer an apprentice. You are now an official mage of the School of Divination."
Hearing Anbaixiu's words, Harvey felt a surge of excitement inside. Regardless of their opposing stances, receiving recognition from Master Ultraman was undoubtedly something to be proud of.
Anbaixiu ordered, "Alright, get to work."
With that, Anbaixiu poured a massive pile of gold coins onto the elevated sacrificial platform with profound reluctance. The clattering pile held at least three hundred thousand gold coins, making his ribs throb with phantom pain. Just like that, the majority of the advance payment from Rose of Decay was gone.
Harvey: "..."
So the gold coins were the sacrifice. It seemed rather absurd, but seeing the way Anbaixiu's soul fire was trembling, there seemed to be nothing wrong with this sacrifice after all.
No longer letting his mind wander, Harvey began conducting the ritual in earnest. At the same time, he asked, "Master Ultraman, what would you like to divine?"
Anbaixiu answered with utmost gravity, "The secrets of the sewers in the City of Alchemy."
Chapter 47