Late-Night Visit

"Scratch, scratch, scratch..."

Richard calculated for a long time before setting down his pen. Looking at the results on the Papyrus Scroll, he muttered, "Hmm, there shouldn't be any major problems this time. Let's try again."

After speaking, he looked at the corpse that had rolled onto the floor. Too lazy to walk over, he waved a hand and cast a spell. He controlled the surging air, shaping it into an invisible giant hand that grabbed the corpse and placed it on the table.

"Ke... Rui... Te..."

Richard recited the incantation. Free energy flowed out from his spell source, circulated in a specific sequence, and finally reacted when released from his palms.

Richard pressed both hands toward the corpse's head for a second time. As they drew closer and were about to touch it, his body jolted.

Clearly, the spell had failed once again, producing backlash.

Compared with last time, the backlash was negligible and caused very little damage. Richard returned to normal after a single breath.

But that did not stop his expression from growing more solemn.

"Hmm... Still not working? It failed again. But judging from the intensity of the backlash, I'm only a little short of success. Where exactly is the missing piece?"

As Richard spoke, he picked up the Goose Feather Quill and began calculating for a third time. With a casual wave of his hand, he controlled the air to push the corpse off the table, sending it rolling several meters away.

"Scratch, scratch, scratch..."

This calculation took Richard especially long, more than an hour in all. In the end, he forcefully wrote down a formula and obtained a string of numbers, the tip of the Goose Feather Quill nearly piercing through the thin Papyrus Scroll.

Looking at the numbers, Richard's eyes brightened slightly. In