Mana Is Never Enough

Eating, sleeping, reading, studying…

For the next few days, Zuo Si stayed in his room at the "Happy Hour" inn, living a life where he didn't step out the door.

Except for the second day, when he took some time to bring Harlett to meet his trusted subordinates, and they discussed the ransom issue face-to-face, he didn't move from his spot.

After all, Zuo Si was originally a very "homebody" and patient person who could endure loneliness.

Even when he was in the Floating City Tower, he could go for a full month or two without speaking or communicating with anyone except the Archlich, Astar.

Compared to the utterly boring social interactions and the scheming among apprentices, he preferred to invest his precious time and energy into studying profound magical knowledge.

Because the continuous acquisition of this knowledge, which could be readily converted into wealth and power, gave him a strange sense of addiction and satisfaction.

Especially the unique Arcane casting system and the Weave of the Faerun Continent he was currently studying, which could almost perfectly compensate for his current flaws and shortcomings.

Furthermore, the vast array of spells in the Arcane casting system was far more interesting than the Creator class he could only research Magic Rituals and craft Magic Items, Wondrous Items, and Potions before.

In addition to this, he could also use the massive amount of knowledge collected within the Floating City Tower for comparison and reference.

And through continuous in-depth study, Zuo Si discovered that the differences between the magic systems of the two worlds were much smaller than he had imagined.

Although due to environmental factors, the structure of many spells with the same or similar names were slightly different, their principles and essence were almost the same.

He could completely, based on the [Wizard] class, combine the research results of another magical civilization to revise and create a brand new, more suitable Arcane casting profession for himself.

Just like those advanced Arcane professions such as Red Robe Mage, Archmage, Arcane Follower, and Great Mage.

"Hmm… perhaps I should first use [Mimicry] to create a LV5 Wizard. Otherwise, I'll just be studying theory all day without any practical experience," Zuo Si muttered to himself, stroking his chin.

With the ability of [Mind Library] to never forget, he had already memorized all the magic books he had bought.

If he were to simulate it now, the highest potential for the Wizard class should reach LV10 or LV11, which would be enough for a very long time.

But the problem was, using Mimicry meant an additional significant drain on Mana.

He had originally planned to first upgrade his Planeswalker class to LV4 and then find an opportunity to complete the task of creating his first Creature Card.

"Sigh, what a headache. I never have enough Mana. I really wish I could [Refinement] all the Magic Items, Scrolls, Wands, and Potions in my satchel that I'm not using right now."

Zuo Si's heart began to stir with the desire to "spend extravagantly" again.

After all, with his current stable Mana sources being limited, giving more to one profession meant less for others.

Besides extracting energy from various Magic Items, the only other way to obtain more at once was by killing various monsters and bandits.

Just as he was staring at his Mana pool value, hesitating, a rapid knocking sound suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Lord Soth, are you in your room? I'm Pike, a waiter from the lobby downstairs. There's a lady here who claims to be your friend and wishes to see you."

A rather familiar voice came through the gap in the door.

Zuo Si was stunned for a moment, then quickly remembered that a few days ago he had sold the Cylindrical Crystal Energy Storage Device to a female Sorcerer who seemed to have Fire Giant blood. He immediately put away his "Legacy" and signaled the soldiers guarding the door to open it.

The latter understood, stood up from his chair, unlatched the bolt, and pushed open the heavy wooden door.

Instantly!

Two figures appeared at the doorway.

One was naturally the male (anti-censorship) waiter who had just knocked, and the other was the shop owner, veiled, with black cross-shaped pupils.

However, unlike the pride and arrogance she displayed during their last meeting, she now looked very agitated, clearly having not slept well for some time.

The moment she saw Zuo Si, the woman threw a gold coin to the waiter and walked directly into the room without any politeness. She completely ignored Pike, who was bowing and thanking her repeatedly, and closed the door with a bang.

She even ignored the soldier beside her, held up the Energy Storage Device in her hand, and asked through gritted teeth, "How did you do it?"

"How did I do what?"

Zuo Si blinked, confused by the inexplicable question.

"How did you make its performance so stable!

Do you know?

I've failed more than sixty times in the past few days, and not once was I successful.

At least two-thirds of the materials you used here are ones I've never seen before.

But that didn't stop me!

Because I quickly found some substitutes with similar effects.

But only stability!

It's the crucial point that I could never break through!"

While saying this, the woman had completely lost her previous composure, looking like a frantic madwoman.

Especially when she got excited, she directly pulled off her veil, revealing a delicate face with an exotic charm even in Caledon.

As Zuo Si had guessed, this female Sorcerer was likely a descendant of Humans and Fire Giants.

However, considering that about one-twentieth of the humans in the entire Calishite region might have a trace of Fire Giant bloodline, it wasn't entirely unacceptable for some awakened Sorcerers to exhibit ancestral traits in their appearance.

What's more, people here are generally quite accepting of non-human races.

You only need to look at how popular the domesticated orc, half-orc, kobold, goblin, gnoll, as well as ogre and troll slaves are in the slave market to see that.

"So... you admit that your attempt failed, right?" Zuo Si asked directly.

Instantly!

The woman shut her mouth and fell silent.

Yes, she had failed.

She had paid a rather heavy price for her arrogance.

The materials and gemstones, which cost over a hundred thousand gold coins, had all gone to waste in her attempts to create an equally stable energy storage device.

The closest she had come to success so far had only managed to maintain stability for less than ten seconds.

Then, with a bang, it had exploded, releasing all the stored lightning energy and wantonly destroying everything around it.

If she hadn't pre-emptively cast a spell to protect against energy damage, she might have been seriously injured or even killed.

After a long silence, the woman quickly took a deep breath and said, "Name your price! I need the complete technology for manufacturing this energy storage device!"

But Zuo Si smiled and shook his head. "No, madam, I think you've misunderstood something.

In fact, besides me, there's no one else who can possibly manufacture this energy storage device.

Regarding the stability I just mentioned, do you think the entire cylindrical crystal was achieved through some kind of transmutation magic?

It was created using my unique ability, like this..."

As he spoke, Zuo Si casually picked up two empty potion bottles from the table and activated his Shaping ability.

The two originally completely separate potion bottles, under the effect of some mysterious power, seemed to melt and slowly fuse together. They were then reshaped into a statue of an adventurer holding a shield and a long sword.

No incantations!

No gestures!

And absolutely no spell components were used!

The woman was completely stunned by this ability to alter the form of matter. She took the glass statue and examined it repeatedly.

After a full few minutes, she discovered that the entire statue was seamless, with not even the slightest trace of splicing or joining.

It was as if this glass statue had been fired this way from the very beginning.

Even the air bubbles contained within the two potion bottles had disappeared