Iver's Excitement

The stranger guessed correctly, but also incorrectly.

Because at this moment, it wasn't just one of those two people standing at the door—it was both of them.

After all, the losers don't need to choose any keywords or receive any enhancement to their souls from the Path Trait. They were immediately ejected after watching the results screen, while the winners had to stay a while longer with the Pillar God.

The white-haired old count, leaning on his cane, rushed in quickly.

He seemed to be exhibiting some somatization symptoms due to the failure of the Promotion Ritual. Just yesterday, he was walking with great vigor... but after the Promotion Ritual, he was immediately using a cane.

Without a doubt, these are symptoms caused by severe damage to the soul.

Even though he was still using crutches, he walked as if he were speeding – almost as if he was going to miss the train if he was any later – and rushed into the room.

He first angrily ripped off the red lampshade covering the light, then, enduring the pain, he insisted on using his immobile foot to forcefully kick the offerings aside. It seemed that this pain actually made him feel comfortable.

Although he didn't yell at the stranger, his anger was palpable.

"Earl Karl ..."

The stranger awkwardly approached and greeted him in a low voice.

"Call me General, Lieutenant Lore!"

The old man answered in a loud, clear voice.

Along with his voice, another sound, like the crackling of a campfire, also rang out.

His golden pupils shone brightly, as if they were constantly burning with flames. And indeed they were—with just a thought, the newborn fire demon could rise from this old and decaying body.

Normally, he could suppress this impulse and maintain his social identity as a human being. But in the moment of his damaged soul, he uttered just one sentence, and the temperature in the room began to rise abnormally.

"Alright, old buddy."

Holding a black cane, the middle-aged man walked in leisurely and said calmly, "Don't take your anger out on Albert. He did nothing wrong."

He looked to be in his early thirties, with a pair of scarlet eyes. His blond hair was neatly combed back into a slicked-back style. Even so, his hair looked very thick.

"... Thank you, Your Highness Prince."

Albert scratched his head and responded politely.

His naturally curly hair was a little messy because he had just woken up. He was wearing black-rimmed round glasses and looked like an introverted and shy young scholar who hadn't yet graduated from university.

Albert Lore, a genius necromancer codenamed "Stranger," is only in his early twenties but has already reached the Fourth Level. However, unlike mainstream necromancers who take on the first level of the Dedication Path to become Ghoul Shepherd capable of easily summoning numerous skeletons, he chose to take on the second level of the Equilibrium Path, thus advancing to a new Extraordinary Profession — the Calamity Splicer.

The Path of Twilight has a unique characteristic that distinguishes it from other paths.

If they don't take on part-time jobs to fuel their desire for advancement, the increasingly strong "static" power of the Path of Twilight will stop them from advancing. Most extraordinary individuals on the Path of Twilight will stop at the Third Level, and those who can reach the Fourth Level will need to take on another path to obtain basic motivation outside of the Twilight Path.

Calamity Splicer needs to become a Second Level alchemist to advance.

Compared to the Ghoul Shepherd, this is a closer path to advancement for Amber Artisan.

If the Amber Artisan is a master at manipulating souls, then the Calamity Splicer is one who pieces together and modifies corpses. When Albert had just completed his ascension, the first patchwork corpse he created was a monster pieced together from four corpses, Iron Hook Demon, and Deformed Limb Demon —a creature he called an Abomination.

The reason this profession has only been discovered now is because alchemists enjoy extremely high social status in the Stibium Kingdom. Anyone who can advance to the Third Level can directly obtain the title of lord and own their own territory. Furthermore, a generous monthly allowance is allocated to support their alchemical practice and the recruitment of alchemical apprentices.

The Path of Twilight, on the other hand, is the opposite. Necromancers are usually confined to the army, while Preservationists are the servants of alchemists—used to extend the preservation time of precious Alchemy Potion or rare alchemical materials.

As long as one can become an alchemist, who would choose the Path of Twilight?

However, Prince Heinrich —also the Earl Leipzig and the master of the City of Knowledge —recognized the potential of this profession. He then directly invested a large sum of money in Albert to sponsor his research.

This first investment was 10,000 gold coins.

Third Level alchemist could only receive two hundred gold coins a month from royal patronage—equivalent to a little over three hundred White Crown Coin in neighboring Avalon. In other words, he gave Albert a huge investment of fifteen thousand White Crown Coin on their first meeting.

This investment has yielded very good returns.

Gargoyles are classic creations of Amber Artisan. They possess a simulated soul and can obey complex commands like soldiers. However, gargoyles are curse-driven, meaning that the simplest dispel spell can destroy a large number of these expensive gargoyles, and a purifying barrier set up by a priest can instantly disable them upon entering.

But as a "Calamity Splicer," Albert gave the Your Highness Prince a surprise.

He pieced together a layer of flesh and blood with independent consciousness to absorb external curses from the gargoyles. He then covered the flesh and blood shell with a metal shell to protect it completely. In this way, the problem of dispelling and purifying these gargoyles was solved.

It was precisely because of his exceptional talent that Albert, as a genius necromancer, began to attract the attention of the royal family. The old nobles began to approach him... even the arrogant Earl Karl began to look at him differently.

"Based on my understanding of you," the Earl Leipzig said with a smile, "You're not the kind of person who gets this happy just because of a promotion. Has something good happened?"

"Yes, Your Highness Prince!"

This gave the stranger the opportunity to recount what had happened.

He enthusiastically recounted to his patron his encounter with Bashir Valentine during the Promotion Ritual. Halfway through his story, Count Karl quietly joined him, listening intently.

What puzzled the stranger was that, for some reason, the old man suddenly became angry as he listened. He snorted loudly, then quickly moved to the window, leaning on his cane, seemingly somewhat depressed.

"... I actually ran into His Majesty."

The Earl Leipzig's expression was somewhat subtle. "He actually goes to those kinds of events...?"

"I think it was just his friend who brought him. That guy named Pengbo Naqi— "

Despite the fact that the other party was the intermediary through which he met Valentine I, the Stranger was clearly dissatisfied with the person who brought Valentine I to the Crescent Moon Manor.

Valentine I was not the kind of man who indulged in carnal desires! The Earl Leipzig coughed lightly, reminding him, "The ' Pengbo Naqi ' you mentioned is the 'Red Chancellor' from the early days of the nation's founding."

Valentine I had two Nameless viziers, the "Black Vizier" and the "Red Vizier," who were instrumental in the smooth operation of the Star Antimony during the early years of his reign.

"... It was him?"

Albert was somewhat taken aback.

He opened his mouth, remained silent for a moment, and then stubbornly insisted, "Then he shouldn't have taken His Majesty to such a dangerous place to play..."

"I was transformed into Child of the Moon by Teacher Pengbo Naqi. In that sense, he can be considered my father."

The Earl Leipzig interrupted Albert again, gently reminding him.

"... I'm sorry, I got carried away."

Albert bowed his head and apologized without hesitation.

"It's nothing, it's a good thing that you got inspiration."

The Earl Leipzig smiled kindly, "Even if you don't succeed in your promotion, you won't lose out. You are now the deputy director of the Third Research Institute, and even if your Path of Twilight doesn't advance to the Fifth Level, His Majesty will never forget your achievements—compared to cold, hard Path levels, results are what ultimately prove strength."

"You have served the kingdom, and the kingdom will remember you. Star Antimony respects alchemists because they have brought change and development to Star Antimony, not because they possess extraordinary powers."

Despite the damage to his own soul, the Earl Leipzig felt no sorrow.

Instead, he spoke with great enthusiasm, "Furthermore, I also tried to recruit Miss Alai. If this recruitment is successful... you might meet again in the future."

On the other side.

Lily and Iver had returned to their original forms, swapped clothes again. Hai Na, however, remained unconscious.

So Lily began to tell Iver about how she was recruited and the code left by the "Earl Leipzig".

She said with some concern, "I feel this is a bit dangerous, young master. Perhaps we shouldn't go?"

"No, of course I'll go."

Iver laughed, "It's rare to find a way to disguise myself as ' Miss Aleister '... Of course I have to go."

"When are you going? You're a minister now, and people will be watching you when you go abroad."

"Of course, it's time to go on an archaeological expedition with my mentor."

Iver said matter-of-factly, "When I was studying in the Theocracy, it was perfectly reasonable for me to go on a business trip with my mentor, wasn't it? I wasn't leaving Avalon, I was just going from the Theocracy to Star Antimony—no matter how far the Stibnite Person's reach is, they wouldn't dare to plant spies in the Theocracy. Who could possibly discover that I left the Theocracy?"

But Sherlock suddenly asked, "Do you know the Earl Leipzig?"

He keenly sensed the excitement hidden deep within Iver's heart after hearing the news.

Iver stopped and gave him a smile.

"Certainly."

Iver slowly replied, "He possesses... the key to the next era."