Summoning the Void Gate

Josh really had no answer to Garen's taunts. He couldn't exactly tell him, "Hey, buddy, your story will eventually reach Earth, fall into the hands of a guy called Tryndamere, and become a game called League of Legends, where you'll have this skill."

Still, Josh felt that if he actually said that, Garen would definitely ask with a baffled look, "Where is Earth? Could that barbarian Tryndamere travel between different worlds too?" Josh had no way to answer something that complicated, so he couldn't be bothered to say anything more to Garen.

After telling Garen to set off at midnight and get some rest, Josh returned to his room. He also instructed his maids to prepare the items he and Garen had decided to bring, then deliver them to his room.

Although the maids found it strange that Josh wanted them to prepare these things, as if he were going on a long journey, they had no right to ask what their master intended to do. Besides, Josh treated them quite well, so after indicating that they understood, they went off to prepare what he wanted.

"Annie, do you know why His Highness Josh is preparing these things?" one maid asked curiously and cautiously, keeping her voice low.

"I don't know, Lucy. We shouldn't ask about His Highness Josh's affairs, understand? Doing our own work properly is the best help we can give His Highness Josh," the other maid answered softly.

What they didn't know was that Josh could hear them no matter how quietly they spoke. It wasn't that he was deliberately eavesdropping. Perhaps because of Void Magic, Josh had discovered that his senses had become far sharper. Both his vision and hearing had improved by leaps and bounds. That was an unexpected gain.

With no time to listen to the maids chatting, Josh rummaged through his cabinet and pulled out two Magic Crystals.

It had to be said that mages were truly a money-burning profession. Small gemstones capable of storing magic power were generally called Magic Crystals. The finest Magic Crystals were hard crystals condensed by Warcraft inside their brains. Depending on the Warcraft's own attributes, they carried corresponding magical properties.

Naturally, such things were expensive, and unless they were Magic Crystals from low-level Warcraft, no one would use them to store magic power. High-grade Magic Crystals were even rarer, and only high-ranking mages would find ways to acquire them. They were symbols of status, and they could also provide mages with decent magical recovery in battle.

The other kind was the sort Josh held in his hand now. He truly hated to use these. They were, in fact, simply gemstones. Gemstones varied widely in price on Earth, but any gemstone capable of storing magic power had to be highly pure. Josh didn't even know what to say about the prices high-purity gemstones fetched on Earth.

One word: expensive! A single piece was roughly equal to the total wages he could earn in his entire life.

Of course, after coming to this world, they had become much cheaper. Or rather, they weren't cheap—it was just that Josh's status had changed, so they seemed much more affordable in his eyes.

Josh had taken out the Magic Crystals to make two blank items capable of storing memories. Naturally, he wasn't planning to store his own memories. He had suddenly remembered that his first journey between worlds had gone so badly because of the language barrier. Garen had also been thrown into the dungeon by Josh because they couldn't understand each other, before eventually being moved into a guest room.

"Since that's the case, I should prepare these things in advance. Once we get to that world, we can find a couple of commoners or prisoners and copy their memories of the world and its language. That'll avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble."

Josh thought it, and he did it. The only painful part was probably using those two high-purity gemstones.

Making Memory Crystals wasn't difficult, especially when he didn't need to fill them with memories. Josh finished the task in no time. Looking at the two originally crystal-clear gemstones, now filled with what seemed to be drifting smoke, Josh nodded in satisfaction and stuffed them into his pocket.

Lunchtime came quickly. Josh went to the dining hall and was surprised to find that only Garen was seated there. Frank was nowhere to be seen, and Josh also felt that there were far fewer guards around. He curiously asked one of the guards standing watch nearby and received an answer that made his balls ache.

"Sir Frank has led part of the guards to conduct a census in your territory. However, your territory is rather large, so they may not return for several days."

All right, Josh smiled awkwardly. Even now, he really didn't know just how large his territory was. He had originally thought it covered only the castle's surroundings—that the city containing the castle was his entire domain. Now, though, it seemed he had been mistaken.

Constantinople's territory was quite vast. It included not only Constanceburg, but also many subordinate cities and towns, as well as countless villages. No one knew the exact total area, but Josh estimated that it was certainly not small.

That gave Josh another headache. With so much land, there was no way he could manage all of it himself. No wonder Frank had looked conflicted when Josh mentioned conducting a census. Still, he soon stopped caring. He could just assign some ambitious nobles to manage the more remote areas later. Why think so much about it?

After lunch, Josh returned directly to his room. He felt that he was becoming more and more of a shut-in, or perhaps mages were naturally prone to becoming shut-ins. Because of the nature of magical training, mages weren't destined to train outdoors nonstop like warriors, rain or shine.

Mages spent more time indoors reading the writings left behind by their predecessors, or browsing interesting books that could broaden their knowledge. If none of that interested them, they could meditate or train their mental power by casting little tricks. Those with money could simply conduct magical experiments or alchemical experiments.

Josh also planned to conduct magical experiments. According to the game's levels, he should have been able to learn those two spells, but the inheritance in his mind was utterly uncooperative. It gave him no method for learning them and couldn't even be bothered to display a description of the spells.

Perhaps Josh's relentless searching in his mind had finally annoyed the inheritance itself, because it directly sent him a message: You can learn those two spells when you reach level ten!

Of course, that was Josh's own translation. In the inheritance's terms, he could learn them once he reached the Fifth Tier. This left Josh very confused. By all rights, the Fifth Tier was already level ten. He was almost able to learn his second ultimate ability. Why did this inheritance work that way?

Moreover, on the Muya Continent, those at the Fifth Tier already possessed titles and could fly. It was only for brief periods, but they could fly nonetheless. Once they reached the Seventh Tier, they could fly as they pleased, as if the earth held no attraction for them anymore. Josh could wait until the Fifth Tier, but he had no idea how long that would take, and his offensive methods were far too limited.

"Looks like I can only find a way to create some spells myself, or modify existing ones. Otherwise, I'll just keep using Void Orb and Blade of Nothingness, then attach a Baleful Phantasm to them. Even an idiot would figure out my routine, let alone people who've been through countless battles."

All right, another problem, neither too big nor too small, lay before Josh. But it was one he absolutely had to overcome.

"Baleful Phantasm is incredibly malleable. It's Void matter condensed from Void Magic, something that can be used however I please. I need to think of a way to make this spell more valuable."

Josh kept thinking. Even when the maids brought in the prepared supplies, he showed no reaction at all. He continued pondering how to maximize the spell's power. Clearly, among the spells in his inheritance, aside from Void Shield and Void Gate, this spell held the greatest value. Yet so far, he had only thought of attaching it to Void Orb and Blade of Nothingness.

"I wonder what would happen if I attached it to Void Shield?"

The thought suddenly occurred to Josh, and he immediately gave it a try. The result—

"What the hell is this?"

Josh cast Void Shield, condensed a Baleful Phantasm, and attached it to the shield. Then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, the Baleful Phantasm vanished into the Void Shield, and the shield shattered as well. Clearly, Josh had failed. But he wasn't disappointed. He felt that the problem was probably his control over magic.

So he began experimenting again and again. He even forgot about dinner and never left his room. After who knew how many attempts, Josh finally grasped the frequency between the two spells and succeeded in attaching them for the first time.

Looking at his silver Void Shield, where a mass of unknown substance seemed to be writhing, Josh didn't know how to express his feelings. After trying for so long, this was all he got? Of course, Josh hadn't expected to succeed perfectly. What he needed was merely a direction.

Magic only yielded the most reliable answers through countless experiments. Josh didn't expect to complete a spell in a single attempt, but this modification to Void Shield truly gave him an idea.

"Maybe once my control improves, the combination of Void Shield and Baleful Phantasm can really become something capable of both attack and defense. After all, Baleful Phantasm's malleability is absurdly high."

Just as Josh was reviewing the results of his experiment, someone knocked on his door. After casually shouting for them to come in, Josh saw that it was Garen. Only then did he realize it was already midnight.

"You didn't forget, did you, Lord Josh?" Garen asked, looking at the somewhat embarrassed Josh with confusion.

"Of course not. I was just doing an experiment and lost track of time." Josh awkwardly rubbed his nose.

"Then our plan..."

"Proceeds as usual."

Josh had no habit of delaying things. Though he was a little hungry, it didn't matter. They had brought food. He gathered his magic power, and a silver-white sphere quickly appeared in his hand. Garen looked at the sphere and instinctively swallowed. It brought back unpleasant memories.

"Ready, Garen? Come forth, Void Gate!"