Wizard Grace

In the dim basement, several candles burned atop ancient brass lampstands, providing a murky yellow light.

Several grooves had been carved into the floor at the center of the basement, forming a complex circular pattern.

Count Hardy held a bottle of mysterious potion. He pulled out its wooden stopper and poured the pale golden liquid inside into the grooves.

Duke stood behind him and watched in silence. He sniffed at it but detected no scent; the golden liquid gave off nothing unusual.

Count Hardy carefully cradled the bottle and slowly poured out its contents, not spilling a single drop beyond the grooves.

When the final drop of golden liquid fell from the bottle, the grooves were already full, gleaming in the candlelight.

Count Hardy then stood before the grooves, drew a dagger, and cut his palm. Blood immediately dripped into the grooves below, mingling with the golden liquid.

"By the bloodline of the Acosta Family, I request an audience with Lady Grace!"

The Spirit-Summoning Ritual could only be performed with the bloodline of the Acosta Family. Anyone else's blood was useless.

Count Hardy had long prepared himself for the possibility that several generations might pass without anyone possessing wizard aptitude. He had never imagined that he would truly live to personally perform the Spirit-Summoning Ritual.

As he watched blood drip from his palm, he could no longer feel the pain. There was only overwhelming excitement.

He had waited twenty years for this day.

After the golden liquid in the grooves fused with the blood, it gradually began to emit a pale purple glow.

The light turned into purple mist, slowly gathering together, intertwining as it spiraled upward.

Once the mist reached the upper part of the basement, it gradually spread out and formed an area of pale purple fog.

A pair of fair, round thighs appeared crossed within the mist. Looking upward from those legs, a voluptuous woman in a purple bathrobe gradually came into view.

The mist obscured her face, and it covered several crucial areas as well.

"Little Hardy? How did you become so old?" The woman's alluring voice drifted from the mist.

Count Hardy looked excited, but he gave a helpless, bitter smile at those words. "Lady Grace, I am only a mortal. Twenty years have passed—it is only natural that I have grown old."

"Mm... Has it already been twenty years? The Florence Continent is a lovely place. I had a great deal of fun there," Grace said lazily.

"The years I spent serving you were also the most important period of my life," Count Hardy said earnestly.

Grace seemed to be sitting on a sofa. Her crossed legs shifted, and she reclined upon it, raising her long, shapely legs. "Go on. What do you need from me? I remember I only gave you one Spirit-Summoning Ritual back then. There won't be a second chance."

"Honored Lady Grace, my daughter, Vivian Acosta, has become a Great Knight and possesses fourth-grade wizard aptitude," Count Hardy said as he knelt on one knee.

Grace yawned. "I understand. Have her come over. Let me take a look at the child."

Vivian immediately walked over, lifting her skirt and dipping slightly in a noble's curtsy.

"What an adorable little girl. I like her. She may join our Thorn Holy Tower." Grace's voice came from the mist, full of affection for Vivian.

After Vivian's careful dressing-up, combined with her delicate and pitiable appearance at that moment, she looked entirely like an obedient young lady.

"Thank you, Lady Grace! I have another friend. He also has fourth-grade wizard aptitude. Could I ask you to accept him as well?" Vivian pleaded.

"The handsome young man beside you? That will not do. I am taking you in because I made a promise before. Though this young man is quite handsome, fourth-grade aptitude is not enough for me to accept him," Grace said slowly, refusing Vivian's request.

Vivian wanted to say more, but Duke hurriedly held her back and smiled, signaling for her not to act rashly.

Duke did not want Vivian to lose such an opportunity because of him. This was the result of Count Hardy's painstaking plans over so many years.

If Vivian angered Grace because of him and lost her chance to join the Thorn Holy Tower, Duke would feel guilty for the rest of his life.

"Hm?" Grace's voice came from the mist. "Handsome young man, don't you have a Black Sail token on your hand?"

"Black Sail? A token?" Duke looked at the Brass Ring on his hand in confusion.

Grace said, "The Enchanted Item on your hand is a Black Sail token. With that token, you can join Black Sail directly. This is a common recruitment method used by many wizard organizations. They create a batch of Enchanted Items and scatter them about. Those with wizard aptitude often come into contact with such Enchanted Items."

"This is also one of the hidden laws of our Wizard Plane. I call it the Wizard Aggregation Principle."

"Even if those with wizard aptitude are born into ordinary circumstances, because they possess that aptitude, they will eventually encounter things related to wizards and ultimately walk the path of a Wizard."

"For instance, your meeting with me now is also a manifestation of this law..."

Duke and the other two listened intently as Grace explained. Though they still did not understand the meaning of some terms, they did their best to remember them, intending to figure them out when they had the chance in the future.

The world they inhabited was called the Wizard Plane, and the Wizard Plane contained seven continents.

The continent where Duke lived was called the Florence Continent. It was a remote continent in the Southern Hemisphere of the Wizard Plane and the smallest of the seven.

Because the Florence Continent lacked the resources wizards needed, there was hardly any wizard activity there. Most of its inhabitants were ordinary people.

The most common form of extraordinary power was that of knights, but a knight's strength was truly insignificant before a Wizard.

The wizard organization Grace belonged to was called the Thorn Holy Tower. It was located on the West Coast of the Apalachee Continent, west of Florence, and covered six times the area of the Florence Continent.

Black Sail was also one of the four major wizard organizations on the West Coast of Apalachee. Its strength was formidable.

Duke looked at the Brass Ring on his hand. He had never expected it to have such an origin, much less that its true purpose was recruitment—to automatically draw in talented people with wizard aptitude from all over the world for Black Sail.

Leo had obtained this ring back then, but because he lacked wizard aptitude, he had failed to uncover its mystery.

By sheer coincidence, Duke had acquired the ring and discovered its secret after obtaining it.

"Alright, there is not much time left for the Spirit-Summoning Ritual. I need to hurry and activate a teleportation array to bring Vivian over." Grace's voice came from the mist, her fair legs appearing and disappearing amid the purple fog.