Byron's Money Power and an Experiment in Innsmouth

Once the plan was settled, Evan raised his hand. Darkness writhed, and two objects appeared in his palm.

The first was the ice-blue Magic Potion.

The bottle holding the Advanced Potion was two sizes larger than one for an Intermediate Potion, with a total volume of about half an adult's fist.

The bottle was carved from a kind of crystal. Inside was an ice-blue liquid streaked with dark shadows.

Through the sacrificial Magic Array, Evan knew what the potion did.

Advanced temporary Magic Potion: Black Ice Potion. For five minutes after consumption, the user's body and soul can shift at will into a form of black ice that is rich in Spirituality and extraordinarily tough.

In black ice form, the user continuously radiates a cold that freezes everything, while their Spirituality limit increases dramatically.

Side Effect: Permanently reduces mental strength; causes extreme sensitivity to cold for one month.

"This stuff should be powerful, but it's only useful in certain situations."

"I'll keep it for now. It might come in handy someday!"

Then Evan looked at the twisted seed, whose outer skin resembled that of a corpse.

Pierson had not known what it did either, so Evan had gained no information about it during the sacrifice.

But that was no obstacle for him now.

He took out his Cane. Its structure shifted rapidly until it became a Ritual Knife with a curved blade.

Numerous dark-red lines were already etched into the Ritual Knife. They were Magic Arrays prepared in advance.

Among them was an appraisal array.

He channeled a thread of Spirituality into the Ritual Knife, then touched its tip to the ground.

Next, he reached behind his back and placed Mercury, Moonstone, and White Sea Salt inside.

With everything ready, Evan chanted softly.

"Mcuu, pak tuth." (Mercurial, speak