End of the Magic Era
chapter-88

After the battle, there was no need to prove which of the two potions was superior.

The Berserk Blood Potion only brought ten seconds of Berserk, and under the Berserk effect, an ordinary Swordsman could withstand a Great Swordsman. But the Dragon Strength Potion brought at least a full ten minutes of physical enhancement. That enhancement could let a 5th Rank Mage have the same physical strength as an 8th Rank Swordsman.

And that was the effectiveness when used on a Mage!

The physical strength of a swordsman was on a completely different level when compared to that of a mage, especially when the swordsman was someone like Bill, who was as strong as an ox. Mages could be considered very delicate, yet even a delicate mage was able to be evenly matched with a strong Swordsman.

If it had been a 5th Rank Swordsman, maybe even a Great Swordsman would have had to rely on Aura and advanced swordsmanship to suppress him. If they were only competing on physical strength, maybe even a Great Swordsman might not be the 5th Rank Swordsman's rival.

It wouldn't be fair to put the Berserk Blood Potion on the same level as the Dragon Strength Potion.

This was a whole different level altogether!

"Great Alchemist Hawkins, you can take your Berserk Blood Potion and go back to Twin Moons Splendor. The Gilded Rose doesn't need such a skill exchange."

Faleau had no plan to let Hawkins off easy. He was looking at the Great Alchemist with a sneer. Besides disdain and ridicule, there was also a hint of pity in his eyes.

'Who knows how Hawkins would react if he knew that the Dragon Strength Potion which crushed the Berserk Blood Potion is only a cheap imitation. Would he die from excess anger and shame…?' he mused.

'No no no, it isn't just the Dragon Strength Potion. Even the Berserk Blood Potion in his hands is a pitiful imitation of Great Mage Merlin's potions. I really don't know where Hawkins got the courage to challenge the Gilded Rose with a mere imitation. He wanted to crush us with it, yet he was crushed by another imitation. Ignorance is bliss…'

"No… No… I don't believe it. This is a scam! This is definitely a scam! He isn't a 5th Rank Mage, he is a Great Swordsman, I saw him using Aura!" The sore loser, Hawkins, was in chaos. Even his words seemed incoherent.

"Haha, Great Swordsman…"

"How could he be a Great Swordsman, he is obviously a Sword Saint!"

"It's too late for you, Great Alchemist Hawkins, you should go sleep…"

Laughter filled the lobby. Hauss was a member of the Alchemist Guild. Whether he was a 5th Rank Mage or not didn't matter, he was an Alchemist, that much was certain. How could the Gilded Rose falsify this? Moreover, to mention Aura… Thousand Sails City would have already gone crazy if a Great Swordsman in his twenties had appeared.

This farce finally came to an end with Hawkins' incoherent accusations. He left the Gilded Rose, crestfallen, not even staying for the unveiling of the Meditation Potion. It was good that he left, or else his self-respect would have taken another blow with the Meditation Potion.

Today's alchemy exhibition was neither promoted nor prepared, and even the start of the exhibition hadn't been announced. It could be said that it was the first time the Gilded Rose had ever been so negligent and hurried.

But such a negligent and hurried alchemy exhibition instantly caused a sensation in Thousand Sails City. In the afternoon, most of the inhabitants had learnt that the Hope Potion's Gilded Rose was unveiling two new potions.

The Dragon Strength Potion, which completely outshined the Berserk Blood Potion, and the Meditation Potion, which could let mages break away from mana disturbances.

Lin Yun never appeared. His study of the stone tablet had now reached a critical juncture.

Lin Yun had gotten the stone tablet ten days ago, but besides finding that it could increase the efficiency of his Magic Array on the first day, he didn't find anything else. However, Lin Yun didn't give up on his research because he knew that a True Spirit Component was full of secrets. Spending some time and energy on it was worth it.

And sure enough, the time and energy Lin Yun spent finally paid off.

Lin Yun kept researching the stone tablet after the old butler left the alchemy laboratory. He had originally planned to pour mana into it today. For that sake, he had prepared a small tool, a mithril support with a mana crystal, as well as three miniature alchemy array configurations. These three miniature alchemy arrays had different effects: extracting mana, controlling mana, pouring mana. Lin Yun used this improvised tool to extract mana from the mana crystal and then pour it into the stone tablet.

This mana test hadn't made any progress at first.

The material of the stone tablet was very strange. It looked like stone, but its mana capacity was nearly limitless. In one afternoon, Lin Yun had changed mana crystals four times, and each of them was level 10 at the very least, so the mana contained within couldn't be considered small. Even a Great Mage might not be able to endure that much mana, yet the stone tablet didn't react to it, giving off the feeling of a bottomless pit.

When the 4th mana crystal was emptied, Lin Yun replaced it, but he actually used an Undead Essence this time.

This caused a change in the stone tablet.

The originally ordinary stone tablet suddenly flashed and released death energy. Even Lin Yun was unable to breathe, but he reacted quickly enough. Just as the stone tablet flashed, he grabbed it and cast a Flaming Hand spell.

The radiance instantly disappeared and the stone tablet returned to being an ordinary piece of stone, as if what just happened had been an illusion.

But Lin Yun knew that this wasn't an illusion.

He could clearly see something new on the stone tablet after the light disappeared.

A flaming hand the size of a fingernail... The magic symbol of the Flaming Hand spell had been inexplicably engraved onto the stone tablet.