Chapter 137: Preparing a Gift
The first thing Raven did after the mutation process was check the 'Shapeshift' spell model in his Mind Space.
As he focused on the spell model, new information appeared in his head.
'To shapeshift, I need the creature's or humanoid's blood to make an identity imprint. Once the identity imprint is made, this spell allows the user to mimic the physical appearance, voice, and even the strength of any creature or humanoid the user has seen or observed before… Unlike Mimic Morph, this spell can turn a person into a completely new one… But this spell has restrictions and limitations.' Raven continued to read.
'Restrictions: I can only maintain one form at a time. Duration depends on the user's spirit power, strength, and vitality. High-ranking targets require stronger spirit power and bloodline spell comprehension…'
'Current Limitations: 5 identities. Voice imitation accuracy: 88%, shape imitation accuracy: 89%, spirit power wavelength imitation accuracy: 78%, overall strength: 80% of the original identity. Transformation time: 10 hours if the target is one rank below the user, 10 minutes if the target is the same rank, 10 seconds if the target is one rank above. Cannot imitate anyone more than one rank above the user. Cannot imitate the target's abilities.'
Raven woke up from the sofa, skimmed through the information, and noticed it was already noon.
What surprised him was that the mansion's interior looked cleaner than before.
Lanterns were lit in many places, and even the half-broken chandelier glowed dimly.
Raven looked around and noticed that only Quincy was sitting on the opposite sofa, seemingly in the middle of reading a book.
"Where is everyone?" Raven asked, startling her.
"You've woken up, My Lord? It seems the journey had tired you out," Quincy commented in response.
"The knights are clearing out the monsters near the town with Reece's help. Rebecca, Florence, Site Manager Luke, and Leader Jacob returned to Giaris this morning."
Quincy suddenly paused as she recalled something and gave him a letter.
"Luke told me to give this to you once you woke up, My Lord."
Raven opened the letter and read it.
Most of the content was about how much he needed to pay to start the road construction.
'Once I make the initial payment, the Lucas Company will start the road construction process from Ythendale, right?' Raven nodded in understanding and considered convincing Baroness Elara to construct a road.
'Either I need to pay for the land in gold, or I need to convince her about the benefits she would get after constructing the road.'
But Azmar Territory was nothing but barren land with no value.
'The best option is to give her something valuable,' Raven thought as he looked at the bracelet. It was the gift he had received from Daley Findlay.
'My gift should be as good as this one.'
But such a gift would cost over 50,000 gold coins—two-thirds of the road construction project budget.
Raven pondered for a moment and decided to create an Uncommon Artifact himself.
Then he turned his attention to Quincy, who had gone back to reading the book, and asked,
"I want new armor. Do we have any? It would be best if it's silver armor."
Quincy paused for a moment, then nodded.
"Leona brought new armor for herself before coming here, My Lord. Although she used it during the battle at the town's outskirts, she said not even a scratch appeared on it."
"Perfect. Go and get it from her. Tell her I'll replace it later," Raven ordered.
"Yes, My Lord." Quincy hurriedly closed the book and walked out of the main hall.
A few minutes later, she returned with a silver armor and gave it to Raven.
"Hmm, made of dark silver and highly durable compared to normal steel…" Raven examined the armor's quality and decided to start working right away.
"Where is the study?" Raven asked.
"It's the second room on the left side of the corridor, My Lord," Quincy responded.
"Do not disturb me unless it is urgent. I might take a few days to come out," Raven said as he stood up from the sofa.
"Yes, My Lord," Quincy nodded.
Raven moved to the study and noticed it was empty, with only a wooden table and chair at the center.
He quietly took out an Aether lamp from the inventory, placed it on the table, and lit it.
Then, he took the silver pocket watch and placed it beside the lamp before sitting on the chair.
'Which spells should I engrave on them?' Before creating the artifact, he checked his inventory for elemental crystals.
Most of them were Rank-1 elemental crystals, but a few were Rank-2.
'Two Life, one Darkness, one Fire, one Wind, two Ice elemental crystals…'
Raven entered the memory library and searched for defensive spells within those elements.
After browsing for a while, he picked two spells for memorization: a Rank-1 spell called Flame Ward and a Rank-2 spell called Rejuvenation Shell.
Unlike Flame Ward, which cast a ring of fire around the caster and dealt damage to enemies, Rejuvenation Shell was a wide-area spell that could heal wounds of the caster and nearby allies.
It was a life-saving spell that could turn the tide of battle if used wisely.
'Let's start right away,' he muttered.
He took out a fine-pointed engraving pen with a diamond-tipped stylus.
The tip was thin, only 0.02 mm wide, and felt light.
Raven had bought it for 500 gold coins in an artifact shop a few years ago and had been using it to create Common and Uncommon Artifacts.
He first engraved a magic array circle underneath the armor plate and etched a few rune words to stabilize the array.
Then, he engraved two rune circles within the array: one small and one much larger.
After that, he created bridge runes to connect the rune circles with the magic array circle.
Next should be the Rune Vessel.
Nodding to himself, he focused on the center of the magic array and created two complex hexagonal structures.
One structure was linked to the small rune circle, the other to the larger one.
By the time he finished connecting them to the array circle, one full day had already passed!
'Next is the final step.'
Raven shifted his attention to the large rune circle and began engraving the Rejuvenation Shell spell model.
It was a spell model with over 2,000 rune characters!
He engraved each character precisely thanks to his heightened senses and the Mind Eye spell.
Shockingly, each rune character took a full minute to engrave.
Raven quietly worked for 33 hours, engraving the rune characters individually, and completed the Rejuvenation Shell spell model.
'Success!' His lips curled upward.
Then, he focused on creating the Flame Ward spell model in the small rune circle.
…
As Raven busied himself creating an Uncommon Armor Artifact, news of Azmar Town's reclamation spread throughout the city.
Florence even convinced the manager of Legacy News to make the front page all about Azmar—and how Thomas Holmes had reclaimed it with his knights.
But what shocked the people most was the death of Casper.
Once a knight under Baron Gideon, Casper had become a roaming knight after stealing the Spirit Technique of the Frostvale Family.
From that day on, he became a wanted fugitive in Spade County.
He hadn't posed much of a threat at first. Still, after becoming an Expert Knight, he committed crimes such as robbing wealthy families and even killing the mayor of Watchel City two decades ago, causing public outrage.
So, his death brought a sigh of relief to many.
Meanwhile, Count Andres, Viscountess Rowina, Baron Gideon, and all other barons, baronets, and knight households were deeply shocked by the power displayed by Thomas Holmes.
Killing Casper was already shocking, but what truly unsettled them was the appearance of a wizard during the battle.
Thanks to Florence's detailed account—and even published photographs as evidence—everyone saw how Holmes Household knights and wizards subdued over 50 enemies and secured victory.
Legacy News also published a detailed article on Azmar Town's current situation, including the demonic ritual performed by an unknown entity.
Many dismissed it as nonsense, but some began recognizing the names of missing kidnapped individuals.
A few even found the names of their family members and rushed to the Holmes Household for answers.
While Legacy News stirred the city with Azmar's victory, Rebecca filed an official complaint against Crest Merchandise with the Magistrate, backed by solid proof of the Archaeological Team's involvement in the crimes within the underground dungeon.
With the Count's approval, Giaris police stormed the Crest Merchandise headquarters and arrested many of the company's top members.
They uncovered documents revealing corruption, bribery, connections to the Vipers Syndicate, and ties to the noble House Duskbane of the Viser Kingdom.
Unfortunately, the leader of Crest Merchandise remained missing despite intensive searches across all branch offices.
Once the police took action, Rebecca returned to the Holmes House on Bristol Street and waited.
Meanwhile, Luke went to the Lucas Company and began preparations to construct a cobblestone road from Ythendale to Azmar Town.
He also began hiring stonemasons, laborers, engineers, foremen, and blacksmiths from outside the company in large numbers.
…
On the third day, Raven finally engraved the Flame Ward spell model and completed the Uncommon Artifact.
'Now for the final touch. Let's call it Life Battleplate.'
He then took a monocle from his inventory, placed it over his left eye, and inspected the artifact.
…
[Name: Life Battleplate]
Rank: Uncommon
Description: Blacksmith Kuran forged this armor, which was later engraved by Adept Rune Master Raven Sillalus Jorvot and perfected into an Uncommon Artifact.
Abilities:
Flame Ward – Creates a ring of fire around the caster that damages nearby enemies. Cooldown: 1/hr. Rejuvenation Shell – A wide-area spell that heals the caster's and nearby allies' wounds. Cooldown: 1/day.]
…
Raven then put on the armor and made a small cut on his wrist using a knife.
Blood began to drip, but Raven didn't mind the pain and quietly uttered a short activation word.
"Burktā d'Ḥayē!"
A moment later, dense life-elemental energy emanated from the armor and enveloped the surroundings in a greenish light.
At the same time, Raven noticed that the wound on his wrist was healing at a visible rate.
A minute later, not even a scar remained.
"Impressive."
He wanted to create similar armor for all his knights, but he didn't have enough time.
'They can wait. I should visit Baroness Elara and get her approval for the road construction process,' he thought.
Raven walked out of the study and met with Quincy and the others before inquiring about the current situation.
Over the past few days, Marcellus and his team discovered several monster settlements in the surrounding lands and began subjugating them.
Most monsters were goblins, kobolds, orcs, and trolls, so they didn't face much resistance.
Meanwhile, members of Lucas Company focused on renovating the mansion. They had also cleaned the underground dungeon and repainted the interiors to cover the bloodstains.
…