After hugging the book tightly and kissing it several times, Valed carefully tucked it under his arm. He then repeated the process, opening the trapdoor connecting to another burial chamber. He pressed onward.
Opening the door brought him a stroke of good luck. Valed was now brimming with determination, eager to make another big discovery. But as it turned out, nothing in this world comes that easily. Securing that highly practical Conceptual Armament earlier had already been an extraordinary stroke of luck.
Compared to this ancient text, which bordered on being a divine artifact, the other spoils Valed obtained from this tomb were utterly insignificant. Their value didn't even reach one-thousandth of a copy of the 791 Knight Enfeoffment Codex. This was hard for Valed to swallow. But upon reflection, he understood.
The reason the Knight's Code had been elevated to a Concept Weapon was largely due to its uniqueness. It had evolved over millennia alongside the knightly class. Yet when buried as a tomb offering, it was still just an ordinary book. That's what allowed Valed to snag such a bargain.
Once he grasped this, Valed stopped daydreaming. Besides, he hadn't come away empty-handed from this tomb. In practical terms, what he found here proved even more valuable than the Knight's Codex itself.
The most prized item among the spoils was undoubtedly the thirty-centimeter-long dagger. After millennia of burial, most weapons among the grave goods had rotted beyond use. Even rare magical weapons had their enchantments dissipated into magical winds, rendering them useless. Only this broad-spined dagger, crafted in the style of the ancient empire, remained as sharp as autumn water, gleaming with a mirror-like polish.
The dagger itself was forged from an expensive and resilient alloy of refined metals. Along its spine, Valed could discern magical patterns carved by elves, magical runes etched by dwarves, and the ancient empire's forging techniques. Beyond that, it contained numerous exotic materials Valed couldn't identify. Each of these components alone could have forged an exceptionally fine weapon. Yet combined, they had created a blade approaching perfection—a divine weapon!
Valder had never imagined anyone capable of such extravagance, investing such immense effort into a mere dagger. Only an empire at its zenith could have produced such an astonishing feat.
Valred toyed with the dagger for a moment before lightly thrusting it into the tomb's blue stone wall. With a flick of his wrist, he scraped off a large chunk of stone. It was easier than slicing tofu. Stunned, he picked up the stone from the ground and tapped it against the wall... It was indeed solid, unadulterated blue stone.
"Remarkably sharp," Valed murmured in admiration. "For classical-era craftsmanship, this dagger should be pushing the limits—no, even if someone told me it used some kind of black magic, I'd believe it. It rivals my previous single-molecule combat dagger... And beyond that, this blade likely holds other uses."
As he gripped the blade, Valed felt the fatigue in his limbs and the emptiness of his mana reserves rapidly replenishing. A magical current seeped through the magic crystal embedded at the pommel's tip, trickling into his palm and spreading throughout his body. The crystal slowly shrank until it vanished entirely. Meanwhile, Valed's own mana reserves had recovered by roughly one-third.
Valred perked up, inwardly delighted. He thought: If I could just embed another magic crystal into the hilt, then in future battles, I could rapidly recharge my mana continuously, greatly extending my combat duration. This ability alone surpasses the sword's inherent value.
Typically, mages only used magic crystals as materials or tools. Few dared to directly absorb the magic within them. Those madmen who attempted it mostly died from their bodies exploding under the uncontrolled pure magic. Even those who barely managed to control it often had their brains destroyed by the magic, turning them into fools. Even the one-in-a-thousand geniuses who could resist those two effects would become addicted to consuming magic, ultimately ending up as invalids.
The dream of safely consuming magic crystals without side effects has long haunted mages. Countless alchemists and scholarly mages have poured immeasurable time and wealth into this pursuit, only to come up empty-handed.
Vared had heard his sister Isabella declare countless times that one day, she would crack this puzzle. With that achievement, she would claim first place in the academy and spit in the face of her instructor...
To be fair, Valed believed his sister's mentor, Miss Tracy, was a decent person. He also felt his sister belonged in martial arts and knightly training courses. Armed with a warhammer and a knight's battleaxe, she should be hacking down those pitiful greenskins or Imperial soldiers, or splitting their skulls open like gourd shells.
He didn't think his sister was cut out to be a mage. Even less suited to be an alchemist. Though Valed had heard Isabella's grades were respectable at the academy, watching his sister's "bold and unrestrained" manner made his liver tremble.
Mix two and a half milligrams of this with seventy-three percent concentration of that, then stir vigorously at four-tenths intensity until the potion changes color. Finally, add three freshly ground medicinal powders, seal it in complete darkness for four days, and the potion is complete... Such a meticulous formula would be simplified by Isabella to:
"Mix this into that, stir vigorously, then crush that stuff and pour it in. Ready to use."
Of course, "use" invariably meant a thunderous explosion. Valed had heard that sound countless times from next door.
"Who would have thought that a challenge so many mages sought to overcome had already been mastered by the ancient empire thousands of years ago... Alas, this technology was ultimately lost, vanishing along with the empire itself." Valed sighed at this thought. His regard for the dagger and the ancient empire rose another notch. He handled the dagger for a long while longer before reluctantly setting it down. Then he considered that the dagger might have other uses, but he'd worry about that later. He'd study it thoroughly once he returned.
Acquiring a legendary weapon transcending eras was undoubtedly a boon, yet this "most valuable" spoil of war was not the "most practical" one Valed had obtained.
The ancient empire remained in transition between the slave era and feudalism, and the emperor mentioned earlier was no saint dedicated to liberating slaves. Countless laborers perished during the mausoleum's construction, and after its completion, countless more were buried alive as sacrificial offerings.
The sword mentioned earlier was taken from there—more precisely, from beside a skeleton clad in tattered, rusted armor, its appearance utterly repulsive.
This skeleton, likely a member of the emperor's personal guard who chose to be buried with him, possessed such a sword. In life, he must have been a high-ranking general, deeply trusted by the emperor. Yet, despite his former power, he was now nothing more than a pile of bones.
Upon entering the tomb chamber, Valed immediately fixated on the short sword at the skeleton's waist, paying no attention to anything else. Only after playing with it for a while did he begin to carefully observe the chamber.
Scattered throughout the chamber lay the remains of over a thousand skeletons. All were elite soldiers clad in heavy, black iron Baroque armor. Even by the strictest standards, they were excellent candidates for conversion into formidable undead creatures. Seeing this, Varad no longer worried about being scolded by his master for breaking the ancient tomb guardians at home.
Though Valed didn't know the exact process for crafting tomb guardians or necromancers, he could certainly use the available materials to create some passable "high-level undead." Once he returned, he'd ask that black cat for help casting the necessary necromantic spells. After all, she was the one who let him out. If things got out of hand, it wouldn't benefit her either, would it?
With this plan settled, Valed felt no urgency. He devoted himself entirely to his grand scheme. Having just replenished his magic with that short sword, the moment was ripe for action. At the thought, an invisible magical wind materialized beside him, transforming into an intensely hot, ghostly blue flame.
He used the rusted, unusable armor and weapons from the skeletons as raw materials. Reaching out, the swirling magical wind tossed the armor and weapons into the flames. The ghostly blue fire melted the armor into black iron ingots. The black iron ingots then twisted and reshaped according to Valed's mental blueprint, forming a complete plate armor set, a helmet adorned with bat-wing motifs, a sword, a shield, and a heavy two-handed halberd.
"Batwing Crest, full black iron plate armor, warhalberd... Hmm, what else is missing... Ah, yes, this..." Varad snapped his fingers. An invisible brush, dipped in crimson, gold, and silver pigments, painted the Castanien family crest onto the plate armor.
Diagonally above the crest, an imperial standard breastplate was pierced by a blood-red longsword—symbolizing the vampire clan's endless hatred and desire for conquest against the human empire. It was also the emblem of the Duchy of Sylvania. Leaning diagonally beside it, the chalice brimming with blood represented the Castanien family's pride: the Blood Chalice Knights and the family's sacred treasure, the Blood Chalice itself.
As for the crossbow and staff... those seemed tricky to handle. Hmm, but never mind. He'd just say he'd taken them to play with and accidentally damaged them. This one wasn't worth much anyway. At worst, he'd get a mild scolding.