Chapter 2204: The Frightening Price

This was not Xia Duo deliberately trying to manipulate Kelifu, but rather that there is no harmony among Great Arcanists; if one of two Great Arcanists who have conflicts or even hatred for each other were to obtain a Mythallar first...

No one could guarantee that after completing the configuration of war spells, they wouldn't immediately eliminate their rival. A Floating City is a Floating City, and a Mythallar is a Mythallar; the Floating City merely provides a mobile launch base for war spells.

Looking at the current territory of Netheril, the distance between Great Arcanists with grudges and grievances is definitely not greater than the extreme range for normally triggering war spells.

Once a fight breaks out, it would be very difficult to end. Even if the Northland Alliance were brought in, those who refuse to accept it domestically still won't; at worst, everyone perishes together. Such extreme individuals do exist among the Great Arcanists.

Furthermore, one must consider the possibility of Elf infiltration, such as that Duolaisen Huoke who also has many grievances with Xia Duo. If a Mythallar were obtained by the Elves, while it might not necessarily deal a fatal blow to Netheril, it would certainly weaken Netheril's strategic advantage in the field of Magic.

Therefore, for Yinaole, who considers the overall situation above all else, choosing who to give the first Mythallar device to will be an extremely difficult decision.

Yet it cannot go ungiven, so the only way is to prepare many in advance and equip the relevant stakeholders simultaneously. If everyone deters each other, then there won't be much of a problem.

As for Xia Duo, he doesn't need to consider so much; in fact, as long as he is willing, he could completely and deliberately provoke certain conflicts to create trouble for the Seven Towers.

However, this is unnecessary. No matter how the Great Arcanists clash, in the end, it is the ordinary people at the very bottom who suffer. And most crucially, as long as the opponent's body and Soul are not destroyed on the spot, then compromise is inevitable afterward.

Otherwise, how did the current situation come to be! Does one really think that a single Mythallar device alone can turn the world upside down?

And the reason he chose Kelifu is, to some extent, because the other party basically has no enemies. Even if there are disagreements, it would never reach the point of coming to blows.

More importantly—Kelifu is a Radiant Priest who has perceived Holy Power and received Divine Grace. He is consistent in word and deed, honest and upright, and his behavior is relatively easy to predict; he belongs to the safer category.

Therefore, even if Kelifu ultimately cannot come up with the price Xia Duo wants, he will still provide the Mythallar to the other party first to strengthen the power of the order-aligned faction within Netheril. He is not worried at all that Kelifu won't pay him back.

Rather than worrying about that, it would be better to worry about the other party getting hit by a meteorite when stepping outside.

As for whether he can afford to pay it back, there is no need to worry about that either. Being able to build six Mage Towers is enough to show Kelifu's immense wealth, and the other party also has students.

That Lord Leisen who has mines at home has a son who is a student of Kelifu; in fact, this is also one of the important reasons why Xia Duo considered Kelifu first.

"Lord Kelifu, have you considered it? Do you choose to purchase from me, or from my teacher?"

"This is actually not a multiple-choice question, is it!"

Kelifu smiled bitterly, then his gaze became firm, "I choose Lord Xia Duo, but I don't know what the cost of an Independent Arcane Fire Device is, and how long it will take to deliver?"

"It is not expensive, not expensive at all. Compared to the benefits it can bring, it is not expensive in the slightest."

Although the price hadn't been mentioned yet, judging from the smile that was almost visibly emerging on Xia Duo's face, Kelifu felt that this price probably wouldn't be cheap. He suddenly felt his heart constricting inexplicably.

"How much exactly? Please give me a firm number, Lord Xia Duo. If it exceeds my current budget, I am afraid I can only pay in installments."

"A total of twenty million Gold Coins, settled in Mithril."

"Twenty million?!"

Upon hearing this number, Kelifu subconsciously widened his eyes. For a moment, he even thought he had misheard, but his super-high Perception made him realize he hadn't misheard just now—it was indeed twenty million!

One must know that building a standard Mage Tower in Netheril costs less than one million Gold Coins, and if one cuts corners in every aspect, it could be built for a few hundred thousand.

And an 11th-level Mage Tower with perfect internal functional facilities at the Great Arcanist level only costs about ten million. If the Great Arcanist participates in the construction as much as possible, even more expenses could be saved.

And now, for just a solitary Independent Arcane Fire Device, without any other supporting facilities, the price is twenty million. Even though Kelifu has some assets, he felt deeply shocked.

The accumulation of wealth takes time, but spending it might only take an instant.

Kelifu suddenly didn't want that Independent Arcane Fire Device anymore. After all, he only had the intention; the two sides had only just talked about the price, so refusing now wouldn't count as a breach of contract.

"Lord Xia Duo, are you serious about this price?"

"Of course I am serious, truly as serious as can be. Even if you go to my teacher, he couldn't possibly offer much less than me. I'll just say one point, and you will probably understand."

"Hmm, please speak—"

"A single Independent Arcane Fire Device contains over a million Spell Elements just in its main body!"

"Over a million?!"

A million is a huge number. Even people who don't understand Magic would feel intimidated by such a number. As for Kelifu, although he wasn't intimidated, he was even more shocked by this number because he deeply understood the essence of Spell Elements.

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Generally speaking, for an ordinary Spell, regardless of the circle level, the number of elements involved is at most in the hundreds and will not exceed one thousand. Only a few Ritual Spells involve more than one thousand elements.

This is because the number of Spell Elements is directly related to the Spellcasting time. The more elements, the longer the Spellcasting time. Many Spellcasters choose Magic to save trouble; if using Magic is more troublesome than not using it, then why use it?

Once the number of Spell Elements is known, one can roughly estimate the material carrier for those elements and the labor costs.

The Independent Arcane Fire Device belongs to strategic facilities. The quality of related materials and labor costs can be referenced against high-quality Magic Items. Therefore, an Independent Arcane Fire Device at the million-element level is roughly about a hundred times the cost of a high-quality Magic Item.

That is to say, about three to five million.

Of course, this is just the main body. If other auxiliary facilities are included, it might reach about ten million, but this is still a full ten million short of the twenty million Xia Duo mentioned!

However, Kelifu did not raise a counter-offer because of this. He knew the unspoken rules within the Spellcaster community too well; doubling or even tripling the cost for sale is standard practice.

After all, the initial research costs must be shared by someone. If it were a regular Magic Item, one could win by volume, but for strategic facilities like the Independent Arcane Fire Device, there is no way to recover research costs using that method.

A premium markup on a single item is completely understandable, and besides, there might be costs associated with rushing the order.

After such a calculation, Kelifu felt that twenty million should be considered very conscientious. If it were him operating it, he could at least double it again.

Anyway, except for the Seven Towers, only this place has it. If you don't buy it, someone else will.