Chapter 57: Poisoning and Deliberation

Xia Duo immediately thought of the chamber of commerce that Lao Nier had contacted to enslave him—wasn't it called the Golden Lark Chamber of Commerce? So he asked again, "And then what happened?"

"Later, they changed the person in charge, who immediately handed over all their armed forces to the Lord, and even offered over a hundred Orc slaves; it was quite a heavy loss for them."

Xia Duo could hear the overflowing schadenfreude in De Wan'en's tone; it was clear that in De Wan'en's heart, the image of the Golden Lark Chamber of Commerce was quite negative.

Without continuing to inquire about news of the Golden Lark Chamber of Commerce, the three agreed on a meeting time for the next day, and Sami and De Wan'en each departed.

……

In the evening, Xia Duo prepared to poison the arrows for his hand crossbow, and the new dagger also needed to be poisoned to increase its lethality.

Xia Duo had already looked at those ten arrows; they should have belonged to the high-quality goods among military supplies, and even in Buloutuo's blacksmith shop, they could be considered quite good.

Of course, compared to modern craftsmanship, such arrows were still somewhat crude, and this was also a foundation for poisoning.

After trimming the wick of the oil lamp to make the flame slightly larger, Xia Duo used the oil lamp directly to poison them, slowly bringing the arrowheads soaked in paralytic poison close to the flame, but without making direct contact.

He let the poison slowly evaporate, leaving a layer similar to a coating on the arrowheads, and one time was not enough; to make the poison's retention effect better, this operation needed to be repeated multiple times.

This was quite a test of one's patience.

Furthermore, the vapor from the evaporated poison was still toxic; every time Xia Duo finished poisoning one, he had to wash the damp cloth covering his nose, and even so, Xia Duo still felt his mind somewhat dazed, and his hands and feet somewhat clumsy.

Fortunately, this was non-lethal poison; when Xia Duo bought it, he specifically asked Aideliqi that even drinking a bottle would not directly cause death, it would only paralyze the whole body, making one unable to even blink or breathe.

Of course, if one could hold their breath long enough, then once the drug's effect wore off, one could still recover.

Just like that, 10 arrows kept Xia Duo busy until late at night; because the Tower Spirit could not tell the time outside, Xia Duo estimated that it was getting late, so he did not continue to poison the dagger.

For one, he had already inhaled quite a bit of poisonous vapor, and for another, if he didn't rest well, he probably wouldn't be able to enter a focused state to contact spells tomorrow.

If one said a Mage forgot to eat while doing research, perhaps someone would believe it, but if one said a Mage forgot to sleep while doing research, then almost one hundred percent of people would not believe it.

Not resting well affects one's spellcasting state; this is something a Mage absolutely cannot tolerate.

In fact, for this reason, Mages have even created quite a few spells specifically for ensuring sleep, such as hiding in a different dimension, or summoning a hidden residence, etc.

In the "Biography of Archmage Dasiruier" that Xia Duo liked to read very much, it was recorded that Dasiruier once created a spell to summon an invisible villa, known as 【Dasiruier's Invisible Villa】.

This made Xia Duo incomparably envious, dreaming that one day he too could summon a luxurious villa with a wave of his hand; if this were on Earth, he would even save the money for buying a house.

Before going to sleep, Xia Duo specifically checked the Arcane Mark on the dagger; it was still stably present, but the mark on the palm of his left hand had changed.

The spell structure, which should have been in a stable cycle, was gradually disintegrating; perhaps in another ten or twenty days, it would completely disappear.

Xia Duo felt that this should be because the human body itself has a disturbance to the Magic Net, and marks left on the human body would also be interfered with; inferring from this, applying 【Arcane Mark】 to any living being could not be permanently preserved.

This made Xia Duo feel even more the brilliance of 【Magic Permanence】, because 【Magic Permanence】 could make a Magic Effect constant on a person.

Finally, Xia Duo reviewed everything he encountered today, summarized the gains and losses, and only then did he sleep in his clothes.

……

Mage Tower, inside the Reception Room of Lord Eps Saville.

A meeting with only four people was quietly taking place here; the Lord and his three followers were discussing some details of dealing with the Orc Tide.

"Beierjiate, how is that matter coming along?"

Beierjiate immediately replied respectfully, "Lord, it has been completed; you can initiate the link at any time."

"Good!" A long-lost smile appeared on Eps's face, and he asked again, "How are the Orcs' movements?"

"Some Orcs have already come down the mountain."

Lord Eps tapped his fingers on the table, *tap-tap-tap*, and said, "Wait a little longer."

"Eps, if we wait any longer, will the Territory's strength suffer too much loss? And isn't Lord Olong here?"

The one speaking was none other than the Mage Aiboke who had ignited the apprentices' emotions in the Mage Tower during the day; he was also one of the Lord's followers, only Aiboke had grown up with Lord Eps since childhood, and their bond was quite deep, so he could address him by his first name directly.

Of course, Aiboke's own Spellcasting Level of 10 also gave him enough confidence, and compared to Eps, who had failed to become an Advanced Arcanist, Aiboke had firmly walked on the path of an Arcanist.

"Aiboke, and Beierjiate, Keyaan, I should have told you about this three days ago, but I forgot because I was busy preparing that thing."

The expression on Lord Eps's face was quite complex; thinking about it now, perhaps he was influenced by Archmage Olong, and then he revealed a quite shocking piece of news—

"The Great Arcanist I contacted before didn't reply to me at all, and Archmage Olong wasn't sent by that person either; he requested to come and support on his own initiative. Although he came through the channels of the Arcane Union, to be honest, I don't fully trust him."

"What!"

The three followers made sounds of surprise; they had always thought that Archmage Olong was sent by the same sect as the first-generation Lord, the Great Arcanist Saville, to support them; they didn't expect it wasn't!

Thinking about it, it was actually understandable; if that Great Arcanist were so easy to persuade, then the old Lord wouldn't have been injured by the Orc Tide and subsequently died.

The Territory's military Supervisor, Keyaan, asked, "Lord, do you know what Lord Olong's true purpose is?"

"I don't know; it's precisely because I don't know that it's troublesome. Do not speak of this matter to outsiders; to the outside world, Archmage Olong is the aid sent by that person."

"Yes!"

"Also! Keyaan," Lord Eps looked at his military Supervisor, "The time for the decisive battle is approaching; the training of the main force can be slowed down slightly, but the training of the chamber of commerce's armed forces and the Adventurers cannot stop."

"Yes!"

"Aiboke, the apprentices are left to you; it's just some cleanup work, do not have any unnecessary sacrifices. Mage Apprentices should not be consumed here; when I am not around, you must keep a close eye on them."

"Rest assured, Eps, how many times have you said that." Aiboke was somewhat impatient, but suddenly his expression turned serious, "By the way, are you really prepared to let Niya go to the battlefield?"

Mentioning Niya, a trace of struggle appeared on Lord Eps's face, but it was replaced by firmness almost in an instant, "My daughter cannot stay in the Mage Tower forever; she must shoulder the responsibilities she ought to. There is no one weak in the Saville Family."