Chapter 399: What Are the Benefits of Paying to Win? (Part 1)

The weather in late winter began to become erratic again. It was clearly an ice-cold, bone-chilling night last night, but upon waking up in the morning, it was another sunny day.

On the summit of Mount Ximalaya, the blue of the sky was as if rich paint had been spilled on a white canvas. Except for the occasional white gaps revealed by a few clouds, the rest was a blue so vivid it was somewhat unreal.

A wisp of cooking smoke rose, and the sound of horns in the distance was low and distant. A traveler leaning on a cane looked out at the mountainside from the foot of the mountain, but what he couldn't see was that a mysterious and ancient sanctuary stood quietly at the farthest point within his sight, overlooking everything in the human world.

On the eaves corners full of ancient oriental charm, ice crystals from last night still remained, and icicles hung one by one on the eaves. In the window frame of the main hall under the eaves, a hand held three sticks of incense and inserted them into the incense burner.

When the slightly rough hands were retracted, the face of Wong, the Great Steward Mage of Kamar-Taj, was revealed.

The retracted hands were pressed together. Wong closed his eyes and meditated quietly, but in such a quiet and peaceful picture, there suddenly appeared the sound of inappropriate, hurried footsteps.

A little mage wearing yellow mage robes ran in from the steps in front of the door with a "thump, thump, thump". Wong heard the sound but didn't turn his head, just saying with a bit of a sigh, "Anna, I've said many times, you must be light when entering the main hall. You must learn to have a heart like still water to better experience the calling of mysterious power to you..."

That little mage was only seven or eight years old. Hearing Wong's words, he looked troubled and could only walk slowly into the main hall, bowed, and then said, "It's bad, Great Mage, the Sorcerer Supreme has run to the pond in the backyard to look at those cranes again!"

Wong opened his eyes with a "thump", turned around instantly, and stared at the little mage, saying, "Cranes?? What is he going to do again???"

As he spoke, he couldn't care about having a heart like still water anymore. He hurriedly quickened his pace, followed the little mage out of the main hall, and while running down the steps, complained, "I don't know what's wrong with the Sorcerer Supreme recently. First, he got a bunch of useless wood, then whittled them into wooden sticks and combined them together, and then he wanted to find phoenix feathers and dragon heartstrings. What is he going to do to the cranes? Could it be..."

Speaking of this, Wong became more and more anxious. He simply waved his arm, opened a portal directly, and stepped into it.

After arriving at the lakeside, he saw Strange standing in the pavilion by the lake, holding a crane and studying it.

Although Kamar-Taj is a magical sanctuary, it also raises many animals. On land, there are cows, sheep, horses, and deer; in the water, there are wild ducks, swans, and cranes; in the sky, there are wild geese and eagles; and there are two not-so-small farmlands behind the mountain. Many mages come here to farm in their spare time.

Wong ran up hurriedly, looked at Strange, and asked, "Sorcerer Supreme, what are you going to do again? My God! Put it down quickly! The feathers are all wet!"

Strange held the crane and stroked its slender neck, saying, "Nothing, I'm just seeing if it can deliver letters. I caught an eagle two days ago, but it was really too dishonest, and the envelope couldn't be tied on at all..."

As he spoke, he looked at the crane in his arms again and said, "It's quite obedient, but I don't know if its flying ability is okay..."

Wong sighed. As soon as he turned his head, he saw the pile of wood that Strange had piled up before. He asked, "Sorcerer Supreme, what exactly do you want to do? If you want to make something, you can completely hand it over to the Great Mages who are good at making magical instruments."

"Even if you want to practice yourself, you don't have to get so many materials at once, right? And I haven't heard of any magical instrument made of wood? Generally speaking, special metal magical affinity will be better."

"Rebirth of the Wave-Riding Era"

Strange put down the crane, stood up, walked to the pile of wood, and said, "I'm just doing an experiment, Wong. As far as you know, are there any mages in Kamar-Taj who specialize in studying material properties?"

"Material properties? What do you mean? Do you mean which material is easier to use?"

Strange sighed and said, "It's their hardness, density, flammability, magical affinity, magical carrying capacity, magical output capacity, etc."

Wong shook his head, and Strange was even more helpless. He asked, "Then how do you determine what material to use for a certain magical instrument?"

"Great Mages will read some classics on making magical items, which record many experiences summarized by predecessors. Generally speaking, we will use the formulas on them, because if other materials are used, the probability of failure is too high."

Wong sighed and revealed a nostalgic expression. He said, "Although we are rich now, we still have to save. Maybe one day the energy will be gone, and we will have to borrow it again."

"Borrowing power requires paying a price. We must calculate every bit of power carefully and use it on the cutting edge."

Strange felt sad listening to it. He said, "So, is it because the trial-and-error cost is too high that magical material science cannot be developed?"

"Pretty much. Besides that, actually, there are already quite a few types of existing materials. Just metals alone, there are four types, and there are more than a dozen types of fabrics. Whether it's making armor, mage robes, cloaks, or jewelry, it's enough."

Strange took a deep breath and then exhaled, saying, "Do you know? I got a new train of thought in another place. People there use a kind of wood combined with a kind of material to make a staff, and then they can use it to cast magic."

Wong frowned, seemingly thinking about the possibility Strange mentioned. After thinking for a while, he shook his head and said, "Unlikely. Magic is not generated out of thin air; it can only come from the power of the cosmic origin."

"However, human life forms have no way to directly use cosmic origin energy, so we have to borrow it from demon gods."

"Unless the staff you mentioned can turn humans into life forms that can directly use origin energy, it is impossible for ordinary people to learn how to use magic."

"What I want is not to let ordinary people directly use magic, but to reduce the difficulty for those novice mages to use magic."

"For example, store the power we borrowed in this staff, and then let them use it. In this way, they can borrow this energy to study magical techniques without having to wait until they learn how to store and utilize energy to do so."

Wong rubbed his chin and said while thinking, "If you say so, it's a bit possible, but a staff made of wood..." Wong shook his head and said very troubled, "I haven't seen wood with very good magical affinity."

Strange turned his head to look at the pile of elm, walnut, mahogany, and other woods beside him. He said to himself, "Fine, that's just a dream of Schiller's. Using it in reality is indeed not very reliable."

Then he looked at Wong and asked, "Then what about using metal? Didn't you mention that there are four types of metals with very good magical affinity?"

"It can be done." Wong gave a positive answer, but then he said, "But the processing and manufacturing of these four metals are very time-consuming."

"I'll give you an example. What the magical world calls 'Mithril' is actually a kind of silver that has been specially smelted. In the process of smelting, it needs to be continuously treated with magical energy, and at the same time, more than 40 kinds of materials need to be added..."

"What is the output?"

"If all the Great Mages in Kamar-Taj start participating in the smelting of Mithril now, then in a month, we can probably get about 50 grams of Mithril."

"Too little." Strange shook his head, obviously very dissatisfied. Wong explained, "When we make magical items, we don't use Mithril for the whole thing. We only need to use this material for the key parts."

"For example, the Sling Ring we often use, its shell is an alloy of brass and iron, which is why it presents a golden or brown color. Of course, if dye is added, it can also present other colors, but the part that really works is actually its core Mithril and gemstones."

Wong sighed and said, "Among these four materials, the only material that doesn't need too much smelting is Vibranium. Its magical affinity is also very good. The only problem is that it's too expensive."

"However, I heard that there is a new material called 'Melted Steel' recently. I don't know how its magical affinity is. If it's the same as Vibranium and can be cheaper than it, that would be great." Wong said with some emotion.

"Kamar-Taj is actually not too rich. Most of our funds come from donations provided by the World Security Council and super security organizations of various countries, such as S. H. I. E. L. D. and S. W. O. R. D. They give us money every year."

"Mages are very frugal. We are self-sufficient and can even live here without using the currency of human society. The only place where money is needed is to buy various expensive materials."

The Great Steward obviously had a lot of say in this regard. He frowned, his entire facial features gathered together, and he said, "Great Mages have achieved success in their practice, and their states of mind are very peaceful, but recently, in this regard, sometimes there will be some disputes. Everyone wants more materials, but the money is just that much..."

Strange and Wong walked forward together and began to take a walk around the lake. While walking, he said, "I must change this situation. It's not the past anymore."

"In the past, our magic power was very precious, because if we wanted to borrow power, we had to pay a price. But now, magic power is enough, but materials are not enough. This is not a good phenomenon."

Strange was right. Simply put, it was the principle of adding water when there is too much flour and adding flour when there is too much water. In the past, borrowing power from demon gods was harder, magic power was scarce while materials were abundant, but now, magic power is enough, but materials are not enough.

Strange walked to the railing by the lake, punched the pillar of the railing, and said, "Self-sufficient... We must be self-sufficient."

"Whether it's Mithril or Vibranium, they are all controlled by others. What if these materials are gone one day? Will mages never be able to make magical items again?"

The two discussed various possibilities while walking forward. After passing the lakeside, they arrived at the farmland behind the mountain. Strange looked at the farmland that was currently in the fallow period, and he suddenly had a flash of inspiration, saying, "What was originally planted in this field?"

"This piece is planted with wheat, some vegetables are planted next to it, and there are fruit trees over there. Everything we eat every day is produced here."

Wong looked at his hands and said, "You haven't been here long, so you might not know that farming is a tradition that Kamar-Taj has always had. The previous Sorcerer Supreme, Ancient One, was also from a farming background, and she also liked to farm here before..."

Strange rubbed his chin and said, "Seeds, what seeds do you use?"

"Seeds? Of course, they are wheat and vegetable seeds?"

"Haven't you tried using magic to modify these seeds? For example, infusing magical energy into them, or simply enchanting them?"

Wong widened his eyes and said, "But... this won't work, right? Can the things grown like that still be eaten?"

"How do you know without trying?"

"And we don't necessarily have to plant things to eat." Strange looked at the fruit trees over there and said, "The wood I got before didn't react with magic at all, which is also very normal. After all, my inspiration source was just a dream."

"People there can use wood plus some strange materials to make a staff, but we might not necessarily be able to. The problem might not be with our technology, but with the material itself."

"Since the grown wood cannot react with magic, what if we modify it when it is still a seed? Can we cultivate a kind of wood used for magic?"

Wong shook his head and said, "Sorry, I haven't learned those knowledge of ordinary people, so I have no concept in this regard..."

Strange, however, felt that he had come up with a good idea. He said, "It doesn't matter, I know who is good at this." ===== CHAPTER 400 =====