Arcane Academy: The Divine Extraction Legacy

Faith did not feel any threat after looking at the castle. At most, it seemed quite intimidating if viewed from afar. Furthermore, once at night, this castle would really look like a haunted one.

However, despite spreading her Magic Zone to the limit and using her Spirit Sense, she failed to find the said Vampire or even its familiars.

'Did it flee after the commotion last night?' Faith mused as several scenarios about last night's events occurred in her mind.

The Vampire might've been caught in the crossfire between the kingdom's soldiers and the rebels, or perhaps the Vampire was the target all along.

Anyway, Faith had no interest in exploring the castle, but she had to find any traces or clues in that castle...

She had a feeling that this castle would help her find what she was looking for.

Soon, she reached the main door, which was open and broken.

After several more inspections of her Spirit Sense, she cast a Spell to hide her presence and entered the castle. Then, she started using a stronger inspection spell, Spirit Vision.

Then, she saw signs of a fight all over the place.

There were scorch marks, blood stains, broken furniture, and shattered glass. There were also skeletons around, some of them wearing the uniforms of the kingdom's soldiers and some of them wearing the robes of Arcanists. They were all killed by various means.

'The traces of battle look recent, but they're already skeletons? What's going on here?' Faith felt confused.

It seems that after the battle of the airships in the sky, the kingdom's soldiers rested in this castle only to be met with a gruesome death.

"It's weird…" Faith muttered as the traces she found looked quite unusual.

She searched the bodies, hoping to find more clues or information.

However, she found nothing but broken weapons, coins, and some personal items.

She had no other choice but to move on, deeper into the castle.

She explored the castle, room by room. She saw more signs of destruction and death. She also saw some strange and creepy things, such as paintings of pale and sinister faces, statues of bats and wolves, and books of dark and forbidden lore.

'These things are valuable… There was no way the Vampire would just leave these things behind.' Faith mused as she felt more curious about what had happened to this place.

Soon, she reached the end of a corridor and saw a large door. It was locked and sealed with a powerful spell.

'This Formation Circle is incredible…' She muttered as she realized that without her Sovereign Artifact, she would undoubtedly fail to open this seal.

After a moment of hesitation, she decided to open the door and see what was inside. She tapped the door a couple of times and activated the cane's special ability.

Thud!

She used her cane to absorb the seal and dispel the traps placed on the door!

It happened so swiftly, and she didn't even feel any resistance from the seals. She pushed the door open and entered the room.

"Mhmm?"

***

Meanwhile, as Clovis was immersed in his Spell Fusion research, Pearl had a stack of books next to her as she was also looking for a better Spell Fusion.

After all, unlike Clovis, who had an Extraction Space where he could experiment with his Spell Fusion, Pearl could only try it once or risk ruining her Spell Models and losing her proficiency over them.

Clovis, in his Extraction Space, was in the midst of his Spell Fusion.

[ Spell Fusion Successful ]

[ Toxic Wind, Wind Bullet, and Flame Arrow Spell Models have merged into Toxic Tempest Spell Model ]

[ You have 5 seconds to undo the Fusion, which will cost 50 Divinity Points. ]

[ Do you wish to accept this Spell Model? ]

5... 4... 3... 2…

[ You have acquired Toxic Tempest Spell Model ]

"Toxic Tempest… It seemed a lot stronger. However, it feels too evil." Clovis mused as he realized how dangerous this Spell was.

He could literally wipe out the population of a whole city with this Spell if he decided to increase its mastery.

Normal people would be so helpless on this Spell and would die if they didn't have the antidote they needed.

Nevertheless, Clovis didn't stop, as he knew that he had to get stronger Spells.

He already had enough movement spells and support spells. He was currently lacking offensive spells that could turn the tides of battle. After all, he couldn't just rely on his Celestial Art, as it consumes a lot of Divinity Points.

After some time, he selected other spells he'd Fuse later on. There was a cooldown for the Fuse Function of the System, so he had to wait for a while.

After looking at his Spell Models, he thought of Fusing the Life Detection Spell he recently obtained and Divine Sense… It was a Fusion of Elemental and Holy Spell.

If the Fusion Spell result were good, he would go with it.

However, if the Spell Fusion result were bad, he'd cancel it and add the Spirit Vision instead.

Apparently, fusing from different Arcane Paths was difficult. The results could be terrible, especially if they don't have the same essence or effects.

Because of that, he had to experiment a lot, or at least, he had to do more research in various Spell Fusion Books he could find.

One of the solutions he discovered was to add more Spell!

As he was thinking of another set of Spells to be fused, a commotion occurred in the room.

"Ah! Someone's breaking the seal!" Pearl exclaimed as she only sensed the intruder of the castle when the seal that she created was attacked!

Clovis was instantly awakened by Yvaine and snapped out of his trance.

Then, he quickly glanced at the door and saw that it was already open!

Without delay, he used his Divine Sense to identify the intruder while also using his Morph to alter his appearance.

However, his Divine Sense failed him again, so he had to rely on his Eagle Eye and Spirit Vision.

Soon, he spotted a familiar woman.

It was the enigmatic lady of the Exchange Hall.

"Manager Faith?" Clovis said in surprise as he changed back to his Vale Chambers' appearance.