Chapter 1: That Day, That Genius

One morning in July of the 673rd year of the Davoma Empire, the crisp sound of a magical timer rang out from afar. After a moment, the man lying in bed let out a complaining groan, reached out and slapped the magical timer on the table to silence it, then lay on the bed for a while longer before grumbling and climbing out of bed.

—Time to work again…

The morning sunlight was a bit dazzling. Luo Yan shook his head, squinted, and dragged his feet along the corridor of the guild dormitory. Every morning when he got up, he felt a bit dizzy. According to Alan, this was a symptom of something called low blood pressure. Luo Yan didn’t quite understand what that term meant. His disciple Alan always liked to blurt out strange terms, like “homebody” and such, but his ideas were always novel, and he was a genius when it came to creativity. The middle-aged man quite appreciated this disciple.

Of course… it would be even better if the look that unconsciously appeared in his eyes beneath that carefree expression weren’t always so cold and sinister!

Taking a deep breath, Luo Yan felt that the dizziness in his head seemed to have lessened quite a bit, and now he felt a little hungry. At this moment, having a plate of fresh caviar from the Gona River, along with a serving of creamy baked cabbage and a piece of venison pumpkin pie, seemed like a good choice. With this thought, Luo Yan’s steps became lighter, and he quickly walked toward the main dining hall.

Gently licking the corner of his mouth, he recalled that providing three free meals a day to registered Wizards was a tradition that had only gradually formed in the Mages Guild over the past one hundred and twenty years. The stated purpose at the time was said to be “so that Wizards who work hard on research every day wouldn’t waste more research time on livelihood issues.” However, as far as Luo Yan knew, the real reason that triggered this reform was still because of a “tragic” incident that happened one hundred and twenty years ago at the Mages Guild branch in Saia City, the capital of the Davoma Empire!

[…Nearly ten Wizards were hospitalized with food poisoning after eating improperly cleaned Magic Beast organs. Three of them had to stay in bed for over half a year, and one more died from the illness. This caused three important magical research projects at the Mages Guild to be halted, and one alchemy project completely failed and had to be restarted from scratch. The Wizard who died from the illness happened to be one of the most famous Alchemist Archmages at the time, and his death was also the heaviest non-combat loss the Mages Guild had suffered in nearly two hundred years…]

—In response, the then-president of the Mages Guild specifically instructed: Leave professional matters to the professionals! Dying from diarrhea caused by poor food hygiene is the greatest shame of a Wizard!

…

The Magic Tower, which already had a history of over a thousand years, looked ancient and weathered. Luo Yan slowly walked out of the side building, turned the corner again, and ahead was the main dining hall. The morning sunlight shone down unbridled from the side, casting a mottled pattern of light and shadow on the ground, making him can’t help but blink again.

—For some reason, Luo Yan felt that today’s sunlight seemed especially dazzling, as if something was about to happen…

Walking into the main dining hall, a few Wizards were sitting scattered around, but no one greeted Luo Yan. The staff of the main dining hall didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic either. Although he was a rare Undead Alchemist, Luo Yan’s talent could only be described as ordinary. Whether in his abilities as a Necromancer or his creativity as an Alchemist, he performed quite averagely, with nothing remarkable about him. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that he was a rare Undead Alchemist, whether he could even obtain these benefits provided by the Mages Guild would be a question… The Mages Guild was not a charity organization. It wasn’t impossible to freeload there without any contributions, but wanting to eat well and be satisfied was pure fantasy!

However, even with the Mages Guild’s support, Luo Yan’s life was still quite tight. The allowance he received each month was only enough to purchase some precious magical materials that the guild didn’t provide, in order to ensure his experiments could continue. This way, maintaining his daily life wasn’t difficult, but wanting to go out and fulfill “his own ideals” was truly beyond his means.

…If anyone found out that Luo Yan, the most rigid and ascetic Undead Alchemist at the Mages Guild’s Mosted City branch in the Davoma Empire, actually had as his greatest life dream the desire to be “a rich, idle, lawless rich brat,” quite a few people might be so shocked that their jaws would drop…

Unfortunately, from the moment Luo Yan’s father fell in the disciplinary office one hundred and twenty years ago, this ideal of his had forever become a dream, an empty wish, a fantasy!

…

Gently licking the little happiness at the corner of his mouth, Luo Yan slowly walked out of the main dining hall. He felt that today’s creamy baked cabbage was slightly undercooked—the thick, rich, sweet flavor of the cream hadn’t fully seeped into the cabbage. The venison pumpkin pie, on the other hand, was quite good. It seemed some pepper had been added today, which not only covered up the gamey smell of the venison but also added a special texture.

From this point of view, Luo Yan actually had quite a talent for being a rich brat. Which ordinary Wizard would pay attention to such details…

“I must finish that damn load test today!!”

Walking out of the dining hall, he cursed inwardly. For over ten years now, Luo Yan had been working on an experiment regarding “enhancing the combat power of undead summons.” The core of this experiment was to develop a type of auxiliary magic similar to Aura Magic. Once successful, within the aura’s range, the combat power of undead summons would increase by at least two times or more!!

For the Necromancers of the Amelia Continent, who were already accustomed to the sea of corpses and mountains of bones in mass brawls, this kind of “aura-type auxiliary magic” was simply an epoch-making innovation, a miracle, a myth!! This magic would solve at once the weakness of low-level undead summons’ low attack power, allowing undead summons to finally escape their fate as cannon fodder and become a main presence on the battlefield. At that point, not only would the mode of warfare undergo fundamental changes, but even the situation of the entire continent would be affected!

—Just imagine it: mountains and valleys filled with skeletons, zombies, and ghosts whose offensive and defensive capabilities had been greatly enhanced—not just in numbers, but their combat power would be no less than ordinary soldiers, or even slightly better… Just thinking about such a scene was terrifying!!

[Without a doubt, if this experiment succeeded, Luo Yan would immediately achieve fame and success, becoming a milestone figure in the history of magic, becoming the greatest Necromancer of the contemporary era, becoming the object of everyone’s envy, enjoying unimaginable honor and praise. He could already imagine his future “happy” life.]

Of course, the premise was that the experiment could succeed.

Fortunately, the experiment was progressing smoothly. After more than twenty years of effort, Luo Yan could now apply combat power enhancement on a small scale. He was currently trying to improve this magic, working hard to increase its range of effect. Judging from the current situation, the experiment could be completed in at most another half month.

However, recently it seemed that news of this experiment had leaked out somewhat. The association had also formally told Luo Yan to pay attention to his own safety, because it seemed some people didn’t like the idea of him completing this experiment…

Luo Yan took this very seriously. Having worked hard for over twenty years, with the happy and beautiful “corrupt” life right in sight, of course he would be extra, extra careful!

…

“Teacher!” A clear voice called out. Luo Yan turned his head in slight surprise and saw a black-haired little fellow running quickly toward him. It was his disciple, that little genius Alan who always liked to say novel and strange things.

Luo Yan immediately felt very puzzled. Why was he here? Didn’t he say today was a day off for rest?

By this time, Alan had already run up to Luo Yan’s side, wearing his usual sunny smile, and said clearly: “Teacher, good morning!”

Luo Yan gently shook his head and said slowly: “Alan, why are you here again? Didn’t I tell you to rest at home for a day today?”

Upon hearing this, Alan grinned foolishly and rubbed his head, saying: “There’s nothing to do at home anyway. I’ve already rested six days this month. I want to practice first-level magic a bit earlier, so I came.”

Hearing this, Luo Yan calmly waved his hand and said: “Alan, you need to understand… resting is for walking a longer road. Right now is the time when you need to build a solid foundation. You can’t aim too high and reach for what’s beyond your grasp. I remember when I was little… at that time… hmm~~ Teacher A Boya said at the time… and our beloved guild president also said…”

This fellow truly deserved his reputation as a “battle-tested man” who had been freeloading at the Mages Guild for decades. He spouted one set of grand principles after another until Alan’s little face scrunched up into a ball. Finally, finding a gap in Luo Yan’s speech, the little genius quickly said loudly: “Hehe~~ Teacher, you still need to continue your experiment today, right? I’ve already prepared all the materials you need… You go on ahead. The president is still waiting for your good news. I’ll go see Archmage Adams and then head back. You don’t need to worry about me!”

Alan truly deserved the name “genius.” He had an extraordinary ability when it came to understanding magical materials, and had become Luo Yan’s assistant long ago. In the latter half of Luo Yan’s “enhancing the combat power of undead summons” experiment, Alan had participated throughout. Hearing his words now, Luo Yan remembered that time was tight today, but he still scolded him a few more times before hurriedly leaving…

…

In the laboratory, Alan had already prepared everything: Orc hearts, star gold, the fruit of the five-blossom flower, wind-type Magic Crystal Stones, and a large amount of strong acid. Beakers and an alcohol stove were also prepared, and the burning dish had already begun preheating.

Seeing all this, Luo Yan nodded in satisfaction, put on his gloves, and began the day’s work…

First, he skillfully threw the Orc heart onto the burning dish to roast, while simultaneously transferring the star gold into a test tube and pouring in strong acid in an attempt to dissolve it. At this moment, Luo Yan was busy running around in circles—the preliminary work at the start was always troublesome. Then, at the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a flash of blue flame.

[Seeing this, Luo Yan was stunned. The blue blood of an Orc shouldn’t produce a blue glow when sublimating, should it?]

Just as Luo Yan was stunned for a split second, a loud explosion suddenly rang out, and even the stained glass windows at the very top of the Magic Tower were shattered to pieces!!

Amidst the deafening roar, the people in the Mages Guild all let out sighs of lament upon hearing it—this was clearly that unlucky fellow’s experiment failing. Judging by the violence of the explosion, that guy was probably in grave danger already…

In the Mages Guild, explosions like this caused by experiment failures happened three to five times a day. After being blown up again and again, people just got used to it. They just didn’t know who the first unlucky one today was!!

—When the smoke and dust cleared, Luo Yan’s laboratory was already in complete disarray, with charred black debris everywhere from the high temperatures. As for Luo Yan himself, not even his bones remained…