Chapter 266 Magemaxxing
Here are the corrected sentences with spelling errors fixed:
That's right, after much thinking over this period of time, Dante realized that his original idea of having a space-only power system was becoming more and more redundant given the enemies he was facing and the situations he entered.
The previous Dante did not know about First Gates nor having an SDI of above 100,000 in all fields. Heck, his biggest goal was just to reach 2000 so he could be with Beatrice intimately.
The current him had a wider scope of view and decided that versatility was more important than raw power. Yes, having all space cores would make even his 1st rank space spells become as strong as, if not stronger, than basic 9th rank spells without a multiplier, but so what?
If we are talking offensive power, his mage system was no longer the first and best option, not to mention that there would be new power systems coming in soon. As such, he was going to use each one of his ten cores to have an element of its own.
Funny enough mages severely recommended against this and thought it was trash because a magus with such 10 cores versus a magus with 10 'pure' cores was not comparable. The latter could slaughter the former like he was their son, versatility be damned.
Then again, Dante no longer needed to care about what mages thought nor the conventional mage system when their highest Intelligence value was 2200. After all, the base average for the 9th Rank was 2000, and one could raise intelligence slowly afterward through Astral Energy, but the rate was abysmal.
Whatever the case, Dante's 10 Spiritual Cores were such: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Wood, Light, Darkness, Life, and Death.
Fire seemed useless because of Inferno Ascension but hellfire was NOT applicable where normal fire was. Water was obvious, wind was obvious, and earth was obvious too. They were the rest of the basic elements.
Lightning was the strongest offensive element so naturally it was added. Wood was the cross between the life element and earth element in terms of use, but also had summoning capability.
Light was obvious, to harm dark-related monsters and it had minor healing and strong offensive power. Darkness was to harm light-related monsters while it had strong devouring and minor cursing abilities.
Life was for strong healing of others and possibly resurrection, but Dante would have to find the spell first. Death was purely for necromancy, because why not?
After filling his cores, Dante was officially a 9th rank mage at the peak of the pyramid! He couldn't help but smile with pleasure, finally feeling accomplished having brought all of his current power systems to their peak.
Of course, before adding more, it was time to tie up loose ends.
Dante's eyes flashed as he left the now barren and ravaged planet which had been pillaged of its natural elements. From a lush and ignorant 'youngster' among planets, it was now a decrepit old man heading towards death.
There was a price to pay for everything.
However, that was all meaningless in the face of advanced technology and the power of science! Soon, planet-nourishing machines came and converted ambient potential energy, kinetic energy, and the likes into vital energy and injected it into the planet.
Like a dying person shot with morphine and adrenaline, the planet trembled and began to work hard to make the most of this by converting the vital energy into the necessary elements to replace what was taken.
Over the next few centuries, the planet should restore itself to its peak and become slightly better.
As for Dante, he returned to the Eternal Universe and inquired upon the progress of the conditions he wanted. Being given the right to amass a private force and establish his company were easily granted, but there seemed to be difficulty getting the Etraverse Corporation to spit out its special tech.
Dante sneered as he knew this would happen, and it wasn't necessarily a problem yet. He was also considering other ways to acquire that technology, especially through the First Gate. If that idiot of the Etraverse Corporation did not know what to do, then he shouldn't be surprised when his entire corporation was leveled before him and his head smashed open.
After all, Dante had not yet forgiven the murder attempt by that Supreme Council. That forgiveness was given on the basis that they could fulfill his terms, but if not, they would be subject to the same treatment at any time.
Now, Dante no longer needed Portia to stand up for him; he could dole out the punishment himself.
Putting that aside, Dante decided into his virtual avatar within the Magus World. It might seem like a long time since he had been here, but it was only really a month or two, and such that was negligible in the Magus world's terms.
Dante stood up from his meditation and cricked his neck. He disappeared with a thought and appeared in Master Elandor's study, where the aged half-elf was working on some documents with a slight smile.
He raised his head with surprise and alarm that a person could get so far into their building without tripping an alarm, but relaxed when he saw it was Dante. Before he could ask why Dante was here, he sensed Dante's aura and was filled with shock as he rose to his feet.
"9-9th rank peak??!!" he exclaimed shakily.
"Huh? Also, a Grand Knight?! How could this be?!" Master Elandor sat back down with a dazed expression, like he had been hit on the head with a baseball bat.
He understood Dante was a prodigy and wished to cultivate him fully, but the last time the fellow came here, he was breaking into the 4th Rank! 2 months and he was now at the 9th rank?
Dante was amused by the fellow's reactions but did not blame him. It was like seeing your nephew or niece who was 4 years old during Thanksgiving dinner and when Christmas dinner came around, they were now 10 years old.
You'd probably think you were going crazy.
"It's time to deal with the Underworld Magisters, Master Elandor. What do you think?" Dante suggested with a smile.
Master Elandor snapped out of his trance and pondered. "It's a good idea, but now that we're here I feel hesitant. The Wizard Council of Arcanum Haven City would not sit by and let a faction they dislike like us eliminate a faction they like, which are the Underworld Magisters."
"Even though it's allowed, they would find ways to interfere without breaking the rules and frustrate us. It would also help solidify their power in the city by announcing what happens to those who they dislike and how they can subtly help those they like."
"I understand, but I have also fully awakened my demon bloodline. It is twice as strong as any 9th rank mage in this world." Dante revealed in order to give the old man confidence.
He displayed a smidgen, just a little ounce of his True Qi to Master Elandor after diluting it many times. Yet this small amount caused the old man to cough blood and fly backward, crashing into a bookcase behind him as endless fear surged in his eyes.
Dante hurriedly retracted the True Qi and used a life element spell to help Master Elandor heal. However, he only knew up to the?second rank, which was quite pathetic overall with the manyfold boost.
Master Elandor recovered and wiped the sweat from his forehead while casually glancing at Dante. "It's okay, you don't have to."
Master Elandor revealed his element, which was wood, and cast a regeneration spell himself which was enough to make him seem younger again. He sat down and smiled at Dante with appreciation, a hint of excitement in his eyes.
"What a remarkable young man you are, Dante! I don't know what kind of demon you were in the Abyss Realm, but you certainly must have been a Demon Prince at the least!"
A prince?
Dante blinked his eyes and almost felt insulted. In the Demon Realm, it started from low-level demon, to medium, to high, to lord level, prince level, king level, emperor level, and the supreme level.
By saying Dante was a prince, he was rating him even lower than the Seven Deadly Sins he had created in the form of Aisha, Lucian, and Harold, who were technically at the Emperor level.
Then again, it was also apt given the diluted smidgen Dante showed him, so Master Elandor was rather quite accurate in his gauging if anything. His experience was quite impressive as well as his breadth of knowledge.
"Probably. I want to go and spend the next hour or so brushing up on my spells before we set off." Dante requested with a smile.
Master Elandor waved his hands. "Of course, you must only have up to 4th Rank spells in your inventory, so you have to fill in your lacking arsenal. Take all the time you need, and you can be sure that you will also have unrestricted access."
"Thank you, Master Elandor." Dante began to stand to leave, but Master Elandor stood up to lead him out with a nod while stopping him first.
"Call me Elandor from now on. We are peers, and it's awkward to hear such honorifics from someone stronger than me." He said with a sincere smile.
Dante paused and agreed for his sake. "Alright, Elandor, thank you for everything."
After that, Dante entered the library and began to devour spells. Previously, it was tough to learn spells since his Intelligence was low back then, but with 200,000 minimum, he could simply look at a spell and master it.
He initially stated an hour, but it took about 50 minutes to learn every spell of every element from 1st rank to 9th rank in the Celestial Arcanists' database. This not only included spells in elements he could not get, like Poison or Sound, Space or Time, but even 'useless' spells that nobody would learn that acquired dust over the years.
In no time, he was done, and he prompted Elandor that he was ready. Elandor sinisterly decided to use this as a stepping stone for the faction and decided to announce to the entire faction to follow them to the Underworld Magisters' location.
While everyone was confused and excited, the procession made endless noise and attracted attention under Elandor's 'hard work', making it such that even folks more than three cities away were aware something was about to go down.
Those in Arcanum Haven found it more obvious since the direction the procession was heading was obviously towards the Underworld Magisters, and their intentions could not be more clear.
Naturally, the Wizard Council heard of this immediately, and so did the Knight Order. The Empire's City Lord's faction also heard of this, along with other smaller but also important groups.
For a moment, the entire Arcanum Haven was buzzing with activity as everyone watched and waited with bated breath to see what would happen next. Only the Wizard Council, Knight Order, and City Lord dispatched elite forces to follow along casually, to act as the situation demands.
Eventually, the procession reached their destination, coming to meet the Underworld Magisters who had gathered around their defense sin full force, glaring at the incoming group darkly.
The place was quite interesting. Just as you'd expect from a faction called 'Underworld Magisters', the entire place was styled with a gothic undead vibe, with countless skulls, black towers with spiky spires and soul fires as well as glowing wisps wandering the walls and gardens within.
There was a palpable silence as the two factions with long-standing grievances glared at each other from 'across the bridge,' while Dante and Elandor stood side by side with amused expressions.
In the end, the gate of the Underworld Magisters' estate opened up to reveal Master Volud and his 9 Elders at the 8th Rank and below who had dark expressions. After all, they were not stupid and Dante did not hide his aura, so they could tell what was going on.
Master Volud himself maintained a slight smile of confidence as he stepped forward and asked: "Elandor, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
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