Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 3121: Contributions

"I’d like to stay a little longer," Emery said. "I can do more good here."

Valder regarded him with mild interest. "You have contributed enough."

"Have I? I don’t feel I’ve done much."

The king nodded toward the alchemist tents, where Ivaris’s colleagues were bent over rows of stretchers, tending to the wounded and examining the infected. Their new experimental pills were being tested amid the chaos, with alchemists carefully recording every reaction and adjusting their treatments as needed.

"The recipes you brought are great contributions," Valder said. "Besides, I would rather not keep an important guest at a border like this."

The king was a man of few words, yet every sentence he spent urging Emery to leave only made him more uneasy. There was something about Valder’s insistence that Emery couldn’t quite understand, and he was running out of excuses to remain.

With no reasonable argument left, Emery boarded the royal flying boat, keeping his expression steady and his thoughts tightly controlled.

"If he truly means me harm, I’d rather find out now than after the armada arrives"

Still, Emery wasn’t entirely without options. With his Khaos waypoints, he doubted even a Supreme could prevent him from escaping if things turned hostile. That didn’t mean he could afford to be careless, however. Until he understood the king’s intentions, he would need to remain vigilant and ready to act.

As he stepped onto the deck, he noticed several magus carrying iron-bound crates up the boarding ramp. The men moved carefully under the weight, setting the containers down among the other supplies. One of the lids had been left partially open, revealing a glimpse of the contents within.

Emery’s divine sense swept over the crate.

His attention immediately sharpened.

Inside lay precious materials salvaged from the fallen Scourge and infected creatures. Among the recovered items were numerous beast cores, their surfaces dull and discolored, streaked with sinister purple veins. The corruption was unmistakable, yet beneath it, Emery could still sense the dense energy contained within them.

His greed stirred before his dignity could stop it.

"My lord king," Emery began slowly, turning toward Valder. "If you believe I’ve contributed so much, I wonder whether there might be some reward for my efforts.

Valder’s gaze drifted toward the crate before returning to Emery.

"If you see anything you like, you may take it."

"Then I will gladly accept."

Emery’s response came without hesitation. Whatever suspicions he harbored about the king, he wasn’t about to let such an opportunity slip away.

The boat lifted off, turned south, and gradually left the smoke and chaos of the border isle behind. As the fortress disappeared into the distance, Emery headed straight for the rear cabin where the spoils of the battle had been stored.

Warden Chairney accompanied him, maintaining a respectful distance as they entered the storage cabin. Her manner was polite, and from the way she addressed him, Emery suspected she held alchemist in high regard.

"These spoils are meant to support our efforts to reclaim our homeland," she explained. "However, anyone can claim the items by exchanging contribution points earned through their service."

She smiled faintly before adding, "The king is very generous."

Chairney handed Emery a rune stone. When he placed his essence into it, a number appeared on its surface.

10,000 points.

"You may use these points to trade for any of the items stored here."

Emery examined the stone with interest before turning his attention to the cabin. A dozen iron-bound crates were stacked along the walls, each labeled with identifying sigils. He wondered why the items hadn’t been sealed away in storage rings, but he decided not to question a system that made it so easy to inspect the available goods.

At least a third of the contents consisted of beast cores. Many were high-grade, though only a handful had reached the top grade. Each core bore faint traces of purple corruption, remnants of the Scourge’s influence. They were still valuable, but Emery would need to refine them before he could safely used their energy.

He began counting.

Eight top-grade beast cores.

Emery was still calculating how many he could reasonably claim without appearing too greedy when something near the bottom of the third crate caught his attention.

His eyes widened slightly.

Among the more ordinary stones lay a black crystal shard, its surface unremarkable at first glance. Yet the moment his divine sense touched it, he recognized the familiar spatial fluctuations within.

"This is a spatial shard."

He carefully lifted it from the crate and examined its structure. After searching a little longer, he found a second one. Neither shard was as large as those he had refined previously, but together, they contained roughly the same spatial essence.

Emery’s interest immediately grew.

Of course. Pardera fights Parasite X day after day. They must have accumulated quite a few of these fragments.

He turned toward Chairney without the slightest embarrassment.

"I’m interested in these cores"

"Queen Worm cores," Chairney corrected gently. That’s what the people of Tartarus called the Parasite X.

She glanced at the shards in his hands before continuing.

"Not many people are interested in them, but I suppose there aren’t many spatial users like you.... As for the beast cores, they have multiple uses in our weapons and alchemy, so they’re always in demand."

Chairney then explained the exchange rates. Although spatial shards were not widely used, they remained rare materials. Even the small shards Emery held cost 1,000 contribution points each.

The beast cores were priced differently according to their grade. A medium-grade core cost 100 points, while a high-grade one cost 500. Top-grade cores were considerably more expensive, requiring 2,000 points apiece.

Emery’s expression grew thoughtful as he considered the prices.

So much for the king’s generosity.

Ten thousand contribution points sounded like a substantial reward at first, but the exchange rates told a different story. The improved alchemy recipes, which had already proved useful to Pardera’s defenders could only cover the cost of five top-grade beast cores.

Either way, a gift was a gift. Emery had never expected a reward in return for the recipes. In fact, they were the result of a joint effort by the Magus Alliance’s top apothecaries, and he had merely brought their work to Tartarus. Even if the contribution points were less generous than he had hoped, he was still coming out ahead.

Emery needed more top grade beast cores to advance his Star Beast Refinement Art, but their value to him paled in comparison to that of the spatial shards.

Holding the dark crystal against his chest, he turned to Chairney. "Do you have any more of these?"

"I believe most of them were sent to our settlement on Sylmareth," she replied. "There’s an elder there who uses them to create spatial artifacts."

Emery could barely contain his excitement. If he could acquire more spatial shards, his comprehension of the Law of Space might advance considerably. With enough of them, perhaps he could open the Khaos gates directly toward the Magus Realm.

After a moment’s consideration, he decided to spend 2,000 contribution points on the two spatial shards, keeping the remaining points for future purchases. If he reach Sylmareth, he might have an opportunity to obtain more.

Once the exchange was complete, Emery stored both spatial shards in his inner domain and followed Chairney out of the cabin.

As he stepped onto the deck, he immediately noticed King Valder and his two Supremes watching him. All three had turned their attention toward him, their gazes sharp and assessing.

They had certainly been talking about him.

Zaelith Ravenmoor’s aura was no longer merely cold. It pressed against Emery like a blade held to his throat, carrying an unmistakable hint of hostility. Kaelor remained silent, his expression hidden beneath the shadow of his bamboo hat, but the subtle shift in his posture suggested that he was equally prepared for what might come next.

Emery kept his expression neutral, though his senses sharpened. It seems they’re waiting for the king to make his decision.

For several tense moments, none of them spoke. The silence stretched across the deck, heavy with unspoken questions and restrained hostility.

Then the sky suddenly lit up.

A pillar of rainbow light descended from above, illuminating the deck with a brilliance so intense that the surrounding clouds seemed to turn to glass. The sudden radiance broke the tense atmosphere, catching everyone by surprise. Kaelor’s hand moved to his sword in a single, fluid motion, while Zaelith snapped her head toward the sky, her crimson eyes narrowing as she assessed the unexpected arrival.

A tiny figure descended along the column of light, no larger than a human palm.

She was an elderly fairy, her wings dim and translucent, their delicate edges shimmering faintly beneath the rainbow radiance. Her robes appeared to have been woven from moss and pressed petals, giving her the appearance of an ancient creature drawn from the heart of an enchanted forest.

Despite her diminutive size, she descended with effortless dignity, showing no concern for the three powerful figures waiting below.

She drifted onto the deck between the king and the two Supremes as though their presence were of little consequence.

The elderly fairy glanced at Valder, her expression plainly annoyed.

Then her gaze swept across the deck and settled on Emery.

"Ah," she said. "There you are. I’ve been looking for you."

Emery’s pulse slowed.

He immediately recognized the pressure emanating from her tiny body.

There was no mistaking it.

She was a Supreme.

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