'That's impossible, kid. Even though Runeth is a legendary mage, he can't pull off such a powerful god-level spell easily. It has to be a God or a unique being.' Azolla said in his mind.
Abium also thought of the same thing and asked Tabitha.
"Is there any method to remove these shackles?"
"Yes, we mostly use potions to break these shackles, Mage Abium. Different potion formulas have different effects on mortal bodies." Tabitha paused for a moment as she looked at his long ears and added.
"You are an elf, so I don't think our academy's treasury has the elven potion formula. In truth, elven potion formulas are mostly owned by the Elven Kingdom, large Empires and a few academies in the north. So, if you want to improve further, you must search for another way." Tabitha said regretfully.
At that moment, Abium suddenly thought of himself and asked curiously.
"But how come I didn't face any shackles?" As she was expecting his question, she responded with a weak smile.
"We also don't know. When you advanced into an Official mage, Zivior checked your body and noticed that you somehow broke the first shackle on your own. Even our teacher Alius became clueless about it, so we thought of concealing that matter." Her words made Abium's eyes widen.
'Runeth also said something similar like breaking the shackle by pushing one's own limits.'
Without minding his shocked face, she continued,
"If you have stayed in the magic tower, information about your uniqueness might have gone out. Thankfully, Zivior came up with a plan to make you noble and send you out of the magic tower. Although we were a little worried that you wouldn't agree to become a noble, you did a great job. For now, no one know about your secret except for Grold and other second-tier mages."
'Heh, if I hadn't accepted the noble title, teacher Zivior might have sent me to do some outside missions.' He nodded with an understanding and asked a few more questions about the potions.
After a few minutes, he got most of the answers.
'I clearly didn't push myself hard enough to break the first shackle on my own. It must be due to Time Divinity. Still, I might face shackles in the future.' As Abium was in deep thought, Azolla's voice echoed inside his mind.
'It's not due to time divinity, kid. You broke your first shackle due to your reckless action.' Her words caused him to frown.
'What do you mean? When did I behave recklessly?' Abium asked hurriedly.
'It happened in the undead plane. When you touched the nether pool, the spirit power from the nether pool entered your soul and broke the first shackle.' She said calmly.
'Oh! That explains everything. Then, I will also face shackles in the future, right?' He sighed inwardly.
Meanwhile, Tabitha noticed his facial expression and started to speak.
"It appears you found out the truth behind the first broken shackle of yours. So, how did you do that?" She asked with shining silver eyes.
'Even if I tell her, she wouldn't believe me. Hmm, at least I can give her hints.' Abium quickly made up his mind and spoke.
"It's related to the World Tree, my lady. I stumbled upon a pool connected to a World Tree not too long ago. When I touched that pool, the spirit power directly entered my body. Due to the excessive amount of spirit power, the first shackle must have broken." His words left Tabitha speechless. She knew there was a deep relation between the World Tree and the spiritual power and wasn't surprised by that information.
But what shocked her most was Abium's recklessness.
"You are truly lucky, Mage Abium. If you had touched the World Tree's spirit roots, you wouldn't be standing in front of me now. I heard that touching those spirit roots could kill a pseudo-legendary mage." Tabitha said with a grave tone after maintaining a long silence. At that moment, she also understood the reason for Abium's abnormal spirit power and breathed a heavy sigh.
'The possibility of him being a spy was also minimized. Still, we need to keep an eye on this elf.' She thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Abium nodded his head while listening to her words and silently told himself not to go near the World Tree.
As he was about to stand up and leave, Tabitha suddenly thought of something and spoke.
"Mage Abium, I know a friend who has a high-tier artifact that could do the same work as the Nature artifact. And, he also said that he wanted to sell it a few weeks ago. But the prize is a little bit expensive."
"How much is it, My Lady?" Abium furrowed his brows.
"25,000 white gold coins." Tabitha said with a calm smile.
Abium almost had a heart attack when he heard the price and felt dizzy.
Although he currently had more white gold coins in his spatial ring, he decided not to use them.
'I have more elemental crystals in my possession. I can exchange some of those for that artifact.' His amber eyes instantly lit up. When he auctioned two small elemental crystals, he almost earned a fortune. He touched his spatial ring and started examining the crystals in his mind.
'There are a total of 15 Tier-1 spatial-elemental crystals, 7 nether-elemental crystals, 3 Tier-1 earth-elemental crystals, 5 Tier-1 Fire-elemental crystals, 3 Tier-1 ice-elemental crystals, 3 Tier-1 wind-elemental crystals, and 2 Tier-1 darkness-elemental crystals.' They were all Tier-1 Elemental crystals!
As for the Tier-2 Elemental Crystals, he hadn't even thought of selling them.
'There are two Tier-2 nether-elemental crystals, three Tier-2 spatial-elemental crystals, 1 Tier-2 Ice-elemental crystal, and one Tier-2 fire-elemental crystal in my posession. But selling or auctioning them would definitely get me killed or imprisoned.'
He instantly made up his mind and asked Tabitha with a forced smile on his face.
"I have an elemental crystal. Can he accept that as payment?"
Tabitha's expression froze as he said those words.
"I knew it. So, you have more elemental crystals, huh? Haa! Did you enter a Dragon's lair and rob it?" Tabitha looked at him as if he was some terrifying monster.
After calming her mind a bit, she returned to her former calm expression and asked.
"Do you have a wind or fire or darkness elemental crystal?"
"I have wind elemental crystal, my lady." Abium responded.
"Hmm, can you take that out? I want to see if the crystal size would be worth 25,000 white gold coins." Tabitha said while showing her right-hand palm outward. Without any refusal, Abium quickly took out a thumb-sized transparent wind-elemental crystal from his space ring and placed it on her hand.
"This is…" She looked at the crystal for a while and soon spoke.
"It could sell for more than 30,000 white gold coins if you auctioned it." She said with a slightly regretful tone and asked him one more time. "Do you really want to exchange that high tier crystal for this wind-elemental crystal?"
"Yes, my lady. I need that artifact urgently." Abium nodded his head.
'I won't be able to fool that hooded guy's eyes without any face-changing artifact after all.' He muttered to himself.
"Okay. I will give you some extra materials for the remaining amount." Tabitha pondered for a while and asked.
"Do you need any spell scrolls in those three elements?"
'Of course, yes. I don't have any first-tier or second-tier spell scrolls now. There is a high chance of me meeting some second-tier necromancers during the Grand Nobles Gathering. So, I won't even stand a chance against them if I met them alone.' He thought for a bit and asked her about the amount.
"How much do I have to pay for a single second-tier spell, My Lady?"
"It will be based on the spell rarity, Mage Abium. But most of them would be around 500 to 1000 white gold coins." When hearing Tabitha's reply, Abium almost fell.
'Expensive!' He felt heartache as he thought of the amount.
'Alas, I can't act like a miser.'
He gritted his teeth and quickly nodded.
"I need a total of 5 second-tier attack magic spell scrolls before the Grand Nobles Gathering, My Lady. If possible, please ask him to create some first-tier spell scrolls." He said seriously.
"Mage Abium, are you planning to do something dangerous?" Tabitha's expression turned solemn.
'Well, I wouldn't be able to hide these things from her, anyway. Moreover, those necromancers are already making their moves.' Abium muttered to himself and quickly responded.
"I got ambushed by a necromancer when I was traveling to my territory, My Lady. Well, he is just an apprentice necromancer, so I killed him without much problem. But the problem is, I also saw Viscount Gauvain's lackey and Count Tibal's soldiers with him. I suspect that they are colluding with the necromancers and plotting something big. The reason I came back to the capital secretly is also to find what they are plotting." After hearing Abium's explanation, Tabitha's expression got more serious.
"You got attacked by an apprentice necromancer? Moreover, Viscount Gauvain and Count Tibal, huh? You aren't trying to frame them due to the previous conflict with Count Tibal, right?" Tabitha asked with a frown.
"I know the seriousness of the situation, My Lady." Abium's words were solemn.
Meanwhile, Tabitha nodded and quickly informed someone using a communication ring. Although Abium couldn't identify who the other party was, he thought it must be another second-tier mage.
What made him feel relieved was that she completely hid about him and vaguely told the other party that two nobles were colluding with necromancers.
After she finished her communication, Tabitha stood up and said with a sigh.
"You gave us important information this time, mage Abium. I think I have to return to the Tower and personally inform our teacher about this news." She paused for a moment and quickly continued. "As for that high tier artifact, don't worry. I will buy it from my friend using the wind elemental crystal. You can return to your house and come back around eight o'clock in the evening; I will be here with that artifact."
"Okay, My Lady. I will come back later." Abium knew she was in a hurry, so he stood up and nodded. After thanking her, he left the room while casting the disguise spell on himself.