After their short briefing, Jacob was given a courtyard to stay in the Dark Castle while Hallberg returned to his lab, which was in the basement of the Dark Castle.
Hallberg inhaled a sharp, long breath for a moment as if he was completely exhausted before taking out a wine bottle and starting to drink directly from it.
Only after calming his nerves did he stop and mutter, "Those two big offs almost ruined everything today. They even robbed me of that astonishing treasure, and I can't even ask for it since I would lose too much face, and he might not even agree to give it away anymore. Since I couldn't after my own gift was used against me…"
Hallberg still couldn't forget about the disc despite not showing it on his face. He really wanted it after seeing its abilities. However, he wasn't that shameless to ask Jacob about it since it was not his to ask for. It still made him indignation, nevertheless.
In the end, he was still glad that despite Water Wave's foolishness, the thing went extremely well, and he secured Jacob's help which was his true purpose anyway.
He asked coldly at this moment, "How did you deal with Water Wave?"
Dark Rose's voice sounded, "According to the Dark City laws, Viscount Water Wave has attempted assassination on the City Administrator's guest. The Guest's identity was 1-Star privilege holder, Current Alchemy Guild Leader of the Dark City: Faceless Ancient.
"Her crime magnitude is graded: D!
"Thereby, she has been demoted to Upper Dark Noble, all her assets have been confiscated, and she will be imprisoned for 100 years!"
Hallberg pursed his lips as he said, "Only D? Not C?" He was clearly unsatisfied with this punishment as that bitch almost ruined everything, yet she was getting out of it too easily.
Dark Rose emotionlessly replied, "Crime above D Grade can only be denoted against at least Baron Rank Dark Nobles or if she had killed the guest. The punishment is all in accordance with the Dark City rules and regulations."
Hallberg then only cussed in his mind as he knew even he couldn't interfere with the punishment process of the Dark Nobles above the Upper Dark Noble Rank. He can only call for a trial, but the judge will always be Dark Rose, who monitors every Dark Noble in the Dark City.
"Alright, in a hundred years, who knows where I'll be? That guy might've already forgotten about her as well, so it's fine, I guess." He muttered ruefully before his expression turned solemn, "How is the evacuation plan being handled?"
"It's ready. I just need your final confirmation to initiate it, and all the Dark City will be shifted to our Secret Bunker No: 3 and merged with the Dark City of the Freedom Plains. City Administrator Dark Viscount has already been informed, and he's preparing as we speak."
Hallberg's expression great eased up when he heard it, and his lips curled into a cold smile as he said, "No need to make haste anymore. I need you to wait until the Dark Being enters the Dark Zone, and only then can you start the evacuation process.
"In the meantime, anyone who abandoned the Dark City in need of crisis bans them if they were commoners and revoked their noble titles if they were dark nobles. You have full authority to do that according to your Time of Crisis protocol.
"Dark City didn't need ingrates. As for those who stayed to protect the Dark City, evacuate them and start the convergence process as we did in the freedom plains. Those people will be dead in the view of the outside world and reborn as members of the Dark City!" He declared imposingly.
Dark Rose's emotionless voice rang at this moment, "Understood!"
In his large courtyard, Jacob closed himself in his room. Not because he was tired or anything, it was just that he was planning on reading the Type-1 Universal Magic Manual, which he had put on hold because he had too many things to worry about.
However, now that all his preparation was over and hopefully he would find the materials from Hallberg, he has time now.
Furthermore, after today's assassination attempts, he felt an urgent crisis to have another trump card like magic.
Before, he still thought that having magic or not with his current self didn't really matter in the Rare Plains, and he'll research it on his way toward the epic plains since he would have too much time on his hand.
But his thinking changed as he knew no amount of preparation could counter the unknown, and he needed to be absolutely prepared the best he could when he could.
Now, Jacob's plan was to make some special glasses that could help him see the electromagnetic waves so he could at least see through cloaking treasures or, hopefully, abilities.
He was quite positive that it would work since he could do the same in the 15X or higher-level acceleration.
Afterward, he would go to the marked location in Mason's map scanner to see if he could get his hands on more plutonium. That's why he gives Hallberg a 1-month time period since he knows he will be done with this small chore if he puts his top speed to use.
Anyhow, the magic became his priority again as he was traveling with Hallberg, which he clearly didn't trust fully, so every extra advantage could decide a matter of life and death for him.
Jacob opened the Type-1 Universal Magic Manual and skipped the introduction part since he already had it down just for the sole reason of not being ignorant about it anymore.
In the introduction, the power structure was the same as Immortika described it about the Common, Rare, and Extraordinary Ranks and their tires and then the nine-star magic cores.
The only extra information it had was about the Magic Spells and Magic Scriptures.
A Magic Spell was like a command that could manipulate Mana in the Magic Orbits.
The manual described the Magic Orbits as the channels of invisible pathways that are spread in every being's body, and they were what caused the mana to circulate in the entire body.
Before forming a magic core, all the Magic Orbits could be said in disarray as they didn't have a command center to manipulate them. The very first steps, called the primary stages, were the process of arranging these disarrayed magic orbits.
Only once these magic orbits were fully arranged could they be connected with one energy source, which was the Magic Core. The magic core actually formed once all the magic orbits could focus on one focal point.
Mostly, magic cores can form in three spots, the head, the middle of the chest, or below the navel. These spots could be different depending on a race's talent in magic as some formed magic cores in their head like the magic beast while some in their bellies like elves and some between their chests like orcs or trolls.
Lastly, every Magic Orbits set has its own unique elements, which will decide the element of the magic core once it is formed. According to the manual, it can't be changed or manipulated as it was inherited.
The Magic Spells were ranked based on the mana they used upon casting. A 1-Star Magic Spell would take the lowest amount of mana, while a 9-Star Magic Spell would take the highest.
Then there was casting time as well. The higher-level spell one was casting, the more time it would take. But this flaw can be solved by learning silent casting, which was actually a magic scripture that usually didn't exist in the Rare Plains!
