"Ice that seals light, huh..." Kafney tilted her head, pondering for a moment, "I indeed know about this thing."
Annan heaved a sigh of relief.
He had just finished his conversation with the person in the mirror... It was the best case scenario that Kafney knew about it.
Annan adhered to one principle—he couldn’t always be shearing the same sheep for wool.
If he could avoid asking the person in the mirror, he wouldn’t. After all, although the person in the mirror owed him a favor, if Annan went to them with every problem or for help with every task, that favor would soon be exhausted.
The fact that others were grateful to him showed that they had heart. So he shouldn’t abuse their goodwill.
It wasn’t just about not always seeking help from the person in the mirror, Annan even considered if he could do some favors for the person in the mirror to make their debt of gratitude grow bigger... Turning a favor into a friendship would be the best outcome.
After all, apart from the person in the mirror, Annan also had old Vasily, Kafney, senior Salvatore, as well as the Bread Gang—four other people he could ask.
It wasn’t as though without the mirror person’s favor, he was a good-for-nothing.
Unexpectedly, the very first person gave Annan the answer.
—Kafney actually knew about this cursed artifact!
"The ice that seals light is a cursed artifact that possesses both the frost and light domains. It’s not rare," Kafney explained to Annan, "It basically won’t appear naturally; any you find would be man-made.
"It looks like a block of ice that continuously emits light, about the size of a grape, and is colder than ordinary ice. If you stay farther away from it, you can feel the warmth of the light; but if you touch it, you would feel the chill of the ice. If you submerge it in water, the bottom of the water will glow... I know of a ritual that involves putting some ’ice that seals light’ into pure seawater and then lying directly in it."
"What’s the purpose of this ritual?"
Upon hearing this, Annan asked.
This ritual used the same cursed artifact as "Winter’s Breath"—maybe its effects were similar...
But at this question, Kafney paused for a moment.
She then replied calmly, "This ritual grants one the ability to see at night... The side effect is that their skin becomes especially pale, smooth, and cold; it even faintly glows in the dark."
...Alright, I get it.
The main purpose of the ritual was for skin lightening; night vision was just a side effect...
Observing Annan’s silence, Kafney suddenly spoke in a slightly aggrieved whisper, "But I haven’t used that ritual... My skin is naturally ..."
Of course, I know it’s natural for you. After all, your skin was even paler when you were a child.
But Annan didn’t voice this thought; it might seem like flirting—they were no longer just eight or nine years old, after all.
Still, Annan found it somewhat perplexing—what’s the big deal even if you had used it? Could he really disallow girls from wearing makeup...
A made-up face is just like corrected vision; it’s a part of one’s body, isn’t it!
Although he didn’t understand what was bothering Kafney, Annan cleverly changed the subject, "Do you know where to get this cursed artifact? I might need it later."
"...When do you need it, Your Highness?"
Kafney asked, giving Annan a curious look.
She quickly said, "I can try to make one... Although I haven’t done this before, I know the recipe. It should be quick to make."
"I hadn’t realized you were quite good at crafting curses?"
Annan was somewhat surprised.
Kafney just gave him a strange look, as if Annan had asked "You can actually cook?"
But then it dawned on her, considering Annan’s identity—
After all, Annan had only recently become a Transcendent.
And previously, he wasn’t raised as a Transcendent... It was only natural for him not to understand the common knowledge of the Transcendent world.
So Kafney explained to annan, the newbie, "It’s not hard to make, it’s mainly about the materials. Not all cursed artifacts require influence to create... Some, you just need the raw materials to make them."
"...What, influences are actually used for crafting curses?"
Annan was taken aback.
He had always thought that influences were primarily used for entering dungeons, and secondarily for conducting rituals...
If the influences obtained from Twisted Spells were all used for entering dungeons, the world’s Transcendents might have all perished within the endless high-difficulty nightmares by now...
Kafney then said, "Sealing ice with light is quite easy to make. You only need one of ’white liquid fire,’ ’red liquid fire,’ or ’black liquid fire,’ mixed with ’pure water.’ There are still plenty of materials left from last time we dealt with the Light Pursuer Monster, and pure water is a transformative product that a transformation Wizard can make. It’s a liquid that, apart from water, contains as little impurities as possible... It’s virtually the base material for all transformation potions, simple and cheap to make, and your senior from Black Tower can also produce high-quality pure water..."
Annan had the impression that Kafney’s tone was strange when she mentioned Salvatore.
But he did not interrupt, merely continuing to listen:
"—The method of making it involves using a ritual from any ice domain or a spell from the Disabling School to freeze a large part of the pure water first. Then, using either silver or crystal tools, hollow out the center before injecting one-third the amount of liquid fire, covering it with the debris from the hollowing process, and sealing it while pouring in pure water... The shelf life is about two months."
"That sounds quite simple."
Annan chimed in without thinking.
It felt a bit like making desserts...
Or perhaps liquor-filled chocolate?
"The principle is indeed not difficult."
Kafney’s voice was soft, but her words were less than polite: "But it’s a craft, Your Highness Annan."
Her implication was to cast doubt on whether Annan’s hands were nimble enough.
My claws are at least dexterous ten points—
Annan wanted to argue, but suddenly felt that talking back might result in getting caught by tentacles, so he obediently gave up the debate.
Strange, Kafney doesn’t seem to be in a very good mood today... and she’s obviously more talkative than before.
"Did you have a nightmare today?"
Annan asked with concern, "Or did you not sleep well?"
Kafney’s expression stiffened, and she shook her head.
She poured a cup of tea for herself and Annan, then swiftly nibbled on a biscuit in small bites.
Annan didn’t impolitely press further, instead, sipping his hot tea and eating sweets.
This was their breakfast.
It was getting late, and both of them had gotten up late today. Eating too much now would leave no room for lunch.
It was better to have some pastries to fill the stomach.
"It wasn’t a nightmare."
Kafney said in a low voice, "It was... a very good dream."
"...May I ask about it?"
Annan inquired gently.
Kafney was silent for a while, then nodded.
"Your Highness Annan... no, Annan."
She quietly asked, "Do you still remember... the first time we met?"
Annan was stirred, and replied, "Are you referring to five years ago?"
A vague idea surfaced in his mind.