McCarthy said, "For example, suppose the energy currently swirling around my finger is Dark Energy Particles. But if I infuse it with a certain amount of Death Aura—watch closely—death invades the Dark Energy Particles, forming the foundation of the Spiritualism School: a major category among Negative Energy Particles, the Death Energy Particle."
The pure Dark Energy Particles on McCarthy's finger, under the influence of Death Aura, grew increasingly passive, sluggish, and negative, transforming from simple Dark Energy Particles into something brimming with negative energy and despair.
"Next, if I inject hatred into the Dark Element Particles, you'll see the origin of Curse Magic—the Curse Energy Particle."
The Dark Energy Particles on McCarthy's finger shifted again, taking on an aura similar to the Curse Magic of the Blood Curse Court, now saturated with resentment.
Seeing Locke's focused expression, McCarthy couldn't help but smile. "Now, what happens when Dark Energy Particles are stimulated by Light Magic? Observe—pure Dark Energy Particles don't get repelled like other Negative Energy Particles. Instead, they combine to form this kind of elemental particle..."
A terrifying burst of energy erupted from McCarthy's finger, vanishing as quickly as it appeared. Though the energy level was extraordinarily high, McCarthy's Mana couldn't sustain much of it, so it caused no harm to the shop.
Only a gust of explosive air surged between Locke and McCarthy, hitting their faces.
Locke frowned. "What was that?"
McCarthy replied, "Annihilation Particles—the foundational energy for the magic used by Destruction Warlocks. However, this Wizard tradition has already died out in the Southeast Corner Domain. I only came across fragments of their knowledge while studying archaeology."
McCarthy continued, "The three energy particles I demonstrated are just broad categories. In truth, once you reach a certain level, our research delves into many finely differentiated magical particles."
"It's just that Negative Energy Particles are the most accommodating, which is why we Wizards prioritize studying this field. Essentially, so-called dark energy is the chaotic state of unaltered matter."
"The 210 Negative Energy Particles are the most common classification. Some rarer Negative Energy Particles aren't included in this periodic table, but those cases are seldom encountered under normal circumstances."
"Memorizing, mastering, and familiarizing yourself with these 210 Negative Energy Particles is sufficient," McCarthy said. "The so-called Moduo Language is a language composed of these 210 Negative Energy Particles. By interpreting the variations in their types and quantities, we can uncover the past events tied to an object."
"Thus, quite naturally, the first Spell for an archaeology scholar is something we inherently learn—the 0.5-ring [Summon Graveyard Spirit]!"
"It's not actually summoning a ghost, but rather allowing Moduo energy particles to resonate with the place or object you wish to understand. Ultimately, through necromantic magic, all these negative energy particles are transformed into death energy, temporarily forming a spectral entity. This ghost from the past will then actively recount everything that occurred in bygone days."
"This spell primarily utilizes the property that death energy particles are the easiest to communicate with."
"Essentially, the identification of negative energy particles and past information is all done by you. The death energy particles merely translate it into human language. In truth, this spell was created solely to facilitate understanding for ordinary Wizards. Its value for Archaeological Scholars lies in its ability to organize the information you've gathered."
"It reduces your processing difficulty. The information you decipher by recognizing Moduo language is like a wagonload of archives. You then need someone to sort and report on those archives, so you use necromantic magic to create this reporting ghost."
McCarthy chanted an incantation, causing a surge of negative energy to converge. A ghost crowned with a tombstone emerged, rapidly dropping the surrounding temperature.
With his hands clasped behind his back, McCarthy asked, "How many people entered this shop in the past seven days, and what types of Wizards were they..."
The pallid graveyard spirit, its head bearing a tombstone, replied dully, "A total of twenty-one First-Class Wizard Apprentices and three Second-Class Wizard Apprentices entered. They were respectively..."
Locke was astonished to find that the graveyard spirit could roughly describe the magical specialties of all twenty-four Wizards.
McCarthy smirked proudly at Locke. "Before an Archaeological Scholar, no one keeps their secrets."
"These Wizards inadvertently disperse their magical energy into the air. The negative energy particles in the air are affected, undergoing corresponding quantitative changes. Thus, by interpreting Moduo language and Summoning a Graveyard Spirit, I can uncover their secrets."
McCarthy sighed, "However, this depends on your ability to interpret Moduo language. Misinterpretations sometimes occur—even now, at least 10% of my readings are illusory."
"So it can only serve as a reference, not absolute truth. The souls of First-Class Wizard Apprentices possess a Magic Pressure Structure, which naturally interferes with the accuracy of our archaeological spell models. The stronger the Magic Pressure, the more severe the interference."
McCarthy continued, "Once you've mastered this spell, you can proceed to learn the 0.8-ring [Historical Projection]."
"I've used it in front of you before."
"Then attempt to master the 0.8-ring [Ancient Pointer]. This magic is used to locate places with unique quantities and types of negative energy particles—such places often hold many ancient artifacts. I used the Ancient Pointer to find numerous mortals with special Ancient Bloodlines in the mundane world."
McCarthy concluded, "Master these three spells, and you'll be ready to take the certification exam for [Archaeological Scholar]."
Locke asked curiously, "Does the White Wizard Association offer such exams?"
McCarthy affirmed, "Yes, there is, but certainly not here at Lilith's Cottage. You'll need to go to Niflheim University in the Northern Realm—they offer certification exams for Archaeology Scholars."
"Though it's only at the Archaeology Scholar level, there's no certification exam for Archaeology Professors. That would be a Formal Wizard-level archaeologist certification exam. The entire Southeast Corner Domain likely doesn't have such exams. You'd have to leave the domain and go to other Wizard territories to take it."
McCarthy caught himself. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. If you just want to interpret Ancient Creature Bloodlines, I think learning Summon Graveyard Spirit and the Negative Energy Particle Periodic Table would be sufficient for your needs."
"Of course, it would be even better if you could continue studying further."
"But if your aptitude is lacking—especially with only a level 3 Dark Energy affinity—then learning Archaeology would indeed be very slow. In Black Wizard Society, Archaeology is the most talent-demanding Magic category," McCarthy said proudly.
"In Black Wizard Society, without at least a level 6 Dark Energy Particle aptitude, it's practically impossible to be taught Archaeology."
"Because studying Archaeology requires extremely strong discernment of Dark Element Particles—the ability to distinguish between 210 types of Negative Energy Particle variations. Memorization is actually secondary."
"Discernment—that's what truly requires innate talent! Precision in Mana control isn't as critical; approximate information is often enough. So this is completely different from your expertise in Breeding Studies and Potionology."
Locke nodded slightly. "Alright, I understand."
This wasn't a problem for him. If his discernment was insufficient, he could simply rely on Potions. He could definitely use Potionology to develop some Magic Potions that would enhance his Dark Energy Particle discernment, then amplify their effects through magical synthesis.
By taking these enhanced Potions, he could boost his aptitude for Archaeology.
Of course, this wasn't to say Old McCarthy's perspective was limited. Firstly, he genuinely didn't know much about Potionology. Secondly, most Potionology assistants indeed couldn't achieve this—even if they developed similar Potions, the effects would likely be far from ideal.
But Locke could use the Synthetic Magic Cube to enhance these Potions, ensuring they met his expectations.
This gave him a possibility—with only a level 3 Dark Energy affinity and relatively insensitive Dark Energy Particle discernment—to study Archaeology and still achieve significant results.
Naturally, this would require more gold investment.
Another round of R&D costs and Potion material consumption.
But if he could make achievements in Archaeology, he could strengthen the Ancient Creature Bloodline within him, gaining physical enhancements. Then he could use the [Fission Potion] to accelerate reaching 600 points in mental power.
Locke calculated—this should be a worthwhile trade.
(End of Chapter)