Doomsday Pillars

"Magic scroll?"

[Yes. You can store magic into materials and create a single-use spirit spell scroll with them. This way, you can practice more skills and it doesn't require much spirit energy compared to making magic artifacts] 

"Sounds fantastic! Tell me more"

[Actually the turtle skin in front of you can be a good material to create a low tier magic scroll. Would you like to try, Master?]

"Gladly"

Alex never saw items like magic scroll at the Doomsday Pillar before. He never received it from completing the challenge nor the item appeared in the pillar's store. In the pillar's store, he could find the potion making recipe or the forging material recipe. However, not once has he ever seen an enchanting skill, an engraving skill, nor a scroll making recipe. Maybe he would when he already cleared the 60th floor and his pillar received the level 3 hall, but in his previous life, only a handful of people could clear the said floor and get access to the level 3 hall. At that time, those who managed to do so, never spread the intelligence about it, so Alex doesn't know anything about it.

Resolute to quickly start the practice, Alex immediately calms his thoughts and focuses his mind. He followed Stroke's directions and started cutting the turtle skins, dividing them into squares with the size of 20 square centimeter.

Done with the task, Alex looked at the rows of cut skin and grabbed one of them. He then accessed his [Universal Pattern - Rank 1 Knowledge] and searched the knowledge for the list of spells that could be added into the scroll.

"I can engrave all these tier 1 spells into scroll??" Alex said in disbelief as he looked at the rows of spells on the hologram in front of him.

[Available list of spells that could be made into scroll]

[Fire element tier 1 spell - 6 formation patterns found]

[Earth element tier 1 spell - 5 formation patterns found]

[Wind element tier 1 spell - 6 formation patterns found]

[Water element tier 1 spell - 5 formation patterns found]

[Ice element tier 1 spell - 6 formation patterns found]

[Plant element tier 1 spell - 5 formation patterns found]

[Metal element tier 1 spell - 5 formation patterns found]

[Lighting element tier 1 spell - 6 formation patterns found]

[Darkness element tier 1 spell - 5 formation patterns found]

[Light element tier 1 spell - 5 formation patterns found]

[Yes, Master]

Alex was astonished when he saw the list, he could found more than 50 formation patterns of tier 1 spells for all elements in that list. He didn't see that many options when he engraved an artifact before.

"I can enchant all 10 elements? Not just light element?" he asked incredulously.

[Yes. You can try to do so, Master. But, it doesn't mean you'll be hundred percent successful. It will not be easy, Master]

"Why can I engrave other elements for scrolls but not artifacts?"

[What do you mean, Master. You can]

Alex was startled when he heard Strokes' reply, "I can? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

[You never ask, Master] said Strokes with a matter of fact tone.

Hearing its reply, Alex was dumbfounded and inhaled a deep breath. 'Hufftt… take a deep breath, Alex. Calm down..' He could only bury his frustration deep in his heart. There's no way he would stoop so low as to argue with an object.

[You can engrave a formation with any kind of element, Master. But, you could only engrave tier 1 spells with your current low realm]

"Okay then.." Alex replied.

Alex frowned for a moment, wondering which spell he should choose. After a few minutes of thinking, he finally chose a tier 1 spell which he found very useful.

[Wind Walk - Tier 1 Wind element Spell]

In Alex's opinion, safety is the number one thing that needs to be prioritized in this apocalypse era. Just like the last stratagem of the olden Chinese thirty-six stratagems said, 'if all else fails, retreat'

Alex gave 10 yellow spirit stones to Strokes, asking him to absorb it. "Here you go, Strokes. I can only give this much for now."

[Charged Spirit Energy 1%]

"Damn… 10 pieces of yellow spirit stone I worked hard to get only to give this much energy for you. I'm not sure if you're a curse or a disaster." Alex muttered.

Sighing, he could only throw the matter to the back of his head and focus on the [Wind Walk] spell pattern. Alex began to study the formation pattern, observing and scrutinizing each and every detail in it. After all, he didn't want to fail his first attempt at creating a magic scroll. Within a few hours, Alex had finished studying the pattern and started to use his [Draw] skill on that mutated turtle skin.

Alex slowly engraved the pattern onto the skin, moving his hand very carefully following the pattern he studied before. When he finished, a notification appeared in his mind.

[Enchantment Failed!]

As soon as the notification appeared, the turtle skin in his hand disintegrated into dust.

Silence filled the area, one could only hear the sound of someone sighing. Not giving up, Alex took another piece of skin and started engraving again.

Half a hour later, another notification appeared in his mind.

[Enchantment Failed!]

"One more!"

[Enchantment Failed!]

"..."

[Maybe you want to stop and learn the pattern again, Master?] Strokes 'kindly' said

One could see veins popped out in Alex's head when he heard Strokes' kind advice.

"No!"

Once again, Alex slowly concentrated and followed the pattern line of the formation in his head, using the tip of the Seven Star Sword. Beads of sweat dripped down Alex's face and entered his eyes, but he didn't blink a single moment. His eyes were focused on the skin on his hands, making sure there weren't any mistakes in the process. When he finished engraving the last line, Alex let out the breath he was holding unconsciously.

[Enchantment Successful!]

Seeing the notification, Alex clenched his fists and threw it into the air. "Yeah!" He then excitedly examined the scroll that lay in his hand.

[Wind Walk - Tier 1 Wind spell Scroll]

[Allow the user to use Wind Walk skill for one minute]

"Only one minute? That's too short." Alex frowned.

[One minute is the maximum duration of a tier 1 spell scroll made from tier 3 material. Considering your current realm, Master. That's an excellent result]

Hearing Strokes' explanation, Alex could only shake his head and wryly smile, "I guess it's an excellent result then." he said, taking its words as a compliment.

He then kept trying to make more scrolls with all the remaining ingredients. At first, he could only make a scroll every five tries but after a dozen tries, Alex was able to increase it to one scroll every three tries. In his 20 attempts of making windwalk scroll, Alex managed to successfully made 5 scrolls. But then, the dreadful notification appeared.

[Not enough spirit energy]

Alex quickly made a calculation in his head. If he had much better efficiency, which he could definitely attain, that would mean each scroll would have the same value as one yellow spirit stone. Even though the duration of the spell was pretty short, when compared to the cost, it was still worth it.

Holding the magic scroll tightly in his hand, Alex began to tremble. Aria, who saw Alex's body suddenly trembled, went straight to him. "Alex, what happened?"

Alex didn't say anything, he just gave the scroll to Aria, letting her have a look. Aria who received the scroll was confused. "Alex, This?"

"Aria, this could really change the entire fate of humanity." Alex said firmly.

The potential for such a magic scroll would greatly increase the fighting strength of humanity. Imagine that a battalion of warriors each wielding this magic scroll, that would truly have a different impact in the face of tribulation.

Not only that, this scroll can also be the solution for the lack of firepower when fighting a long duration battle. For example, Alex might be able to throw 100 light missiles in a day, but if he has 100 light missile scrolls, he can cast 200 spells on that day! In theory, he would get a twofold increase in firepower.

Like finding a new purpose in his life, Alex has decided to commit himself to mastering the path of formation. In the next few days, he focused on farming more yellow spirit stones during the day and practiced engraving at night. Once every few days, he would jump into the lake to find more mutated turtles for material.

Seeing the sheer amount of turtle meat in their storage ring, Aria eventually tried to cook her favorite stew once. Unfortunately, it tasted horrible but Alex was forced to eat it anyway.

Days passed as they continued to train in the cave and occasionally kill the stray gargoyles. Within that time period, Alex chose the best Tier 1 spell from each element and created dozens of magic scrolls for each of them. Meanwhile, Aria still continued to increase her cultivation by consuming the extra spirit stones.

Finally, after a month, both Alex and Aria were ready to fully explore the cave with confidence.