Obsidian.

Even before he moved to Blackstone, he had seen sporadic accounts of them in several books on magic and alchemy.

It is a naturally occurring, buried mineral that usually appears as pure black crystals and rarely turns into slime.

The appearance of obsidian is not unique, at least many ordinary gemstones of the same color are placed in one place, it is difficult to distinguish which is obsidian, but it has a property, that is, spectroscopic, when a beam of light shines on the surface of obsidian, in the process of light penetrating the crystal, it will be cut into several distorted rays of light from the other side, which is also the key to distinguish obsidian.

It is quite an expensive gemstone, and it is rumored that life-size obsidian is enough to buy half a small town, and the reason why it has such value is not as a material for luxury, but as a material for storing magical power.

This makes it unique and irreplaceable.

Blackstone is also the golden cradle of the North due to its possession of several cherished veins of obsidian.

But Hodge had never actually seen such a stone.

Not once.

Obsidian is not sold through normal trade routes like other ores, as early as a few years ago, the Marquis of Raymond had sold all the obsidian produced in the next few decades of Blackstone Town to the Wizards Guild in the North, and after mining, it would be sent directly to the Raymond family's territorial Stone Castle, and then escorted to the Magic Association by the cavalry of the Stone Castle.

The whole process was extremely rigorous, and even the people of the Chamber of Commerce could not hide obsidian privately, let alone circulate it to the town.

So, why is obsidian here?

"To be exact. Daphne noticed the confusion in his eyes, and after a moment of thought, she understood what he was thinking, "This should be called an obsidian shard." ”

"Look. She took the pendant off and spread it out in her palm and handed it to Hodge so he could see it more clearly, "Actually, this gem is not a naturally formed whole, but a few small obsidian fragments bonded together. ”

"What's the difference between obsidian and obsidian shards?" Hodge still couldn't understand.

"There's a big difference, if obsidian is worth a lot, then obsidian shards are worthless as sand. ”

Devany patiently explained to him the creation of the obsidian shards.

After the obsidian rough is mined, it cannot be used directly, and the contact with the soil of the rock wall will cause a layer of attachment on the surface of the obsidian, which must be cut by the stonemason to peel off the attachment in order to be considered a truly expensive obsidian.

In this process, a small part of the obsidian will inevitably be cut off against the rock wall, and these small crystal planes that are cut off become the so-called obsidian fragments.

Obsidian does have the function of storing demons, but it is worth mentioning that the capacity of its storage depends on its own integrity, the larger the volume and the unbroken individual, the stronger the ability to store demons, the more expensive it is, and these small chips that have been peeled off, because their own volume is too small, it is difficult to contain magic power, and naturally it no longer has due value.

This part of the obsidian fragments are often dumped in the pit as waste materials along with stones and ashes, and occasionally the Chamber of Commerce will use these fragments to piece together into ornaments for sale, but because they are not profitable, the production volume of these ornaments is not very large, and the gifts sent by the Chamber of Commerce are mostly materials from previous years, which are mixed with some obsidian fragments of jewelry finishes, which are also sent to Hodge's house, and were seen and worn by Devany, so that he can really see this kind of stone.

Hodge looked at it for a moment, then asked a question that surprised Daphne.

"Have you ever tried to infuse this stone with magical power?"

Daphne looked at it in disbelief and blurted out the words, "Are you kidding?"

"If you don't understand, then I can explain it again. She put on a serious expression, like a teacher teaching an apprentice in herbs during the day, "This is a "magician" substance, which is used to store magic, understand? Magicians can use magic, witchcraft and magic are two substances that have nothing to do with each other, how can you be so whimsical as to want to stuff witchcraft into the demonic substance?"

Hodge thought of the scene he had seen before, since obsidian can hold those lines floating in the air, what reason is there that the lines in the body formed by the accumulation of lines in the air in the body, what reason can't they be integrated into the obsidian?

"Have you ever tried it?"

"Of course not! I'm not crazy, why should I try this?"

Hodge pushed Daphne's hands back with the pendant and said seriously, "Then let's try." ”

"Right now. ”

......

Bang!

The fragile room trembled with the sound of a violent explosion, and the sound was mixed with the sound of broken objects.

"Look, what am I talking about?" Devany pouted, holding the pendant in her hand, the piece of obsidian in the center of the pendant cracked, and even the adhesive could not withstand such a violent impact.

And the cracked obsidian no longer looked as intact as before, although part of it was shattered into powder during the experiment because it could not bear Daphne's power, and disappeared into the air with a thud.

Hodge thought back to what he had seen during the experiment, and when Daphne began to wield the witchcraft, the thread in her belly spun and separated, and climbed down her body to her arm, and then to her fingers, and the scorching light and fiery flames burst out almost simultaneously, and he instinctively closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he saw the scene in front of him.

In other words, the moment Daphne leaves her body, her magical power takes the form of sorcery, rather than pure power.

"Daphne, you're trying not to summon the flames?"

Seeing her blank little face, Hodge had no choice but to elaborate: "That is to say, let the magic power be released directly as much as possible, and don't turn it into the offensive witchcraft that you are good at." ”

"What's that?" Devany had never heard of a form of direct release of power, for witches, witchcraft had become part of the habit, and when the accumulated magic power in the body was released, it would naturally transform into a form of magic.

"Let's try to reduce the appearance of the technique as much as possible. ”

Reluctantly, Daphne carefully controlled the power in her body and repeated the operation she had just done.

Bang!

Another cloud of broken fog rose.

"Seems too thick?"

It was clear that Devany had controlled the formation of the sorcery, and although there was still a small amount of fire, at least Hodge was able to fully observe the process of the magic coming into contact with obsidian.

Compared to the thread in the air, the thread released from Devonie's body was much more colorful and thicker, and the moment it came into contact with the obsidian, the thread did not enter, but destroyed it directly.

"Is it that the demonic substance really can't be compatible with magical power, or is it ...... The size of the fragment can't hold enough mana?"

He turned to Daphne, "Try again, reduce the power you have released, the weaker the better." ”

Another strange request, Devany thought.

Whether it was a witch or someone like a magician, she must have wanted to have more power, and every experience was to strengthen herself, and this was the first time she had heard of her weakening power.

The defeat continued, and the original large pieces of obsidian crystals had disappeared by four-fifths.

"Can you be a little weaker?" Hodge felt that Devany's was still too thick compared to the line he had first seen into the obsidian.

"That's the minimum I can control. Daphne's face was gloomy, and she was picked and picked and tossed for a long time, and she also lost a little temper, "Give up, like I said, magic and magic are not compatible at all." ”

"I always think it's not like that......"

Hodge took the pendant in his hand and looked at it repeatedly, since it was the same substance, why couldn't the threads in his body melt into the obsidian?

Intentionally or unintentionally, threads that spread throughout his entire body flowed into the palm of his hand, quietly climbing into the broken gem of the pendant.

"Is this?!" he looked at the pendant in his hand in surprise, and the thin threads that came out of his palm entered the obsidian shards like silk without hindrance, and the threads were intertwined and woven into a web.

Devonne's brow furrowed slightly, and she noticed that the obsidian shards were undergoing some subtle change.

She tried to remove one of the fragments, and as she nestled it in her hand, the warm current flowed through her skin and directly into her body.

It feels like it's exactly like Hodge's abilities!

She jerked her head up into the eyes of Hodge, who was looking up at the same time.

"Daphne, you say...... What does magic and magic have to do with each other?"

Hodge narrowed his eyes and was silent for a moment before he continued, "Looks like we need to go to the Chamber of Commerce to talk about acquiring this "useless fragment." ”