Land Master's fingertips, through his gloves, gently caressed the chain of the Tear of the Stars necklace and the azure gemstone.

His gaze was focused and sharp, as if he could penetrate the surface of the material and perceive its most essential structure.

A faint light flickered across the small magnifying lens, clearly an enchanted tool, providing a perspective far beyond that of ordinary lenses.

For a moment, the only sounds in the laboratory were the soft hum of the equipment and the subtle sound of the sea breeze passing through the crevices of the tower. Merrick held his breath, and Duke patiently awaited the master's appraisal.

After a long time, Land Master put down the magnifying glass, a hint of amazement and a strong desire for research flashing in his eyes.

"Very nice material, it shouldn't be a product of the Wizard Plane." He muttered to himself, then looked up at Duke. "The chain is woven and fused from Star Pattern Gold and some unknown magic metal through a special crafting process. The properties of these two magic metals are perfectly combined, making it indestructible, exceptionally flexible, and unusually compatible with and capable of bearing magic power. As for the main stone..."

His gaze fell back onto the azure gemstone: "The name Tear of the Stars is quite fitting; the power contained within it is very peculiar, serene, profound, embracing, yet with a barely perceptible tenacity."

"This is an extremely rare composite gemstone, not only capable of efficiently storing magic power but also seemingly innately having superior buffering and dispersing properties against various forms of energy attacks. Its material itself is also extremely hard, and such gemstones are not produced in the Wizard Plane."

He looked at Duke and directly asked, "This indeed is a good witchcraft artifact embryo. What type of witchcraft artifact do you want to forge it into?"

Duke had long been ready and answered without hesitation, "Protective type. I hope it can protect the wearer from harm."

Hearing this, Land Master nodded, "A very wise choice. The intrinsic properties of this Tear of the Stars gemstone are a perfect match with protective rune arrays. Its energy field is naturally suited for deflecting, absorbing, and neutralizing external impacts. Forcing it into an attack-type artifact would be a misapplication, yielding half the results with twice the effort."

He weighed the necklace in his hand and continued, "With the quality of this material and the potential power it contains, it is sufficient to support the core rune structure of a Level 2 witchcraft artifact, even with something to spare. If designed properly, with intricate enough rune sequences, it might even exhibit defense close to that of a Level 3 witchcraft artifact under certain conditions, especially in dealing with energy attacks."

Duke felt a surge of delight and quickly said, "Then I leave it in your capable hands, Master. About the commission fee..."

Land Master waved his hand, interrupting him, his gaze still fixed on the necklace, "No need for a fee. The research value of this material itself interests me a bit, and it's just right for verifying a few of my hypotheses regarding energy guidance and solidification."

He also knew that Duke and his student Merrick were on good terms, and he didn't need to earn this little commission fee. It could be considered as some research to do in his spare time.

"This..." Duke felt a bit uneasy, not expecting Land Master to waive the fee.

Land Master knew what Duke was thinking and didn't mind, "Alright, you can come to pick it up in about three days, or perhaps let Merrick bring it back to you on his way."

This Tear of the Stars necklace was already an extremely excellent witchcraft artifact embryo and really didn't require much further processing.

Land Master, being a highly skilled master of alchemy, found creating a Level 2 witchcraft artifact an easy task.

If an ordinary Level 2 alchemist were to craft this artifact, it would take at least half a month or more.

For Land Master, this was just a bit of small research to do in his spare time.

"Thank you, Master Land!"

"Thank you, Teacher!"

Duke and Merrick both thanked him respectfully and then withdrew without further disturbance.

"I owe you and Master Land a favor," Duke said with a smile.

Merrick chuckled, "Alright, I'll see when I can collect this favor in the future."

Merrick's side was fine, but as for Master Land, Duke feared he wouldn't have the opportunity to repay the favor anytime soon.

The discrepancy in their power, status, and so on was too great; Duke had nothing to return to Master Land, nor was Master Land interested in what Duke possessed.

Only after enhancing his own capabilities would Duke have the chance to see if he could repay this favor to Master Land.

Not wanting to linger, he returned to Black Sail.

Three days later.

Merrick personally brought the crafted Tear of the Stars necklace to visit Duke, arriving at the deserted island.

Land Master's work was indeed remarkably swift, successfully crafting the Tear of the Stars into a Level 2 witchcraft artifact.

Merrick handed a delicate dark blue velvet box to Duke, a trace of proud excitement on his face, "The teacher seems very satisfied with this piece and even gave it some special remarks after completion. Quickly, take a look."

Duke took the box and gently opened the lid.

In an instant, a soft and brilliant star-blue light flowed out, as if encapsulating a miniature starry sky within it.

The Tear of the Stars necklace lay quietly on the velvet cushion. The chain still shimmered with a delicate luster interwoven with moonlight and starlight, but upon closer inspection, one would notice some extremely fine, almost invisible, mysterious patterns on the intertwined metal threads, occasionally flickering with a stream of light, appearing and disappearing like a breath.

The most significant change was in the Tear of the Stars gemstone, its originally deep and clear azure hue seemed to have been fully activated, with an inner flow of star sand-like fine light spots, its light restrained yet containing a comforting power.

The platinum claw setting enclosing it and the surrounding tightly set clear diamonds also featured some extremely minute rune engravings, echoing with the energy of the central main stone, forming a perfect whole.

Inside this Tear of the Stars necklace, a powerful Level 2 protective magic spell was enchanted.

Duke held it in his hand and activated it with magic power.

Instantly, centered on the Tear of the Stars gemstone, an extremely faint, almost transparent azure halo spread out, gently warping the space around him.

Countless minuscule starlight spots, almost non-existent within this dimension, floated in the air. They were not static barriers but like undercurrents beneath water, silently and swiftly flowing and rotating around him.

This was a highly special Level 2 protective magic spell, capable of forming a unique energy spatial force field around the body, where incoming energy attacks would be warped and transmitted to an unknown space.

Certain energy attacks could not truly reach Duke's body, and maintaining this spell, known as Star Guard, only required a small amount of magic power.

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