Chapter 333: Two New Sorceries

Chapter 333: Two New Sorceries



At that moment, everyone's faces turned pale as they frantically searched their bodies.

Soon, the members of the 'Black Sword' squad realized that only the vice-captain, Aont, seemed unaffected by the mysterious fungus due to his innate Defensive Sorcery Talent that constantly protected him.

Even the squad leader, Greoro, a Grand Knight at the peak of his power, had white, fluffy spores growing on his body.

The other three members, weaker than Greoro, had less resistance, and fully-grown white fungi, like flat mushrooms, had already sprouted on their bodies.

"Let's get out of here, now!" Greoro commanded, his heart filled with unease that only intensified.

As the squad turned to leave, the ground beneath them suddenly shook.

A low, menacing roar, unlike anything they'd ever heard before, echoed from behind the Sealed Gate.

In an instant, everyone felt a chill run down their spines, as if they'd stepped into an ice cave, and even moving their legs felt clumsier than usual.

Instinctively, the members of the 'Black Sword' squad stiffly turned their necks to look back at the Sealed Gate.

Two brown lights suddenly appeared within the gate.

"Rumble... Rumble..."

As the ground shook rhythmically, the lights drew closer.

The stench grew stronger.

When the source of the light approached the illuminated area, the 'Black Sword' squad realized that the lights were not lamps but the eyes of a colossal dragon.

This dragon was hideous, its normally sleek scales replaced by wrinkled, pitted skin, oozing pus.

It seemed to radiate a powerful, corrosive energy from within.

"Run!" Greoro finally understood the source of his unease.

The corrosive dragon must be the ancient beast sealed within the gate, and despite being confined for thousands of years, its residual aura was still overwhelmingly powerful.

Greoro immediately knew that only the Imperial Guardians could handle such a creature, far beyond the capabilities of their 'Black Sword' squad.

Despite hearing their captain's desperate shout, the squad members felt as if they were trapped in quicksand, their legs moving at a pace three times slower than usual.

The corrupted dragon roared.

Then, a cylindrical, yellowish-green mist-like breath shot out from its mouth.

In the narrow tunnel, avoiding this attack was nearly impossible.

The last member of the squad was hit by the mist, and the fungi on his body began to grow rapidly. Within seconds, various gray and green mushrooms covered his entire body, even his face.

He continued to run, but to onlookers, it seemed more like a staggering shuffle.

The second...

The third...

Aont, the sorcerer, watched as his Defensive Sorcery shattered, and fungi began to grow on his body. Greoro, the 'Black Sword,' was no exception.

As the entire squad faced annihilation, Greoro halted, turned, and swung his black greatsword with all his might, slicing the breath!

At the same time, a deep roar echoed behind him:

"Aont, get the word out!"

As he finished speaking, his entire body erupted with a light of essence mixed with a thread of will, and he swung the black greatsword in his hands like an arrow released from a bowstring, charging directly at the corrupted dragon.

"Black Arc!"

A black arc of light flashed, and the corrupted dragon's forelimb, as thick as a stone pillar, was slashed open by Greoro, leaving a wound over a foot long.

Yellowish-green pus sprayed out.

For a moment, Greoro thought he might be able to hold out a little longer, even with a slim chance of escape.

But the next second—

"Boom!"

A massive, sharp claw slammed down from above, turning Greoro into a meat paste!

"Captain!"

Aont, the sorcerer, had just finished casting his spell, enveloping himself in a pale blue whirlwind that propelled him forward, only to witness his captain's gruesome death.

"Faster, I must survive! I have to spread the word!" Aont, as a sorcerer, lost his composure for the first time, his eyes wide with rage.

But it was too late.

Not because the corrupted dragon was catching up.

But because the fungi on his body, affected by the breath, had begun to grow rapidly.

At the same time, near the entrance of the Adachi Mine, a third-level sorcerer apprentice in gray robes and a Great Knight with a sword and shield were chatting idly.

Both were new members of the 'Black Sword' squad, assigned by Greoro to guard and communicate from the mine entrance.

"It's been two hours and ten minutes. Why haven't they sent a message? I hope nothing's wrong," the Great Knight with the sword and shield frowned.

According to their agreement before entering, the squad inside the cave would send a message every two hours.

This is the standard procedure for the Swordbearer Squad's exploration mission.

"No, Captain Greoro's strength has reached the Near-Legendary level, and with Deputy Captain Aont, a full-fledged Sorcerer, it's just an investigation mission. How could anything possibly go wrong?" The Gray Robe Apprentice shook his head.

"Wait, Medros, did you hear that sound?"

"It seems to be coming from the mine." The Sword and Shield Knight, Luka, turned around alertly and signaled for his companion to listen.

"I heard it, but... could this be the wind?" Medros, holding a short staff, listened intently for a while but couldn't pinpoint the source of the sound.

At this moment, they were at Dragon Tooth Pass, where strong winds blew throughout the year. This was why they had chosen to ride the sturdy mountain ponies instead of the Empire's small airships.

"Ahh!"

A human scream emanated from the mine, leaving no doubt in their minds.

The two exchanged glances and immediately went on guard.

"Quick, hide behind the hill!" Medros called out.

They quickly hid behind a hill several dozen meters away from the mine entrance.

Their task was to keep watch and maintain communication, not to engage in combat. This was the clear instruction given by Captain Greoro before their departure.

A few minutes later, a monster in human form stumbled out of the mine entrance, let out a roar, and then turned back, heading deeper into the mine.

"What kind of monster is that?"

Luka, a Grand Knight, had never seen such a strange humanoid monster covered in fungus.

Medros, on the other hand, stared at the scene in a daze, frozen in place.

"Medros?" Luka found this odd, as Medros was an experienced fighter who had been a formal member of a Golden-tier squad. He shouldn't be so easily scared by a monster.

"It's over!" Medros exclaimed, his whole body stiffening.

"It's over! Captain and the others are done for!"

"Luka, that wasn't a monster just now, it was Deputy Captain Aont, the Sorcerer!"

Medros' words struck Luka like thunder, echoing in his mind.

"What! This... this... I noticed the amulet around his neck. That amulet is all too familiar to me; it's a sorcery item sealing the Water Membrane Spell."

Luka paused, recalling that the humanoid monster indeed had a reflective object around its neck.

Medros then pulled out a rhombus-shaped crystal amulet from his chest and showed it to Luka, explaining that he had obtained it from the Exchange Hall.

Luka immediately believed Medros' words.

Medros, after a moment of daze, began to mutter to himself while quickly taking out a piece of parchment from his pocket and writing on it with a quill.

Within half a minute, a Blood Falcon soared into the sky.

---

The next morning.

Mystra, Raen's New Mansion study.

At this moment, Rain was organizing three rare metals he had obtained from the Swordbearer Division the day before: magicized serenium, hardened mithril, and radiant ore.

However, when Rain's gaze fell upon the magicized serenium, he paused, as if struck by a sudden realization.

He first separated a portion of the magicized serenium and transformed it into two kite-shaped shields. Then, using his Armoring Mastery (Passive) and Inscription Mastery (Passive) skills, he quickly crafted various plate armor components in the style of his Mithril Engraved Plate Armor, all inscribed with Basic Defensive Runes.

In less than half an hour, Rain had crafted a complete set of magicized serenium plate armor with defensive runes.

Gazing at the dull silver armor set before him, Rain nodded in satisfaction.

"This set is equivalent to a sorcery resistance suit. The combination of magicized serenium and basic defensive runes will reduce the damage I receive from sorcery attacks."

"The only inconvenience is carrying it around."

However, Rain immediately thought of his Bloodfeather Griffin, which had just entered its mature phase.

"I can't carry it with me, but I can keep it on the griffin. Before battles, I can quickly switch to this armor set."

Although Rain possessed the Talent Spell 'Metal Transformation', transforming a breastplate was manageable, but creating a complex set of plate armor with inscribed components was not something he could accomplish in an instant.

After completing these tasks, Rain turned his attention to the newly acquired scroll - 'Levitation'.

As a Level 1 sorcery with moderate difficulty, learning Levitation was not a challenging task.

Soon after, the system notification appeared:

[You have studied Levitation, and your understanding has improved!]



[You have learned a new skill - Levitation]



[Your Levitation skill has improved, gaining 1 experience point]



Additionally, a new icon appeared below the War Hammer Sorcerer (Legendary) panel, next to the Advanced Meditation skill, depicting a person floating in mid-air, standing on a cotton-like cloud, symbolizing levitation.

Action: Levitation Level 1 (1/100)



Levitation Level 1 Effect: Consumes a certain amount of psychic energy to activate a specific sorcery model, stimulating the surrounding wind elemental particles to keep the host floating in the air for one minute.

(Note: Casting time is 3 seconds.)



"Not bad, I won't have to worry about accidents when riding the Bloodfeather Griffin anymore!" Raen couldn't help but nod, feeling delighted.

"But a three-second casting time is still a bit long."

Just as Raen was considering whether to allocate points to Levitation or practice it himself, he suddenly noticed the Advanced Meditation and Steel Heart icons next to it.

Steel Heart Advanced Meditation (Incomplete) Level 1 (1/100), with the special effect 'Metal Control Level 1'.

"Hmm, that's right, what's the effect of allocating points to this Advanced Meditation?"

Raen thought for a moment and realized that when he was learning the basic meditation, he didn't need to consider this issue. Previously, he had successfully completed the basic meditation practice by allocating psychic energy points.

This made Raen curious.

After some thought, Raen glanced at the remaining five skill points and couldn't help but satisfy his curiosity by allocating a point to Steel Heart Advanced Meditation.

As Steel Heart Advanced Meditation progressed from Level 1 to Level 2, a flood of memories about practicing this advanced meditation rushed into Raen's mind.

Raen closed his eyes, stood still, and carefully felt these memories of practicing the advanced meditation.

When he opened his eyes again, it was as if he had experienced years of arduous practice in a mysterious space.

Immediately, Raen began to activate Steel Heart Advanced Meditation once more.

After a while, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the process of visualizing and outlining the first layer model of Steel Heart was much smoother than before, almost twice as fast!

What did this mean?

It meant that within the same half-hour meditation limit, he could now visualize and outline the model four times instead of just twice.

This indicated that Raen's psychic energy condensation process could be significantly accelerated!

Raen had some knowledge about the time required for psychic energy condensation.

For a Level 1 Sorcerer, even with exceptional talent, it would take years to reach a condensation level above 90%.

For most sorcerers, even with a smooth journey and no bottlenecks, it would still take two to three decades.

Those who could complete this process within ten years could be considered sorcerer geniuses.

Within five years?

That would be a rare occurrence in the entire Dragon Empire.

This realization made Raen's heart race with excitement.

"It's twice as fast now, but it can definitely go faster!"

After pacing around in the room for a moment, Raen decided to continue allocating points to Advanced Meditation.

As he allocated more points, Steel Heart Advanced Meditation progressed from Level 2 to Level 3.

After some time, Raen tried activating Steel Heart Advanced Meditation again, and as expected, his visualization and outlining process became even faster. He could now complete six cycles of visualization and outlining within half an hour!

"It was twice at the start, and now it's six times, three times faster than before!"

"If Level 3 is three times faster, then Level 4 should be four times faster, right?"

Raen's eyes sparkled with determination. He immediately attempted to allocate more points to Steel Heart Advanced Meditation.

At this moment, a system prompt appeared:

【Allocation failed! You have reached the limit for Steel Heart Advanced Meditation (Incomplete).】

"Hmm?"

Raen frowned slightly.

"Does this mean that for the first layer of Steel Heart Advanced Meditation, the fastest I can achieve is three times the speed?"

"Well, if it's three times faster, then it's three years for others, and one year for me?"

"Although it still feels a bit slow, I can manage. And I can further accelerate this process by allocating points to the Mental Attribute." Raen's eyes lit up as he realized something.

This was why, for most sorcerers, any drug that could enhance psychic energy was extremely valuable.

Drugs that could accelerate psychic energy condensation?

They might exist, but Raen hadn't heard of any yet.

"Perhaps, searching for drugs to enhance psychic energy should be on the agenda."

"Should I look for them through Jennifer's auction channels or the Royal Alchemist Association's Mingster branch?" Raen immediately thought of two possible paths.

After all, for Raen, with his 'Deadly Alchemist' profession, he was already a top-tier alchemist himself.

The reason he hadn't considered making the potion himself before was that it was more worthwhile to spend time improving his Extraordinary Combat Skills.

But now, if it was a potion to enhance psychic energy, he could consider making it himself.

"That's right, when I defeated the Level 3 Sorcerer Apprentice Adams in Flashgold Town, I obtained a book of spiritual texts that detailed the production method of a potion called the Mystic Potion, which could enhance psychic energy."

"The materials are quite hard to come by, perhaps Jennifer can try finding them through the auction house channels." Rain recalled.

The reason for not creating it back then was also due to the difficulty in sourcing the materials.

"But this isn't urgent for now, perhaps I should research Puppetry first."

Regarding the enhancement of his Psychic Energy, Rain had the advantage of being able to increase it through attribute points, so he wasn't in a rush. Instead, he was quite interested in the Puppetry that Master Mogarro had given him.

Rain took out the thick book on Puppetry Principles that Master Mogarro had given him from the drawer.

Opening the title page, Rain saw on the next page that almost the entire page was filled with notes on the revision number, date, and content.

"Hmm? It seems that the school values the content of this book on Puppetry Principles greatly, as they've revised it many times."

"Indeed, this book is probably as important to the school as the New World Dictionary in my previous life. Although it's foundational, its significance is extraordinary."

Rain first spent some time reading the section on metal puppets.

For Rain, the compatibility with metal puppets was sufficiently high.

His exceptionally high affinity for metal elements could also fully bring out the potential of metal puppets.

As for the other types of puppets like organic, rock, and flesh puppets, he could learn about them slowly after mastering the creation of metal puppets.

After all, it's best not to bite off more than one can chew, especially when starting out.

"For puppets that don't require high intelligence, the Animation spell can achieve the same effect."

"If the puppet requires a higher level of intelligence, then the Control Core method needs to be used."

Rain pondered over this sentence.

It didn't take long before Rain decided to focus on the Animation spell, leaving the Control Core method for later.

Soon, Rain found the notes on the Animation spell in the last few pages of the Puppetry Principles book.

As a first-tier Sorcery, mastering the Animation spell was actually quite challenging.

However, for Rain, with a Psychic Energy of sixty points and a late-stage first-tier Sorcerer-level, it wasn't difficult.

Just like when he learned Levitation, it didn't take long before the system prompt sounded:

【You have learned the Animation spell, and your understanding has increased!】

【You have understood a new skill - Animation】

【Your skill, Animation, has improved, +1 experience】

At the same time, below the War Wizard (Legendary) panel, a new icon appeared next to the Sorcery Metal Barrier.

The icon depicted a staff gently tapping the head of a clay doll, seemingly bestowing some form of intelligence upon it.

Rain focused his attention on the new icon, and below it, there was a line of small text.

Animation lv1 (1/100)



Animation lv1 Effect: Consumes a certain amount of Psychic Energy, activating mysterious energy particles to bestow a lifeless object with a humanoid or animal shape a basic level of intelligence and simple action capabilities, lasting for half an hour.

(Note: This Sorcery is a Channeling Sorcery, and the casting time and Psychic Energy consumption depend on the complexity and size of the target.)



"Success!" Rain's face lit up with joy.

"Hmm, humanoid or animal shape? Half an hour? Channeling Sorcery?"

Rain immediately thought of the simplest entry-level puppet, no, it wasn't even a puppet according to the book, but rather, it was called an Active Metal Dummy.

All he needed to do was transform any metal ingot, like an iron or copper ingot, into a metal block with a humanoid shape.

For other metal wizards, this was a very simple task, taking at most a minute. But for Rain, who had chosen Metal Transformation as his Talent Spell, it was a matter of seconds.

In an instant, a metal dummy appeared in Rain's hand.

Rain placed it on the ground and began to cast the newly learned Animation spell.

As the incantation sounded, Rain gently pointed, and a light pillar, as thick as a pinky finger, illuminated the metal dummy.

After about three seconds, Rain felt that his psychic sea had gained a new point of light.

As he gave the command to "stand up," the metal dummy slowly rose and started walking on its own.

"Interesting!" Rain raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

Perhaps because his affinity for metal elements was high, he barely felt any Psychic Energy consumption.

This meant he could try animating larger metal dummies.

"Knock knock!"

A sudden knock on the door made Rain smile, as if he had thought of something. He gave the command 'open the door' to the metal dummy.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end