Chapter 413: The Gathering of Third Circle Wizards (Patreon)

Chapter 413: The Gathering of Third Circle Wizards

In a dazed state, Richard felt as though he had returned to the space where he had first obtained his soul talent.

But this time, the radiant soul tree bore no fruit and instead appeared dim and lifeless.

Soon, however, the tree seemed to receive some nourishment, suddenly revitalizing and becoming dazzlingly bright once more.

Bathed in the brilliant glow of the soul tree, Richard abruptly opened his eyes.

"Whew, how long have I been asleep?"

Richard sat up sharply and touched his left arm. In his memory, that limb had been reduced to ashes after coming into contact with the Fuel Ring.

Yet now, his arm was completely unharmed—or rather, his entire physical condition was in peak form.

The activity level of his cells was at its optimal state.

"Not long, just ten years."

A voice came from behind Richard. He turned to see Ulysses standing atop Hogg's head, steering the massive creature as it descended from the sky.

Boom! The ground erupted in a spray of dirt and rocks.

Though Hogg had slowed down, her sheer momentum still carved a crater into the earth—she had grown considerably larger over the years.

"Ten years? Why did the refinement take so long?"

Richard rubbed his face, feeling the thick, untrimmed beard that had flourished in his absence.

Had a whole decade really passed in the blink of an eye?

Ulysses fluttered onto Richard's shoulder and replied, "The refinement of the rules only took about a month. You slept for ten years because you consumed an enormous amount of soul essence.

Honestly, ten years is relatively short. Given the sudden surge of soul essence you used, I wouldn’t have been surprised if you’d slept for a century or two."

"...Ten years it is, then."

Richard shook his head, and the untrimmed beard on his face fell away like leaves swept by an autumn wind.

His consciousness entered his mental space, where a pale-yellow orb of light hovered above the Miracle Furnace.

With a thought, the orb merged into his body. The next instant, a sharp pain wracked his frame, as though something was being forcibly torn away.

The fragmented rules that had previously integrated into his body were now being "expelled" by the radiation rule.

Ulysses, perched on Richard's shoulder, reacted swiftly. With a flick of his wings, he gathered the ejected rules into a translucent sphere.

"What just happened?"

Richard opened his eyes, bewildered.

Why had his rules suddenly ejected themselves?

Did the radiation rule conflict so severely with the others that they couldn’t coexist within the same body?

"It’s perfectly normal," Ulysses explained. "As a demigod, your body can only accommodate one complete Fundamental Rule at most. If you want to contain multiple rules or integrate these fragments, you’ll need to at least become a Great Wizard first."

Richard was taken aback. "There’s such a limitation?"

Ulysses rolled his eyes. "This is common knowledge. Now that you’ve got one foot in the door of divinity, you should start looking into the advancement rituals for Wizards."

"Fair point." Richard nodded thoughtfully.

He stood up, conjuring a sphere of green Radiant Aurora in one hand, while a pitch-black fireball materialized beside him.

Next, Richard did something utterly bewildering—he actually fused the Radiant Aurora with the black fireball! Such direct spell fusion was taboo even for a Shaping Wizard.

Every Spell Model was independent. If other energies were recklessly mixed into a spell, the only outcome would be its collapse—there was almost no second possibility.

Yet in Richard’s hands, the Radiant Aurora and the pitch-black fireball merged perfectly without the slightest sign of breaking apart.

Richard gazed at the fireball and murmured to himself, "Is this the wonder of a complete rule? No wonder the Great Wizard is so formidable."

With that, he hurled the fireball into the sky.

Boom!

A deafening explosion rang out as the black fireball burst in midair, transforming into a massive black sphere nearly five meters in diameter.

Sensing the fireball’s power, Ulysses couldn’t help but praise, "Not bad at all. That thing must be at the ten-thousand-energy level."

"...Probably."

Richard stared at the sky, a flicker of shock crossing his face.

He had expected the Heart of Annihilation, empowered by the radiation rule, to be strong—but he hadn’t imagined that a complete rule could enhance a spell to such an extent.

He had only tapped into a fraction of the rule’s power, yet the Heart of Annihilation had already reached the ten-thousand-energy level.

If he went all out, pushing the spell’s power to fifty thousand would be no problem at all.

At that level, the spell could even harm a World Master.

Richard marveled, "A complete rule… is truly terrifying."

Ulysses, standing nearby, chuckled at his words. "This is just the beginning. Once you master the abilities granted by the rule, you’ll be able to walk unchallenged among demigods.

And if you delve deeper into the rule’s development, you might even stand a chance against some newly ascended native World Masters.

Sure, you won’t win, but holding your own for a while wouldn’t be an issue."

Hearing this, Richard’s mind conjured the image of himself, a mere mortal, facing a World Master.

"Let’s focus on mastering it first."

Richard swallowed hard, suppressing the excitement in his chest.

Though the idea of a mortal battling a god sounded incredible, challenging a World Master was far from wise.

Ulysses nodded in agreement. "True. Reaching for the stars too soon isn’t a good thing."

With the help of the Holy Tree Sprite, Richard took a bath, tidied up, and then left the Secret Realm.

The Wizard Tower remained unchanged. Thanks to the Magic Array, not even a speck of dust had settled in the laboratory over the past ten years.

As Richard looked at the evolution light apparatus in the lab, a thought struck him.

Now that his Aberration Rule had been displaced by the radiation rule, did that mean he couldn’t cultivate Enhanced Cells using the Aberration Rule until he became a Great Wizard?

That wasn’t exactly good news.

Though the power of rules was formidable, Richard had no intention of neglecting physical training.

A robust body could better harness the power of rules.

"This is a bit of a problem."

Richard rubbed his temples and decided to visit the library of the Garon Wizard Academy later to search for books on the Third Circle Wizard stage.

He vaguely recalled that in Alchemy, there seemed to be methods to imprint rules into Magic Equipment.

Since he had the Miracle Furnace at hand, even if these rules were integrated into the Magic Equipment, he could extract them without loss.

Might as well turn those scattered rules into Rule Magic Gear now.

As Richard pondered this, he took out his Communication Crystal Ball to check if anyone had contacted him over the past decade.

"Hmm? A Third Circle Wizard gathering?"

There weren’t many messages in the Crystal Ball. Aside from Jolod’s report on the merchant guild and Wuni’s request for Magic Essence, the only other message was an invitation from Jimmy.

"Hosted by the Tower of Truth, aimed at fostering exchanges among Third Circle Wizards and selecting Military Department Officers."

Richard’s brow furrowed slightly as he noted the three key points in Jimmy’s message.

The fact that it was hosted by the Tower of Truth meant this was an official event—absolutely legitimate. The mention of exchanges among Third Circle Wizards suggested there would likely be some combat involved.

Richard didn’t believe for a second that a gathering of Third Circle Wizards would rely solely on idle chatter.

And the final point—the most crucial detail in the message—was the Military Department.

The Military Department, also known as the Wizard World Expansion Division, was one of the departments directly under the Council of Truth, on par with the Wizard World Legal Department and the Wizard World Resource Allocation Department.

Its primary functions were exploring plane coordinates and launching Plane Wars.

Yes, most of this department’s daily work involved conducting Plane Expeditions. The Wizards within it were all specialized War Wizards dedicated to Plane Wars.

And the worlds they expanded became the property of the Council of Truth.

As the highest ruling body of the Wizard World, the Council of Truth couldn’t sustain itself on taxes alone.

Most of the worlds expanded by the Military Department were open to the public. Ordinary Wizards only needed to pay a sum of Magic Essence to enter and explore these worlds.

As for the remaining closed-off worlds, aside from those containing strategic resources, the rest were typically deadly realms where ordinary Wizards would face certain death.

Or worlds that had caught the attention of a Truth Wizard and were claimed as private assets.

That’s right—theoretically, any world expanded by the Military Department could be claimed by a Truth Wizard if they so desired.

However, such actions required a unanimous decision from all five members of the Council of Truth. And for Wizards of that caliber, even a mid-sized world might not be worth their notice.

Thus, such occurrences were rare.

"The Military Department…"

Richard stared at the message in silence for a long time.

For most Third Circle Wizards, the Military Department was an excellent opportunity. It offered many resource subsidies—some of which were extremely rare and highly valuable even to Third Circle Wizards.

But for Richard, these perks held little appeal—he wasn’t lacking in resources.

However, he remembered that the Archmage Trial was hosted by the Military Department, and the trial grounds were always worlds where the department had launched Plane Wars.

"In that case, I should attend."

Though Richard had no intention of joining the Military Department, getting acquainted with Wizards who had could still be quite beneficial.

While the Archmage Trial was nominally a selection process, in practice, it operated on a pass-or-fail basis.

As long as you complete the missions assigned by the military, regardless of how many survive in the end, everyone will qualify for promotion to Great Wizard.

However, under normal circumstances, the number of Third Circle Wizards who survive is usually fewer than the intended quota, never more.

So, getting familiar with other Wizards could be helpful when encountering them on the battlefield.

Having made up his mind, Richard put the Crystal Ball back into his pocket and prepared to head to the Garon Wizard Academy.

The message had been sent four years ago, and according to its contents, this gathering of Third Circle Wizards would take place thirty years later.

That meant he still had twenty-six years before the gathering began.

There was plenty of time—better to first research how to craft Rule Magic Gear and explore the radiation rule in the meantime.

(End of Chapter)