Richard felt a sense of relief as he took out a pouch of Magic Essence from his pocket and handed it to the old Wizard.
"Thank you, Master."
The old Wizard weighed the pouch in his hand, his expression showing a hint of surprise. He immediately took out half of the Magic Essence.
"As the Vice Dean said, you are indeed generous. But no matter how much Magic Essence you have, it never seems enough for research.
Taking half of this is already quite greedy on my part. You must take the rest back."
Seeing the old Wizard's serious expression, Richard had no choice but to take back the remaining Magic Essence.
The old Wizard went upstairs and brought down Wuni, then handed Richard a pocket watch and five bottles of Magic Potion.
"This Magic Equipment, when used with the Magic Potion, will allow him to write down the things in his subconscious."
Richard bowed slightly. "Thank you, Master."
After leaving the Wizard Tower, Wuni stood beside Richard, his expression conflicted.
The old Wizard had only told him that nothing was wrong, without explaining the specifics. Seeing the tacit understanding between the old Wizard and Richard, Wuni felt both curious and hesitant to ask.
Richard glanced at him and smiled. "Curious about what the issue is?"
Wuni nodded. "I've never heard of any Wizard who could write a complete Spell Model without any prior research... Teacher, what's really going on with me?"
Richard looked at Wuni, his heart torn about whether to tell him the truth.
To be honest, Wuni had been an excellent student. Any teacher would be proud to have a student like him.
Richard truly liked this student.
But the truth of this matter could lead their teacher-student relationship into unknown territory.
"Ah, forget it. Since you want to know, I'll tell you," Richard sighed, his expression turning serious. "You must have noticed long ago that you're different from ordinary Wizard Apprentices, haven't you?"
Wuni bit his lip and nodded slightly.
After so many years as an apprentice, he had indeed noticed that he was different from the others.
His Mana Recirculation far exceeded that of a normal Wizard Apprentice, and the range of his spiritual energy was also far beyond what an apprentice should have.
Richard continued, "In fact, you're not a Wizard Apprentice. In the past, you were a Third Circle Wizard.
During an experiment, an accident occurred, and most of your soul was twisted by the rules.
At that point, you could be called a monster, or a failed experiment.
I happened to encounter you back then, and with the intention of solving a problem for the Tower of Truth, I dealt with your past self.
But in the process, I discovered the current you."
As he spoke, Richard took out a Crystal Ball from his pocket, which contained the twisted soul.
The moment Wuni saw the twisted soul in the Crystal Ball, an indescribable panic surged within him.
His instincts screamed at him to stay away from that Crystal Ball!
Noticing Wuni's reaction, Richard quickly put the Crystal Ball away.
Wuni clutched his chest, recalling the fear he had just felt, and asked with trepidation, "Teacher, what was that?"
"That's the part of your soul that was twisted. When your spiritual energy grows a bit more, you'll be able to absorb that fragment and complete your soul."
Wuni seemed dazed. "Is that so?"
Richard didn't say more, and the two of them returned to the Wizard Tower in silence.
Back at the Wizard Tower, they went about their usual routines—studying and researching as always.
However, in private, Wuni began studying soul science and philosophy, and Richard tacitly allowed it.
A month later, Richard opened the Nightmare Door once again.
According to his estimation before leaving, this was the time when Bones should be nearing the new lawless land.
After opening the Nightmare Door, Richard's soul floated out of his body, ready to enter the Nightmare World.
Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted him.
Richard extended his spiritual energy and found Wuni standing outside, looking extremely conflicted.
"What does this kid want?" Richard wondered.
After revealing Wuni's true identity, Wuni hadn't sought him out for a month. Every day, aside from studying Alchemy, Wuni would sneak out to study soul science and philosophy.
To be fair, Richard could understand the soul science part, given Wuni's situation.
But philosophy was a bit more abstract.
Closing the Nightmare Door, Richard's soul returned to his body, and he opened the door.
"Wuni, what do you need?"
Seeing the door open, Wuni shivered slightly, but soon a look of determination flashed in his eyes.
"Teacher, I've been secretly studying a lot about soul science and philosophy these days.
I believe that, from a certain perspective, the current me and the past me are now two different people.
From a philosophical standpoint, although my soul is still the same, my memories and thoughts have completely changed.
This change isn't like the Ship of Theseus, but a complete and utter reconstruction.
From the perspective of soul science, after the death of the past personality, the past me is already dead. Even if a new personality is created and memories are implanted, I would just be a copy of the past me.
Although there's a lot of debate within the soul science community about this, I agree with this view.
So—"
Wuni took a deep breath and said seriously to Richard, "I am Wuni now, your student. The Third Circle Wizard from the past is dead. Now, there's only Wuni."
Richard listened to Wuni's explanation, paused for a moment, and then smiled, patting his shoulder.
"Good, I'm glad you've figured it out."
"Huh?"
Wuni was taken aback by Richard's response.
Richard said lightly, "Our relationship depends entirely on you. If you're willing to accept your new identity, then you're my student, Wuni.
My attitude toward you has never changed."
"What if I hadn't figured it out?" Wuni asked foolishly.
Richard smiled without answering, patted his shoulder, and returned to the laboratory.
If Wuni hadn't accepted his new identity, Richard would have had to expel him from the apprenticeship. Then, he would have made Wuni sign a secrecy contract, ensuring that what he had learned from Richard would never be revealed.
Of course, this was the result if Wuni had directly confronted Richard.
If Wuni had decided to play along, trying to recover his memories while learning from Richard, Richard would have had to make him disappear entirely.
Though this method made Richard somewhat reluctant, as a Black Wizard, he would have reluctantly destroyed Wuni.
Fortunately, Wuni had made the right choice.
...
Reopening the Nightmare Door, Richard once again entered the Nightmare World.
Bones, who was resting in the wilderness, was startled by the sudden appearance of a dark door.
But when he saw Richard step out of the door, he immediately felt at ease.
"Boss, is this your new ability?" Bones asked curiously.
"Yes, you could say it's a new ability."
Opening the coffin, Richard entered his Nightmare body, transforming from an otherworldly soul into the Great Nightmare of the Nightmare World.
"How far are we from Three Wolves Town?" Richard asked as he stretched.
Bones quickly pulled out a map and determined their location.
"About two days' journey."
Richard nodded slightly, then used Nightmare Power to materialize a Magic Support Vehicle and some Magic Essence to power it.
The more Richard studied Nightmare Power, the more absurd he found the rules of this world.
He could create Magic Essence with just ten strands of Nightmare Power, and after using it, he could recover those ten strands.
Essentially, he was getting the energy of Magic Essence for free.
If this were the material world, the entire Evocation School would be in an uproar.
Although the rules of the Nightmare Wizard World were almost identical to those of the Wizard World, aside from the Nightmare rules, the other rules seemed more like decorations.
All the rules of the material world had to give way to the Nightmare rules.
However, this was also related to Richard's low-level battles.
The enemies he faced were mostly Great Nightmares or Small Nightmares, creatures with very few Nightmare rules.
Once a Nightmare creature gained rules, its power would undergo a qualitative change.
In the Nightmare Wizard World, Nightmare rules took precedence. Without using rules to counter them, a Nightmare creature with complete magic immunity could truly become immune to all spells.
...
Seeing the Magic Support Vehicle that Richard had created with Nightmare Power, Bones was still in awe, even though he had seen it once before.
The Magic Support Vehicle wasn't like Magic Equipment, which only had a few components—it had tens of thousands of parts.
All of these parts had to be created by Richard's hand.
If any part was incorrect, the Magic Support Vehicle wouldn't function, just like in the material world.
"Come on, get in. This thing is much more convenient than running," Richard called out.
Once inside, the Magic Support Vehicle sped across the plains under Richard's control.
The vehicle was much faster than Bones' running speed, and it could travel non-stop for twenty-four hours.
In this way, Richard covered in less than a day what would have taken Bones two days.
As Three Wolves Town appeared on the horizon, Richard's lips curled into a greedy smile.
...
Three Wolves Town, a medium-sized lawless land, was named after its founders—three giant wolves.
Since the two neighboring Nightmare territories had long been at odds, Three Wolves Town had always been a hub for shady activities, making it stronger than Cross Town. As a result, many Nightmare creatures were drawn to it.
The howling north wind swept across the plains, and withered branches and leaves rolled like waves across the ground.
A traveler impatiently brushed away the leaves blowing toward him, glanced at the town not far away, and quickened his pace.
Soon, the traveler entered the town, but the desolation of the place sent chills down his spine.
Three Wolves Town, a somewhat notorious lawless land among Nightmare creatures, shouldn't be this quiet.
Suppressing his unease, the traveler walked toward the center of the town.
Along the way, he noticed that many buildings, though repaired by the rules of the Blood Moon, still bore signs of past fierce battles.
The wreckage of many structures lay scattered between the buildings.
The traveler quickened his pace and soon arrived at the town's center.
At the center of the town was a tavern, where the boisterous voices of the patrons dispelled the traveler's fear.
He hurriedly pushed the door open and entered. Inside, the familiar demon bartender made the traveler feel at ease.
He walked quickly to the counter and conjured a piece of Nightmare Crystal.
"Bartender, has anything big happened in our town recently? Why are there so few people?"
As soon as he spoke, the entire tavern fell silent.
The traveler turned around in confusion and found all the Nightmare creatures in the tavern staring intently at him.
"Ha ha, this guest, there's a rule in Three Wolves Town—you're not allowed to ask what happened here before."
The demon bartender's voice came from behind the
traveler, who turned back and asked, puzzled, "Why?"
"Why?" The demon bartender smiled slightly. "Because ev
eryone is so terrified that they don't even dare to talk about that person."
"That person?"
"Yes, the person who, half a month ago, slaughtered every Nightmare creature in this town except for the patrons of this tavern."
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