The Wizard World

Beside the three-dimensional hologram, several rows of data were listed.

‘Blue, undamaged. Red, damaged.’

Angele stared at the hologram in front of him. He remained silent, ‘Life expectancy is determined by the rate of cell division, so it means my life expectancy is shortened by half already? Is there anything I can do? Wizards need a great amount of life energy. There must be a way. Check the database for me.’

‘Mission created, searching...’ Zero reported.

Angele stood beside the bed and waited for Zero to complete its analysis.

‘129 plans created. Show them all?’

Angele opened his mouth a bit, dumbfounded as he did not expect so many plans.

‘Add filter: No sequelas, Fast, Easy, Can be done right away. Search again.’

‘Filtering... Done. Plans left, 2.’

‘Transfer them to me,’ Angele ordered.

All the information was sent to his memory block immediately.

‘Plan A: Energy radiation. By exposing your body to the radiation of your main energy particles, your body condition will change and your life energy will be restored within one year. I will support you in controlling the amount of radiation that goes into your body. Otherwise, your body will be polluted by the excessive energy.

Plan B: Catch any living being and drain the life energy from it constantly every day. Requirement, any spell that drains life. Time needed, 12 days.’

Angele’s eyebrows furrowed, ‘One year is a bit too long, I’ll go with plan B.’

‘Show me the detailed procedure.’

‘Processing...

Polari’s Chronical Life Drain: Originated from the level 2 Wizard spell, Chronical Life Drain. It was modified by Wizard Polari and mainly used for restoring life energy after Wizard apprentices broke the limit, so the modified spell was named after him.

Spell model: Not learned yet.

Requirements: Blood Ritual, Evil.’

Angele stood in his room. There were blue light dots flashing in his eyes, which took about five minutes for those blue light dots to slowly disappear.

‘Well, I guess I have to go with plan A for now. It’s nearly impossible for me to set up an evil ritual.’ Angele checked the information about the blood ritual, but it was a brutal and evil way. He did not want to become the target of other Wizards.

Angele rested for a while and some gentle wind blew the stinky air out of the window with a flick of his finger.

Angele stared at the dirty bed and the messy desk. He collected all the important items and put them into his case.

"Finally, I’ve become a formal Wizard. However, the school doesn’t provide any information regarding the future progression for Wizards. I need to talk to my master." Angele checked the situation in the school already.

The school’s attitude to formal Wizard was not recorded in any book, someone told him that there was a special area in the school reserved for the formal Wizards. However, he needed to sign a contract with the school first before he could access that area.

Wizard apprentices differed from Wizards in terms of their power and the rights they had. The original contracts would not affect what new Wizards wanted to do, so the school had to sign a new contract with the formal Wizards. Those special contracts were written by high-ranking Wizards and were enhanced using certain spells.

Wizards sought rare resources, so most of them would sign the contracts with the school. Furthermore, it was a win-win situation.

*****************

Angele stood in front of his master’s laboratory.

He wiped the dust off his gray robe and knocked on the door.

*Knock-Knock*

"Come in, please." Master Liliana’s voice came from inside.

Angele pushed the door open. It was a bit dark inside the lab and the only source of light in the room was a white light ray coming down from the middle. Master Liliana sat in a high chair beside the light ray, holding the bronze pocket watch in hand. She was trying to insert it into her left eye.

It seemed like she was having trouble with placing the pocket watch into the right place. She took the pocket watch out and started checking it in her hands. Black smoke was exploding between her fingers from time to time.

"Force field?" Liliana noticed Angele’s presence. She raised her head and looked at the door, "Angele, is that you?!"

"Master." Angele bowed slightly, pressed right hand on his chest and smiled, "I was just lucky."

Liliana hesitated for a second but had a sincere smile on her face after. She stood up and walked toward Angele. Her body turned into a pile of black smoke that surrounded Angele.

"Congratulations, my child." Liliana embraced Angele and patted his back. She saw the white hair on Angele’s head.

"Thank you." Angele knew Liliana was actually happy for him. Although hugging her felt like hugging a cold corpse, he still decided to hug her back.

"Sorry, I was a bit too excited. It has been 15 years since a disciple of mine broke the limit and became a formal Wizard." Liliana stepped back, "Although 15 years quickly flew by, I still feel a bit uncomfortable when I see Wizard apprentices from other faculties successfully breaking the limit."

Liliana did not wait for Angele to respond. She just kept talking, "Follow me. After you become a Wizard, no matter what your rank is, the contract between you and the school needs to be renewed. Otherwise, the school won’t provide you with any rare resources. You need to earn their trust."

She turned around and walked toward the ray of light, "I am worried that those curses will hurt you during the process, but it seems like you succeeded on the first try. I thought Kalins would be the one to break the limit first. I’m in charge of five rank 3 Wizard apprentices, and he had the best chance of doing so."

Angele smiled and followed her to the light. The door behind them closed shut by itself.

Liliana held her pocket watch in hand, walking slowly, "About a hundred years ago, I had this female disciple. She was my favorite child. The girl was beautiful, strong, and independent. I wanted to help her break the limit, so I gifted one more serving of the Water of Asu, but..."

"What happened?" Angele already had an answer in mind, but he thought he had missed a few details.

"She was a bit too old, and she was burnt to death by the potion." Liliana shook her head. Angele could see the sharp pang of regret in her eyes.

Angele narrowed his eyes. He finally understood what he had missed.

He was given one serving of the potion when he became a disciple of Liliana. It was the right amount for a young man like him. However, it could easily kill Wizard apprentices who were older. One serving was more than enough to completely consume one’s life energy. It was rare for young Wizard apprentices to reach level 3. They would not die after drinking Water of Asu even if they failed to break the limit. It was one of the reasons why there was an age limit for rank 3 Wizard apprentices.

‘However, I drank three servings of the potion and didn’t die...’ Angele thought for a while. He knew that he had been saved by the Nightmare Potion. It reduced the side-effects of the Water of Asu. Otherwise, he would be dead after drinking three servings of the potion.

‘But the Nightmare Potion was too difficult to concoct. I purchased enough amount of materials for 15 tests. However, I only acquired one small bottle’s worth after the only successful trial. I spent more than 1000 magic stones and I had the help from Zero. Average Wizards probably need more than 1000 tests to just make one serving, and that will cost them more than 10,000 magic stones. Wizard apprentices just can’t possibly afford it. That must be how the potion got its name. It really is the nightmare of Potion Masters.’

Angele finally understood how important the Nightmare Potion was. He thought about the processes in the concoction of the potion as he followed Liliana from behind. They arrived at the light after a while. Liliana pointed in the air, and a black chair appeared behind Angele.

They sat down together.

"Since you’re a formal Wizard now, I think it’s time to tell you something you need to know." Liliana changed the time on the pocket watch and inserted it into her left eye. The second hand started moving slowly as Liliana lowered her hand.

"I suggest you not to sign the school’s contract. There’s one specific line on the contract that states you have to stay in the school for 300 years."

"I have to stay here?" Angele was surprised.

"Yes." Liliana nodded, "Ramsoda College, it’s a school full of shadows and undead. This organization was created to protect the Shadow Pearl. If you’re talented in Shadow Spells, you should stay here and do your research, however, you’re not."

"What exactly is this Shadow Pearl?" Angele asked in a deep tone, "There are many Wizards in the school, and their sole purpose is to protect this treasure?"

"Shadow Pearl is a source of power. It’s incredibly helpful for creatures or Wizards that need dark energy. The reason why we need to fight against the Northland Alliance and some underground races is due to this treasure. It’s none of your business. You’re not talented in Necromancy or Shadow Spells, so you should not get involved. Most of my disciples left the school after becoming a Wizard because they focused on other types of energy particles."

"So... I don’t see many Wizards around because they’re all out there fighting? How many of them sacrificed their lives for the school?"

"Countless." Liliana nodded, "My advice is, you should leave the school and focus on improving yourself. If you need resources, you can buy them from the school or other Wizard organizations. Only Wizards of Light will decline your offer since you’re still one of us."

Liliana stopped for a second. A book appeared in her hand out of nowhere.

The book was thin, had about ten pages, and all the pages’ background was black. The title on the cover was written with a light gold color and was written in the ancient language.

Liliana handed over the book to Angele.

Angele grabbed the book and asked, "What’s this?"

"A special contract between all the formal Wizards, the Treaty of Grimgar. 1500 years ago, a Wizard’s laboratory exploded, causing the death of thousands of people. A whole empire was destroyed, and a human race was erased from this land. All the Wizard organizations were impacted, so they signed the treaty. You can choose not to follow it, but if anyone finds out what you’re trying to do, something horrifying will happen. Also, the treaty was not perfectly written, and most of the Wizards know how to find the loopholes. This thing will lose its effect soon, but you should still take a look." Liliana explained.

Angele opened the book. The words were written in silver on a black background and the list of rules was recorded in it.

Most of the rules were in regards to limiting the rights of the Dark Wizards, including the prohibition of participating in too many brutal experiments. The territories of the organizations created by Wizards of Light and Dark Wizards were marked on a map.

The map showed Angele the territories in the southwest of this land. Angele rubbed the edge of the map.

"Master, the map only showed about 20% of the land, why are the other areas hidden?"

Liliana smiled, "I asked the same question to my master a long time ago. Most of the places were desolates, and you need a great amount of time to travel from one side to another. The land on the other side is controlled by unknown Wizard organizations. In addition to that, between the two lands, there are many dangerous underground races. Some of the polluted creatures, ancient blood, and forest monsters all live there. You have to find ancient Wizard books if you’re really interested in those areas."

"Let’s stop here." Liliana pulled another book from nowhere and handed it over to Angele, "This book will tell you the basics you need to know after you become a formal Wizard. Read it through and remember all the necessary information in your mind.

Angele grabbed the book. It was a normal leather book with a brown cover and was titled: The Handbook of Wizards.

"From now on, you’re on your own." Liliana stood up and smiled.

Angele stood up and nodded, "Now if you would excuse me, I’ll return to my room and read the book."

"Go ahead. Remember, no matter what your decision is, make sure to contact me when you’re in trouble. I’m always by your side." Liliana said in a serious tone. Angele saw the sadness in her green right eye. It seemed like this scene reminded her of someone else.

Angele bowed and Liliana already left the room before he straightened his back. He turned around and walked toward the door calmly.