Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Angele closed his eyes and silently remained seated right in the middle of the room. Blue light continued to flicker beneath his eyelids.
‘Checking body condition…’
‘Listing data…’
‘Checking the Ancestral Spirit’s condition…Listing data…’
Several minutes later, two information-filled message boxes were displayed right in front of Angele’s perception.
His own information was displayed on the left and Phoenix’s information was displayed on the right.
Right then, Angele noticed that there was another piece of information below his.
‘Physical attributes no longer increased after advancement. Limit already reached.’ His physical attributes had increased by a huge margin during the time he was using the cursed scimitar to absorb life energy. Angele seemed to have reached the physical attributes’ limit of a rank 2 wizard. Only his mentality level was increased significantly.
Phoenix’s information, on the other hand, was simpler and easier to comprehend.
‘Phoenix. Special Characteristic – Elemental Form. Strength, 2.0. Agility, 3.0. Mentality, 0.’
‘Talent Skill(s): Rebirth by Fire (Revive from your heart after death. Cooldown: 30 days). Eagle Eye (Scouting skill, Phoenix has a large field of vision).’
That was it.
Angele had already known that the initial form of the Ancestral Spirit was weak and useless, but this kind of result was way too disappointing for him. The talent skill could be considered ‘powerful’ only when it could gain the capability to assist him in battles.
He slowly stood up from the floor after pondering for a while.
Raising his arms, Angele checked his both of his armpits and saw one dark-red rune on each flashing.
‘This means I have successfully acquired the special ability from the third stage of Molten Core River. Two runes indicate that I can release two lava balls at the same time.’ Angele was not at all surprised by this.
The special ability took up the talent spell slot Angele had acquired from his advancement in rank. This was a common problem with all advanced meditation techniques of present time and the magic circle required to be engraved on the surface of one’s mentality crystal was the main reason.
In order to further make progress with the meditation techniques he was training in, Angele would have to engrave the required magic circles onto the mentality crystals.
Most of these magic circles were used to aid wizards in modifying their bodies. The special abilities they acquired were but merely a bonus given to them as they further progressed onto the meditation technique they were training in.
Wizards who trained in the same advanced meditation technique would have the exact same special abilities, though the power that could be released would vary.
For examples, wizards who had completely mastered the third stage of the Molten Core River technique would be able to release lava balls, as this special ability was considered as a Talent Spell. Although it would increase their fire resistance by a certain amount, it was still weaker than a few powerful talent spells.
This was considered as the Achilles’ heel of this advanced meditation technique, but this could also be its unique characteristic.
Angele could release two lava balls at the same time so wizards who had mastered the third stage of the Molten Core River technique should be able to do the same.
He lowered his arms and seriously contemplated regarding this matter.
So I learned a spell that can be cast without any incantation and my fire resistance has increased. Nothing else has changed. Well, it will now become easier for me to learn level 2 spells…
He checked his body condition again but meticulously.
His attributes had already increased to great heights with the aid of the cursed scimitar. Advancing to the next rank only increased his mentality.
The cost of casting level 2 spells had also been reduced after he had successfully infused his mentality with fire energy particles.
Angele knew two level 2 spells, both of which had come from Henn.
Pyroblast and Eye of Fire.
Angele recalled that day when he had a long conversation with Vivian by the riverside.
He learned of the fact that wizards above rank 2, especially those who trained in advanced meditation techniques, did not rely too much on instant-cast spells and special abilities during battles.
They would rather use magic circles or magic devices instead.
Defensive high-level enchanted items would automatically be activated if its wielder were to face a perilous situation. Meanwhile, high-rank wizards would often use magic devices to buy time so that they could prepare their most powerful spells.
For that reason, Angele realized that he must find a magic device suitable for himself.
He organized the entire data and information.
Angele now had a general notion of his present circumstances.
It was noon at present. Angele walked downstairs and ate food.
Afterwards, Angele opened the door and stepped outside the mansion.
There were no beetles or mutated creatures at daytime in the Nightmare Realm. It looked exactly the same as the real world albeit the fact the he was the only human being in this realm.
Angele had stayed inside the mansion for too long already, so he decided to explore a few of the nearby areas.
However, he must first make preparations in case anything unfortunate happens.
Kata Kata
Wearing his black boots, Angele stepped on dried branches within the forest.
The forest trees had large, green leaves. The golden sunlight pierced through the gaps between the tree leaves and shone on the ground.
Angele was wearing a brown leather suit with his sleeves rolled up which showed an eye-catching, dark-red armband on his right arm. In both of his hands were two baselards.
The blades of the baselards reflected the sunlight.
He proceeded slowly with caution. The mansion was right behind him at a small distance away.
WOO
The gentle wind brushed along the tree leaves. Angele did not see any birds or insects.
For about half an hour, he had continued to walk in the forest.
Soon, through the gaps between the trees, Angele saw a gray building up ahead.
It was a mushroom-like building that had opened doors and windows that were shaking in the wind.
Angele’s countenance changed. He advanced several steps before he finally got a clear view of the building.
Several mushroom-like buildings had been built on the open area just a small distance ahead. Most of them were broken.
There was a white obelisk in the middle of these mushroom-like buildings.
The doors of the buildings were opened, yet he did not hear anything making any noise.
The place was cozy and peaceful as the sun gave light and warmth to it.
Angele used the stealth technique he had and walked towards these mushroom-like buildings.
He looked around these buildings but did not see anything inside. The only sound he could hear was generated by the wind blowing.
Angele headed towards the white obelisk. Writings—or rather, runic writings—could be seen engraved on the surface of the obelisk.
While the sun provided warmth, the wind was freezingly cold. Moreover, it carried with it the stench of decay and dust.
About ten minutes later, Angele finally arrived right in front of the obelisk.
The white obelisk had dimensions of about two meters in height and one meter in width and a surface covered in complicated runic writings and strings.
Angele surveyed the surroundings using his biochip and made sure that no one else was around before he started checking the runic writings on the obelisk.
These runic writings looked like tiny men executing various poses and looked like bizarre paintings.
When he looked at the bottom part of the obelisk, he finally found several writings that had been written in a language he could understand.
It was the language of the Chaos Domain.
It told,
19/52, A riot occurred in Moses and a plague has struck the mushroom city. All residents have died due to the plague. Only the…
Parts of the writings had been erased.
Angele then skipped the incomplete portion as he continued to read.
21/02, Morphia has finally returned. This has brought us pain and nightmares, but I know the world will soon descend into the shadows and our hope taken away from us…
02/78, All cities where there were once living beings have been destroyed. The entire world is about to end, and everything now belongs to Morphia.
I cannot believe we are still alive! All hail the chaos. Morphia’s strength is failing. I must bring the good news to Ian!
The several successive sentences had also been erased.
Angele frowned. He skipped this part of the writings again and continued to read.
I do not know how many days have passed…10 days? 20 days? 50 days? 1 year? Morphia is dead. Now, the world is filled with monsters and mutated creatures…I do not know if I can complete my research…
My dearest friends, if you are reading this, that means we must have all died. The obelisks in the cities will record everything that has happened until at this moment. I can feel that I am about to return to Mother Iicolin’s embrace ten minutes from now. My friends, you must persevere in this collapsed world. Hide yourselves well, you are our last hope…Night falls, danger comes…
The last part of the writings had nearly been covered by dark mud as it had been written at the bottommost part of the obelisk.
Angele slowly stood up.
Looks like the Nightmare Realm was once an inhabited realm but something unfortunate occurred…then the realm turned into this mysterious and dangerous realm.
He checked the surroundings again.
Still no movement coming from within the mushroom buildings.
’Night falls, danger comes…’
Angele knew exactly what it was referring to.
He walked around the white obelisk.
There were some faint bloodstains on the other side of the obelisk.
It looked as though someone else’s blood had splashed onto the obelisk.
Angele looked around and found more bloodstains several meters away from it.
Narrowing his eyes, he walked to the second bloodstain he found. Angele slowed down his breathing and tried not to create any noise.
He soon discovered a trail of bloodstains around the corner, one that might lead to revelations that could answer all his questions.
The blood must have dried up centuries ago since there was no fishy smell at all.
