Steadfast Wizard: From Heart-Swapping Rat to Dimensional Demon God

Breakfast was the same old three things: bread, milk, and eggs. There was nothing else to eat, so after quickly finishing breakfast, Isaac didn't rush to study magic. Instead, he took the thousand gold coins his older brother had given him and headed back to the town in the lake.

Magical research can wait; now that we have the money, let's get the ascension ceremony sorted out first.

Legend has it that after each ascension ceremony, a wizard experiences a period of heightened magical power, and only after this period ends can another ascension ceremony be held.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, as long as there are enough resources, there are no bottlenecks for legendary wizards!

The only limitations on legendary wizards are their active magical periods and the resources available for advancement.

The period of high mana activity can be shortened through magical research, experimentation, and combat.

So although using a special promotion ceremony to advance will grant special effects, or even new talent spells, such ceremonies are quite precious. He had already searched for them beforehand, but they weren't sold in the town and were extremely rare.

Conventional promotion ceremonies are generally divided into three categories: elemental, starry sky, and mystery.

Different ascension rituals have bonus effects on different spells. For example, the fire elemental ascension ritual draws on the power of the fire elemental lords of the elemental planes, and fire spells will receive a slight bonus after ascension.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly small bonus from a single rite of passage. Keep in mind that there are three advancement rituals for the rank of Formal Wizard. If you choose the same type of advancement ritual for all of them, the final bonus will be quite substantial.

Of the three types of rituals, the elemental type is more output-oriented because most elemental spells are attack spells, while the star type is more versatile because it increases basic stats such as maximum mana, mana regeneration speed, and mental strength. There's not much to say about these two.

The more profound category is the mysterious category. This category is more like other categories than mysterious, with various enhancement directions. However, the most mainstream ones are prophecy and incantation, so they are all classified as mysterious.

It is worth mentioning that although the three rituals have different focuses, they are essentially similar. They all borrow the power of higher-ranking beings through rituals to elevate the wizard's life essence and thus complete the ascension.

The biggest difference between this and the demon ritual that Isaac just finished is safety!

All advancement rituals categorized into these three types communicate with beings of lawful good. They will grant power in strict accordance with the requirements of the ritual and will never take more than necessary, which is completely different from the greedy demon gods.

Of course, there are gains and losses. They won't take more, and they certainly won't give more. They won't even leave you a chance to snatch.

Fortunately, Isaac didn't have any particular thoughts about this. There were so many evil Outer Gods, one less wouldn't make a difference.

Isaac had already decided which ritual to use for his ascension. So when he arrived in town, he went straight to the shop that sold magical knowledge. After spending eight hundred gold coins and signing a confidentiality agreement, he successfully obtained the knowledge of the Ascension Ritual: The Witch's Tea Party and the necessary materials.

However, Isaac did not rush back, but continued to make purchases.

After all, the Witch's Tea Party is one of the few rituals with both starry sky and mysterious attributes, so its success rate is relatively low, only 10%. Therefore, he still needs to make some purchases. Although this kind of ritual is relatively safe, it is best to raise the success rate to 200% to be on the safe side.

……

After returning from the lakeside town, Esca told Smith and then went back to the basement to begin preparing for the Ascension Ceremony: The Witch's Tea Party.

As a minor advancement ceremony, the materials for the Witch's Tea Party are not difficult to collect; they can all be purchased in the lakeside town.

A set of black tea utensils that have been aged for a hundred years, fifty milliliters of witch's saliva, one kilogram of refined black tea, 190 pieces of witch's personal clothing, and a bottle of magic ink.

The materials are rather strange, but they are still considered normal in a magical ritual. Although the 190 pieces of witch's undergarments look rather abstract, they were added by Isaac himself. The original ritual only required one piece.

Fortunately, the magic supplies shop in the lakeside town is a long-established and reputable brand; otherwise, it would have been difficult to acquire so many witch's undergarments in such a short time...

Although the process was rather embarrassing, everything went smoothly. All the materials were collected, and the setup was not difficult. With a 200% success rate, wouldn't that be a piece of cake?

Two hours later, Isaac finished setting up the ritual. Normally, an hour would have been enough, but the cost was too high. The 800 gold coins for ritual knowledge and basic materials, plus the 200-plus gold coins for the witch's clothes, totaled more than a thousand gold coins!

He's invested his entire fortune, so he can't afford to be careless!

"Hiss~ Whoosh~"

After taking a deep breath, Isaac's slightly agitated heart calmed down completely. He took off his wizard's hat, put it on his chest, and then bowed his head to chant incantations. A faint magical power resonated out at a special frequency.

Magic swept across the magic circle, and wisps of white mist drifted out from it.

The magic swept over a pile of witches' undergarments, and a huge amount of white mist erupted from them!

It instantly enveloped the entire basement!

"Young man, you're being rather rude."

Hearing the alluring voice coming from the mist, Isaac slowly opened his eyes, put the wizard's hat on his head, and smiled slightly. No mistake, it worked!

That sound was definitely ominous!

Although the content said is somewhat different from the ceremony, there shouldn't be any major problems.

With a slight question in mind, Isaac casually straightened his wizard robes and confidently stepped into the thick white fog before him.

Following the direction from which the ominous sound had come, Isaac calmly walked through the white mist. After a while, the white mist dissipated, and he arrived at a green meadow.

Not far ahead, a large white umbrella was being held up, under which was a pure white table and two pure white chairs. On the table were a teapot and teacups from the ritual materials, filled with steaming hot black tea.

On the other side of the table sat a witch dressed in a purple robe, her face obscured by a large witch's hat, revealing only her fair chin...

That's how it was supposed to be, but...

"hiss!!!"

Seeing the shadowy witch not far away, Isaac gasped!

How can there be so many?

There must be at least a hundred of them, right?

"...Alright, it seems you don't even know what you've done." The only witch sitting on the stool looked at Isaac's bewildered expression and sighed softly, her voice pausing.

"Ahem...sorry...I thought this would increase the success rate." Looking at the hundred-plus witches, Isaac's lips twitched slightly. He hadn't expected this to happen after using his cheat ability...

He could only bow in apology, since, according to the ritual, the witch's power summoned at the witch's tea party was not just one.

Of course, despite my apologies, if he had to choose again, he would still choose to use the cheat code!

after all……

I'm really out of money...

"To find such a method, you're quite the genius. Come on!" The witch waved her hand gently, gesturing for Isaac to step forward.

Isaac hung his wizard hat back on the chair and slowly sat down, looking timidly at the more than one hundred witches behind the "Great" Witch. Would he become the first official wizard to die in the first-order advancement ceremony?

"Don't worry. Although you are a legendary wizard, you are still our junior. They are just a little dissatisfied. They will only be unlucky for the next two days. They won't get hurt. Just be careful."

The "Great" Witch noticed Isaac's worry and reassured him in a slow, gentle tone.

Actually, this was a result of Isaac's own actions. Normally, even if they were dissatisfied with the wizard performing the ritual, once they reached this stage, they could only bless him and could not do anything else, let alone curse him.

But because of Isaac's... despicable methods, he attracted more than a hundred witches at once!

The blessing is limited by the ritual, so it cannot be given in large quantities; the amount is fixed. As a result, the power of the other witches is saved. Although each witch has very little power to use, when they are gathered together, it is quite considerable.

Ultimately, this resulted in a two-day curse of bad luck.

Upon hearing this, Isaac's lips twitched slightly. Although his understanding of rituals wasn't as deep as the witch's, and he couldn't see through everything in such a short time, he could vaguely sense that the formation of this curse was mostly related to his own shady actions...

"Thank you for your magnanimity, seniors..." Isaac apologized again.

There's nothing we can do; these are all big shots, we can't afford to offend them.

The "Great" witch gently touched her fair chin, raised her jade-like hand, and elegantly poured Isaac a cup of black tea before presenting it to him.

Please use it~

"Thank you, senior~" Isaac took the teacup with both hands, took a deep breath, and drank the black tea in the cup in one gulp!

The moment he drank it, a mysterious magic began to entwine around Isaac. The witch opposite him smiled slightly, and she and the more than one hundred witches behind her, all with wicked smiles, turned into white mist.

A moment later, all the white mist dissipated, and Isaac stood motionless in front of the magic circle with his eyes closed.

A moment later, he slowly opened his eyes, feeling the magic power within him increase by a third. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, and when he saw that the witch's saliva on the ritual was still there, his smile blossomed completely!

Although he had researched the Witch's Tea Party before purchasing it, he knew that the witch's saliva in the ingredients was only needed to utilize the magic it contained, and he didn't actually need to drink it.

But when he actually picked up the teacup in that illusion, he couldn't help but think in that direction...

After all, there are related legends circulating in both the past and present worlds.

So when he saw that the witch's saliva hadn't decreased at all, he was finally completely relieved.

The ceremony was a great success. As a dual-attribute ceremony of starry sky and mystery, the Witch's Tea Party provided him with excellent bonuses, with a slight increase in magic power and mental strength, and a minor boost to his own mystery attribute.

The actual improvement in combat power was not significant, but all objectives were achieved.

And don't underestimate the boost to the second mysterious attribute. Although it's a slight boost, it's a breakthrough for Isaac, taking him from zero!

Having acquired mysterious attributes, he was then able to perform some advanced modifications to his body, such as...

Magic Eye!

Legend has it that wizards are different from those who meditate and study the truth in a methodical way.

Legend has it that the path to becoming a wizard is essentially evolution!

The evolution from mortal to magical life!

Therefore, during the formal wizard stage, the main task of a legendary wizard is to accumulate magic power and corresponding attributes. As for the demon god trading ritual and legend collection, these are just side quests. It would be best to complete them perfectly, but doing them casually is also fine, as long as they don't affect the advancement.

The one who truly determines destiny and potential is the Grand Wizard, who is above the formal wizards!

Compared to formal wizards, arch wizards far surpass formal wizards in both magical power and knowledge, thus allowing them to begin modifying their bodies' magical abilities.

Magical transformation is not simply transplanting monster limbs, but rather solidifying magical power into the body, making it a part of oneself, thereby achieving self-transformation.

Among the many magical modifications, the most difficult and with the greatest potential is the mystical modification!

Therefore, whether or not it has mysterious attributes is quite important.

It's not of much help right now...

After slowly experiencing the newfound power, Isaac stretched, turned around and walked out of the basement. He then asked the cook to prepare some food, ate it, and fell into a deep sleep.

I'm going to sleep now. I'll continue my research on witchcraft tomorrow!

He was incredibly curious about the witchcraft manuscripts and spellbooks his older brother and sister had sent him…

……

The next day, Isaac sat at his desk in the lab and rubbed his little hands together.

Now it is—

Unboxing time!

The first thing Isaac opened was his eldest sister's spellbook—"An Introduction to Arcane Energy, Volume One".

Hmm... not much of a surprise, pretty much what he expected.

The eldest sister is a pure arcane mage with excellent talent. She is only in her thirties and is already a great wizard. It is said that she is already researching advanced arcane arts. Once she succeeds, she will be promoted to a high wizard known as a demigod!

Therefore, her gift was the least surprising thing; it was definitely something he needed.

Isaac, due to his physical condition, had shown great interest, but because he lacked the talent to become an arcanist, his family never allowed him to become too engrossed in it.

If you're already in poor health, then using your brain too frequently will only make things worse.

But now that he has become a wizard, there is no need for these things to hold him back anymore.

Like the arcane attribute, "An Introduction to Arcane Energy, Volume 1" doesn't offer him a significant boost right now, but it will lay a solid foundation for him, allowing him to go further and more steadily in the future!

He put the spellbook aside, looked at the witchcraft manuscript his older brother had sent, rubbed his hands together excitedly, and breathed out a sigh of relief. This was the real thing worth looking forward to!

Because his elder brother Caesar was a barbarian knight, not a noble spellcaster, the sorcery manuscripts he sent were mostly spoils of war, making them extremely unpredictable!

As he slowly turned to the first page of the witchcraft manuscript, Isaac's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in shock!

The first page reads: "Handbook for the Study of Deities: Anatomy!"