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

In a hazy, gray void, dozens or even hundreds of pure white stone pillars rise and fall.

When Isaac opened his eyes, he found himself on one of the pillars. He gently stepped on the stone pillar beneath his feet, not recognizing its material.

Looking around, he saw a figure standing on each of the surrounding stone pillars, all dressed like him, wearing wizard robes of different colors and large wizard hats, making it impossible to see their faces.

However, once you get closer, you can see it clearly.

After all, although those present were more skilled and bolder, they were still formal wizards. The enhancements of their wizard robes were limited, offering only a slight concealment effect; at least, they couldn't hide anything from the people present.

However, there's no need to hide anything. Mad Witches come from all over the world, and may not even be from the same world, so there's no need to conceal their identities.

After scanning the room, Isaac was somewhat disappointed because there weren't many people present. There were forty-three official wizards in the Mad Wizards' Guild, but only thirteen had come, which was far too few.

Formal wizards don't have many good items to begin with, and if their numbers dwindle, what's the point of trading?

As for witchcraft communication?

We're all noobs, what we need now isn't communication, but exchange.

They exchanged their magic spells to enhance their own foundation and accelerate the cooling down of their mana boiling period.

But if it's about exchanging witchcraft...

Anyway, Isaac thought it was going to be tough. Witchcraft is not as simple as arcane magic; it is divided into individual spells.

Witchcraft is usually accompanied by a long list of research materials, such as enchanted heart transplant surgery and totem crafting.

Therefore, few wizards learn a large number of spells. They usually specialize in a particular area and continuously refine the spells they are good at. For example, Isaac's Flesh Nest is an example. Of course, this is a clever trick that uses the power of the demon god. Normally, it would require slow and careful study.

So whether or not you can exchange for witchcraft depends on whether you can encounter a mad witch whose research field is similar.

All of this explains why so few people participate in these small exchange meetings; they simply lack any appeal or value. Because they have no value, no one attends; and because no one attends, they have no value…

This is a vicious cycle...

As Isaac pondered, the thirteen stone pillars, each shaped like a human figure, slowly moved and formed a circle.

Isaac glanced at them and saw that most of them were quite young, around seventeen or eighteen years old, the standard template of geniuses. Of course, it was uncertain how many would be left in the end, after all, Outer Gods were not so easy to fool.

"Ahem~" A young man in a black robe coughed lightly, and then the stone pillar beneath his feet floated to the center. "Gentlemen, it's been a long time. You all know the rules, so I won't waste any more words."

As he spoke, the young man glanced at Isaac, a hint of anticipation in his eyes. He hadn't been able to exchange witchcraft in the last two attempts, and his research progress had slowed down recently. Now that a newcomer had arrived, he was naturally looking forward to it.

However, he didn't say anything to Isaac, not even introducing his name.

To reiterate, while the mad witches are all geniuses, they are also madmen. The Outer Gods are not easy to deal with; one day they might be devoured by the Outer Gods because of their greed. There is no point in befriending them at the moment.

Therefore, he got straight to the point: "I am skilled in black magic and have five black magic spells at my disposal: Ghostly Reaper's Curse, Life Drain, Blood Curse Kill, Head-Flying Spell, and the advanced spell Flesh Aberration. I want to exchange for black magic spells, or directly lethal advanced spells."

"Hmm?" Isaac glanced at the black-robed youth with surprise. Skilled in dark magic... and possessing high-level spells... no wonder he's from the Mad Witch Guild, but...

"How about I exchange my bio-modification magic for your dark magic?" Isaac said, seeing that the others remained silent for a long time.

He was very interested in both black magic and high-level spells. He absolutely could not afford to trade high-level spells, and even if he could, he might not trade them. High-level spells that could directly cause damage were the most valuable, and he usually kept them for his own use and rarely traded them.

He wanted to try black magic, though.

Black magic is a type of magic specifically used for combat. As long as it can kill the opponent, any means are acceptable, making it a relatively rare form of magic.

pity……

The young man in the black robe glanced at Isaac with regret, shook his head, and refused.

Unfortunately, biological modification is a rather complex branch of witchcraft, requiring a great deal of related knowledge and experimental data. This kind of research, which requires calming down and spending time, is not suitable for him.

After refusing Isaac, the young man in black robes sighed and returned to his original position when no one else spoke.

That's how small exchange meetings are; whether you can get what you need depends entirely on luck.

Following the young man in black robes, eight more people went up. Many of the witchcraft techniques they offered in exchange were things Isaac was interested in, but unfortunately, he couldn't get any of them…

Because nobody was interested in his witchcraft...

Before he could even submit his name, the mere mention of bio-modification made him back away...

"...I want to switch to puppet-related witchcraft, not biological modification!"

Isaac: "..."

Isaac, whose words were cut off, was somewhat helpless. He hadn't expected that medicine would still be so difficult in this new world. Could it be that in this world, persuading someone to study medicine would result in being struck by lightning?

Isaac had no idea, but he quickly adjusted his mindset. It didn't matter that no one was there to exchange spells; he could just consider it an opportunity to broaden his horizons. Knowing so many witchcraft spells, even just their names, was quite worthwhile and not a wasted trip.

"I am skilled in puppet making and have four types of puppet designs. Two of them are orthodox mechanical puppets, one is a pure flesh puppet, and the other is a hybrid puppet that combines flesh and machine. I will exchange puppet designs or use biological modification witchcraft."

After speaking, the witch standing in the middle looked at Isaac.

"Huh?" Isaac was taken aback. He hadn't expected anyone to tag him. But a puppet?

It's okay, he's interested in this too!

So he said, "I currently possess the technology for demonizing hearts and forging divine seeds..." He was speaking when Isaac suddenly stopped, shrugged helplessly, and said, "Uh, that's all, just these two."

He also possesses the Flesh Nest and Bloodline Essence Potions, but the former is his innate sorcery; others can only learn the Demon God version, which has a huge pitfall. As a fellow mad witch, the other party definitely wouldn't want it, and revealing it might offend someone. As for the latter…

There's no need to mention something so common and embarrassing.

"Huh?" The witch's beautiful eyes widened in surprise. What had she just heard? The creation of a divine seed? She blinked and said, "A divine research manual?"

"Huh? You have one too?" Isaac was also taken aback. "Mine is the anatomy section, which one is yours?"

"The Divinity Chapter, how about we trade?" The witch blinked her beautiful eyes. She never expected that the fragment of the witchcraft manuscript she had acquired by chance would end up here. What luck...

"Okay!" Isaac was also surprised. "Where did you get your part?"

"It was given to me by someone else, but as far as I know, it came from the Wildlands. What about yours?" With that, the witch took a roll of parchment from her sleeve, gently tossed it to Isaac, and then caught the portion that Isaac threw to her.

"The original manuscript?" The witch looked at Isaac with some surprise. Although she had not found anything special about the parchment after her research, she still gave Isaac a handwritten copy. After all, what if something was wrong?

What if she's not skilled enough to notice?

So she didn't expect Isaac to be so generous.

But Isaac was actually a little helpless, because he never thought of exchanging this thing for it. After all, who knew he would find a second copy of the "Handbook of Divine Research" here?

Fortunately, he had memorized all the details and the data was all recorded in the panel, so the problem wasn't too serious.

"Well, don't get your hopes up too high. I didn't see anything special about it."

Isaac wasn't lying; he had tried using this thing as a ritual offering, but unfortunately, it was worthless in the eyes of the cheat system.

The witch nodded, then hesitated for a moment before asking Isaac, "The enchanted heart technology you mentioned... is it a heart transplant?"

"Well, it was originally a heart transplant, but I've expanded it to a certain extent. It can be used to cultivate demonic hearts and also has some effect on purifying and strengthening the bloodline of demons. But overall it's still quite rudimentary. You want it?" Isaac asked, somewhat surprised.

Because the Demonic Heart Transplantation Surgery, like the Bloodline Essence Potion, is a common, outdated procedure. The Demonic Heart Transplantation Surgery, in particular, is an ancient relic. It's only because of Isaac's research that it has been expanded upon and is now somewhat acceptable.

The witch nodded and said, "Besides the hybrid puppet, what else do you want to exchange?"

A simple heart transplant is obviously not worth it, but an extended one is different. Although neither of them thought the other would survive to the end, it didn't mean they looked down on each other.

In fact, to be able to make a deal with an Outer God at the formal wizarding stage, one must be either insane or have sophisticated methods. It's not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry who can bring down the will of an Outer God; everyone present is a genius.

And the research of a genius is absolutely valuable!

"Flesh and Blood Puppet, perhaps." After a moment's thought, Isaac took out a manuscript and tossed it to the witch, while simultaneously catching a roll of blueprints that she threw at him.

The transaction is now complete.

The crowd looked at the two who had reaped a great harvest, feeling somewhat envious, but none of them spoke up. Although they were very interested in the "Handbook for the Study of Gods," none of them had any intention of asking.

Yes, witchcraft involving the divine realm is incredibly powerful, that's for sure, but this is related to biological modification, which doesn't align with their expertise, so there's nothing that can be done about it.

It's a waste of time to learn; the benefits don't outweigh the gains.

During his deal with the witch, Isaac revealed what he had, so he didn't go up again; after all, no one was interested. As for the dragon lizard…

After seeing the meager scale of the small exchange meeting, he gave up his plan to trade dragon lizards. These poor bastards definitely couldn't afford dragon lizards!

Originally, according to the exchange meeting's procedure, after the transaction, there would be a formal magical knowledge exchange meeting. However, since everyone was a formal wizard, they were all novices with little knowledge and their schools of thought were quite different, so naturally, they had no intention of exchanging ideas.

Therefore, the event ended and everyone left immediately.

Seeing that everyone else had left, Isaac left as well.

However, before leaving, he exchanged names with the witch. Their research fields were the most similar, so they could continue to exchange ideas in the future.

If she (or he) is still alive by then.

……

With a blink of an eye, Isaac left the Mad Witch Society's special dimension and returned to the basement. Looking at the two witchcraft manuscripts in his hands, the corners of Isaac's mouth turned up slightly.

It was like a pillow being delivered just when I was sleepy; I've just finished learning everything I had on hand.

Although there is still potential to continue researching both the demonized heart technology and the divine species, how can one be as efficient as learning from others when it comes to self-study?

Back in the lab, Isaac first looked at the Flesh and Blood Puppet, not the Godhood chapter.

Because the Demon Rat is still some time away from condensing divine magic, the Godhood chapter can be put on hold for now; he is currently more interested in the puppet.

Or rather, he has always been interested in puppets.

Magical puppets sell much better than magical potions.

The flesh and blood puppet obtained in exchange from the witch was not advanced; it was a basic puppet—a flesh and blood mimicry.

Isaac wasn't surprised. The market price of the puppet design blueprints was already much higher than that of witchcraft of the same level. If he hadn't expanded on the heart transplant surgery, it wouldn't even be qualified to be used for exchange.

The Flesh Mimicry is a semi-independent type of puppet with two modes of action: an independent mode where it moves in a slime-like form and can fight independently, and an attached mode where it can transform into flesh armor to assist the wearer in combat.

There's not much to say about the standalone mode. Slimes, well, their combat power is so-so. Their only advantage is their flexibility, making them suitable for fighting in all sorts of strange terrains. As for their combat power...

Don't get your hopes up too high; he can't even beat a near-Knight in a one-on-one situation.

It's worth mentioning the Attachment Mode, which is the core function of this puppet. In addition to enhancing the user's physical attributes and magical power, Attachment Mode can also grant the user different spell-like abilities depending on the simulated monster's form.

For example, the basic three forms of the Bear can greatly increase its strength and use the Fossil to Mud spell once; the Wind Rabbit can greatly increase its movement speed and use Wind Blade once; and the Ironclad Turtle can increase its defense and cast Iron Block once to further enhance its defensive capabilities.

In short, it has many uses.

Furthermore, it allows modification of the simulated monster's form, thereby granting different abilities.

However, this is not something Isaac should be thinking about right now; he doesn't have the ability yet. For now, he should learn how to make it first.

"Tsk~ This is a bit difficult~"

Looking at the dense text and lines on the design drawing, Isaac shook his head. There was something to learn. The probability bonus from the cheat code didn't seem to be very useful. If it worked, it worked. However, the "portable teacher" function, which filled in the gaps, was as powerful as ever.

"Study!"

Isaac sighed, spread the design on his desk, and began to study it carefully. If he mastered this, he might be able to make a lot of money!

Because creating flesh-and-blood mimicry only requires one material—demonic flesh!