Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 126 Return to Ignis

Three days later, on the morning.

Inside the stilted house of the prophet in the merfolk tribe camp.

Richard specifically summoned Fingart.

"Fingart, I plan to return to the surface tomorrow. As for when I will come back next, I don't know." After spending so much time together, Richard was quite satisfied with Fingart, his first servant.

"Master, are you abandoning your lowly servant?" Upon hearing that his master Richard was going to return to the surface, Fingart shed two lines of fish-like tears in sorrow.

"Alright, let's get down to business." Richard knew, of course, that Fingart was mostly an actor, but he still felt a little touched.

Fingart was both worried and happy. He was worried because if Richard had stayed, the tribe's monthly blood offerings would have been no problem at all. But now that Richard was gone, the burden of killing monsters fell on his shoulders.

It is estimated that when hunting monsters again, the number of casualties among the warriors in their own tribe will be considerable.

Secondly, many of the merfolk-specific potions that Richard originally made have been distributed to the warriors in the tribe over the past two months, and many warriors have seen their strength increase rapidly.

However, my success rate in this area is still too low to make up for the void left by Richard.

In other words, after Richard leaves, the warriors in his tribe will experience a significant slowdown in their strength improvement. Moreover, he will have to come up with a good excuse, since he claimed that he personally made all the potions when he distributed them.

The thought of numerous mid-to-high-level murloc warriors surrounding it, reaching out to ask for potions, gave Fingart a headache!

The good news is that its master is finally leaving, and it can finally be free!

But why is there a sense of loss, as if I've lost a support system?

After all, Richard, as his master, treated him very well and never interfered in the internal affairs of the fishman tribe. Apart from instructing him to arrange for people to find monsters and rare herbs, he had no interest in power.

It seems better for the master to stay in his own tribe than to leave!

So, Fingart wiped away his tears and said to Richard, "By the way, Master, if you need to return to the surface for cultivation reasons, you could tell me. Perhaps this humble servant can be of assistance?"

Upon hearing this, Richard, remembering that a wisp of Fingart's soul essence was in his hands and that Fingart was an absolutely trustworthy member, said directly, "I plan to go back this time to collect some advanced meditation techniques and learn some new witchcraft."

"In the Underdark, I can't think of any way to do that."

Upon hearing this, Fingart frowned. "Advanced meditation method? And judging from the master's tone, it requires several steps. This is quite difficult."

I cultivate the Bloodline Meditation Method, which is not suitable for my master to learn. The other clans in Darkwater Lake also use the Bloodline Meditation Method.

"Hey! Right, it seems the gray dwarves have some scattered forces, supposedly established by underground humans. They should possess advanced meditation techniques."

Immediately, Fingart's eyes lit up, and he told Richard in detail what he had seen and heard.

Richard was initially overjoyed upon hearing this, but after a while he shook his head and said, "You said there are some underground human groups in the areas controlled by the gray dwarves, so their leaders should at least be formal wizards, right?"

"Uh, yes, Master!" Fingart instantly understood the problem and broke out in a cold sweat.

It didn't want its master to misunderstand it as having sent it to its death when the master was about to leave, and then kill it on the spot; that would be a wrongful death.

"Master, I..." Fingart looked terrified and hurriedly explained.

Richard waved his hand and said, "It's alright, I know you meant well, but you just didn't think it through."

However, this did give Richard a third option, though it was riskier, primarily because he was completely unfamiliar with the situation in the gray dwarf-controlled area.

Secondly, if the method of assassinating the apprentice wizards of the underground human organization is adopted, the aim is to extract the first level of the advanced meditation method they practice from them.

Having the Soul-Devouring Spider isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it would easily attract the attention of the organization's official wizards, who would then hunt them down, making it extremely risky.

You're saying you'd avoid assassinating their wizard apprentices, befriend their faction, and then trade rare items? Wake up! Advanced meditation techniques are the foundation of every faction; how could they be so easily traded?

You say you have valuable items they need, high-grade potions or something? Okay. There's a high chance they'll send someone to assassinate you. If your items are truly important to them, they might even send a full-fledged wizard to kill you and take the treasure.

Finally, even after painstakingly planning and scheming to kill the opponent's wizard apprentice, the meditation method obtained may not be compatible with one's own Rodrigo meditation method, failing to achieve a synergistic effect.

In that case, all the hard work would be for nothing.

Although Richard didn't know much about the origins of Rodrigo's meditation method, he had heard that Rodrigo was a famous ancient necromancer, the most outstanding among necromancers.

Since they are all necromancers, the meditation methods passed down from the three major necromancer academies are most likely to be compatible with Rodrigo's meditation method, meaning that after breaking through the limits, it is very likely to achieve a result greater than the sum of its parts.

That's why Richard was so determined to go back.

"Here's what we'll do. I'll go back to the surface first. If I can't handle it, I'll naturally come back. Fingart, have you forgotten? I have two high-grade magic stones on me right now. I'll go back with one, and the other can come back with the other," Richard reassured him.

"As you wish, wise master." Upon hearing this, Fingart thought it made sense and immediately stopped trying to persuade him.

-

Three days later, early in the morning.

Inside the sacrificial hall of the blind fishman tribe's camp.

Richard carried a bulging bag containing the [Heart of Mutation] and a series of other rare raw materials, while he held the Soul-Devouring Spider in his arms. Meanwhile, Fingart was preparing a six-pointed star teleportation array.

When Fingart placed the high-grade magic stone that Richard had given him into the center of the three-headed serpent statue, the entire hexagram teleportation array flickered three times.

"Master, it's ready. With the Kumaila statue in hand, you can be teleported back directly by stepping into the hexagram teleportation array," Fingart said respectfully.

Richard nodded. He had studied this legendary magic array for a while and knew it was indeed true.

If the teleportation array on the other side is destroyed, then even if you walk into your own teleportation array, the teleportation will not be activated, and you will not be in any danger.

After all, the teleportation array in front of us is just an ordinary long-distance teleportation array, not some legendary intercontinental or interdimensional teleportation array.

It's easy to imagine how advanced a teleportation array could be if a mere blind merfolk tribe could set it up.

This also illustrates from another perspective that the surface of the Underdark is just below the earth, and is actually not far from the surface vertically.

"Then I'm off, Fingart. I hope you'll be a bit stronger when I see you next time!" Richard said with a smile, not waiting for Fingart's reply, and directly grasped the statue and walked into the teleportation array.

Instantly, the six-pointed star teleportation array shone brightly with blue light, and Richard's figure abruptly disappeared from the spot!

After a dizzying spin, Richard regained his senses and found himself teleported to that hidden cave.

Upon seeing this familiar scene, Richard paused for a moment, but then immediately looked around cautiously. The bodies of the fishmen were long gone. Judging from the traces, they seemed to have been dragged into the water by some unknown amphibious creature in the underground river.

Long drag marks are still clearly visible on the sandy shallows.

The reason for this judgment is that the teleportation array was completely undamaged, indicating that it was highly unlikely that intelligent beings discovered this place.

Otherwise, if the apprentices of the three academies had discovered this place, they would have reported it to the academy and received a reward. Moreover, if that were the case, the teleportation array of the other blind fishman tribe would have already teleported them there.

He had been in the blind fishman tribe for half a year without being teleported over, which meant that this place was probably not discovered by anyone else.

Richard carefully examined the footprints on the soft sand and found that there were only three types of footprints. In addition to the fishman's and his own, there was another type that was clearly the footprint of some kind of huge, webbed, four-legged creature.

This is good news, even though he had already prepared a backup plan and scanned the teleportation array pattern into the recording crystal.

But having a ready-made, hidden teleportation array saved me a lot of trouble.

Richard swam back to the place where he had encountered the old merman prophet and the ancient dark merman, again through the underwater tunnel.

The area is still full of potholes, especially several huge ones, which indicate the intensity of the battle.

Richard carefully assessed the power of these spells and felt that these pits were likely the result of spells cast by a legitimate wizard, which caused such an effect.

Because he himself is now considered a top-tier level three wizard apprentice, and his mastery of level zero wizardry has reached its limit. Even he cannot do it, which is most likely caused by a formal wizard.

Although the signs of battle are still visible, the merman's corpse and some of his belongings have long since disappeared, most likely having been swept away after the battle.

Richard shook his head, feeling a sense of things having changed, and began to walk along the shallows on one side of the underground river toward the surface.

Two hours later, Richard returned to the familiar Ignis School headquarters, and couldn't help but feel a little sentimental.

However, upon entering the school's residence, he discovered that many wizard apprentices wearing the Ring of North and the robes of the Gluth Academy were still there.

However, the number of people was significantly less than before he left, which greatly intrigued him.

Could it be that the three major necromancer academies have issued some new mission since they organized that joint extermination operation?

Richard was considering whether to report to his mentor, Seras, first, but then changed his mind and abandoned the idea. Instead, he continued to wear his hood, covering most of his face, and went to the school trading area.

(End of this chapter)