Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 137 Substitute Doll

When Richard manipulated the skeleton to take the crystal ball out of Muken's arms again, he discovered that the little fairy inside was also dead.

It's a great pity.

But from Muken's memories, we also learned that he had long ago signed a soul contract with the little fairy, so obviously, if he died, the little fairy could not live on her own.

However, this little fairy specializes in wind magic, so even if Richard could capture it alive, he wouldn't be able to use it much, let alone sign a soul contract with it.

So, after a slight sense of regret, Richard was alright.

After all, for Richard, it was just a matter of missing out on a large amount of magic stones.

However, the Soul-Eating Spider was quite excited. It immediately climbed onto the crystal ball, easily pierced it, and began to devour the little fairy's soul.

"Hiss!" Richard immediately felt a mental force feedback that was no less powerful than that of Muken, a third-level wizard apprentice at Gurus Academy, accompanied by a trace of extremely pure soul power.

"This little thing is impressive! It truly embodies the essence of things, possessing such a powerful soul. Moreover, I didn't expect it to provide me with some benefit even after its death; it's not a complete loss!"

After finishing its devouring, the Soul-Devouring Spider crawled back towards Richard, swaying unsteadily as it did so, as if it were drunk.

Wow! He's drunk!

Richard looked at the Soul-Eating Spider's body color. The crystal color had covered most of its body, and only the area around its eyes and some of its legs remained uncovered. It seemed that the Soul-Eating Spider should be entering its growth stage soon.

At this moment, Richard received a message from the Soul-Eating Spider in his mind, meaning that it was going to sleep for a while.

"Huh, so fast?" Richard murmured with delight.

Clearly, this means the Soul-Devouring Spider is transitioning from its juvenile stage to its adult stage, at which point its abilities in all aspects will be further enhanced.

Richard carefully placed the little thing back into his arms.

Currently, this little thing is Richard's treasure. Not only can it control the corpses of monsters to help in battle, but it can also read most of the memories in the brain, achieving an effect similar to soul-searching or truth-revealing techniques.

Therefore, even if Richard were offered a rare dark elemental-specialized fairy in exchange for the Soul-Eating Spider, he would not agree.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Richard walked toward the location where he first sensed Muken, where there should still be other things left behind by Muken.

Sure enough, in a thicket of trees, Richard found a cane and a bulging package that Muken had hidden there before taking the disguise potion.

This pale blue cane was quite eye-catching. It was about one meter long and seemed to be made of a very rare type of bright wood. It had an extremely delicate feel to it. After Richard carefully examined the explanatory magic array, he couldn't help but gasp.

This cane is clearly a top-tier witchcraft tool.

【Storm's Fury】If the holder uses wind-type magic, the power is increased by 36%. At the same time, it solidifies the wind-type single-target attack magic Storm's Fury, which has a charging time of 12 hours. It is very practical.

"Too clever by half," Richard murmured as he stroked the smooth texture of the Storm's Fury.

It's important to understand that if Muken hadn't resorted to underhanded tactics and had instead gone straight for Richard in top form, he would still have been defeated.

But the outcome could have been much better than before; I might even have escaped with my life. Unfortunately, I made a poor decision.

Muken misjudged Richard's strength, thinking that Richard was just a little Karami!

Opening Muken's package and removing his clothes, Richard found some bottles and jars, mostly containing various potions. In addition, what caught Richard's eye were three doll-like objects.

Upon closer inspection, Richard noticed that the three dolls appeared to be made of some special animal hide, bound together to resemble a small person with limbs and a head.

Moreover, Richard could vaguely sense that there seemed to be some kind of mysterious energy hidden within. Recalling the similar content he had seen in the books related to the school's library, it seemed that these were three substitute dolls.

Richard's eyes lit up.

With this thing, it seems the demon flower mark on myself and the mutated winter wolf can be removed.

The original purpose of substitute dolls was to transfer some extremely vicious curses, diseases, and even marks. It should be noted that some curses of black wizards are almost unsolvable. In such cases, normal treatment methods are cut off, and the only option is to use transfer.

The earliest origin of the substitute doll is said to be from the troll empire of the Middle Ages, where it was a healing method invented by the troll empire's witch doctors.

However, as it gradually spread, human black wizards modified it.

This not only gives it its original function, but also opens up new areas of application for it.

Now, stand-in dolls can be used for counter-attacks. For example, enemy hair, blood, or even clothing that has been in close contact with the doll can be used as a magical medium.

Then, the black wizard can use it to attack enemies from a distance, including but not limited to various curses, nightmares, and so on.

If the mark is transferred from the caster's body to a substitute doll, when a prophetic wizard makes a mystical judgment, it will mislead the target into thinking it is the location of the substitute doll.

Of course, the success rate of a prophecy is closely related to the degree of control over witchcraft and mental strength of both parties.

Even if Richard transfers the mark to the substitute doll, it doesn't necessarily mean he can mislead a formal wizard-level prophetic wizard; the success rate will be much lower.

Immediately, Richard bit his index finger, squeezed out a drop of blood, and then drew an ancient sorcery rune in the air, projecting it onto the little figure. This was a spell used by the sorcerers of the ancient troll empire for their universal substitute dolls.

As the ancient Hettic incantations resounded.

The dark elemental energy in the air around Richard began to surge like a tide. As Richard injected a wisp of his consciousness into the stand-in doll, suddenly, the surrounding dark elements frantically rushed into the little doll, as if the tiny doll in front of him was a huge black hole.

A few seconds later, a face that looked remarkably like Richard suddenly appeared in the area where the Faceless One's head was originally.

The demon petal mark on Richard's body flowed slowly towards the stand-in doll like water, and then a black petal mark was engraved on the doll.

"It worked!" Richard's face lit up with joy.

Richard immediately prepared to remove the demon petal mark from the mutated winter wolf as well.

But Richard rejected the idea as soon as he turned around.

After a moment's thought, Richard waved his hand, summoning the mutated winter wolf.

The mutated winter wolf has a high level of intelligence, approaching that of a ten-year-old human child.

Richard tucked the used doll into the saddle pad and patted its fluffy head. "You're free. Go back to the North! Whether you survive or not depends on your luck!"

After saying that, Richard recited a spell, a spell to release the control of the mount that the Liberl beast tamer had taught him after he bought the mutated winter wolf from the mount shop.

The mutated winter wolf immediately felt a void shackle break off somewhere in its body, and it immediately understood that the person in front of it no longer had a master-servant relationship with it.

"Go on, go back to your hometown."

The mutated winter wolf looked at Richard with confusion. It didn't quite understand why its master wanted to give it freedom. The mutated winter wolf turned its head to look at Richard, then looked to the north.

"Aww!!!"

After a long howl, the mutated winter wolf sped off northward like an arrow released from a bow.

After much deliberation, Richard decided to release the mutated winter wolf to draw away any potential investigators from the Gurus Academy.

Because once the other party finds the place where he and Muken fought, there are still many ways to search besides tracking the mark. He had already experienced the magic of witchcraft with the red-haired girl Jenna.

What was a flawless plan in the previous life is full of loopholes in this world.

Therefore, after making these arrangements, the enemy would definitely have to spend more time and effort to catch up with him. Moreover, he had most of the raw materials for the disguise potion, especially the main ingredient, the transformation grass, which he had just received two of at the Black Forest Market.

After I make the disguise potion, I can change my appearance and the chances of being caught will be further reduced.

Richard pondered for a moment and realized that he seemed to have already offended two opposing groups: the Ring of North and the Academy of Gurus.

Dear readers: Due to the end-of-month reduction in average subscriptions, there will be no more morning updates. Instead, updates will be posted around 5 PM every day, with one chapter of 6000+ words.

I still owe 2000, which I will make up in the next few days. Thank you for your support!

(End of this chapter)