Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 186 The Secret of the Black Mirror

Two minutes ago.

Inside the teleportation hall of the Blind Merfolk tribe.

A dazzling blue light flashed, and a beautiful woman with a slender figure suddenly appeared on the teleportation array.

At that moment, a merman holding a fishbone staff and wearing a gray robe opened the door of the teleportation hall and hurriedly walked in.

"Great master (Akkadian)" the merman bowed respectfully.

However, when Fingart saw that the figure in front of him was not his master Richard, but a strange and beautiful human woman, his words of flattery came to an abrupt end!

The two stared at each other, dumbfounded.

However, Fingart had already secretly reached out and grabbed a spiral-shaped object, which appeared to be a communication device.

Seeing the other party's wary look, Stephania was the first to react and said:

"(Akkadian) You are Fingart, aren't you? I am Stephania, a follower of my master Richard. My master will be here soon."

This put Fingart's mind at ease. He had initially thought the other party was an intruder and was about to issue a warning and summon the high-ranking murloc warriors.

It seems it was just a false alarm!

It's not surprising that the other party knows the master's name; even an enemy might know it. But for someone to know the master's name, there's only one possibility: the master told the other party on their own initiative.

Before the two could exchange more than a few words, the teleportation array flashed with a dazzling blue light once again, and a man in black robes appeared on the teleportation array.

"Master!" Stephania and Fingert quickly bowed in respect.

Richard nodded slightly and said to Fingart, "Fingart, immediately shut down the teleportation array!"

"Yes, Master!"

After Fingart chanted a short incantation, the flashing blue light of the teleportation array began to dim. A few seconds later, Fingart immediately removed all the mid-to-high-grade magic stones around the teleportation array, and the energy surge of the entire teleportation array vanished without a trace.

Richard finally felt relieved and let out a deep breath.

After all, he didn't know whether the bomb would be successfully triggered after he teleported over, and even if it was, he didn't know what special defensive measures the other side might have.

If they weren't seriously injured and were teleported here via the teleportation array, that would be interesting.

The safest solution is to immediately shut down the teleportation array of the blind merfolk tribe.

However, after thinking for a while, Richard, who still seemed not entirely at ease, stood there, carefully recalling the various events and details that had occurred since the Norman Secret Realm.

Fingart was in a state of extreme shock!

He had just secretly observed his master and realized that he could previously tell his master's strength level at a glance, but this time, the surging aura emanating from his master was far greater than before.

They might even surpass their original teachers.

Could it be that the master has already been promoted to a formal wizard?

But this speed is too fast!

A look of confusion crossed Fingart's bulging, bubbly eyes.

It's no wonder Fingart was so surprised! You see, the merfolk, a humanoid race, mainly rely on bloodline breakthroughs, and on average, they are much slower than humans. For example, it took Fingart seven or eight years to break through to the third-level wizard apprentice level.

He was already considered a merman with a high concentration of merfolk blood, and believed that his advancement speed was comparable to that of a top-tier human wizard apprentice.

But compared to Richard, this difference is immeasurable!

Richard frowned, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Fingart, go and get an Isolation Box right away."

"Yes, Master!"

The Box of Isolation, made primarily of lead and reinforced with an isolation magic array, is Richard's most powerful isolation device at present. He had deliberately made a few of them during his last stay with the fish-man tribe, and now they came in handy.

After Fingart brought over the Box of Isolation, Richard had Stephena place the black mirror inside the box.

Although Richard didn't sense any energy being released from the Black Mirror, it was better to be safe than sorry, so he decided to first effectively conceal the energy fluctuations and various markings.

"Oh, right, Fingart, arrange a room for Stephanie, right next to mine."

"Also, I'm going to rest for a while. Don't disturb me unless it's important," Richard instructed.

-

Upon returning to his room, Richard's first task was to try to erase the tracking marks from his Gildarts werewolf clone.

Because Gildas's tracking mark is so powerful that even the low-level magical artifact, the Cloak of Concealment, cannot cover it up, a series of adverse effects may follow if it is not removed quickly.

Although Gildarts' fate was unknown after his two self-destructing attacks.

But given the other party's vengeful nature, if they are not dead, they will eventually find a way to come after me. But if they are dead, their family will probably come after me.

The most effective way for the other party to track them is through this tracking mark.

Therefore, from any perspective, you should try to get rid of this mark as soon as possible.

Since he had not learned this level one sorcery specifically designed to erase marks, Richard could only rely on his newly enhanced and powerful mental strength to try and slowly wear away the mark.

After trying for a while, Richard felt relieved. At the current pace, it seemed that he only needed three days to remove the mark.

From this perspective, there shouldn't be any major problems.

After all, the area he was currently in was extremely deep in the Underdark. If Gildarts' family wanted to send people to seek revenge, they would have to cross a considerable distance into the Night Elf-controlled territory.

Obviously, the other party couldn't just swagger over; otherwise, the night elves would have taught them a lesson.

Richard carefully recalled the details of his two battles and discovered that, apart from his innate sorcery, he possessed virtually no first-level sorcery.

In particular, when the enemy learns that Richard's only offensive level one sorcery is Mental Shock, he will be targeted.

Under certain conditions, this will put you at a significant disadvantage in combat.

For example, even the most ordinary stone golem is powered by high-grade magic stones, and its attack program is a fixed array within its body. Richard's mental attack is almost useless because the opponent does not have a specific brain or mental sea.

Of course, if Richard's mental impact were dozens of times stronger, it might be possible to directly blast apart the energy conduction array, but that would be a long time coming.

Richard had considered returning to the school of thought. If he only revealed the strength of a third-level wizard apprentice, he might have a chance. However, in that case, he would not be able to communicate with him as an equal as a formal wizard, and thus obtain items such as first-level wizardry models and potion recipes from a formal wizard.

However, it would be too shocking for me to join the school by revealing my strength as a formal wizard!

In just over a year, he went from a first-level to a third-level wizard apprentice, which is already quite astonishing. He broke the school's record, let alone becoming a full-fledged wizard.

Moreover, as far as he knew, there were three second-level archmages in the school. If he revealed his strength, was it possible that he would be imprisoned before he even joined the school and forced to reveal the secret of his rapid advancement?

Richard shook his head; he didn't want to test human nature over this matter.

No, this probably doesn't even qualify as a test of humanity, since he doesn't recognize any of these three Level Two Archmages. If Instructor Seras were a Level Two Archmage, it could barely be called a test of humanity.

Let's see if her mentor, Seras, who has always been so kind to her, will covet her secret.

Putting yourself in Richard's shoes, if he were a level two archmage, and knew that a subordinate could advance so quickly, he might also be tempted and want to investigate further.

Even if this secret may not be of much help to the second-level archmage himself, it may be of great help to his family descendants or disciples.

Therefore, Richard decided not to consider returning to the academy in the short term, or rather, even if he were to go back, he would need to have a certain ability to protect himself.

Hoping that the other party is kind-hearted and will let you off the hook is a childish idea.

-

Inside the base's main hall.

Ondino has received timely treatment. Although he has taken precious growth medicine, the growth of his right leg bone will still take some time. It is estimated that it will take another month before he can fully recover.

At this moment, he was reporting his previous encounter to the great wizard Graf.

"Your Excellency Archmage Graf, the situation at the scene of the battle is as I just described."

Graf nodded, his brow furrowed.

Gildas is now even more injured, and even if he is saved, there is a high probability that he will fall to the level of a third-level wizard apprentice, which will probably be difficult for the other party to accept.

Even he couldn't think of a good way to restore it.

"You're saying the other party might be from another continent? A continent called Urdt?" Graf racked his brains but couldn't recall such a continent.

If he knew that this was just something Richard made up on the spot, I wonder what he would think.

"Yes, sir."

"I understand. You should rest and recover. I will arrange for someone else to take over the combat team's duties."

"As for what you said about the other party possibly coming from another continent, I will submit this matter to the joint meeting," Graf said in a deep voice.

There are too few clues at the moment, and Graf cannot determine the other party's identity. It is possible that only by getting Loida from the Gurus Academy, a master of divination, to take action, can the other party's origins be found out.

However, it was beyond his control to get Loida, a second-level archmage of the same rank as him, to take action.

It depends on the opinions of the deans at the joint meeting!

Thank you for your concern, sir!

-

a few days later.

Within the tribe of blind fishmen.

Richard's rapidly improving physical abilities, especially his mental strength, are beginning to enter a period of calm.

Just now, he successfully erased Gildas's tracking mark, which made Richard breathe a long sigh of relief.

At this moment, in his mental sea, a round crown-shaped crystal was suspended in the very center, surrounded by a faint, almost imperceptible pale silver mist.

If you magnify the crown dozens of times, you can see that around the crown are three complex talent magic models, each with exceptionally delicate, small and intricate runes.

Richard brought up the Inspiration panel and took a look:

Name: Richard Clavel

[Attributes]: Strength 10.9, Agility 11.2, Constitution 11.1, Spirit 35.9 (13% Mist Transformation)

All attributes have been greatly improved, especially mental strength, which has reached 35.9. There are also two words marked next to it, "Mistiness", which represents Richard's level of a first-level wizard.

According to the common classification of wizards on the continent of Byers, those whose spiritual power misting level is less than 30% are considered to be newly entering formal wizards, generally called the first stage. Richard is currently at this stage.

Atomization is the process by which the spiritual power in the spiritual sea begins to materialize, transforming into a physical mist-like existence. It is a stage that every first-level wizard will go through.

In reality, this was the case; besides the crystal core, the surrounding spiritual energy in Richard's spiritual sea was extremely thin, appearing as mist.

This is also why it's called the atomization stage.

However, Richard's ability to achieve a 13% mist level as soon as he became a formal wizard is already quite remarkable, which is probably due to his previous substantial accumulation of power.

Ordinary wizards, such as first-level wizards who have just advanced by relying on the Limit-Breaking Water, generally have a misting rate of less than 3%.

To reach Richard's current level of 13%, it would require several years of hard work.

If we add the difference in innate witchcraft to this, the gap in actual combat power between the two sides will soon widen significantly.

Richard assessed that Gildas' werewolf clone and Dolores should both be at the early or mid-level of the first rank.

Richard estimated that the guy who accompanied Gildas earlier had a mental energy atomization level of over 60%, reaching the high level of the first stage.

However, since he hadn't spent much time at the school, Richard had only learned some paid knowledge, and his knowledge of formal wizarding level was almost completely blank.

At least within the Ignis School, this kind of formal wizard-level knowledge requires a high amount of points and magic stones to exchange for from the school, and frankly, the content that can be directly exchanged is not particularly valuable.

For things that really involve the core, such as the models and spells of first-level witchcraft, it will most likely require making some outstanding contributions or finding other senior official wizards to exchange for them.

Because once you reach the level of a formal wizard, you have a long lifespan of two or three hundred years to do many things. Many wizards will choose to explore ruins or specialize in a certain type of witchcraft. Over the decades, they will accumulate some unique witchcraft.

This part is not subject to the restrictions of the oath to the school and can be freely traded.

Unlike advanced meditation methods, if you obtain them from a school of thought, there will be absolutely strict contractual restrictions, and you cannot trade them with anyone in any form.

Therefore, in terms of the means to deal with the enemy, Richard currently has too few options, and he has been thinking about solutions for the past few days.

He has just come up with a solution that suits him.

It's a bit expensive though!

The alchemical combination bomb was an idea he came up with after using alchemical bombs so many times, triggered by inspiration.

For example, the combined effect of 10 tubes of Fire Dance Star, 10 portions of viscous oil, and 10 packets of Silver Moon Dust in an explosion is almost equivalent to the power of a level one fire-based sorcery spell, Blaze.

Although the cost of using it just once is nearly 400 magic stones, it is the only solution Richard can think of in the short term.

Therefore, Richard had instructed Fingart to pack ten portions of the three alchemical bombs in this proportion, just in case.

In the past few days, Richard has been studying the black mirror under the isolation of the witch array, but he still can't figure out its purpose. In fact, it can be said that this thing, which is very likely a witch artifact, is no different from a stone in Richard's hands.

This made Richard somewhat frustrated.

It's like being surrounded by treasures but not knowing how to access them.

Stephania watched her master study the mirror for several days, but seemed to have made no progress, which made her quite curious.

You should know that your owner rarely shows such a helpless expression.

Moreover, Stephanie had a feeling that she had a strange sense of familiarity with the mirror.

Finally, she couldn't help but speak up:

"Master! May I take a look at this mirror?"

Richard nodded, handed the black mirror to Stephanie, and remained lost in thought.

Suddenly, a huge energy fluctuation gathered around him, which immediately startled Richard.

Turning around abruptly, he noticed that the black mirror in Stephanie's hand was emitting a dazzling black light.

"you"

"Master, I...I don't know what happened. I just felt very familiar with this mirror, and then I unconsciously recited a spell, and that's how it happened," Stephania said in a flustered voice, her large, beautiful eyes wide open.

"Um, Master, I think I understand the function of this mirror. It seems to pull the enemy's soul into a nightmare, and the other party can only return to their original body by breaking free from the nightmare."

Stephena's words immediately delighted Richard. It seemed that the black mirror was indeed a magical artifact, and he now had a clue how to use it.

"Can you use it?"

Stephania immediately shook her head and said, "Not yet. I can only activate it, but to use it properly, I need a lot of mental strength. My current strength is not enough."

Richard nodded in agreement. He knew Stephanie's situation best. Her physical strength was at the level of a formal wizard, but her mental strength was much weaker, only at the apprentice level.

Meanwhile, Richard speculated that this magical artifact should have some kind of hidden bloodline array, which would conduct a bloodline identification on the holder before it could be used. It seems that only holders with the Spider Woman bloodline can use it normally.

Moreover, even if one possesses the bloodline of the Spider Woman, their strength level would likely need to reach that of a formal wizard.

With so many restrictions, this magical artifact must be extraordinary. It's very likely not just a low-level magical artifact, but a rare mid-level one!

"Oh no!" Richard immediately realized a problem.

"Quickly put the Black Mirror into the isolation box, let's evacuate immediately!"

"Ah? Master." Stephania had just started to like the Blind Merman Tribe. Although the fishy smell was a bit strong, the scenery by the Dark Lake was really beautiful.

"Fingart, you might have to come along too, otherwise, you might encounter some misfortune!"

"This magical artifact is clearly not that simple. After it was triggered by Stephania just now, I estimate that it will most likely attract the attention of the Matriarch." Richard still remembered the memory images he saw in the mind of the Spider Knight.

It is quite possible that Dolores's black mirror was a gift from the Mistress, rather than truly belonging to Dolores.

Richard had also heard of the mistress's power, which was unfathomable. For their safety, he and Stephanie had to retreat immediately.

I thought I could hide in the blind merman tribe for a while, but now it seems I still have to go to the gray dwarf-controlled area.

Only there can I ensure my safety.

-

Half a day later.

"Found it! According to the mistress's guidance, the traitor Shadra should be here!" a woman's voice said.

"Be careful, Shadra may have improved her strength again. She even killed Dolores."

"It seems to be in the blind merman camp."

A few minutes later, the three high-ranking spider women looked at the now-empty, luxurious stilt house of the blind merman prophet and exchanged bewildered glances:

"Huh! Has it already run away?"

"Looks like they ran away!"

"Damn it, judging from the tracks, it seems like they've only been gone for less than two hours. Which direction do you think that traitor Shadra would run off in?"

"This is the camp of the blind fishman tribe. Why don't we just ask them?"

After brutally killing several high-ranking murlocs, the three high-ranking spider women managed to find out who the key figure was, Fingart. However, this prophet of the blind murloc tribe has now disappeared without a trace.

"Damn it! I'll slaughter these lowly murlocs! This is treason!"

"Calm down, Fritty. This is the territory of the three-headed serpent Kumaila. If you anger it, the Mistress will also be difficult to deal with, after all, Kumaila and the Mistress have made an agreement."

"Sister, what's our next step?"

"We already know quite a bit of information, don't we? Besides that traitor Shadra, they also have a human wizard who is skilled in necromancy. He even served as the behind-the-scenes controller of the merfolk tribe for a period of time. What an interesting person."

"Is this interesting? To be the master of this bunch of stinking scum? What kind of perverse taste is this? It's disgusting!" another beautiful spider woman said disdainfully.

From the side, Flitwick said in a sweet voice:

"Do you think it's possible that these three guys went to the gray dwarf-controlled area?"

This immediately startled the two women. After a moment of thought, the spider woman named Grace in the middle spoke:

"Not necessarily. If they're hiding deep in the Grey Fern Fields, we won't be able to reach them."

"So what do we do now, Sister Grace? Do we just have to wait for the Nightmare Mirror to trigger again?"

"Damn it, the ancient black dragon blood that the mistress desperately needs is probably on them too. What if they use it if we delay too long?"

"No, we still have a way. Don't forget, although that traitor Shadra and that human wizard left no trace, it seems that the merman prophet named Fingart might be with them as well."

"Then this might be an opportunity for us, since he has lived here for a long time. If we search carefully, we might be able to find some of his hair or something," said Grace, a high-ranking spider woman, confidently.

"Yes, that way we can track him down!"

"Several spells can do this, including locator magic and clairvoyance."

"That's right!"

"Sister Grace, you're so smart!"

(End of this chapter)