Wizard: Become stronger by drawing cards from the potions variety show

Chapter 709 Hard Difficulty - Spirit Puppet World
Operation successful

[You have gained Li Dao as a follower, and from Li Dao you have acquired a special talent: iterated general knowledge.]

The surrounding scenery changed rapidly.

With the help of the auxiliary system's prompts, Lucy realized that she had actually received a familiar reward.

However, although they are family members, they were virtually generated during training, so they could not be generated into physical entities and were instead transformed into innate traits.

Lucy laughed.

That's quite interesting. Perhaps the reward for this round is talent itself, and this is just how the origin of the reward is explained.

Then, Lucy opened the talent list and carefully examined it.

[Iterative General Knowledge: Your talent allows you to quickly adapt to unknown environments and rapidly acquire basic adaptability. Basic standards fluctuate with the average level of the environment.]

After reviewing the talent bestowed upon her, Lucy sighed, tried it out, and quickly gave up.

Her talent is undeniable, but in her case, it's as if a pearl has been tarnished.

The reason why the Annihilators were able to complete the structure of magic and construct the ascension process so quickly during the training was because of the Minister of Research's talent.

His passive adaptation to the environment, while not allowing him to gain knowledge of magic out of thin air, enabled him to keenly perceive the adaptive changes he made due to environmental changes. Combined with the basic information about wizards and runic magic he collected, this greatly shortened the time it took to adapt to magic.

He also played a key role in the emergence of the Dark Ones who adapted to magic.

With this talent, one can quickly get through the initial information accumulation process when facing the unknown.

If it were another wizard with the talent of iterative general knowledge, when entering other worlds, they could quickly grasp the surrounding environment and understand extraordinary paths through their talent, thus accelerating the process of analyzing the world.

However, for Lucy, this talent wasn't as useful as she had imagined.

She herself cannot construct magic; the expression of magic and runes appears chaotic to her.

Therefore, this iterative general knowledge is of little use to Lucy.

Just as Lucy was thinking this, he suddenly heard a faint melody.

Lucy looked up abruptly, glancing uncertainly at her surroundings.

That's right, she's already finished the training, so why can I still hear the rhythmic sounds?

Although this melody is different from what I've heard before, its grand and majestic feel clearly indicates that it is also a war symphony.

However, the sound she heard wasn't as complete as what she heard during training; it seemed she could only hear a small portion of it...

Is it because I don't have enough information?
Or is it that because I wasn't the one in charge of the war, and therefore wasn't fully involved in it, that I didn't hear it clearly enough?

However, there is one difference.

It refers to the complexity of the musical movement.

Before this, although Lucy could hear music, the music she heard was often from the perspective of the wizarding world.

You can hear a lot of details and learn a lot of collected intelligence.

However, now, although the segments Lucy hears are more fragmented than during training, the details she hears at each point are at least twice as rich.

Because, apart from the rhythmic structure of the Wizarding World itself, Lucy could accurately distinguish, amidst the chaotic and complex sounds, the rhythms that were intertwined, conflicting, and intersecting with the rhythms of the Wizarding World.

She heard more details, and as the movement progressed, she became more able to identify other sound sources and timbres that influenced the direction of the movement.

Before and after the training ended, Lucy was very aware of the changes in her talent, and there was only one reason for all of this.

Iteration general knowledge?

This talent, extracted from an ordinary researcher from another world during training, has such a strong supplementary effect on her abilities.

Is the world depicted in training real?

Do the Dark Ones really exist?
Is it up to Li Daoxian, the teaching assistant, to decide whether this ability is granted to him?

Lucy couldn't figure it out.

However, she was very clear about one thing: through this training, she had indeed found a better way to use her talents and found her place in the war.

Direct combat is not suitable for her, and a strong person is not necessarily the strongest warrior.

Lucy listened to the music playing in her ears.

The music was stirring, clearly indicating that the war was now at a fierce stage. Moreover, judging from the melody, the enemy in this war was not weak; at least, it was much stronger than the enemy of the Dark World.

Even now, through the depiction of the melody, the vast areas of confrontation, and the volume outlined by blank spaces, it is clear that the opponent remains extremely threatening.

"Yes, we are currently undergoing training to prepare us for war. We must be in the midst of a war against another world."

"That's amazing. It's just a variety show, but the environment actually allows you to experience a war."

Because Lucy had undergone three rounds of training, she was well aware of the cruelty of war.

With the retry mechanism of the training system, they can try again and again. Even so, it is often difficult to complete the task. In real war, there are not so many chances to start over.

Lucy thought about it for a moment, then dismissed the idea in her mind.

All three mentors are rule wizards; since they dared to design this process, they should be able to guarantee safety, right...?

However, war is merciless, and even with mentors, they cannot guarantee that nothing unexpected will happen. It's best to leave...

Lucy's expression suddenly shifted; she realized she seemed to be affected.

Just like during previous training sessions, she listened to war music, could feel the direction of the music, could perceive its expression, and was naturally influenced by it.

Now, because her understanding of the details of the music has deepened, the influence she receives is becoming more and more obvious.

She suddenly closed her eyes, activating the blindness effect.

The feeling of constraint on her body suddenly disappeared, and her consciousness began to leap and hover lightly, before her thoughts became clear.

All influences were eliminated.

She slowly opened her eyes. The music was still echoing in her ears, but the emotions, whether passionate or sorrowful, had been cleared away and could only be accumulated again in Lucy's mind.

Lucy knew very well that this was because her current level was not yet able to fully control her abilities, leading to the loss of control.

However, the talent that came with her enlightenment gave her a temporary solution.

Just then, a new system prompt appeared.

[Successfully completed intelligence gathering and strategic thinking operations on Normal difficulty, unlocking Hard difficulty.]

[Should we continue with more challenging intelligence analysis and strategic thinking training?]

[Starting with easy difficulty: resource management and logistical support training.]

Through this training, Lucy gained a clearer understanding of the path she should take in the future.

Combat and teamwork are important, but that's not what Lucy wants.

Intelligence analysis and strategic thinking are what Lucy is passionate about and enjoys. Her original plan was to sprint ahead and be the first to complete the training, but now she wants to see what the difficulties and challenges are like—a more turbulent symphony with more complex variables?
But without a doubt, depending on the world and the battle, each movement is different, yet all are equally magnificent.

Lucy didn't want to miss out.

"Continue intelligence analysis and strategic thinking training, with a high level of difficulty!"

[The battle begins...]

Everything around her changed. Lucy still had an expectant smile on her face when, in the next moment, a shrill sound rang in her ears.

It was like fingernails scratching on glass, or like sharp objects screaming in overlapping layers.

A wave of intense despair and negativity enveloped Lucy in an instant.

Lucy's smile instantly turned into horror.

It was pitch black all around, as if we had fallen into an abyss.

Lucy suddenly closed her eyes.

Her physical existence vanished, and all her senses were severed. Normally, this wouldn't happen, but in that instant, despair filled Lucy's body, and deathly silence took over.

In the Blind Chaos Spell, it is determined that the body no longer belongs to Lucy, or rather, the body has become an obstacle that imprisons or even threatens Lucy's will.

Thus, Lucy's will had broken free from her body and spread outwards.

Even with her eyes closed, Lucy could still hear that chilling, sharp, and awkward melody.

If a mournful melody corresponds to the failure of the wizarding world, then what does this deathly silent melody represent?
Was it the complete annihilation of the Wizarding World Legion?

Or perhaps we've been hacked?

Lucy didn't know; she didn't understand what had happened, and she didn't dare open her eyes.

Just then, the training notification sounded:
[Mission Objective: Protect intelligence and prevent the enemy from obtaining crucial information about the Wizarding World until the counterattack is successful.]

In addition to this line of standard text, there is another line of smaller text below, explaining the background of this mission.

The Spirit Puppet World created chaos within the Wizarding Legion by gathering information and establishing manipulation nodes. The Wizarding World suffered heavy losses on its first expedition, and its extraordinary system was discovered by the enemy. The enemy is currently drilling into the manipulation nodes and attempting to establish them as the baseline nodes.

As a renowned intelligence expert in the Wizarding World, Lucy volunteered to contain all members of the Wizarding World Expeditionary Legion and conceal their origins. Through informational clashes, she aimed to compensate for the Wizarding World's disadvantages in terms of world rules.

Before Lucy's will is broken, the information of the veiled wizard will be covered by at least one layer of secrecy.

Lucy will be tracked down and hacked by all the puppeteers.

Lucy has been compromised and the wizard will be locked at least one "baseline node".

Races whose baseline nodes are drilled will face a significant overall disadvantage when dealing with Puppet Races and will be more easily transformed into puppets.

This was the first time Lucy had ever seen such a long mission description.

In the world of spirit puppets, the opponent has perfectly controlled the rules of the world, so the wizard is at a disadvantage in the world of spirit puppets.

Individuals can hardly guarantee their own safety, and the methods of the puppeteers are too bizarre. Before even reaching the point of direct confrontation, there are countless wizards who have been controlled.

Intelligence leaks, betrayals, and sneak attacks—one after another, they occurred.

Even the commander-in-chief was tricked by the enemy's spirit puppets; several great spirit puppeteers almost succeeded.

Fortunately, the commander-in-chief was resolute and was also a rule wizard. Within his own rule domain, he held the home-field advantage, which greatly weakened the rule suppression of the Spirit Puppet World.

Otherwise, the entire army could be wiped out.

However, although the commander-in-chief was unharmed, not everyone has the strength of the commander-in-chief. If the spirit puppeteers want to launch a sneak attack, they can always find an opportunity.

What's even more ridiculous is that nearly 10% of them have already died or been injured in the Spirit Puppet World, and in the end, they are just fighting against themselves, without even finding any trace of the Spirit Puppet Master.

After reading the intelligence, Lucy understood.

The difficulty levels, whether easy or normal, depend more on her intelligence gathering and analysis abilities. They gain the upper hand, find weaknesses, and establish a foothold in the situation.

However, in the difficult difficulty level, you will face an opponent whose intelligence completely overwhelms yours.

While finding information about the other party is important, what's even more important is how to conceal your own information as much as possible and not give the other party any openings.

The pressure is immense; it's definitely a difficult level.

After closing her eyes, Lucy triggered the Chaos Warlock ability, achieving a state of unfettered freedom through the "Blindness" talent.

However, it retains the characteristics of "Duet of the Mute Girl and Chaos".

Through the music composed by Chaos, Lucy could clearly perceive that the jarring music further highlighted the deathly stillness within the piece.

This is also in line with the current environment.

Because Lucy concealed all traces of the wizards, all wizards who were out on the move and were investigated by the Puppet Masters would eventually trace their origins back to Lucy.

Therefore, what Lucy could feel was that, within the music, she saw enemies everywhere.

Every part of her, every point, is being studied and targeted by countless spirit puppeteers. If there is a weakness, they will control it; if there is no weakness, they will find one to exploit and control it.

All the spirit puppeteers, regardless of their level, gathered around Lucy.

The unrestricted effect allows Lucy to be agile enough to easily escape even when surrounded by layers of obstacles.

Having seen so much, Lucy suddenly realized that the so-called information and intelligence encompassed many fields.

She concealed the origins of the wizards.

However, it is also clear how the spirit puppeteers traced their origins.

Information is gathered by perturbing the future.

Information is gathered by tracing back through history.

Gather information through soul echoes.

Information is collected through rule-based pollution.

Gathering information through global resonance.

Information is collected through energy flow.

……

In this world, all environmental factors have been covered by the Spirit Puppet's authority. Every node is a means and method for Spirit Puppet Masters to collect information. Paying these costs is not important. As long as the corresponding information can be inferred and calculated through these means, a manipulation node can be constructed.

Then they gained the power to manipulate it.

Once manipulated, more information will be leaked, leading to more controllable manipulation points, making it impossible to escape.

What Lucy needs to do is face the tests in various fields without leaving a trace, like an abyss.

(End of this chapter)