The Wizard's Secret Journey

Chapter 213 Ruins and Dragon Marrow (4.4k)

As soon as the host finished speaking, Lynn was startled.

He glanced around at the wizards without making a sound, but found that not a single wizard showed any surprise on their face, not even Felicity.

But the Black Moon Academy ruins... this is clearly a bombshell, and the people present shouldn't be reacting so calmly.

Unless, they already knew.

'It seems that while I was exploring the world of Mossy Scars, something else happened at Silver Ring Academy that I was unaware of.'

Lynn looked at Felicity and asked in a low voice, "What's the deal with these Black Moon Academy ruins?"

Felicity didn't know much about it either, only saying simply, "It seems that the ruins of Black Moon Academy were discovered east of Silver Ring Academy. The ruins weren't initially discovered by the academy, but by a group of wild wizards. However, the commotion they made when opening the ruins was so great that everyone knew about it."

"Later, the academy intervened and took over the ruins. Now, judging from what Lord Milton said, it seems that he is going to summon wizards to develop the ruins."

"I see." Lynn nodded slowly, finally understanding what was going on.

“However, I’m not interested in the Black Moon Academy ruins.” Felicity shook her head and walked out of the seminar room. “This isn’t some secret realm from a novel; the dangers far outweigh the opportunities.”

"Even if there are any benefits, it is usually the high-level wizards who benefit the most, while the low-level wizards are just cannon fodder in the past."

Lynn had wanted to stop and ask the host, Milton, for more information, but upon hearing this, she immediately abandoned the idea and restrained her restless emotions.

'Out of sight, out of mind; it's best to pretend this never happened.'

Compared to ordinary wizards, the Black Moon Academy ruins were actually more alluring to Lynn.

After all, he is the Black Moon Holy Son and can read the Black Moon script. As long as he goes there, he will basically gain something, and he will most likely not encounter any danger from the ruins themselves.

However, if the Black Moon Academy ruins were undiscovered, that would be fine, but this one is basically a publicly known ruin... let's just forget about it.

"Dad, if it's so dangerous, why would they go there on their own initiative?" Yara asked, puzzled.

“You’ll see later, Yara,” Felicity smiled. “Even if the chances of success are low, as long as it’s tempting enough, there will always be some people who want to try.”

Although Felicity was extremely gentle with Yara, she treated her like a child and didn't offer any serious explanation.

Yara nodded, half understanding. Although she was precocious, she was still a little girl after all.

Knowing something and actually experiencing it are two completely different concepts.

The three left the seminar together, followed by a few wizards, but a small number of them chose to stay.

At the entrance to the seminar, Lynn bid farewell to Felicity and walked slowly toward the public shuttle platform.

Felicity had intended to give Lynn a ride, but the old wizard's residence was completely opposite to Lynn's current residence.

Lynn didn't want to trouble Felicity, so she declined.

In fact, Lynn loved to be alone. She was like that in her previous life, when she first came to this world in Emerald Forest City, and she is like that now... the same.

'The ruins of Black Moon Academy…' Lynn murmured to himself.

When a person walks alone on the street, their thoughts inevitably wander. He recalled the expression on the host Milton's face when he made his last remarks.

It was an extremely complex emotion, a mixture of anticipation, fear, and fervor...

Although Milton looks like a middle-aged man, the air of old age about him is hard to hide...

'Mitton seems to be a wizard skilled in divination and astrology. This path is more energy-consuming than witchcraft, perhaps that's why time has been wasted.'

Since arriving in this world, Lynn has seen far too many wizards like this.

Death in one's previous life is the inevitable end, yet countless people still attempt to change it. In this world, lifespan is extended simply by advancing in rank, driving countless wizards mad with desire.

Lynn is still young, with several hundred years to live, and it's hard for him to understand the feeling of gradually approaching death.

Although he died once, that death did not lead to nothingness, but to time travel, and he was given a second life.

'However, even if I were to die again now and have a third life, I don't want to go through that again.'

Lynn shook his head, controlling his thoughts to drift elsewhere.

New life also means complete loss. In fact, those relatives, friends, and even the whole world only exist in Lynn's memory. The most important thing is that he has no way of verifying whether it is a real experience or just a story he imagined.

Shaking his head again, Lynn completely dispelled these thoughts. Just as he was about to reach the shuttle platform, a sudden inspiration struck him.

'Black Moon Academy Ruins... I remember that before going to the Mossy World, the Black Moon Exploration Association also gathered people to explore a certain Black Moon Academy ruin.'
'Could they be referring to the same ruin?'

The Black Moon Academy ruins are not commonplace; it's unlikely that two ruins would appear in such a short time... These two ruins are most likely the same one.

'In other words, the Black Moon Exploration Association's operation most likely failed, and they may have even inadvertently revealed the entire ruins to the public?'

Lynn suddenly became interested, activated the badge with his mind, and contacted Daphne.

Half an hour later, Lynn met Daphne at the Tylo shop.

"Speak, what do you want?" Daphne and Lynn were already quite familiar with each other, so she no longer spoke as politely as before. "It's only been two days since we last met. Given your personality, you definitely wouldn't be looking for me now unless something important happened."

"But I don't have enough magic stones anymore?"

Lynn didn't mind the impoliteness in Daphne's tone, and smiled as she shook her head: "I came to you this time to ask about some things related to the association."

"I knew it." Daphne pouted, a hint of disappointment in her voice that she herself didn't realize. "What happened to the association?"

"Didn't the association previously gather people to explore the Black Moon Ruins? I'd like to know the current situation. I heard that Silver Ring Academy also discovered a Black Moon Academy ruin. Are these two...?"

Daphne is a Level 2 member of the Black Moon Association, which gives her more authority than Lynn, who is a Level 1 member.

So Lynn didn't bother to go to the association's contact point to look up information herself, but instead came directly to ask Daphne.

However, while Daphne has higher authority, she also faces more restrictions.

For example, Level 2 members are required to participate in the Black Moon Gathering at least once every three months. If they are not active in any association activities for three consecutive times, they will lose their association membership. However, Level 1 members only need to participate once every six months.

"You didn't know? Well, you've been in another world all this time." Daphne brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said after thinking for a moment.

"Just as you suspected, the ruins discovered by Silver Ring Academy and the ruins discovered by the Association are the same Black Moon Academy ruins."

Lynn looked enlightened and continued, "So, the association's operation failed?"

Daphne shook her head and replied, "I don't know."

"The reason I know that the two ruins are the same ruins is because a senior from Silver Ring Academy told me that many of the wizards killed by the academy during the discovery of the Black Moon Ruins were carrying Black Moon relics... They were obviously wizards from the association."

"But the association hasn't sent any information, and the gatherings are still going on as scheduled... However, I've been busy with the shop lately and haven't been able to attend yet."

"Perhaps we can get more information at the gathering, since some of the attendees are wizards who have participated in exploring the ruins, or have friends who are wizards who have participated in exploring the ruins."

Lynn nodded slowly, but felt a little regretful.

Daphne didn't actually know much... but what good would it do her to know so much?
The two chatted for a while longer before Lynn said goodbye and left, no longer thinking about the Black Moon Ruins.

……

……

Inside the meditation room. All isolation and defensive magic spells have been activated.

Lynn sat cross-legged on the cushion, adjusting himself to his best state.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, let out a long breath, and his eyes shone brightly.

Standing up, Lynn approached the circular shimmering stone fragments that had been prepared beforehand, which were suspended in the air above the ground.

He then took out the Star Vein White Crystal, which had been ground into powder, and used his mental power to precisely control it to fall onto the Void Light Stone Fragment Carpet.

The pale white powder that shimmered with starlight melted into the treated fragments of the ethereal stone as soon as it came into contact with them, leaving dark marks.

Lynn carefully drew intricate patterns on the shattered carpet of ethereal stone.

Because the amount of Star Pulse White Crystals was only enough for his needs, he was very careful.

This step is also crucial, as it forms the foundation of the entire ritual for consuming dragon marrow. Any deviation from this step will directly lead to the failure of the entire ritual.

Fortunately, to ensure everything went perfectly, Lynn had used the World's Blessing yesterday to enhance his control over the Dragon Marrow Consumption Ritual to the highest level. Now, he performed the ritual with ease, successfully completing the base of the ritual array in about half an hour.

This is the most complex part of the entire ceremony; the rest are relatively simple.

Next, he mixed a standard unit of pure dragon marrow with crushed moon spores. Lynn solemnly took out the pure dragon marrow and precisely separated a standard unit.

For the Dragon Marrow Ritual, 0.6 units of Dragon Marrow are enough to have an 80% chance of success, but to guarantee 100% success, at least 0.95 standard units of Dragon Marrow are required.

Fearing it wasn't secure enough, Lynn increased it to one unit.

'Fortunately, the dragon marrow gifted by the Shadow Man was sufficient. After dividing it into one standard unit, there should still be enough for Good Luck to complete a bloodline sublimation ritual.'

Warcraft can also use dragon marrow, but unlike wizards, they cannot obtain only its core properties; it is usually only used to enhance their own bloodline strength.

There are many advantages to doing this, but the disadvantages are also fatal; their upper limit will depend on the strength of the bloodline itself.

The power brought by bloodline will ultimately be limited by bloodline.

This is why orthodox wizards do not rashly alter their own bloodline.

The ritual of consuming dragon marrow was a plundering ritual developed by wizards in order to perfectly overcome the shortcomings of their bloodline.

It extracts only the properties and discards all other unimportant effects, thus eliminating the limitations that dragon marrow might bring.

After mixing the dragon marrow, Lynn took out a round Anven fruit leaf and placed it in the center of the ritual array. Finally, he placed three high-grade magic stones at the three top corners of the array.

hum-

With a soft chime, the ritual array in front of them lit up with a faint light.

“Next is the final step.” Lynn took a deep breath and waved his hand, causing the mixed dragon marrow to fall onto the Anwen fruit leaf in the center of the ritual array.

In an instant, brilliant golden light surged from the edge of the array towards the center, and golden patterns appeared on the pale green leaves of the Anwen fruit. The lead-like mixed dragon marrow surged and slowly seeped into the leaves of the Anwen fruit.

After a long while, the ritual was declared over.

The shimmering, ethereal stone carpet dimmed, and the magic stone became riddled with cracks; only the central Anven Fruit Leaf underwent a transformation.

The originally pale green round leaves have now turned into a deep gold. At first glance, they are inconspicuous, but upon closer inspection, one can discover that they subtly reflect a noble pale golden arc.

This light seemed to have the power to penetrate the soul, causing Lynn to swallow hard.

Then I caught a faint, delicate fragrance.

Lynn took a deep breath and sat cross-legged in meditation.

After an unknown amount of time, he adjusted his condition to perfection again before opening his eyes and taking the dragon marrow leaf into his hand.

After examining it for a moment, Lynn picked it up, gently placed it on his forehead, and then entered into meditation.

The tried-and-tested dragon marrow ritual then proceeded rather uneventfully.

Without any particular fluctuations or difficult processes, the entire ceremony came to an end as the dragon marrow leaves completely disappeared.

Lynn slowly opened his eyes, and in that instant, a cold, upright, golden dragon eye phantom seemed to flash deep within his pupils.

But this strange phenomenon lasted for less than a second before quickly fading away.

'The effects of the Dragon Marrow Ritual will gradually become apparent over the next month... I wonder exactly what kind of enhancement I've received.'

Thinking of this, Lynn suddenly had an idea and looked at himself.

His gaze slid down line by line... Finally, in the Talents section, Lynn found a newly appeared line of characters—【Strong Soul and Resilient Body】.

By immersing himself in the line of characters and using his innate ability to perceive the truth, Lynn understood the special ability he had acquired.

Simply put, it means that both the soul and the body become stronger.

'This characteristic... doesn't seem very strong?' Lynn was slightly disappointed.

However, since the effects of the ritual need time to fully manifest, he cannot yet accurately perceive the specifics of this talent, only vaguely sensing that his physical body and soul have become stronger.

Shaking his head, Lynn swept up the marks on the ground, then summoned the black cat Good Luck to perform a bloodline sublimation ritual for it.

This ritual is much simpler than the Dragon Marrow ritual for acquiring special abilities, since if you're lucky enough to directly consume Dragon Marrow, you'll probably also get an improvement in your bloodline.

The sublimation ritual simply increases the utilization rate of dragon marrow, making the enhancement effect even better.

Two more hours passed, the ceremony ended, and good fortune had completely changed its appearance.

Originally, Good Luck was entirely black, with only some inconspicuous patterns made of silver fur on its cheeks, back, and paws.

But at this moment, all the black fur on Lucky Cat's body has disappeared, and all of it has turned into silvery-white fur like moonlight. In addition, its eyes were originally silver, so the whole cat looks like it was made of mithril!

Moreover, the aura of good fortune has also been significantly enhanced, officially advancing from Rank 0 Intermediate to Rank 0 Advanced.

'He's definitely become more handsome, but he's just too eye-catching...' Lynn looked him over carefully.

Perhaps sensing Lynn's thoughts, Good Luck gave a slight tremor, and its silver fur instantly turned into a deep black, along with its pupils.

After his bloodline was enhanced, Good Luck's ability to disguise himself clearly improved to a new level!
'Unfortunately, it's only at Tier 0 (Advanced), so it can't help me.'

Lynn patted its head and then looked at the Insight Panel.

"First-tier advanced wizard (3/100)" he murmured, his tone a mixture of joy and distress.

"Based on my current level of mastery in meditation, I'm afraid it won't be long before I reach the first stage of perfection."

"At that time, I will need to advance to the second tier..."

"But where am I supposed to get the second-tier Black Moon Meditation Technique?" Lynn was very troubled.

He had been thinking about this question ever since he was promoted to the first-level advanced stage, which is why he was so interested in the information about the Black Moon Ruins.

Lynn stood up, paced back and forth a few steps, then shook his head:
'No... no, publicly accessible ruins are too dangerous. If we go there, we might as well go directly to Black Moon Factory No. 1679.'

'…Let's leave it at that for now. Whichever choice I make, I need to address my weakness in witchcraft first.'

(End of this chapter)