Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 509 The Truth About Ritual Magic

The axe formed from the power of Mister collided with the spider legs enhanced by the Blood River Plane. In an instant, Locke hallucinated, seeing a crimson tide, as if it were a small mountain, crashing down on him.

Locke was sent flying by this enormous force.

Nidhogg's pupils suddenly contracted. Even though the highly compressed Mist Force was no match for Blood River, which had achieved a complete and overwhelming victory in terms of total power, the axe formed by the extremely compressed Mist Force sliced ​​through his permanent defensive force field like a stone cutting into tofu, severing one of his spider legs.

Nidhogg gritted his teeth, feeling a tremendous threat, and his eyes revealed extreme malice. "This man cannot be allowed to remain in the Land of the Six Towers, otherwise my Basil family will never have a chance to rise again."

"One Sura Archmage is enough."

"I don't want a second Sura the Great Wizard to appear."

The ritual magic circle behind Nidhogg activated once more, borrowing even more power from the Blood River Plane. His body swelled up again, and his skin was covered with patterns.

"Power, Blood River Plane, give me more power."

A crimson defensive shield formed around his body. He leaned forward, stepping on a small hill, and stomped directly at Locke.

Locke stared at Nidhogg, who moved like a mountain peak, and was slightly taken aback, because the opponent's strength had clearly exceeded the first level.

"By drawing upon the power of other dimensions, one can use external forces to enhance their own power beyond their individual limits. Is this ritual magic?"

Locke moved swiftly behind him as the Azure Leaf Dragon Sparrow flapped its wings, allowing him to dodge the attacks of the opponent's massive size and the remaining four spider legs.

Locke frowned. He realized that Nidhogg, now using a simplified version of the Great Magic, was able to break through his own natural force field.

Continuing to fight would be seriously disadvantageous to them.

The King of the Dead, whom he had summoned, picked up a bone sword and tried to approach Nidhogg, but before he could get close, he was blown down by the magical pressure mixed with the power of the Blood River Plane, and the next moment, he was destroyed by one of its spider legs.

After all, it's just an archaeological spell at the vaporization stage.

Locke's master limited the level of the archaeological undead he summoned.

Currently, he only possesses three archaeology spells: the Historical Pointer, Summon the Undead King, and Summon the Tomb King.

The more advanced archaeological spells in the Witch King's Grimoire are slow to learn due to the patriarch's level restrictions.

As history repeats itself, I am learning rapidly, but I have not yet fully mastered it.

Nidhogg spat out streaks of poisonous silk like shooting stars, and with its spider instincts, it predicted Locke's movements. Several times, the silk had already touched Locke's body and successfully transferred the bloodline toxins, but Locke used the Primal Flame and potion-making techniques to completely remove the bloodline toxins.

"I can handle a bloodline toxin of only the first level. Besides, I have already endured so many kinds of bloodline toxins from the wizard Basil, and I also have a lot of his memory fragments. My understanding of bloodline toxins has greatly improved."

Locke looked at Nidhogg, "There's nothing we can do. After all, he's a wizard at the first stage of crystallization."

"That's the only one we can use."

The other party clearly had ill intentions, and this matter could not be resolved peacefully.

Primal runes appeared on Locke's forehead, and a terrifying aura emanated from him. At the same time, his heart stopped beating for a moment. The next instant, as his heart resumed beating, a vast amount of primal energy converged upon him.

Even the nature within the Poison Valley rejoiced at Locke's revelation of his identity.

With the help of the Beast Panel to amplify magic pressure, Locke's magic pressure officially surpassed 9000 for the first time, directly reaching 9999.

Although the data on the beast panel can be doubled, each increase after 9000 is drastically different, and there is also the issue of the soul limit, so it is impossible for Locke's magic pressure to exceed 10000.

Unless a wizard breaks through the limits of his soul a second time, no wizard can possibly break through 10,000 magic pressure!
At that time, Nidhogg's magical pressure and Locke's magical pressure were exactly the same for the first time.

Moreover, Nidhogg sensed a tremendous threat from Locke; a deep-seated fear exploded within him in an instant.

Nidhogg was startled and quickly used the Viper Eye power of the Mind School to look at Locke, trying to intimidate him. However, Locke used Dragon's Might to deflect the attack, causing Nidhogg to momentarily lose his composure.

At the same time, Locke seized the opportunity and poured all his magical pressure into the natural force field, transforming it into a green spear. In an instant, the spear severed another of Nidhogg's spider legs, leaving him with only three legs, turning him into a three-legged spider.

Anger and fear intensified simultaneously in Nidhogg's eyes. "Damn it, he can even enhance himself."

"Potion science, breeding science, botany, archaeology, bloodline science..."

“His methods are so numerous that they are impossible to guard against.” Nidhogg’s eyes flashed with doubt. “Where could a commoner wizard get so many resources to study? Is he really a super genius? I have completely offended this person. No, I absolutely cannot let him get away unscathed.”

"I have no way out."

A mad glint flashed in Nidhogg's eyes. "The Blood River Plane, lend me more, more, I need even more power."

The next moment, a phantom of a blood river appeared in the sky, and a river of blood rushed into his soul, actually lending him more power through ritual magic.

“Hahaha…” Nidhogg looked at Locke and said viciously, “Foolish liquefaction stage wizard, you will never understand the power of crystallization wizard. The power I borrowed from ritual magic has no limits.”

Nidhogg's spider legs, empowered by over a dozen bloodline spells and the power of the Blood River, lashed out at Locke. The immense impact created a trench in the ground even before it reached it.

Locke directly used the power of Myster to clash head-on with it. The next moment, one of Nidhogg's huge spider legs was cut off by the power of Myster and he was sent flying. Nidhogg was also transformed into a two-legged spider.

Even Locke, who used the ferocious beast template, was sent flying. His natural force field was completely shattered for a moment, and the weapon formed by the compression of the eternal defensive force field cracked inch by inch.

Fortunately, he possessed immortal dragon scales that protected his body, which is why he wasn't killed by that kick.

Locke rolled on the ground; the situation before him was more dangerous than ever before.

This was his first battle against a wizard of a higher level than himself. The opponent's ritual magic was indeed powerful. Before the mediocre wizard used the ritual magic, he was completely overwhelmed by him. After the ritual magic was used, even if he used the power of the Myster, the beast panel, the immortal dragon scales, and archaeological methods all at once, he could only defeat him to this extent.

Locke used the Great Azure Leaf Dragon Sparrow to dodge the poisonous threads spat out by the opponent, and looked at Nidhogg, "His power is still increasing? Could it be that what he said is true, that the support the Blood River level has for him is limitless?"

"How is this possible?"

“If that’s the case, I have one last move.” Locke’s eyes were resolute. “I will end my own life in the secret realm and force myself out of it. Once out of the secret realm, I will use the White Dragon Ring to summon the power of the White Dragon Tower and fight Nidhogg for authority.” Locke dodged the opponent’s attacks with difficulty, ready to attack his own heart at any time. Suddenly, he looked at Nidhogg. “No, something’s wrong with Nidhogg.”

At that moment, Nidhogg was frantically attacking his surroundings, he had fallen into a state of madness, "This wizard cannot be allowed to live!"

"They cannot be spared! Kill! Kill!"

A raging river of blood began to boil around him, and Nidhogg's body grew larger and larger, but at the same time, his body began to become transparent.

Nidhogg suddenly awoke. "No, I borrowed far too much power from the distant void using ritual magic."

"Oh no, this has gone too far."

"Damn it, the Blood River has locked onto my soul and is demanding repayment." His eyes were clear for only a moment, and then, as the Blood River continued to pour power into him, his body kept growing larger, until he was like a giant that reached the sky and the earth.

His strength has clearly increased from surpassing the first ring to approaching the second ring. Locke even suspects that his current body already possesses the strength of a second ring.

The problem is that it was entirely the result of Blood River pouring its power into his body.

So Blood River began to recall his body and his soul, to reclaim the power that had been lent to him, and at the same time, to take back his body and soul.

In the original wizarding realm, one could never die under any circumstances.

But at this moment, Nidhogg broke this limitation. Because of his unbridled use of ritual magic and the mysterious power of the distant void, he had completely lost control.

Locke didn't know what would happen if his soul were summoned to the River of Blood, but judging from the current situation, it certainly wouldn't be a good thing.

"No!" A sliver of reason reappeared in Nidhogg's eyes, but he didn't retain it for long, because he now possessed power equivalent to the second ring, transforming into a giant as large as heaven and earth.

He connects heaven and earth.

He stepped into a valley of deadly poison.

A dimensional portal opened behind Nidhogg, attempting to suck him in completely. At that moment, his body became semi-illusory, a special phenomenon caused by the dimensional principles from the Blood River Plane pouring into his body.

Anyway, it's not a good thing.

Nidhogg suddenly lowered its head and extended a mental invitation to Locke, "Locke Augustine, I have been watching you ever since you left the poison pool."

"Sign a contract with me and I will grant you unlimited power. You can borrow power from me without limit, strengthen your body, and achieve unlimited self-healing. I can give you a body that will never die or fail."

"Sign a contract with me..."

Locke looked at the god-like 'Nidhogg' and knew that the person he was talking to was not a wizard from the Basil family, but a will of the Blood River Plane, or perhaps the will of the Blood River Plane, or something else entirely.

"So this is ritual magic." Locke's expression turned solemn. "Those wizards who invented ritual magic are incredibly audacious. This is simply a loan issued to wizards in the wizarding world by some special, advanced world in the distant void whose will is too active."

"If you use it cautiously under normal circumstances, it's fine. But if you lack willpower and borrow it recklessly, the other party won't mind and will take advantage of the wizard who borrowed its power."

"Collect the interest."

Locke's expression changed slightly. He had no reason to agree, especially now that he had witnessed the other party about to take advantage of a wizard.

Nidhogg is still waiting for Locke's response, but perhaps because Locke has only used a lot of methods to increase the magic pressure to 9999, and only the bloodline of the Three-Eyed Tiger Cat is in the first stage of crystallization, he is not considered a true crystallized wizard.

Therefore, after waiting for a while and finding that Locke had not responded, Nidhogg stopped waiting and suddenly said coldly, "Locke Augustine, the gate to the Blood River Plane is always open to you."

"In the infinite void, I am the most generous, and I can promise you that I can lend you infinite power!"

The next moment, Nidhogg walked into the dimensional gate on his own initiative. Nidhogg struggled one last time. After all, he was a first-ring crystallized wizard with a magic pressure of 9100.

So, even when faced with the threat of death, he still made one last effort to save himself.

Unfortunately, the Blood River Plane directly increased his demonic pressure to an absurd 15,000, raising his power to the level of the second ring.

In this way, it would be equivalent to the Blood River Plane and the Wizarding World jointly investing in him, and since the Blood River Plane currently holds the majority of the shares, they could directly pull him away from the Wizarding World.

"No! Help! Beholder, save me!" Nidhogg cried out like a drowning man grasping at a straw, reaching out frantically and pleading for help from Locke, the enemy he had been trying to kill.

But in the end, he still stepped into the dimensional gate. At the same time, as he stepped into the dimensional gate, a torrent of magic was spat out by the Blood River dimensional plane behind the dimensional gate.

"What is this?" Locke's eyes showed a hint of doubt. "Did the Blood River Plane spit out all the magical power contained within Nidhogg's soul?"

"So, the Blood River Plane only wants Nidhogg's soul?"

"From the perspective of energy conservation, the Blood River Plane just now took back the power it lent to Nidhogg and returned the power of the Wizarding Plane. So only Nidhogg's soul was taken away by it."

"The Blood River Plane wants souls? No, the Blood River Plane wants high-value souls." Locke realized. "Moreover, at least the souls of wizards at the first stage of crystallization."

Locke proactively opened the Druid Ring, summoning a dimensional gate in mid-air to receive the purest magical tidal energy formed from the decomposition of Nidhogg's spell model, magical pressure structure, bloodline power, and true blood by the Blood River Plane after his death.

These magical tides are so pure that simply collecting them within the Druid's Ring greatly benefits the hundred-acre forest sanctuary, saving a significant amount of money on soil and fertilizer.

That just so happens, I'm currently short of money.

Previously, in order to make the Forest Sanctuary a fully grown forest, he spent all the money in his pocket.

After Nidhogg was sucked into the Blood River plane, Locke fell from mid-air. He shut down the original runes and released Hydra, just as the magical pressure within Hydra was completely exhausted.

In this battle, I used all my skills and almost lost.

"Is this the power of a wizard at the first stage of crystallization?"

"A difference of just one level makes a world of difference in a fight," Locke said thankfully. "Luckily, the opponent's ritual magic went out of control; it was practically a self-destruction."

(End of this chapter)