Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

At noon, the sun hung high in the sky, its pure white light ravaging the boundless Emerald Forest.

It is so large that it is like a breathing deity, nurturing all things.

Zooming in, in a corner of the Emerald Forest, by a small lake, a boy who had been lying like a corpse under a big tree suddenly sat up straight—he'd come back to life!

He appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, with black hair, blue eyes, fair skin, and a slender build.

Beside him lay a glass jar containing a few drops of pale purple liquid.

Suddenly, he braced himself on the ground with both hands and lay down on the grass, retching violently.

After a while, he recovered and rolled over to lie down on the grass.

"...Anyway...it seems like I...time traveled."

He muttered to himself intermittently, "It's not Chinese, but it's a language and script that I can hear and speak."

Then, he slapped himself hard twice across the face, and the burning pain told him that this was not a dream.

He is currently feeling very nervous and fearful, and has even considered calling 110 for help from Uncle Hat.

In his past life, he was just an ordinary office worker who neither smoked nor drank heavily. He only vaguely remembered that the last thing he remembered was... a stroke of luck.

In short, he did time travel.

An extra piece of life memory appeared in my mind, along with this robe, this appearance... even my body is not the same as before!

He sighed, not out of any deep-seated hatred, but simply out of the lament of a disappointed person.

Every world is so ruthless in crushing every ordinary individual; Heaven and Earth are indifferent, treating all things as mere straw dogs!

What can you do if you don't accept the fate of this Easter egg? Should you jump into the lake now and gamble on whether you can go back?

He told himself not to be foolish and to accept this life with equanimity.

Dago Heca, this is his former name, and also the name he will soon have, a mark of his continued life.

He endured the intense pain in his head and accepted the fragmented and chaotic memories of his predecessor.

After a long while, he managed to sit up again, his body trembling. He picked up the glass jar from the ground and stared intently at the liquid medicine inside.

A few black substances were floating on the remaining pale purple liquid.

This was the culprit that caused the predecessor's sudden death: a bottle of inferior psychotropic drug tainted with an unknown substance.

Oh, by the way, this is a world with extraordinary power, and quite intense power at that, greatly influencing the course of the world.

Dago Heca was born in a rural area of ​​a remote town under the jurisdiction of the Wizarding Alliance, and his family had been ordinary farmers for generations.

At the age of 16, he was discovered to have "low-level wizarding talent" during a wizard census and was sent by the local lord to the distant Aynark Wizarding Academy to learn how to become a wizard.

Enark Wizarding Academy is located on a low mountain peak in the Emerald Forest. It is one of the countless minor members of the Wizarding Alliance, and its strength is pitifully small within the Alliance.

But for ordinary people, the college remains an insurmountable mountain.

The entire academy mountain was protected by a huge runic shield, peaceful and serene, a place that a junior wizard apprentice like Dago dreamed of climbing.

At the foot of the mountain lies the town of Enark, which was established in conjunction with the Enark Wizarding Academy and is an important source of supplies for the academy.

The town is managed and protected by the academy's unemployed wizards, and the order is relatively stable.

Dargo is one of the countless novice wizards in the academy, belonging to the very bottom of the wizarding ecosystem.

According to the memories of the predecessor, apprentice wizards are divided into three levels, and the symbols for each level are different.

The primary task of a first-level apprentice wizard is to practice meditation in order to sense the presence of spiritual power.

This is the lowest level of the entire wizarding ecosystem. In the academy, even a first-level apprentice wizard doesn't have the qualifications to reside on the mountain.

More importantly, a first-level apprentice must sense spiritual power before the age of eighteen to advance to the second-level apprentice stage.

Dago is seventeen and a half years old this year, and he has been stuck at the first-level apprentice level for a full year and a half.

This is enough to show just how rudimentary his basic wizarding talent is!

Sometimes he even wondered if he had been tricked by capital, wasting so much money and time, only to gain a slightly more agile mind in the end.

So in the last six months, he took drugs like crazy; he didn't want to go back to an ordinary life.

Just like someone living in darkness who has seen the light, who would want to go back to darkness?

Over the past six months, he has spent a large portion of his savings until he was completely depleted, eventually reduced to only being able to drink inferior potions to practice meditation.

As the saying goes, if you walk by the river long enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet.

In his memory, he came to the big tree by the lake as usual today. After drinking the potion containing black substance with his eyes closed, he began to meditate.

However, unexpectedly, the black substance appeared in the mental space. Like cancer cells, it rapidly multiplied and spread throughout the mental space of the predecessor.

Until it transformed into a pitch-black abyss, swallowing the soul and consciousness of its predecessor in the spiritual space.

"What is this thing? What kind of world is this? You can die suddenly at the drop of a hat?"

After reviewing the memories of his predecessor before his soul was annihilated, he broke out in a cold sweat. This world is too dangerous!

He spent a long time using countless inspirational quotes from his past life to soothe his wounded heart before he gradually calmed down.

Ultimately, he decided to avenge his predecessor first—no, now also his enemy, the heartless merchant in town who had killed his predecessor.

Otherwise, many more first-level wizard apprentices like him would fall victim to his schemes and die without knowing why.

He walked slowly toward the shallows by the lake, casually taking off his two deerskin boots and tossing them onto the grass.

He rolled up the hem and sleeves of his robe and stepped into the lake in front of him.

The cool lake water went up to my ankles and slowly enveloped my calves.

Dago bent down, scooped up some water, and splashed it on his face. He immediately felt comfortable and relaxed.

On the gently rippling water, the image of a handsome young man swayed and moved, with black hair, sword-like eyebrows, and blue eyes...

However, his azure eyes were lifeless, his skin was dull and lackluster, his face was slightly puffy, and his dark circles were particularly noticeable, giving him the air of an empty young master.

"What a waste of such a handsome face. If I had looked like this in my past life and been a gigolo, I would have made a fortune long ago."

Dago said with some resentment, but then he beamed with joy, for now everything was his.

He kicked the water, scattering the reflection in front of him, and slowly turned and walked towards the green grass on the shore.

After tidying up the scattered items, I prepared to return to the "home" from my past life's memories.

Originally, he lived in a rented house in the working class of the town. After frantically investing his money in promotion, he became so poor that he could not even afford the rent and had to move out of the rented house and become homeless.

Finally, an old hunter named Roland took pity on him and gave him a sanctuary in the forest outside the town to live in.

Dago plans to stay at the shelter temporarily so he can advance to the level two apprentice wizard as soon as possible.

The person who already had little social life now lives a completely secluded and solitary existence.

.........

Following the path to the shelter from his predecessor's memories, he wound his way through the secluded forest until he finally arrived at a mound covered with withered branches and leaves, where he stopped.

This is a small house built against the hillside, hidden under withered branches, and constructed of piled stones.

This is his former home now, and it will be his home in the future.

After glancing at the tightly closed wooden door, Dago felt a little safer.

Dargo fumbled for the brass key in his bag and opened the wooden door, which was more symbolic than practical.

Stepping inside, the cabin was stuffy and humid, with a faint mist swirling in the air, and some insect-repelling herbs were still covering the stone fireplace.

Insect-repelling plants are common vegetation in wild forests and are an essential resource for survival in the wild.

The smoke produced by these can drive away most insects and animals in the forest.

The room was dimly lit, with a roof made of thick tree trunks, and the overall space was not large, only about seven or eight square meters.

Inside were only some basic household items: a small wooden bed, a table and chairs, a rice container, a water tank...

That's basically all there is to it; it's very basic.

Dago went to the water tank, scooped up a ladle of water with a wooden ladle, sat on the stool, and gulped down several mouthfuls of water.

He didn't dare drink the water from the lake; in the wild, parasitic infection was the most dangerous thing.

On the wooden table were remnants of blackened, hard bread that the previous owner had left over.

Dagger didn't care about anything else and grabbed the black bread, eating it in big mouthfuls.

At this point, there was no need to worry about table manners; the black bread injected some vitality into this withered body.

Deep within my mind, a faint, persistent pain still lingers, as if it's tearing my head apart.

The annihilation of the soul of the previous incarnation, coupled with countless fragments of memory flooding into the mind.

This left his mind completely blank, and he could only rub his temples, trying to expel some of the pain from his head.

"Runes," "Wizard Alliance," "Anak Wizarding Academy," "Bloodline Origins," "The Age of Change"... these mixed memories raced through my mind.

The most important thing right now is to process the sudden influx of information into his mind—adapting to his new identity, his family, and the layout and direction of the town and forest.

As for the Academy of Wizarding Arts, sorry, the predecessor never even truly set foot inside its gates.

Someone like the original, a first-level wizard apprentice, who has neither talent nor much money, would be considered a waste of space by the academy if they were recruited.

The meditation method he's currently practicing is a generic one he bought in town called "General Wizard Meditation Method," which cost him quite a bit of money.

What a complete traitor!

In the eyes of the Aynark Wizarding Academy, these first-level apprentice wizards are like leeks that are harvested, only to grow back after being cut down once.

They euphemistically call it: "The path is under your feet, and only apprentice wizards who have independently cultivated their spiritual power are worthy of entering the academy for further study."

To put it bluntly, the academy only accepts wealthy and talented apprentice wizards.

Becoming a second-level apprentice wizard is the first hurdle to overcome when entering the wizarding world.

They will be registered and certified by the Wizarding Alliance, allowing them to learn spells and thus pry open a corner of the wizarding world.

The Wizarding Alliance has a mandatory rule: anyone who has not advanced to the second-level wizard apprentice level before the age of eighteen will never be registered or certified again.

"Is this why you're so desperate to become a second-level wizard apprentice within six months?"

"Dago sighed sadly."

This was the deepest obsession left in his mind from his past life: he had to embark on the path of a wizard and advance to the level of a second-level wizard apprentice within six months.

"Okay, I agree. I will do everything in my power to reach level two within six months!"

Dago silently repeated to himself.

Suddenly, he felt the pain in his head lessen considerably.

Dago's expression changed, it seems that the resentment left over from his previous life has dissipated!

"Looks like we're really being forced into this situation; we have no choice but to do it."

Dago's expression softened somewhat, and the ups and downs of his emotions, coupled with the dark and stuffy atmosphere of the cabin, made him feel sleepy.

He walked straight to the wooden bed, too lazy to even take off his clothes, and simply lay down on it, falling into a deep sleep.