Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

Dago went into his room, stood quietly by the window for a while, and then drew the curtains, completely blocking out the light.

After doing all this, he walked to the center of the living room, took out the Illusionary Dream Sphere from his storage ring, and gently placed it on the living room table.

Dago channeled a large amount of mental energy, and transparent ripples emanated from the crystal ball. A tranquil purple hue spread out, and countless shimmering points of light appeared. Everything around Dago drifted away.

He was now bathed in a vast and mysterious purple light, like a starry sky, and his mind was replaying what Bernal had told him.

"The legends and deeds of Melville predate the Forest of Mirrors."

Therefore, the owner of the Mysterious Garden should not be Melville, but rather a powerful Mirror Forest wizard who obtained Melville's Dream Orb.

As Dago pondered this, he reached out and gently touched a shimmering point of light under the dark purple night sky. In an instant, the scene before him completely changed.

The scene before him was that he was in a vast expanse of ice and snow, surrounded by boundless snowfields, with steep glaciers and majestic ice cliffs in the distance, and the magnificent aurora borealis swaying endlessly overhead.

Dago stared at all of this in a daze, and as he touched the other points of light around his body again, the scene before him changed once more.

He suddenly found himself atop a blazing volcano, with a crater billowing with sulfurous smoke and flames before him, flowing lava beneath his feet, and volcanoes on the verge of eruption all around him. As far as the eye could see, it was a completely red world of lava.

As Dago continued to touch the light spots, the surrounding scenery constantly changed.

Sometimes he would appear in a dreamlike, glowing forest, surrounded by enormous luminous plants, with colorful flowers blooming in the darkness, and starlight flowing on the trees and grass, almost as dreamlike as Pandora in the movie Avatar from his previous life.

Sometimes he appears in a strange city made entirely of metal, where all the buildings and streets are products of top-quality metal construction, and many exquisite and beautiful metal figures come and go around him.

Sometimes he would stand on a huge, fast-moving, floating whale, a white whale whose size was indescribable, with countless pairs of snow-white feathered wings, which carried him through layers of thick clouds.

Dargo embarks on one fantastical adventure after another, traversing bizarre places never seen in wizarding books or even imagined, witnessing one strange and wonderful scene after another.

Each time the holographic immersive scene finishes playing, the purple night sky rises again, and shimmering points of light flow around him like a river.

Is this the Dream Sphere?

"I never imagined that what I risked my life to get would turn out to be a toy!"

Dago looked at the Dream Sphere in his hand, his expression full of complex emotions.

The Dream Sphere can replicate certain scenes that the holder currently sees or remembers, storing them in the form of light points. They can be viewed at any time, creating an immersive experience, just like a high-end holographic cinema!

"But for me, this feature is still somewhat useful."

The magnificent, bizarre, and fantastical scenes preserved within the Dream Sphere have been helpful for Dago in comprehending the unique realm of the Dharma Seal. However, the progress of his Soul Dharma Seal [Winter Star] during its transformation period has been slow for a long time due to Dago's lack of impression and understanding of the "Winter Star" realm.

With the help of the Dream Sphere, perhaps by looking through the holographic images related to the magnificent winter star scene, I can break through this bottleneck.

Another point is the core of the Illusionary Dream Sphere, the Constant Change Spell. Dago's eyes flashed; he would soon break through to the late stage of level one and be able to condense a second soul seal.

Dago had no clue about this second soul seal, but now that he had the ever-changing spell of the Illusionary Dream Orb, he might be able to get some inspiration and enlightenment.

After putting away the Dream Sphere, Dago sat on the sofa in the living room. In the dimly lit room, he felt the energy fluctuations that occasionally surged outside the window and the tense "lively" atmosphere. Dago recalled his conversation with Bernal once again.

"A defeat so magnificent!"

Dago repeated these words softly, reached out, and gently plucked a beautiful rose from the vase in front of him, examining it closely.

"Even the most magnificent and dazzling failure is still a failure."

A faint chill flowed from between her long, slender fingers, preserving the delicate beauty of the rose before it fell to the ground and shattered into ice shards.

"I don't want to lose, I want to win!"

Dago got up, calmly walked out of the room, and headed to the bustling magic training hall to improve his skills.

..............

......

In the days that followed, Dago's daily routine consisted of meditation, watching the holographic images of Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto in his solar system that remained in the Dream Sphere, and practicing spells.

The selection process for the Thorn Ring is about to begin, and many Ring Wizards have become "diligent and hardworking".

The entire French circuit was in a tense "exam preparation" atmosphere, much like the school scene in his previous life when final exams were approaching. This tense atmosphere did not have much impact on Dago, because his daily routine was always ascetic practice.

..................... ..

"Is this the ancient potion you mentioned? What's its name?"

Inside Bernal's secret base, Dago looked at the tiny medicine bottle in his hand, which was only about the size of a little finger, and asked Bernal a question.

"Solomon's Patronage".

Bernal said, "Solomon is a legendary wizard in the wizarding world, known as the 'Ultimate Wisdom.' Legend has it that his arms are covered with fine thorns coated with a deadly poison that inflicts endless pain. However, if one can endure this pain, one can gain his wisdom that understands the sun, moon, and stars."

"A very fitting name."

Dago examined the dark purple liquid in the crystal vial and said softly.

"I've only prepared one bottle so far. If one bottle is enough to reach your limit, then you can save on the rest of the materials."

Bernal said, turning and walking toward his messy potion-making table, saying as he went, "I've also prepared another potion for you. If you feel like you can't take it anymore while you're taking the other medicine, take this potion. It will instantly relieve your pain, but the effects of 'Solomon's Soothing' will be completely interrupted."

As Bernal was speaking, he heard Dago's decisive and firm words: "No need."

Dago looked at Bernal calmly. "The thing I'm best at is dealing with all kinds of pain."

After saying that, he picked up the ancient potion "Solomon's Blessing" and drank it all in one gulp.

"It really hurts!"

Even though Dago had prepared himself mentally, when the first wave of pain hit, he felt he had underestimated it.

The pain is like someone drilling open your skull with an electric drill, then sprinkling cumin and chili powder on your white brain, and finally pouring a spoonful of boiling hot oil over it.

At first, the pain was limited to the head, then it began to spread along the cheeks, neck, and chest to the whole body, with the whole body covered in a stinging sensation like being pricked by needles, which then turned into an electric shock-like tingling, and suddenly turned cold and then hot.

Bernal stood quietly beside Dago after he took the medicine and said in a low voice, "Do not activate any magical energy. The potion's energy is transforming your body. Use your willpower to fight your way out."

He watched silently as Dago, who had been standing, suddenly collapsed to the ground, clutching his head with both hands and arching his body like a shrimp. Dago's body trembled violently, and his expression quickly became ferocious and terrifying.

Veins bulged on his forehead and face, completely ruining his original heroic spirit and handsomeness. Dago's gums were bleeding from being bitten, and he was covered in sweat. His eyes were wide open, but there was no focus in that azure blue, indicating that he had fallen into some kind of blurred consciousness.

Even in such agony, Dago didn't utter a single sound.