Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

With a glint in his eyes, Dago took out the magic box that served as a guide. Before he could make any further moves, the magic box, made of countless brass gears, suddenly disintegrated on its own, flowing into the circular groove like water.

"Click click click—"

The continuous whirring of metal mechanisms made Dagger instinctively take a step back, and then he saw two metal cylinders, seemingly cast in brass, rapidly rise from the ground.

This vibration is not simply the displacement of soil and rocks, but a more sophisticated kind of vibration, as if some slumbering mechanical behemoth deep within the earth's crust is adjusting its breathing frequency.

As the metal cylinder rose, the surrounding air seemed to be compressed by some invisible force field, emitting a low hum.

The pillars are engraved with intricate and beautiful patterns, resembling layers of intertwined black vines...

Dago’s Eye of Truth opened instantly, and a stream of light flowed deep within his pupils.

In his view, those so-called "black vines" were not decorations at all, but solidified high-density energy transmission circuits.

They are arranged in a geometric logic that defies conventional magic, bringing together a vast underground energy network at a single point.

"bite--"

Something flew out from between the metal cylinders, and Dago caught it in his hand.

He opened his palm and found a golden gear about the size of a thumbnail, which looked incredibly exquisite.

The craftsmanship of this gear far surpasses any forging technique that Dagger knows of; every texture on its surface meshes with a certain frequency in the air with micron-level precision.

It was as if it were not just a component, but a living, breathing metallic life form.

Before Dago could examine it closely, a strong energy fluctuation emanated from his eyes. Streams of light rapidly intertwined between the two brass metal cylinders, eventually transforming into a white vortex resembling an archway. A faint, mysterious, and ancient aura emanated from within the vortex.

"That saved me the trouble of finding the entrance."

Dago surveyed the vortex archway before him, noticing wisps of gray smoke swirling like snakes around the vortex.

As a wizard who seeks the truth, Dargo never believed in the so-called "safety".

He didn't approach rashly, but instead took out a specially made probe from his spatial ring and carefully probed the drifting smoke.

The probe had barely touched the edge of the smoke when it silently turned into powder. The annihilation was not physical destruction, but rather the material structure completing a process that would take billions of years in an instant, completely weathering away.

His eyes flickered slightly as he reached out and gently touched the gray smoke, watching it slip away like sand through his fingers. A faint sense of weariness emanated from his fingertips—the Time Poison.

Only sufficiently ancient entrances to secret realms can contain the Time Poison, suggesting that the Mechanical Heart Ruins are indeed quite old.

This power... is both fascinating and terrifying.

Dago spread his five fingers and tried several methods to intercept a portion of the Time Poison, but all of them failed.

The net woven from mental energy broke the moment it came into contact with the smoke, and the elemental container also collapsed because it could not bear the weight of "time".

The gray mist seemed to mock the arrogance of mortals, following the rules of a higher dimension, and flowed away from Dago's control.

In the wizarding world, there are several schools of magic that are recognized as transcending ordinary elemental magic, possessing an unparalleled and exalted status. Once mastered, they will undoubtedly possess immense power that others cannot attain.

Time spells, space spells... are all included.

On the wizard's path of seeking truth, these two are like two insurmountable mountains.

It is already an extraordinary combination of opportunity and talent that Dargo was able to touch the threshold of space.

Especially time-based spells; Dago searched through all the wizarding books but couldn't find any examples of anyone who had mastered the power of time.

To master time means to possess infinite lifespan, infinite wisdom, and infinite power. Even in ancient times, or even earlier, the power of time was a vague and unattainable legend.

Dago stared at the lingering trace of age on his fingertips, a longing he couldn't quite put into words rising within him.

If he could decipher the rules of this power, even just a fraction of it, it would be enough for him to take a giant leap on the path to truth. But this desire was immediately extinguished by the cold water of reason.

Any spells that are named after time that are currently circulating are not true time-based spells, such as the Dark Lord of the Resurrected Society who died at the hands of Dago.

The "Aging Aura" he once cast was merely a high-ranking curse spell that forcibly stripped the opponent of their life force, thus achieving an effect similar to being rapidly aged by the passage of time.

True rules cannot be deceived.

Having just successfully integrated the power of space into his own spell system, Dago's ambition swelled, and he became so greedy that he even conceived the idea of ​​touching the Throne of Time.

As it turns out, this was nothing but wishful thinking.

He took a deep breath and forcibly severed his mental energy's greedy exploration of the gray mist.

This kind of rational decision-making is an essential quality for a mature wizard.

Dago shook his head, dismissing the unrealistic idea, and prepared to enter the vortex archway.

"Why are you so short?"

Found by the puppet gray goat "Short-tailed III", the vortex archway that opened the Pandora's Box, after it was fully formed, only reached Go's chest in height.

This is not a design flaw, but a distinct mark of racial characteristics.

Dago had to bend over to get in, let alone the giant ice serpent.

Considering the height of the dwarves, Dago suddenly understood the height of the vortex archway, which only served to confirm that it was indeed the correct entrance to the Mechanical Heart.

Before entering, Dago was not careless at all. He had layers of magical shields on his body, and his mental energy scanned the surrounding spatial fluctuations at a high frequency, like a radar.

In the face of unknown rules, every act of caution is an act of taking responsibility for life.

Dago instructed the Great Ice Serpent to guard the entrance. He lowered his head slightly, bent over, and stepped gently into the vortex archway.

The moment of spatial transition is not the dizzying sensation of a typical teleportation, but rather a feeling of being squeezed into a narrow pipe.

The surroundings were filled with the grating sound of metal scraping together, as if countless intricate machines were whispering in his ear.

"Whoosh—"

Before the feeling of pressure had subsided, an extremely dangerous warning pierced Dago's nerves.

Without the slightest hesitation, the moment he stepped out of the void, he instinctively activated the pre-set defensive magic.

"Clang! Thud—"

The thick, reddish-brown cloud struck the smooth, deep silver round shield with a metallic clang.

That was not an ordinary impact, but a kind of erosion with extremely strong corrosive and penetrating power.

The runes on the surface of the deep silver shield flickered wildly, emitting mournful cries of unbearable strain.

The deep silver shield was flung outwards with tremendous force, unleashing immense energy that shattered the thick clouds. Immediately afterward, a tall and slender figure appeared from the void.

With blue eyes, black hair, and a handsome yet heroic face, it was none other than Dago, who had just entered the secret realm.

At this moment, Dago frowned slightly as he looked at the magic shield in front of him, which was concave in the center and covered with large areas of rust marks.

This round shield is no ordinary item; it is a high-level magical artifact infused with memory metal and mithril. However, it now appears to have been weathered by hundreds of years of wind and rain, covered in rust and with a dim spiritual light.

He wasn't too surprised to be attacked as soon as he entered, since exploring any ancient secret realm always carries risks, and being "killed upon entry" is quite normal.

In the wizarding world, accidents are the norm, and safety is merely a temporary illusion.

Dago casually dismissed the broken round shield, and with a slight movement of his fingertips, several more subtle threads of mental energy were quietly laid down, bringing the surrounding space into his perception.

What truly surprised him was what attacked him.

The thick, reddish-brown cloud that he had forcibly dispersed with his magic was now gathering again not far away, and was vaguely transforming into a huge shape that resembled a beast or a rhinoceros.

Dargo's eyes were cold as he quickly constructed a targeted model in his mind, and the feast of exploring the unknown had only just begun.