Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

Dago watched as the rotting bird carcass melted into the soil like wax, followed by a semi-illusory, glowing bird that flew out of the ground and eventually turned into countless points of light that merged into the vast forest.

Evaque continued this practice, carrying out animal carcasses from the swamp one by one and sending their souls away in a mysterious ritual with utmost devotion.

After a wizard is formally promoted, their soul undergoes a preliminary sublimation, and even if their physical body is damaged, there is a certain probability that their soul can be preserved.

If there are special secret techniques at this time, the wizard can also survive for a long time in the form of a soul, but it is difficult to go any further and he will eventually be unable to avoid returning to the land of peace.

During the "ritual" in Evaque, Dago kept thinking about the relationship between the soul and the body. For some reason, watching Evaque's ritual gave him an unprecedented sense of peace and tranquility.

He watched as the mud in the swamp gradually decreased and the water level dropped inch by inch as the animal carcasses were removed.

Three days later, as dusk approached the full moon, the entire swamp completely vanished, replaced by a dried-up basin. All the mud in the swamp had disappeared, and in the center of the basin stood a black, faceless stone figure.

"That's fine."

After cleaning himself up, Evaque gave Dago a look and led him step by step into the basin, toward the location of the black stone figure.

At this moment, the sunlight completely disappeared, and a full moon, like a disc, rose from the treetops.

Silver moonlight bathed the entire basin, and all the sounds of insects and birds in the jungle had faded away, leaving the whole forest enveloped in a tremendous atmosphere of mystery and tranquility.

Dago followed Evaque to the stone man and watched as Evaque took out a strangely shaped bone knife from a leather pouch, cut his own palm, and then dripped his blood onto the stone man's head.

"Witnesses are also required, otherwise they will not be qualified to enter the Temple of Spirits."

Evaque handed the bone knife to Dago, looked him into the eyes, and said seriously, "I need to inform you in advance that most spells will be unusable once you enter the Temple of Spirits."

"If you regret it now, it's not too late, Dago."

Dago remained silent for a moment, then calmly took the bone knife from Evaque's hand, and mimicking Evaque's actions, cut his palm and dripped blood onto the stone statue.

Upon seeing this, Evaquer visibly relaxed, and his gaze towards him became increasingly affectionate and trusting.

After returning the bone knife to Evaque, he began to chant an ancient and difficult incantation in a rapid voice, while his fingers, stained with blood, began to draw strange patterns on the surface of the stone figure.

It resembles some kind of special rune, or perhaps the totem symbols of an ancient tribe.

Evaque added more blood several more times until the pattern covered the entire stone man. At that moment, the full moon above them rose directly into the sky, and its light shone on the stone man.

A thin layer of silver mist rose up, and the black stone figure trembled slightly. Then, two black holes suddenly appeared on its face, which had no facial features, from which thick black liquid flowed continuously.

"Um?!"

Dago noticed the stone man's "tears" and felt a strange sense of familiarity, involuntarily uttering a slightly surprised sound.

"Have you seen this sacrificial stone sculpture before?"

Evaque turned to look at him, slowly wiping the bloodstains from his hands.

"No."

Dago shook his head and explained, "I've only seen similar things."

He briefly told Evaque about the "shrine" pillars he had seen before.

Yes, the stone figure in front of them is made of a material that is very similar to the sacred altar that Dago has seen. They are both made of similar materials and both ooze black liquid of unknown composition.

He had initially thought it was just a resemblance, but after hearing his account, Evaque became certain of his guess.

"Yes, the sacrificial spirit pillars were indeed cast from sacred shrine stones, your intuition is correct."

"Sacred Niche Stone"

Dago couldn't help but ask, "Could you tell me more about it?"

He learned about the shrine from an old notebook he received from old Wells during his apprenticeship, and he had always been curious about it, but the notebook did not describe much.

Evaque saw that he needed to know a lot, and naturally he didn't want to miss this opportunity to learn.

At this moment, the black liquid flowing from the stone man's face had already accumulated into a thin layer at their feet. Evaque showed no intention of moving, indicating that this process would need to continue for some time. He pondered for a moment, then spoke to Dago: "There are many legends about the shrine, some of which can even be traced back to prehistoric times."

"Before the Primordial Era?"

Dago paused for a moment.

"Yes."

Evaque nodded and said calmly, "That chaotic era, when the elements were ignorant and even runes had not yet been born, is also known as the Mythical Era."

"Mythological Period"

This was the first time Dago had heard the name.

"Legend has it that during the mythological era, gods and their agents roamed the human world, engaging in a fierce war that led to the fall of many gods and the end of mythology. Only later did the ancient wizards create such a glorious era."

"The war of the gods left behind a great deal of residual power in the sky, on the earth, and in the sea. These powers were left in the world in a special form by the gods who were unwilling to leave, hoping that the believers who picked up these powers would one day be able to call them back from the abandoned land."

"Unfortunately, the gods did not expect that the arrangements they left behind would not lead to things going as they wished, but instead brought us great success."

Evaque said calmly, "In a sense, divine power was also an important enlightenment for wizarding civilization."

"I see."

Dago seemed thoughtful. "The shrine is a vessel for storing divine power."

The black liquid flowing from the faceless stone man's face had now reached above the two men's knees.

"No."

Evaqui shook his head: "The container for storing divine power is the shrine, and the sacred shrine is a replica of the shrine created by ancient wizards."

"The earliest wizards never gave up on analyzing and researching the power of the gods. True shrines likely disappeared in ancient times; what we can find now are mostly replicas made by these ancient wizards."

"What is stored in the shrine is only a replica of divine power—it has some of the effects of divine power, but it is not true divine power."

"The Sacred Shrine Stone is a product of that era. It is said that the Sacred Shrine Stone was mined from another world, and it is still very rare now."

Ancient times, prehistoric times, primordial times, and even the mythological era before primordial times, including shrines and sacred sites.

As Dargo traveled, he unknowingly witnessed a corner of the vicissitudes and profound history of wizards, and felt a sense of epic grandeur in his heart.

Evaqui continued, "...Ancient wizards attempted to integrate divine power, as well as their imitations of divine power, into runic arrays, forging magical artifacts and even concocting potions...They also preserved this subject for future generations to study, in the form of shrines and altars."

"A runic array?!"

Hearing Evaque mention the ancient wizards' use of the power of the sacred shrine, he felt a sudden jolt of fear.

Dago's heart pounded, and even the small imprisoned tree pattern engraved on his heart began to flicker.