Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Outside the mirror.

"Ian! Ian, wake up!"

Gaga frantically flapped its wings on Ian's shoulder, pecked at his ears with its beak, and tore at his hair with its claws.

But Ian didn't react at all.

His body was stiff as a sculpture, his pupils were unfocused, and his breathing was so weak that it almost stopped.

Only the cold sweat constantly seeping from his forehead and his slightly trembling fingertips proved that his consciousness was still struggling violently somewhere.

"What to do... what to do!"

Gaga's eyes reddened with anxiety.

It looked up at the surrounding suspended broken mirrors, and the eerie light in its heterochromatic eyes surged to its limit.

[Shadow Messenger] - Full Power Activation!

The surrounding shadow energy surged like boiling water, transforming into hundreds of pitch-black tentacles that lashed fiercely at the mirror.

Hiss!

The tentacles struck the mirror, but it was as if they were hitting water, only creating ripples.

Physical attacks are ineffective.

Rules cannot be broken by brute force.

"I'm the smartest raven... I'm sure I can find a way..."

Gaga's little head was spinning wildly.

It suddenly remembered what Ian had taught it.

When faced with rule traps that are beyond our control, look for "loopholes" and "inconsistencies".

"The Mirror Demon can imitate everything Ian does, but what can't it imitate?"

Witchcraft? Witchcraft tools, the body... it seems like anything is possible.

what about me?

I am a familiar from a different origin, but with a deeply bound soul...

Different origins!

Gaga's eyes suddenly lit up.

Instead of attacking the mirror, it flapped its wings and flew to the front of Ian.

The tiny beak almost touched the tip of Ian's nose.

Soul connection, deep resonance!

It's not a simple call, but a resonance that "crashes" your entire soul into it!

"Ian!"

"Can you hear me!"

"Those are fake!"

"I'm here!"

"I'm right here...!"

The clattering sound exploded on the level of the soul.

It's no longer just simple language; it's a tsunami of emotions.

Anxiety, anger, fear... and a kind of bond rooted deep in the soul.

It recalled the warmth of its first meeting with Ian, far from its kind, and the warmth of holding it close to its chest.

Thinking of the comfort of home, the taste of Ian's grilled fish...

It remembers that when Ian was focused on alchemy, it would secretly save the best blood essence for him.

Just before entering the ruins, Ian rubbed its little head and said, "We will come back alive."

"You promised me..."

His voice choked with sobs, and his soul trembled violently.

"You said you'd show me the pinnacle of the wizarding world... You said we'd live together for a very, very long time..."

"You can't leave me..."

"Ian... come back..."

"Please... come back..."

Tears rolled down his heterochromatic eyes, dripping onto Ian's cold cheeks.

Ian stood in the pure white void.

Across from him, Ian's expression in the mirror was completely distorted.

The alluring mask peels away, revealing the hideous nature beneath.

That was a monster formed from all of Ian's fears and desires.

"How dare you... reject me!" Ian roared angrily in the mirror.

"What I want, you can't give me."

Ian said calmly.

Just then.

He heard it.

Extremely faint, like a call coming from the very depths of the ocean.

Ian... come back...

Yes, it's gaga.

The voice was choked with sobs, filled with despair, and a primal pull from a soulmate.

Ian's expression changed in the mirror.

"Noise!" He waved his hand, trying to block it out. "Mere familiars..."

But Ian's eyes lit up.

Like a torch lit in the darkness.

"You can't copy Gaga."

He stared at Ian in the mirror, speaking each word carefully.

"Because the bond between you and me... is fake."

"You are just a reflection in the mirror, and... hahaha..."

Ian raised his right hand, and the pale golden crystalline light spot in his palm spun at an unprecedented speed.

"He is my true partner."

In the mirror, Ian was furious, raising both hands simultaneously.

With a gravitational singularity in his left hand and a frost ray in his right, an entropy change domain unfolds around him.

The two of them took action at the same time.

Pale purple beams of light collided, and a piercing shriek of ice and fire annihilating each other tore through the silence.

The gravitational singularities collided in mid-air, and the humming of space distortion sounded like a giant beast grinding its teeth.

The realms of entropy change are eroding each other, temperatures are wildly fluctuating between extreme cold and scorching heat, and the rules are becoming chaotic and disordered.

An energy storm exploded in the pure white space, with ice and fire clashing violently with gravitational turbulence.

The mirror perfectly replicated everything about Ian.

Combat experience, magical connection, even the ruthlessness in his eyes.

There is only one thing that cannot be copied.

panel!

It cannot replicate the panel's "optimal solution" that surpasses experience.

"Now!"

A golden light burst forth in Ian's eyes, and the tip of his right finger trembled almost imperceptibly.

The mirror image reacted immediately, its left hand condensing a gravitational collapse sphere, while its right hand gathered a frost ray.

But Ian did not fire.

The trembling of his fingertips was a feint.

The real killing move...

It's under your feet.

hum!

The pure white ground beneath their feet suddenly collapsed.

The tiny black dots, no bigger than a grain of rice, had been there for some time, and now they suddenly expanded!

【Gravity Collapse Sphere】·Delayed Trigger!

The mirror image's expression changed drastically as its body was dragged downwards by a terrifying gravitational force.

It frantically channeled its mental energy to try and break free, but in that instant of hesitation...

enough.

Ian pointed with his right index finger.

Thirty-six pale golden threads shot out like a torrential rain!

Precisely penetrate the thirty-six energy nodes in the mirror image.

Having undergone repeated refinement by pushing the limits of his abilities, finding weaknesses has become an instinct for Ian.

Puff puff puff!

Silk threads run through.

The mirror image's body trembled violently, and the energy flowing around it instantly became disordered.

The entropy change domain collapsed, the gravitational singularity went out of control, and the frost rays exploded in the palm of the hand!

"you……"

The mirror image widened its eyes, and for the first time, genuine terror appeared on its face.

"How could this be...?"

"Because you are not me."

Ian’s voice was icy as he raised his left hand.

The five fingers are loosely clenched.

Above the palm, a third black dot resembling a grain of rice appeared.

This time it's not miniature.

It is the maximum power, the full-force burst within a 100-meter collapse range!

"goodbye."

Bring your five fingers together.

hum! ! !

The pure white space trembled violently.

Centered on the mirror image, everything within a radius of 100 meters begins to collapse inward.

The mirror image roared wildly, trying to break free from the pull of gravity.

But with the energy node destroyed, it can't even muster the most basic protection.

His body cracked inch by inch, like shattered porcelain.

The sounds of bones shattering, flesh tearing, and inhuman screams of souls collapsing...

All sounds were swallowed by the black hole.

Three seconds later.

The collapse has ended.

Where the mirror image disappeared, only a palm-sized shattered mirror remained.

The lens surface was covered with spiderweb-like cracks, and a pale silver liquid flowed inside, like solidified moonlight.

The pure white space began to collapse.

The surrounding walls flowed and peeled off like melted wax.

Real light seeped in through the cracks.

……

"Ian!"

A shrill, piercing scream exploded in my ears.

Ian suddenly opened his eyes.

Blood seeped from all seven orifices simultaneously, and the scene before his eyes became blurry and swaying.

He knelt on one knee, bracing himself with his right hand on the ground, his fingertips digging into the cracks in the rocks, barely managing to stay upright.

A metallic taste rose in his throat, which he forced back down.

"Ian! You're awake! You're awake!"

Gaa jumped onto his shoulder, rubbing her little head against his cheek, her feathers still stained with tear stains.

Ian, panting heavily, raised his hand and touched Gaa Gaa.

It feels warm to the touch.

A realistic tactile experience.

"I'm back."

His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping.

This time, the enemy is of a very high level, at least a level two wizard, and their attack methods are bizarre.

"The noodles... can't be... they didn't show up this time."

Do you think he won't face a life-or-death crisis?

I looked up.

The shattered mirrors floating all around are disintegrating and dissipating piece by piece.

Like ashes scattered by the wind.

The Mirror Demon Realm... has shattered.

The passageway has been restored to its original state.

The dark blue light on the wall still flowed evenly, but the eerie "delay" had disappeared.

"Just now... just now you suddenly stopped moving..."

The gurgling sound was tinged with tears.

"No matter how I called you, you didn't respond, so I desperately used Shadow Storm to smash those mirrors and even pecked at them with my mouth..."

It extends its right wing, revealing a tiny crack at the tip of its beak.

"But those mirrors are so hard, they can't be broken at all..."

"Gaga, thanks to you, you've done a great job."

Ian rubbed its little head and slowly stood up, supporting himself against the wall.

I felt a tingling, exhausting pain all over my body, and my mind felt completely drained.

but……

He closed his eyes and focused his inner vision on his spiritual sea.

Those pale golden crystalline spots of light are now spinning at an unprecedented speed.

Each point of light became more solid and more dazzling.

As it rotates, faint silver starlight seeps from the depths of the light spots, as if it is about to condense into a more stable form.

"I'm closer to becoming a level two wizard..."

Ian muttered to himself.

This trial of the Mirror Demon, though dangerous, was also an ultimate spiritual tempering.

Confronting three layers of fear, overcoming the temptations of desire, I am reflected in the shattered mirror...

A crack was forcibly carved into the mental barrier.

He opened his eyes and his gaze fell on the ground.

There lay a shattered piece of glass, about the size of a palm.

A pale silver liquid flowed across the surface of the lens, and faint star-like patterns swirled within.

Ian bent down and picked it up.

It feels cool to the touch, and its texture is not like that of a material, but more like a solidified "rule".

"Mirror fragments?"

It should be a rule crystal dropped from the core of the Mirror Demon Realm, containing the property of resisting mental pollution.

"nice one."

He carefully collected the fragments.

He then glanced around.

After the Mirror Demon's domain dissipated, a depression was faintly revealed deep within the passage.

Ian walked over.

The concave inner wall is inlaid with a small, fist-sized, dark blue crystal.

The crystal surface is as smooth as a mirror, and countless tiny points of light flow slowly inside.

Like a miniature starry sky.

"It looks like...crystallized memory material?"

Ian reached out and touched it.

The moment the fingertip touched the crystal surface, a pure and vast fragment of Protoss knowledge surged into consciousness.

【Star Core Condensation Method - Fragment】

How to resonate with the stars in one's spiritual sea, how to draw energy from the starry sky to refine the soul, how to construct a stable stellar core model...

Although it was just fragmented words, it instantly made Ian's understanding of the [Starry Night Festival] much clearer.

"So... the star core isn't just a simple crystallization of energy, but a manifestation of 'rules'..."

He murmured to himself, a flash of understanding crossing his eyes.

This crystal is as valuable as a second-tier magical artifact.

"Ian, your eyes..."

Gaga suddenly whispered.

"What's wrong?"

"There are stars twinkling."

Ian paused, then walked to a mirror that had not yet completely disappeared.

Reflection in the mirror.

Deep within his pupils, a faint silver starlight seemed to shimmer.

It's faint, but it's definitely there.

That was the resonance mark created after fragments of Protoss knowledge were integrated into the mind's sea.

"A good harvest."

A slight smile curved his lips.

Putting away the crystallized memory material, Ian turned to look into the depths of the passage.

The Mirror Demon Trial is over, but the road ahead remains unknown.

But at this moment, he felt his mind was clearer than ever before.

Those fears, desires, confusion...

They were all forced into the sunlight by the Mirror Demon, and were examined and shattered one by one.

"What I seek... is freedom of destiny, not mere power."

He muttered to himself, as if making a vow to himself.

The cuckoo landed on his shoulder, its little eyes sparkling.

"Ian, what you said is really profound... but I think you've become even more amazing!"

"Yeah?"

"Hmm! Even their eyes are different now, like...like a sharpened knife, brighter and sharper!"

Ian smiled and patted its little head.

"Let's go."

"There's still a long road ahead."