Fanatics of the Magic Academy

Blood splattered, bones shattered, cries of grief filled the air—it all seemed like a dream.

Rose, who had just escaped from the Self-Nature Cult, was wearing a tattered rag that he had picked up from somewhere, and he staggered along the dirty streets of the slums.

Harboring believers is a capital offense in the magical city of Loviria, let alone in a place that breeds and mass-produces believers.

Therefore, the location of the Self-Nature Church was almost the most remote and least defended place in Lovilia, and it was very close to the slums of Lovilia.

Now, Rose's wanted posters are plastered all over the streets and alleys, and the chaotic slums are naturally his only place to go.

The air here is filled with an indescribable stench—a mixture of rotten vegetable leaves, urine, and chemical products.

The strange stench was mixed with a hint of indescribable sweetness.

Unlike before, his eyes no longer displayed gilded vertical pupils, but rather a calm and clear azure blue.

This is because he activated the second of the three traits of a "fanatic materialist":

[Materialism]: You can temporarily convert all Faith Points into Sanity by consuming Focus Points.

The golden vertical pupils of the Ancient Dragon believer are too conspicuous; it's not safe to run anywhere with those eyes.

The power of a believer comes from faith; similarly, the alienation of the body by faith also stems from faith.

Once you completely convert your faith, the physical abnormalities will also disappear.

Therefore, Rose, who has activated [Materialism], no longer exhibits the characteristics of an ancient dragon believer.

Correspondingly, as faith was completely transformed into reason, Rose felt her mind was clearer than ever before.

It was as if frozen water from a high mountain flowed down and poured into the brain, washing away all the turbidity and heat within.

The tangled, viscous, and sluggish thoughts now become distinct and clear, like ice crystals.

Therefore, he was able to clearly recognize that his current condition was extremely poor.

Activating divine prayer requires concentration, and maintaining [materialism] also requires concentration.

In Rose's view, focus is not just the blue bar, but also a person's overall spirit and energy.

It is a power originating from the soul, used to cast spells and pray, and to maintain a person's normal mental activity and health.

He is now severely depleted of his concentration, feeling mentally disoriented and confused, and only maintaining his consciousness is due to a high level of rationality and willpower.

Furthermore, his physical exhaustion was even more severe. [Activation of Internal Flow] could temporarily improve his physical fitness, but his body was still too young to withstand prolonged and intense exertion.

He felt as if his legs weren't legs anymore, but rather two lead-filled wooden sticks, mechanically shoving forward.

That's nothing compared to the deadliest thing: thirst.

Extreme thirst, the kind of thirst you feel after strenuous exercise.

My throat felt like it was stuffed with dry sand, my throat was burning, and my heart was pounding with thirst.

"Water...I need water..."

With his high level of rationality and willpower, he forced his way to the bridge pier in the slum.

They no longer cared what was in the river, whether there was green algae floating on top or corpses sinking below.

His body was so exhausted that he could no longer control it properly. His knees slammed into the ground, and he almost fell over. He lay on the ground, greedily drinking the river water.

I drank for quite a while.

Rose stood up unsteadily, his mouth still carrying an indistinct taste, and there seemed to be something stuck to his tongue, but he didn't have the strength to spit it out.

He took two steps, then suddenly everything went black and he collapsed to the ground.

In a daze...

Bizarre and fantastical...

Rose felt as if she had a very long dream, time was spinning, endlessly spinning, back to 6 years ago—

That was before he came into this world.

Having lived in an orphanage for over ten years, he became withdrawn, seeking to escape everything and unwilling to socialize.

So he left the mainland and the world behind, and went to sea to become a sailor.

On this day, Rose was cleaning the deck as usual when suddenly, a long, muffled thud pierced through his bones and internal organs.

That was a sign that the waves were about to come, followed by the disappearance of the horizon.

Huge waves crashed down on them, like a giant wall, with white foam on top that looked like countless hungry mouths, ready to devour them.

Rose rushed into the ship's cabin. The first wave crashed in, and Rose felt as if the ship was screaming in agony.

When the second wave crashed down, he could no longer tell up from down.

Then, wave after wave swept in. Rosset could hardly describe the feeling. He bit his tongue so hard that his ears were ringing, while the sound of the waves faded into the distance.

After an unknown amount of time, the waves finally subsided. Rose's knees trembled, and she couldn't stand up. She knelt inside the house, panting heavily.

Then, he looked up.

I saw that thing.

A colossal, unimaginable creature stands in the middle of the sea, forming a massive storm around it, much like an ancient mountain suspended in the center of the storm.

Its body is like layers of scales stacked on top of rock strata deposited underground, and its huge stone wings are spread out behind it, with red lightning crackling around them.

It raised one arm, and a lightning spear made of pure lightning, piercing the sky and penetrating the earth, was pulled from the void and planted in the sea.

Meanwhile, dozens of kilometers away, Rose was horrified to discover that the ship's temperature was rising and his body was melting away.

The lightning spear pierced through Rose, who was tens of kilometers away, in an instant using only the aftershocks of its radiation.

He knelt on the ground, blood flowing from his seven orifices, his vision blurred.

The genetic material of the cells in his body was destroyed by radiation, and he is alive now only by the inertia of life.

His vision grew increasingly dark, and just as he was about to die, the enormous creature opened its eyes—

Those were a pair of vertical pupils with gilded gold.

Just then, someone who didn't exist in his original memories stood beside him.

Rose could vaguely make out his face through her blurry, blackened vision.

That was the person who led him onto the path of the Ancient Dragon faith when he was choosing a god; his face was still blurry and difficult to recognize.

He raised his hand, pointing to the enormous creature in the distance, his tone filled with fanaticism, excitement, and hatred:

"Worship dragons, study yourself, surpass dragons... slay dragons!"

Then, he lowered his head and looked at Luo Sailu:

"Next, embark on your own unique path of ancient dragon worship!"

Then, Rose's vision was completely plunged into darkness.

......

"Cough cough cough!"

Rose opened his eyes with difficulty, and what he saw was a concrete arch less than two meters from his face.

The surface is pitted and uneven, with rusty steel bars exposed in some places.

Rose realized he was lying under the bridge.

He moved his neck and heard a rustling sound at the back of his head; it was the clothes that were cushioning the back of his head.

The clothes smelled unpleasant, a mixture of dampness, dirt, and human odor.

He touched the hard concrete floor beneath him, where a layer of cardboard lay.

Rose deduced that he had most likely been rescued by a homeless man living under a bridge.

He turned his stiff neck and looked around, but saw no one.

"It seems he hasn't returned yet."

"And most likely they didn't discover my identity as a believer, otherwise I should be in the woodpile right now."

Then, he closed his eyes slightly, and his materialism quietly activated, transforming all his faith into reason. When he opened his eyes again, they were a clear, azure blue.

"Take precautions to avoid the cliché scenario where he comes back and happens to discover my identity, and then I have to kill my savior."

Rose tried to sit up, but felt sore all over and had a slight headache.

"It seems that I haven't recovered well, either physically or mentally."

He opened the panel and decided to check the current status.

"what?"

He noticed something different about the panel.