Wizard: I Have a Nightmare World

Lynn knelt on one knee, the veins on his forehead bulging like twisted earthworms, cold sweat dripping down his chin onto the ground with a soft pattering sound.

In his consciousness space, the three out-of-control loops were frantically devouring his mental energy. The vortex nodes were spinning at an abnormal high speed, like three greedy mouths, tearing, devouring, transforming, and then spitting out the mental energy he had painstakingly gathered.

But what came out was not pure magic, but a mixed energy containing dark gray particles.

That energy carried an aura of decay and antiquity, incompatible with the magic within him, repelling each other like oil and water.

Each rejection was like a small knife, slashing a gash deep into the inner wall of his consciousness space.

Amber frantically flew around him, patting his cheeks with her little hands, her voice trembling with tears.

"Lynn! Say something! Don't scare Amber!"

Lynn gritted her teeth and forced herself to calm down.

He knew that panic wouldn't solve anything, and that a clear mind was especially important in situations like this.

He closed his eyes, enduring the tearing pain, and focused his mental energy into the depths of his consciousness, carefully observing the operation of the three out-of-control loops.

The vortex node was still spinning at an abnormal frequency, but Lynn noticed a detail.

Although those nodes were out of control, they did not actively attack other parts of the consciousness space; they were simply operating wildly within their own loop range.

That loop is like a blocked blood vessel; the blood can't flow normally and can only stagnate in place, accumulating more and more until it deforms the vessel wall.

"They are not trying to destroy my consciousness space; they are devouring my mental energy and trying to multiply themselves."

A sudden realization flashed through Lynn's mind.

The totemic energy contained in those remaining fragments of memory was unintentionally absorbed into him when he constructed the circuit.

These energies are now attempting to transform his spiritual power into a form closer to totem energy.

If left unchecked, these three pathways will eventually be completely transformed into channels for totem energy, and his internal magic system will clash more violently with the totem energy, resulting in damage to his mental strength at best and collapse of his consciousness space at worst.

"We must first cut off the mental energy supply to these three routes and isolate them."

Lynn made a decisive move and began to mobilize the power of the remaining six stable circuits.

He slowly extracted the magic from the stable circuits, condensing it into six silver-white energy chains in his consciousness space. Then, he carefully manipulated them to approach the three out-of-control circuits.

When the first chain touched the edge of the first out-of-control loop, the multicolored energy, like an enraged venomous snake, sprang up and lunged at the chain.

A sharper pain shot through Lynn's mind, but he gritted his teeth, held the chain firmly, wrapped it around the edge of the out-of-control loop, and then tightened it suddenly.

Sizzle!!

A sound like a branding iron scalding meat echoed in his mind.

The light from the first loop suddenly dimmed, and its operating speed noticeably slowed down.

"efficient!"

Lynn was delighted and continued to manipulate the remaining five chains, using the same method to entangle the other two out-of-control loops.

The moment all six chains were locked, the three loops finally quieted down. Although they were still operating, their speed had been reduced to one-tenth of the normal level, and they no longer frantically devoured spiritual energy.

Lynn finally let out a long breath and slowly opened his eyes.

His face was still pale, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat, but his dark purple eyes shone with the light of someone who had survived a disaster.

"Lynn, are you alright?!"

When Amber saw him open his eyes, she excitedly rushed to his face and rubbed her little face against his cheek.

"It's alright, it's under control for now."

Lynn patted Amber's little head, his voice a little weak, but his tone was still relatively steady.

He stood up, stretched his stiff body, and his gaze fell on the black crystal core beside him.

"I was too hasty this time. Before fully digesting those memory fragments, I rashly integrated the structure of totem energy into the magic circuit. It was like playing with fire."

Lynn muttered to himself as he placed the black crystal core into his spatial ring.

Just as he was about to sit down to further solidify the three suppressed passages, a series of hurried footsteps came from the cave entrance.

Du Wei was the first to appear at the cave entrance. His robe was stained with several dark brown bloodstains, and he held a short-handled battle axe in his left hand, which was still warm and had blood still clinging to its blade.

Closely following behind was Kulen, who carried a heavy animal hide bundle on his shoulder and wore an excited smile.

Scarlett brought up the rear, her longbow already sheathed, but her sharp gaze still scanned the surroundings, and she only entered the cave after confirming that there were no pursuers.

"Lynn, we're back. Back at Crimson Rock Fortress..."

Du Wei stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

His gaze fell on Lynn's pale face, then swept over his slightly trembling hands, and the smile on his face instantly vanished.

"Your aura is off."

Du Wei strode up to Lynn, his eyes scanning him from head to toe, his brows furrowing deeply.

"Is there a problem with the magic circuit?"

Lynn was slightly taken aback, not expecting that Du Wei would guess the problem with just one glance.

"How did you figure that out?"

"Your magic fluctuations are very unstable, as if they're being interfered with by something."

Du Wei put down his battle axe and sat down on a flat rock in the cave, gesturing for Lynn to sit down in front of him as well.

"What exactly happened? Tell me."

"If the problem of the magic circulation is not handled properly, at best it will cause your cultivation level to regress, and at worst it will cause your consciousness space to collapse. This is no small matter."

Lynn was silent for a moment, then briefly told Du Wei about his process of constructing the magic circuit and his idea of ​​trying to integrate it into the vortex structure inside the black crystal core.

He did not mention the nightmare incident, but only said that he had obtained a black crystal core containing ancient energy by chance, and discovered some special energy circuit structures in it.

After listening, Du Wei did not speak immediately, but fell into deep thought.

After a long while, he slowly raised his head and looked at Lynn with a complicated expression.

"You mean, you added a buffer structure derived from other energy systems to the standard version of the magic circuit?"

Lynn nodded.

Du Wei took a deep breath: "Do you know what you just did? It's something that many formal wizards wouldn't dare to try easily."

"What do you mean?"

Lynn was somewhat puzzled.

Du Wei stood up, walked to the edge of the cave, and looked at the rising smoke column in the direction of Red Rock City in the distance. With his back to Lynn, he slowly spoke.

"The standard magic loop is the route that all wizarding apprentices take. Its advantage is that it is stable and reliable. It has been verified by countless generations of wizards. As long as it is built step by step, there will be basically no problems."

"But its drawbacks are also obvious: its potential is too low."

Du Wei turned around and looked directly at Lynn.

"The energy throughput efficiency of the standard version of the magic circuit is fixed and cannot be improved."

"This means that even if your mental strength is twice as strong, if your magic circulation can't keep up, your actual combat power won't increase much."

"Therefore, some ambitious and talented wizarding apprentices choose to take a different path."

Lynn listened quietly without saying a word.

"They will add their own improvements to the general version of the magic circuit. This could be changing the direction of a certain circuit, optimizing the energy flow at a certain node, or, like you, introducing the structure of other energy systems for integration."

Du Wei's voice became low.

"We call this path the 'Editor's Loop'."

"The upper limit of the editor's loop is higher, allowing your magic to operate more efficiently than the general version, but it also carries greater risks."

Du Wei pointed a finger at Lynn.

"What you just experienced is a classic example of backlash."

"You introduced the structure of totem energy, but you did not fully digest the memory fragments remaining in those energies, causing the nodes to go out of control and erode your mental power in the reverse."

Lynn was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "And what about you?"

"You're also one of those who follow the editor's loop, aren't you?"

Du Wei paused for a moment, then laughed, a bitter smile on his face.

"You found out."

He walked to the center of the cave, sat down on a rock, and untied his robe, revealing the skin on his chest.

Lynn's pupils suddenly contracted.

On Du Wei's chest, a faint silver light could be seen flowing beneath his skin, forming an extremely complex pattern.

The lines resembled an intricate spider web, covering his entire chest.

However, these patterns are not complete; there are several obvious breaks, like an unfinished blueprint.

"This is my magic loop [the Thousand Threads Web]."

Du Wei pointed to the lines on his chest and said.

"I spent two years designing its structure and another year building it."

"If it is successfully completed, it will allow my magic to operate more than three times as efficiently as the standard version."

"But as you can see, it's not finished yet."

Lynn's gaze fell on the broken lines, and a guess arose in his mind.

"Is this why you're stuck at the peak of the third-tier apprentice level and unable to break through?"

Du Wei nodded.

"That's right. After the general version of the magic circuit constructs nine initial circuits, once the mental strength meets the requirements, one can directly advance to the first-ring wizard level."

"But the editor's loop is different; after it is built, it still needs a calibration period."

"The length of this calibration period depends on the complexity of your circuitry and your mental compatibility."

"Some people need several months, some need several years, and some people's custom circuits are so poorly designed that they can never complete the calibration and are stuck at the third-class apprentice level for life."

Du Wei's gaze deepened.

"So Lynn, I need to remind you of something: although your magic circuit has been successfully constructed, the buffer structures you've integrated haven't been fully tamed yet."

"You must find a way to completely digest those remaining fragments of memory as soon as possible in the coming time, otherwise they will be like a time bomb buried in your consciousness space, suddenly exploding at some inopportune moment."

Lynn remained silent for a moment, then slowly stood up and nodded solemnly to Du Wei.

"I understand, thank you."

Du Wei waved his hand and picked up the battle axe from the ground again.

"Let's go see the good stuff we brought back from Red Rock Fortress."

"We've already taken that fortress, but the most important thing now isn't the spoils, but dealing with your problem as soon as possible."

He walked to the cave entrance, glanced back at Lynn, and a playful smile appeared on his lips.

"After all, you won't have that much time to adjust in the next battle."