Wizard: I Can Refine Everything-Chapter 180 - 10 The Wizard’s Trace

Chapter 180: Chapter 10 The Wizard’s Trace

Entering the mansion, Richard found the environment around him instantly transformed; it was as if he was trapped in a nightmare, with an omnipresent, malevolent sensation engulfing his senses.

Richard activated his Energy Vision, and in that instant, the radiant light of the energy pathways nearly blinded him.

The dense maze of energy pathways covered every area within Richard’s sight, their ominous, crimson glow reminiscent of blood vessels brimming with blood.

And the mansion was like a terrifying Nightmare Beast.

However, Richard soon noticed something amiss with the energy pathways.

How come these energy pathways somewhat resembled Wizard’s Magic Arrays?

...

As an Alchemy Wizard, Richard had a considerable understanding of Magic Arrays. Although he could not decipher the entirety of this complex network of pathways, he glimpsed shadows of Magic Arrays in certain parts of it.

“Could it be that this Nightmare Knight is collaborating with Wizards? Or has the Nightmare Knight devoured a Wizard before, obtaining his memories? Or is it merely a coincidence?”

Richard considered these guesses in his mind, yet his outward expression remained impassive. Of course, even if his expression had changed, it wouldn’t have mattered, as Magic Puppet Billy could not see his true face.

Passing through the front yard, Richard followed Magic Puppet Billy into the main building of the mansion—the City Hall.

In the hall, a luxurious hexagonal coffin was placed in the very center.

Under Energy Vision, the coffin was the heart of the entire mansion; all energy pathways emitted from it.

The coffin was a dark red color, seemingly made of wood; on it, intricate golden patterns etched out complex, beautiful designs as if telling a story.

Richard switched his view back to normal and lowered his gaze to avoid looking directly at the coffin.

These powerful beings were especially sensitive to prying eyes. The last time he used Energy Vision on Ulysses, a mere glance was enough for Ulysses to sense the scrutiny.

Magic Puppet Billy stepped confidently towards the coffin before bowing deeply and saying,

“Lord Amade, your most loyal subordinate, Magic Puppet Billy, has completed your task. In the process, I encountered a minor nightmare attracted by Your Radiance. He was alone in the wilderness when he killed three Black Knights; his strength is quite formidable.

I believe he is qualified to serve under you, so I especially brought him for your consideration.”

Magic Puppet Billy’s voice was incredibly humble, as if he was praying to a divine being. After he had spoken, a surge of Magic Fluctuation suddenly emitted from within the coffin.

This wave of energy quickly swept over Richard as if probing his strength.

However, the cloak he wore greatly diminished the probing, and thus the information it could gather was significantly reduced.

Suddenly, a dull voice echoed in Richard’s ear.

“An interesting talent.”

A faint noise came from within the dark red coffin, as if the lid was moving.

Magic Puppet Billy saw this and his face drastically changed.

Why had Lord Amade opened the coffin?

Fortunately, the coffin lid only moved a slit before coming to a halt. A stronger probe then emanated from within.

This time, even with Richard’s talent diminishing it, Amade acquired the information he sought.

“Nameless nightmare, tell me your name.”

Amade’s muffled voice sounded again by Richard’s ear, but this time it was different from before.

The voice carried a strange power, as if it could penetrate Richard’s very heart and make him unwittingly reveal any information Amade wished to know.

“My lord, my name is Black Robe Charlie,” said Richard calmly.

Amade’s tactics were similar to those used by Soul Wizards among the Wizard community. As a Wizard, Richard had very early on undergone mental resistance training.

This training was quite common among Wizards; one could easily access it with a bit of Magic Stone, and its purpose was to give Wizards a slight resistance to Soul Magic.

The resistance offered was not strong. A Soul Wizard could easily break through it, but doing so would make the Soul Wizard’s Magic Power Fluctuations obvious, thus alerting the target Wizard to the intrusion.

However, while this technique served only as a warning against other Wizards, it was evidently sufficient against the Nightmare Knight before him.

Hearing Richard dutifully reveal his name, the lid of Amade’s coffin closed once again.

“Magic Puppet Billy, take him to the official in charge,” came the voice from the coffin.

Upon hearing the voice, Magic Puppet Billy bowed to the coffin once more.

“Your will.”

…

Upon leaving the mansion, Magic Puppet Billy led Richard to find the official in charge. Along the way, Richard deftly extracted quite a bit of the territory’s internal information through conversation.

Demon Sword Amade, Nightmare Lord Unheart’s top Nightmare Knight, oversaw the largest domain among the five Knights under Unheart.

Under Amade, there were over five hundred minor nightmare beings leading their own groups, and only a few dozen Big Nightmares possessed second-level strength; among these, twelve were named Personal Guard Knights by Amade himself.

Furthermore, the entire domain collected five million paths of Power of Nightmare force in taxes each year; three million belonging to the Nightmare Lord and two million to the Nightmare Knights.

When Richard inquired about how much Power of Nightmare minor nightmares like them would be able to keep, Magic Puppet Billy replied with a mysterious smile,

“That will depend on your own ability. Pay sufficient taxes to Lord Amade, and the rest shall be yours.”

Following Magic Puppet Billy, Richard quickly found the official in charge, who appeared as a giant book; the cover of the book was covered in fierce, struggling faces.

These faces fought ceaselessly on the cover, attempting to break free, but whenever one almost succeeded, the others would tear at it, pulling it back into the book’s cover.

When Richard found him, the official was in the middle of stuffing a minor nightmare into the pages of the book.

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In a matter of a few seconds, the little nightmare turned into a sheet of white paper and then merged with the book.

“Esteemed officer, this is a newcomer who has come to seek refuge with Lord Amade,” Magic Puppet Billy bowed slightly to the officer.

“A newcomer, you say? Lord Amade has already informed me.”

The officer opened the book, and a huge map appeared before Richard, with all the villages and cities within the territory marked on it.

“The fiefdoms in the territory are gone; if you want a fiefdom, you’ll have to compete with those who currently hold one. Lord Amade does not forbid fighting, but the precondition is that the taxes are paid in full each month.”

After saying this, the map detached from the book and floated before Richard.

“Esteemed officer, this newcomer has his own fiefdom, and a new village has appeared,” Magic Puppet Billy said.

“Oh? No wonder you brought him here.” The officer displayed the map again, and suddenly a pen appeared beside Magic Puppet Billy.

“Mark the location.”

After Magic Puppet Billy marked the location, the map in Richard’s hands also changed, with a new symbol representing a village appearing instantly on the edge of the territory.

Richard glanced at Magic Puppet Billy, and Magic Puppet Billy happened to look back at him.

Their eyes met, and they nodded to each other as if by telepathy.

“It seems that these nightmare creatures are all underreporting villages,” Richard thought to himself.

After marking the village, the officer suddenly spoke up:

“This place… Black Robed Richard, I have a task for you. Will you take it?”

“What is the task, my lord?”

“Nothing much, just that recently, a few lawbreakers have been raiding villages at the edge of the territory. One little nightmare was killed in a raided village, three have gone missing.”

“Missing?” Magic Puppet Billy suddenly interjected. “Could it be that group of lawbreakers has surfaced again?”

The officer flipped through the book pages, speaking with an irritated tone:

“I don’t know. Those lawbreakers kidnapped dozens of our little nightmares back then, vanishing without a trace. And now this is happening again! Lord Amade was so enraged back then that he wanted to slaughter the Lawless Land. If he finds out now, get ready for our taxes to double.”

With that, a sheet of paper fell from the officer’s book.

“I’m not sending you for nothing. This paper will allow you temporary use of my Nightmare Domain. It’s a protective talisman and your reward. If you can manage without using it, the paper is yours.”

Richard hesitated for a moment, then caught the sheet of paper.

“My lord, I accept the task.”

“Good. Here is some information on that gang from back then. It’s not much, but you can use it for reference. If it is indeed that gang of lawbreakers, just flee and come report to me in the domain.”

With that, a series of continuously changing text appeared on Richard’s page.

From Wizard Language, to Divine Script, then to Chinese, English… These texts seemed to be able to change into any language Richard could understand, according to his knowledge.

The information was rudimentary. It detailed that a group of lawbreakers had invaded the territory ten years ago, and within a few months, they had abducted dozens of little nightmares.

These lawbreakers’ talents were peculiar, seemingly possessing both offensive and defensive abilities with a high degree of similarity.

The most obvious sign was the fireball.

Almost all of these lawbreakers knew how to cast a fireball.

Upon reading this message, Richard couldn’t help but smirk.

He could be one hundred percent certain that these so-called lawbreakers were wizards from the Material World.

Having pocketed the sheet of paper, Richard left Amade City.

Magic Puppet Billy had no intention of sending him back, so Richard had to walk back alone.

“Wizards entering the Nightmare World… this accident is becoming more and more interesting.”

…

Three days later, Richard arrived at the village that had been harassed by wizards, as shown on the map.

This village was not far from Richard’s own, which was one reason the officer had assigned him this task.

The little nightmares of this village had been kidnapped, and now well-informed little nightmares had taken over the place.

Richard greeted the village-occupying little nightmare, explained his purpose, and then took a walk around the village.

The damage caused by shape-shifting magic had been erased by the Blood Moon Rule—the village in the Nightmare World, a reflection of the Material World’s village, was a kind of illusion. No matter how thoroughly damaged the Nightmare World’s village was, it would return to its original state when the blood moon rose the next day.

However, the lingering traces of magic remained.

The wizards had not eradicated these traces of magic, which shone like the North Star in Richard’s Energy Vision.

Using these traces, Richard quickly determined their direction of retreat.

Looking in the direction of the wizards’ retreat, Richard muttered to himself:

“Might as well go and say hello, to prevent the blame from falling on me in the end.”