Wizard: I Can Refine Everything-Chapter 183 - 13: Plans and the Kuroshio

Chapter 183: Chapter 13: Plans and the Kuroshio

“You’re saying he is that Master?”

The minister looked at Richard’s clone and reached out with spiritual power, but no matter how he probed, the one before him was a pure Nightmare Creature.

He had some research results on Nightmare Creatures and couldn’t possibly fail to recognize one.

“Minister, this really is that Master.”

Fosi stepped beside the minister and recounted his own experience, leaving the minister utterly astonished.

To disguise himself so perfectly, this Wizard’s knowledge of Nightmare Creatures was even deeper than his own.

...

The Wizard World was vast indeed; there certainly were others who had started researching the Nightmare World even before he did.

The minister looked at Richard’s clone and spoke in a gentle tone,

“So then, Master, do you plan to join our Dreamwalker Club and participate in this project?”

Richard performed a Wizard’s Salute with his clone,

“I dare not claim the title of Master, but I am indeed interested in this project.”

The minister nodded, “Since you, my friend, are interested in our plan and wish to join, we at the Dreamwalker Club would be very welcoming.

However, for the safety of everyone, those participating in this project must sign a Soul Contract.

I am currently residing at Level 5, Room 232, if you have no pressing matters, come to this address to find me and sign the Soul Contract.

I will be at this address until the end of the project.”

“Signing the contract in person? A contract made with the Power of Nightmare won’t do?” Richard said somewhat awkwardly.

Unlike these Wizards from the Dreamwalker Club, who came in through Ritual Magic, he had blundered into the Nightmare World. Even if he exited, he would be in the Insect Nest World.

How was he supposed to sign a contract in person?

“A contract made from the Power of Nightmare won’t do,” said the minister, shaking his head. He had done a lot of research on the Power of Nightmare; while it was perfect at simulating Magic Equipment, materials, and such, once it involved soul-related items like Soul Contracts and Spiritual Matrixes, it could only mimic a shell.

Seeing Richard’s hesitation, the minister asked,

“Could it be, my friend, that you are on another plane? Unable to return for the time being?”

Richard nodded, affirming the minister’s assumption.

“That’s a pity,” the minister said with regret. “I have to consider the safety of others. If you, my friend, do not sign a Soul Contract, then we can’t allow you to participate in this project.”

The situation seemed to have reached a deadlock.

After a moment of silence, Richard suddenly spoke up,

“But what if I’m already involved?”

“Excuse me? What do you mean by that?”

Richard pointed at Fosi, “The reason I clashed with Fosi was because I found traces of Magic Power in the village where you were operating.

And the reason I went to that village was because the officer of the Demon Sword Amade had given me a task to investigate you.”

As he spoke, Richard spread his hands, “Obviously, I’ve now completed the task, and it seems I’ve done so with flying colors.”

Upon hearing this, the minister and Fosi’s expressions changed instantly.

They had thought that Richard had just happened to find Fosi’s trail and followed him, but they didn’t expect Richard was actually there to investigate them.

This made things rather complicated.

“My friend, you infiltrated the internals of Demon Sword Amade?” the minister couldn’t help but ask, “Your disguise even fools Nightmare Creatures?”

Hearing this, Richard was a bit puzzled.

“Aren’t you in such a state that the Nightmare Creatures wouldn’t notice either?”

The minister shook his head repeatedly, “Not at all, I’ve tried before, and those Nightmare Creatures could spot me immediately.”

Richard was now the one confused.

Turning to Ulysses, Richard asked,

“Ulysses, didn’t you mention that the Power of Nightmare forming a body could not be detected by Nightmare Creatures below the rank of Body Lord?”

Ulysses, facing Richard’s question, was somewhat puzzled, “Gah, that’s no problem, I used a body formed from the Power of Nightmare to blend in their territory back in the day.”

“That is strange,” Richard muttered to himself.

He transferred his consciousness to his clone and then used the sensation of a Nightmare Creature to probe the two Wizards in front of him.

Soon, a very faint “scent” that was unfamiliar appeared in Richard’s perception.

This “scent” felt very familiar to Richard, likely related to the Wizard World Origin, and something Richard himself did not possess.

“Ulysses, how did you first enter the Nightmare World?”

“Gah, I was caught off guard with a blast of Nightmare Red Fog, why? Is there a problem with the other Wizards?”

After a moment of silence, Richard shifted his consciousness back to his clone.

“It’s likely a problem with your ritual,” Richard answered as succinctly as possible. “There’s a very faint ‘scent’ on you, seemingly left by the Wizard World Origin.”

“Wizard World Origin!?”

Both exclaimed in surprise.

“This, our entry into the Nightmare World through the ritual, indeed has some connection to the Origin,” said the minister, his expression tangled with conflict.

He never expected that the difficulty they faced in their research over the years was due to the ritual magic of entering the Nightmare World.

“However, you don’t need to panic,” the irregular scent will only make the Nightmare creatures sense that something is off about you, but they can’t determine exactly what. Nightmare creatures are very eager for foreign souls. If your identities as Wizards had been discovered, these creatures would have already come to besiege you.”

“But Amanda has already been captured, Amade must know we are Wizards,” Fosi spoke up.

“He might know you’re Wizards, but his underlings certainly don’t,” Richard said indifferently, “Amade’s subordinates have concealed your presence. If you don’t take further action, Amade won’t know you’ve returned.”

“…We can’t stop taking action,” the Minister said after a moment of silence, sounding somewhat helpless.

“This plan wasn’t concocted by me, and I’m not the one who can decide whether to abandon it or not.”

Having said this, a magic array suddenly lit up under the Minister’s feet:

“I’ll contact the Three Rings Master back in the Wizard World.”

Shortly after, Richard saw a flash of light from the magic array, and the Minister’s body went limp, collapsing to the ground with a thud. Wisps of the Power of Nightmare began to drift from the body and seep into the ground. Meanwhile, Fosi quickly merged his own body with it to prevent an excessive loss of the Power of Nightmare.

“Is this your ritual magic?” Richard asked.

Fosi nodded, “Yes, this is the spell we use to enter and exit the Nightmare World.”

They waited at the same spot for several hours until the magic array suddenly shone with a dark red light, and a soul gradually materialized from within.

“Phew, one piece of good news and one piece of bad news,” said the returned Minister, looking at Richard. “The bad news is that our plan must continue.”

“And the good news?” Richard asked, already guessing what it might be.

“The good news is that the Three Rings Master has agreed to let you join the plan.”

The Minister walked up to Richard and extended his hand:

“Welcome to the plan. How may I address you, my friend?”

Richard shook his hand, “I’m Richard. It’s a pleasure to work together.”

…

The plan of the Dreamwalker Club was simple enough: the Nightmare Lord’s subordinate was not the only Nightmare Knight; another named Black Dragon Colehailong, situated beside the Amade Territory, was at odds with him.

Legend had it that the missing head from Black Dragon Colehailong’s neck was severed by the Demon Sword Amade.

The Dreamwalker Club’s plan was to fuel the conflict between these two knights, causing these terrifying Nightmare creatures to fight each other, allowing the Three Rings Wizard to enter Amade’s mansion and find a Nightmare Artifact known as the Crystal Gate.

The plan was provided by the elusive Three Rings Master, and the highest rewards, as well as the most dangerous part of infiltrating the Ahmad Mansion, were reserved for the Three Rings Wizard himself. Other Wizards were simply to assist.

This was also the reason why other Wizards agreed to the plan.

Richard’s arrival introduced some modifications to the plan. Originally, Fosi was to fish in the cemetery, deliberately letting the enemy escape after the battle and then continue leaving traces, gradually baiting the investigating Nightmare creatures to think of the Black Dragon.

With Richard now involved, all these extraneous tactics were no longer necessary.

When the investigator and the investigated are in cahoots, the investigation’s outcome can be fabricated however one pleases.

For participating in the plan, the Three Rings Wizard offered a reward of fifty Magic Essence, in addition to three small Nightmares—one of the highest compensations among the Wizards involved.

But what Richard valued was not these rewards.

If he genuinely could incite a war between the two Nightmare Knights, the benefits he could reap would far exceed these rewards.

Since a power increase would lead to a rise in the usual consumption of the Power of Nightmare, most Nightmare creatures chose to turn this power into Nightmare Crystals, hoarding them until they had enough to break through to the next rank in one fell swoop.

Like Magic Puppet Billy, if he hadn’t been investigating the Black Knight, his usual level of power would barely scrape the bottom of Level 1 Creatures.

Furthermore, from his conversation with Magic Puppet Billy, Richard gleaned that Nightmare creatures also hit bottlenecks. During such periods, devouring the Power of Nightmare wouldn’t increase their power—on the contrary, the excess power would dissipate.

To break through a bottleneck, a one-time consumption of a massive amount of the Power of Nightmare was required.

And this also meant that these Nightmare creatures definitely had warehouses of Nightmare Crystals.

Should a war break out, leading to casualties, those warehouses would be treasure troves yet to be discovered.

Soon after, Richard and the Minister agreed on their next course of action. Just before departing, Richard suddenly remembered something.

“Minister, are you aware that a Black Tide is about to erupt in the Amade Territory?”

“Black Tide? Never heard of it,” the Minister said blankly.

“Have you not encountered any black knights in these ten years?”

Richard was puzzled; even long-lived Nightmare Spirits knew of the Black Tides—how could these Wizards be unaware?

“Uh…” The Minister’s face showed a tinge of embarrassment, “My ritual magic has a limitation: it can only be used every ten years for three months. After those months, we can’t freely enter or exit the Nightmare World.”

Richard shared the information about the Black Tide.

“Indeed, that’s a problem,” the Minister said seriously. “I’ll report this information to the Three Rings Master once I return so he can investigate whether it has happened within the Black Dragon’s domain.

If it has, then our plan may have to be postponed by ten years.”

Richard said no more and promptly left the headquarters of the Dreamwalker Club.

Even if delayed, it would only be a matter of ten years.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

He could afford to wait.

Meanwhile, Richard’s main body also encountered some trouble.

As he looked toward the approaching black line in the distance, Richard rubbed his temples, slightly vexed.

“Several dozen Black Knights, that’s a bit troublesome.”