“Heh, my bad.” Saul smiled as he stepped forward and cast a minor healing spell, restoring the door to its original state.
“Mm.” Byron stepped aside and let Saul in.
His room was as ssy as ever, and Saul seed to be showing signs of being affected by him.
However, their laboratory was neat and orderly. Every item was placed according to a specific arrangent to prevent any chain reactions.
“Senior, I’d like to buy that ntal Realm Formation you helped set up back in Hanging Hand Valley.”
“Sure.”
“How many credits, or magic crystals?”
Byron hesitated for a mont, as if calculating its value.
Saul didn’t rush him and waited patiently.
After about five minutes, Byron said, “No charge. I want the thod you used to expel the evil thought Morden left in your body.”
Saul was montarily stunned.
“Senior Byron, are you troubled by evil thoughts too?”
“Did the Tower Master help you?” Seeing that Saul didn’t answer, Byron frowned and asked.
He was worried that the Tower Master had personally stepped in to help Saul drive out the evil thoughts—if that were the case, then there’d be no way for him to learn the thod from Saul.
He wasn’t like Saul. He had no way of reaching Gorsa.
“No, that wasn’t it. But I’m afraid the thod I used to expel the evil thoughts won’t work for you.”
Byron first relaxed a little, then slowly furrowed his brows again.
“But, if it’s you, Senior, who’s being plagued by evil thoughts, I can help you drive them out.” Saul said with a smile.
This ti Byron didn’t hesitate. “Alright, deal!”
“That’s it? Just like that?”
Byron pulled out a familiar little notebook, opened to a new page, and quickly drew ten circles on it.
“One circle per expulsion.”
Saul’s mouth fell open. “Senior, your evil thoughts… can it self-replicate themselves?”
Byron shook his head and led Saul to his desk.
“I’m running an experint to beco a True Wizard.”
“You already have an idea? What’s required to beco a True Wizard?”
Byron casually drew half a circle in the notebook before replying, “You must fuse the locator with your soul body. That ans the locator is no longer your weakness, but a part of you.”
Saul didn’t quite understand.
“Isn’t choosing a locator already making it a part of myself?”
“A locator that’s just entered your body is like a foreign object. It can make you feel uncomfortable, afraid, and resistant to accepting it. Only when your will fully embraces its existence and recognizes it as part of yourself can you break the barrier and beco a Third Rank apprentice.”
Byron completed the circle he had drawn. “And for a Third Rank apprentice to advance to a True Wizard, the locator must be transford from a physical form into a spiritual one. It must appear in your soul body. It’s like changing from a piece of clothing… into your heart. It’s extrely difficult and can easily lead to apprentice mutation. That’s why advancing to a True Wizard… is so hard.”
Hearing this, Saul felt a chill down his spine.
To turn a physical locator into a spiritual one—
Even its form of existence would change.
Was that really sothing a re wizard apprentice could achieve?
But just as that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly froze.
“Wait, my chosen locator is the diary—it never had a physical form to begin with.” Saul instinctively reached for his left shoulder, but halfway through, his hand naturally shifted to brush his temple.
Byron assud Saul was intimidated by the difficulty, and sighed softly in his heart, “He doesn’t even have a locator yet, and I’m already talking about fusion and transformation. No wonder he’s scared.”
But what Byron didn’t know was that Saul was scared—just not by the difficulty, but by a sudden idea that had jumped out at him.
“If I successfully transform the diary into my locator… wouldn’t that an I imdiately beco a Third Rank apprentice?”
At the mont, it was just a guess, a hypothesis based on Byron’s words. He couldn’t confirm if it was true yet.
Byron didn’t disturb Saul’s train of thought. While Saul was still thinking, Byron sat down at his desk and pulled a neatly stacked notebook from the pile.
“This is my handwritten copy. You can take it.”
Saul accepted the notebook and flipped through it. Toward the last few pages, he found the spell formation diagrams he had seen back in the cave.
“Then I’ll accept it.” Saul tucked the notebook into his coat. “Do you want to help you expel the evil thoughts now?”
Byron shook his head. “Not yet… I haven’t reached my limit.”
Saul blinked, suddenly realizing what Byron might be doing.
He was using evil thoughts to force the locator into his soul body.
It was like the martial artists who refined their skills through battle—done right, it would lead to rapid progress; done wrong, it could lead to instant death.
It was like a ga of tug-of-war with the Grim Reaper to push oneself to the limit.
Saul grew worried and couldn’t help but say, “Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Byron offered a faint smile. “Mm.”
Saul thought for a mont, still uneasy. “I’d like to understand the evil thoughts in your body first. That way, when you can’t hold on any longer, I won’t have to improvise on the spot.”
Byron nodded and got up, walking over to Saul.
Suddenly, his whole body swelled up like a balloon.
But unlike before, it didn’t look funny.
It was horrifying.
Byron’s exposed face, neck, and arms all bloated unnaturally. And what was swelling inside him wasn’t air.
Almost every inch of his skin bulged with the shape of human faces.
These faces looked like fish caught in a net, each one desperately trying to find a way out.
Worse yet, these faces weren’t just pressing outward—they were charging. Trapped for a while, they would retreat and then lunge forward again with renewed force.
One after another, the faces repeatedly smashed against their confinent, trying to escape.
The result made Byron look like a constantly shifting demon.
Sotis, the line between wizard and monster was terrifyingly thin.
Saul took a deep breath to calm himself.
He closed his eyes, then slowly opened them, activating his semi-impressive diation.
In this state, he could see the evil thoughts within Byron.
They were powerful. Not a single one of them was a minor spirit—each seed carefully chosen.
They were specifically selected to help Byron fuse with his locator.
Saul recalled how Byron had made several trips out to hunt down wraiths—so this was what he had been using them for.
Byron had always had a clear goal: to advance.
Saul exited his semi-imrsive ditation and, after a mont of thought, said, “Senior, could I have a piece of your skin?”
Byron nodded with effort. The faces on his body compressed back, and he returned to his normal appearance.
Then, to Saul’s surprise, Byron reached into his own mouth again.
And pulled out a small piece of brown skin.
Saul took out a test tube from his pouch and caught it, but he couldn’t help casting a doubtful glance at Byron.
“This… is your skin, Senior?”
Byron nodded. “Mm.”
Saul glanced at Byron’s pallid, sun-deprived complexion, then back at the brownish scrap in the test tube…
Senior Byron hadn’t peeled that off so internal organ, had he?
[End of Chapter]
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