Richard tried to use his spiritual power to search for the link that would lead into the Nightmare World, but without amplification, his spiritual power could never break through the dinsional barrier.
"That's strange," he wondered aloud. "If there's a connection, why is it blocked?"
Richard opened the Secret Realm Rift and fished Ulysses out from within.
After listening to Richard's account, Ulysses responded, "Gah, didn't the Nightmare Artifact rge with your Nightmare Core? This connection is probably not a direct link between the Nightmare Artifact and your soul, but rather, it uses the link between your Soul Seed and your soul to create a connection with your soul."
After hearing Ulysses' explanation, Richard instantly understood.
He could use the connection between the Soul Seed and his soul to transmit soul ssages to the Nightmare World, so naturally, the process could be reversed.
However, this realization only brought him empty joy.
Unable to use the Nightmare Artifact, the connection was useless.
Suddenly, Richard felt a slight tremor.
A vague sensation washed over him.
The Nightmare Rules within him seed... to have triggered a reaction with this connection.
"Number One!" Richard suddenly shouted.
Within seconds, Number One, who was dressed in a maid's outfit with cat-like attire, appeared before Richard and bowed her head gently, saying, "Master, what do you need?"
"Lift your head."
Number One lifted her head, her pale blue eyes eting Richard's. Though her expression was calm, a hint of terror could still be seen.
She had no idea what her own master wanted her to do.
She had been in contact with other sub-human slaves in the Wizard Tower and knew that many of them were used for human experints. The miserable fates of those sub-humans were deeply etched in her heart.
"Please not an experint."
She feigned calm and lifted her head as Richard instructed.
At the mont she lifted her head, she suddenly realized her master's eyes seed to exude a dark abyss.
"Co with . I have an experint that requires your cooperation," Richard said calmly.
Richard's words instantly made Number One's heart sink. Like a puppet, she followed Richard into the laboratory, then watched as Richard took out a black insect bristling with dense tentacles.
She had seen such insects before—on a sub-human used as an experintal subject by a wizard.
This type of insect was a parasite that would slowly consu every inch of flesh beneath the host's skin, while the host remained fully conscious during the process and even felt no pain.
In the end, the insect would completely devour the host, leaving only the brain, which would forever sleep under the influence of the hallucinogen released by the parasite.
Number One couldn't help but step backwards and weakly fell to her knees.
Would she et the sa end?
She watched as Richard approached her with the insect, watched as it ca closer and closer.
"Open your mouth."
Number One violently shook her head, crawling to her master's feet and begging tearfully.
But what t her was only those cold, rciless eyes.
Next, she was tied to an experintal table, her mouth forcibly propped open with instrunts, then watched as the horrific parasite entered her mouth, starting to eat from her tongue, bit by bit moving down her throat, and then...
"Ah!"
Number One scread, her eyes snapping open to see Richard calmly watching her.
"What did you experience?" Richard asked, taking out a notebook.
Number One touched her mouth and scanned her surroundings.
Was that all an illusion?
Wiping the cold sweat from her forehead, she began to recount everything she had seen to Richard.
At that mont, she roughly understood that her wizard master had indeed used her for an experint, but not in the way she had seen.
After listening to Number One's description, Richard closed the notebook, rubbed Number One's head to dismiss her, and gave her a three-day vacation.
"Is this the ability that the Nightmare Rules granted ?"
From Number One's description, Richard could confirm that he had gained the ability to plunge soone into nightmares.
The nightmare consisted of what the subject feared the most, but it caused no ntal harm.
While using this ability, Richard also recorded his own consumption. When he put Number One into a nightmare, his spiritual power depleted slightly, and Number One was imrsed in the nightmare for a minute.
Richard estimated that the ability's consumption probably depended on the spiritual power of the subject.
"Not bad, this thing is absolutely perfect for interrogations."
Having tested his ability, Richard was about to reenter the laboratory when a wave of magic pulled him to the third floor.
That was the magic fluctuation of the long-range Communication Crystal Ball.
Locating the Crystal Ball, Richard glanced at the ssage inside.
"Richard, is that Magic Statue of yours still around? I'd like to borrow it."
...
In Anna's Wizard Tower, Richard opened the Secret Realm Rift and moved the Alchemy Golem out from within.
Watching the Magic Statue whose shell had been replaced with blue mushroom iron, Anna's eyes went from shocked to admiring as she looked at Richard.
She gave Richard a thumbs-up:
"You really know how to 'shear the sheep.'"
Richard chuckled. With the Miracle Furnace at hand, not to take advantage of refining ore seed downright unreasonable.
Anna touched the Magic Statue with her chanical right hand, and a faint glimr of Magic Power sparkled from her fingertips. With a light flick, a tal plate detached from the Alchemy Golem.
Seeing the unchanged internal structure, Anna breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness you only changed the shell, otherwise, this golem would have been useless."
Richard, curious, asked, "Senior Sister, besides being cheap, is there anything special about this golem?"
Over the years, Richard had studied the golem, but after researching every part of it, he found that its structure seed quite ordinary. Apart from being cheap, there were no particular advantages.
Anna glanced at Richard and pulled out a sheepskin scroll from her Magic Pocket.
"But there's really nothing special about it on its own, but with this, it can be of great use."
Richard was slightly surprised, "Oh? It looks like Senior Sister has found sothing valuable."
Anna humd proudly twice, "Humph, thanks to you, I've gathered so Encrypted Notes over the years. Among these notes, one was covered by a Sealing Skill, and this is what was hidden within."
"What do you want to do with this golem of mine, then? If you need the golem's structure, I can give it to you right here."
"Give it to ?"
Anna frowned slightly, walked over to Richard, and knocked hard on his head with her left hand.
"Is that how you treat the knowledge you discover? Don't you know that between wizards, knowledge transfer, except between master and apprentice, should be about equivalent exchange?"
Richard rubbed his head, nonchalantly said, "Look, even if I don't ask for anything, you would still propose an equivalent exchange. Since you can co up with it on your own, why should I bother?"
Anna glared at Richard annoyingly:
"Then next ti I won't say anything! Let's see if you learn your lesson after being taken advantage of a couple of tis."
Richard grinned, "Don't be mad, don't be mad; getting angry is bad for your health. It's clearly you who's taking advantage, but now it seems like I'm the one benefitting."
Seeing Richard's facetious expression, Anna huffily pushed him out of the Wizard Tower.
"Get out, get out, I have my own use for this puppet. When I've figured it out, I'll let you know."
With that, Anna slamd the door shut.
Richard stood outside and shouted loudly: "Hey, Senior Sister, you haven't paid yet!"
Anna's annoyed voice ca from behind the door:
"No paynt! You were going to gift the blueprint anyway, so why care about this little money?"
Hearing this, Richard touched his chin, a slight smile curving up at the corner of his mouth.
"Desensitization was a great success."
Ever since the academic conference in the Insect Nest World, Richard had wanted to shatter so of the entrenched ideas held by wizards in his circle.
Research findings could certainly be private, but wizards were a bit too extre in their approach to research, treating every scrap as a treasure, and considering inquiries about their research topics as offensive.
Richard was attempting to break this mindset, laying the groundwork for future academic symposiums.
Moreover, Richard believed that change in a society always starts with individual changes.
Perhaps in the future, the entire Wizard Society could be transford because of his actions.
…
Back in the Wizard Tower, Richard finally entered the laboratory.
Looking at the Crystal Ball on the experintal table, he sighed.
Inside the Crystal Ball was an incomplete Rune, the Mountain Heart Rune he had obtained in the Mountain Secret Realm.
A year was too short, and Richard barely had ti to complete the rune.
Now that he was away from the Mountain Secret Realm, the incomplete state of the rune left Richard feeling like he had a mountain of treasures yet was unable to start mining.
The Mountain Heart Rune was extrely complex, and even a Great Wizard specializing in Rune Studies would need ti to complete it, not to ntion Richard—a Second Ring Wizard with little accumulated knowledge—it was a fool's dream to attempt its completion.
Thus, Richard decided to forge his own path.
Since he couldn't complete it, he could disassemble so lower-level runes from the complex, incomplete Mountain Heart Rune.
This process was not a novel innovation among wizards; Richard had disassembled so rudintary secondary runes from the Annihilation Fla Rune and the Dark Water Rune to assist in the formation of spells during the creation of the Heart of Annihilation.
And most importantly, this operation was not difficult, the only trouble was experinting repeatedly to see if the secondary rune would work.
It was an extrely tedious and protracted process; ordinary mortals might never find a viable secondary rune in their lifeti.
But fortunately, wizards did not lack ti.
...
Twenty years later, a surge of Magic Fluctuation woke Richard from his experints.
He had to stop the rune he had just disassembled and reach for his long-range Crystal Ball.
There were two ssages on the crystal ball, one from Anna. Anna had completed her research on the golem, instructing Richard to reclaim the golem.
But the other ssage was sowhat more significant.
[Sender: Vladimir]
[Clear Frost First, Second, and Third Legions will participate in a Plane War three years from now, and you are needed as a technical consultant for the war.]
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