Diary of a Dead Wizard-Chapter 410 : Advancement to True Wizard!

Saul and Penny simultaneously looked at the ribbonfish, both feeling a surge of identical shock.

He understood what Penny meant—it wasn't that the ribbonfish had suddenly become food. It was that the ribbonfish, which had clearly exhausted its energy inside the interlayer, was now moving again.

Although the ribbonfish had previously recommended itself to Saul as a delicious meal, its mind had obviously been muddled and it didn’t possess true intelligence.

But now things were different. The fact that it responded the moment he uttered the words "Wizard Tower" proved that there was now a real, independent consciousness inside the ribbonfish.

"Little Algae, bring the fish over," Saul said after a brief pause, adding, "And don't eat it."

Little Algae quickly stretched out from Saul's nape, flying above the ribbonfish, and drooled clear saliva.

It wasn’t drooling over the fish meat—it was salivating over the unknown consciousness hidden within the big fish.

Little Algae carefully tucked away its sharp teeth, bit the ribbonfish by the tail, and dragged it back to Saul’s workbench.

The fish, dangling by the tail, began to shiver violently during the move, golden scales falling all over the ground.

Saul kept working with his hands while asking, "Who are you? What's your background? How did you get into the ribbonfish’s body?"

He suspected he might have brought back yet another fragment of a soul from the interlayer, and he was even hoping it might be something special like An.

"I..." The ribbonfish thought for a moment, then answered somewhat stiffly, "Wizard Lord, my name is Haywood. I was a Third Rank apprentice at the Wizard Tower."

Saul’s hands froze mid-action. He looked up in shock, "You're Haywood?"

"Yes, Mentor Lord."

The question Saul had been about to ask got stuck in his throat.

"What did you call me?"

The ribbonfish trembled again, "M-Mentor Lord… Aren’t you a mentor of the Wizard Tower?"

Saul sprang to his feet, lowering his head to look at his own hands. His mental body was starting to tremble, and magic power was flowing through him more smoothly than ever.

He could feel it—his usually disjointed magic power and mental force were now harmonizing, complementing each other.

Saul mind moved, and instantly cast a Soul Armor spell.

Feeling the energy on the armor—it was balanced and stable. Magic power and mental force working together with unprecedented synergy. As a result, the spellcasting strength was five or six times greater than before!

And this wasn't even him going all out!

Next, a black tentacle extended from the palm of his hand.

The usually magic-intensive spell, Touch of Torment, had become more condensed, while the magic power and mental force required had decreased a little.

Lower consumption, stronger spells.

It was as if he had mastered the knack of learning—half the effort, twice the results.

Saul flicked his thoughts, and the black tentacle retracted instantly—magic controlled freely.

Then his whole body rapidly turned transparent. His arms softened and wriggled, instantly transforming into two octopus-like tentacles, then immediately reverting.

"Even my control over Soul Resin has become much more intuitive."

After a few more quick experiments, Saul shook his head and let out a helpless, wry laugh.

"Without even realizing it, I’ve already become a True Wizard? I didn’t even notice?"

“Brother Saul, you didn't notice?" Penny muttered in a small voice beside him, "I thought you knew all along, and just didn’t make a big deal out of it, that's why you were so calm."

In Penny’s view, with Saul’s strong mental force and abundant pure magic, as long as he completely absorbed the magic gift from the Half-Elf and thoroughly integrated it, he could advance to True Wizard.

The whole process wouldn’t even take three months.

So when Penny noticed Saul’s advancement, it was only slightly surprised at how fast he had grasped it.

Seeing that Saul didn’t show any joy at all, Penny had assumed he was simply incredibly composed, and as the cleverest servant by his side, Penny also had to maintain composure and grace.

Who would have thought Saul truly hadn't realized it?

"To think I advanced without even noticing." After confirming, Saul sat down again. "I thought something grand and dramatic would happen."

"But thinking about it... My locator has already fused into my soul body long ago. I’m already familiar with the process. I only needed to wait for my mental force and magic power to grow to the right point to advance."

"Normally, to become a True Wizard, you have to master at least one Third Rank spell, allowing your mental force and magic power to interact and resonate properly. But this time, after absorbing the power from those eyes and mastering the visual rune, it seems to have substituted the need for a Third Rank spell, which is why I advanced without realizing."

"Well, it’s not a big deal. My mental force grew a little, magic power didn’t change, just my energy utilization became several times more efficient… Heh heh, all within expectations, heh heh." Though he thought so in his heart, Saul’s face bloomed into a wide smile.

Thinking of the ribbonfish claiming to be Haywood, whose origins were still unclear, Saul quickly curbed his excitement and returned to a calm demeanor.

He picked up the experiment tools from the table and continued working on Senior Byron’s new skin.

Right now, Senior Byron was in a state of sealed consciousness—he would only regain external perception once the new skin had initially fused. Then Saul could tell him the good news.

Without stopping his work, Saul spoke to the utterly stunned ribbonfish, "Are you the Haywood from a hundred years in the future?"

After the rush of excitement, his mind had cleared a lot. Saul remembered that during the construction of his mental realm, he had included the old Haywood within his ritual circle.

Maybe that was why he had brought Haywood out of the interlayer.

"Haywood from a hundred years in the future?" The crispy ribbonfish tilted its head, recalling carefully. A piece of fish gill cracked off with a snap. "I don't really remember clearly. It feels like a lot of memories rushed into my head but then quickly faded away. I only know that my name is Haywood, and I was a Third Rank apprentice at the Wizard Tower."

Saul placed the treated elf king’s head onto the rack behind him, did a bit of camouflage, and then returned to continue questioning the ribbonfish.

"So, you don’t recognize me now?"

This time the ribbonfish was silent for a moment before saying, "Should I recognize you?"

Saul thought for a moment. Could it be that the Haywood he brought out wasn’t the one from the illusion?

"Then how much memory can you confirm you have? Or in your memory, what year is it now?"

"I remember it should be the year 304 of the New Lunar Calendar. Oh, and tomorrow, I’m supposed to undergo body modification together with Kongsha and Ivan!"

"Modification? Tomorrow?" Saul’s curiosity was instantly piqued.

According to the ribbonfish, year 304 was already thirteen years ago. At that time, Kongsha would have been just a teenager, probably just reaching Second Rank apprentice.

As for Ivan, Saul wasn’t very familiar with him. But it was surprising to know that over a decade ago, Haywood had already been a Third Rank apprentice.

In all these years, with his talent, he hadn’t advanced to True Wizard?

Saul suddenly noticed something odd.

After Mentor Monica, he hadn’t heard of any apprentice successfully advancing to True Wizard.

While it was true that the chances were extremely low, wasn’t it a little too strange that no one had succeeded for so many years?

Apprentices like Billy and Jero, who were about to advance, had lingered at the Third Rank for how many years?

Could the fact that no one had advanced for so long mean that his own unexpected advancement would cause some unintended consequences?

Saul solemnly placed the ribbonfish in front of him.

"At that time, were you about to advance to True Wizard?"

The ribbonfish seemed to recall something painful. Its body twisted and creaked, golden scales littering the table.

"Yes, yes! I had already seen hope for advancement! If I could successfully complete the body modification tomorrow, I would have had a great chance to become a True Wizard!"

(End of Chapter)