A Sorcerer’s Journey

The Water Crystal Turtle’s cave lab was found in an underground lake.

To establish a Transmission Front between the World’s Aperture with the Sorcerer World from the Void Fortress in this world in addition to fixing down its coordinates would take at least ten years time.

Grimm has decided to use the intermediate period to research the Lightning Mirror at this underground lake, and learn of its secrets.

During the Crimson Sun Cataclysm at the Sacred Lava Mountain, Grimm saw glimpses of the Crimson Sun’s secrets on a Lightning Mirror, deep within the interiors of the Sacred Lava Mountain.

And thus, Grimm naturally recalled the Lightning Mirror that was located at the bed of this underground lake.

Although he did not know the proper application, or the ability of these intriguing Lightning Mirrors, he was sure that some root secrets remained hidden within these mirrors, like the Black Sea Vortex that connected the laws at the heart of the Void World, or the Destiny Lever from the Sorcerer World.

Grimm’s speculation was that it was very likely that these Lightning Mirrors linked up the coordinates of this world’s Principal Law Void.

Blub blub…

Bubbles rose up from the bottom of the lake. Grimm relayed his speculation to Myna, who after using what little capacity his mind has to offer said, “Caw? It’s quite likely. Though, we are not this world’s native creatures so to barge into their Law Void might provoke retaliation by the entire world’s Principal Wil.

Provoking retaliation by a world’s Principal Wil, even by this type of low-level world was no laughing matter. It could spell utter disaster even for a Stigmata Sorcerer.

Grimm nodded his head in acknowledgement. His eyes underneath the Mask of Truth looked towards the silently awaiting Water Crystal Turtle, he then smiled ever so slightly.

‘If it were for this Water Crystal Turtle instead, there shouldn’t be any provocation for retaliation by the Principal Will of this world should there?’

It seems that a complete preparation would be required after all.

With the ability to perceive spatial walls, Grimm was confident that behind this Lightning Mirror lay a mystical space.

Moments later.

The Water Crystal Turtle lay on the test bench. Through its Soul Fire, Grimm was able to read this Turtle’s inner fears. Because on this test bench, it personally witnessed Grimm’s “brutal murder” of Amonros. This bench was a terrifying place where sorcerers bring forth their Cruel Will.

However, the Water Crystal Turtle was already Grimm’s Soul Slave so resistance was futile.

The eyes underneath the Mask of Truth had already seen through the Water Crystal Turtle. Even so, Grimm remained tranquil, pairing well with the dim lighting of the laboratory, its cruelty and mysteriousness.

Silently, Grimm held out his index finger from its skin which a rice grain-sized insect burrowed out. It seemed so harmless, so defenseless and so ordinary. It was as if it could be crushed to death by a simple squeeze of the finger.

Smiling maliciously, Grimm inserted his index finger into the elementalized body of the Water Crystal Turtle, leaving behind some “bait”.

“Greatness, starts small.”

Grimm said with a low, hoarse voice. Taking out his index-finger, the Symbiotic Insect was left inside the body of the Water Crystal Turtle.

The Gadfly that possessed the ability to alter one’s Life Code posed no threat to elemental creatures like this Water Crystal Turtle. But Grimm had long noticed another ability of the Gadfly. It could integrate with one’s Life Message and hide the host’s Life Perception.

The Gadfly that resided within Grimm was no longer the first batch of wild Gadflies that were collected by him. Instead, this Gadfly has gone through tens of generations of attentive selective breeding for more than two hundred years.

In the past few years, Grimm had felt the Symbiotic Insect within his body had started moving around uneasily. It seemed that it was going to further evolve into a new strain.

Grimm guessed that it was possibly because of the collapse of his own Life Code, and after his self-rebirth that these little creatures with the hidden ability to alter one’s Life Code had taken the chance to evolve.

Reproducing in a new host’s body provided an opportunity for the Gadfly to further its evolution.

And if Grimm continued to suppress the Gadfly within his body for the long term, it might create a conflict that might result in his body’s Life Code cracking apart.

For now till the near future, the Water Crystal Turtle’s body would be a breeding ground for the next batch of Gadflies. But Grimm’s aim was not geared towards the turtle.

Finishing his preparations, Grimm left the laboratory with a satisfied smile. He had forgotten all about the Nightmare Shadow issue for now. The Water Crystal Turtle looked at the little lifeforms within its shaking body with its old, muddled eyes.

***

A year later.

“Master…”

With the final wail from the Water Crystal Turtle, the Natural Elemental Soul was retrieved by Grimm’s Crystal Ball. The cruel sorcerer treated his Soul Slave as a mere experimental subject, with no traces of sympathy at all.

And with a poof, the elementalized body of the Water Crystal Turtle turned into a ball of Elemental Energy and dissipated into the air.

Myna looked at the hundreds of grain-sized Gadflies on the test bench and asked, “These little things are your Symbiotic Insects? It’s pretty interesting, unlike those old bastard sorcerers from long ago that used those disgusting Wire bugs as their Symbiotic Insects.”

Grimm already had some clues about the use of Symbiotic Insects by the sorcerers that emerged from the first war of civilization. However, he did not have clues about what Myna had just said, who was a “relic” of the second war of civilization.

Thinking about it, the ancient sorcerers’ first war of civilization, like the previous sorcerers’ second war of civilization must have experienced a rapid development afterwards.

Grimm shook his head as he collected these Gadflies that had previously integrated with the Life Message of the Water Crystal Turtle. “The modern Sorcerer World is not far from the ancient sorcerers you described. It’s just that a mystical creature called the Bollworm, makes up half of the sorcerers’ Symbiotic Insects today.”

“Bollworm? The hell is that? Never heard of that. Is it some new kind of Symbiotic Insect cultivated by the Sorcerer World?” Myna asked curiously.

As he picked up the Gadflies from the test bench, Grimm continued, “According to research, Bollworms appeared after the Great Cataclysm of sorcerer’s second war of civilization. As a result of the Sorcerer World’s shifting of the endless world’s coordinates, a type of Rainbow Insect was unable to feed on light sources from another world so they mutated into a new species of creatures. These mutated insects granted an additional hundred years’ worth of life vitality for sorcerer apprentices and gave the opportunity for the birth of higher-level sorcerers.”

Historical research was a favored source of information by some sorcerers.

Treat history as a teacher, treat history as a source of knowledge. History allowed sorcerers to gain more wisdom. It was also the sorcerer’s fundamental way to gain forward-looking intelligence.

“Caw? Do these dumb sorcerer apprentices really think that an additional hundred years would give them a higher chance to become an official basic sorcerer? There are only two paths one can take to become an official basic sorcerer. It’s either intelligence or pure luck, not time,” Myna said arrogantly as he raised his tail.

Grimm added on in his thoughts, “There’s also strength.”

Holding onto the collected Gadflies, Grimm once again dove into the lake to reach the Lightning Mirror at the bottom. Feeling around the relative space behind the Lightning Mirror before gently tearing a hole using the space ability, creating a crack in the mirror.

Quickly, Grimm threw all the Gadflies he was holding into the crack.

This was Grimm’s attempt to explore the secret space behind the Lightning Mirror and from this, he was to decide whether or not to report his findings to the Battle Command, whereupon doing so he would most likely be rewarded with Sorcerer Essences or even an Honor Badge.

As for the secret of the Lightning Mirror itself, Grimm had no inspiration at the moment.

There was at least ten years before Grimm could truly return to the Sorcerer World. He had yet to deal with the harvests he procured from this world, and it needed some sorting out so time was of the essence.

The manipulation of Camphoragate worms was the key factor behind the Amonros’ refined technique on underground tunnelling. Consequently, Grimm had collected many live specimens of Camphoragate worms.

The Enigmatic Energy replenishment system will definitely come in handy in the future should Grimm decide to evolve into a beast.

The tail part of mutated Amonros had a Golden Flame that was a natural inhibitor of Flame Elemental Energy. Grimm collected a small bottle of this flame as an experimental specimen; the Demonic Blood Moss experimental specimen; a small piece of weird metal that could radiate Mystical Energy.

The knowledge about Ice Marrow Crystallization Grimm procured when he tried to save Millie still needed further processing once Grimm returned to the Sorcerer World.

Other resource forms of harvest like the ray of Natural Elemental Soul from the Great Bloodfalls Lavawyvern, a thread of Natural Elemental Soul from the Water Crystal Turtle, countless Crystallized Energy Stones, more than a hundred enslaved Golden Amonros, a piece of Lava Core, the Greedy Flame Giant that had evolved into a Savage Flame Giant.

As such, Grimm started to process his own harvests day after day. At the same time, he returned to the Lightning Mirror at the bottom of the lake daily in hopes of the Gadflies’ return from the unknown space behind the mirror.

***

Five years later.

Like every other day, Grimm returned to check on the Lightning Mirror after his experimental tests. This time, he had become increasingly disappointed.

Following the Gadflies’ reproduction cycle, self-reproduction occurs once every year. Their reproduction would not be the same as done within Grimm’s body, where it was done selectively, with their numbers determined by the concept of “survival of the fittest”, though, at the same time a basic population was preserved.

So many years and still no messages. Perhaps they had been “digested” or “purified” by the unknown space behind the mirror…

As Grimm turned around to leave the Lightning Mirror like the countless times he did before, he stopped in his tracks. Suspiciously, he drew open the relative space in the Lightning Mirror. Suddenly, a droning “buzz” was heard and not long after, densely packed small green dots squeezed past one another and flew out from the opening, scaring the soul out of Grimm!

In a flash, Myna appeared on Grimm’s shoulders.

“Good god, so many of them, and they even turned from white to green?”Myna yelled out as he looked at the unending stream of ‘green Gadflies’ pushing their way through the crack on the Lightning Mirror.

Grimm, who had gotten over the initial shock felt the Soul Imprints of these Gadflies and compared its degree of similarity with his own Soul Imprint. His expression gradually eased after doing so.

It seemed that something has happened in the unknown space behind the Lightning Mirror!

Thinking this, Grimm set his mind to try and read the simple memories of these Symbiotic Insects. He suddenly discovered that these Gadflies had formed into an external force field, a situation that has never happened before.

‘Is this a new evolved ability?’

Guessing this, Grimm carefully sensed the abilities of these Gadflies in silence.

A few minutes passed and the stream of Gadflies pushing their way through the crack on the Lightning Mirror had finally ceased. The entire cave lab is now plastered with these Gadflies. They were so densely packed that counting them was an impossible task.

Gadflies could float on air, live in water as well as live in a host as a parasite.

Usually Gadflies would not make any sounds. Like floating specks of dust or bits of impurities in water, they looked weak and puny but they had a surprisingly resilient Life Force.

With the exception of frogs, any other omnivorous insects that feed on smaller prey were the eternal enemies of the Gadflies. As such, their numbers remain small. Though, not many people noticed this.

After a few moments, Grimm rejoiced, mumbling in disbelief, “This is a… Dissimilation Force Field! It’s a mutated force field that can alter Life Codes externally!”

If this were the case, all that was needed was for Grimm to do a simple development before unveiling an unimaginably terrifying sorcery ability right?

To use a force field to remotely alter one’s Life Code was basically a form of Curse Sorcery viewed externally, if it indeed had come true.

This curse, might not even need the Life Code!

It turned out that Curse Sorcery could still be further developed like this?

Of course, if this imagined sorcery was unlocked, whether or not it belonged under Curse Sorcery was debatable as its fundamental theory was different.

At the same time, while Grimm was under Soul Connection with the evolved Gadflies, what he saw in his blurry dream-like state, was a single massive green vine hanging in a monochromatic space, as if sealed in place.

From the perspective of the Gadflies, this vine seemed endless…

As much as Grimm wanted to further read their memories, these Gadflies only possessed the one-dimensional soul of an insect and had no more stored memories. What’s more is that the available memories were unbelievably blurry, leaving Grimm to do all the guesswork.

After contemplating hard for a long time, Grimm still did not dare to enter the relative space to investigate personally after all. This was undoubtedly a sureway to die for Grimm.

At that moment, Grimm had come to a realization that as his knowledge expanded, the more insignificant he was in this world.

With a sigh, Grimm looked at the densely-packed evolved Gadflies dotting the cave lab. He narrowed his eyes and licked his lips.

His plans for the coming few years probably had changed. It’s a must that a superior Gadfly must be selected from this sea of Gadflies to be incorporated as his new generation of Symbiotic Insects.

***

Grimm, who had gotten over the initial shock felt the Soul Imprints of these Gadflies and compared its degree of similarity with his own Soul Imprint. His expression gradually eased after doing so.

It seemed that something has happened in the unknown space behind the Lightning Mirror!

Thinking this, Grimm set his mind to try and read the simple memories of these Symbiotic Insects. He suddenly discovered that these Gadflies had formed into an external force field, a situation that has never happened before.

‘Is this a new evolved ability?’

Guessing this, Grimm carefully sensed the abilities of these Gadflies in silence.

A few minutes passed and the stream of Gadflies pushing their way through the crack on the Lightning Mirror had finally ceased. The entire cave lab is now plastered with these Gadflies. They were so densely packed that counting them was an impossible task.

Gadflies could float on air, live in water as well as live in a host as a parasite.

Usually Gadflies would not make any sounds. Like floating specks of dust or bits of impurities in water, they looked weak and puny but they had a surprisingly resilient Life Force.

With the exception of frogs, any other omnivorous insects that feed on smaller prey were the eternal enemies of the Gadflies. As such, their numbers remain small. Though, not many people noticed this.

After a few moments, Grimm rejoiced, mumbling in disbelief, “This is a… Dissimilation Force Field! It’s a mutated force field that can alter Life Codes externally!”

If this were the case, all that was needed was for Grimm to do a simple development before unveiling an unimaginably terrifying sorcery ability right?

To use a force field to remotely alter one’s Life Code was basically a form of Curse Sorcery viewed externally, if it indeed had come true.

This curse, might not even need the Life Code!

It turned out that Curse Sorcery could still be further developed like this?

Of course, if this imagined sorcery was unlocked, whether or not it belonged under Curse Sorcery was debatable as its fundamental theory was different.

At the same time, while Grimm was under Soul Connection with the evolved Gadflies, what he saw in his blurry dream-like state, was a single massive green vine hanging in a monochromatic space, as if sealed in place.

From the perspective of the Gadflies, this vine seemed endless…

As much as Grimm wanted to further read their memories, these Gadflies only possessed the one-dimensional soul of an insect and had no more stored memories. What’s more is that the available memories were unbelievably blurry, leaving Grimm to do all the guesswork.

After contemplating hard for a long time, Grimm still did not dare to enter the relative space to investigate personally after all. This was undoubtedly a sureway to die for Grimm.

At that moment, Grimm had come to a realization that as his knowledge expanded, the more insignificant he was in this world.

With a sigh, Grimm looked at the densely-packed evolved Gadflies dotting the cave lab. He narrowed his eyes and licked his lips.

His plans for the coming few years probably had changed. It’s a must that a superior Gadfly must be selected from this sea of Gadflies to be incorporated as his new generation of Symbiotic Insects.

“Ah! This feeling…”

Grimm, who was in the middle of cultivating ‘Dissimilation Force Field’ produced by the evolved Gadflies, suddenly yelled out in surprise And with a ‘shraa’, Grimm’s clothes turned into powder in an instant.

With Grimm as the center point, the surrounding space seemed to have collapsed on itself. Dark gray rippling waves spread through the area, swirling around in the air.

At the same time, countless red strands of hair appeared out of thin air and mysteriously surrounded him.

These hairs seemed to be alive as they tried to dig their way into Grimm’s body but to no avail due to the protection Grimm’s transparent Sorcerer’s Barrier provided. From afar, Grimm looked like a hairy, moldy egg.

‘This is…’

For the past five years, Grimm had hand-picked a few thousand Elite Gadflies out of the tens of thousands of these green evolved Gadflies based on the “survival of the fittest” concept. Because their aura integrated with Grimm’s, parts of these Elite Gadflies were penetrated by the red hairs. They shrieked loudly before vanishing into thin air, as if being warped into another unknown world.

These red hairs were like claws from hell, dragging whichever object touched by the curse into the realms of the Nightmare Deadlands.

“Kaw? Damn it, I’ve also been affected by the Underbed Evil Shadow curse!”