Chapter 91: Thief

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Thief

"Don’t look at it anymore!" Radak waved his Magic Staff, and a gentle breeze enveloped Andre.

As the breeze dissipated, a ball of mud fell to the ground.

"This lump of stuff... if you don’t want to throw it away, you can use it as fertilizer. It contains a fair amount of the Power of Life."

"Although the amount isn’t much, its effect is comparable to those Potions you concocted."

Radak’s words made Andre’s eyes widen.

’This stuff can be used as fertilizer?’

’Which Wizard was bored enough to experiment with this?’

"Enough!" Radak saw the look on Andre’s face and knew exactly what he was thinking.

"All things in existence contain Truth. Wizards are beings who pursue Truth, so naturally, we won’t let a single trace of it slip by!"

Radak’s words made Andre stop thinking about that bored Wizard.

"I rejected the task Krell arranged for you. Right now, your most important priority is to forge your own Ladder of Truth."

"Poisons may be potent, but they require specific conditions to be effective."

Radak’s words made Andre’s expression stiffen.

He knew what Radak meant. He was telling him to walk the proper path of forging the Ladder of Truth, not to blindly rely on the shortcut of using poisons.

Yes, he had once used the Thousand Extremes Potion he’d concocted to kill six Black Wizards in the Black and White Forest, but that was a special case.

He only succeeded thanks to the geographical conditions in the Black and White Forest.

But anywhere else, the Thousand Extremes Potion in his hands wouldn’t be nearly as effective as it was in the Black and White Forest.

"Teacher, I understand!"

Andre nodded solemnly.

"Good. The expedition is in nine years. You must become an Official Wizard within those nine years!"

Seeing that Andre understood, Radak offered this reminder, pressing upon him that his time was short.

Hearing this, Andre’s expression grew even more grave. Nine years. Nine years. He only had nine years.

Although he had already mastered the basic Demon Patterns for Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, and Thunder, he didn’t have many ideas on how to fuse the five Elements together.

Fusing the Four Great Elements of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire was one thing, but adding the Thunder Element into the mix made things much more difficult.

If he removed the Thunder Element, things would be much easier, but doing so would waste his Thunder Element Talent.

But if he simply forged a Thunder Element Ladder of Truth, all the Demon Patterns he had studied for so long would be abandoned.

Demon Patterns are the foundation of a Wizard; every Wizard must study them.

Half of all Witchcraft in the Wizard World is built upon the foundation of Demon Patterns.

It was only with the System’s help that he had mastered Demon Patterns and reached his current level.

Now, to suddenly have to remove Demon Patterns from his Ladder of Truth... Andre was truly reluctant.

"You should make a decision as soon as possible!"

Radak watched the shifting expressions on Andre’s face and shook his head helplessly.

Andre right now was a lot like his younger self—he wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted every advantage.

But for his own reasons, he couldn’t have it all.

This was what led to Andre’s current indecisiveness.

But a person’s power is limited, especially when they are weak. So, they must discard some things, and only when they become strong can they pick them back up again.

But by then, new problems would arise.

The things that were picked back up would have changed their flavor.

Seeing Andre still hesitating, Radak shook his Magic Staff and vanished before him.

When Andre saw Radak leave, he summoned the System and looked at his accumulated stats.

[Name] Andre

[Personality] Lord of Truth (Fragment, 0.12%)

[Age] 18

[Realm] High Level Wizard Apprentice (Peak)

[Power] 28

[Speed] 26

[Constitution] 36

[Spirit] 42

[Talent] Fifth Level

[Bloodline] Divine Descendant (Active/Sealed)

[Talent] Eye of Origin (0.28%), Elementary Perfect Body (3.0%)

[Ability] Demon Pattern Mastery, Mastery of Witchcraft Scroll, Basic Witchcraft Mastery, Intermediate Magic Potion Mastery.

[Witchcraft] Eye of Truth, Light of Insight, Demonic Energy Frenzy, Earth and Stone Manipulation, Earth Armor, Roar of Earth.

[Truth] 621%

’Observing natural Demon Patterns does greatly increase the Truth percentage in the System, but it’s still not enough. To be safe, I have to reach 1000%.’

’Turn quantity into quality, and then forge my own Ladder of Truth!’

Andre stared at the values in the System, pondered for a moment, then closed it.

He bent down, stuffed the ball of mud from the floor into a flowerpot, and saved it for later.

Then, he continued to plant Magic Plants and observe the natural Demon Patterns within them.

Andre didn’t stop until he had planted every last one of the rare Magic Plants in his possession.

"Finally, they’re all planted!"

Andre looked at the room, now packed full of Magic Plants, and a sense of accomplishment washed over him.

But now, there was no room left to even stand.

’The matter of Refining a Magic Plant Space has to be put on the agenda.’

Andre scratched his head and gave a piece of the Honeycomb to Potato.

Potato licked the Honeycomb and nestled beside Andre, looking at all the Magic Plants.

It didn’t understand what use Andre had for all these trees, flowers, and grasses.

Their only purpose seemed to be filling the room with a few different fragrances.

"It’s already spring!"

Andre stretched, walked out of the Wizard Inheritance Hall, and gazed at the trees sprouting new branches. He then released Seven Rings from the Servant Bag.

After Seven Rings emerged, it nuzzled its head against Andre’s hand, then turned and ran off into the mountain forest.

’Has it already been three months?’

Andre sat on the steps, watching the Wizard Apprentices come and go from the Wizard Inheritance Hall.

From the chatter of the Wizard Apprentices, he realized he had spent three months perceiving the natural Demon Patterns. He also finally understood why someone had been selling those specific Magic Plants at the market.

’To resort to thievery for resources... and to succeed so often even against Defense Witchcraft... This person is really something else!’

Andre nodded as he listened to a name that was being mentioned frequently among the Wizard Apprentices.

Through these conversations, Andre pieced together what this person had done.

This person’s name was Kasanti, a Wizard Apprentice who had been at the academy for thirty years.

He usually sold items at the market on behalf of several Official Wizards.

It was precisely this position that gave Kasanti the perfect opportunity to steal.

This was because the Wizard Apprentices who sold items for Official Wizards had their own inner circle.

Items that Official Wizards intended to sell would first make the rounds within this circle. If a deal could be made, the transaction would happen directly.

This created the perfect conditions for Kasanti. The circle would communicate every few days to see what items everyone had, then conduct trades on behalf of the Official Wizards they represented.

And for this very reason, Kasanti learned the whereabouts of a large number of precious resources.

The reason Kasanti resorted to theft was because his life was coming to an end, yet he was still unable to become an Official Wizard.

Since that was the case, he figured he might as well risk it all before he died. He would try to become an Official Wizard, escape the academy, and live in the places where Wandering Wizards gathered!

With this mindset, he began to seek out targets and steal things that could help him become an Official Wizard.