Space and Mirrors, the Eerie Garden

Fifteen minutes later, Ronan saw the Ponytail Witch skin had been as red as a shrimp and whose head seemed to be emitting white steam, slowly return to normal, and her disordered mental energy fluctuations finally stabilized.

"That mirror isn't mine."

With the misunderstanding cleared up, the Ponytail Witch had calmed down, but she was still too shy to look Ronan in the eye.

"It was obtained by our small team while exploring a secret realm. Everyone has the right to use it. It was only given to me to use in order to win the duel."

"Can I take it out and have a look?"

Ronan noticed that the Ponytail Witch hesitated, but she still obediently took out the Mirror Magical Item he had seen before from her Storage Waist Pouch and handed it to him.

In a sense, the Ponytail Witch is currently being "held hostage" by Ronan, and she has no choice but to comply with Ronan demands.

Second-order magical implements.

This was the first time Ronan had ever come into contact with a proper Tier 2 magic item... Well, Nightmare Tungsten Steel could only be considered a Tier 2 material.

Holding the mirror, which was more than a hand's width wide, in my hand, I felt its cool touch and could clearly sense the faint energy particle fluctuations emanating from it, as well as a mysterious and obscure aura of runes.

The mirror is roughly oval in shape, with its edges covered by an unidentified silver-white material engraved with intricate and beautiful patterns.

The front of the mirror is a bright, almost transparent silver color. When touched, it will ripple outwards in concentric circles.

The back is engraved with a symmetrical, overlapping silver double-circle pattern, with a spiraling, twisted line in the center, resembling some kind of symbol or a strange maze.

Mirror Garden

Ronan reached out and gently touched the mysterious maze pattern, his eyes gleaming.

He took out the fragment of the mirror artifact he had obtained during his apprenticeship from his Storage Waist Pouch, compared it with the complete artifact in his hand, and finally found a near-perfect overlap in the upper right corner.

Mental energy permeated the complete Mirror Magical Item, searching for the core rune within it, and the comparison yielded the same result.

"It is indeed a standard magical artifact of the same design as that from the Mirror Garden."

Ronan let out a soft breath, then asked the Ponytail Witch in front of him again, "Would you mind if I made a copy of the runes inside?"

"Okay."

With the permission of the Ponytail Witch, Ronan took out a Rune Stone specifically for recording and copied the complete rune form from the Mirror Magical Item into the Rune Stone.

This is different from Rune Inscription, which simply records the shape of the rune, like copying a pattern on a piece of paper. Only through the process of imprinting and enchanting can the rune truly take effect.

"Thanks."

After completing the replication, Ronan handed the second-tier Mirror Magical Item back to the Ponytail Witch, which surprised her. She probably never expected that Ronan would return the item to her.

"Where is the Secret Realm Space where you obtained this magical artifact? Can you take me there?"

Ronan asked the Ponytail Witch, who nodded and said, "It's a hidden space that hasn't been discovered yet. We haven't fully explored it either. To be precise, we haven't explored much at all. The magic arrays and dangers inside are beyond the capabilities of First Level Wizard."

Ronan turned his Flying Ring, and he and the Ponytail Witch left the valley, beginning to talk as they flew.

In the Wizard World, there are several different standards for classifying Secret Realm Space, including both Secret Realm Space -made and naturally formed ones.

Whether man-made or naturally formed, they can be divided into owned and unowned.

Secret Realm Space with owners are like the "Corpse Garden" that Ronan entered, and the "Damp Jungle" that he just came out of. These kinds of Secret Realm Space are basically discovered and explored by later people who then privately occupy them for themselves.

Some Secret Realm Space, after being discovered, have not yet been fully explored. These are considered "public" secret realms, and anyone with the strength can enter.

The most famous public secret realm in the region where the Silver Magic Ring is located is the ruins of the Mirror Garden, Ancient Wizard Force.

Having been in the Arcane Circle for so long, Ronan had heard many rumors about the Mirror Garden. The ruins of the Ancient Wizard Force, the Mirror Garden, had been discovered many years ago.

This region, including the Silver Magic Ring, has been explored by many powerful wizarding factions, but it has not been fully explored yet.

It is said that there are still core areas that have not been opened. Those Rune Array that have been left over from ancient times and have survived the erosion of the long river of time, yet remain mysterious, complex and unbreakable, have blocked the steps of a group of wizards.

The leaders of various wizarding factions are all searching for the key and means to open the core area of Mirror Garden. The Nefa Key obtained by the Hoddam Academy was a secret treasure specifically used to open the magic array of the secret realm. It was also passed down from ancient times, but the wizard who invented the Nefa Key is no longer traceable.

As a large gathering place for ancient wizards, the Mirror Garden naturally contains far more than one Secret Realm Space.

Besides the largest one at the center of power, countless small, medium, and even micro-sized Secret Realm Space have also appeared in the surrounding areas.

The Ponytail Witch and her companions discovered the ruins of a small, Secret Realm Space belonging to the Mirror Garden.

"At that time, this magical artifact was lying on the ground not far from the entrance of the secret realm, and we obtained it very easily."

But before they could continue exploring, they were forced to retreat by the crisis that erupted within.

The Ponytail Witch led the way while describing the situation to Ronan.

"What is the function of this Mirror Magical Item? Is it to trigger the fire wave you released earlier?"

Ronan frowned and said, "But the core runes in the artifact don't seem to be fire magic runes."

"That was a spell that was sealed in later."

The Ponytail Witch quickly explained, "The effect of this magical item is to seal spells, and then when necessary, it can be taken out and released again with just mental guidance. The fire spell you see is a Barbus left behind by a First Magic Ring -level genius witch who has comprehended the Extraordinary Magic Domain, which is why it looks so powerful."

The Ponytail Witch said with a regretful expression, "Actually, when this magical artifact was first discovered, it originally contained several spells, all of them spatial, each more bizarre and powerful than the last... Unfortunately, they were all used up when we were being chased and forced to evacuate."

Spatial magic

Ronan murmured something under his breath, then asked the Ponytail Witch, "What kind of crisis is so terrible?"

"A monster."

The Ponytail Witch said with a serious expression, "It's hard to describe. It's like some kind of energy creature synthesized from mirror and space magic. It's very strong, at least beyond the capabilities of First Level Wizard."

Ronan nodded and said nothing more.

The two flew in silence for a while, when the Ponytail Witch suddenly couldn't help but speak to him.

"My name is Fu Ling. I've never known your name?"

"Ronan. Ronan Damien."

Ronan gave a brief reply.

The wind howled past both sides, and although the Ponytail Witch was supposed to lead the way, Ronan found himself unknowingly flying ahead.

A gaze was fixed on her face, secretly watching her.

Ronan turned his head and saw the Ponytail Witch staring at him, lost in thought.

"What's wrong?"

Ronan reached up and touched his cheek. "Is there something on my face?"

The Ponytail Witch shook her head, then, as if gathering her courage, said shyly, "I feel that you are like a silent gem now, while before... you were a shining star."

Ronan's eyes flickered, he pursed his lips slightly, and turned his head back.

"A very good metaphor."

Seeing Ronan's reaction, the Ponytail Witch looked disappointed and silently flew to Ronan, saying nothing more.

The two flew for some time before finally landing on a flat, open grassland.

There is a small lake on the grassland, its water so calm and bright that it is like a mirror.

As soon as the Ponytail Witch landed, she put on a thoughtful and searching look. She led Ronan around the lake for a short while, and finally stopped by a patch of water plants covered with reeds.

"Right here."

The Ponytail Witch pointed to the water in front of her and said, "This entrance is very strange. It drifts away and moves from time to time, but it never leaves the area of this lake. It takes some effort to find it every time."

Ronan narrowed his eyes, extending his mental energy to carefully observe and probe the water surface before him.

The water was calm, shaded by reeds that blocked direct sunlight. Several long-legged spiders floated on the surface, and occasionally reed catkins fell.

After the mental energy seeped into the water, faint spatial energy particle fluctuations immediately emanated, and then the mental energy disappeared, as if it had been swallowed up by something.

The Ponytail Witch was right; there is indeed an entrance to a Secret Realm Space here.

Separated only by a body of water, the entrance was concealed almost without a trace. This method was simply incredible, far surpassing the entrance setups of the Secret Realm Space Ronan had ever seen.

"The Mirror Garden truly lives up to its reputation as a master of mirror and spatial magic."

This is a "magical" technique within the realm of magic.

"How did you discover this entrance in the first place?"

Ronan casually asked the Ponytail Witch, who replied that one of the witches in their group had an upset stomach and went to the lake to relieve himself, where he accidentally discovered the entrance. "Besides me and Barbus and a few others, probably no one else could have found this entrance."

The Ponytail Witch sighed softly.

Ronan didn't say anything pointless like, "Won't your teammates blame you for bringing me here on your own and exposing this secret?" Instead, he had the Ponytail Witch lead the way.

Although he believed the other party was unlikely to harm him, he still needed to be cautious.

Without saying a word, the Ponytail Witch enveloped her body with her Spiritual Force Field, stepped onto the water's surface, and jumped directly into the lake.

Without a sound of falling into the water, or even a splash, she vanished silently from Ronan's sight.

Ronan waited quietly for a while, and finding nothing amiss, he followed.

"Whoosh—"

The interplay of light and shadow is like waking from a dream.

When the scene before Ronan stabilized again, he found himself in another place.

This is a sunny little garden, bathed in warm golden light, with the air filled with the fresh scent of flowers, grass, and earth.

Beneath my feet is a lush green lawn, covered with purple lavender and pink geraniums. In the center of the garden is a small fountain pool, and in the corner stands an apple tree laden with unripe, green fruit.

Despite the incredibly beautiful and peaceful scenery, Ronan couldn't sense any sense of reality.

The golden sunlight was shining on my face, but I couldn't feel any warmth, and I couldn't hear any insects chirping or birds singing.

The entire garden was eerily quiet.

"That's where we found the mirror."

The voice of the Ponytail Witch reached his ears; she had entered before Ronan and was standing a few steps away from Ronan.

She seemed a little nervous at this moment. When she pointed out a direction to Ronan, she looked around warily like a rabbit, not daring to move her feet.

Ronan looked in the direction the Ponytail Witch was pointing, and his eyes widened in surprise.

He then noticed a small wicker chair in the corner of the garden, next to which was a small white table with exquisite teaware on it, the cups of which seemed to be steaming.

In addition, there were several other items whose specific appearance was not clearly discernible, which were also quietly placed on the table.

The exact location of the Ponytail Witch's finger was on the lawn a few meters away from the wicker chair. If you looked closely, there did indeed appear to be an outline mark made by an oval object.

Ronan's eyes flickered, and he calmly walked toward the rattan table and chairs.

"Careful!"

The Ponytail Witch's tense voice rang in his ears. Ronan turned around and saw that she looked like she was facing a formidable enemy.

It was clear that she was very worried about Ronan, but even so, she didn't dare to move forward even half a step.

Ronan gave the other a reassuring look, and in his hands, which hung naturally beneath his robes, metal and silver mist swirled, forming the shape of two silver short swords.

"There's probably no danger before we reach the point where we find the Mirror Magical Item."

Ronan thought to himself, but he didn't relax. He walked steadily toward his goal, step by step.

Golden sunlight seemed to be shining from all directions, casting ever-changing light and shadow around him.

As Ronan ventured deeper into the garden, he became increasingly aware of its eeriness.

He didn't sense any subtle changes in the ambient light, temperature, humidity, or smell. Everything around him was as beautiful as ever, yet it always gave him a sense of "lifelessness" and unreality.

It's like a reflection in a mirror; it looks very real, but there's not a trace of life in it.

Ronan walked to the spot where the Mirror Magical Item had been discovered, when suddenly, "Click—"

He felt as if he had bumped into something real yet fragile, and heard a sound like a mirror shattering.

Then the air in front of me took on a strange, transparent angle, as if a mirror had been folded over.

Before Ronan could react, his vision blurred, and when he came to, he found himself surrounded by lavender and geraniums.

The white table and rattan chairs, which were the target, suddenly became extremely far away.

"Spatial teleportation methods?"

Ronan frowned, and was about to try taking two more steps forward when suddenly, from a distance came the anxious and worried scream of the Ponytail Witch.

"Ronan! Watch out behind you!"

Ronan turned around abruptly, his pupils contracting sharply.

His lake-blue eyes reflected a lush and beautiful flower garden, and from within that garden, a transparent humanoid creature seemed to be struggling to emerge, leaving a distorted and undulating trajectory in the air like a moving mirror, before charging straight toward him!