Prelude, Prodigies

Above the damp, swampy ground, a majestic Giant Peak stands tall.

Terrifying explosions often echoed in this area, the air filled with a numbing, explosive force that mercilessly drove away the weaker creatures.

And the source of all this is the summit of Giant Peak.

There, an enormous Rune Array was erected out of thin air, continuously attracting free-floating energy particles from the world and transforming them into massive currents of electricity.

At the center of a massive interplay of lightning and plasma, a huge, deep purple ball of electricity rolled, constantly releasing terrifying energy fluctuations, as if it were nurturing some horrific being.

In a single instant, countless bolts of lightning in the sky and earth suddenly converged to a single point, all returning to that deep purple ball of electricity.

The enormous, deep purple electric sphere expanded rapidly, its aura growing increasingly terrifying. Finally, at its peak, with a deafening roar, hundreds of lightning bolts exploded simultaneously. The massive sphere burst open, unleashing a thick, dazzling waterfall of electricity that cascaded down, instantly dispelling the dense fog below, evaporating the moisture, and transforming the vast swamp into a barren wasteland dominated by electricity and lightning. Meanwhile, under a bright and clear sky washed clean by the torrential rain, between the Giant Peak and the Sky Dome, a figure surrounded by countless bolts of lightning stood silently.

This is an extremely handsome young man.

His eyes held the clouds of thunder, every strand of his hair crackled with lightning, and his robes seemed to be woven from lightning itself.

He calmly looked down at the earth below, possessing an innate noble air, like a legendary king wielding the power of thunder and lightning, or an ancient creature born from thunder and fire. Every movement and glance silently interpreted the mystery and majesty of the sky.

Jupiter

A deep, majestic sound emanated from the Giant Peak, carrying an undeniable air of authority.

"Go, go and reclaim the glory you have briefly lost."

"In the seat established by Helamus, inscribe your name, and the name of the council."

The handsome man gently touched his left shoulder with his right hand and bowed calmly in the direction of the Giant Peak.

Then his deep gaze was cast toward the distant horizon, and in the next instant, he transformed into a dazzling ball of lightning and suddenly shot into the sky.

"Anglie Leo".

"You should be prepared to taste what it's like to have lightning pierce your heart."

Meanwhile, on a certain dark plain...

Thick, blood-red clouds obscured the sky and moved rapidly across the plain.

Wherever the thick clouds, resembling congealed blood, passed, the weak creatures roaming the plains below immediately bled from their skin and died silently, without even a scream; only death and despair spread.

Amidst the crimson clouds, a Flesh Monster over four meters tall, its entire body seemingly stripped bare of skin, leaving only exposed tendons and muscles that coalesced into some bizarre armor-like form, was galloping wildly with an icy expression.

He was like a super magnet that could naturally attract blood. The blood that had been forcibly stripped from the bodies of the creatures on the plains gathered in mid-air into a babbling red stream, all flowing toward him.

The terrifying monster, whose flesh and blood had solidified into armor, was constantly radiating an aura that rose higher and higher. Yet, a look of solemnity and apprehension would occasionally flash in its eyes, and it would turn its head every now and then, as if it were being chased by someone.

"Call--"

Suddenly, a terrifying, sharp sound pierced the air.

A blurry black shadow streaked across the void, traversing vast distances, tearing through the blood clouds in an instant, and arriving behind the Flesh Monster.

The Flesh Monster seemed to have anticipated this, and with a violent expression, it twisted its body and threw a punch at the dark figure.

"Boom!"

The terrifying magical shockwave and energy aftershocks shattered the surrounding crimson clouds, and the Flesh Monster seemed to be severely injured, its figure staggering backward.

Before he could catch his breath, a second, a third, and even more dark shadows broke through the air.

The Flesh Monster threw punches repeatedly, shattering the black shadows that attacked him, and its body kept retreating.

He appeared extremely frustrated and irritable, so he stopped retreating and began to let out inhuman growls in the direction from which the shadowy figure was coming.

Soon, on the black plain behind him, huge and muffled footsteps rang out continuously.

A black rock giant, tens of meters tall, appeared on the plain.

This giant had no facial features, only a simple head and limbs. Its entire body was composed of huge and hard black rocks, one by one, as if it had just crawled out of the soil that had been deposited for countless years. There were even thick vines growing and twining between the rocks.

The black rock giant's two arms, as thick as Giant Peak, swung around from time to time. With each swing, a small piece of rock would break off from its body and be flung away violently towards the dense blood cloud.

Yet it was this barbaric and crude attack method, which resembled a fight between ordinary farmers, that forced the Flesh Monster that controlled the blood cloud to jump up and down repeatedly, constantly letting out frustrated and helpless roars.

It's hard to imagine the terrifying and domineering power infused into each rock throw of this black rock giant.

On the shoulder of the black rock giant sat a boy dressed in strange robes.

The boy had rough skin and a peculiar appearance, like a doll made entirely of mud and sand. He smiled as he watched the Flesh Monster being chased away by the black rock giant, while sand and mud clumps were still falling from his nose, eyebrows, and mouth as he spoke.

"I heard your name is Rufus? Quite a few people have died at your hands?"

"Too bad, you have no blood left for me to suck."

"You look much weaker than the rumors suggest."

Last time I met a guy who could transform into many different wild beasts, and he was much stronger than you.

As he spoke, the strange boy's eyes, which looked like they were made of mud, rolled around, and a cold and vicious look suddenly appeared on his stiff and rough face.

He stared intently at the Flesh Monster in the distance, making a sharp sound like hard stones rubbing together.

"Kill him, Venus!"

"Kill him! Let's find the next toy."

As if receiving a command from the boy, the massive black rock giant pounded its chest with its arms and let out a deep, majestic roar.

Ancient runes lit up on its dark, hard body, emanating an indescribable, terrifying power. It strode forward, and wherever it passed, the earth beneath its feet turned into waves of black earth rolling outwards.

At the same time, the Flesh Monster being chased not far away also turned grim.

He opened his blood-red maw and spat out one evil, ancient syllable incantation after another.

A moment later, all the crimson clouds around him gathered into his body, forming a huge, scarlet vortex.

Its already bizarre and eerie body continued to twist and swell under the infusion of this power. Similar scenes were constantly happening in various corners of the southern continent. As a certain date drew closer, a prelude was slowly being drawn.

This is a desolate, uninhabited plain of gravel.

The plain is covered with pebbles of various shapes and sizes, ranging from cobblestones to larger rocks. The surfaces of the stones have been weathered and smoothed, displaying colors of gray, brown, and reddish-brown.

These stones are scattered on the ground, forming a huge and irregular paving, like a strange jigsaw puzzle unintentionally created by nature.

Suddenly, two figures broke through the sky above the wasteland and silently landed on the ground covered with rubble.

These were two wizards dressed in gray robes, both appearing to be middle-aged, with a calm yet vigilant demeanor, and both emanating the mental energy fluctuations characteristic of First Level Wizard.

A wizard looked around, frowned, and said, "Martin, what exactly is the purpose of your summons? To explore the Mechanical Heart? It's almost no secret that the Mechanical Heart exists in this wasteland, but you should know that without the key, we have no way of getting in."

Did you perhaps find the key to this ancient site at the Sunset Gathering last month?

"I don't have that kind of good luck."

Another middle-aged wizard shook his head, but quickly replied in a low voice, "But I have another way."

I encountered a broken Metal Puppet nearby before; it looked like a Short-legged Gray Goat missing a horn.

Tsk tsk, that thing is almost immune to most of the spells I know... Rolls, you should know that apart from true ancient dwarven forging, there isn't a single wizard in the South who can do that now.

I have reason to suspect that the lame gray goat came from the Mechanical Heart. If we can catch it, we might be able to find the entrance to the Mechanical Heart Ruins. Even if we can't, this kind of antique magical puppet is still quite valuable.

Several large workshops in Sunset Market buy this stuff; the magic stones you get in exchange might be equivalent to the profits from several quests or expeditions.

The first wizard's eyes flickered, clearly somewhat persuaded by his companion.

"I hope you're not lying to me. So, what should we do next?"

"Use your divination magic to help us locate that goat..."

The first wizard couldn't help but frown. "My research in divination magic is probably only at the apprentice level."

"That's enough."

Martin patted the other man's shoulder reassuringly, then quickly pulled out several ordinary-looking stones from his Storage Waist Pouch, almost indistinguishable from the rubble beneath their feet, and handed them to the wizard Rolls Rawls.

"You should be able to use the stones that the puppet goat stepped on."

Rolls nodded and, without further hesitation, took the rock from the other person and began to set up the various ritual materials needed to cast the prophecy spell.

The wizard Martin stood quietly to the side, full of anticipation.

Before the wizard Rolls could finish preparing for the ritual, suddenly, a cold and immense pressure descended from mid-air.

On the barren plain, scattered snowflakes suddenly appeared, as if the harsh winter had quietly descended without warning.

The two of them changed their expressions almost simultaneously. Without hesitation, they immediately gathered up what they had on the ground and flew rapidly into the sky.

However, just as the two of them ascended into the air, they saw the thick clouds above their heads being torn apart, and large swathes of frost falling down.

Immediately afterwards, a huge snake shadow, over a hundred meters long, appeared in their field of vision.

Its magnificent serpentine body, sculpted from ice crystals, and its deep blue horn, like a giant scimitar, are enveloped in wind and snow. The ancient, wild, and cold aura rushes towards you like Ice River tide.

The aura of that Ancient Snake Species, the overlord of magical beasts, pressed down on the two middle-aged wizards, making their expressions stiffen and their bodies rigid, pinning them in mid-air, not daring to move an inch.

When those long, narrow, scarlet snake eyes gazed at them with a cruel, predatory look, the two felt their hearts tighten with cold, and thought death was imminent.

However, the snake-like eyes seemed somewhat reluctant to retract the next second.

Only then did the two notice that a tall, handsome young man was sitting quietly cross-legged atop the terrifying serpent's head.

She wore a magnificent robe woven with silver patterns, and her eyes were azure, reminiscent of an endlessly tranquil lake in autumn.

"Call--"

The hundred-meter-long snake quickly swept over the heads of the two people, and finally coiled up and stopped not far from where they had just been standing.

The surging frost spread silently in all directions as the demonic serpent landed, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over the entire body. The two middle-aged wizards awoke as if from a dream, shivered, and hurriedly flew forward as fast as they could, thinking that they should get away from this place as soon as possible.

They didn't know how far they had run before they finally stopped.

They exchanged a glance, and both saw the relief of surviving a disaster on each other's pale faces.

It took them more than a minute to recover before they regained their ability to speak.

"That's... Ancient Ice Crystal Magic Serpent?!"

"It should be, it's almost exactly the same as described in the ancient books! It's said that this Ancient Snake Species, if it grows normally, will at least reach the Dawn Rank after reaching adulthood!"

"But it was actually tamed by someone? And became a mount/ Magic Pet!!"

Both of them wore expressions of deep disbelief and shock that lingered on their faces.

After a long pause, one of them finally spoke up quietly, "It seems to be another top genius wizard from some large wizarding force! With the battle for the Helamus Genius Seat about to begin, the probability of such a prodigy appearing is becoming more and more frequent."

At the Sunset Gathering last month, I saw one who was so young yet already Third Level Wizard! But he didn't seem nearly as outstanding as this one."

Should we continue?

"Come on."

Wizard Martin shook his head. "We almost died just now, becoming food for someone else's Magic Pet."

"I want to save my life so I can go to the Fairy Ancient City in a few months to watch the gathering of geniuses and the battle for seats..."

After a brief discussion, the two decided not to linger in the wasteland and hurriedly left.

Perhaps after they return, another legend about a genius wizard who tamed Ancient Ice Crystal Magic Serpent will be added to the wizarding circle around them.

"I've said it many times."

Ronan slowly withdrew his gaze from the direction the two passing wizards had left, and calmly looked at the Ice Crystal Magic Serpent in front of him, saying, "You may only eat wizards when I give you permission."

The Ice Crystal Magic Serpent hissed arrogantly at him.

But after meeting Ronan's eyes, it ultimately chose to lower its proud head for the time being.