The Choice

Rayne's heart pounded wildly. Only after he had gone more than a hundred meters from that shop did the tension in his chest finally ease.

Then, a surge of ecstasy flooded over him.

He looked down at the two glass jars in his hands. The two black Gold-Eating Ants inside looked utterly ordinary, yet one of them contained three Soul Elements!

"Ha ha, I've struck it rich!"

Rayne was overjoyed. He had only happened to visit the Magic Soul Market, yet he had stumbled upon such an enormous prize. Even if he did not use this Gold-Eating Ant's Demon Soul himself, selling it would fetch over ten thousand Gold Shields—perhaps even more.

Ten thousand Gold Shields converted into Copper Yuan would be ten million, enough to cover the lifetime expenses of an ordinary family of ten!

Compared to that, the dozen or so Gold Shields he had spent to throw off the shopkeeper were nothing but a drop in the ocean.

Rayne really wanted to know what expression the man would make if he learned this Gold-Eating Ant's true value.

Would he be so angry that he coughed up blood on the spot?

"Too bad I won't get the chance to see it."

Wealth should not be flaunted. Even though no one could tell how valuable the Gold-Eating Ant was, Rayne still bought a cloth bag from a roadside stall and put the jars inside to avoid attracting attention. He also spent one Gold Shield on two Soul Stones, intending to kill the Gold-Eating Ant as soon as he got home.

His stomach was starting to grow hungry, but Rayne had no time to eat now. He only wanted to get home.

He quickened his pace. As he passed near the entrance to the Magic Soul Market, he discovered that the Winged Serpent was gone.

"I wonder whether someone recognized its value, or whether they were just lucky enough to buy the Winged Serpent." Rayne shook his head regretfully. If he had bought it, he could have resold it for roughly a thousand Gold Shields. Missing out on such a bargain was still a pity.

He left the market without incident, hailed a carriage, climbed in, and told the driver to return to Los District.

The carriage started moving, racing down the streets.

Unable to resist, Rayne admired the Gold-Eating Ant inside the carriage. He repeatedly sensed the three elements within its soul and let out a satisfied sigh.

Such a weak Demon Soul had somehow nurtured three powerful elements. How exactly had this Gold-Eating Ant's soul formed?

Generally speaking, powerful elements only emerged from powerful souls, but that was not absolute.

The Book of Thousand Souls had said that the souls of all things in the world were unfathomable, and miracles could always occur.

Many miraculous elements did not arise solely from powerful souls. Any soul could potentially possess all manner of elements, from the weakest to the strongest, even Legendary Elements. It was simply incredibly unlikely, making them difficult for people to encounter.

This Gold-Eating Ant was one of those exceedingly rare miracles, and it had fallen right into his hands.

"This is like winning the lottery jackpot three times in a row!"

Rayne savored the thought.

Then he began considering how he should use the Gold-Eating Ant's Demon Soul.

His first thought was to sell it for money, but he quickly rejected that idea.

Something this valuable would not be easy to sell. It would also be like a child carrying gold through a crowded market—dangerous. Any buyer who could afford more than ten thousand Gold Shields either possessed great strength or had a powerful force behind them. If they decided to target an ordinary person like him, it would be laughably easy.

Among the people he knew, Viola of Violet House and Kainegi of the Mechanics Guild could afford it, but he did not know either of them well. Selling it to either one would not be safe.

If he did not sell it, then he could only use it himself.

"But how should I use it?"

Rayne frowned, troubled.

His original plan had been to become a Wizard, choosing between the Seal School and the Soul Control School.

If he chose the Seal School, this Demon Soul would be unsuitable. That school required one to dismantle a Demon Soul, extract its Arcane Elements, turn them into Spell Seals, and integrate them into the soul. Only Arcane Elements could be made into Spell Seals. During the processing of a Demon Soul, all other types of elements would dissipate and be wasted.

None of the Gold-Eating Ant's three elements were Arcane Elements. After being processed by a Seal Wizard, nothing would remain.

The Soul Control School, on the other hand, could preserve the Demon Soul intact. It could serve as an attached Primary Soul or become a summoned soul guard.

Of its three specializations, the Thousand Spells Wizard, which focused on spellcasting, could be ruled out. Unless he only wanted to use Body of Steel to improve his defenses, it would be somewhat wasteful; the Myriad Spirits Wizard, which won through the number of soul guards, was not particularly suitable either. Only the Shapeshifting Wizard, which focused on transformation, could make fairly good use of this Gold-Eating Ant.

To cultivate it, a Shapeshifting Wizard would need to invest a great deal of Soul Power, yet could not treat it as their Primary Soul.

That was because the core Primary Soul of a Shapeshifting Wizard had to be a Shapeshifting Demon. This could not be changed, or they would be unable to transform.

Moreover, this Gold-Eating Ant's Demon Soul was relatively weak. Its elements were rare, but its own combat strength was not high. If a Shapeshifting Wizard transformed into a Gold-Eating Ant, their defenses would be strong enough, but their attack power would be weakened, and they would look ugly besides.

An image appeared in Rayne's mind of himself turning into a giant ant and fighting someone. He immediately shuddered all over.

"No. I can't turn into an ant."

He shook his head repeatedly and abandoned the idea.

In truth, the best way to use it would be to integrate the Gold-Eating Ant's Demon Soul intact into his own soul. That way, he could ignore the weakness of its soul while perfectly utilizing all three elements!

He had only just become a Transcendent anyway. It did not matter if the Demon Soul he fused was weaker; all he needed were its elements, and it would be safer as well.

But Rayne did not want to give up becoming a Wizard.

In that case, the Combat School seemed like the best choice!

He could use the World Tree Meditation Method to fuse with the Gold-Eating Ant, absorbing its three elements and greatly increasing his strength while still remaining a Wizard. Later, as long as he fused other Demon Souls containing Arcane Elements, he could gain spellcasting abilities.

The only drawback was that before fusing with other Demon Souls, he would not seem like a Wizard at all. Instead, he would resemble an Iron Guard—and an exceptionally powerful one at that.

But compared with the potential he would gain, that was not a drawback at all. It was an advantage.

A Wizard with immense strength, a body impervious to blades and weapons, and close-combat prowess that outshone his spellcasting abilities—just thinking about it felt strange, yet inexplicably exciting!

Besides that, the Gold-Eating Ant also had Metal Touch. Perhaps he could use that element to work part-time as half a Mechanic?

When he had refused Kainegi before, he had thought there was no way to have the best of both worlds. He had not expected an opportunity to appear so soon.

"Am I really going to become a Combat Wizard?"

Rayne hesitated. There was too much uncertainty in becoming a Combat Wizard. Even with the Soul Eye to help him, he was not very confident.

But there seemed to be no better option unless he gave up the Gold-Eating Ant.

But giving it up would be too foolish.

How many Transcendents, at Rank 1, could possess three elements, one of which was even a Superb Element?

Such a high starting point meant limitless possibilities!

Combat Wizards already had an exceptionally high ceiling. If he could seize every opportunity to advance and fuse with the most suitable Demon Souls, what level of strength could he achieve?

Just considering some of the possibilities made Rayne's blood surge with excitement.

Even if he took a step back and made one or two mistakes along the way, his strength would still crush other Transcendents!

"High risk brings high reward."

"If I don't try, how will I know whether I can do it?"

"Since I came to this world, I might as well go all in. I'm doing it!"

Rayne's gaze gradually hardened. He no longer hesitated or looked back and forth. He had already made his choice in his heart: he would become a Combat Wizard.

The carriage gradually left the Silver Star District. After crossing the bridge, it entered Los District.

Rayne looked at the streets outside the carriage window, and his mood slowly calmed. He relaxed, closed his eyes, and habitually activated Voice of All Things. Countless sound waves entered his ears, constructing a world made of sound inside his mind.

He had never forgotten to practice this ability, distinguishing every sound he heard and tracing its source.

"Hm?"

Rayne suddenly opened his eyes, his expression uncertain.

He had heard a rapid set of footsteps moving at great speed, as though someone were Sprinting. He locked onto the source. The person was over a hundred meters behind the carriage, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, occasionally changing direction and heading elsewhere, entering side streets and alleys, but reappearing again shortly afterward.

"I'm being followed!"

Rayne continued listening for another half minute and became completely certain that someone was trailing the carriage while maintaining their distance.

"Who is this person? When did they start following me? What do they want?"

Questions flooded Rayne's mind, and he cursed himself inwardly. After obtaining the Gold-Eating Ant, he had gotten carried away and become too careless.

He took a deep breath and calmed down.

Looking at the Gold-Eating Ant in his hands, he could be certain that the other person was not after it. Other than himself, no one could know its true value.

Then there was only one answer: this person was one of Loxi's Cultists and had sensed the Strife Mark on him.

The thought gave Rayne a headache.

This was only his first time going out, yet he had encountered an Evil God Cultist. Was he simply too unlucky, or were there really so many Evil God Cultists in Longsand City that one could run into them anywhere on the street?

Rayne did not know the range of the Strife Mark or how far away an Evil God Cultist could sense it. Surely they would not discover him simply by passing beside his carriage?

Most likely, this person had encountered him in the Magic Soul Market and followed the carriage all the way here.

Rayne turned around inside the carriage, but he could not see the other person. Nor could he stick his head out of the window to observe, or he would expose himself.

However, shaking off the follower would not be difficult.

Rayne leaned toward the carriage's front window and quietly said a few words to the driver. The driver was initially surprised, but after seeing the banknotes Rayne handed him, he nodded in agreement.

At the next intersection, the carriage changed routes and no longer headed back to the apartment.

Rayne kept track of the follower's footsteps. When the person turned into an alley to take a shortcut, he gave a soft shout. The prepared driver slowed the carriage slightly, and Rayne immediately jumped out, slipping into a roadside general store.

The whole process lasted only a few seconds. It was entirely outside the follower's line of sight, impossible to notice, while the carriage resumed its speed and continued onward.

Inside the general store, Rayne heard the follower's footsteps fade away with the carriage. Only then did he slowly emerge, step onto a set of stairs, activate the Soul Eye, and see the follower in the distance, gazing straight into the depths of their soul.

"A Rank 2 Fighter... an Evil God Cultist, or a Shadow Blade assassin?"