Cabin in the Woods and the Witch of the Woods (Please Bookmark)

But before practicing sorcery, he needed to get some proper rest first~

"Ughhh~~"

After leaving the basement, Isaac stood in his bedroom and stretched lazily. Then he took off his Wizard Robe and Wizard Hat, plunged onto the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

As he slept, faint traces of magical power radiated from Isaac's spine, silently transforming his body...

Knock~ knock~

The next day, the village church's morning bells woke Isaac from his sleep. He struggled out of bed, walked to the window, pulled back the curtains, raised his right hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight, and surveyed his territory.

Yes, his territory.

Though he had no inheritance rights, he had not been left with nothing simply because he was born a noble. After he became independent from the family, old Solomon had still granted him a barony and a territory. He would have no problem idling away the rest of his life.

Still, calling it a territory was somewhat generous. It was really just a village of two or three hundred people, a few plots of land, and a small castle. Rather than a lord, he was more like a landlord.

Originally, he should have received a somewhat larger territory. House of Solomon was a newly risen noble house, and it still had plenty of land available for enfeoffment. Granting a barony would have been easy.

But what made them rise was also what constrained them.

The Solomon Family was currently on the rise and had some chance of advancing to become Counts. Naturally, they could not divide their territory at such a time. Only by concentrating their strength could they accomplish great things.

Isaac, however, had no complaints about this. He had never intended to pursue such things anyway. Small had its advantages—at least it was safe. This place lay deep within Solomon Territory, was poor and difficult to attack, and gave Isaac plenty of time to develop.

Isaac understood this clearly. This was a world of transcendence, and personal strength mattered more than anything. Once he had power, authority and influence would naturally come to him.

What he needed now was a stable environment where he could slowly build his strength with the Golden Finger and keep a low profile!

Still, that was easier said than done...

"Tsk, tsk~" Looking at the fields of medicinal herbs that belonged to him, Isaac could not stop the corners of his mouth from lifting. The land here was all planted with Silver Moon Grass, one of the main ingredients of Knight Secret Medicine. Demand was high, prices were good, and the profits were quite considerable.

Suddenly...

"Hm?!" Isaac's pupils contracted. To the left of the castle, a patch of... Woodland had appeared?

[Cabin in the Woods: Dedicated to serving all wizards. Founded by the great Witch of the Woods, it buys and sells all items and knowledge related to wizards. Wherever there are wizards, there is Woodland; wherever there is Woodland, there is a Cabin in the Woods.]

Feeling the information that had suddenly appeared in his mind, Isaac narrowed his eyes and looked around. Then he noticed something even stranger: the Woodland had clearly appeared only today, yet no one seemed to find it unusual.

More precisely, it was not that no one noticed it. Rather, the concept of the Woodland had been implanted into their minds, as though it had always been there. This was evident from the castle guards' patrol routes. The Woodland had originally occupied the location of a medicinal field, and the guards had initially been meant to patrol through it.

Yet now, they merely circled outside the Woodland before returning. And the original medicinal field had vanished without a trace. The loss was no small matter—an entire third of... Hm?

Suddenly, Isaac's grave expression eased somewhat. After careful observation, he discovered that most of the vanished fields lay outside his territory. Those were medicinal fields belonging to the Solomon Family, and nominally, they currently belonged to his Eldest Brother.

Then...

There was no problem.

After staring at the Woodland for a moment, Isaac casually washed up, changed into his Wizard Robe, hung his Wizard Hat at his waist, and pushed open the door to head outside. He would study his spells first, then visit the Cabin in the Woods later to see what it was about.

"Young Master Isaac."

As soon as he left his bedroom, an old man in a black suit was already waiting outside. The old man was Smith Hank, an old servant of the Solomon Family. Like the ten guards patrolling outside, he had followed Isaac when the family divided its branches.

He was one of the few additional assets Isaac had been given.

"Is something wrong?" Isaac asked curiously. Although Smith was the bodyguard assigned to him by the family, there was no need for him to stay at Isaac's side within the castle. Besides, with the strength of a Knight, even if an assassin appeared, he could rush from any corner of the castle to Isaac's side.

The Knights of this world were not as weak as those in wizard novels from Isaac's previous life. Knights were also an extremely powerful Path of Transcendence. Though they had originated as creations of wizards, they were no longer inferior to wizards.

Unfortunately, Isaac had been frail since birth. Knight training would train him to death outright!

Otherwise, being a Knight would have been a decent choice as well.

Of course, being a wizard was better—especially a Legendary Wizard. It was truly a perfect fit for his Golden Finger!

"You really became a wizard?" Smith looked at Isaac in surprise. When Isaac had told him yesterday that he was going to perform a ritual to become a wizard, he had nearly been scared out of his wits. The mortality rate for wizards was simply absurdly high.

And this was a ritual he had picked up from who knew where.

"Yes, I succeeded." Isaac smiled and raised his right hand. A green "flame" the size of a soybean rose from his fingertip. This was his magical power.

"Hisss~~" Smith took a deep breath, then revealed a gratified smile. He bowed deeply and congratulated him from the bottom of his heart. "Congratulations, Young Master."

"Mhm. I told you I would succeed." Isaac said confidently.

Smith nodded, then asked, "Then, Young Master, should we inform the master and the others about this?"

"Not yet." Isaac shook his head. "Let's wait a little longer. We'll be returning in a month anyway. We can give them a surprise then."

Smith nodded and said nothing more, merely following silently behind Isaac.

A surprise was necessary, but his main purpose was to wait until he became a Formal Wizard before saying anything. It was never wrong to be cautious and prudent.

Besides...

Isaac secretly glanced at Smith behind him. Even he had not noticed anything strange about the Woodland. It really was something else~

On the way to the dining hall, Isaac did not remain idle. He opened his personal panel to see whether his Golden Finger had changed after becoming a wizard. Though he was already extremely satisfied with its ability to increase success rates without limit, it would be even better if it had become stronger.

Unfortunately, the Golden Finger was the same as before. There had been no major changes.

Demonic Heart Transplant Surgery (14%)+

Bloodline Essence Potion (51%)+

Hand of God (42%)+

The first two were the sorceries Isaac was currently studying. The percentages represented his degree of mastery, while the plus signs behind them did not mean he could add points; they indicated that the entries could be expanded.

After expanding them, they would display the aspects of the sorcery that Isaac currently did not understand, helping him identify and fill in his gaps.

The third was the Magic Pet and Innate Sorcery currently being nurtured after he performed the ritual. Every wizard possessed them, but the Magic Pet and Innate Sorcery each person gained upon becoming a wizard were different. It had increased by forty-two percent overnight, and that was only through natural nurturing. The efficiency was quite high. If he studied some more spells, the nurturing process would probably be complete by tonight.