Cinderella's Pumpkin Carriage!

Isaac raised a hand, and the Spellbook wreathed in starlight flew over. The specks of starlight circling it were Power of Faith—the yearning born in every viewer upon seeing this story.

Some yearned for the prince, some for Cinderella, some for the fairy... and there were even some who yearned for the two sisters???

Isaac shot the bizarre wish star an astonished glance, then shook his head helplessly. The world truly was vast, and nothing in it was too strange~

Though a few wish stars were rather peculiar, the audience's wishes for the story of Cinderella were generally focused on the prince, Cinderella, and the fairy. Thus, the Spellbook's first legends were set upon those three points!

Focusing his attention on the Spellbook, Isaac saw three shining stars. These were the three legends awaiting activation: [High-level Incantation: Prince's Etiquette] from the prince; [Transformation Magic] from Cinderella and the fairy; and [Fairy Contract] from the fairy.

Though there were three legends, the Power of Faith currently collected by Cinderella was enough to light up only one at most. Still, these were legends—their quality spoke for itself. Three choices, one pick; no matter which he chose, it would be impressive!

The effect of the high-level incantation was merely to give someone a prince's etiquette and bearing, but as a high-level incantation, if handled well, it could serve as a second identity. At worst, he could use it to swindle some money when he was short on cash. Whether he was deceiving royalty or noble ladies and princesses, it would surely work quite well.

But he also had the Golden Finger. If the effects stacked, perhaps something unexpected might happen.

[Transformation Magic] was even more practical than the high-level incantation. At first, it could only transform the things from the story, such as the Pumpkin Carriage, Princess Dress, and Crystal Shoes. But legends could all grow. In the future, it would be able to transform even more things, making it highly practical.

As for [Fairy Contract], there was even less need to say. Fairies were legendary creatures even in this world, said to bestow unimaginable Blessings!

And even without mentioning those mysterious Blessings, the mere existence of a fairy could replace a second legend—she knew Transformation Magic as well.

Yet after weighing it over and over, Isaac still chose [Transformation Magic].

First, he was currently ravenous for all magical knowledge, starving for it!

From this legend, he might be able to learn something about Transformation Magic and thereby attempt to step into the field of Alchemy. That would also let him better complete the Deity Research Project.

Second...

From what he had learned, creatures like fairies seemed to be connected to the fairy race among the Outer Gods. Anything involving Outer Gods demanded the utmost caution.

As Isaac made his decision, the specks of starlight circling the Spellbook instantly burrowed into it, streaming in wisps toward the second shining wish star.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle~"

The Spellbook before Isaac rapidly flipped through its pages. Lines of mysterious magical script emerged across them, and a spell naturally surfaced in Isaac's mind—Transformation Magic.

Transformation Magic consumed a minuscule amount of magic power and could drastically alter matter for a certain period of time. Current transformable objects: Pumpkin Carriage, princess attire, and Crystal Shoes.

Just as he had expected, of the three things he could transform, aside from the Pumpkin Carriage being somewhat useful, the other two were complete trash.

Still, it was good enough. The Pumpkin Carriage was no ordinary carriage—it was a Magic Carriage!

Other than burrowing underground, it could do anything: soar into the skies, plunge into the sea!

It was practical to the extreme!

And it was quite fast as well, making it an excellent means of travel.

Moreover, just as he had learned beforehand, the legend [Transformation Magic] could continue growing. As Cinderella continued to spread, [Transformation Magic] would become stronger. Isaac did not need to worry about this process, nor did it require absorbing Power of Faith.

Besides gaining a legend, there was another benefit this time. The Power of Faith appeared to have been invested into the legend, but in truth, the legend and Isaac were one. What the legend absorbed was equivalent to Isaac absorbing it. This Power of Faith considerably increased Isaac's magic power.

It had increased by roughly a tenth. Though that was a little low, this was only the beginning. Future Power of Faith would directly merge with him and raise the amount of magic power he possessed. Once all the current Power of Faith was absorbed, it would probably raise his current magic power by around half—a very considerable amount.

At the same time, his magic power recovery rate improved to a certain degree.

It was a comprehensive enhancement in every respect!

The only pity was that due to the influx of this Power of Faith, the activity of his magic power, which he had only just digested to eighty percent, directly surged to one hundred percent!

More accurately, it should have gone beyond one hundred percent. But unlike Isaac's Golden Finger, this only went up to one hundred percent; any excess would not be displayed.

Clearly, his second advancement ritual would have to be delayed for a while longer.

But it did not matter. A wizard's rank was not especially important. A little later was still later.

Putting away the Spellbook, Isaac rose and headed for the spell practice grounds nearby. Magic power activity was not merely an experience bar—it also represented a wizard's control over their own magic power. The higher the activity, the worse their control over it.

And magic power control was one of a wizard's core abilities. After such a sudden change, he needed to properly adapt to it, or problems could easily arise in actual combat.

And so, after that bout of spending, Isaac returned to his research. Every day, aside from eating and sleeping, he devoted himself to studying spells.

"Woooooo!!!"

Three days later, Isaac, immersed in his research, was abruptly roused by the piercing Magic Alarm Bell. He hurriedly tossed the chunk of meat in his hand aside, called over the Divine Species: Demon Rat—which had been drooling at the Demonized Flesh nearby—with a whistle, and rushed outside with his Wizard Hat in hand.

He recognized this alarm. It was the alarm for a Black Orc invasion!

And its level was quite high!

Leaving the Mage Tower, Isaac looked at the signal smoke rising from the direction of the fortress, his brows furrowing even tighter.

Over the past few days, he had crammed some knowledge about signal smoke and could roughly understand it. He knew this was the highest-level signal smoke warning, meaning that the Black Orcs had already reached the front of the fortress!

They could launch an attack at any moment!

But that was impossible!

The fortress's patrols around the surrounding area were already no small matter in ordinary times. Now that winter was approaching, in order to fend off sneak attacks the Black Orcs might launch at any time, the fortress expanded its patrol forces every year around this time. How could the Black Orcs have silently crept all the way to the walls?

Unless...

There was an infiltrator!

Isaac took a deep breath and casually tossed a small pumpkin from the wide sleeve of his Wizard Robe. A great volume of purple smoke poured out of the pumpkin. Moments later, a Pumpkin Carriage drawn by two Magic Spirit Horses with blue flames burning in their eyes appeared before Isaac.

He vaulted into it in a single stride, then lightly flicked the whip. The Pumpkin Carriage immediately flew into the sky, shooting straight toward the city wall!