Wind Blade, get!

Isaac only bought two types of strengthening rituals for Hamon. Although theoretically, there is no limit to the number of rituals a Magic Pet can undergo at each stage—provided you have the money, you can add as many as you like.

However, these rituals suffer from diminishing returns; the more you use, the lower the effectiveness.

While using all currently available rituals wouldn't render them ineffective, the cost-effectiveness would be extremely low, and the subsequent improvements would be negligible.

Isaac didn't rush to start; instead, he carefully studied the two rituals, as he had a hypothesis.

According to the brief introduction in the purchase catalog, Hamon could use the two rituals three times and once respectively at his current stage. The one usable three times was the Hand of the Demonic Path, which could extract Innate Sorcery from certain Devilish Creatures, while the Hand of the Demon God, usable once, could strengthen the mystery attribute at the current stage.

Isaac wanted to see if his Golden Finger could bypass the cap on these quantities. The Hand of the Demonic Path was fine; having a few extra low-level spells didn't mean much since he could learn them himself, and there was no need to waste money on them—even a mosquito's leg is still meat!

The impact of removing the cap would be much greater for the Hand of the Demon God. If he could infinitely enhance Hamon's mystery attribute, how strong would Hamon be by the time he became a High Sorcerer?

The reason he bought this ritual was precisely because he harbored this little ambition.

Of course, even if it didn't work, the ritual remained highly practical.

Isaac was no longer the novice who had just become a Legendary Wizard; he was now a greenhorn who had been a wizard for nearly three months!

He already had a certain level of understanding regarding Legendary Wizards and Arcanists.

Although Arcanists seem to have developed from Legendary Wizards in a continuous lineage, they have actually embarked on a different path. While they still pursue knowledge and transform it into power, they have abandoned one thing compared to Legendary Wizards—mystery!

They publish the knowledge they research, letting more people know, and then, with the help of gathered geniuses, they develop deeper knowledge through discussion and exchange, repeating this process to step closer to [Truth].

In this process, while they lose the power granted by [mystery], they simultaneously reap the gifts of [Truth]!

Their power, derived from [Truth], is not weakened in the slightest by the dissipation of [mystery].

Legendary Wizards are different. Although the source of a Legendary Wizard's power is [faith], not [mystery], it is still influenced by [mystery]. Long ago, most wizards conducted their own research, maintaining their own incomparable mystery.

But as time passed, the era changed. Today, the vast majority of sorcery is no longer mysterious, nor is it held exclusively by any one person, with the exception of High-level Incantations.

Therefore, when the inherent mystery of a spell cannot be relied upon, Legendary Wizards developed another way to be amplified by [mystery]: transferring [mystery] onto themselves!

The more [mystery] one possesses, the stronger the amplification of certain spells becomes.

Nowadays, there are even many high-level spells that require a certain degree of mystery to learn.

Thus, for a Legendary Wizard, increasing the mystery attribute is an absolute gain.

"Sigh~"

After a long while, Isaac let out a heavy sigh. No luck...

Regarding these two rituals, his Golden Finger could only influence the success rate.

After his research, Isaac discovered that the essence of these two rituals was actually to unearth the potential of the Hand of the Demon God, just in different directions. This was why the more types used, the lower the effect—the potential had already been mostly tapped out earlier.

Since there was so little left, naturally, not much more could be developed.

But because potential is the kind of thing where you can always squeeze out a little more if you try, using all the current rituals would still produce a tiny, faint effect.

However, such an operation is something even average wealthy people can't afford to play with, let alone a pauper like Isaac.

"Sigh~ back to work."

Shaking his head, Isaac stood up and walked over to another area of the laboratory specifically set up for rituals, where Hamon had already laid out the materials.

Even the cushions to increase the success rate were ready.

The first to be performed was the Hand of the Demonic Path. Isaac had prepared two targets for Hamon: the wind blade of a Gale Demon Wolf to bolster his currently meager attack options, and the Phantom Pattern of a Phantom Butterfly to increase his control capabilities.

Moreover, the Phantom Pattern could benefit from the amplification of [mystery], holding great potential.

Isaac chose to set aside the third target for now. The spells he could obtain were definitely more than just these; the ritual setup was simple enough that he could make his choice before promoting to Archmage.

The cushion for the Gale Demon Wolf was simple—what comes from the sheep stays with the sheep. It required the essence of the Gale Demon Wolf's flesh and blood. Each portion increased the rate by one percent and was very cheap; the fortress had no shortage of such things.

So, Isaac didn't hold back and pushed it straight to two hundred percent!

Everything was ready. Isaac stood in the center of the wavy circular magic circle. Surrounding him were various bizarre magic materials: bloody intestines, dried severed fingers of Magic Beasts, damaged scales, and a pitch-black hand-shaped wooden carving.

In the center of the circle, in front of Isaac, lay the heart of a Gale Demon Wolf, and beneath the heart were square blocks of flesh and blood essence.

Mysterious incantations spilled from Isaac's lips, and a mysterious wave of magic power rippled out from him. The materials on the circle all emitted a faint glow, and strands of magical radiance converged into the wolf heart before Isaac. Under the influence of this special magic, mysterious blue patterns began to emerge on the surface of the wolf heart.

"Rip~"

Hamon emerged from behind Isaac's head, impatiently pouncing on the wolf heart. The jagged mouth in his palm snapped open, swallowing it in one bite, then chewed twice, crimson blood flowing from the corners of his lips.

"Slurp~"

A long, purple-black tongue shot out, licking away all the blood from the corners of his mouth before his palm returned to its original shape.

However, only the shape had returned. In reality, after Hamon swallowed the wolf heart, streaks of blood-red magic began to spread from his palm throughout his entire arm, which visibly grew a bit more robust with every passing second.

Soon, the magic fluctuations in the laboratory slowly subsided, and Isaac stopped chanting, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

Another ritual completed, and another bit of strength gained.

"Hamon!"

After the ritual ended, Isaac pointed to a target already prepared in the spell training area and gave a soft shout. Hamon's index finger flicked, and a wind blade instantly shot out, precisely slicing the target in two!

Wind Blade, acquired!

Thanks to Yeye for the 100-point coin tip!

That name... it sounds like he's trying to take advantage of me~