Not the Wizard Family's Doing, The Strange and Unpredictable

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Under the light of the Nurturing Chamber, the blue viscous fluid inside the Incubation Chamber seemed to cling to its inner walls. No matter how it was shaken, it displayed none of a liquid's physical properties.

A faint smile appeared on Wang Ya's lips. The cultivation was progressing extremely well; by tomorrow, he would likely be able to produce a dose of Blue Poison stock solution.

Likewise, the stock solution for Scarlet Scale Toxin had been successfully cultivated three days ago.

What kind of variable would the fusion of two Supernatural Toxins produce? Would it develop in a positive direction, or completely destroy the Supernatural Properties of both?

Of course, it was not a simple fusion of two Supernatural Toxins. Based on the Supernatural Knowledge he currently possessed and his own judgment, Wang Ya had added quite a few other substances to neutralize them. During the fusion process, a Wizard's Supernatural Spiritual Power and Particle Energy also had to be involved, controlling the timing and degree of the fusion.

In Wang Ya's conception, the fused Supernatural Toxin would possess both traits at once: paralysis of the body's neural reflexes, and coagulation and stiffening of the blood and flesh.

It had also been Fifteen Days since the Dissection of the Blue Poison Monkey.

During this period, Wang Ya rarely went out. Apart from replenishing the energy his body needed each day, he devoted all his remaining time to researching Supernatural Knowledge and verifying the foundations of the Supernatural Knowledge he had mastered.

To his delight, the first Particle Energy Wizardry Wang Ya had mastered had already made very significant progress.

Target: Fearful Flame

Degree: 13

Duration: 4 seconds

Casting Time: 5 seconds

The constant making up for his Supernatural foundations had allowed Wang Ya to understand the true essence of Fearful Flame Wizardry and gain a deeper comprehension of how to cast it.

Even when casting the other two spells, he no longer needed to rely on that special little trick of sensing them into release, greatly shortening the time needed to cast wizardry.

Fearful Flame had improved the most. Its five-second casting time had been cut in half compared to before. The time he could maintain Fearful Flame in his hand had also doubled.

This proved that Wang Ya's understanding of this wizardry had reached a proficient level. It was just that the Particle Energy within his body, as well as his control over his body, were still far too weak.

But this wizardry had originally belonged to the category of Low-level Wizardry for first-rank Wizard Apprentices.

After advancing to a first-rank Wizard Apprentice, one's Supernatural Spiritual Power would undergo further sublimation, allowing one to observe the inside of one's own body while greatly improving control over bodily functions, such as accelerating wound healing and actively releasing bodily hormones. Particle Energy Units would also exceed 5 points.

At that time, casting Fearful Flame would become even more effortless. With further training, its casting time could even be reduced to one second, or even half a second.

Of the Supernatural Wizard Books arranged on his desk, Wang Ya had worked through nearly two-fifths. He expected to absorb all this Supernatural Knowledge within two months.

Target: Vast Sea Meditation Method—Fifth Wizard Rune

Status: Analyzing

Estimated Time: 2 days

Without realizing it, he had been at Ancient Forest Mountain for nearly twenty days. Wang Ya touched the fine fuzz on his chin. In another year or two, it would probably turn into a long, black beard.

Inside the Automated Restaurant.

The interior layout was no different from that on the Wizard Ship. Presumably, the Wizards of The Umbral Expanse responsible for building these places simply had this sort of aesthetic.

Following his usual habit, Wang Ya took a seat at a dining table in a corner and silently ate his food. Though he did not appear to be eating quickly, the food before him was visibly diminishing.

There were not many people in the restaurant—indeed, there were almost too few. The scattered figures were all taking at least seven days' worth, or even half a month's worth, of food from the serving counter.

He had done the same aboard the Wizard Ship, but danger had existed all around them then. A trace of subtlety appeared on Wang Ya's face. With the protection of the rules, danger should not have occurred within Ancient Forest Mountain.

"My best friend Wang Ya, I finally found you! I knew you'd be tucked away in this out-of-the-way corner. Every time I come to the restaurant, I have to take a look." A familiar booming voice rang out. Gray carried over a tray and plopped himself down in front of Wang Ya. There was plenty of food on it, enough for at least two Wizard Freshmen.

Compared with his somewhat messy appearance aboard the Wizard Ship, Gray looked much better now. At the very least, his messy, greasy hair had been groomed into natural curls. His yellowed teeth were as ever, bared in a smile.

Likely happy to see an old friend, Gray also spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction. "Hey, hey, hey, aren't you being a little too unfriendly? You've been at Ancient Forest Mountain for so long, yet you never came out to meet up or chat about things."

Before Wang Ya could speak, Gray rattled on without pause, as though he had endless things to say. He focused on the things he had seen and heard around Ancient Forest Mountain lately, as well as a major incident that had occurred.

That incident had left all the Wizard Freshmen at Ancient Forest Mountain in a state of panic.

Wang Ya had been shut away in his Wizard residence studying, lacking this information. What exactly had happened at Ancient Forest Mountain? In barely twenty days, it seemed as though heaven and earth had been turned upside down. More importantly, would it affect his plans? That was what Wang Ya considered.

"A lot of Freshmen have gone missing. The key thing is, no one can determine how they disappeared, and no news of them can be found." Gray lowered his voice slightly as he spoke. His gaze swept around the sparsely populated restaurant, but no watchful eyes were fixed on the two of them.

"It was too strange and unpredictable. At first, the disappearances of Wizard Freshmen did not cause much of a stir. Then more and more people vanished, leading to the current situation."

"Now everyone is in danger, and panic is spreading. But I don't think it's much of a problem. After all, the ones who disappeared all had relatively good Wizard Aptitude." Gray grinned carelessly. "My Wizard Aptitude isn't outstanding anyway. No matter how strange and unpredictable the storm becomes, it won't reach me."

Could he really have guessed it? Earlier, the Wizard Family Freshmen had announced some kind of Welcome Party, and it had been after Wizard Yis announced the rules.

Wang Ya fell into thought.

Yet Gray's next answer surprised Wang Ya somewhat.

"At first, I thought the Wizard Family Freshmen were behind it. After all, anyone with half a brain knew there was something wrong with that Welcome Party." Gray complained, "People who had nothing to do with each other, going on about welcoming one another, meeting one another, becoming friends. They made me think we weren't competing for Admission Tickets anymore, and everyone could enter the academy."

"Many of the missing Wizard Freshmen never attended the Welcome Party. Of course, quite a few who did attend have also vanished. Even Wizard Freshmen from the Wizard Families have disappeared without explanation."