Tina Understands

Learning new spells...

Wei En sighed. He should wait a little longer after all.

He had to admit that this time, he really had been provoked by the liaison officer's arrogance.

So decisions made at a time like this were usually irrational.

At the same time, Wei En was also very clear that with his origin power, more "Origin Sub-entities" would split off in the future.

That meant his Arcane Wizard system had greater room to grow.

Therefore, the most urgent thing was that he needed to learn more basic knowledge about the Arcane Wizard system, especially knowledge regarding the strengthening of "Origin Sub-entities."

Only that way could he make the most of his advantages.

Besides, with his current physical attributes, learning one or two offensive spells would not help him that much... Their attack power might not even compare to a flintlock.

At that thought, Wei En gripped the handle of the silver-white flintlock.

A familiar and intimate feeling welled up in his heart, as if this weapon were an extension of his body.

He even knew clearly the destruction this flintlock could cause; every detail was vivid before his eyes.

Effective range: 120 meters. Optimal range: within 50 meters. Gunpowder loading, pellet selection, disassembly and assembly, and possible modifications...

Wei En raised the flintlock, made an aiming motion, and parted his lips. "Bang."

Perhaps he should choose to study Blood Spirit or Mechanics School spells, prioritizing strengthening his body, including speed, strength, reflexes, and so on.

Paired with the use of the flintlock, it could grant him the greatest boost during the apprentice stage...

[Congratulations on getting through a tense and exciting day. Evaluation: A weakling who has glimpsed a corner of the real world. Reward: Survival Points +3.]

When Wei En saw this prompt, he realized a new day had arrived.

He immediately dispersed the thoughts in his mind. Both Blood Spirit and mechanical wizards would partially modify the body, and that was not what he wanted.

Then he cleaned up the desktop with the broken corner, washed up simply, and climbed into bed.

"It really was a tense and exciting day."

He probably would not meet that god of "Dream Emission" again tonight, right...

Wei En lay on the bed, sweat soaking his forehead, his heartbeat as rapid as thunder.

It was as if he had once again fallen into the abyss of emptiness, returning to that endless darkness, surrounded by oppressive, twisted monsters.

It was those dried corpses, those withered and twisted dried corpses.

They surrounded him crookedly, their shriveled cheeks squeezing out savage, eerie smiles, revealing two rows of sharp yellow-brown fangs.

"No one will care about you... No one will care whether you live or die... Join us..."

Noisy voices echoed in his mind, carrying icy mockery.

He felt as though he had been isolated in this barren world.

That enormous eye tore through the darkness and occupied the entire world, looking at him mockingly, as if saying, "You are useless. You are not worth existing."

"This world has long since fallen into madness..."

"Only despair is eternal. Only despair..."

Countless twisted arms replaced those dried corpses, madly tearing at his body, trying to drag him into the endless abyss.

"Gula... ier..."

Wei En struggled and roared loudly, fear and despair constantly eating away at his mind. The intense pain across his body had already left him unable to tell whether this was a dream or reality.

He wanted to escape, but his feet seemed to have sunk into a swampy mire.

The more he struggled, the deeper he sank.

"Runo... Runo... Runo..." (Despair... Despair... Despair...)

The Lord of Despair, Gulaier, roared madly, as if he wanted to turn the entire world into a land of endless despair.

In a daze, Wei En saw Lacy with a gloomy expression, Marco with a savage smile, and the cold Tina...

They stared at him, their gazes filled with indifference...

Hm?

Tina?

When Wei En saw the white-haired girl whose face remained cold, he instantly snapped awake and realized this was a dream.

Just then, a trace of panic flashed through that enormous eye. "No—"

The surrounding space began to tremble violently, and the withered, twisted arms withdrew into the eye one after another.

Crack.

With the sound of glass shattering, the entire space instantly broke apart, turning into endless darkness...

Wei En shot upright, gasping for breath, sweat soaking his forehead, his heart pounding as fast as thunder.

"Haah... haah..."

The Lord of Despair, Gulaier...

Wei En thought of the enormous eye that had appeared in his dream, and confusion filled his heart.

He had clearly already withstood the erosion of the source before, so why was he still having this kind of nightmare?

Just then, two red alerts surfaced in his mind.

[You have been eroded by the power of despair. No mutation occurred. Evaluation: This is the Lord of Despair Gulaier's gift to the blasphemer. No need to thank him. Special reward: Survival Points +3, Spirit Level -1 (Temporary: 1 day).]

[Note: When your mind wavers, you are more susceptible to contamination.]

His mind had wavered?

Realization dawned in Wei En's heart, and then the corner of his mouth pulled into a bitter smile.

Faced with the liaison officer's lofty contempt, his emotions had wavered, and his state of mind had been affected. That was why he had been contaminated by the Lord of Despair's power...

So arrogance was the original sin, and being provoked by arrogance carried such a great risk as well.

Wei En wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced out the window. Seeing that the Red Moon still hung high, he lay back down and calmed his mind.

This time, he had not run into the god of "Dream Emission"; instead, the Lord of Despair had stabbed him in the back.

"I really can't relax for even a moment..."

After these two nightmares, Wei En had already realized that the transcendent world held far too many unknown dangers.

If he wanted to survive, he not only needed powerful strength, he also had to learn to stay calm, restrained, and utterly unshaken at all times.

He did not care about the loss of that 1 Spirit Level. Instead, he felt incomparably fortunate to have discovered this law of survival.

Just as the Specter School's instructor had said: Wizards did not fear anything known. It was the unknown that was the most dangerous.

Thinking this, Wei En slowly fell asleep...

At some point, two Little Ashis appeared right above the bed, their eyes wide open as they stared unblinkingly at the two people on the bed.

To be precise, they were staring at the white-haired girl who had suddenly appeared on the bed.

"Baba..."

"Runo..." (Despair...)

But when they saw the white-haired girl's hollow eyes, the brothers quickly shut their mouths again, their gazes drifting toward the roof as if to say the weather was quite nice today.

Seeing that they no longer made a sound, Tina stiffly turned her head and looked levelly at Wei En's profile.

Partner...

She thought of the fierce woman's lecture when she got off work yesterday. "Don't transfer your contract target so casually. Though Wei En really is pretty good, you two can't live together, blah blah blah..."

Tina liked Wei En.

That had been what she thought at the time, just as she had now appeared on this bed through the power of the contract.

Partners should sleep together, not live together.

Tina understood.

At that moment, the panel silently sent out a prompt in a very, very faint color.

[Your Partner Contract with the Calamity Species has changed. You have received a reward from the God of Contracts—Partner Transfer. Effect: Intense feelings of longing for your partner can make you immediately appear at your partner's side.]