Kano and Bobby

Chapter 32: Kano and Bobby

"Taylor, don't you dare act like Bobby, so lazy. He is already a piece of trash; in my heart, he is no different from a corpse. If you end up like Bobby, when will the grand ambition of unifying the entire Wizard Civilization and the endless worlds ever be achieved?"

As Taylor and Bobby were communicating, a dark voice filled with killing intent—a murderous aura that seemed to want to destroy, dissect, and slaughter everything—resounded in Taylor's mind.

His name was Kano. He was a sub-personality born from Taylor's mental power, mixed with the various dark thoughts, desires for slaughter, and irritability that Taylor had purged from his mind through the Mild Mechanized Mind spell during his studies and experiments.

As for that lazy voice, his name was Bobby. He was another sub-personality born from Taylor's mental power, mixed with a series of emotions like laziness, reluctance, sloth, and hesitation experienced during his studies or experiments.

The birth of Kano and Bobby made Taylor feel less lonely, but it also caused him even more trouble.

To Taylor, Kano felt like he was carrying a Danzo around with him; at the drop of a hat, he would talk about going on a killing spree or putting someone on an experimental table to start cutting them up. He even offered his own opinions at times, complaining that Taylor was too soft.

Bobby, on the other hand, felt like Kizaru. Every day, he would only say things like, "How scary," "How excessive," or "Like a monster," and he would constantly encourage Taylor to slack off and take it easy.

Taylor felt he must have committed some grave sins in his past lives to end up with these two things.

"I never said I wanted to unify the entire Wizard Civilization... and unify the endless worlds? Why don't you just fly up to the heavens while you're at it?"

"How truly scary, Kano. Am I already dead in your heart? ~~~~Ho ho ho~~~~"

After getting dressed and pushing the door open, Taylor walked down the road, still arguing with Kano in his mind.

Kano was so infuriated by this lack of ambition that he roared.

"Taylor, how can you still be so weak?! As a wizard, all living creatures should be nothing more than tools on our experimental tables. You disappoint me, Taylor!"

After hearing Kano's words, Taylor didn't even think before replying.

"There's absolutely no need for that. If I need materials, I'll just go get them myself. What does that have to do with unifying the endless worlds? Isn't that just troublesome?"

"Taylor, you will regret this!"

"Kano, I am the primary consciousness!"

"Oh my, oh my~~~~ so scary~~~~"

Ignoring Bobby, who was slacking off on the sidelines, Taylor felt refreshed after his daily argument with Kano and headed out. He suddenly remembered that he had to accompany Taifas to a wizard's botanical garden today to carry out a mission.

It was just to collect Sleeping Spores; though called a mission, it was really just to broaden his horizons.

Taylor had his own considerations for the arrangement of his two personalities. He had read about methods of anchoring mental power into puppets in his studies of puppetry.

Kano was too dark and irritable, so in the future, the dirty work (sabotage, slaughter, large-scale dissection for materials, etc.) could be left to him; he enjoyed those dark things anyway.

Since Bobby liked to be lazy, Taylor would have him study puppet construction. As long as the puppets were good enough, Bobby could slack off. With that condition in place, Taylor believed that for the sake of his own leisure time, Bobby would surely develop the puppets diligently.

Moreover, given Bobby's personality, he would be well-suited to hold down the fort in the rear. This way, one would act as the black glove and the other as the white glove, while he focused on exploring planes and harvesting knowledge—a trinity that worked perfectly.

Just as he arrived at the Miscellaneous Affairs Office, Taylor noticed Taifas jumping around in front of the office clerk.

"Taylor, my good brother, I knew you wouldn't just stand by and watch me go to that dangerous botanical garden. You really are coming with me."

Seeing Taylor appear, Taifas danced with joy and took a long stride to jump right in front of him.

"Let's get this straight: I'm doing this for the points, not to keep you company."

"Besides, for you, a botanical garden is no different from a playground, right?"

Looking at Taifas's large face, Taylor curled his lip in disdain.

"Whatever you say. But Taylor, I recently got some news. The youngest Level 1 wizard of our White Tower Alliance, Lord Krite, is planning to take on an apprentice. He's only taking one person as his assistant for puppet and construct research. I think you should give it a try."

As the two walked down the road, Taifas suddenly remembered the news he had just heard and spoke to Taylor with a serious expression.

"Lord Krite, huh..."

Taylor had a deep understanding of this wizard Krite. Basically, every wizard apprentice proficient in elemental puppets, or even those who had studied construct puppets, had heard of Krite's great name.

Not only was Krite the youngest Level 1 wizard, but he also had profound research into elemental and construct puppets. Even before he became a Level 1 wizard, he had already completed the majority of a construct puppet.

This feat alone was enough to prove Krite's deep foundation of knowledge and his ingenious application of wizard runes. Later, after Krite became a Level 1 wizard, he finished building the construct puppet and used it to defeat a powerful Level 1 fire elemental wizard in one-on-one combat.

As a master of elemental and construct puppets, Taylor felt it was necessary to study under him. Especially since he was currently working hard to combine wizard runes with magic runes, having such a knowledgeable teacher to guide him would make his mastery of wizard runes much easier.

Apprentice Library

Looking at the increasingly aged Oak, Taylor felt the passage of time. The old man who could once whip up a gale with a wave of his hand and toss a Level 2 wizard apprentice out the door was now truly old.

Oak, sitting behind the counter, noticed the emotion and pity in Taylor's eyes. He took his pipe out of his mouth in dissatisfaction and knocked it hard against the table.

"What is it? Why are you looking at me with those eyes, Kidd? Don't look at my wrinkles; I can live another ten years or so without any problems."

As he spoke, Oak puffed out his chest, putting on a show of still being strong.

But deep down, he knew he was old. While he claimed he could live another ten years, in reality, five or six years would likely be enough.

In the eight or nine years he had spent with Taylor, Oak had gradually come to understand many things. Perhaps it was because he was old, but he had become more sincere in his interactions with Taylor.

When Taylor lacked experimental materials, Oak had gone out of his way to help collect some, and he had even selflessly sold many of his own treasures to Taylor at a steep discount.

The fact that Taylor could become a Level 3 wizard apprentice with five improved spell models at the age of 18 was largely due to the help provided by Oak behind the scenes.

Taylor didn't waste time when he entered; he had come to gather information. It had been half a year since he last stepped into the Apprentice Library.

"What's this about Krite's apprentice selection? Why haven't I heard anything about it lately?"

"Krite, huh..."

Hearing the familiar name, Oak grabbed his pipe, took a deep drag, and after exhaling a thick cloud of smoke, spoke with a nostalgic look.

"Krite was one of the first genius wizards I ever invested in. Just like you, I invested quite a bit in him—wizard tools, materials, and various supplements for mental power."

Oak seemed to know what Taylor was going to say next and spoke directly.

"I know about Krite looking for an apprentice. In fact, if you hadn't shown up, I would have gone to find you. You ungrateful brat, it's been half a year since you last came by."

Hearing this, Taylor shrank his neck in embarrassment. Oak rolled his eyes at him and finally dropped a bombshell.

"I know you're very interested in elemental and construct puppets, so I specifically mentioned you to Krite. He said he would keep an eye on you. As long as you don't perform too poorly, the apprentice spot is yours."

As for what Oak had actually sacrificed to secure this "keeping an eye on him," he didn't say, and Taylor didn't ask. He simply bowed to Oak very earnestly.

"Old man Oak, I will always remember your help. Once I become a wizard, I will definitely do everything in my power to repay you."

"Heh, then you'd better hurry up."

Just don't wait until I'm dead...

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