The Beginning of the Path of Magic / The Choosing Ceremony and the First Encounter with Honkai Energy

5 units of wood, 5 units of stone, and 500 gold.

That was all the resources he had on hand.

Even these meager resources had only been obtained by salvaging part of the previous Stone Spire and collecting the gold provided by today's Village Hall.

Other than that, Moros's territory had nothing.

What could he even do with this little?!

Lamenting inwardly, Moros could only accept reality.

What else could he do?

Moros took a deep breath and began considering how to use these resources to develop his territory.

However, after thinking it over for a long time, Moros had to admit that with so few resources, his first construction choice was practically set in stone.

Marketplace!

Only this building could allow him to develop his territory while he was utterly penniless.

As Moros gave the order, more than half of the pitifully scarce resources in the territory vanished in an instant.

In their place stood a Skull-shaped Building amid the city ruins.

Marketplace: Resources can be bought and sold. Treasures may also be sold.

Watching a Magical Building rise from nothing in mere seconds gave Moros a direct understanding of just how terrifying magic was.

As everyone knew, creation was far more difficult than destruction.

Since magic could create something so miraculous, destroying it would surely be effortless.

One day, I'll hold such power in my hands!

With that thought, Moros's consciousness withdrew from the Demiplane.

The Beginning of the Path of Magic

The moment Moros's consciousness left the Demiplane and returned to his body, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion swept through him.

He was ultimately just a baby barely a month old. Even though he had already become a transcendent, he could not resist the weariness rising from the depths of his soul.

Without even the slightest struggle, Moros immediately fell asleep.

By the time he woke again, daylight had long since broken.

Fortunately, babies were naturally sleepy, so Moros's slumber did not arouse the suspicions of this body's parents.

As usual, his mother, Emma, took care of him full-time, while this body's father, Frakt, went out to work and earn money.

For Moros, life as a baby was truly carefree.

After casting aside the restraints of worldly shame, he fully immersed himself in this wonderful life of opening his mouth for food and holding out his hands to be dressed.

For office workers struggling for their livelihoods every day, such a life was undoubtedly an unattainable luxury.

However, this unrestrained and comfortable life quietly came to an end today.

After nearly ten days of accumulation, Moros had finally gathered the resources needed to construct his second building—a Level 1 Magic Guild.

Although obtaining resources through the Marketplace could only serve as an emergency measure in the game, for Moros, it was currently his only means of acquiring resources other than gold.

The Demiplane containing Graveyard City naturally had resource-producing buildings such as a Lumber Mill, mines, and Crystal Cave.

In fact, not only did it have all kinds of resource-producing buildings, but as the master of the Demiplane, Moros also possessed the exact coordinates of every wilderness structure within it, including but not limited to various troop recruitment buildings and hero enhancement buildings.

However, if he wanted to occupy those buildings, Moros first had to eliminate the wild monsters guarding them.

For Moros, who did not even have a single skeleton soldier under his command, that was impossible.

Therefore, even knowing that trading gold for wood was foolish, he had no choice but to be taken for a sucker.

Even if he was a transmigrator, even if undead troops were among the easiest to command, Moros, as nothing more than a baby, simply could not lead an army into battle.

Thus, between the Graveyard and the Level 1

Magic Guild, Moros ultimately chose the latter.

As the corresponding resources gradually vanished, a magnificent Mage Tower transformed from illusion into reality, towering over the city ruins where the Village Hall stood.

The moment the Level 1 Magic Guild was completed, Moros stirred his thoughts and guided his consciousness into the building, which was filled with a sense of mystery and profundity.

The interior of the Mage Guild was vast and deep, like a treasury of knowledge.

Countless Magic Tomes rested on towering bookshelves, giving off an enchanting glow.

The air was filled with the faint scent of ink and paper, creating an atmosphere that was tranquil and solemn.

Walking between the shelves, Moros gently ran his fingers across the spines of the books, as if he could feel the wisdom and power contained within each one.

He knew that this Mage Guild would become the starting point of his path in magic and the foundation for his ascent to greater heights.

As a Graveyard Lord, Moros could indeed draw power through killing and thereby raise his level.

But that did not mean killing was his only way to gain experience.

In fact, Moros could also effectively accumulate experience through traditional methods such as studying magical knowledge, meditating, and conducting magical experiments.

Passing through one enormous bookshelf after another, Moros arrived at the center of the Level 1 Magic Guild.

There, a thick brown Spellbook lay quietly atop a desk.

Is this my Spellbook?

Muttering inwardly, Moros reached out and touched the brown Spellbook.

At that very moment, information regarding three Level 1 spells flooded into Moros's sea of consciousness.

Since this Mage Guild belonged to the Graveyard faction, the Level 1 spells Moros obtained this time were the Dark Magic spell Weakness Curse, the Summoning Magic spell Fire Trap, and the Destruction Magic spell Eldritch Arrow.

Weakness Curse: Curses a target unit, reducing its maximum damage.

Fire Trap: The caster selects an area and randomly places fiery mines within it. Once an enemy steps on one, they suffer a certain amount of non-elemental magical damage.

Eldritch Arrow: Fires a magical projectile at a target unit, dealing non-elemental damage.

Though these three spells were merely the most basic Level 1 spells, they were already terrifying attacks that ordinary people could not withstand.

Take Eldritch Arrow, for example. Moros's current Eldritch Arrow had an astonishing power of 57.

What did that mean?

An ordinary adult man's life force was only around 2 or 3 points.

In other words, a single arrow was enough to kill someone more than ten times over!

That was the terror of combat magic.

Even though Moros was currently only a baby who had just turned one month old, and even though his mana only allowed him to cast a Level 1 spell twice per day, he still possessed the power to easily kill an adult.

And that was while his control over the three Level 1 spells was limited to merely casting them.

If he truly mastered these three Level 1 spells, there was no need to even mention the power Moros could unleash.

Take Weakness Curse, for example.

Right now, Moros could only use it as support to weaken an opponent's attack power.

But once he truly mastered this combat spell, Moros could even use Weakness Curse to directly make a caster's heart stop.

With the ability to easily kill adults, the insecurity Moros felt due to his frail infant body immediately faded by more than half.

This was another important reason why Moros had chosen to construct the Mage Guild.

He needed tangible power to fill the insecurity brought about by his transmigration!

Time passed slowly, and every day seemed peaceful and beautiful.

In Frakt and Emma's eyes, their child Moros was an easy, well-behaved baby.

Unless he was hungry, needed his diaper changed, or felt a little unwell, little Moros would always lie quietly in his cradle, his crystal-clear eyes curiously observing the world around him.

Therefore, despite it being her first time raising a child, Emma did not actually have it too hard.

Of course, that was compared with other new mothers.

No matter what, as a mother, Emma still put in no small amount of effort.

Moreover, Mr. Frakt was earning more and more money, and in Emma's eyes, their little family's life was getting better and better.

But that was only an illusion.

A huge illusion.

In a small town with only one hospital, being able to continually increase one's income after already achieving a comfortable life was suspicious no matter how one looked at it.

However, under Mr. Frakt's clever concealment, Emma had yet to notice the issues with her husband's current income.

But a problem was still a problem. It could be concealed, but it would not disappear out of thin air.

One day, it would erupt.

The First Grasp and First Encounter with Collapse Energy

Time flowed slowly like a gentle stream, and in the blink of an eye, Moros had turned one.

After passing the important milestones of his first month and hundredth day, Moros welcomed the most important event for children on the Mu Continent before they began school—the first grasp.

Although Frakt and Emma had both received higher education and were not superstitious, they were still willing to let their child experience this highly ceremonial family activity.

On the day of the first grasp, Emma rose early to prepare a new outfit for Moros and carefully combed his hair.

She held Moros gently in her arms, gazing into those crystal-clear eyes with a heart full of anticipation and joy.

In the spacious hall of the newly purchased mansion, Mr. Frakt spread out a soft carpet.

The carpet was covered with a dazzling assortment of items: books, musical instruments, coins, snacks, and more. Each had been carefully chosen by them and carried profound meaning.

"Moros, go choose something you like!"

After placing Moros on the carpet, Emma leaned against Mr. Frakt's side and watched their precious child expectantly.

Glancing back at his parents, who were clearly having far too much fun with this, Moros grumbled inwardly.

What the hell? A first grasp? I'm a transmigrator! This is so pointless!

Still, complaining was one thing. Since his parents wanted to play this game, Moros was willing to indulge them.

He began carefully examining the items on the carpet, quietly speculating to himself.

After hesitating for a long while, Moros turned around and toddled toward Emma and Frakt before hugging them.

After all, as a Level 1 transcendent, being able to walk at one year old was perfectly reasonable.

"Dad, Mom!"

The room instantly fell silent. Seemingly understanding what their child meant, Emma and Frakt opened their mouths, yet neither could say anything.

However, the moisture in their eyes made it clear that they had been deeply moved by their son's actions.

The emotion of that first-grasp day did not change Moros's life. He continued living the carefree, high-quality life of a human toddler as always.

However, unlike ordinary toddlers who spent their time playing, Moros not only studied the knowledge stored within the Mage Guild but also deliberately gathered information to understand the world into which he had transmigrated.

Through television, newspapers, conversations between his parents, and other means, Moros gained a relatively superficial understanding of this world.

This was a civilization with technology somewhat more advanced than Earth in his previous life, but it had yet to enter the era of interstellar colonization.

The Mu Continent, where his family currently lived, was the undisputed core of this civilization.

However, when it came to this small town, its technological level was not much different from that of his previous life.

Although there was no clear information about supernatural power, Moros did not let down his guard.

In his view, that was merely the result of the rulers of the Mu Continent concealing such information from the public in order to preserve their rule.

This world definitely possessed supernatural power!

The reason Moros came to this conclusion was simple. After learning the prerequisite ability for meditation—perceiving energy particles in the environment—he discovered that a strange form of energy, different from magic power, permeated this world.

This energy seemed to pose a certain danger to the human body. If one rashly absorbed it, there was a high chance of losing one's life.

However, Moros also keenly noticed that if one could withstand this harm, the strange energy in the environment could be used to strengthen the human body.

That was undoubtedly good news for him.

During his studies in the Mage Guild, Moros had learned an unsettling piece of information.