"The Dawn will pass, and the Red Moon will last forever."
"May the light of the Lord of the Red Moon shine upon the world forever. May all earthly illusions become eternal nightmares..."
Beneath the red moon, a woman with a graceful figure slowly ascended into the air. She had wine-red hair, captivating eyes, and the two pears hanging on her chest...
Pink ones?
Wei'en's eyes went wide. He stared unblinkingly at the figure, feeling the blood rush through his body as two streams of it trickled from his nose.
He raised a hand to wipe it away. 'Trying to test me with this?'
'Nice move. Bring it on.'
"Oh-ho-ho... Wei'en, come over here."
The woman, as if oblivious to the danger she was about to face, beckoned to Wei'en with her finger.
Wei'en looked at the woman before him and found her face growing more and more familiar. He looked closer—it had shockingly transformed into Sister Kali's pure and innocent face.
"Sister Kali?"
His face instantly turned beet red. He said shyly, "Well, since you put it that way, I'm coming over."
"Come on, come... and I'll be all yours..."
'I can't take it anymore!' Blood gushed from his nose, and it wouldn't stop.
Terrified, Wei'en quickly covered his nose and shouted, "I'm not coming, Sister Kali! You win..."
Huh?
Wei'en shot up, drenched in sweat, and looked around. He was still in his familiar room.
'It was a dream.'
'But what a realistic dream.'
'Sister Kali with wine-red hair... That's just criminal.'
Wei'en thought, rubbing his head.
'But were the side effects of using the panel yesterday really that severe?'
Even after a full night's sleep, his head still ached, and his body felt weary.
Hmm?
His body?
Wei'en frantically pulled down his pants to take a look, then quickly covered himself back up.
No, wait, he frantically changed into a new pair of underwear.
"Damn it. My body got stronger, so my pants got tighter."
Wei'en looked up and saw the two Xiaoxis staring at him curiously. "What are you looking at? Turn around."
The Xiaoxis glanced at each other, both seeing the curiosity in the other's eyes.
"Wadada?"
"Wadada."
Wei'en glared at them and cursed, "You little bastards, don't think I can't understand you. You're the ones with tentacles... No, wait, you two don't have them at all."
The Xiaoxis: "..."
Just as Wei'en was about to further assert his authority as their father, a crimson notification slowly materialized in his mind.
[You have been corroded by the power of desire from an unknown entity. Unfortunately, your defenses were broken. Evaluation: Believe me, you're not the first person who failed to resist the power of desire. Special Reward: Resilience Level -1 (Temporary: 1 day).]
"What the hell!" Wei'en stared at the notification, his face darkening.
'What is this?'
'So in this world, you can't even get off in a dream?'
'Which bastard has such a disgusting power?'
'If I weren't still pretty robust, someone with a weaker constitution probably couldn't handle this more than a few times, right?'
'That's just evil!'
'A bad start to the day: discovering that a wet dream lowers my resilience level. Well, at least it's temporary.'
Wei'en sighed, feeling helpless and pathetic.
He felt as though the whole world was filled with malice. Even the beautiful woman from his dream was out to get him...
Then, Wei'en checked the time. It wasn't even six o'clock.
He glanced out the window. A dim yellow light was dawning in the distant sky, and the red moon, once high in the heavens, had faded from view.
Day had broken.
'What time does the Secret Investigation Department open again?'
Wei'en scratched his head. 'Should be nine o'clock... Whatever, I'll just head over a bit early later.'
With that, he got out of bed to rinse off. His body felt uncomfortably sticky.
"Magic systems..."
After his shower, Wei'en came out and looked at the parchment spread open on his desk. After a moment of thought, he resumed reading.
'It's still early. Leaving at eight will be plenty of time.'
"Once you have decided on a Magic system, you can begin strengthening your 'Origin Larva.'"
"A special reminder: the first Rune Branding is extremely important. Once you make a mistake, you will not get a second chance."
"Therefore, you must be cautious. Extensive practice can increase the success rate of branding the rune."
"Next is the selection of the four basic Magic Runes."
Wei'en read the contents of the parchment with rapt attention, his command of the Gonzalez language growing more and more proficient.
"They are: the Undead Summoning Rune from the Undead Magic system, the Elemental Spirit Rune from the universal Magic system, and the Flesh Rune, also from the universal Magic system."
"And the special rune from the Secret Technique system—the Soul-Devouring Rune."
'The Soul-Devouring Rune?'
'That name again... The specter who wrote this really sucked at naming things.'
"The Soul-Devouring Rune is the school's most core knowledge. The reason it is available to all Wizard Apprentices is in the hope that the school might produce another Spirit Devouring Mage."
"Below are the methods for the Rune Branding, as well as some points of caution..."
Wei'en continued reading, seeing four strangely shaped patterns and some annotations that followed.
He didn't pay much attention to the runes for the Undead Magic and universal Magic systems, instead going straight to the Soul-Devouring Rune and carefully reading the annotations beside it.
"The prerequisite for the Secret Technique system is at least two 'Origin Larvae.' A Soul-Devouring Rune must be branded onto each of them separately, using the inherent connection of the 'Origin' to link their power."
"Of special note, the first Rune Branding must be performed on the 'Origin Larvae' simultaneously. This requires the Wizard to possess a high Spirit level to avoid a shortage of Spiritual Power."
"According to the notes of the school's Spirit Devouring Mages, one's Spirit level must be at least 30 to perform the Soul-Devouring Rune Branding, which is the level of an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice."
"Furthermore, after completing the Soul-Devouring Rune Branding, all larvae can be strengthened in different directions."
"This can be the Spiritual Secret system, the Blood Spirit System, or even a mechanical system, and so on. Most Spirit Devouring Mages choose a combination of the Undead and Spiritual Secret systems."
"After all, for our school, the body is not essential—as long as the Origin endures, life is eternal."
Wei'en put down the parchment, looking thoughtfully at the Xiaoxis who were constantly in Meditation mid-air.
'Do I really have to reach Intermediate Wizard Apprentice to brand the Soul-Devouring Rune?'
'Level 30?'
He checked his Spirit level on the panel. It was only 22.36. Not far from 30.
'I'll just have to wait for now.'
'I hope there aren't any more anomalies from the Dawn Church...'
Wei'en thought of yesterday's Sound of Divinity, the culprit that had cost him a full Spirit level.
'Otherwise, I'd be at level 23 by now!'
'Damn the Dawn Church, damn the Lord of Dawn... Hmm, and now I have to add that nameless entity who corroded me with the power of desire to the list.'
'A pair of total bastards!'
With that thought, Wei'en picked up the parchment again, channeling his grief and indignation into strength. He was going to memorize the entire Soul-Devouring Rune.
He would use the time before he reached Intermediate Wizard Apprentice to prepare as much as possible.
"This is so damn hard... Just who the hell invented this chicken scratch?"