Vlad listened intently, both fascinated and saddened by Zayxehr's story. The weight of her words lingered in the air, and he felt a pang of empathy for her.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Vlad said, offering his condolences.
"It's alright," Zayxehr replied with a soft smile. "It doesn't hurt as much as it used to."
Vlad nodded, but the sorrow in her voice was unmistakable. Hoping to shift the mood, he brought the conversation back to the topic of the colossal scorpion. "A beast like that… it must have taken powerful magic to tame it. Your mother must have been incredibly powerful for her rank."
"It did," Zayxehr agreed, a touch of pride in her voice. "My mother was indeed a remarkable woman. She taught me much, but there's still so much more to learn. The scorpion is as much a part of me as my own magic."
The conversation took a contemplative turn, and Vlad decided to probe deeper into a topic that had been on his mind.
He had been grappling with the concept of magical corruption and its connection to power, a concept that had haunted his thoughts since his time in the city of Rythe.
"Speaking of powerful magic," Vlad began cautiously, "I came across something interesting during my time in Rythe. There's a theory that the higher a sorcery practitioner climbs in rank, the closer they come to corruption. It's a statement usually reserved for dark magic practitioners, but… it seems that past records believe it to be true."
Zayxehr's expression grew serious. "I don't know much about it," she admitted, "but Hayteyr once told me that it's due to where magic originated from. She said that the more our magic grows, the hungrier the Defiled become to feast on it."
"And once the Defiled makes contact with one's magic, corruption would spread," Vlad added, piecing together a puzzle that had eluded him for a long time. "What continues to puzzle me is why only the sorcery lineage suffers this."
Zayxehr nodded thoughtfully, but neither of them had an answer to that elusive mystery. As the night wore on, their conversation deepened, delving into their struggles, ambitions, and fears.
Yet beneath the surface, Vlad couldn't escape the gnawing guilt that he was being unfair to Zayxehr.
She's sharing her deepest secrets, and here I am spinning lies to hide the truth that I never awakened my magic like other witchcraft practitioners, he thought, the weight of his deceit pressing heavily on his conscience.
By the time Zayxehr left his tent, Vlad felt disoriented, uncomfortable with the deception he had woven into their conversation. He stared at the papers on his table, his mind swirling with thoughts.
"My life was not this complicated back home," he muttered, trying to immerse himself back into his studies.
But as he tried once more to recite the incantations of the viscount-level spells, his voice faltered, the words slipping from his grasp as if they were coated in oil.
Frustration mounted as he realized that no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't break through.
Then, a thought struck him–the wishing system. He had been so focused on brute-forcing his way through the incantations that he had forgotten about the tool that had already helped him in the past.
"System," Vlad called out, "is there any way you can assist me in becoming a Viscount of Spells?"
The system responded promptly, its voice neutral and devoid of emotion.
[There are several options available to the host.]
The first option appeared before Vlad's eyes, written in golden letters.
[The system can replicate the experience of the host's awakening, destroying the ash layers in the host's magic core. This will grant the host the same amount of magic as a Viscount of Spells and the authority to recite viscount-level incantations with minimal practice. However, this option requires one hundred percent of the host's wish bar.]
Vlad considered this for a moment, the weight of the decision pressing down on him. But before he could decide, the system presented a second option.
[The system can also boost the host's resonance with the environment, increasing the host's chances of hearing the whispers of viscount-level incantations and understanding them. This option costs sixty percent of the host's wish bar.]
The third option followed swiftly.
[Alternatively, the system can grant the host the authority to recite viscount-level incantations directly. This will allow the host to use the pulse of power to tear off the ash layers around the host's magic. However, this option costs ninety-five percent of the host's wish bar.]
Vlad stared at the options, his mind racing. Each choice offered a path forward, but the cost was steep.
The first option, while granting him immediate power, would completely drain his wish bar, cutting off his chance to level up the system once again. The second option was less costly but time‑consuming, relying on his ability to resonate with the environment.
The third option, nearly as expensive as the first, promised direct authority but left him just shy of a full wish bar to level up the wishing system for better wishes from it.
"Again, I would have to postpone the leveling up of the system," he complained, weighing his options.
The thought of refilling his wish bar only to drain it an instant later didn't sit well with him, especially given the unpredictability of the Forsaken Land.
He had learned the hard way that it was always wise to keep some resources in reserve, courtesy of Yamor.
With a sigh, Vlad made his decision.
"I'll focus on raising my wish bar for now," he resolved. "I can't afford to leave it empty for so long, not when there's still so much it can assist me with and so many dangers ahead."
He knew it would take time, but Vlad was determined to accumulate enough wish power to make the right choice when the moment came.
For now, he would mostly focus on fulfilling the wishes of others while getting familiar with the incantations of spells he could manage.
Trying out a few spells that weren't really classified among the various ranks could yield surprising effects if paired properly with other spells.
"Imagine binding a trapping spell to an invoked mirror," Vlad mused, letting his imagination run wild. For a moment, he was lost in the thrill of the idea, picturing the endless possibilities.
But then, reality hit him like a cold splash of water, he was no longer a mere valam dreaming up impossible spells. He was a wizard now, wielding real power, not just fantasies born of a cursed fate the universe had decided to place upon him.
The absurdity of it all struck him, and he couldn't help but laugh, the sound a mix of exhilaration and triumph. "I—I actually can!"
His eyes sparkling, his mind raced as ideas on how to fulfill the wishes of his employers and audiences sprouted, growing into a vast tree of plans, strategies, and schemes.
"From now on, I shall let my imagination be the driving force in my quest for power, survival, and a world of beauty, peace, and contentment," he vowed, his eyes alight with newfound determination.
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