Translator: AnubisTL
Jieming had to admit that the deaths of Amy and Victor had left a deep, unhealed scar on his heart.
Though the wound no longer bled, it still throbbed with a dull ache.
This lingering pain made it difficult for him to maintain the extreme precision and focus required for his experiments, leading to frequent errors in his research.
Zzzzt—!
A pungent smell of burning flesh filled the air as another partially modified lava giant experimental subject, destroyed by a mere 0.01-milliliter miscalculation in the dosage of a genetic catalyst, self-combusted on the operating platform, its internal energy circulation collapsing instantly. The once-promising specimen was now nothing more than a pile of worthless charcoal.
"Sigh..."
After yet another experimental subject was ruined by his mistake, Jieming finally stopped working, letting out a frustrated sigh.
He knew that forcing himself to continue researching in his current state would only waste time and resources.
He walked to the side and reopened the magic net terminal.
This time, he didn't bother flipping through obscure texts. Instead, he directly opened the mission board of Noren Academy, the local academy of the Elosia Plane, hoping to find a suitable task.
It wasn't about earning points or meeting quotas.
He mainly wanted to get out, change his environment, and see if it could lift his spirits.
The mission list refreshed like a waterfall, displaying a dazzling array of commissions.
There were missions to explore remote planes within the Elosia Plane Cluster, tasks to gather rare materials, and requests to support the academy's construction efforts.
Just then, an unusual mission title caught Jieming's eye:
Hunting Mission: Eliminate Illegal Wizards
Mission Tier: Second-Tier
Acceptance Restriction: Only formal wizards of the second-tier or higher may accept this mission.
No further information was available.
The detailed mission description was locked behind a permission authentication, accessible only after accepting the mission.
Jieming found the term "illegal wizards" intriguing.
In a highly centralized and ordered society like the wizard civilization, how could officially recognized "illegal wizards" even exist?
As far as Jieming knew, apart from the contracts signed upon entering the academy related to the wizard civilization, all spell artifacts containing meditation techniques were also restricted. Without proper contract certification, they couldn't be activated at all.
Without the aid of an initial meditation spell artifact, it was impossible for ordinary people to enter a meditative state, let alone become wizards.
With such stringent safeguards in place, how could "illegal wizards" even exist?
Driven by curiosity, Jieming didn't hesitate and immediately accepted the mission.
Soon after his permission authentication was approved, detailed mission information flooded his terminal like a tidal wave.
This information included the "illegal wizard's" previously monitored movement routes and activity patterns.
The documents also contained a strength assessment by the academy's intelligence department based on the damage traces left behind: estimated overall strength equivalent to an ordinary second-tier wizard.
Therefore, Noren Academy, erring on the side of caution, had issued this mission as a team task.
Its activation condition required at least two second-tier wizards to accept before it could officially begin.
As it happened, another wizard had already accepted the mission before Jieming did.
Now, with Jieming's participation, the mission's activation requirements had been met.
Jieming glanced at the designated assembly point: the Elosia Prime Plane, specifically the new Noren Academy branch currently under construction.
The final assembly deadline was... three days from now.
"Such a short assembly time... the academy must be taking this rogue wizard very seriously," Jieming mused, stroking his chin as he studied the information displayed on the holographic screen.
After making some quick preparations, he switched his laboratory to automatic maintenance mode and left several lava giant guards, modified into bioweapons, in the Purgatory Sulfur Plane. Then, he stepped onto the teleportation formation within the laboratory.
With a faint spatial distortion, he arrived in the Elosia Prime Plane, at the new Noren Academy branch. Though still under construction, the facility already possessed a futuristic, technologically advanced aesthetic.
Upon accepting such a mission, the magic net terminal automatically activated recording mode, primarily to track the wizard's movements.
Therefore, Jieming was certain that the moment he stepped onto the teleportation formation, the other wizard would have received notification that he was heading to the assembly point.
Arriving at the designated assembly point in a corner of Academy Square, Jieming immediately spotted the person already waiting there.
Sensing the faintly familiar soul signature, Jieming couldn't help but freeze in surprise.
It was David, the very person who had contacted him just moments ago!
Of course, David's appearance now differed slightly from what Jieming had seen during their trial and when they had forged their contract.
Back then, David had resembled a bloodthirsty barbarian.
Now, though his wild aura had been somewhat subdued, he no longer looked like a barbarian. Yet his full suit of pitch-black heavy armor, adorned with menacing bone spikes and runes, still made him look nothing like a traditional wizard.
Wizards primarily unleash their power by leveraging external elemental forces through their mental power.
As such, there were no strict limitations on their attire. Whether they preferred to go completely naked or wear constructs as massive as cities, it was entirely up to them.
However, in practice, no one typically wore full plate armor.
It wasn't that heavy armor was ineffective. In fact, heavy armor could utilize more materials, granting it superior defensive capabilities, greater stability, and more space for talisman crafting compared to spell artifacts of the same tier.
Moreover, for wizards who also cultivated physical enhancement techniques, heavy armor could serve as both an exceptionally effective defensive tool and a formidable weapon in close combat.
The only drawback was... the cost!
A glance at its sheer size revealed that the materials required for a set of heavy armor far exceeded those needed for spell artifacts like staves or masks.
A complete set of heavy armor spell artifacts cost two tiers higher than a comparable set of spell artifacts.
Thus, it wasn't just Jieming; every wizard passing by couldn't help but glance at David standing there.
He stood like a silent fortress of steel, radiating an aura of icy detachment that warned others to keep their distance.
To be honest, if it weren't for that familiar, earth-like soul aura that remained unchanged, Jieming might not have recognized this "iron can" as David at all.
(End of the Chapter)