"It's simple," Evaque said in a gentle tone. "Just place your hand on the statue. Hafus might give you a trial. If you pass, you'll receive his legacy."
Well, it's worth a try.
Ronan wasn't particularly resistant. No one could refuse the legacy of a legendary dragon's soul, especially when that dragon was also an ancient and profoundly powerful wizard.
Following Evaque's instructions, Ronan slowly approached the massive dragon statue and gently placed his hand on its base—a single toe of the dragon.
"Clear your mind..."
Ronan closed his eyes. The ten Mental Power Crystals in his mind faintly glowed, releasing mental energy that slowly seeped into the statue before him.
Cold, emptiness, darkness... At first, Ronan felt no unusual movement. But Evaque had told him that this process required patience.
The souls of the Wizard leaders were almost all in slumber, and awakening them would take time.
During this period, all he needed to do was maintain as much respect as possible.
Time passed slowly, and gradually, Ronan noticed a faint light appearing "before his eyes."
Then, this light grew larger, as if he was rapidly approaching something.
Suddenly.
"Boom—"
All the cold, emptiness, and darkness vanished in an instant. Ronan felt as if he had been transported to another world.
A world of fiery red, scorching heat, and chaotic unrest.
The ground beneath his feet trembled and roared, the sky filled with the scent of sulfur and smoke, boiling lava surged across the land, and the void itself quivered incessantly.
Standing amidst it all, Ronan felt as small as an ant, surrounded by overwhelming destructive forces.
He strained to open his eyes and looked ahead. In the distance, he vaguely saw the massive, blurry figure of a dragon.
It was almost identical to the dragon statue he had seen in the ceremonial square, but its size was at least ten times larger.
Moreover, the dragon was no longer entirely deep black. Its body was covered in golden scales, its curved and sharp horns like two ancient spears glowing red-hot, piercing the sky. Its outstretched wings blotted out the heavens, casting a massive shadow... And those eyes, fiery gold and red, like flowing magma, exuding a power that could burn and see through everything.
Just gazing at this colossal dragon figure, Ronan's body trembled uncontrollably. The dragon emitted a mysterious and imposing aura that, even from a distance, made Ronan feel the urge to kneel and worship.
Clenching his teeth, Ronan forced his spine to remain straight. He tried to move forward, struggling to walk toward the dragon.
At that moment, a sharp, grating sound suddenly rang in his ears.
"Zzzz—"
"Scratch, scratch, scratch—"
The noise was like a poorly received radio signal, or someone scratching their sharp nails frantically against a smooth glass pane, accompanied by dull thuds and high-pitched, terrifying screams... Even more unbearable than the evil whispers he had heard during the descents of Hekalto's will.
Almost instinctively, Ronan clutched his head with both hands, his face contorted as he crouched down on the spot.
"Ba... Ba... Bahafus..."
Amidst the cacophony that nearly shattered his consciousness, Ronan's dazed mind seemed to catch a low, slippery murmur.
The murmuring voice kept calling out the name "Bahafus" in a strange language.
Ronan wasn't sure why he could understand the meaning contained in the murmuring voice. He was already on the verge of collapsing into unconsciousness, but at this moment, a strange curiosity and impulse miraculously kept him going.
"This is... the best opportunity..."
"Once in a thousand years..."
The murmuring voice was intermittent and elusive.
Suddenly, a woman's angry roar abruptly rang out, completely drowning out the murmuring voice.
"Get lost! You despicable maggot... I am not you!"
"Idiot!"
The low, slippery murmuring voice also seemed startled, its tone becoming somewhat flustered.
"You'll regret this."
"Since you... then I won't hold back."
"Don't think I'll... give it to you."
"Roar!"
Just as Ronan was struggling to hold on, "curiously" listening to the dialogue between the two voices he had inadvertently captured in his mind, the golden dragon under the distant crimson sky suddenly raised its head and let out a thunderous roar.
The world before him shattered like a mirage in an instant. Caught off guard, Ronan was violently "yanked" out by a force that appeared out of thin air. "Thud, thud, thud—"
In the vast, silent stone statue square, a figure clad in a black Wizard Robe with silver trim staggered back a few steps, then steadied himself, pale-faced and drenched in sweat, gasping for breath.
"Are you alright?"
A hand reached out from the side, offering a small green potion bottle.
Ronan hesitated for a moment, then took the bottle, unscrewed it, and drank the potion in one gulp. Soon, he felt a cool sensation spreading through his body, and the discomfort quickly receded like a tide.
"Thank you."
Ronan felt much better after taking the potion. He straightened up and expressed his gratitude to Evaque.
Evaque casually shook his head and said, "When I first tried to communicate with the Dragon Wizard Chief, I was in a much worse state than you are now. Although he has a bad temper, he doesn't mean any harm. It's just that we're too weak..."
Ronan nodded, thought for a moment, and asked, "Does this mean... I failed?"
"Did he say anything to you? Did he give you something like a golden scale?"
"No."
Ronan shook his head. Not only had he not communicated with the Dragon Wizard Chief Bahafus or received any "gift" from him, but in that dream-like space, he hadn't even gotten close to the other party.
This outcome wasn't particularly surprising to Ronan. His soul aptitude wasn't outstanding, and according to Evaque, Bahafus, the Dragon Wizard Chief, was the most demanding and picky among the twenty-four Wizard Chiefs.
For him to recognize me... that would be a real miracle.
"Then it seems you failed."
Evaque patted Ronan's shoulder in consolation, then turned to look at the other stone statues around them and said, "You can try with the other Wizard Chiefs..."
"Forget it."
Ronan shook his head in refusal. He didn't want to go through a similar experience again. In truth, he wasn't very interested in the legacy of the Spirit Wizards.
After all, the decline of the Ancient Spirit Witches was already a fact. No matter how glorious they had once been, history had shown that the end of the Spirit Wizards was ultimately a path of darkness.
Why take risks for a path that is destined to lead to a dead end?
"Alright."
Seeing Ronan's resolute attitude, Evaque didn't say anything more.
The two walked to another statue in the square, a massive black wolf sculpture.
The appearance of the statue reminded Ronan of the final move Evaque had used during their duel in the Genius Competition, where he transformed into a semi-ethereal Ghost Wolf form.
Perhaps, this was the path he had chosen for his advancement as a Spirit Wizard.
"The Wolf Wizard Leader.
Like the Dragon Wizard Leader Bahafus, he is one of the three grandmasters of the Spirit Wizard's soul transformation system. It is he who has given me this inheritance trial."
Evaque faced the colossal wolf statue, clasped his hands together, his expression more reverent and devout than ever before.
"I will now officially enter the trial."
"What do I need to do?"
Ronan finally asked the real purpose behind Evaque's invitation.
Evaque took out something resembling a stone mill from his space ring and said to Ronan, "While I am undergoing the trial, take care of my soul disk.
If the soul disk reverses, turn it back to its original position for me."
"Is it really that simple?"
Ronan felt a slight surprise.
Evaque shook his head. He remained silent for a while, then looked at Ronan with utmost seriousness, "Forgive me, Damien, there's something I haven't told you.
The process of turning the soul disk will consume a certain amount of your soul's lifespan, but not much, at most about ten years per turn."
"Consuming lifespan..."
Ronan was stunned, finally understanding the true reason behind Evaque's kindness and enthusiasm towards him.
He had helped him time and time again, far exceeding the true depth of their friendship. It turned out, he wanted him to consume his lifespan to help him.
"I'm sorry, Damien, truly sorry."
At this moment, Evaque's face was filled with shame, he couldn't even look Ronan in the eye.
"The Wolf Wizard Leader's trial is very difficult. It allows me to fail three times per round, the cost being that each time someone must offer a certain amount of lifespan to him. I have failed many times, the elders of the Uta tribe have been exhausted, originally I didn't want to seek help from wizards of other tribes, I carefully nurtured XX..."
Evaque mentioned a name, it was the girl in the white wolf skin skirt Ronan had seen in the Uta tribe.
Evaque appeared to be in great pain.
"...But I have too little time left, and I only have this one chance left to take the trial. Damien, I... I..."
Evaque went from incoherent to nearly speechless, he looked at Ronan pleadingly.
Ronan could see the desire in his eyes, before this, Evaque had repeatedly said "he could still regret now", but now, he didn't say that anymore.
Ronan remained silent for a long time, then slowly spoke, "Three chances to fail, meaning I need to turn the soul disk for you three times, consuming a total of thirty years of soul lifespan..."
"If I can pass it in one go, you won't need to make any sacrifices."
Evaque, sensing a hint of flexibility in Ronan's words, quickly said, "If your soul lifespan is consumed, afterwards, I will do my utmost to make it up to you.
At least I can help you recover twenty years of lifespan, if you don't believe me, we can make a contract."
Ronan didn't make any statement, but he looked at the soul disk in Evaque's hand and suddenly asked, "What would happen if your soul disk were damaged?"
Evaque was taken aback for a moment, then calmly replied, "If the soul disk is damaged, my trial will immediately fail, and my soul will suffer irreversible damage."
"I see."
Ronan nodded, glanced at the massive black wolf statue beside them, and said indifferently, "Then... please hurry."
Evaque didn't say anything more but thanked him very sincerely. He then left the soul disk, which resembled a rough stone mill, and turned to walk toward the black wolf statue.
When he reached the statue, he softly chanted an incantation. Immediately, black ripples began to spread from the base of the statue. Evaque glanced back at Ronan one last time before resolutely stepping into the ripples.
The vast statue square was now left with only Ronan.
After Evaque entered the trial, the soul disk he left behind seemed to have taken root in the void, firmly fixed in place. Ronan couldn't move it no matter how hard he tried.
Observing the surface of the soul disk, Ronan noticed that the rough stone mill was faintly glowing and slowly rotating clockwise.
Ronan began to suspect that Evaque had to pay a certain price in soul lifespan to undergo this trial.
There was no such thing as a free lunch in the world, and selfishness was human nature, especially for those who were already on the path to decline.
With this realization, Ronan's sense of awe and admiration for the black statues in the square diminished significantly.
He even felt that the silent statues, casting their enormous shadows, exuded a cold and cruel aura.
"Not every wizard is called Schbiert," Ronan silently lamented in his heart.
With Evaque gone, Ronan was left alone and somewhat idle.
The soul disk was crucial to Evaque's safety and the success of his trial. Ronan knew that Evaque must have made countless sacrifices in private for this, so he didn't want to distract himself with other matters. Out of boredom, he began to wander around the soul disk.
Among the eight remaining statues in the square, the one that intrigued Ronan the most was naturally the statue of the Dragon Wizard Chief, Bahafus.
Next was the humanoid statue located at the very center of the twenty-four statues.
The latter gave Ronan the impression of being the oldest among all the statues. Of course, the main reason Ronan kept glancing at it was that the humanoid statue was covered in so many cracks and imperfections.
He couldn't shake the feeling that the statue might collapse at any moment, and he would be witnessing the final demise of an incredibly ancient and powerful wizard's soul.
After wandering around for a while, Ronan's gaze returned to the massive black dragon statue.
He couldn't help but recall the conversation he had heard within the statue's inheritance space.
"One of the two was a woman, seemingly Bahafus himself."
"Then who was the other? One of the other seven Wizard Chiefs?"
Ronan pondered. From the conversation, it seemed that the other person was inviting the Dragon Wizard Chief, Bahafus, to do something together, but Bahafus had refused.
Bahafus's attitude toward the other person was quite hostile, as if he looked down on them immensely. Ronan couldn't come to any conclusion. In fact, he wasn't even sure if the conversation was real.
Could it be his auditory hallucination, or perhaps a unique method employed by the Dragon Wizard Chief Bahafus to test his successor?
He wasn't sure.
As he pondered, suddenly— "Gurgle gurgle—"
A strange sound, akin to a stone wheel rolling across the ground, echoed through the vast square.
Ronan abruptly looked up, im
mediately checking the soul disk left by Evaque.
The soul disk showed no abnormalities, still rotating slowly and without making any noise.
Ronan's eyes flickered as he took a soft breath.
He was the only one here now; the Wizard Chief's stone statue wouldn't move. So, where did the sudden sound come from?!
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