The Wizard of a Hundred Generations: Starting from the Hourglass of Time

Chapter 20 The Curse of Truth and Suppression [Please turn to the last page]

After mastering the art of making calming herbal ointment, Suen became even busier.

Meditation, potion-making, and work in the recycling room are all part of the daily routine, and even on days off, I have to squeeze in time to attend classes.

To save time, he had no choice but to travel between Mordor City and Oak Crown by riding a hippogriff.

Of course, Suen did not forget that she still owed Morris a loan.

But before paying off his debts, he must understand the risks of the "Evil Spirit Fire Arrow".

Especially with the midterm exams approaching, we will need to go to the Bewitching Wilderness.

Given these unknown risks, Suen needs to improve his strength even more.

"After becoming a novice apprentice, I was finally able to establish my own system of witchcraft."

Suen knew that meditation and potion-making were ultimately just means to pursue the truth.

In border regions, mastering witchcraft for killing and self-protection is essential.

Based on the characteristics of each school of witchcraft, the wizarding world has divided witchcraft into various schools such as the Elemental School, the Botanical School, and the Summoning School.

As one of the seven major wizarding organizations, the Tower is most proficient in the magic of the elemental and soul schools.

Each wizard apprentice will learn various spells depending on the wizard tower they are in, in order to deal with different situations.

The Oak Crown offers seven zero-ring sorcery models for novice apprentices, which are mostly traditional elemental sorcery, primarily fire and water elemental sorcery.

"Throw Fire Arrows, Conduit, Frost Armor, Ice Spikes, Thorn Entanglement, Shadow Corrosion, Blessing of the Wind."

Suen looked at the seven witchcraft models, lost in thought.

His current spiritual body can only hold a maximum of four spell models. Considering that the midterm exam requires him to go to the wilderness, the "Frost Armor" spell for defense and the "Blessing of the Wind" spell to increase movement speed are essential.

For the remaining two spells, he tended to choose throwing flaming arrows and entanglement with thorns.

This set of witchcraft techniques is almost standard equipment for novice apprentices, combining attack, control, defense, and escape.

But the "Evil Spirit Flame Arrow" given by Morris seemed more profound, leaving Suen somewhat puzzled.

So, taking advantage of the opportunity to sell calming herbal ointment, Suen found a witchcraft shop in the market and spent 50 magic stone coins to receive guidance from a high-level wizard apprentice.

When he presented the sorcery scroll containing the "Evil Spirit Fire Arrow" to his senior apprentice Wyatt, the nearly eighty-year-old apprentice returned the scroll to him in just a few minutes.

Wyatt cleared his throat: "This is a zero-level spell unearthed from the underground city of [Fire Stealer's Cavern]. Its power is about 30% greater than a regular fire arrow, but it is said that when learning this spell, one will hear the whispers of Adam the Fire Stealer."

He looked at Suen: "This model of witchcraft, was it a gift from someone else?"

Sun nodded in agreement with some skepticism, which was met with a confident look from Wyatt.

"The higher-level sorcery for the Evil Spirit Fire Arrow is the first-circle sorcery [Evil God Fireball]. You should be aware of the existence of the Curse of Truth; the older the sorcery, the heavier the price to pay when learning it. The person who gave you the sorcery probably wanted you to share some of the Curse of Truth with them."

"The curse of truth?"

Wyatt was slightly surprised that he didn't know about the Curse of Truth, but his expression quickly returned to normal: "The Curse of Truth is a trait inherent in all knowledge unearthed from ruins. After the Great Cataclysm, almost all extraordinary knowledge inevitably carries spiritual contamination; the more powerful the wizard, the more severe the spiritual contamination."

When the topic of spiritual pollution came up, a hint of sadness appeared in Wyatt's eyes.

"However, some have discovered that the more people who learn the same witchcraft, the less spiritual pollution they suffer. This rule is defined as the curse of truth—monopolizing knowledge leads to being cursed by the truth. Sharing knowledge, on the contrary, can reduce the burden."

"The person who gave you the Evil Spirit Flame Arrow is probably researching the [Evil God Fireball Technique], so they chose you to share some of the Curse of Truth and prevent a backlash."

Wyatt's tone then brightened: "Let me think, which advanced apprentices are researching Mad Fire and have the potential to become full wizards... Ignatius, Audrey?"

He then shook his head: "It's unlikely you know either of these sequence seeds. Who would be attempting a soul transformation ritual through Mad Fire?"

Suen remained silent for a moment, not particularly surprised by the result.

Given the prevailing customs in the border region, the fact that Morris didn't force him to learn the Evil Spirit Fire Arrow was already a sign of kindness.

After bidding farewell to Wyatt, Suen returned to the trading district, preparing to sell the latest batch of calming herbal ointment.

Based on his current success rate, each batch of raw materials for the calming herbal ointment can yield approximately two finished products, and successfully selling one finished product can earn him nearly sixty magic stone coins.

However, purchasing four wizardry models would cost at least a thousand magic stones, which is a considerable burden even for a mid-level wizarding apprentice.

Suen pushed open the door to the potion shop she frequented in the trade district.

The brass bell above the counter rang out crisply. The shopkeeper, who was flipping through the ledger, looked up and saw it was him, and paused for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Lord Ian. We cannot reclaim your potion."

Suen paused in front of the counter.

He had been to this shop no less than ten times, whether buying raw materials or selling potions, he always traded here, and the prices were fair.

The shopkeeper avoided his gaze, his fingers unconsciously flipping through the ledger: "I can't tell you the specific reason; please try asking elsewhere."

Suen didn't ask any further questions.

He put the potion bottle back into his explorer's leather bag and left the shop.

The sunlight on the street was a bit dazzling, so Suen walked straight to another potion shop at the end of the street.

An hour later, he stood at the entrance of the alley in the East Third District, his expression becoming more solemn.

All six stores he visited unanimously refused to be acquired.

If Su Enruo still can't see the situation clearly at this point, she can simply restart and prepare for the next life.

Shops he had never been to before shook their heads and refused to go as soon as they heard his name, which shows that the mastermind behind the scenes is quite powerful.

His first thought was of Celsus's rival.

The fact that Azerite was sold as a substandard product shows that someone is secretly targeting Celsus.

Although his report was not signed and made public, the very act of submitting the task results may have already attracted attention.

Or perhaps it's simply targeting him.

Suen let out a breath.

Fortunately, the calming herbal ointment also helps with meditation, so even if it doesn't sell, at least it won't rot in my hands.

As evening approached, Suen returned to the Oak Crown.

He found Deitz sitting on a bench, fiddling with the Trifle Mirror in his hand.

Upon closer reflection, they realized it had been almost two weeks since they last met.

"Ian, how did you offend Master Michael of the Borek family?"

That was the first thing Deitz said.

Suen frowned slightly: "Michael?"

Seeing that the confusion on his face seemed genuine, Deitz told him everything he had heard.

During this period, thanks to his incredible good luck, Detz's mental strength had reached the threshold for advancing to intermediate apprentice. He had traveled with hunting teams in the wilderness several times and met many members of the wizard families of Mordo City.

In the wilderness outside the city of Modo, there exist many families composed of descendants of formal wizards.

Some immigrated to the border region because members of their families studied in the tower, and among them, families that had produced formal wizards were the most respected.

The Borek family once produced a second-level wizard known as the "Wolf of the Moon," who ruled the Crimson Tower and owned many properties in Mordor City, wielding considerable power.

The Battle Flag Tavern, where Deitz frequents, is owned by the Boreck family.

"Just tonight during the card game, I personally overheard Michael instructing his attendants to have the merchant guild controlled by the Bolek family notify all potion shops to prohibit the purchase of potions concocted by an apprentice named Ian."

At this point, Detz's serious face suddenly lit up with a look of surprise: "Ian, I forgot to congratulate you on mastering potions."

But his smile quickly faded, and his eyes were filled with worry.

Suen remained silent, as if the surrounding noise had been shut out in an instant.

Previously, when he borrowed magic stone coins from Morris, he revealed that someone had offered a portion of lesser magic essence in exchange for the dismissal of an apprentice named Ian from the recycling room.

Suen was not afraid of the sudden malice. He just did not expect that he, a mere novice apprentice, could attract the attention of a wizarding family.