Synthetic Wizard - Chapter 84 - 83:

Chapter 84: Chapter 83:

Originally, Sunan wanted to attempt another infiltration, but with Count Storm’s previous example, Marquis Golden Rock had already taken precautions, and everyone entering or exiting the camp underwent strict checks.

Sunan even discovered a magical object for detecting magic power.

Reluctantly, he had to abandon this plan.

Although the infiltration failed, the Stone Golem still played a commendable role on the frontlines.

With both the Golem Legion and the Black Rock Cavalry Legion, the Flashing Territory had the strength to battle the Golden Rock Alliance Army on the frontlines.

The war continued until the Month of Frost.

It wasn’t until the first snowfall that both sides tacitly agreed to cease the battle.

With the heavy snow sealing the ground, even with the Flashing Territory’s Clay Golem logistics troops, the pressure on logistics was substantial, and they could only pause the war.

By this point, the Golden Rock Province had undergone earth-shattering changes compared to five months ago.

Apart from the Flashing Territory, the other two Baron Territories and Viscount Territory had long been annihilated by the Golden Rock Alliance Army.

The vast Golden Rock Province now only had two major forces left: the Flashing Territory and the Golden Rock Alliance Army.

The territory of the Flashing Territory, from the initial Flashing Territory, expanded to encompass the vast lands of Flashing Territory, Storm Territory, and Winter Frost Territory, occupying nearly half of the Golden Rock Province.

It seemed as if the Flashing Territory and Marquis Golden Rock were poised to divide and rule the land.

This development truly took many nobles by surprise.

No one expected the Golden Rock Marquis, who had aggressively raised the flag of rebellion, to be battered within his own province, losing nearly half of his territory!

And all this was caused by a single Baron Territory!

The name of Flashing Territory echoed throughout the entire Starlight Duchy!

Sunan’s name also began to spread in some secret circles.

…

Starlight Calendar 1252, the Month of Winter Harp (January).

Today’s snowfall was particularly heavy, and by the end of the month, the snow showed no signs of melting.

However, this was a good thing for the Flashing Territory, as it provided more time for recuperation.

The expansion of territory meant an increase in tax revenue and population, providing a broader base for military expansion.

As soon as the war ended, Kei began to integrate territorial affairs and started a massive recruitment drive within the territory, planning to expand the military strength during the winter to prepare for the battles after spring.

Simultaneously, a new round of wizard aptitude testing began.

With the expansion of territory and surge in population, the scale of this testing increased significantly.

Consequently, it was foreseeable that the number of children with wizard aptitude would also increase.

Throughout the Month of Winter Harp, the entire Flashing Territory operated at high speed.

Sunan was no exception, immersing himself in various complex manufacturing tasks.

After integrating the new territories, the Flashing Territory suddenly gained a large number of knights.

This led to a dramatic increase in the demand for demonized weapons.

Sunan had to allocate more time to the production of demonized weapons.

Moreover, the size of the Black Rock Cavalry Legion was also rapidly expanding.

With sufficient knights, Kei decided to transform the Black Rock Cavalry Legion into a purely knight army, ordering that only knights could join the Black Rock Cavalry Legion in the future.

As for the existing apprentice knight members, they were given priority in obtaining Dragon Blood Fruits, striving to quickly break through and advance to knight status.

According to Kei, he intended to forge a true knight legion before the snow melted, to sweep across Marquis Golden Rock’s territory in one strike.

Due to this, Sunan gained another task of creating the Black Rock Leopards.

Now, the output of the Black Stone Mine was insufficient to meet the growing demand for Black Rock Leopards, so he had to search for other suitable steel substitutes.

“I feel like I’m becoming just a tool guy.”

Sunan sighed softly, trying to console himself that the expansion of the territory benefited him as well, allowing for more gold coins to purchase materials in the future.

Especially since after advancing to a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice, he required more expenditures.

Furthermore, this situation was temporary. Once Sherman and the others matured and took over the production of potions and Black Rock Leopards, things would become easier for him.

Despite being busy, Sunan never slacked off in his training.

By the Month of Awakening (February), his spiritual power had grown to 27.45.

At the same time, the final material for the Evil Illusion Potion had finally been collected.

Without delay, Sunan set to work on creating the Evil Illusion Potion that very day.

With Level 4 [Potion Crafting], crafting a Second-Tier Potion was already sufficient.

Even so, Sunan failed twice and only succeeded in making the Evil Illusion Potion on his third attempt.

“I did it!”

Looking at the finished potion in his hand, Sunan breathed a long sigh of relief.

The Bloody Mandala he obtained from Stone Bell City was only enough to make three portions of the Evil Illusion Potion; if he had failed a third time, the loss would have been significant.

Fortunately, his luck wasn’t that bad.

“Indeed, upgrading the [Potion Crafting] skill to Level 4 before making the Evil Illusion Potion was the right decision; the difficulty of Second-Tier Potions is not just a little bit higher than First-Tier Potions.”

Composing himself, Sunan refocused his attention on the potion.

The thin-necked potion bottle held a violet liquid, speckled with star-like shining dots, glowing with intoxicating beauty under the light of the Magic Stone Lamp.

Purely from its appearance, it was hard to guess that such a beautiful potion would bear the name ’Evil Illusion’ with its sinister connotations.

“It’s a pity; if I could produce two bottles of the Evil Illusion Potion and combine them, maybe my Spiritual Power could directly break through 30 points. With only one bottle now, it’s probably not enough.”

Sunan felt a slight tinge of regret, but he quickly returned to normal.

After using the Evil Illusion Potion this time, his Spiritual Power might not break through 30 points, but it wouldn’t be far off.

With one or two more months of meditation, he would surely advance to a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice.

Taking out a magic stone and silver from his Space Ring, Sunan drew an Energy Gathering Array in the Meditation Room and then activated it, filling the room with abundant Energy Particles.

Once everything was set, he sat cross-legged on the ground, took a deep breath to clear his mind, gently uncorked the bottle, and drained the potion in one gulp.

The slightly cool liquid seeped into his abdomen, transforming into a chilling sensation that swiftly circulated throughout his body.

Sunan reclined back onto the ground, relaxing his mind and limbs.

About ten seconds later, his body suddenly tensed, followed by violent convulsions.

Before his eyes, his exposed limbs swelled with bulging veins, twisting and writhing like earthworms, his skin turning an unnatural flush, and large beads of sweat soaked through his clothes in an instant.

If a wizard was present at this moment and scanned with Spiritual Power, they’d see countless Energy Particles surging like a tide from all directions, enveloping Sunan completely, appearing as a colorful human-shaped cocoon.

Every second, countless Energy Particles penetrated into him through his pores.

Sunan clenched his teeth tightly, enduring the tidal waves of agonizing pain flooding inside him.

Vaguely, he seemed to sense a cold aura slowly spreading throughout the room.

Tap!

A faint sound of footsteps seemed to echo by his ears.

Sunan struggled to turn his head and was shocked to find a gathering of hideous and terrifying monsters in the room, appearing unbeknownst to him.

They seemed to be humanoid creatures made of decaying flesh, with slithering muck cascading from their skin, sizzling upon contact with the floor and corroding it with small pits.

What was more unsettling was the large mouth brimming with sharp teeth in the midst of the rotting body, faint strands of meat visible between the gaps.

These monsters growled and squirmed, advancing toward Sunan with malice.

Sunan lay on the ground, his body paralyzed with stiffness, helplessly witnessing as these creatures approached, then tore into his flesh with their sharp teeth.

The intense waves of pain relentlessly surged through his nerves, wave after wave, seeming endless, until his whole body became numb to the pain, feeling nothing at all.

As it was, Sunan watched helplessly as his body was shredded, gradually turning into bits of flesh and bone, entering the monsters’ mouths, leaving only his head intact to bear witness to the whole dismemberment process.

Shh!

With a slight hiss, everything vanished.

The monsters, flesh, and mucus all disappeared.

The room returned to tranquility.

Sunan lay on the ground, drenched in sweat as if he had just been fished out of water.

“Damn, these side effects are way too strong…”

Sunan couldn’t help but curse out loud.

Now he understood why the Evil Illusion Potion was named as such.

Even knowing subconsciously that it was only an illusion, witnessing his own dismemberment was distressing.

The pain felt throughout the process was all too real, and those with slightly weaker will would likely have crumbled completely.

“Evil Illusion, the name truly lives up to itself.”