When Lor returned to town with three carts full of fish, it was already evening.
Fortunately, along the way, they didn't encounter any formidable beasts, let alone extraordinary exotic beasts.
Actually, this was the normal situation; otherwise, if you could casually encounter extraordinary exotic beasts, those caravans wouldn't be able to continue their trade.
As usual, they first unloaded the fish at their own yard, then returned the carriage to the vehicle rental.
By the time they returned to the yard again, it was completely dark.
"Lor, are we going to marinate these fish overnight again tonight?" Chris asked energetically.
"Yes."
Lor nodded and smiled, "Sorry to trouble you again."
"It's what I should do, we're friends after all!" Chris waved his hand dismissively, replying without concern.
With their teamwork from last time, they only took five hours to marinate three thousand pounds of fish this time.
As usual, Lor cooked dinner as a reward for Chris.
Back in his own room, Lor's eyes shone with anticipation.
"Panel."
[Name: Lor Rox
Age: 12
Physique: 2.7+
Spirit: 1.5+
Spiritual Energy: 0+
Witchcraft: None
Meditation Talent: Level 1+.
Charging Points: 3 points, 11.2%]
He focused his attention on the plus sign following Meditation Talent and tapped on it.
[Meditation Talent Level 1 → Level 2]
[Charging Points 3 → 2]
Lor only felt a cool sensation emerging in his sea of consciousness, continuously washing over his brain, which was extremely comfortable.
A minute later, the cool sensation disappeared, and he shook his head, feeling much clearer in his consciousness.
Other than that, there were no other changes.
"Again!"
[Meditation Talent Level 2 → Level 3]
[Charging Points 2 → 0]
"Ah, that's nice!" Lor lay flat on the bed, enjoying the cool sensation in his head, feeling that all his hard work these days was paying off.
"A Level 3 Meditation Talent, in the future, when I enter the era of the game, is already qualified to enter the Wizard Academy to receive the Meditation Technique for free."
Lor contemplated, "As for now, it's hard to say about the treatment."
In this era, he had only seen a few pieces of information about it, and while he could grasp the big direction, he didn't know much about the finer details.
"However, Level 5 talent is not far from me now, and I just need to follow the plan step by step; not only can the talent reach Level 5, but I can also save up a considerable number of charging points."
Lor exhaled gently and fell into a deep sleep.
...
Summer fades away, and autumn grows late.
Unknowingly, Lor had been in this world for five months.
"Those powerful wizards should have mostly absorbed the remnants of the gods, recovered from injuries, and begun to officially take over the Twelve Continents by now?"
Lor stood alone in the courtyard, watching the empty fish-drying racks, feeling unsettled.
"I still don't know how long it will take before a wizard comes to this unremarkable small town of mine to take over the Divine Hall. I hope it won't be a Faith Wizard."
Faith Wizards were a creation of some lunatics among Bloodline Wizards who had transplanted divine bloodline.
There were indeed advantages, such as rapid level ascension, and they discarded the disadvantage of gods being influenced by the will of believers.
As long as there is enough Power of Faith, growing to the Third Ring Great Wizard level is easy, almost a meteoric rise, causing many Bloodline Wizards to rush to transplant bloodline.
But the downsides were actually greater. The first was that once divine bloodline was transplanted, it couldn't be changed.
This was discovered at the start, but no one cared, as the close-at-hand breakthrough was more enticing.
The second drawback was that choosing this system effectively locked the cap, allowing growth only up to the level of the god whose bloodline was transplanted.
The third was complete binding to the world; if the world was destroyed, the person was also gone.
Ten years later, some wizards who converted to bloodlines reached the end and discovered the second flaw, causing chaos in the Wizard Plane, even losing a continent.
It wasn't until the third flaw was discovered that things quieted down.
"Hmph, I hope the continent I'm on isn't Murphy Continent, or I'll have to think about fleeing."
Recalling the background story he knew from his past life, Lor couldn't help but rub his temples.
A headache.
"Boom——Boom——Boom——"
Suddenly, a series of loud explosions erupted in the center of the small town, causing the ground to tremble slightly.
Lor looked up, seeing a mushroom cloud slowly rising above the Divine Hall.
Along with it came a cold, indifferent voice.
"Listen up, everyone in the town, gather at Temple Square; try to run, and you die!"
"How straightforward!"
Lor took a deep breath, suppressing the stirring in his heart, hesitated for a moment, but finally made a decision, left the courtyard, and walked towards the center of the small town.
Walking down the street, he looked around and noticed that everyone who had been walking on the street was now hurriedly running away, back to their homes, closing their doors tightly.
Other than Lor, no one dared walk towards the Divine Hall, and of course, no one dared escape the town.
"Human nature."
Lor silently pondered, "If I didn't know the identity of the newcomer, I'd probably act like them."
"Ultimately, it's that wizard's coarse handling that scared the townsfolk."
"Judging by that person's means, he seems to be a Nature Faction Fire Element Mage, acting decisively and valuing efficiency."
"When I face him, I should speak as little as possible, adopting a silent and sensible demeanor."
Having prepared a plan in mind, Lor soon arrived at the front of Temple Square.
Looking around, he saw nothing but blackened ruins where the once majestic Divine Hall stood.
Floating in mid-air above the ruins was a figure in a red robe, wearing a hood.
Looking around further, Lor noticed that there was no one else.
Evidently, besides him, everyone else was too scared to come out.
Whoosh—
The red robed Mage, who had been floating in the air, suddenly swooped down, stopping in front of Lor, pulling out a crystal ball from who knows where, looking somewhat appreciative but speaking with a cold tone:
"Good, you're the first one here; place your hand on the crystal ball."
"Yes, sir."
Lor responded respectfully, then extended his hand to place it on the crystal ball.
A spark of light appeared in the crystal ball, then instantly expanded into a white glow the size of a pea.
The glow then pulsed, growing to a pigeon egg size, pulsating twice more until it reached the size of a chicken egg before stopping entirely.
"A Level 5 Meditation Talent, not bad." The red robed Mage's tone softened, and the lines on his face relaxed a bit:
"Alright, you can let go."
"Understood, sir." Lor released his hand as instructed, his eyes flashing a hint of confusion at the right moment as he looked at the red robed Mage, hesitating to speak.
"I know what you want to ask, but I don't want to repeat myself."
The red robed Mage's lips curled slightly, "Wait here, I have some matters to attend to first."
After speaking, the red robed Mage ascended into the air again, flying towards the most prominent castle-like building on the east side of the small town, giving Lor no chance to speak.
Lor looked up and saw that the wizard's target was the residence of the town's only noble, Baron Radef.
"I hope Chris doesn't get into trouble." Lor watched as the red robed Mage flew into the castle, feeling a bit worried for his overly honest friend.
"Boom—"
As soon as the red robed Mage entered the castle, a loud noise rang out from that direction.
The castle didn't collapse, but there was an uproar and commotion.
"Boom—"
Another loud noise, followed by silence as the uproar and commotion ceased.
"Boom—"
The wizards of this era are really short-tempered, and even before a word is said, it's like they'd throw a few explosive fireballs, and if you're still alive, then they talk to you."
Lor silently complained to himself, "Even the Nature Faction has this terrible temper."
Following this, another commotion was heard from the baron's castle.
But this time, it wasn't the sound of an explosion; instead, a group of people came out of the baron's residence, heading door to door, knocking.
If the door opened, they were directed to the church square; if the door remained shut, they forcibly kicked it open and 'persuaded' them to head to the church square.
"Let's just hope Chris is okay." Lor watched anxiously as the red robed Mage entered the castle, a bit of worry for his friend creeping in despite himself.
"Boom—another explosion, and the uproar and commotion vanished completely."
This era's wizards are truly fiery-tempered. They insist on throwing a few bombs before even beginning a conversation.
Again, noise emanated from the baronial castle area.
This time, however, it was not an explosion, but rather a group of townspeople leaving the baron's mansion.
This time, it wasn't the sound of an explosion, but a group of militiamen emerging from Baron Radef's castle.
They began knocking on doors in the town and telling residents to gather at Temple Square, and for those doors they couldn't open, they resorted to forcefully kicking them in to 'persuade' them to go to Temple Square.
"""