The Wizard Has A Biochip

The reward we received was directly related to the difficulty of the mission we had completed.

The mission that Ruby and I had completed together had been classified as the lowest-risk mission among all those available. Therefore, it was natural that our reward was considerably smaller when compared to that of the other teams.

Even so, there was an additional reward that made our eyes light up.

The mere fact that we had brought back the corpse of an enemy was worth quite a lot.

After returning to our residence, all I wanted was to rest.

The journey through the subterranean world had been long and exhausting.

I entered my room and was about to throw myself onto the bed when I heard a voice behind me.

— George!

I turned around.

Ruby was standing in the doorway.

Before I could ask what she wanted, she simply threw something in my direction.

— Catch!

I instinctively extended my hands.

As soon as the object landed in my palms, I felt an enormous amount of elemental energy.

My eyes widened.

It was an earth-element spiritual core.

Its size was approximately that of an egg.

A yellowish aura floated around its surface, while brown spots spread across the core like small natural formations.

Luminous particles continuously escaped from its surface.

When I turned it between my fingers, the core shone intensely.

It was like holding a small star.

I held my breath.

I didn’t even need a complete analysis to recognize it.

The elemental waves were simply too strong.

— This...

— Is it a pseudo-mage-level spiritual core?!!!!

Ruby simply smiled.

— You deserve it.

— Me?

She crossed her arms.

— I’ve already enjoyed my reward. I absorbed all the blood essence of that enemy.

She shrugged.

— Consider this a reward for your hard work.

I stared at the core for a few seconds.

Ruby continued to be generous.

Perhaps even too generous.

— Thank you.

She simply smiled and turned around.

— You don’t need to thank me.

Then she entered her own room.

I remained standing at the doorway of my room, holding that precious core.

— This girl...

I finally accepted the gift.

But before Ruby could completely close the door, I had an idea.

— Biochip.

[Beep!]

— Show me Ruby’s current status.

[STATUS]

[Name: Ruby]

[Level: Acolyte III]

[Sex: Female]

[BODY STATUS]

[Strength: 10]

[Agility: 15]

[Vigor: 10]

[Mana: 14]

I stared at the numbers.

— Wow...

Her ability was truly frightening.

Just by absorbing blood, Ruby was able to strengthen her own body and continuously advance.

It was an extremely rare evolutionary ability.

I couldn’t help but think of Mage Lucius.

What kind of experiment had he performed on her?

How could someone create an existence like Ruby?

A magical puppet capable of evolving simply by absorbing blood...

The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I became.

If my hypothesis was correct, Lucius might have placed some kind of control mechanism inside her body.

Perhaps it was deeply hidden within her Blood Fairy lineage.

A mechanism that Ruby didn’t even know she possessed.

Official Mage Lucius might not be interested in her right now.

But what about when Ruby fully matured?

When she reached her limit?

Where would that limit be?

Pseudo-Mage?

Or perhaps...

Official Mage?

My heart grew heavy.

What if Lucius was trying to create a magical puppet capable of reaching the level of an Official Mage?

That would be terrifying.

But there was something even more concerning.

If Ruby really reached the level of a Mage, she might awaken the ability to produce blood slaves.

At that moment, if Lucius truly had plans for her, Ruby could potentially provide an entire army of absolutely loyal servants.

For a First-Grade Mage, that would be an extraordinary trump card against his enemies.

Perhaps Ruby already knew that something was wrong.

Perhaps that was precisely why she acted so impulsively.

She did what she wanted.

Said what she wanted.

Followed her instincts without appearing to care about the consequences.

But there was one question that bothered me.

If there were a will implanted within her soul...

Could Ruby distinguish her own thoughts from those that had been placed inside her?

I didn’t know.

And that was precisely what kept me on alert.

Lately, our relationship had improved considerably.

I trusted her.

To a certain extent.

But I couldn’t completely lower my guard.

I didn’t know when that possible hidden mechanism might be activated.

Still...

That was only a minor problem.

A problem that could be solved.

As long as I continued growing.

If one day I became an Official Mage, Lucius would no longer be a completely unreachable existence.

Perhaps I could negotiate with him.

Exchange benefits.

Find some kind of solution.

Or, if necessary...

Deal with the problem by other means.

For now, however, I needed to become stronger.

I returned to my room, closed the door, and sat comfortably in front of the wooden table.

I placed all the spoils I had brought back from the subterranean world on it.

It was time to analyze each one of them.

Naturally, some items were out of the question.

The ring from the sea bone armor was far too useful to sell. Besides, I intended to exchange it for my armor and keep only the magic crystal launcher with me.

The storage belt would also remain with me.

Those two would be personal equipment.

The self-healing nose piercing, on the other hand, wasn’t that important to me.

I could put it up for sale and exchange it for some magical equipment more suited to my style.

As for the spellbook...

I had already used the Biochip to scan and copy all of its contents.

After storing the information in the Biochip’s database, the physical book lost much of its value to me.

It could also be sold.

The blue wooden staff was another story.

I asked Mage Probel to identify it.

The result confirmed something I had already suspected.

It was a magical staff body.

However, there was a surprise.

It was Official Mage-level wood.

I stared at the object.

I really hadn’t expected this.

The staff had been prepared to increase the power of magical spells of the water element.

The acolyte we had killed was probably gathering materials to build her future magical staff.

Unfortunately for her, she hadn’t yet managed to gather all the necessary components.

So she had to carry those materials with her.

And now...

They belonged to me.

I let out a small laugh.

— How unlucky.

Then I picked up the small piece of Mithril.

The expression on my face immediately changed.

That was genuine magical Mithril, a resource native to the subterranean world.

It wasn’t normally found on the surface.

And that piece was approximately the size of my thumb.

Its value could easily exceed 5,000 magic crystals.

Besides, it was extremely rare.

Even someone willing to pay a fortune might have difficulty finding it again.

The reason was simple.

Magical Mithril was a high-level consumable material.

Anyone who managed to purchase a quantity of it would normally use it shortly afterward.

Because of that, the supply remained low while demand continued to be extremely high.

Once sold, it would probably be impossible to buy it back at the same price.

I looked at the small piece of metal.

So I already have enough Mithril for my first staff...

Actually, I no longer needed to worry about finding this material.

The problem was something else.

The main body of the staff needed to be replaced.

The one I had found was specialized in water.

My most important elemental affinity, however, was light.

It wouldn’t make sense to build my first magical staff around an affinity that wasn’t my primary one.

Then I picked up the last item.

The small wooden statue.

I examined it carefully.

It was simple.

Almost rudimentary.

But Probel’s analysis had revealed something surprising.

It was a spatial beacon.

An object used to establish communication with creatures from other worlds.

According to the mage’s explanation, the Level 3 acolyte we had killed could use that statue to establish a stable and relatively powerful connection with an unknown existence from another world through a ritual called Spirit Summoning.

And apparently...

They exchanged objects.

The acolyte sent items from this world.

The creature on the other side sent objects from its own world.

A kind of trade between worlds.

I stared at the statue.

This was far more interesting than I had imagined.

But when I asked Probel about it, his reaction had been completely different.

The mage had shown absolute contempt and muttered something about the will of the world.

Not simple disinterest.

Contempt.

And that made me even more curious, but at the same time cautious. After all, that acolyte who had been defeated really did seem to be surrounded by terrible luck.

Could the world have been influencing that acolyte’s luck?

I know it sounds crazy, but in this completely chaotic universe, nothing could be dismissed as a mere fairy tale.

....

1509 Words