Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 173 - 172: The Person in the Trap

Chapter 173: Chapter 172: The Person in the Trap

Generally speaking, someone like Richard who succeeded in astral projection one hundred percent of the time was an anomaly in the current world.

In order to maximize the success rate of astral projection, many people used various aids during meditation, such as drinking liquids from special plants, inhaling smoke from special incenses, or wearing specially designed Magic Tools—Meditation Hats, Meditation Necklaces, Meditation Bracelets, etc.

Even so, they still couldn’t achieve a one hundred percent success rate, but Richard could.

Of course, achieving a one hundred percent success rate in astral projection was only a minor advantage. After all, it merely provided a certain edge at the Wizard Apprentice level, and compared to genuine Wizards, the difference was minimal.

The real issue, however, concerned the range of external perception and the distance one could act after astral projection.

In the current world, everyone’s external perception during astral projection was extremely weak, with a very limited range, and their movement distance was strictly confined.

Uninitiated Apprentices like Gro and Luther had almost no perception, and the distance they could move was only a few meters—they couldn’t even drift out of a room.

First-level Apprentices, like Nancy, also had nearly no perception, only able to vaguely sense things within a few centimeters around their Consciousness. Their movement distance was about five to six meters.

Second-level Apprentices were a bit better, but their perception range only expanded to several centimeters around their Consciousness, and their moving range increased to about seven or eight meters.

Third-level Apprentices like Demi had an increased perception range of about half a meter and could move up to ten meters, enough to pass through cabin walls and absorb Free Energy Elements a few meters above the cabins. But that was as far as they could go.

Real Wizards made significant progress; their perceptive range extended to several meters, and their Consciousness could move for dozens of meters.

But not a single person could move their Consciousness without distance limitation and perceive everything within their field of vision like Richard could.

At one point, Richard even speculated that after astral projection, everyone would be the same as him. So, to better absorb Free Energy, people would ascend to high altitudes.

Perhaps in the age of the Ancient Wizard Civilization, when everyone was a wizard, every time dusk fell, all people collectively meditated and astral projected, filling the sky with Consciousness that looked like hydrogen balloons.

They would gather in circles, enjoying each other’s company, chatting, and absorbing Free Energy Elements.

Perhaps it was because this imagined scene was too beautiful that it was impossible to achieve. Hence, the current situation—after astral projection, everyone’s Consciousness seemed to be shackled by an invisible constraint, limiting what they could see, hear, and perceive with spiritual power within the bounds of that constraint.

Richard was different; he didn’t have this invisible layer of constraints, so he could see, hear, and perceive many things.

This provided Richard with a significant convenience, allowing him to easily enter most places, gather the information he needed, and do certain things.

In the extreme, he could even try to use his Consciousness to kill a Wizard. This might be challenging since wizards were very vigilant and protected by Attendants, but at least there was a possibility.

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In some sense, this could be considered a golden touch.

Yes, a golden touch.

But where did this golden touch come from?

Initially, Richard’s first guess was that it was due to his complete lack of innate wizard Talent and his forced breakthrough in Life Remolding with a scientific approach—his utterly different method led him onto the path of wizard cultivation, resulting in outcomes different from others.

But what was the principle behind these results? Could it just be the special components of Ether?

If it were due to the special components of Ether, then Gro should have been affected too, but Gro’s results were not so ideal. Although there was improvement, it was within a reasonable range, far from a one hundred percent astral projection success rate, and he could not move his Consciousness or perceive the outside world at will.

So, was it about individual differences?

But he was just an ordinary person with an ordinary body and no special structure, except for—the consciousness he brought through Transmigration.

Was it the Transmigrated consciousness that played a role?

If that were the case, then the true principle might involve the core of the current world, concerning the ultimate question he always wanted to answer. Only by exploring to the end might he possibly understand it fully.

…

Thinking of these things, Richard looked around and saw that all the Wizard Apprentices were meditating. However, the four wizards were not; they gathered in the largest cabin, seemingly discussing something.

Richard controlled his Consciousness to drift over, easily passing through the walls and entering the cabin, stopping in a corner.

He saw the cabin well-lit, with the four wizards sitting in high-backed chairs around a table. Situated in the north was Dempsey, Siv sat in the west, and two unacquainted wizards were sitting in the south and east. After listening to the conversation for a while, Richard learned the names of the other two—Quinton sat in the south and Louis in the east, the one who recruited Nancy onto the ship.

The four wizards were discussing the matter of an elimination test.

Dempsey spoke, “We need to get the test done as soon as possible. What happened a few days ago with the Griffin Rainbow Bird was just a treat for everyone, without any danger; it didn’t count as a test. But next time, we’ll have to shed some blood and eliminate some people. Otherwise, taking so many underperforming students back to the White Stone Tower would not look good.”

“Although that’s true,” said Louis from the east, “a test isn’t something you can just set up whenever you want. The first one was fortunate coincidence with blind Pirates to use, but now we’re in the deep sea, where there’s no sign of pirates at all. What can we do? We surely can’t deliberately create some challenging problems for everyone, can we? How would that be any different from murder?”

“Why not?” Dempsey said, “To increase the ratio of stronger students, we have to eliminate some weaker ones—that’s an unavoidable reality. Whether we use happenstance or deliberately set up tests, as long as they fulfill the objective, both are the same. Murder? A bunch of people who aren’t even Wizard Apprentices, do they deserve the word ‘murder’?”

“If you put it that way, it’s a bit too blunt,” Siv frowned and interjected.

“Ha!” Dempsey scoffed, “Don’t lump me with those hypocrites in the White Stone Tower. I’m in charge of recruitment this time, and I only want to bring back good students. I don’t care about the rest. The Wizard World isn’t some garden; everyone who dared to board this giant vessel should have considered their possible fate.

“That’s settled then. We need to figure out a way to conduct the next test within three days, or else…”

Dempsey was just saying this when the door of the cabin suddenly made a “bang” as if it was struck by a hard object.

Hmm?

The cabin’s four wizards simultaneously turned their sharp gaze toward the door, “Who’s there?!”