Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

Sande looked at the black bear eagerly licking him, unable to help raising his hand again, but he didn't put it down. Instead, he sighed lightly, not knowing what to say.

This reminded the black bear.

The black bear got up, trotted to a nearby spot, pushed a stone away with its paw, and picked up the beehive it had hidden earlier. It ran back to Sande, offered the beehive to him, and performed a few licking motions with its tongue to demonstrate how one should eat this delicacy.

Sande looked at the black bear: "..."

The black bear looked at Sande, sticking out its tongue, full of eagerness to please: "Puff, puff..."

Sande pursed his lips, then took action, but he naturally wouldn't lick the honey like the black bear did. Perhaps the black bear in front of him behaved like a dog, but this didn't mean he would act like a bear.

So, like a person with a sane mind, he extended a finger, dipped it into the honeycomb, and brought it to his mouth, sucking hard.

The black bear watched Sande earnestly, waiting for his reaction. In its view, it had given its most prized possession to this human. The human couldn't possibly kill it now and should reward it instead.

But after a long wait, Sande showed no reaction, because he couldn't taste anything—he had a mouthful of honey, which felt no different than swallowing a big gulp of air. There was no delicious feedback from his lips, mouth, tongue, or taste buds; he could barely feel something sliding down his throat into his stomach.

This was one of the prices he paid for studying the spells in that book: losing his sense of taste. He would lose even more, ending up barely distinguishable from a corpse.

But looking at the black bear staring at him with anticipation, for some reason, Sande suddenly managed a smile and touched the black bear's nose.

"Puff, puff!"

The black bear grinned, a big bubble of snot emerging from its nostrils, which burst with a "bang," and then it danced around like a child who had just set off fireworks.

It was celebrating, celebrating the security of its life.

But before its celebration was complete, its body stiffened, and its eyes bulged in terror. It saw the human in front of it suddenly pull out a Bone Wand from his sleeve and aim it at the bear without warning, a purple lightning bolt shooting out at a tremendous speed.

"Aw!"

The black bear screamed in pain and fury.

It understood the shamelessness of humans now.

It had tried so hard to please this human, giving away the honey it couldn't bear to eat, yet the human was utterly ruthless in attacking it.

Damn, the honey must have been so delicious that it made the human greedy, arousing a murderous intent.

It must be so.

The black bear thought bitterly and desperately. The attack hadn't arrived, but it felt like it was as good as dead, so with a "thump," it simply collapsed, saving itself the trouble of falling later when it died—too exhausting.

But then, the black bear realized that the lightning might not have been attacking it after all; the bolt seemed to have grazed its head and hit a tree some distance away.

Huh?

The black bear scratched its head, confused.

Could it be that this human didn't want to kill it after all?

Then... maybe the honey was indeed so delicious that the human wanted to eat more of it, which was why he couldn't bear to kill the bear.

That human was even more shameless.

The black bear's brain, not much inferior to that of a human, worked hard to think. Meanwhile, Sande stepped away from the black bear, approaching the tree hit by his lightning, warily looking around, searching for something.

But he found nothing.

Could he have misperceived?

Uncertain, Sande stepped back to the black bear's side, gently patting the apparently frightened animal, and frowned in thought.

Under Sande's gentle pats, the black bear lay motionless on the ground.

It only felt that human thoughts were too difficult to guess, and staying alive was truly not easy.

Sigh.

...

As evening approached.

In a deserted lumber yard within the forest, inside the warehouse of the abandoned lumber yard.

In the empty room, over thirty wizards had gathered, speaking in hushed tones amongst themselves. The atmosphere was oppressive, creating a sense of deathly stillness.

This state lasted for a while until a person stood up, the short-haired woman previously called Doran, and loudly said to those in the room, "Please, everyone, be quiet and listen to me. I must inform you all that this mission can't continue like this. We have finally pinpointed the other party near Jialan City, and we absolutely cannot let them escape again.

Previously, we operated in groups of four for capture, based on the prior assessment of the opponent's strength. Now that their power has increased, my group engaged them and suffered fifty percent casualties, which is a big lesson.

For this reason, I propose that we increase attention to this matter and create capture teams of at least seven members. Only in this way can we prevent a situation where not only do we fail to capture the target but also suffer injuries ourselves."

After hearing the words of the short-haired woman, Doran, the rest briefly paused, then began discussing amongst themselves; some nodded in agreement, others appeared scornful, thinking it was an overreaction.

Doran watched the reactions of the people around her, her brow slightly furrowed.

Just then, a cough rang out, and a gaunt man with bloodshot eyes, as if suffering from conjunctivitis, emerged from a corner.

He wore a Black Iron Ring on his hand and, after walking up to the wall, tapped it lightly, making a crisp sound that silenced the room as everyone's eyes snapped to him with a more serious expression.

Clearly, the red-eyed man was the leader of everyone present.

The red-eyed man spoke to everyone, "I don't care what you all think, but personally, I agree with Group Leader Doran's words. Our target for this capture mission is not the same as before; their danger level has been raised four times. Even Team Six's leader, Raymond, has failed before. If we don't take this seriously, we're simply asking for misery.

In my opinion, forming seven-member teams to capture them still isn't truly safe; it would be best if we had teams of ten."

"Teams of ten?" The crowd murmured in surprise at his words, looking at the red-eyed man, "But Commander Galuo, we don't have enough people, do we?"

"Of course, I'm aware of that," the red-eyed man named Galuo replied. "That's why I plan to request reinforcements from other teams within the association. Don't be shocked, it's the best option. Perhaps seeking help seems shameful, but it's better than a complete mission failure.

I want to tell you that our current mission is not only being monitored by Butler Cannon; even Supervisor Long Mei'er has heard of it. If we really stir up some big trouble, it truly won't be easy to explain. Understand!"

"Yes," the many wizards responded, nodding vigorously.

"Good, then let's disband," said Galuo, waving his hand, and everyone started to walk out of the room.

Galuo walked out last, pausing briefly at the doorway.

A subordinate beside him asked in confusion, "Commander, what's wrong?"

Galuo didn't speak, instead staring at the empty room for a good while before turning to his subordinate and saying, "Nothing much, but... next time we gather everyone, let's choose a more hidden location. I feel this place might be easily exposed."

Easily exposed?

The subordinate didn't agree at all since it was a place deep in the forest, and moreover, an abandoned lumber yard—how could anyone possibly come here?

However, being a subordinate, he also knew arguing with a superior was foolish. So, regardless of his disagreement, he simply nodded and acknowledged the command, then followed Galuo away, leaving the place.

...