Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

It was late into the night.

In the study of the Stone Building at Blue Lake Estate.

Richard sat in front of the desk, lightly tapping his fingers against the surface, producing a rhythmic "tap tap tap" sound as he analyzed something—namely the strengths of several individuals he had scouted after astral projecting earlier that day.

From the reactions of those he had scouted, it seemed that Galuo, leader of the Truth Society, was the weakest. Although Richard and Galuo had stayed in the room together for a long time, Galuo wasn't entirely aware of his presence and only cautiously instructed his subordinates to find an even more concealed location next time.

Next was Sande, who possessed the rare Undead Magic. Despite his irreversible physical transformations, which should have significantly lowered his perception, Sande evidently had some special kind of early warning system.

When Richard stayed at a considerable distance, Sande couldn't detect him. However, once he tried approaching closer, touching Sande's early warning red line, Sande would not hesitate to launch an attack.

The one who surprised him the most was Bobbobovic Vici.

Among the three individuals scouted, Bobbobovic Vici turned out to be the strongest.

Even though Bobbobovic maintained the level of a First-level Wizard while being scouted, he sensed something without Richard even getting close and promptly cast a Spell of Invisibility to leave without hesitation. It was clear that Bobbobovic Vici was much stronger than he outwardly appeared, not to be underestimated.

Aside from these, his scouting today had also gathered quite a bit of additional information.

For instance, it was indeed Galuo, leading the Truth Society, who came after Sande, intent on killing him.

Recently, Bobbobovic Vici was attacked and came to Blue Lake Estate for help. Those enemies he killed, unsurprisingly, sought to surround and ambush Sande. It just happened that Bobbobovic Vici ran into them, and they gave chase to prevent any leaks, which resulted in their demise by his hands.

Returning to the point, it seemed that Bobbobovic Vici had some connections with the Truth Society, although the specifics were unclear.

Moreover, the exact relationship between the Truth Society and the Supreme Order Divine Society was still uncertain.

It appeared that the Truth Society might actually be the Supreme Order Divine Society, but it was also possible that the Truth Society was a part of the Supreme Order Divine Society, or vice versa—that the Supreme Order Divine Society was a part of the Truth Society.

Or perhaps both the Truth Society and the Supreme Order Divine Society were merely subordinate institutions of another, even larger organization. This required further understanding to reach a conclusion.

Regarding this, he actually had a plan, a plan to delve deeper into the Truth Society.

However, this plan was a bit complicated, and there was no rush to execute it for now. It required waiting for an appropriate time.

...

Wait.

A wait that lasted nearly a week.

Magic Test Field, Eden.

Richard appeared here, looking at the numerous metal targets set up before him. With a flip of his hand, he pulled out a Miniature Magic Tracking Missile from the Space Iron Ring.

This Miniature Magic Tracking Missile, compared to the previous ones, had some notable differences—it was dark gray in color, slender in appearance, with a pointed front and a thicker rear.

Holding the Miniature Magic Tracking Missile in his hand without any hesitation, Richard quickly injected Free Energy Elements and activated it.

A barely audible "whoosh" sound rang out as the needle-shaped Miniature Magic Tracking Missile shot out like lightning, exceeding the previous speed by far and piercing through a row of metal targets in the blink of an eye, only stopping before the last one.

Richard walked toward the humanoid targets and carefully observed the penetration. After inspecting them, he nodded in satisfaction.

This was his latest developed Miniature Magic Tracking Missile. Instead of the "Baruch Flame" Spell Magic Rune, it was now engraved with another spell's Magic Rune from the "Vaisya Secrets"—the Serenity Penetration.

With the "Serenity Penetration" Spell Magic Rune engraved, this Miniature Magic Tracking Missile was characterized by its high speed, strong penetration, and silent, stealthy attacks.

Though not necessarily stronger than the previous Miniature Magic Tracking Missile, it was more suited for stealth attacks and assassinations, preventing loud noises that could alert the enemy.

He decided to name this type of Miniature Magic Tracking Missile the "Deceit Missile," while the one previously engraved with the "Baruch Fireworks" Magic Rune had been named the "Spark Missile."

This would create two distinctly different series of missiles.

If possible, he would develop more series of Miniature Magic Tracking Missiles for use in different combat environments.

Thinking about this, Richard slowly walked out of the Magic Test Field, muttering to himself, "The time to execute the plan should be approaching..."

...

Three days later.

In a cave hidden deep within the forest outside Jialan City.

Sande, shrouded in a black robe, was arranging stones on the ground into the pattern of a pentagram.

After setting the stones, Sande exhaled softly, his expression solemn, and he slowly uttered the spell focused on the pentagram.

"Coret..."

As the spell was spoken, the stones within the pentagram violently shook, cracked, and with a "crash," turned into stone powder.

"Zap!"

Then, at the very center of the pentagram, a crack appeared about ten centimeters long and two or three centimeters wide.

"Puff!"

A thick, black mist gushed from the crack, rushing towards Sande and then entering his body.

"Ah—ah—"

Sande cried out, his expression becoming fierce, looking pained, but he grimly endured, continuously absorbing the black mist.

In a corner of the cave, a black bear hunched its neck and watched Sande, full of perplexity.

As a bear, it truly couldn't understand why this human had to occasionally torment himself in such a bizarre way.

Perhaps it was similar to when it delved into beehives; every time it did so, it would get painfully stung by the defensive bees, but at least it got to eat honey. What could this human possibly gain? The black mist rising from the ground hardly looked appetizing.

After pondering for a long time, the black bear still couldn't figure it out. It sneakily pulled out a squashed beehive from behind—it had freshly retrieved it today.

Maybe it should offer this beehive to the pitiful looking human.

The black bear thought and moved closer to Sande.

At this moment, Sande had absorbed all the black mist that poured from the crack and was sitting collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Huff, huff, huff..."

After catching his breath, upon hearing the approaching noises of the black bear, Sande slightly twisted his head to speak something to the black bear. Suddenly, his expression changed as if sensing imminent danger, and he rapidly stood, stamping his foot, turning into a black line as he dashed out of the cave.

The black bear was startled for a moment before it realized what had happened. It quickly chased after him, holding the beehive and crying out, "Woof, woof..."

It seemed to say, "Wait for me! Wait for me!"

...