Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

On the other side,

Canon had also left Delan City and reached an underground palace somewhere outside the city.

Entering the Underground Palace, Canon maintained his usual stern expression, walking through the corridors. Wherever he went, a low pressure spread, and the people he encountered all lowered their heads, not uttering a word—not out of fear, but because they genuinely had no idea what to say to this superior. Under Canon's particularly serious aura, no one would think to strike up a casual conversation, and even if there were urgent matters to report, they would be made as brief as possible.

Thus, Canon walked back to his private office without incident, quickly.

His office was quite large, with an area of about fifty to sixty square meters, but the lighting was very dim. Originally equipped with numerous lighting crystal stones, for some unknown reason, Canon had removed most of them, thus nearly half of the room was shrouded in darkness.

Canon's desk was situated right at the boundary between light and darkness, with Canon sitting such that the front half of his body was in the light, while his back was enveloped by the darkness.

"Hu—"

Sitting down, Canon exhaled, squinting his eyes as if lost in thought, his expression remaining serious.

Suddenly, from the darkness behind him, a slight "pitter-patter" sound emerged. Then, a pair of blood-red eyes appeared, resembling those of a demon from hell, terribly frightening, as if a single glance could suck away a person's soul.

Hearing the noise, Canon sensed something and turned his head to look towards the darkness behind him.

The blood-red eyes stared directly at Canon, seemingly infuriated by being discovered, and with a "pap" sound, they lunged forward.

The figure moved extremely fast, almost beyond what the naked eye could capture. A faint white figure could be barely seen darting out of the darkness, effortlessly passing over Canon's body, and with a "thud," it landed on the desk.

After landing on the desk, the figure hunched down, continuously sniffing at the surface with its nose, and its three-lobe lips quickly moved as it hopped around, its fluffy, short tail waggling persistently behind.

The figure was... a rabbit?

Yes, a rabbit!

To be precise, a demonized white rabbit, hence its exceptional leaping ability, able to precisely jump onto the desk from several meters away in the darkness.

Canon looked at the demonized rabbit, his expression still serious, but his hand slowly extended towards the rabbit.

The rabbit showed no fear and cooperatively hopped closer to Canon, allowing his hand to land on its body, gently caressing it.

The soft rabbit fur slowly slid through his fingers. In that moment... the rain fell on the parched pond, a breeze blew through the woods, a feather drifted across the lake, and grass tips poked through the soil... The immense pressure dissipated as if collapsing.

Canon's stern expression gradually faded, and he let go of the mask he maintained for dignity and identity in front of others, relaxing his body.

Leaning back, he reclined in his chair, his eyes slowly closing.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door, someone knocked, and called out, "Bang, bang, bang! Canon Steward, I have something to report!"

Canon's eyes snapped open, the caressing motion halted, and the rabbit, understanding clearly, jumped off the desk and hid back into the darkness.

Canon raised his head, his expression turning stern again, and he called out to the door, "Come in!"

"Yes." Immediately, a young blue-robed wizard entered, rushing to Canon's desk, placing down a stack of documents, and quickly reported, "Here's the situation, Canon Steward. We just learned that someone from the Northern Soma Alliance has come to Delan and just recently left. We don't know what he did, but we can confirm he went to the northwest, possibly passing through the core cities of our Southern Free Federation."

"Pompeii?" Canon asked with a stern face, after hearing his subordinate finish speaking in one breath.

"Yes." The blue-robed wizard nodded nervously in reply, taking a stealthy breath.

"Is that so," Canon said after receiving confirmation, thinking for a moment before looking at his subordinate, "Very well, let me think about it, and I will propose a solution later."

"Yes, shall I step out now, steward?"

"Mm."

Allowed to leave, the Blue-robed Wizard quickly departed, carefully closing the door behind him, leaving Canon alone in the office chamber.

"Pat pat pat pat..."

The demonized white rabbit emerged again, this time hopping directly into Canon's arms. Canon raised his hand, gently stroking the rabbit's fur, seriously pondering the situation.

...

The perspective shifts back.

On the broad highway outside of Delan City, a spacious four-wheeled carriage, pulled by two strong black horses, moved swiftly ahead.

Inside the carriage, Joseph was talking to Richard and Bobbobovic, narrating information about the mission.

"The task we are to perform involves exploring an ancient relic, which has been rated as level seven in terms of danger."

"Level seven?" Richard asked, "Why level seven? What is this rating based on?"

"Level seven is based on the minimum strength required from the members carrying out the mission," Joseph explained. "Within our Truth Society, the danger levels are generally divided into nine levels—from level one to level nine.

Level one, the lowest, means a mission can be safely carried out by a first-level low-level wizard. Level two is slightly higher, requiring the capabilities of a first-level middle-stage wizard for safe execution, or it could still be a first-level low-level wizard but with an increased number of members.

Continuing this way, level seven means the minimum strength needed for the task is a third-level low-level wizard, or possibly a small team of second-level wizards."

"I see," Richard nodded, indicating he understood.

"Then I'll continue with the mission," Joseph resumed, "Currently, it is rated at level seven, but out of caution, it can also be considered level eight, hence it will be conducted by us three experienced third-level wizards.

Our purpose in entering the relic is simple: to delve as deep as possible and locate a magic tool possibly left behind by the ancient wizard civilization."

"A magic tool? Which magic tool?" This time it was Bobbobovic who asked.

"It's a box—not very large, but it can produce special effects on the items placed inside it, which is fairly important for our Truth Society," Joseph vaguely explained.

"So, you already know exactly what it is?" Bobbobovic pressed, seizing on a crucial point. "Clearly, you haven't explored completely, yet you know this, indicating you have access to extensive information about the relic. How did you manage that?"

"Well..." Joseph hesitated for a moment, looked at Bobbobovic and spread his hands, "Right now, it's really not easy to tell you what's going on. But after you join the Truth Society, you'll eventually know, trust me."

This statement, although similar to what Canon had previously said, seemed less awkward and more acceptable coming from Joseph.

"Alright then," Bobbobovic accepted, continuing, "I'll wait until I join the Truth Society to figure it out myself, and for now, let's just focus on exploring the relic."

"That would be best," Joseph said.

Beside them, Richard remained silent, contemplating the glimpse of information revealed by Joseph and forming some speculations.

The carriage continued relentlessly toward the northwest.

...