Diary of a Dead Wizard
Chapter 644: Atoms

Since Morden, who had once been a second-rank wizard, had been staying in the diary, and Saul mostly didn't shield external images, Morden was very clear about the challenges Saul currently faced.

After a moment of consideration, Morden continued writing on the black pages.

[Master, since you have decided to advance again as soon as possible, let me tell you the knowledge about third-rank wizards that I obtained during the Kema Empire period.]

[Your master didn't mention this to you, probably because he didn't want you to be distracted by other matters during advancement. But as the diary's master, you are sufficient to bear this revolutionary knowledge.]

[Moreover, your acceptance of new knowledge is extremely high. Some of your ideas even coincide with it. Your talent in this area is even more enviable than your talent in mental power.]

Saul didn't get lost in Morden's praise. Instead, he straightened his attitude and cautiously asked Morden.

"What new knowledge?"

[Elemental particles in magic are divided into many types, commonly including dark, light, earth, metal, fire, wood, lightning, etc.]

[After entering third rank, wizards have opened a direct transmission channel between internal magical power and the outside world. But if wizards only select corresponding attribute elemental particles for absorption each time they cast magic, it's hard to guarantee there are no other impurities during absorption.]

"Exactly. I also thought about this when Master Gorsa was explaining it to me." Saul nodded, "Using one's own magical power is like drinking filtered distilled water, while introducing external magical power through the internal gate is like directly drinking spring water. And you don't know what impurities the spring water contains. If it's just unabsorbable dust, that's fine, but if someone upstream poisoned it, then drinking the spring water would have fatal risks."

[Of course, as third-rank wizards, they certainly wouldn't directly drink spring water without any preparation.]

Morden continued using Saul's metaphor.

[Because when third-rank wizards cast large-scale magic, they no longer bring elemental particles into their bodies to accumulate and fuse into their own magical power, but drive elemental particles through rapid conversion via the gate within their bodies. So every third-rank wizard will very carefully modify the gate within their body. Making the gate possess certain filtering abilities. However, no matter how powerful this ability is, it cannot completely avoid impurities.]

[It's said that only upon reaching fourth rank and comprehending high-level concepts of space and life can one ignore pollution absorbed through spellcasting.]

"Need to comprehend high-level concepts of space and life?" Saul sighed.

Indeed, the higher the level, the more one discovers how much unknown still lies ahead.

He thought again of his master Gorsa.

Gorsa not only pushed his students hard, he also pushed himself!

Also having entered third rank for just a year or two, he was already starting to assault fourth rank.

However, when Gorsa was still a second-rank wizard, he had already mastered partial knowledge of space. What he lacked now might only be about life...

"Wait! He's been researching resurrection all along. Could it be to explore high-level concepts about life?"

So when he was second rank, he had already begun steadily marching toward fourth rank?

Hiss...

Saul's teeth ached a bit.

"Don't think about it, don't think about it. I'll follow my own pace. Morden, continue."

Morden waited for Saul to digest what he had just said before writing new text.

[When third-rank wizards were solving the problem of elemental particle impurities introduced during gate conversion, they discovered a terrifying fact sufficient to overturn all previous understanding.]

Morden's handwriting was slightly messy, obviously excited when mentioning this knowledge.

[Multiple third-rank wizards successively discovered that elemental particles are actually not the smallest, most primitive particles. They are actually composed of even smaller particles.]

[I don't know what these smaller particles are called, nor whether they also have different types. I only know that third-rank wizards named them primitive particles, later simplified to atoms.]

Atoms?!

Fortunately, Saul was now a second-rank wizard with quite strong self-control, otherwise he really didn't know if he would have spit out his saliva!

Although in his wizard studies, Saul had also applied quite a bit of knowledge from his previous world. But the deeper he studied, the more he discovered the differences between the two worlds.

Perhaps just a very tiny change in underlying logic had caused earth-shaking changes in the entire world.

Saul had also wondered whether elemental particles of different attributes had fixed compositional patterns like chemical elements.

But the wizard world lacked means of observing extremely microscopic particles.

Even with special microscopes, one couldn't see elemental particles that only mental power could capture.

So traditional physical means couldn't study magical elemental particles.

Therefore, Saul hadn't expected that one day he would hear this familiar term again.

"Calm down, calm down." Saul flicked his forehead with his finger, "If I apply previous life knowledge just because the names are similar, I'll definitely make empirical errors. However, during experimental verification, I can verify based on past knowledge characteristics, which might save some detours."

Having calmed down again, Saul continued listening to Morden's explanation.

[After discovering the existence of atoms, third-rank wizards would construct modification formations on the gates within their bodies, directly breaking down other absorbed elemental particles into atoms, thus avoiding the impact of impurities on magic.]

[Of course, the pollution they absorb cannot be removed this way, since pollution isn't particles after all.]

Saul looked at his hands, "Pollution isn't particles. My method of absorbing pollution uses my own soul body, meaning pollution should act on the soul body. Speaking of which, how does one decompose elemental particles into atoms?"

[I really don't know this.]

"?"

[Master, I'm not third-rank after all. I learned this knowledge when I was king of the Kema Empire, having the fortune to hear it from Wizard Murphy, the creator of the Sighing Wall.]

"The creator of the Sighing Wall? He's a fourth-rank wizard?"

Saul hadn't expected that the Sighing Wall protecting a quarter of the continent's borders was actually built by one wizard.

This was the power of a fourth-rank wizard!

[Yes, Wizard Murphy is a very great wizard. In this dark age, he chose to use all his power to create the Sighing Wall and bound himself to it, forever stationed in Stat's Far North.]

"Stationed in the Far North, leading third-rank wizards to resist the abyssal Black Tide? He truly is a great wizard."

Regardless of his initial intentions, the Sighing Wall protected Stat and even the entire world.

That was enough.

Although he didn't have specific methods for decomposing elemental particles, Saul was very happy to hear this knowledge.

"Thank you, Morden."

[This is what I should do, master. Actually, when I first obtained this knowledge, I should have studied it carefully. But at the time I only thought about how to quickly open the gate within my body and didn't digest the new knowledge. Only now, having finally reorganized this knowledge, do I realize just how powerful third-rank wizards are.]

Morden's handwriting couldn't show his tone, but Saul, who was spiritually connected to the diary, could feel his loss and regret.

[If I had understood the power of third-rank wizards then, instead of being carried away by my identity as an empire's master, I wouldn't have led over a thousand wizards and apprentices to Hanging Valley to intercept Bayton's dying third-rank.]

[Then they wouldn't have followed me to complete destruction in the sunless depths of Hanging Hands Valley.]

[That is my eternal regret and remorse...]

(End of Chapter)