Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 472 - 471 You are Just a Mortal

Chapter 472: Chapter 471 You are Just a Mortal

The old man did not attack, seeing Richard flipping through the pages, he just stood there, quietly watching. After a long while, he sighed, "Alas, it seems you really don’t know the height of the sky and the depth of the earth, always doing things beyond your capability. This is not good for you—very bad!"

"But right now, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything wrong with me," Richard replied.

"But you haven’t gained what you desired either," the old man said. "Boy, take a look at the book in your hands."

Hm?

Richard’s eyebrows twitched, still focusing most of his attention on the old man, quickly glanced at the pages of the book in his hands, then paused.

He saw that the pages of the book held pristine whiteness.

White, pure white, without any text.

This was—

Richard quickly flipped through the pages, rustling as he flipped backwards, but even after going through the entire book, he found not a single word.

"Snap!"

Richard threw the book on the ground, turned and pulled another book from the shelf, opened it, flipped the pages, and found it too was blank.

Then the third book, the fourth book, the fifth...

The metal-cased books on the shelves were all blank!

Richard abruptly looked up, gazing at the old man.

The old man, appearing to lecture, said: "See, boy. Now, you have done a dangerous thing and yet have not achieved your desired result, you must be disappointed—but this is just the beginning. Hereafter, you will continue to pay the price for your actions.

Maybe, boy, you think you are quite good. But I can see another side of you—I see your arrogance, your conceit, your contempt for others, your smart tricks. In my eyes, you are merely a mortal, no matter how excellent or successful you are, still just a mortal. And as a mortal, trying to cross the dangerous red line, you are bound to be punished.

This is to make you understand not to keep too strong a curiosity, not to think that you can achieve anything. Everything you have now, your life, your physical wholeness, your sanity, are all granted to you, and if you try to defy some great will, they can be taken back at any time.

Then, you will plunge into the endless abyss, fall into a hell filled with fierce flames, and your soul will be tormented and never salvaged. Understand?!"

By the end, the old man’s voice grew stern.

Richard’s gaze flickered briefly, he observed the old man for a long while, then slowly said, "I’m afraid—I don’t understand—"

"No, you will understand, boy," the old man suddenly smiled, a dangerous smile.

The next moment, Richard felt a pain in his left ankle, he looked down sharply, only to see a seven-colored spider the size of a fingertip biting harshly at his ankle.

Where this spider came from, when it appeared, was entirely unknown; it seemed to have some special ability, remaining undetected until it bit.

This!

Richard was startled, but reacted quickly, casting a spell. The air surged and he sharply propelled the seven-colored spider away from his ankle, slamming it into the wall. An Ice Cone then shot out, precisely hitting the seven-colored spider, impaling its body, then freezing it into a lump of ice.

Afterward, Richard quickly checked the wound, his expression a bit grim, because he noticed the area around the wound was faintly blackening and felt numb, suggesting the spider was venomous, with a not weak toxicity.

"Hu—"

Richard took a deep breath, without any hesitation, and quickly pulled out a dagger.

His fingers brushed over the dagger, and surging flames licked the blade, rapidly sterilizing it. Then Richard grasped the hot dagger and cut towards the wound, making a "pfft, pfft" sound as he carved an "X" shaped incision.

He tossed aside the dagger, and forcefully squeezed the wound, trying to push out the venom.

Black venom dropped to the ground, gathering on the polished bluestone slabs, emitting a pungent, fishy smell.

But this did not stop the rapid spread of the poison. Even though he squeezed out most of the venom, Richard still saw a patch of black spreading up his shin from the wound.

Had it entered the bloodstream?

Richard frowned and, in the next moment, cut a strip of cloth from his clothes with the dagger and tightly tied it around his calf, trying to halt the circulation. Then he used Shaping Energy Water Ice Branch Magic to freeze the area that had turned black. Although this would cause some frostbite, at such a critical moment, he could not worry about that.

The problem was... even this didn’t stop the venom.

The blackness on his skin seemed to spread faster, quickly covering half of his calf and showing signs of creeping towards his thigh.

This!

Richard’s brow twitched slightly as he figured something out.

"Crack!"

Once again, he cut a strip of cloth with the dagger and tied it around his thigh to stop the blood flow. Richard’s lips moved, and after a moment, a wind blade about ten centimeters long formed at his fingertips.

Controlling the Wind Blade, Richard, without even blinking, cut towards his calf.

"Thump!"

His calf was cleanly severed, revealing the stark white bone, and Richard’s face turned slightly pale before returning to normal.

After checking to ensure the venom was gone, Richard calmly treated the wound. Then, using magic, he lifted the left side of his body with the air and stood up, looking towards the old man.

Throughout the process, the old man had shown no intention of intervening, watching with interest. Now, he looked at Richard with a somewhat approving gaze and said, "Tsk, not bad, boy. You did really well, you’re even more capable than I thought."

"But that doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change your arrogance, your conceit, your disregard for others, and your cleverness. Just now, when the Seven-Colored Spider bit you, being able to ruthlessly amputate your own leg is something many people cannot do.

But I must tell you, the spider’s venom is not lethal—it would have dissipated on its own within a day. What do you think? Even if the venom were lethal, didn’t you think to ask me if there was an antidote? If you had asked, I would have given it to you.

Besides, this time you could amputate your leg to save your life. What if next time the spider bites your neck? Would you choose to cut off your head or your entire torso? Do you really believe your abilities can solve everything?"

"You cannot!" The old man gave the answer, "No one can solve everything by themselves—that’s for gods. If you delude yourself into thinking you can match the gods with a mortal’s body, it will only lead to destruction. Destruction, do you understand!"

Then Richard felt a pain on his neck.

With a "snap," Richard released a Wind Magic spell, rapidly knocking away an object from his neck, only to see it was a completely black bee.

The surging air harshly slammed the bee against the wall, and without any mercy, Richard killed it with an Ice Cone, then looked at himself.

What he saw was a rich blackness rapidly spreading across his body from his neck.

The skin visibly wrinkled and rotted at a visible rate, oozing disgusting pus, and in the blink of an eye, his body became incredibly foul-smelling and unbearably itchy.