Chapter 19: I Guarantee You Won’t Die

Although there were many low-level tasks, they were almost always snatched up by mid-month.

Unlike the many wizard apprentices crowding the Task Reception Area, their minds filled only with thoughts of grabbing safe tasks with decent rewards, Meieruita had realized before An Luo told him about the hidden truths of the monthly tasks that the number and difficulty of tasks were manipulated.

This wasn’t surprising.

The quantities of low-level, mid-level, and high-level tasks fluctuated.

Low-level tasks appeared to be the most numerous and simplest, but their rewards were also the lowest.

If one only took low-level tasks, they would need to complete at least ten each month just to barely survive in the Wizard Tower.

They were time-consuming with meager returns.

But starting from mid-level tasks, the reward rate rose sharply—completing just two was usually enough to get by comfortably for a month.

Aogufusi, who was in charge of issuing and verifying tasks, would cleverly adjust the number of low-level tasks for some reason, forcing low-level wizard apprentices to take mid-level or even high-level ones.

To survive, low-level wizard apprentices had no choice but to risk their lives.

Meieruita had keenly noticed this, and from that moment, he understood that only strength would allow him to survive in the Wizard Tower.

Big fish eat little fish, little fish eat shrimp.

Lingering in the lower layers, scraping by, would only turn him into food for others.

For this reason, he made a risky decision.

Meieruita decided not to learn the witchcraft from the Witchcraft Book step by step, but to study it and modify it based on the existing spells.

He wasn’t being unrealistic or arrogant; he genuinely felt capable of altering a few aspects.

It was a strange sensation, like some innate talent.

Even though Meieruita’s literacy was average at the time, stumbling through the witchcraft texts, he could still follow those strings of numbers and formulas to construct the most basic model in his mind.

Either follow the steps and directly use the already-built basic model, or take a risk, spending time and energy to modify it on top of that foundation.

Choosing the former would allow Meieruita to gain a certain level of strength quickly and protect himself in the dangerous Wizard Tower.

Choosing the latter would leave him extremely weak for a period, making him highly vulnerable to death if danger arose.

No matter how one looked at it, the former seemed better.

He could also learn one spell step by step first, gain some self-protection ability, and then attempt to modify it.

But some inexpressible feeling told him that learning the first spell was the most crucial.

“Overcome fear, choose rationally.”

It was as if it were his own voice, or perhaps some extremely unfamiliar presence, whispering in his mind, guiding and tempting him:

“Choose this one. I guarantee you won’t die.”

Because this would determine the path ahead.

Despite the Wizard Tower being riddled with crises that left Meieruita sleepless and without appetite, he still chose to modify and construct his first spell.

When he was schemed against by Lan Lian and forced to take an extremely dangerous high-level task next, Meieruita mocked himself.

Because of some absurd notion, he had chosen such a foolish path, leaving him powerless against the crisis.

He would die.

High-level tasks were something even many veteran apprentices who had mastered several spells couldn’t complete. He was just a newbie who hadn’t even grasped the most basic Fireball Spell—how could he survive?

But a miracle really happened.

The task he took was to collect Dark Essence Fruits.

Dark Essence Fruits grew on Black Hook Vines and were extremely toxic; the older the fruit, the stronger the poison.

They had to be picked by hand without any protective measures, or they would explode immediately, forming a cloud of poison mist.

To modify the Fireball Spell model, Meieruita first had to dismantle the original model and understand every detail before he could alter it.

With this experience, he discovered he could sense and discern the approximate age of the Dark Essence Fruits through the magic power nodes on the Black Hook Vine’s surface.

As long as he picked the youngest ones, he wouldn’t die.

Meieruita vaguely comprehended.

The construction of witchcraft models shared the same principles as real-world objects.

Witchcraft seemed overwhelmingly powerful, transcending ordinary things in reality, but they actually followed the same construction patterns.

Though it was just a vague insight, it was enough for him to find a way to improve the Fireball Spell.

He staggered out of the underground layer and handed in the task under Aogufusi’s astonished gaze.

In his hazy consciousness, he seemed to hear that voice again—as if it were his own, yet extremely unfamiliar:

Low and secretive, murmuring right in his ear:

“See? I guaranteed it.”

Meieruita stood in front of the Task Reception Area, gazing at the posted tasks.

Many low-level wizard apprentices stood beside him, just like him, looking up to select tasks.

But Meieruita already understood that a deep, unbridgeable chasm separated him from them.

He was no longer an ordinary, mediocre low-level wizard apprentice.

“Your name was carefully chosen by me. Every character has special meaning. Just naming you took me days.”

“You are a once-in-a-lifetime genius.”

“I’ll give you only the best.”

The helpless tone was like scolding a child who already had everything yet kept demanding more.

It gradually merged with the voice that had once appeared in his mind.

“See? I guaranteed it.”

Yet the same voice:

“He’s John. He’s a good person and helped me a lot.”

“Isn’t it normal for me to like him now?”

“You’re the protagonist. That’s already destined. No matter who I like, it won’t shake that fact. Don’t worry.”

Even if I don’t like you anymore, you’re still the protagonist.

“I’ve changed my mind.”

“It’s not about belief; I’m just being realistic.”

Not far away, John was walking over with that utterly stupid face of his.

His dog-like green eyes were as weakly repulsive as maggots.

This guy, who should have died before and existed only to give Meieruita a bit of insight.

Meieruita lifted his eyelids to glance at him, not wanting to share the same space with this repulsive new favorite.

Without hesitation, he quickly took a mid-level task that was issued every month and turned to leave.

His wide Wizard Robe shrouded his figure as he lowered his eyes and blended into the crowd of low-level wizard apprentices, utterly unremarkable.

The task to collect an Ice Jade Flower Bud only required one.

But in the icy region, the violent fireball explosion not only shattered the thick ice layer enveloping the Ice Jade Flower but also destroyed three fully bloomed ones.

Meieruita picked up a surviving Ice Jade Flower Bud from the ground and looked down at it.

His gray-green eyes fixed on the Ice Jade Flower Bud.

See, this was the bottomless chasm between cannon fodder and the protagonist.