[Purified nightmare with a designated identity, rating increased]
[No combat throughout, rating increased]
[Discovered the truth of the ritual, rating increased]
[Survived until the final two, substantial increase in rating]
[Completed a potent purification, substantial increase in rating]
[Overall rating——A++]
[Received 170 points of public experience, Perception +1]
[Received dungeon clearance reward: Profession (Wizard) increased by 1 level]
[Current purification rate is 10/10——The nightmare has ended]
[Based on the nightmare’s region of origin, you have received the Silver Baron’s Holy Light Imprint]
[Total imprints: 9 (Silver Baron)]
Annan’s vision quickly scrolled through a mass of text.
This time clearing the nightmare, it was different from the previous two times... There wasn’t that sense of fatigue rising from the bottom of his heart that came when just leaving a nightmare, that feeling of grogginess as if just waking up.
This time, Annan experienced an unprecedented brightness and warmth, and he could clearly sense that his consciousness was getting lighter and ascended:
He looked clearly at the text on the data panel:
[Hidden elements decrypted: 100%]
[Eligible to claim the first phase reward (obtained at 50% completion)]
[Eligible to claim the second phase reward (obtained at 100% completion)]
He thought to himself.
Afterward, the two lines of text before Annan’s eyes gradually dispersed.
[Received dungeon decryption reward: Random Soul Reaping School spell (guaranteed to be equippable)]
[Received dungeon decryption reward: Curse Binding "The Final Work: David"]
An additional curse binding...
Annan paused for a moment.
Could this be the gift from Master Michelangelo?
He was somewhat surprised. He had thought it would be a cursed object.
But before he could think further, the scrolling text had already continued downwards:
[Based on your traits and existing profession levels, you have received the Order Spell: Thoughts as Rain (Channeling)]
[Thoughts as Rain (Channeling): Trigger the power of curses with different emotions to cause rainfall within the vicinity, with the spell’s effects determined by the difference in the "Perception" attribute between the caster and the target. Each continuation of 13s (depending on the total Wizard profession level) consumes 1 Power of Order.]
[Currently available: Drizzle, Ice Rain, Downpour]
[Drizzle: Trigger a gentle rain with "curiosity" to sense the position and mood of all creatures exposed to the rain, drops can serve as a medium for Soul Snatching School spells]
[Ice Rain: Trigger cold rain with "indifference" to slow down the thought processes of all creatures exposed to the rain, drops can serve as a medium for Disabling School spells]
[Downpour: Trigger a torrential rain with any intense emotion, transferring your own emotions to all creatures exposed to the rain]
...This spell is unexpectedly quite good.
Annan was somewhat surprised.
He hadn’t expected the dungeon to actually give such good stuff... He had assumed that at most, he’d receive that spell used by Gerald to observe emotions.
After all, each school’s spells have prerequisites—or rather, a wizard’s abilities in this world are like a "skill tree." While it’s possible to learn spells from other schools that you haven’t directly opposed, the number of spell slots is limited.
Without the necessary prerequisite spells, one might not be able to learn particularly useful spells.
This Thoughts as Rain would indeed be worthless to a typical wizard.
But for Annan, the implications are significant.
"Misty Rain" essentially serves as a mini-map to mark enemies and allies, whereas "Ice Rain" is akin to a more covert "Frost Nova".
After all, the only medium Annan currently needs to convey spells is the Disability Wizard’s universal spell, "Cold Touch".
The effect of Frost Nova is essentially just to transmit Cold Touch. But its special effects are too ostentatious, and the range is too small.
Even from over a hundred meters away, you can see the ground starting to freeze—in that case, it’s completely possible to run away in time.
But Ice Rain is much more discreet. Plus, slowing down an opponent’s thought process means it will also take them longer to realize something is amiss.
True, it requires the enemy to be in the rain to be effective. But as long as it’s set up in advance, it can work.
As for a downpour... That spell leans towards traditional Soul Snatching Wizards and does not work as well for Annan.
Soul Snatching Wizards can control others’ emotions and, naturally, their own. They can easily affix strong debuffs to themselves, then use the downpour to infect enemies, achieving large-scale crowd control and weakening effects.
After all, Soul Snatching Wizards naturally have a great advantage in one-on-one close combat—just a look or a word could control the opponent’s mind.
What they lack are area-of-effect abilities.
Salvatore had told Annan before that only when a Soul Snatching Wizard reaches the Gold tier can they control multiple minds at once.
In other words, until then, a Soul Snatching Wizard is somewhat like a Sharingan... It’s much easier to handle them in a team fight than a one-on-one duel.
Clearly, the spell downpour was designed to compensate for this fatal weakness.
"Thoughts as Rain", huh... It does seem quite practical."
Annan thought to himself.
Then, he cast his expectant gaze toward the greatest reward of this dungeon run—
This was the first dungeon he had ever completed with 100% decryption, and it was even of silver difficulty.
The Soul Snatching School spell he had just received was likely of Bronze or even Silver tier strength. At least, the spells Annan learned before stepping into rank seemed clearly inferior to this one.
According to the pattern, the reward for 100% decryption must be much better than that of 50%. And since Curse Binding comes with negative effects, its positive effects should be quite strong...
Soon, the previous words vanished.
Annan’s floating body slowly began to decelerate.
Appearing before him was a golden glow; within it was the statue.
Annan saw the special effect of the Curse Binding "The Final Work: David":
[The Final Work "David" (Taboo Type): Forbidden from using, divulging, or disseminating "Taboo Ritual: Overlap of Life and Death" in any way]
Upon seeing the content of the curse, Annan fell silent for a moment.
You don’t have to tell me, old man. I never planned on copying your ritual...
—I’ve got a fragment of the truth, after all!
Didn’t expect this, did you gramps.jpg
"You really died five years too early..."
But it’s just as well.
Had Michelangelo been alive now, it wouldn’t have been so simple for Annan to collect the Book of the Celestial Chariot...
He reached out his hand and touched the sphere of light, choosing to accept it.
As a gift, the curse on it wasn’t very harsh.
But it still absolutely prohibited a ritual for deification, so the power it brought should be quite strong...
As the light touched Annan’s body, it vanished.
It rapidly spread through his entire body and then disappeared.
New text appeared before Annan’s eyes:
[The Final Work "David": Strike the pose of the statue "David" to temporarily change your appearance and name to "Giralda David Buonaro" for up to one week, with a cooldown time equal to the duration used]
["Giralda David Buonaro" is perceived to be an archmage who opposes the Destruction School (Prophet, Idol School) LV30, and also has the secondary profession of Divine Construct (Stone Statue) LV30, inheriting all spell lists of the original body without additional skills or curses]
["Giralda" is immune to petrification, instant death, and mind control, automatically deflects any Prophet or Idol School spell below the Gold tier, and when affected by "Transformation," "Destruction," "Sculpting," and similar school spells, the body is considered ’marble’ instead of ’flesh’]
[When death approaches, do not shrink from it—Michelangelo]