Chapter 160: The Legendary Mage (Bonus chapter for Hu Moye, Helm Master)

"Big Brother?"

According to Zhao Xu's speculation, this voice most likely originated from the consciousness of the Morin Stele.

It was just that Zhao Xu felt rather unaccustomed to being addressed this way.

With a hint of doubt, he asked, "Can you speak like a human?"

"Uh..."

"Let me introduce myself first. I am the native consciousness carrier of the Morin Stele, your humble younger brother, Seven-Seven."

"Seven-Seven?"

"Yes, Big Brother. I am truly moved to see you."

"Wait a minute, have we met before?" Zhao Xu felt slightly baffled.

"Oh, oh! It's mainly because when you walked into this hall, Big Brother, the trembling sensation originating from the depths of my soul directly awakened me. I was completely subjugated on the spot by your kingly aura."

The voice echoing in the void became even more humble, as if it did not dare to disturb Zhao Xu's mood.

Zhao Xu was somewhat surprised by this attitude from the stele. Hearing it like this, an outsider might think he had somehow severely mistreated the monument.

However, Zhao Xu immediately recalled what Antonya had mentioned—even the seventy percent of candidates who passed were put through absolute hell by this stele.

Could it be that it starts off in boot-licker mode?

Zhao Xu began to shift his gaze, probing the surrounding environment.

What greeted his eyes was a profound, impenetrable darkness, much like the pitch-black canopy of the night.

Zhao Xu's remaining field of vision was provided entirely by a light source hovering high above.

"Big Brother, I am so sorry. I actually failed to consider your feelings."

The voice in the void sounded laden with endless apologies.

At that moment, the surrounding darkness receded, transforming into a lush, verdant grassland. A fawn that had been crouching nearby looked at Zhao Xu in surprise and hurriedly scampered away.

Inhaling the fragrance of the fresh grass before him, Zhao Xu silently wondered if he had entered another illusion.

"Big Brother, are you satisfied with this scenery?" the voice in the void asked expectantly.

By this point, Zhao Xu found it somewhat difficult to figure out what was going on. He felt that this stele, which called itself Seven-Seven, was being a bit too servile; even if it wanted to target him, it shouldn't go this far.

Nevertheless, after pondering for a moment, he decided to remain cautious no matter what the entity said.

That way, even if the heavens and earth were to shatter before him, he would have nothing to fear.

Although Antonya had stated when she first introduced him to the Final Scroll organization that she would arrange his subsequent prestige classes for him, Zhao Xu knew that ordinary wizard class advancement alone blocked countless people.

Many wizard enthusiasts ultimately gave up in despair because they could not comprehend the structure of spells, forcing them to choose other, barely functional spellcasting classes.

As for prestige classes, especially those immensely powerful arcane progressions, success was never guaranteed.

Even after obtaining the qualification and meeting all the prerequisites for a prestige class, one could still fail the advancement.

Just as Zhao Xu had previously spent three or four days stuck right before the final step of the Loremaster class because he felt no despair and had not seen the ancient curse stele.

Prestige classes were just like that; even when all hard requirements were met, there remained subtle, invisible soft requirements.

Yet the Morin Stele before him possessed the ability to ensure that seventy percent of candidates successfully advanced through it.

This alone guaranteed that Zhao Xu could fully acquire the content of that prestige class, completely bypassing all soft requirement demands.

"May I ask what the specific trials are like? Do I propose the name of the prestige class and you arrange the trial? Or do you decide the outcome of the trial and determine which prestige class to assign me?"

Zhao Xu asked with a curious tone.

"Oh, oh, respected Big Brother, normally I assign prestige classes based on the candidate's level. If they aren't satisfied, they can just turn around and find a new prestige class themselves."

"If I just arrange whatever they want to advance into, then is Seven-Seven them, or am I Seven-Seven?"

Hearing this, Zhao Xu's heart sank instantly.

This meant that if the stele casually assigned him some unsuitable prestige class later on, like Scholar or Eldritch Knight, his trip would have been entirely in vain.

Noticing that Zhao Xu had fallen into deep thought because of its remarks, the existence in the void—the consciousness avatar of the stele—hurriedly explained: "Oh, no, Big Brother, that's for other people, not you."

"As my respected Big Brother, you just need to give me the name of the class you want, and I will transmit it right over. Your little brother doesn't have any special local products to send you off with, so I can only express my sincerity with a few prestige classes."

"Let me think, what are you suited for, Big Brother? A Tainted Scholar? That way, your spell save DC could stack up to seventy or eighty, and you could kill whoever you see. Oh, no, although Tainted Scholar is powerful, the aesthetic style is too ugly, not befitting your majestic and imposing figure, Big Brother."

"Force Scholar? You happen to have augment points, Big Brother, and this prestige class allows for intuitive action casting, which suits—wait, why am I being so foolish? You possess that far more powerful kind of wealth-energy points, Big Brother, advancing into this would just be a burden."

"Rainbow Servant? This class can establish prismatic spells with a mental action at level seven. Ah, it just requires too many feat supports, let me think again."

"Sigh, or should it be a Incantatrix? It grants four metamagic feat rewards at level 10 and can abuse persistent spells. Well, that's not quite right either; it requires opposing a school of magic, whereas my Big Brother ought to be a master of all magic."

Hearing the master of the stele, Seven-Seven, rambling on endlessly, Zhao Xu had no choice but to interrupt hastily: "Stop fussing over it. Just give me the trial first, and then figure out the arrangements."

Although Zhao Xu's voice was not loud, he believed Seven-Seven could hear him.

Instantly, from the previously serene sky, an incredulous voice rang out: "Big Brother, you don't need a trial. Actually, I just do this to pass the time when I'm bored."

Zhao Xu shook his head. If he had exposed right from the start that the stele did not naturally carry the supreme principles of magic, then yielding to him would make sense.

He had barely sat down, and his seat wasn't even warm yet; this excessive enthusiasm only made him more guarded.

After all, right from the beginning, he had witnessed a mysterious entity possessing this stele.

"You can just arrange it for me," Zhao Xu said cautiously.

"Oh, I understand. As expected of my Big Brother. Indeed, it's better to just give you the class directly. Otherwise, if the rest of my younger brothers outside find out the truth later and keep pestering Big Brother, that wouldn't be good," the entity in the void muttered to itself.

The consciousness of the Morin Stele recalled how that kid who previously claimed to be the nephew of an association bigwig had cried and begged for mercy, but it hadn't paid him any mind.

At the time, it had simply used a "Polymorph Any Object" to turn the fellow into a female and chased him out.

Who told him to try and advance into that balance-disrupting Spellsinger? He certainly had to get closer to the female wizard who created that prestige class first—sharing her gender was the only way to truly understand it.

It was just that afterwards, the association didn't dare send anyone over for a whole month, leaving it a bit bored.

"Then the trial is coming, Big Brother," the voice in the void requested permission.

Zhao Xu immediately stood up, drew his Staff of Defense, and pointed it forward.

He awaited the test lowered by the void's consciousness.

Yet, after a long while, Zhao Xu only saw a pair of quacking ducks paddling across the surface of the lake at the edge of the distant green meadow.

It was a picture of a tranquil afternoon picnic.

"Where is the trial?" Zhao Xu could not help but speak out.

"Ah? I was waiting for Big Brother to give the word," the voice in the void said aggrievedly.

"Then hurry up," Zhao Xu said irritably.

Suddenly, a massive vortex erupted on the grassy field ahead, and a figure slowly stepped out from the swirling pool of immense energy.

The figure wore a purple-gold wizard robe, gazing at Zhao Xu with cold eyes.

Countless mysterious rays of magical light circulated around the figure, as if overflowing.

An Epic Wizard!

Gazing at the insignia representing an Epic Wizard on the figure's robe, Zhao Xu felt his scalp tingle.

What level of enemy was this?

Right now, Zhao Xu didn't even dare to make the first move.

Even against a high-level wizard, the reactive spells permanently sustained on the opponent would be enough to slay any enemy attempting to strike them.

Even a single stray thought was enough.

Zhao Xu could not help taking a deep breath, intending to test the waters with words first.

If the opponent was capable of casting high-level spells, he would simply have to surrender.

However, at that moment, the Epic Wizard merely waved a hand.

Instantly, a destructive black beam burst from the wizard's hand.

Disintegrate!

Zhao Xu recognized this 6th-level spell, which was powerful enough to obliterate anything into dust.

Yet, to Zhao Xu's utter astonishment, the black beam of Disintegration struck the Epic Wizard himself.

The figure vanished instantly.

At that moment, a solemn voice echoed from the sky: "Congratulations, Big Brother, on successfully slaying the Epic Wizard."

"Now calculating the trial rewards for Big Brother."