The Pyramid was a Nightmare Lord who had dealt with wizards many times, and he was very familiar with their preferences.
These strange beings from another world showed little interest in most things from the Nightmare World.
What could pique their interest were only the Nightmare Artifacts, Nightmare Artifact Embryos, and a few extremely precious items.
However, after dealing with wizards for a long time, the Pyramid gradually discovered that this group of beings known as wizards had an extraordinary thirst for "knowledge."
For wizards, the techniques used by Nightmare creatures to harness Nightmare Power, or their summaries of certain concepts, were often more appealing than hundreds of thousands of units of Nightmare Power.
In the past, the Pyramid had leveraged this understanding to strike deals with wizards multiple times.
This had led to rapid expansion of his territory.
Until the wizards went off to participate in that terrifying war, the end of which was unknown.
Without the help of wizards, he was attacked by several Nightmare Lords who initiated a territorial war, and ultimately, he had to resort to a mutually destructive method to survive.
But that was all in the past; he now had a new beginning.
Upon hearing the Pyramid's proposal, Richard felt a bit puzzled.
Did becoming a Nightmare Lord require some sort of ritual? "My friend, you can introduce your price," Richard said with a somewhat awkward smile. "I am quite interested in this knowledge."
The Pyramid was not surprised by Richard's unusual behavior.
Since wizards had not entered the Nightmare World for many years, it was understandable that they had little interest in it.
Lack of interest meant that Richard might have stumbled upon the Nightmare World by accident, which would explain his lack of information about it.
Moreover, during that terrifying war, countless wizards had perished.
It was questionable how much of the knowledge acquired by ancient wizards had been passed down.
The Pyramid explained, "For a Nightmare Knight to become a Nightmare Lord, it cannot rely solely on the accumulation of Nightmare Power; there are some unknown secrets involved.
The function of this knowledge is quite simple: by obtaining it, you essentially acquire a ticket to become a Nightmare Lord.
In the past, there have been wizards who became Nightmare Lords."
The Pyramid could see that Richard was very interested in the Nightmare World.
Ordinary wizards would not specifically collect so much Nightmare Power on them.
Thus, his offer would surely attract the attention of the wizard before him.
Although his reasoning was flawed, the outcome was unexpectedly correct.
Richard indeed needed this knowledge.
Richard nodded, "This price seems reasonable, but I need to ask, what kind of spell do you require, and how powerful should it be?
Are there any special requirements? For example, size or a specific shape?"
"According to your standards, about a universal level should suffice. As for requirements... as long as it doesn't exceed this size," the black humanoid said, gesturing with his hand to indicate a circle the size of a human head.
Knowing the conditions, Richard mentally calculated and confirmed that his abilities should be sufficient.
So he confidently replied, "Alright, where's your contract?"
"This is simple."
With that, the black humanoid seemed to shrink, transforming into a palm-sized figure. The little figure then began to twist and morph in the air, eventually becoming a pitch-black contract filled with golden text.
Richard discreetly turned to Ulysses and asked, "Ulysses, what is this thing?"
Ulysses's eyes flickered with surprise as he replied, "This is actually a Fate Contract. I didn't expect these Nightmare creatures, lacking souls, could create a Fate Contract.
You better pay attention and not sign it carelessly."
Hearing it was a Fate Contract, Richard felt reassured.
He had no intention of deceiving the Pyramid this time, so the Fate Contract posed no problem for him.
Richard took the contract that was suspended in the air; it already had a name written on it: Sefer.
This must be the Pyramid's true name.
After confirming that the terms of the contract were acceptable, he readily signed it.
As the contract dissipated into the air, Sefer in the palace felt a sense of calm settle in his heart.
He looked at the Nightmare Power that Richard had encountered before and murmured to himself, "The rest is simple."
...
Completing Sefer's commission was not difficult for Richard.
In the material world, he needed to consider the issue of materials. Although many Alchemist Wizards knew that sometimes materials were simpler and more reliable than runes, materials represented black, glistening Magic Essence.
Those precious Alchemy Materials were sold by the gram. Ordinary wizards rarely had the means to afford them.
However, in the Nightmare World, Richard faced no such problem.
With thousands of units of Nightmare Power, he could craft high-quality Alchemy Materials like Mithril, Adamantine, and Orichalcum by hand.
What he needed to do was quite simple.
That was to use the Annihilation Reaction to create a universal-level bomb without regard for costs.
In a situation where costs were not a concern, even a newly minted Alchemist Wizard could produce a universal-level Disposable Magic Gear.
Let alone Richard, who could be called a master among First Circle Wizards.
In less than three days, Richard completed a spherical Alchemy bomb roughly the size of a human head.
If this bomb were made in the Wizard World, it would require nearly a hundred thousand units of Magic Essence to create. It was the ultimate wasteful creation that would make any Alchemist Wizard furious upon seeing it.
Only now, in the Nightmare World, could Richard afford such extravagance.
After finishing the bomb, Richard casually crafted a bird-shaped Nightmare creature, allowing his soul seed to control it to deliver a message to Sefer deep within the Cemetery City.
Upon receiving the message, Sefer immediately dispatched a black humanoid to the outskirts of the city to conduct the transaction with Richard.
...
Outside the city, the vast wasteland was cold and windy. The blood-red moonlight cast an eerie glow on the ground, adding an air of strangeness to the wasteland.
However, this atmosphere had become commonplace for both Nightmare creatures and Richard.
The black humanoid arrived in the wilderness and conducted the transaction with Richard.
"I must say, you wizards are indeed cunning and shameless, but when it comes to efficiency, you can't be faulted."
The voice of Sefer emanated from the black humanoid as he carefully examined the black spherical bomb in his hand. Without regard for costs, the bomb's concealment was exceptionally well done.
From the outside, it was impossible to discern its danger.
Richard replied nonchalantly, "I've finished my part; what about yours?"
"Don't worry, this time it's a Fate Contract, I wouldn't dare to default," the black humanoid responded casually.
Suddenly, a large gash opened in his abdomen, revealing a grotesque mouth.
A long, crimson tongue extended from the mouth, swallowing the Alchemy bomb whole. Immediately after, the mouth regurgitated a scroll soaked in saliva.
The black humanoid picked up the scroll from the ground and handed it to Richard.
"Here, this is what you wanted."
Looking at the scroll covered in foul-smelling saliva, Richard couldn't help but frown.
He glanced at the head of the black humanoid; although its face was smooth, Richard felt as if he could see Sefer's smug smile.
Though he couldn't gain an advantage in the transaction, it didn't stop him from using other means to annoy Richard.
Richard expressionlessly summoned a water sphere, attempting to clean the scroll.
However, just as he finished cleaning it, a layer of foul-smelling saliva seeped out from the scroll again.
Although this layer of saliva didn't hinder Richard from examining the contents, holding such an item was indeed quite disgusting.
"Heh, Sefer, you really put in the effort," Richard said with a forced smile.
"Likewise, you seem quite invested in my Pyramid, don't you?"
After putting away the scroll, Richard didn't linger in Cemetery City and immediately signaled Bone to head towards the wilderness.
"Don't you want to stay a couple more days?" Sefer's voice came from behind him. "In a couple of days, it will be quite lively here."
Richard waved his hand without looking back.
"No, my experience tells me that watching the excitement often leads to trouble."
Sefer watched Richard's departing figure with some regret. If Richard had stayed a little longer, he might have been able to retrieve his Pyramid.
"Sigh, cunning wizard."
...
Leaving Cemetery City, Richard continued to wander through various forbidden lands with Bone.
During this process, his mental power grew significantly.
Along the way, Richard heard a rumor. It was said that a great disturbance had occurred in Cemetery City, with all the Nightmare creatures in the forbidden land being devoured, and even that Nightmare Knight was not spared.
Legend had it that the one who devoured the Nightmare creatures in this forbidden land was an ancient Nightmare Lord.
This action was the first step in his return to the throne.
Richard merely smiled at this rumor.
He was now far enough from Cemetery City that he had no worries about Sefer coming after him.
Thus, Richard spent ten years exploring the entire forbidden land of the Nightmare Ring. His Nightmare Power subsequently reached four million units.
This amount of Nightmare Power was just one million units short of becoming a Nightmare Knight.
If Richard wished, he could even ascend to the rank of Nightmare Knight in the last forbidden land.
But he did not do so.
Because the consumption of Nightmare creatures was proportional to strength. He still had a long way to go.
"Bone, you should have learned how to operate this thing over the years."
Richard stood beside the Magic Support Vehicle, reconstituting a coffin, and then asked Bone.
Bone nodded, "I've known how to do it for a long time, boss."
"Good, as long as you know." Richard patted Bone's shoulder, then his soul emerged from the Nightmare body and sealed the Nightmare body back into the coffin.
"I won't accompany you on the next leg of the journey; I have some matters to attend to, and I might not return to the Nightmare World for a long time.
Stay sharp on your journey, remember..."
"Survival first," Bone interjected, "Boss, I remember that."
Richard smiled, patted Bone's shoulder, and then opened the Nightmare Gate to return to the Wizard World.
...
Back in his physical body, Richard felt the shackle within him that could break at any moment, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
In the next instant, that invisible shackle was broken by Richard.
He was about to break through to Third Circle Wizard in the Mirror World. Forcibly suppressing himself for so many years was merely to replenish his mental power.
Now that his mental power was replenished, it was time to break through.
If he continued to suppress himself, Richard was worried that his cells would become accustomed to this state and would be unable to break through again.
As the shackle broke, Richard's body seemed to become a black hole of magic.
Centered around Richard, the magic within a fifty-kilometer radius began to flow toward him.
Richard's body required a massive amount of energy to complete the leap in life level!
This phenomenon of magical disturbance instantly alerted all the wizards within that range.
These wizards looked toward the direction of the magical flow, their hearts filled with suspicion.
"Which wizard's experiment went wrong? It caused such a large-scale magical disturbance!"
An old wizard flew out of the Wizard Tower holding a Crystal Ball, and soon arrived at the source of the disturbance—Richard's Wizard Tower.
When he arrived, he found that the area was already filled with Third Circle Wizards.
"Jolod, what on earth is your student doing?" a Third Circle Wizard spoke up.
Jolod looked equally bewildered; Richard hadn't initiated any major projects in recent years.
He turned to his apprentice Wuni beside him, who also shook his head and communicated mentally, "The teacher has been researching a phantom world called the Nightmare World. But I don't know the specifics either."
This was somewhat strange.
Researching a phantom world shouldn't cause such a large energy disturbance.
However, although everyone was puzzled, they did not rush into the Wizard Tower. After all, no one knew how Richard's situation was, and barging in might jeopardize what should have been a successful experiment.
No one wanted to bear that responsibility.
Soon, the magical disturbance subsided.
Although Richard's body craved magic, the amount of magic within a fifty-kilometer radius was clearly excessive.
After ending his evolutionary state, Richard immediately donned a Wizard Robe, preparing to go out and explain his situation, as well as to apologize.
This was his first physical evolution, and he hadn't expected it to cause such a large reaction.
But when he flew out of the Wizard Tower, he saw countless wizards staring at him.
Richard's delighted expression froze.
This was bad; he had really stirred up a big mess.
--Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LegendaryTL
Thanks!