This wizard only wishes to be a teacher

After storing the "Edict" which had taken him three drops of ink to craft, Lucien finally had the leisure to inspect his other gains of the day.

The storage device left behind by the woman impersonating Miss Somaya was an extremely simplistic beastskin pouch that appeared to be made out of roughly tanned hide. On the edges of the pouch were clear perforations and stitching marks, and in some areas, one could even see some fur and subcutaneous fat that hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned off.

"Beastskin naturally imbued with something akin to a spatial wizard formation?... No, it doesn’t seem to have created a fixed space for storing items, rather... it simply ’shrinks’ whatever is wrapped within it."

Lucien quickly deduced the secret of this storage device and gently untied the thin beast tendon that bound the pouch. As the pouch unfolded, the exceedingly "miniature" items within were revealed.

Large quantities of dried meat, some kind of unknown liquor, as well as numerous bones of creatures... Hmm, is this a battle-axe? It looks like it was his weapon of choice for combat. Using his spiritual power to assist, Lucien swiftly categorized and organized the belongings of the player.

"It’s a pity; this player’s cultivation system seemed to lean towards ’hunting’ and ’melee combat’, with not much achievement in spellcraft. If I could acquire his corpse for dissection and study, perhaps I could glimpse some of the rules of their world’s cultivation system. However, judging from these items he left behind, at least in terms of alchemy or weapon crafting, they’re obviously quite crude."

Thinking this, Lucien picked up a hunting knife found in the beastskin pouch, and swung it lightly in his hand a couple of times.

Once it was freed from the shrinking effect of the pouch, the hunting knife in Lucien’s hand became a standard combat knife, although for its original owner, it was probably just a small blade used for skinning and dismembering prey.

The body of the knife was made from a special purple-black stone, apparently a sharp slice chipped directly from a larger rock, with the edge on one side showing bendings and other irregular patterns. The handle, however, was made from two pieces of wood bound with a rope of straw, looking rough and primitive.

Yet such a knife wielded might that rivaled a first-order witch tool, all thanks to the incredibly strong material it was crafted from!

"In the Wizard World, a natural crystal stone like this one, which seems to imbue a cutting-like wizard formation effect, would likely be a main ingredient for some skilled alchemists when crafting witch tools. With a bit of refinement, it could be turned into a weapon adequate for second-level wizards to wield. Combined with other materials, it might even be possible to craft a powerful witch tool suitable for third-level wizards."

Lucien shook his head slightly in his mind, now fully appreciating the term ’waste of resources.’

"However, this hunting knife happens to be quite suitable for my current situation. It has no magic essence fluctuations yet is sharp enough to easily cut through human flesh or even metal armor. It would be effective for stealth attacks or concealed assassinations. It’s just a bit too large and needs a little modification."

With that thought, Lucien extended his hand and began to gently rub the blade, while also controlling blue flames with his spiritual power to start burning the blade.

But soon, his smile vanished, as he found that the fire he created did not affect this special stone in the slightest. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The stone blade felt cold to the touch, seeming as if it had never been exposed to the flames at all.

"Interesting material..." Lucien touched the blade gently, but at that moment, without the assistance of some wizard formations in the alchemy cottage, he found it quite difficult to work with this special stone.

After pondering for a moment, Lucien grabbed the knife and gave it a light swing.

Instantly, he sliced off a strip from the edge of the beastskin pouch. Under the manipulation of his spiritual power, the cut-off strip of beastskin replaced the straw rope that originally bound the wood to the blade.

With the special beastskin’s effect, the size of the hunting knife quickly shrank. Alongside Lucien’s adjustments, it finally turned into a small-sized dagger that could be easily hidden inside his sleeve.

"With this... ’Lurah’ now has some sort of ace up his sleeve," Lucien nodded with satisfaction. He then blended back into the identity of ’Lurah’, manipulating Lurah to pick up the Black Stone Dagger.

Whoosh—Lurah waved the Black Stone Dagger, the blade silently slicing through the air without emitting the slightest whooshing sound.

But Lucien understood that if he had been cleaving not the air but some audacious enemy instead, the blow he had just delivered would have been sufficient to sever an arm or even a head with ease, as naturally as slicing through paper with a paper cutter.

"Such a pity, if only I could know from which world that player came and what kind of cultivation system they practiced..." Lucien looked at the Black Stone Dagger in his hand, feeling a sense of regret.

These were items from some otherworldly realm, and after the demise of the player from that world, these items had become unique to Lucien, likely unattainable for a long while to come.

"Hm?" While Lucien was happily "unboxing," his ears suddenly twitched, and his spiritual power quietly extended beyond the house. In his perception, he swiftly detected two figures chasing each other across the rooftop.

"It seems to be a conflict or perhaps a hunt between two players..." Lucien quickly stowed the "loot" in the house and then walked briskly to the edge of the windowsill, concealing himself behind the curtains to quietly observe the two players who continuously chased and fled.

One of the players looked somewhat like a fairy from the Wizard World but with certain differences in detail, dressed exquisitely like a noble young master out for a night stroll; the other player, however, appeared quite ghastly, with a humanoid outline but a bloated body, like a corpse that had swelled massively from soaking in water.

"What exactly is the Dream Layer? At first, I thought it was part of the Wizard World, but from what I see now, it seems to connect many different worlds, even some that have no record in the Wizard World."

Lucien silently observed the brief exchange and continued flight of the two players, though his mind was filled with thoughts concerning the Dream Layer.

According to descriptions in the Wizard World, the Dream Layer is connected to a collective subconscious or dream formed by humans and other intelligent life-forms. When these intelligent beings sleep and dream, they become the foundation of the Dream Layer.

And with long-term changes and evolution, the Dream Layer has gradually become more tangible from an entirely conceptual thing... However, from what Lucien saw and heard in the "Land of Reality" of the Dream Layer, its formation seemed to harbor even deeper secrets.

But from Lucien’s own observations this time, it was clear there were deeper changes within the Dream Layer, even hosting fearsome Dream Realm Lords, and even a great being capable of standing tall in the Star Sea, supporting the flourishing of a civilization...

In Lucien’s conjecture, it might be like the Star Sea described by Earl Sanaxis, connecting many independent worlds, each with its unique cultivation system.

Like... a "dark zone" or perhaps a "small Star Sea" that connects many worlds?

Lucien wildly speculated in his heart but knew that his speculations could only remain as such due to insufficient information.

However, Lucien was certain of one thing at least.

The secrets hidden deep within the Dream Layer definitely involved the games between the true major players standing upon the Star Sea. Otherwise, the great being he had glimpsed previously would not be in an irremovable slumber as Earl Sanaxis had described.

After all, only those at his level or even higher could affect or harm such a great existence. Perhaps behind this matter, there were shadows of great beings from the Wizard World involved...

"No, I can’t continue pondering these issues!"

Lucien grabbed his head. He had been lost in thought about this question when suddenly a palpitation, or rather a sense of crisis that he felt instinctively, stealthily arose, as if reminding or warning him that if he continued to rush down this "dead end," unpredictable consequences would ensue.

He quickly closed his eyes and forced himself into a state of meditation. After a good while, the chilling and terrifying sense of crisis began to fade away, and by the time Lucien opened his eyes again, his back was soaked with cold sweat.

"Is this the power belonging to the ’Dominants’? I didn’t intentionally think about it; I didn’t even know their identities, names, or specific deeds. Was it because I had those thoughts in my mind that could perhaps be considered ’blasphemous’ that I was sensed or instinctively detected by them?"

Lucien opened his mouth, gasping for air like a person who had just escaped from drowning. It took a long while for Lucien’s emotions to calm down gradually; he slipped back into his identity as Lurah and quickly went to bed, closing his eyes.

He felt that the impacts experienced tonight might take a very long time to fully overcome.