Wizard: Scamming a Demon God

However, the [Storybook] was still different from a Legendary Mage’s own Magic Book.

It could only manifest a single Legend.

Take Isaac’s *Cinderella*, for example. Although it had currently only manifested the Legend of [Transformation Magic], as the story spread, the Power of Faith Isaac acquired would continue to grow. At that point, he would be able to obtain new Legends from *Cinderella*.

The [Storybook], however, was different. It could only ever hold one Legend, regardless of how much Power of Faith was acquired.

After all, it was just an imitation of a Legendary Mage’s power.

Even so, it was incredibly valuable.

Isaac opened the blank [Storybook] and began to write.

Isaac had already decided what to write on his way back.

He stuck to his old principles: the theme had to meet public expectations, and the story needed to be simple and clear so it could be passed down for generations. And because the [Storybook] was limited to a single Legend, he also had to manage the audience’s expectations.

Finally, the resulting Legend would ideally align with his current field of research.

Ultimately, Isaac decided to plagiarize a fairy tale from his previous life, one known far and wide—*The Ugly Duckling*!

The story of *The Ugly Duckling* was simple. It told of a swan egg that hatched among a flock of ducks. Because of its strange appearance, it was scorned by the others. After enduring countless hardships and tribulations, it eventually grew into a beautiful swan.

It illustrated that as long as you have ideals, have aspirations, and strive to achieve them, it doesn’t matter if you are in adversity; "true gold will always shine." Setbacks and pain in life are inevitable, and one can only face them with strength.

Of course, this fairy tale had its limitations in his previous life.

It was fine to read as a child, but upon growing up, one would discover the fairy tale was actually quite cynical.

Because whether the Ugly Duckling became a swan had nothing to do with its effort or self-confidence. It became a swan simply because it was born a swan!

The hardships it endured from a young age, at most, only made it more confident, allowing it to stand out even among its own kind.

That was all. Talk of effort and resilience was a joke; birthright was everything!

If it had been a duck egg from the start, it would have remained a duck its entire life.

But that was his previous life. This world had Magic, so Isaac adapted it. In his version, the Ugly Duckling wasn’t a swan egg; it was a duck egg. Though still the ugliest of its kind, it one day caught sight of a swan. Inspired, it resolved to improve itself. Through its own efforts, it learned Magic and used it to alter its bloodline, transforming itself from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan!

It changed its very species!

This made the story’s logic a better fit for this Extraordinary World, while also making the message more uplifting.

After finishing, Isaac read it over and nodded in satisfaction. He then performed a Summoning for Harmon and put the original manuscript away. The next step was dissemination.

That part he would have to leave to his older brother. However...

Thinking of his older brother, Isaac sighed. ’Now isn’t the time to see him. I’ll wait a while longer.’

He had, after all, killed his second brother, Remington. Even though Remington had made the first move, Caesar valued family ties above all else. He despised fratricide. Approaching Caesar now would be too painful for him.

"Let’s take it slow. It’s not that urgent anyway." Isaac shook his head and got up, walking out of the study.

From now on, this room would be purely a study, no longer a laboratory. He had to go tell Smith and have him make the arrangements.

At the same time, the medicinal fields outside also needed to be replanned. A portion would be converted into a Beast Breeding Arena to expand the breeding of Demon Rats and Dragon Lizards. The main focus would be on Demon Rats, since the large-scale breeding of Dragon Lizards was handled by the territory; his area was merely an experimental zone.

His responsibility was to make the Dragon Lizard’s Dragon Blood awakening process more practical. Ideally, it should achieve a one-hundred-percent awakening rate even without his Golden Finger, and the cost couldn’t be too high!

This was quite difficult at the moment, and he was not yet capable of achieving it.

What he could do was optimize the Dragon Lizard’s awakening Magic Potion and lower the age at which it could be taken.

In short, he would still be the one to awaken the Dragon Lizards’ Dragon Blood, but he would work with hatchlings. After their Dragon Blood was awakened, they would be handed over to the territory to be raised and sold.

Furthermore, this process would also help him complete the research mission he had accepted from the Flesh Sect—killing several birds with one stone.

However, Isaac only made the high-level decisions on these matters. The implementation would fall to Smith.

"Hmm... My responsibilities are piling up... Should I hire more people?" Isaac’s brow furrowed slightly on his way to the council hall.

It wasn’t that Smith couldn’t handle these tasks; his abilities were formidable. Back in Solomon, he had managed affairs far more complicated than this. But he had been assigned to Isaac.

This was partly in the hope that he would protect Isaac. His Knight Level strength might not be worth mentioning to the current Isaac, but before Isaac became a Wizard, it was more than enough to ensure his safety.

After all, this was the heartland of the Solomon Territory. Unless the territory was breached, protecting him would not be an issue at all.

Being a bodyguard was one aspect. The other was that he was getting old. Even though a Knight’s lifespan was longer, it was only a little over a hundred years, and Smith was already in his late eighties, almost ninety. Even among Knights, he was considered elderly. Therefore, assigning him to Isaac was also a way of letting him return for retirement.

"Tsk. I’ll ask about it later," Isaac shook his head. Hiring good people was difficult.

Leaving aside how many people would be willing to work for him, the [God-Stealer], even if there were some, Isaac wouldn’t necessarily trust them. Smith had watched him grow up. He was a vassal of Solomon and an elder to Isaac; their relationship was completely different.

"The Magic Potion to advance to Great Knight doesn’t seem to be very expensive. If all else fails, I’ll just have him advance. After becoming a Great Knight, his lifespan would be over two hundred years. Even if the promotion effect is a little weak, it would still add fifty or sixty years. In fifty or sixty years, you could pile on enough resources to create a High-level Knight." Thinking this, Isaac nodded. "Solid plan."

He was quite confident in his own abilities. Fifty or sixty years was not a short time for him. As long as he stayed alive, he was certain he could become a High-level Mage. And unlike his father, he didn’t have a huge family to support. With his resources highly concentrated, creating a High-level Knight wouldn’t be difficult.

After all, the path of the Knight had originally been one of the byproducts of Wizards’ experiments. The rank of High-level Knight was then developed further by Wizards who couldn’t bear to part with their family and friends.

But that was as far as it went. The path beyond High-level Knight was one that Knights had to forge for themselves.

Lost in thought, Isaac arrived at the council hall. Smith and Liu Li were already waiting there, each holding a file, ready to report.