Reg left Black Scale City.
He didn't visit his "blood relatives" in this life. They were living well, and Reg himself had achieved the life he had longed for, so there was no need for further contact.
As for revenge, it was nothing more than a waste of time.
Unless something unexpected happened, Reg was unlikely to have any further dealings with the Raphael family.
He traveled south, and when he reached the southern edge of the Viscount's territory, he was fortunate enough to find an abandoned wooden house in the Autumn Wind Forest.
He had his snake servant clear out the house, then went to gather some wood and started a campfire.
Sitting beside the fire, he took a short rest. When he woke up, he began flipping through the "Bloodline Studies Notes."
At the same time, one of the snake servants ventured deeper into the Autumn Wind Forest to gather some easy-to-find ingredients.
Reg planned to stay there for two or three days to finish reading the notes in his hands.
Surprisingly, by the end of the day, he had already read most of it.
The main reason was that his previous understanding of Norton had been slightly off.
Reg had thought that Norton, daring enough to design a new first-ring spell, must at least be a first-ring wizard. But it turned out that Norton was only a third-tier apprentice wizard, just like him.
Reg didn't know what to make of it—whether to call himself cautious or Norton overly ambitious?
In any case, both from the texts and his own practical experience, Norton's failure had been almost inevitable.
That said, the knowledge of bloodlines was no joke, and due to their shared tier, Reg found it easier to understand.
When he returned to the academy, he could even use this as a foundation to improve a bloodline-related cantrip!
After simplifying his insights, Reg's palm erupted in flames, and in his dark eyes, the white ashes danced.
At that moment, an unexpected change caught his attention:
There was nothing strange about the notebook itself. Even though it showed some minor magical traces, they couldn't resist the flame particles.
Instead, after the seemingly ordinary black sheepskin was burned to ash by the flames, a triangular black shape emerged.
The eerie black triangle quickly shifted in the flames—sometimes rotating, sometimes stretching, and sometimes folding and unfolding.
Reg couldn't understand how a simple two-dimensional structure could inexplicably reveal more strange lines, only to fold back again.
But soon, he stopped obsessing over it as the black triangle exhibited another, more noteworthy and bizarre change:
The black triangle split into two, then three, forming a complex three-dimensional structure that was difficult to describe.
Inside this strange, black-lined structure was a simple three-dimensional model made by stacking four two-dimensional structures.
The three-dimensional model was encased in the black lines and emitted a mysterious vibration.
Reg felt a sense of familiarity from the model, and an idea flashed through his mind.
His eyelids slightly opened, and he murmured in astonishment:
"The Touch of Bloodstains! Why is it the spell model of the Touch of Bloodstains?"
Reg's expression kept changing, his surprise growing as his finger instinctively moved towards the three-dimensional model.
His fingertip lightly touched the illusory model, and he immediately felt a sense of his spiritual energy being drawn.
He shivered involuntarily and was about to follow the pull and gradually channel his spirit.
But the next moment, the three-dimensional model collapsed instantly, like foam in sunlight, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Before he could react, his spiritual energy returned to its original state, and before him, gray and white ashes swirled, everything like a dream.
Reg snapped back to reality, a trace of regret flashed across his face, and he sighed, retracting his finger and letting his mind settle in the sea of consciousness.
As he recalled the scene from just now, he became even more convinced:
The three-dimensional structure that had condensed within the strange black triangle was indeed the "spell model" of the Touch of Bloodstains…
Spell models are the unique core of any magic beyond simple cantrips, also known as "witchcraft."
Witches cast spells by weaving a spell model with their spiritual energy, which then guides the energy particles within their body or the environment to release the power in the witch's designed way.
A simple analogy would be that the spell model is the underlying blueprint, the spiritual energy is the technician who implements it, and the energy particles are the raw materials—only when all three come together can a witch's power be realized.
Spell models are quite common, so why did it make Reg so agitated?
It wasn't the spell model of the Touch of Bloodstains that caught his attention, but rather its form—the spell afterimage!
A spell afterimage wasn't even a formal academic concept, and many witches dismissed it as nonsense because they couldn't replicate it in experiments.
But it was undeniable that in many bizarre legends and even in the success stories of various witches, spell afterimages often appeared.
It was said that under certain special circumstances, a spell model could exist independently of its carrier, and if a witch was fortunate enough to touch the spell afterimage, they could directly imprint it onto their sea of consciousness…
This was a dream come true for many apprentice witches and even fully-fledged witches!
Once a spell model was imprinted into the sea of consciousness, it could completely change the casting process.
Originally, witches had to first create the model with their spiritual energy, but after imprinting, they could skip this step and directly draw upon energy particles for release.
The speed and success rate would be worlds apart!
However, imprinting a spell model into the sea of consciousness had never been an easy task.
The correct spell model, repeated creation training, and consuming vast resources and energy—these were all just the basics.
On top of that, the affinity between witchcraft and energy particles, a witch's inherent talent, the mindset during imprinting, and even the intangible factor of luck all played a role in determining whether the imprint would be successful!
Take him as an example—since his first attempt at imprinting, he had already spent two years and continuous resources, yet had still failed.
Among his peers, the number of apprentice witches was vast, yet those who truly succeeded could be counted on one hand…
Reg had been tirelessly attempting to imprint the spell model known as "Ural's Red Moon Heart."
The term "Ural" in Elvish meant to weave, dream, or origin.
This first-ring spell wasn't offensive or defensive, but its significance was far greater than either. Under the red moon's light, it could release a more powerful guiding force, drawing in more energy particles.
These energy particles would gather, actively altering Reg's body and enhancing his spirit, while also passively remaining within him, subtly influencing him.
Through two years of continuous creation, he had made some progress, and the duration he could maintain it had lengthened. But he still hadn't been able to achieve a complete imprint…
Thinking about this, Reg's mood grew heavy.
His decision to delve into the non-offensive, non-defensive "Red Moon Heart" and continually try to imprint it wasn't merely for "enhancing spellcasting ability."
Drawing in more energy particles, transforming his body, strengthening his spirit… all of this was for becoming a true "witch!"