Wizard: Unlimited Profession Slots Chapter 709 - 331: Wildfire Spreading (Part 3)

"Permission Level: Associate Professor.

Special Annotation: Member of the New Star Plan.

Spiritual Contamination Resistance: Needs live testing to pinpoint the exact value."

The construct stretched out a limb formed from crystal.

Odd runes flowed across the crystal's surface, directing toward a shadowy entrance engulfed in darkness far inside the library:

"Kindly move to the assessment zone for contamination resistance evaluation.

This step is essential for accessing the forbidden section. Efforts to skip it will count as a serious risk to the academy's security."

Ron trailed the construct past the dark entrance and right away sensed the shift in the air's feel.

The environment here felt squeezed by an unseen force, making each inhale demand more work.

He picked up subtle pulsing noises coming from the walls, like the whole structure was the organs of a massive beast.

The assessment room formed a flawless circle, barren of any adornments, featuring just solid black surfaces on walls and ground.

In the room's heart hovered a massive crystal orb, roughly two meters wide, filled with a sickening dark fog inside.

The fog didn't sit still; instead, it twisted into elaborate spiral formations within the orb.

With every turn, it emitted a faint yet highly perilous spiritual pulse.

"This apparatus..." Ron triggered "Extraordinary Recognition," scrutinizing the crystal orb with care.

Through his unique sight, the orb's exterior was etched with a thick web of runes, endlessly drawing in and reshaping nearby energies.

Even more alarmingly, he detected that the orb trapped the broken awareness of some creature's mind.

"Did you spot anything?" The construct appeared to catch the shift in his look.

"It's not merely an assessment tool," Ron stated coolly, breaking it down:

"The orb holds genuine spiritual pieces from Abyssal Creatures, tuned by the rune array. Such a setup... shows clever design, yet it's highly risky."

"Sharp insight," the construct's voice held a touch of respect:

"Yes, these mental leftovers originate from diverse high-level beings defeated by the Abyss expedition group.

Their grudges and disordered thoughts have been processed to gauge Wizards' tolerance against contamination."

It halted briefly before going on:

"The evaluation splits into two phases.

Should discomfort arise in any phase, kindly signal to halt right away."

The construct's power nucleus started to throb gently, each glow lowering the chamber's chill by a few degrees:

"A key warning: An associate professor once believed his mind unbreakable, but the exam triggered his hidden contamination entirely.

Upon discovery, he was biting his fingers, crying amid laughter, declaring, ’at last, the real treat.’"

This revelation deepened the gravity on Ron's face.

The dread of spiritual contamination stems from how it warps the sufferer's views and beliefs at their core.

Those affected usually fail to notice their changes, viewing their warped condition as ’ordinary,’ or even ’splendid.’

Furthermore, he thought the construct's smarts and emotional displays didn't fully resemble machine intelligence?

"I get the dangers." Ron gave a nod of understanding, stepping closer to the assessment crystal orb.

At three meters from the orb, the initial phase of the evaluation kicked off silently.

The fog within the crystal orb churned wildly all at once, unleashing a repelling psychic force.

It went beyond mere fright or worry, striking at a deeper denial of being.

Like myriad murmurs echoed in his ears at once:

"You shouldn't exist..."

"Your efforts are meaningless..."

"Death is the only relief..."

"Why struggle? Why not embrace the void?"

Yet for Ron, trained in "Star Eater’s Ravings," such psychic strain was barely noticeable.

His Meditation Technique relied on linking with Exotic Realm entities, having long fortified his mental form against pressures from elevated realms.

"First phase cleared, time thirty-seven seconds," the construct logged the results:

"This pace stands out for associate professor rank, moving to the second phase evaluation."

The crystal orb altered hues, turning from dark gray to intense purple.

The fog grew much thicker too, almost hiding the orb's inner patterns entirely.

The second phase's psychic assault proved more intricate and sly.

It abandoned plain denial and gloom, seeking instead to twist Ron's thinking framework at its base.

Visions started to appear in front of him:

He witnessed his form morph into a tangle of squirming tentacles, consuming all his allies, while experiencing unmatched pleasure;

He observed Ailan's green silhouette decay and dissolve in his view, becoming a puddle of rancid slime, though her words still expressed gratitude for ’freeing’ her;

He beheld the whole Central Lands crumble under him, myriad blameless souls erased by his deeds, yet he perched on the wreckage, cackling wildly...

These visions aimed to convince him that ruin and rot were the real ’bliss,’ whereas logic and structure were just illusory bonds.

However, these warped lures failed to shake Ron's fundamental sanity.

The psychic strength built from fleeing Time Hounds and facing the ’Devourer’ helped him sharply separate truth from mirage.

Above all, his steadfast quest for ’self-control’ gave him a firm psychic hold.

Regardless of the visions' allure, he refused to yield mastery over his fate.

"Second phase cleared, time one minute and forty-two seconds," the construct's tone showed clear astonishment:

"Evaluation finished, overall time under three minutes."

The construct's voice hinted at doubt:

"Contamination resistance rating: A+. This marks a top score for associate professor level, allowing secure entry to much of the forbidden area's materials."

It lingered in silence for a while, as if handling intricate information:

"Per past logs, just six associate staff earned an A+ rating, with four advancing to Great Wizard afterward, one heading the Abyss expedition team..."

The construct skipped the sixth individual's outcome, but Ron caught a ominous vibe from its faintly fading power nucleus.

Once the test succeeded, a door hidden till then materialized on the wall.

The door itself was a work of art, built from some vital substance that breathed on its own, its exterior laced with a mesh of throbbing vessels.

As Ron drew near, the vessels throbbed quicker, like greeting an old friend returned.