Placing the book down, Forus stared at the sky for a long time, thinking about his future path, and how he should progress.

Time marched on, and Forus had been staying inside the abandoned hideout. He scavenged everything he could find, and read every book he could read.

With his new body, Forus sought to step into the path of sorcery. He who tasted the mystical quality of the sorcery could not let go of his mind of its power, as well as its necessity.

If Forus could not use sorcery, he reckoned that his future path would be bleak. He would never be able to control his fate, let alone going out to explore the world and meet his daughter. After all, Matia had been dragged into the world of sorcery, and as a father, Forus had an unending worry for her well-being.

Thankfully, the blue-robed sorcerer was resourceful and had left many things inside his shelter. Although the most precious information got destroyed during their battle, most of the experiment results and basic theories remained intact in another place.

However, before he could embark on his journey, Forus encountered a serious problem.

No matter what kind of sorcery cultivation manual, Forus could not practice them at all. His special physique would devour the impure sorcery energy produced by them.

Without any alternative path, Forus could only compile his knowledge from various references and attempted to create his unique sorcery manual for himself.

Fortunately, with Death Aura shrouding his body, Forus could regenerate from almost all injuries and backlash from his experiments.

...

The good thing about his new body was that he did not need to eat or rest to survive. Forus had been taking advantage of his new-found time to spend on experimenting with his sorcery manual and practising his sorcery.

Watching the black flame gradually melted his skin, Forus slowly felt the rate of his regeneration stabilized. Although the pain he felt was great, it was insignificant compared to when he burned himself into a human torch, or when he resolved to take the sorcerer with him.

Strangely, after experiencing death, Forus' mentality had entered a mysterious state where he rarely felt anything. His mind was numb, and his eyes dull. Pain and misery no longer bothered him; he could only feel a foreboding sense of isolation.

After the flame subsided, Forus examined his body, which had turned even more pale and smooth than before. His new muscle structure was stronger and more sturdy than before, signalling the completion of his first step.

Before one could become a fully-fledged sorcerer, their body must be compatible with the sorcery energy. The user of sorcery would have to temper their body, mind, and soul, to prepare them for the incoming ascension.

Those who tried to become a sorcerer were called sorcerer apprentice. They were divided into three layers, signifying their progression.

First-layered was for those who had begun to temper their physical body, allowing them to become the vessel for sorcery energy. Without this stage, a mortal body would not be able to take in much sorcery energy before mutating into mindless beasts.

Second-layered was for those who manage to circulate their sorcery energy inside their body, stabilizing both their physical body and mental mind into equilibrium. At this stage, the sorcerer apprentice could manipulate their sorcery energy to strengthen their body and mind.

Third-layered was for those who tried to break through their mortal limitation. They would search for their deepest desire and the Element with most affinity. At this stage, they could use simple spells.

For now, Forus managed to craft a simple sorcery manual for himself, detailing his path to the third-layered sorcerer apprentice. Although it was not optimal, it was all he could do at the moment.

Forus needed more references to proceed further.

"Time to test my strength." Forus muttered to himself as he prepared his clothing and bags. He was going to explore the forest and perform experiments on his Death Aura and his body.

...

Placing a wooden spear on a rock, Forus did not hesitate one bit before slamming his fist straight into it. Surprisingly, the spear broke into pieces while a crack manifested on the rock. His fist easily crumbled it and left a noticeable mark onto the rock.

Although there was redness on his skin, the fist quickly healed itself within a moment, as if nothing of significance had ever happened. Finally, Forus could manage to estimate where he stood with his new body and power.

With the enhancement of Death Aura, Forus became extraordinarily strong, enough to forego any conventional weapon for the sake of using his fist. If he ignored the pain, he could easily shatter rocks with his hand, albeit not without any injury.

...

After making sure that he had prepared everything, Forus packed his bags and spared clothing before turning back to look at the greenery before him.

The tranquil place of rest, the abandoned hideout— the place where he died.

"Never again..." Forus found himself absent-mindedly muttered to himself as he walked into the wilderness.

...

By silently camping at the road, Forus managed to catch a merchant caravan travelling to another city. Although he did not need their protection, trailing them was better than going alone in the open. After all, he could let the group dealt with the trouble that might arise.

With that thought in mind, Forus managed to easily travel across the wilderness without much problem. Although there were occasional bandit raids, most of them retreated after seeing the middle carriage's symbol, which signified an extraordinary status.

In fact, from Forus' observation, the caravan itself seemed to be an escort for the middle carriage.

When the caravan arrived at the city, the guards let them pass without checking. However, before the caravan got in, the middle carriage slowly opened its gate, revealing a dazzling figure inside it.

With a row of neatly-dressed people around her, the lady, donned in light-orange two-part dresses, stepped out from her seat.

As if greeting her, a gentle breeze caressed her silhouette as her red short hair fluttered with it. Although her physique was not overbearing, her demeanour and disposition remained elegance and noble.

"Young Mistress, the carriage is ready." The servants uniformly announced the arrival of a newly-prepared carriage. Its exterior was exquisite, designed with a vision of a master craftsman. With a flame emblem as the symbol at the centre, it was truly a carriage worthy for her.

Nodding at the announcement, the lady stepped into the carriage. Her motion was like water, flowing flawlessly, uninterrupted by the external world.

However, before the gate of the carriage closed shut, her crimson pair of pupils stared deep into the forest, landing onto another pair of azure eyes. Subtly, the young mistress smiled as she watched the hidden figure retreated rapidly into the darkness.

"The azure colour of the sky. Only with them would I breakthrough..." The young mistress giggled to herself as she forced her smile down. Although she had come back home, her mind could not help but wander towards that pair of azureness.

...

In a quick step, Forus rushed into the deep wilderness as he suppressed his urge to cry out. As his step slowed down, flame spontaneously combusted around him as a muffled sound of something big collapsing echoed inside his mind.

With his first-layered sorcery, Forus could do nothing to ease the pain, so he had to endure the burning of his body until it used up the sorcery energy powering it. Fortunately, he had encountered a worse scenario and could easily handle this amount of pain.

As his body erupted in flame, the black mist slowly emerged from his skin and seeped in and out of his pores, fusing into his burnt flesh and healing them in the process. Moreover, the black mist also devoured the remnant of sorcery energy, quickly putting the flame off.

Thankfully, Forus managed to outlast the destruction of the flame, making him narrowly survived from falling unconscious and left defenceless in the wilderness.

Before long, Forus leaned onto a sturdy tree, trying his hardest not to lose his consciousness. Although he had persisted under the pain, his body could not keep up with his mind, so he had to rest.

Thinking back at the encounter, Forus remained vigilance even in his resting state; after all, he had no idea if that lady would send someone to capture him. However, even after what seemed to be an hour, Forus could not spot anyone.

In the truest sense, Forus narrowly managed to survive due to the urgency of the young mistress, having to rush to meet her father, the Family Head, as well as not anticipating that a mere first-layered sorcerer apprentice could withstand her power.

Even after all of this, Forus still decided to go back to the city. He had to find more references to further his self-made sorcery manual to get stronger and finally having the ability to search the world for his daughter.

However, with his current appearance, he appeared too eye-catching and would invite trouble such as the previous young mistress. How could Forus know that the sorcerers were an eccentric group of people?

More unfeasibly, why would a person as resourceful as the young mistress of a powerful status take a special interest in him, a nobody without any background?

...

A middle-aged man sat alone, casually eating his meal while listening to the chatter of the ordinary workers, mercenaries, and simply the passersby. His action perfectly fitted into the realm of an ordinary man daydreaming about his future.

Appearance-wise, the man donned in simple clothing of a commoner and had a look of a hard-working man who could never get rich no matter how much he tried. His soft aura and quiet disposition made him a perfect background for any event.

After stumbling around the forest, Forus decided to change his appearance by using natural products. Thankfully, the blue-robed sorcerer had left quite a huge sum of knowledge, both regarding sorcery and various methods to survive in the wilderness.

The man was a loner, and so he had amassed various techniques and knowledge the sorcerers from big organizations could not hope to attain. Even more so, he also excelled in the art of alchemy, leaving behind notes and damaged equipment for Forus to experiment.

However, knowledge was not the same as experience. Forus could not do anything advanced as the sorcerer could, but he still managed to craft a good disguise for himself. Although he could not change his body structure or body scent, as long as he did not meet with that lady himself, he was sure that she would never find him.

Looking into his bag of holding, Forus found a few Mystical Orbs lying inside, as well as a bunch of silver coins and a few gold coins. Although the sorcerer lived in solitary, he had quite a wealth for himself.

Shaking his head, Forus found himself thinking about how to increase his wealth. Although a silver coin was enough for a man to live for a month, providing that he merely lived from meal to meal, for Forus, who needed resource to further his sorcery and alchemy, it was not enough.

"Those nobles, they are quite good at suppressing my influence." Forus muttered to himself as he recalled his moment of greatness during his first life. It was his greatest achievement, deriving from various studies and collaboration with other merchants.

With it, Forus managed to stabilize his standing as a rich merchant, realising his dream of settling down and meeting his faded one, Meria Ander.

However, as his business progressed, the nobles came crashing down onto him, trying to steal his idea and monopolized the profits themselves. Nevertheless, Forus persisted, with his amassed wealth and connection, and managed to strike back, protecting his idea from the hungry wolf.

"Let start with this, then." Despite the fear of gaining the attention of the strong, Forus had to bear the risk, if he wished to rapidly amass fund for his sorcery progression.

After all, what was more important; his measly life or his daughter's well-being?