He was the most reliable and trustworthy pillar in everyone’s hearts, including the Shepherd’s.
But now, while fighting Vay on the platform, the Magic Elephant was acting unlike himself. At first, he was still somewhat rational, but now he seemed completely like another person, not only aggressive but also condescending.
Moreover, for the Magic Elephant to directly say, "Don’t you think it’s a pity to die here" means he truly has murderous intent.
The opponent was a descendant of Noah!
When facing a Wandering Wizard, the Magic Elephant would consider future consequences, opting for peaceful solutions if possible. Now, facing a Noah descendant, he completely disregarded future consequences and didn’t leave himself a way out. This was simply not "the Magic Elephant."
Just as the Shepherd said, both Powder Jasmine and Ghost Shadow thought, is the Magic Elephant on the stage really a Magic Elephant now?
Facing the Shepherd’s doubts and the puzzled looks of Powder Jasmine and Ghost Shadow, the Wicked Woman sneered, looking as if she couldn’t be bothered to explain.
The Wicked Woman’s attitude made everyone’s chest feel tight. But there was nothing they could do; the Wicked Woman’s character was like this. She doesn’t want to deal with people when she’s feeling good, and she doesn’t want to deal with them even more when she’s not.
The Shepherd exhaled deeply, turned to look at the Gray Merchant, attempting to get an answer from him.
The Gray Merchant originally didn’t want to answer, but seeing the eager eyes of the three Apprentices, the still soft-hearted Gray Merchant, who had not yet regained his cold memories, softened his heart.
The Gray Merchant pondered for a moment and said, "The Wicked Woman is not lying to you, he really is the Magic Elephant."
"But the Magic Elephant wouldn’t be this impulsive." Powder Jasmine also spoke.
The Gray Merchant hesitated for two seconds, "People have many sides, what you see is not necessarily the truth. The current Magic Elephant might not necessarily be false either."
...
On the other side of the arena.
"What do you think?" Dox patted Angel’s shoulder, and under Angel’s puzzled gaze, he pouted his lips, secretly pointing towards the group of Gray Merchant’s people.
The conversations among Gray Merchant and others were not communicated through the Mind Ribbon, so they could hear it on their side as well.
Angel glanced at Gray Merchant and the others from a distance, shook his head, "The Gray Merchant isn’t wrong; people are multifaceted."
Dox: "That may be true, but the side hidden deepest within one’s heart is not easily exposed by chance."
Angel did not speak because Gray Merchant and the others also heard their conversation due to eavesdropping, and they all looked over.
Angel didn’t want to say much to avoid revealing his identity, so he chose to remain silent.
However, Dox, seemingly oblivious to the stares of others, continued, "This Magic Elephant should be finished, right?"
Angel: "..."
"Even if he wins, he’s finished." Dox continued to click his tongue, "Poor guy, being ruined by his own wizard."
Dox’s remark made the Wicked Woman across from them quickly raise her head, glaring at Dox with a ferocious look.
Dox remained indifferent, continuing to speak to himself: "A child holding a treasure, unaware of its value, is nothing even if exchanged for candy. But for an adult, having tasted the allure of a treasure, and experiencing the glory and convenience it brings, returning to days of empty pockets will be hard."
"Such an adult is, in all likelihood, finished."
Although Dox didn’t directly name any names, he also didn’t beat around the bush, making a simple point clear directly.
The Shepherd, who was previously puzzled by why the Magic Elephant had changed, immediately understood after Dox pointed out.
Imagine an Apprentice with spiritual power as insignificant as sand being able to control Wizard-level energy as vast as the sea. This powerful contrast is enough to make an Apprentice with poor self-control lose themselves in power.
This feeling is difficult for outsiders to understand; it even sounds incredible, but it’s just the concept of an "advance consumption voucher." Why fall into confusion?
The answer is actually quite simple.
The longer an Apprentice stays at this stage before becoming an Official Wizard, the harder it becomes to step into the realm of an Official Wizard, as time erodes not only lifespan but also fills the mind with complex thoughts.
Every day, every step, every choice, every battle before becoming an Official Wizard can be seen as obstacles to progress. Once crossed, one can return to a pure heart, free from complexity.
But if you can’t cross it, your potential is exhausted, and you become a pile of bones.
The Magic Elephant experienced the powerful sense of control of the "Ancient Gaze," and then his heart began to be corroded by a poison called "I once was incredibly powerful."
Ridding oneself of such poison is not easily done. Losing oneself in power, or rather, being mesmerized by it, is the greatest hurdle in becoming an Official Wizard.
To see through it, one must either have tremendous willpower or experience Wizard-level power every day, normalizing it, to possibly not stray onto a divergent path.
But neither of these methods is easy to achieve. The latter is eliminated outright, leaving only the training of willpower as viable.
Yet training willpower is also very difficult for the Magic Elephant.
The Wizard-level power the Magic Elephant used did not come from an external source, not from a Magic Rune Scroll, not from a Magical Energy Array, not from an elixir without side effects... It came from within himself.
It was the Unowned Organ that allowed the Magic Elephant such experiences.
Even if the Unowned Organ is one-time use, once fused into the Magic Elephant’s body, it belongs to the Magic Elephant, becoming his personal organ.
He used the capabilities of the Unowned Organ, falling into a loss of self-power, which is crucial.
Therefore, the willpower he needs to train must surpass the sense of power loss brought by the Unowned Organ.
In other words, for the Magic Elephant to see through the illusion, unless his willpower is strong enough to harness Wizard-level power.
If he can’t achieve that, then the Magic Elephant is finished.
In fact, can the Magic Elephant achieve it? Dox personally feels that it can’t be done. That’s why he straightforwardly said he was finished.
As for the additional remark: "being ruined by his own wizard."
It’s actually not wrong, but his purpose wasn’t out of sympathy for the Magic Elephant but purely to attempt driving a wedge between the Apprentices and Wizards on the other side.
Whether he succeeds or not, Dox doesn’t really care; he just wants to irritate the Wicked Woman.
Dox had intended to add a couple more words, but at this moment, the situation on the field entered a crisis state.
The Magic Elephant infused all the energy he could control into the Ancient Gaze, transforming it into a beam of "death light."
The speed of the death light was extremely fast, more than twice the speed of the arrows that the Magic Elephant casually simulated before!
Within the range illuminated by the death light, all matter and energy were suppressed, making Vay’s speed almost as slow as a crawling turtle.
As such, Vay had no room to dodge.
And the Magic Elephant had no intention of holding back; his single eye turned scarlet, the thrill of nearly killing a descendant of Noah making him tremble all over, yet feeling immensely exhilarating.
At such close range, with death light as swift as lightning.
Vay had no time to defend.
Only a swooshing sound was heard as the death light pierced through Vay’s body...