Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys

Fishing Port Town Administrative Hall.

Inside a rest room.

Rein was wiping the 'paralysis poison' on the Finger Tiger blades embedded in his Knight gauntlets, which was provided by Trevo. On the bed beside him, there lay a gender-indistinct doll made of a special kind of wood.

The doll was slightly larger than the palm of a hand, its head, torso, and limbs were connected by wood shaped like cylinders, and its face was only marked by a few crude strokes that indicated its mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. It looked rather rough and shoddily made.

But when Vinica handed Rein the 'substitute doll,' the envious look in Nathaniel's eyes told Rein that the 'substitute doll' Vinica provided was not as simple as it appeared.

Later, through Nathaniel's introduction, Rein learned.

"The making of a substitute doll is extremely difficult, requiring a special type of person among official Wizards, colloquially known as 'Doll Masters,' to create."

"The method of usage is also quite simple, it can either be controlled with spiritual power or you can wrap a strand of the user's hair or a drop of blood on the substitute doll."

"The substitute doll will, within the next day, transform into the user's appearance and emit the user's aura — even a regular Wizard may find it difficult to notice the difference. The deception is only discovered after an attack."

Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

"Of course, there are limitations to the substitute doll; after the spell is cast, it does not become a moving doll but can only mimic the user's static appearance. If it is damaged, it will revert to its doll form."

"So, it is generally placed in a specific location to mislead enemies."

Despite various limitations, for Wizards or Wizard Apprentices facing assassin-type enemies, it is one of the best witchcraft artifacts.

This was also the reason why Nathaniel had an envious expression.

At this moment, Nathaniel had already set up a warning spell formation around Rein's room. If an enemy stepped in, it would set off an alarm, but this was not foolproof.

Judging from the fact that the opponent was able to enter the quarters of a fourth-grade ship captain without any sound, they likely possessed some kind of magical artifact or special witchcraft that allowed them to enter the room and stage a sneak attack.

During the previous discussion, a few of the men had settled on two plans to counter an attack.

The first was if the opponent was not just one person but two or more, then Vinica would assist Rein, while Nathaniel and Trevo would take care of the rest.

This pairing had also been carefully considered. Nathaniel and Trevo, both members of the Fish and Dragon Squad, knew each other well and could coordinate perfectly with just a glance. Their combat ability was greater than the sum of their parts.

The second scenario was if there was only one opponent, then without a doubt, everyone would gang up on them...

Against such a level of enemy, ordinary guards and Night Watchmen were of little use. They, led by the Reiman brothers, were primarily responsible for the external defense and for dealing with enemies within their capabilities, such as the Storm Crows.

After the preparations were complete, Rein tied a strand of his hair on the doll and placed it in the bed under the quilt, while he fully armed himself and rested under the bed.

...

When Wexman and Zenina arrived near the Fishing Port Town Administrative Hall, they saw teams of three Night Watchmen patrolling densely.

"Hmph, childish tactics."

"Zenina, same as always, if I don't eliminate the target within ten seconds, you limit the others for a bit."

"At your command, sir."

At that moment, a shadow began to emerge from behind Wexman — this was Wexman's trump card, the shadow assassin.

The shadow assassin was actually a rare Shadow Witchcraft, its body composed of shadow energy, usually having roughly thirty to forty percent of the caster's own strength.

However, after Wexman acquired this witchcraft, he spent over a decade attempting research and modifications to the witchcraft model, managing to slightly increase its potency.

Now the shadow assassin possessed nearly half his original strength. Since it required continuous guidance, he couldn't cast other witchcraft while maintaining the shadow assassin.

Another point was that the shadow assassin couldn't take direct hits, as it would disappear upon being hit.

Once the shadow vanished, the caster would suffer from spiritual power backlash, which wasn't long-lasting.

The backlash wasn't intense; it wouldn't bring splitting headaches or unconsciousness. It merely rendered the caster temporarily unable to cast other witchcraft.

That's why, five years ago, Wexman spent a lot of time and effort to find an apprentice like Zenina who also specialized in Shadow Witchcraft and has been nurturing her ever since.

The goal was to use defensive Shadow Witchcraft to strengthen the shadow assassin's defensive power, preventing it from being hit directly, and to some extent, support his actions.@@novelbin@@

Zenina began chanting, and soon, black shields appeared before and behind Wexman and the shadow assassin, then the shields slowly faded, leaving no trace of the witchcraft shadow shield on the surface.

Wexman had considered whether to kill Rein's companions one by one and then turn to Rein last.