Wizard: My career panel has no upper limit

Chapter 150 Monster
"Dear Ron Ralph apprentice, I hereby inform you:"
Sequence member Oliver West has been confirmed to have defected and has now been removed from the candidate wizard sequence.

The enforcement team is searching for its whereabouts, and any relevant leads should be reported immediately to the enforcement team or the school's senior leadership.

Furthermore, given the potential for instability in the near future, the Bloody Gladiator Tournament this month will be postponed, with the new date to be announced later.

Please remain vigilant and avoid contact with any suspicious individuals.

"Black Mist School Enforcement Captain Raine Coster"

Ron put down the notification letter in his hand, his brows furrowing unconsciously.

Oliver defected.

While the news wasn't entirely unexpected, the speed at which it happened surprised him somewhat.

Just a few days ago at the sequence evaluation meeting, the other party was still sitting there, seemingly calmly accepting the fact that their ranking had dropped.

"It seems that the moderate mental pollution has become so severe that he has lost his ability to make rational judgments."

Ron muttered to himself, pondering the impact of this event on the school of thought and on himself.

The bloody gladiatorial combat will be postponed, mostly because the schools of thought need to invest more resources to deal with such unforeseen circumstances.

This is actually a good thing for Ron, giving him more time to prepare, but it also means that the entire school's alert level will be significantly raised.

"Teacher, what happened?"

Lilia walked in carrying a cup of hot tea, her face full of concern.

During this time, she became unusually sensitive to Ron's emotional changes.

“It’s nothing serious.” Ron handed her the letter.
"Oliver has defected, and the school is conducting a full-scale manhunt."

Lilia took the letter and read it, her face turning slightly pale: "Is this... a loss of control caused by mental pollution? I've read about it in books..."

“Most likely.” Ron nodded, looking out the window at the gradually darkening sky.
"However, this has little to do with us. We should just continue to focus on our own spiritual practice."

Lilia hesitated for a moment, then whispered:

“A few days ago, I heard some rumors at the market that many corpses with their brains removed had been found in Edge Forest… Was it him?”

Ron's eyes narrowed, and he nodded:

"Very likely. From what I understand, Oliver possesses a special talent called 'living assimilation,' which allows him to acquire some of the abilities of others by absorbing their brains."

Lilia gasped, clearly shocked by this terrifying ability.

"Don't worry, the school of thought will handle it."

Ron reassured him:
“It’s best for apprentices like us to stay out of such high-risk situations. I’ve already arranged for Ailan to reinforce the workshop’s security, so you and Dale will be safe.”

Lilia nodded, but her eyes held a hint of worry:

"You should also be careful, teacher."

“I will.” Ron smiled faintly.

After Lilia left, Ron walked to the window and looked out at the distant edge of the forest.

Deep within that gloomy forest, an escape for the fallen is unfolding.

………………

In the edge of the forest, Oliver staggered through the twisted trees, his breathing heavy and rapid.

His right side of his face was completely deformed. His once handsome features were twisted beyond recognition, and black liquid was surging under his skin, writhing like a living thing.

One eyeball bulged out of its socket, turning a murky, pure black with an eerie luster.

The left arm had grown abnormally long, and the fingernails had turned into sharp, black claws that could easily cut through hard wood.

His right knee joint is twisted, now resembling the joint of some kind of arthropod, allowing him to move in a strange but efficient way.

Behind him, the shouts of pursuit and the fluctuations of magic grew closer and closer.

"Damn it, we're running out of time!"

Oliver cursed, feeling the black energy within him fluctuating uncontrollably:
"If we had been any later, the awakening would have spiraled completely out of control..."

Suddenly, a beam of light pierced through the tree canopy and struck his shoulder.

The skin and flesh were instantly vaporized, but a large amount of black liquid immediately gushed out of the wound, quickly filling the opening.

The pain brought Oliver back to consciousness slightly.

He recalled the decision he had made three hours earlier.

At that time, he was in his laboratory, looking at his face in the mirror, which could no longer maintain its human form, and knew that if he did not act now, he would never have another chance.

The academic community's surveillance of him grew tighter day by day. The scrutinizing gaze in his mentor's eyes was as if he were looking at a fruit that was about to ripen, ready to be picked at any moment.

“Marcus, only you can help me now.”

He spoke softly to his half-mutated younger brother in the cage.

Marcus had long lost his mind, leaving only instinct and an inexplicable hatred for Ron Ralph.

This hatred became almost his only remaining emotional anchor.

Oliver opened the cage door, deliberately reducing his mental control over Marcus.

The effect is immediate.

The crazed Marcus instantly broke free of his restraints, letting out a piercing howl as he charged out of the tower and headed straight for the school's central area.

This disturbance was enough to draw most of the law enforcement team's attention, giving Oliver an opportunity to escape.

"I'm sorry, little brother."

He left with only this soft sigh, packed a few necessities, and stealthily made his way towards the edge of the forest.

However, he underestimated the speed of the School of Law Enforcement's response.

Although he used Marcus to create chaos, and the official wizards did not personally intervene as he expected, the enforcement team reacted more quickly than he anticipated.

Almost immediately after he left the tower, patrolling law enforcement officers spotted him.

A pursuit team of at least three or four intermediate apprentices and one advanced apprentice relentlessly chased him, forcing him into the depths of the edge forest.

"How ridiculous."

Oliver smiled wryly and hid behind a thick, ancient tree, panting.

From childhood to adulthood, he had always been the obedient, gentle, and perfect student.

A sixth-rank star's spiritual aptitude might be a talent worth celebrating in an ordinary family.

But in that environment full of geniuses, he was merely an object of pity.

His mentors outwardly encouraged him, saying "diligence can make up for lack of talent," but secretly they had long since given up on him. That is, until he discovered "brain extraction" in that ancient book and saw that term—"living assimilation."

At that moment, he thought he had found a turning point in his fate.

When he began to try this secret technique and successfully extracted fragments of memories and abilities from the first test subject, the ecstasy he felt was indescribable.

He embarked on this path step by step.

It started with small animals, then it became abandoned slaves of other races...

Now, when he is at his wit's end and chooses to gain more power through awakening, the school's reaction further confirms the truth he abhors deepest within him:
They never cared about him, and not a single formal wizard was willing to risk capturing him.

To those high and mighty wizards, Oliver West was nothing more than a dispensable experimental subject, a dog that could be discarded at any time.

"Is this how you see me? Not even worth arresting yourself?"

Oliver's voice was distorted with anger as he touched the Black Crystal of Sin on his chest, the key medium for his awakening ritual.

This black crystal was his last trump card, the most precious item he obtained from that mysterious organization through Cynthia.

"coming."

Oliver suddenly looked up and sensed several energy fluctuations approaching from different directions.

Clearly, the law enforcement team had pinpointed his location and was preparing to surround him.

Oliver decided to stop hiding.

He stood up, his deformed body casting a distorted shadow in the moonlight.

The once flawless mask has long since shattered, revealing the ugly and true nature beneath.

"Finally caught you, Oliver. The school promises you advanced potions and unique spell models as rewards for bringing you back!"

A mid-level apprentice leaped out of the bushes, his staff gleaming with a blinding light.

The man's eyes were filled with contempt and disgust.

"Look at the mess you've made of, West! I thought you were something special."

Oliver didn't answer, but just stared at him silently, as if he were looking at an ant.

"Surrender, you're surrounded."

Norris raised his staff:
"In the name of the enforcement team, you are ordered to immediately deactivate all attack statuses and return to the school to face trial!"

Oliver's lips curled into a strange smile, revealing irregularly arranged, sharp teeth:

Why should I take orders from an ant?

His voice had completely changed; it was harsh, like the friction of metal, with an indescribable echoing effect, as if multiple voices were speaking at the same time.

Norris took a step back, clearly startled by the sudden turn of events, but he quickly regained his composure:
"This is your last chance, Oliver!"

“No, this is your last chance.” A glint of red flashed in Oliver’s black eyes:
"Get out of the way, or die."

The next moment, his body seemed to liquefy, twisting and rushing forward at an illogical speed.

Norris's hastily cast light blast spell struck Oliver in the chest, leaving a large, scorching hole.

But Oliver continued on, seemingly oblivious to the pain.

"Impossible!" Norris exclaimed in horror, unleashing three even stronger light blasts in quick succession.

Oliver was hit in the body, several vital organs were pierced, but black liquid immediately gushed out, repairing the wounds.

As he approached Norris, his deformed left arm suddenly extended, and sharp claws pierced directly into the man's chest.

“Gulp…” Norris stared wide-eyed at the strange arm piercing through his body.

"Rest in peace, you ants."

Oliver said indifferently, then his eyeball suddenly bulged out and turned into a tentacle, which went straight into Norris's eye socket.

Norris let out a piercing scream, then fell silent, his body stiff as a marionette.

Oliver's tentacles were sucking something away, and Norris's face quickly withered, his skin shrank, and his eyes shriveled, as if all the moisture had been drained away in an instant.

When the monster retracted its tentacles, Norris had become a dried-up corpse, with only a layer of skin covering his bones.

“Thank you for your contribution,” Oliver said softly, the red light in his eyes growing even brighter.

He felt a surge of new information and abilities flooding into his mind.

Norris's fragmented memories and his faint affinity for the element of light all became nourishment for Oliver.

Oliver examined Norris's shriveled corpse closely and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

This mediocre apprentice seems familiar... Was it at the apprentice fair? Or at the enforcement team's gathering?

He searched through the fragments of memory he had just acquired, hoping to find the answer, but the memories were too chaotic to be sorted out immediately.

Never mind, it's not important. Just an ant, not worth the time to remember.

"Where is he!"

Shouts came from afar, clearly indicating that other law enforcement officers had noticed the commotion.

Oliver didn't hesitate and took off running.

His movements were no longer human-like, but rather like those of some kind of twisted insect, sometimes sprinting across the ground, sometimes climbing tree trunks and running vertically.

The newly acquired memories allowed him to pinpoint the location of a secret passage, a hidden path used by the law enforcement team during their regular patrols, leading deeper into the forest.

"It seems you are still of some use."

Oliver muttered to himself, feeling no pity for the victims he had just absorbed.

By the time the pursuers reached Norris's body, Oliver had already vanished into the depths of the forest.

After traveling for about half an hour, he finally arrived at his destination.

It was the entrance to a cave hidden beneath a pile of boulders.

This is a secret outpost of the "Eye of the Abyss" in the Black Mist Forest. Oliver learned of this location from Cynthia.

Entering the cave requires a specific signal—a peculiar pattern of mental fluctuations that mimics the rhythm of "the whispers of the abyss."

Oliver released a unique wave of mental energy in the way he remembered.

A moment later, the air in front of the boulder distorted, revealing a hidden entrance.

Without hesitation, Oliver quickly slipped inside.

(End of this chapter)