Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

As Barik's throat moved, cold blood entered his mouth. As soon as the blood entered his stomach, a tremendous energy surged through his entire body like a torrent.

That force surged wildly through his body, his muscles felt as if they were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand and then suddenly released, taut and bulging at a visible speed, with veins throbbing beneath his skin as if something was about to burst out of his body.

Barik felt as if he were embedded in a thousand-year-old glacier, every inch of his flesh being torn apart continuously, as if countless blunt knives were cutting him at the same time.

His bones felt like they were being repeatedly crushed by a heavy hammer, with the sound of bones being shattered constantly emanating from his body. Even more terrifying was his soul, which felt like it was being gripped by an invisible giant hand, repeatedly torn and twisted, causing his consciousness to shatter in excruciating pain.

Surprisingly, Barik actually survived the entire ordeal. Fortunately, his formidable physical strength hadn't completely deteriorated, and this remaining foundation barely protected his collapsing body—otherwise, he would have already exploded and died from the violent impact.

The mine fell into a deathly silence. Barik collapsed to the ground, his body covered in gruesome wounds that revealed the bone, his exposed flesh interspersed with broken tendons and bones. He lay motionless, as if he were already a cold corpse.

"Heh...heh..."

Suddenly, Barik began to gasp for breath, each exhale freezing into blood on the ground. White mist billowed from his nostrils, condensing the air into frost, and his teeth clenched so tightly that something seemed about to burst forth.

He suddenly opened his eyes—his pupils had turned into vertical, ice-blue pupils, covered with a thin, cicada-wing-like ice membrane, exuding a wild chill.

Barik's previously everted flesh began to writhe and contract. Beneath his grayish-white skin, icy-blue dragon scale patterns moved and spread as if alive.

He slowly propped himself up, and with a soft dragon roar emanating from his throat, thick, icy blue dragon scales emerged one after another along the lines, even covering his cheeks with fine scales.

Two bulges suddenly appeared on either side of his forehead. Soon, a pair of cold white horns pierced his skin, slowly growing upwards with beads of bright red blood, gleaming coldly in the dim mine.

Barik felt the surging power within him, a power far exceeding that of the past, as if it could easily tear apart everything around him.

He strode toward the mine entrance, each step making a heavy thud.

……

Barryk's gaze swept over the unconscious people lying on the ground, his icy blue vertical pupils devoid of any warmth.

He slowly reached out to one of them. His palm was astonishingly large, and his knuckles were exceptionally thick due to the newly grown scales. With just a gentle squeeze, he could firmly grasp the other person's entire head in his palm.

"Click—"

With a slight twist, he severed the fragile head from the unfortunate man's neck as easily as snapping a tree branch. A spurt of warm blood shot out, along with a section of the pale spine that was forcibly torn out and swayed in the cold air.

However, this wasn't for the sake of convenience. Barik currently had no interest in swallowing flesh and blood; his icy blue vertical pupils held only the pleasure of slaughter.

The next second, he casually tossed the still slightly twitching head to the ground like a toy he had grown tired of playing with.

The dull thud jolted the half-asleep apprentice beside him awake. His eyelashes trembled as he looked up, meeting Barik's bloodthirsty vertical pupils.

"ah--"

A heart-wrenching scream erupted from his throat. But before the scream could even fade, Barik had already pounced on him like a ghost, his massive hand gripping his ankle and easily lifting him up.

"Bang—bang—bang"

Barek slammed the apprentice to the ground repeatedly, like smashing a doll. Dull thuds mingled with the cracking of bones.

……

"Click—click—click"

After brutally killing the remaining apprentices one by one, Barik headed towards the center of the stronghold, where there were even more fun toys.

Meanwhile, Harrogan reached a cooperation agreement with Rock and his group, as well as the three returning apprentices. The group was scattered throughout the stronghold, waiting for Barryk's arrival like hunters poised to pounce.

Harrogan was incredibly excited: killing a dragonborn dwarf would grant him enough merit to propel him to the top in his current promotion process. He had long since forgotten about his teammates, whose mana had been depleted and whose fates were unknown.

"Boss Rock, we haven't found Elena and the others," an apprentice said to Rock.

"Hmph, that bitch!" Rock slammed his fist against the wall.

"Forget it, if she doesn't participate, we can get more battle merits," Harogen advised.

"Indeed, that's a dragonborn!" Rock's eyes were full of greed. After all, he didn't want to share the spoils with Harrogan. The two of them waited for their "prey" with their own ulterior motives.

Finally, the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped, and fine frost condensed in the air. A tall and imposing figure appeared before everyone—it was Barik, who had just finished enjoying the carnage.

"Move it!" Rock ordered.

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding second-class wizard apprentices immediately unleashed their respective spells like a tidal wave, with streams of light of various colors intertwining and surging forward.

Meanwhile, Harrogan and Rock, who were walking into the distance, prepared to hide to the side and slowly prepare their strongest sorcery.

In their eyes, these second-class wizard apprentices were far from adequate in terms of combat experience or magical power, and could only be used to buy time.

Most of the apprentices cast fire elemental spells, which were particularly effective against ice-type creatures. The most conspicuous among them was Busley, who had torn off his black robe, revealing a body covered in red runes.

These runes had long been intertwined with his flesh and blood, inseparable from him. Although they gave him a hideous and ugly appearance, they also greatly enhanced his strength.

He took a deep breath and then poured all the magic power in his body into the runes all over his body.

In an instant, the scarlet runes suddenly lit up, as if clusters of flames were burning fiercely on the skin.

The next second, the surrounding fire elements seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, almost all of them surging towards his body and being completely devoured by the runes on his body.

Seeing this, the surrounding apprentices could only mobilize their own magic power to barely generate a few sparks of fire to cast spells, but they were immediately 'snatched' away by Busley.

Busley was instantly enveloped in layers of thick, almost tangible fire element, and in the blink of an eye, he was transformed into a human torch.

He let out a deafening roar, and countless violent fire elements instantly condensed in his palm. The next moment, these fire elements surged towards Barik like a torrent.

Faced with such a dense array of witchcraft, Barik dared not be careless. He took a deep breath, and an icy blue light emanated from his throat, as if an extremely cold power was surging within it.

Just as the witchcraft was about to strike, he suddenly exhaled a sharp, piercing breath of frost.